Rooting For A Playoff Spot Today

Week 16 of the NFL season starts today and at the beginning of the season, we believe every Cleveland Browns fan would have taken being in the playoff discussion as play started on Christmas Day.

Instead, the Browns have the highest wild card seed (#5) with an 10-4 record with a road game today in New Jersey against the Jets, and a home date a week from today vs. Pittsburgh.

There was a bunch of permutations of how Kevin Stefanski’s group can clinch a spot in the post-season tournament today, but to put it in the most simplest terms, if the Browns win and either the Colts (who play Pittsburgh), Dolphins, or Ravens lose, Cleveland will have its first playoff spot since 2002.

Of course, if not for the Raiders stealing defeat from the jaws of victory last night, the Browns would already be in.

Which brings up the discussion that has made the rounds on sportstalk radio this week. If the Colts beat the Steelers, and the Browns win, the game next Sunday at First Energy Stadium is for the AFC North title, and a home playoff game.

On the other hand, should that scenario occur, and Cleveland loses to the Steelers and Indianapolis, Miami, and Baltimore all win out, the Browns would wind up 11-5 on the season, and be on the outside looking in.

We would rather have this scenario. The Browns win today, the Steelers beat Indianapolis, and the brown and orange will be playing on either January 9th or 10th, albeit on the road, in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

We get wanting the whole enchilada, a division title, the first since 1989 (9-6-1 record) would be sweet, as would the first post-season game on the lakefront since the Wild Card win over New England in 1994.

However, this team has gone through so much, and the fan base has done the same, heck, just get into the post-season.

Don’t forget this is a very young football team, and it has very little playoff experience. If you were drafted by the Browns, you don’t have any, that’s for sure.

Even a long tenured veteran like Jarvis Landry, who in many ways is the heart and soul of this team, hasn’t played beyond week 17.

The playoff experience would be invaluable for this group, which was pointed out a couple of weeks ago during a game, has no starters on offense who have reached their 30th birthday.

It would be tremendous for Baker Mayfield to play in the post-season, and it may quiet his critics, both locally and nationally for him to take a team into the playoffs.

Stefanski has experienced playoff football and the preparation that goes into it as an assistant in Minnesota, but we would now have the chance to do it as a head coach.

This is an organization that is built for the long haul, and they haven’t received fortunate breaks to achieve the 10-4 record in 2020. We don’t know what will happen in the years to come, and certainly injuries are a key in any NFL season, but this Browns’ team has the look of a group who will be in the mix for the next few seasons.

Getting into the playoffs, even as a wild card, would be huge for the organization. Bigger than getting to the last game in a win or go home situation and not coming through.

The just get in crowd has it right. Let’s play in a post-season game.

Pettine’s Loyalty Bites Him Today

Normally, when a defense forces four turnovers and scores two touchdowns at home, you can expect a victory.

The Cleveland Browns did just that today, yet still lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 25-24 at First Energy Stadium to drop their record to 7-6, and the light showing the brown and orange’s playoff hopes in flickering at best.

Early in the week, coach Mike Pettine showed his faith in Brian Hoyer by having his remain as the starting quarterback, but once the game begin and Hoyer turned it over in the red zone after a four play drive in which the Browns had excellent field position (they took over at the Indy 46), Pettine backtracked.

The play calling was such that the coaching staff was trying to protect Hoyer from committing more errors.

If you are going to do that, then he should have just played Johnny Manziel.

Cleveland left points on the board all day long. In the first half, they started drives on their own 45, the Colts’ 46, and their own 35 yard lines, and scored no points.

The had just one scoring drive all day long, that late in the second quarter when the key play was a 27 yard toss to Travis Benjamin. That may sound good, but on the previous play, Hoyer missed a wide open Taylor Gabriel overthrowing him by 1on yards. An accurate throw there results in a touchdown.

That gives the Browns a 14-7 lead at halftime, the other score coming when Andrew Luck was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered in the end zone by Craig Robertson, who was all over the field today, for six points.

For the second straight week, the defense forced a turnover on the first drive of the second half, when Joe Haden forced a fumble which Paul Kruger recovered at the Indianapolis 38 yard line.

No points resulted, as the Colts forced a punt.

The defense, magnificent all day, took matters into their own hands again when rookie CB Justin Gilbert picked off Luck and raced 23 yards for a touchdown. That was as good as it got, a 21-7 Cleveland advantage.

Another interception early in the fourth quarter, this one by Jim Leonhard, who had a sack as well, give the Browns the ball on the Colts’ 23 yard line. A touchdown would have given the Browns a 28-19 lead with 12 minutes left.

The offense couldn’t move it again and Cleveland settled for a Billy Cundiff field goal keeping it a one possession game at 24-19.

Hoyer completed just 14 of 31 throws for 140 yards and two interceptions, the last on the penultimate play of the game, extinguishing any chance of the comeback win.

The defense gave Pettine every chance to win the game, the offense simply didn’t take advantage. Hoyer was struggling so much that it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Manziel would’ve started the second half, but the coach stuck to his guns.

However, he shot himself in the foot.

More on the defense, which seemed to be on the field the entire second half. Robertson and Leonhard were already mentioned, but Joe Haden and Buster Skrine were great today, and Barkevious Mingo deflected a pass and had a sack.

The way the entire unit played, they deserved to come away with the win.

The offense was simply not up to par with their teammates on the other side of the ball, nor was Cundiff, who missed another mid-range kick, this one from 40 yards.

The guess here is the Browns will have a new field goal kicker next week against the Bengals.

That will go along with their new quarterback, because if Pettine thinks about what’s best for his football team, he will give the nod to Manziel in the last home game.

Yes, the Browns are still in a race for the post-season, but they now need to win every game remaining on the schedule. They showed today they are capable of that, but they need the offense to help.

Hoyer played the first 11 games because he gave the Browns the best chance for success. We don’t think you can say that any more.

Browns Want Franchise QB. Where is He?

The Cleveland Browns made every indication that they are looking to next year when they traded Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

Most speculate that president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi will be looking for their franchise quarterback next spring in the draft.

However, there are plenty of holes in that argument.

The first question would be are there any “franchise” quarterbacks available next May. Oh, there will be plenty of players who so-called experts will say are franchise players at that position, but are they really that good?

There is no Andrew Luck available next year.

People will say no, but maybe there’s another Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson. Although he looked great last season, the former had a severe knee injury at the end of last season, and while Wilson played very well for Seattle last year, the major burden of the offense isn’t on him.

While the Browns would be better off with either player, there still isn’t any substantial evidence that either guy is an elite quarterback at this time.

Next, how do you get that QB, assuming that there is one near the top of the ’14 draft? Is Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, or Brett Hundley of UCLA on the same level as Luck or Griffin? Or are they guys like Geno Smith, currently with the Jets.

Obviously, the Browns figured having two first round picks will enable them to get them to where they want to be. But you have to remember the reason the Redskins were able to deal up to get Griffin.

The Rams had that pick and already had their signal caller in Sam Bradford.

Will another team that has a quarterback land in the top two or three choices and be willing to trade up with Cleveland?

That is doubtful.

It’s difficult to tell after just two weeks of the season, although Banner and Lombardi obviously figured out in that time that their team wasn’t good, who are likely candidates to have high draft picks next spring.

Many experts feel Jacksonville will be one of those teams, and they would be looking for a quarterback, and Oakland is another team mentioned as one of the league’s worst, and even though they are still unpredictable even without Al Davis running things, you have to figure they will be looking for a QB as well.

If the Browns finish 4-12 again and even if Indianapolis goes 8-8, would the 5^th and 17^th picks be enough to entice a team needing a passer to trade down? That’s highly unlikely.

Why 4-12 instead of say 2-14? The front office may be looking toward 2014, but the players and coaches still have pride.

We say this knowing that the best player in the draft isn’t a quarterback, it is South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney.

That’s the real criticism of this trade. It was made because Banner and Lombardi want to find a franchise quarterback, and want to be bad enough to get a high draft choice. But it doesn’t look like there is a mortal lock to be that guy available.

If you are going to do something like this, then getting Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, or Alex Smith doesn’t make you considerably better. You need to surround them with a great deal of talent to succeed.

Blowing up a season to get a high pick is a cowardly way to run an organization. We’ve seen turnarounds in San Francisco and Seattle in recent years, and for that matter in Kansas City this season without dismantling the franchise.

And if this trade makes the Browns better in the present, then they will foil the front office’s strategy. That will be hilarious.

If a franchise player is available in a draft, like LeBron James, then it might make sense to sacrifice a season. That guy’s not there next spring.

Meanwhile, the front office sold out their fans. Hope they can live with that.

Should Be Room for Browns, Tribe on Sports Talk

It is becoming a daily debate among Cleveland sports fans: Indians vs. Browns. It’s really stupid when you think about it, because it would be great if both teams, along with the Cavaliers were all good at the same time, something that hasn’t happened since 2007.

As a fan of all three teams, the Browns talk can be a little overwhelming. All the sports talk stations in town have to do to generate calls is mention any topic relating to the football team and the switchboard is lit up with calls to discuss the issue.

Just in the past week, there was discussion about whether or not fans should be allowed to bring bags/purses into FIrst Energy Stadium for Browns’ games, and the driving habits of two young wide receivers on the Browns.

And we aren’t talking about one segment for a show, these discussions lasted at least an hour.

All the while, the Indians were sitting in contention for a playoff spot, entering the weekend just 2-1/2 games out of a wild card spot.

We get it. Cleveland is a football town. However, it is hysterical to think of how anything football related is viewed through rose-colored glasses at this time of year.

Because the Browns started preseason with a 2-0 record, fans are talking about playoffs, even though the team hasn’t won more than five games in a season since 2007.

We get the optimism. Rob Chudzinski’s crew has some good young talent and a veteran coaching staff and looked to be poised for their best season in six years. Last night’s egg laid against the Indianapolis Colts should temper some of this enthusiasm.

We’ve had the same view for both the wins and the losses. They don’t count, so there is no need to be overly optimistic or pessimistic about the games.

After last night, we still have the same feeling about the 2013 Cleveland Browns. They will be improved, and a record somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 is very obtainable.

On the other hand, the Indians have played almost 5/6th of their schedule and right now, every game they play has meaning. They have a legitimate shot at the post-season, depending on what web site you look at, they have around 25% chance of making it at this point in the season.

After today, they have perhaps the most critical nine game stretch since the ’07 playoffs with contests against Atlanta, Detroit, and Baltimore, one of their main rivals for the wild card.

If they come through those games still within three or four games of the playoffs, they will have as good a chance as any.

The problem is the over analysis of training camp and exhibition play by both Browns fans and sports talk show hosts as opposed to talking about what the Indians need to do in the regular season to make the post-season.

Browns’ fans get upset at the notion that their team would be upstaged by the Tribe. This is understandable, but really the Indians are held to a higher standard in this city.

Can you imagine the outrage if the Indians lost more than 100 games five years in a row? There would be calls for the Dolan’s to sell the team, get a new general manager and make wholesale changes to the roster.

The Browns have done just that, and although there has been some criticism, their fans talk about patience and the process of building a winning football team.

The next week and a half should be about the Tribe. Their chance to make the playoffs (imagine a Cleveland team playing in them!) probably rests with those nine games.

The Browns won’t start playing games that count until after that stretch is over.

Let’s put the debate on how the Browns’ punter will be and give the Indians their due during this stretch of games.

Why Can’t Browns Win?

This week, The Sporting News took a poll of NFL players which revealed that the Cleveland Browns are looked upon as the worst organization in pro football.

Having only two winning seasons since 1999 and going through coaches and general managers like some people go through underwear will get you that ranking.

It also doesn’t help that the franchise seems to be spinning its wheels currently either.

What frustrates Browns fans is the lack of progress in the win/loss record.

Most people would agree that from a talent standpoint, the Browns are better than they were a couple of years ago. But why hasn’t it translated into more wins?

The Indianapolis Colts finished 2-14 a year ago and allowed several veterans to leave via free agency. They did have the first pick in the draft and selected their franchise quarterback, Andrew Luck.

Right now, the Colts are 5-3. The Browns are 2-7.

The Rams had the second pick in last year’s draft with a 2-14 record. They are now 3-5.

Minnesota was 3-13 in 2011. They currently sit at 5-4.

Tampa Bay had the same record as the Browns at 4-12. They are 4-4 halfway through this season.

The question is then why can’t the Browns show the same improvement record wise?

The organization will tell you about how they have so many players with less than one year or one year experience, and that the schedule they play is difficult, with six divisional games against the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals.

It is true that Cleveland is the third youngest team in the NFL. However, the Rams are the youngest. The Vikings are 4th and the Buccaneers are 6th.

So, it appears the age of the team doesn’t deter victories.

The Browns also can’t use the rookie quarterback excuse either, because of the Colts’ progress with Luck.

As for the scheduling issue, Indy has a win over the Green Bay Packers (6-2) and the Vikings. The Rams have beaten Seattle and handed the then unbeaten Cardinals their first loss.

Minnesota has a win over San Francisco (6-2) and also defeated a 2011 playoff team in Detroit. Tampa’s only quality win was against the Vikings, but they have won three of their last four.

So why don’t the Browns win more football games? It could be because those other teams show more aggressiveness, and that stems from the head coach.

Pat Shurmur may be a fine teacher and a great assistant coach, but he doesn’t appear to have what is takes to be a head coach in the NFL.

Here are a couple of things to ponder…

He spooked his own quarterback against the Ravens, talking about how he was afraid of Ed Reed. That made Weeden a dink and dunk passer for basically the whole game.

He had been very accurate on deep passes as of late, and his coach took that away from him.

Why not say that Reed is a future Hall of Famer, but you have to use good judgment in going after him?

And another thing, the Browns drafted Weeden because he had more arm strength than Colt McCoy. Why is the rookie’s average yards per attempt just slightly higher than McCoy’s was last year (6.2 vs. 5.9)?

You have to think the offensive scheme is the problem. Shurmur is making Weeden turn into McCoy.

You can understand the frustration of the fans with their football team. Teams make big turnarounds every season. This year, it’s the Colts, last year it was the 49ers.

Why can’t it be the Browns?

There is talent on this football team, so they can’t use that excuse anymore.

If Pat Shurmur can’t win games, then it’s time to bring in someone who can.

Browns Have More Talent, Not More Wins

After last week’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Browns’ coach Pat Shurmur seems to be under more fire from the media and the fans of the team.

The Browns are now 1-6 for the year and after starting out 2-1 last season, Cleveland has won just three of their last 20 games.

However, should the head coach be under siege, or is there other reasons for a wretched stretch in the win column?

Most everyone would agree that the Browns roster has more talent than last year’s did. They appear to have a good quarterback that can make all the throws.

They have a better running game with Trent Richardson and a revitalized Montario Hardesty.

They’ve upgraded at RT with Mitchell Schwartz rather than Tony Pashos and O’Neil Cousins.

The wide receiver corps is better with rookies Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin, and Josh Cooper.

Defensively, GM Tom Heckert picked up four solid defensive linemen, two in free agency (Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker) and two in the draft (John Hughes and Billy Winn).

The linebackers are young, but have speed, something that has been lacking the past few years.

The secondary still needs some work, but Cleveland has some young players from the draft that continue to get better.

So, if the talent is better from last year’s 4-12 record, then why are the Browns 1-6 heading into this week’s game against San Diego.

Doesn’t the arrow point squarely at the head coach?

For whatever the reason, Shurmur comes up short in terms of winning games.

Sometimes it’s because of play calling, other times it is dumb penalties, still other times it’s turnovers.

The point is that it is always something and there isn’t anything changing to put a halt to the seemingly endless losing.

Shurmur has done a very good job of teaching and getting a roster full of young, inexperienced players ready to compete at the NFL level. Rarely are the Browns completely overmatched in games, which makes the losses even more frustrating.

However, his in-game management leaves something to be desired and he hasn’t shown a great deal of growth even after 23 games as the head man.

Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The Browns’ coaching staff seems to panic once that happens.

That’s how we view Shurmur’s tendency to throw the ball time after time, ignoring the run.

He also isn’t decisive enough at times when he needs to be. Such as when he decided to punt on fourth down after throwing a deep pass in the fourth quarter.

He seems to second guess himself.

He seems stubborn, unwilling to change when what he wants to do isn’t working.

These weaknesses don’t bode well for Shurmur to be the head coach of the Browns for a third year, especially if they finish 4-12 or worse this season.

If he wants a chance to stay, he needs to start acting like he’s in charge, and he needs to be aggressive in his strategy. After all, with their current record, what is there to lose.

He should take the attitude of Cavs’ coach Byron Scott, who feels he has to do things his way, because if he gets fired, he will have no regrets.

The Browns’ new owner, Jimmy Haslam seems to be aggressive guy. His coach should adopt that same attitude.

Too Many Mistakes Kill Browns, Including on the Sidelines

Sometimes the obvious thing is the right thing to do.

That’s something coach Pat Shurmur needs to learn, but unfortunately, his learning experience cost his football team a game they should have won, as they lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 17-13, and dropped to 1-6 on the season.

The Colts came into the game not being able to stop the run, getting gashed each of the last two weeks. So, what did the Browns do?

The passed on 41 of their 58 plays from scrimmage, despite not trailing by more than one score for the entire game.

On the flip side, Indy came in to the contest not being able to run the football at all, but they ran it 37 times for 148 yards, an average of 4.0 yards per attempt.

Can’t run the ball, can’t stop the run. Where have we heard that before?

Pretty much every week since 1999. That’s the biggest reason the Cleveland Browns cannot win football games.

Otherwise, this was a game where mistake after mistake cost the Browns a victory in a game where they had numerous opportunities to claim their second straight victory. They showed today why they are a bad football team.

The most obvious mistake was the dropped touchdown pass by Josh Gordon late in the fourth quarter which would have given Cleveland a 20-17 lead. But another error followed on the next play.

If you are going to throw the ball deep on 3rd and 1 at that point in the game, the thought process has to be that you have another play to get the first down.

That would be the thought unless you are Shurmur and you decide to punt the ball away to the Colts.

You also have three special teams penalties that nullified good returns by Josh Cribbs and took away good field position.

You have an unnecessary roughness penalty on D”Qwell Jackson which gave Indianapolis three additional plays early in the fourth quarter.

You have a missed tackle on an obvious running play by CB Sheldon Brown, which led to a 26 yard run by the Colts’ RB Vick Ballard when they were basically trying to just run time off the clock.

You have a missed extra point on the Browns’ first touchdown because Reggie Hodges dropped the snap and hold.

That’s too many mistakes to make in a close game, even if that contest is against a team who had the first pick in the NFL draft a year ago.

However, the biggest problem was the lack of effort in trying to exploit the Colts’ inability to stop the run coming into the game. In the second half, Shurmur treated the game plan like the Browns were behind by three touchdowns, not eight points, running the ball just two times in the third quarter and just six times in the second half.

By the way, those six runs netted 21 yards.

Trent Richardson had eight carries for eight yards, and only caught two passes for 11 yards. He appeared tentative hitting the hole for the second straight week, but he did gain nine yards on his first catch on a pass to the flat, which the Browns didn’t use the rest of the game.

Montario Hardesty did hit the hole quick, and gained 28 yards on seven attempts, but the Browns biggest rushing play of the game was a scramble by Brandon Weeden of 13 yards.

Weeden did hit 25 of 41 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns, one of 14 yards to Greg Little, and the other a 33-yard strike to Gordon, his fourth TD reception in the last three games.

Defensively, Cleveland couldn’t stop the Colts in the first half, but Dick Jauron made adjustments in the second half and held Indy to just a field goal. Brown was picked on quite a bit, but did cause the only turnover of the game when he sacked Andrew Luck and recovered the resulting fumble.

It was a very disappointing loss for the Browns, because they came into the game probably with the better team. That won’t happen too much this season.

Once again, the propensity of this team to ignore the run killed the Browns. New team CEO Joe Banner has seen this movie before, in Philadelphia with Andy Reid as the pass happy coach.

Colts’ Game is Key to Improved Record

Now that they finally have a win under their belt, the Cleveland Browns have a critical game coming up this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

It’s not important in terms of playoffs or anything like that, that’s really far-fetched, but if Pat Shurmur wants to show improvement record wise over last year, then they could really use a win this weekend.

A victory would constitute a winning streak and raise the team’s record to 2-5, and there is no question this game can be won.

The Colts have perhaps the best quarterback to enter the league since Peyton Manning in Andrew Luck, and of course, we all know of his ties to Cleveland, with his father playing at St. Ignatius, but remember they got Luck because they had the worst record in the NFL last season.

They also have trouble stopping the run, which should mean a steady dose of Trent Richardson and now, we have to include Montario Hardesty based on Sunday’s win.

Being 2-5 and winning the last two would bode much better for the future than 1-6 with a loss to the Colts.

That’s because the rest of the schedule doesn’t seem as daunting as it once did.

We hate to play the schedule game before the season starts, but now that we have a gauge on teams are strong and which ones aren’t, we have a better perspective on what games can be one and which ones will be difficult to walk away with a victory.

Cleveland has games remaining with both the Raiders and Chiefs, two teams who have the same victory total as the Browns. When the various power rankings come out this week, don’t be surprised if Kansas City ranks 32nd.

The Browns also have already played the better teams in the NFC East, the Giants and Eagles, so they have Dallas and Washington remaining, with the Redskins at home.

The ‘Skins have the electrifying Robert Griffin III at quarterback, but remember they are another team that picked in the top ten in last spring’s draft.

The Cowboys are a mess, getting destroyed by the Bears two weeks ago, and then using horrible clock management to blow a potential win against Baltimore on Sunday.

Within the division, the Browns have three games left, two of them at home. The Steelers are struggling a bit right now, and the Ravens, who are 5-1, have all kinds of problems with injuries, particularly on defense.

And it’s not as though Baltimore dominated the Browns in their first meeting in the Charm City.

However, any positive momentum will develop with a victory this coming weekend at Indianapolis, which would put the Browns at 2-5.

Let’s say Cleveland can beat the Raiders and Chiefs, and pick up one more victory against Washington or Dallas. Mix in one more divisional win, and you wind up the season 6-10.

That’s a two game improvement from last season, a good step forward for Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.

Another thing that bothers us is criticism of Heckert. Apparently, some fans think every draft pick should be an impact player, and hammer the GM for any pick that doesn’t work out, such as Greg Little and Hardesty.

However, look at guys like Billy Winn, Jason Pinkston, and even Buster Skrine and Trevin Wade. Those are all guys picked in the later round who can play in this league.

They may not be stars, but if they weren’t good enough to make the roster, then people would be all over Heckert for that. They are contributing, so you have to give him props for that.

It may be overly optimistic to project an improved record for the Browns after one win, but they games they have lost are all to teams .500 or better at this point, and they really haven’t been overmatched in any of them.

Still, a win on the road this weekend would go a long way in showing everyone that this isn’t the same old Browns.