Browns Handling QB Correctly. Finally.

Over the past few seasons, the Cleveland Browns have played a form of Russian Roulette with the quarterback position, and although that’s not the only reason for being 15-65 over the last five years, it’s a good place to start.

In 2013, Rob Chudzinski started the season with second year pro Brandon Weeden as the starter, and when he went down, Brian Hoyer, who at that point had made one NFL start was thrust into action.

When Hoyer was lost for the season, it left Jason Campbell, who had some experience, but also never started an NFL game again after that season.

The next season, then new coach Mike Pettine went with Hoyer to start the season, with rookie Johnny Manziel in reserve. With Hoyer’s season started to go south, and the Browns were in playoff contention, Pettine’s only choice was to start Manziel, who was known more for his improvisational skills at Texas A & M.

In 2015, the Browns signed Josh McCown to be the starting QB, but even though they knew the veteran’s history, that is frequently injured and an extreme losing record, the backups for him were Manziel and Austin Davis, a third year player with eight career starts in St. Louis when Sam Bradford was injured.

The following year had two frequently hurt guys, McCown and Robert Griffin III on the roster with two rookies, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan backing them up. After the two vets were injured, predictably, Kessler wound up playing way too much for a third round draft pick.

And last season, Cleveland started DeShone Kizer, another rookie, this time picked in the second round, with Hogan and Kessler in reserve.

This is another change with GM John Dorsey being involved, and it is welcome to say the least.

Dorsey traded for Tyrod Taylor, a seven year veteran, although only 29 years old, and a player who was his team’s starter for the previous three seasons.

As you read above, that has not been the case in any of the last five seasons. In that span, the Browns had oft-injured veterans who hadn’t started in at least a year, save for McCown in ’15, and he was coming off a 1-10 season in Tampa Bay.

Taylor was 8-6 as a starter last season, and is 22-20 over the last three campaigns.

We are very confident Cleveland will be drafting a QB with the first overall pick next month, and so they are not in the situation of having to start a rookie if Taylor has to miss a game, they signed Drew Stanton on Sunday as a free agent.

Stanton is 34, and has never been a full fledged starter in the NFL, but he did start 13 games for the Cardinals in the last four seasons, and registered a 9-4 record in those starts.

He’s not a long term solution for sure, and his numbers over that span aren’t anything to write home about (51.1% completions, 15 TDs/15 interceptions), but he has experience, and once again, means Hue Jackson will not be forced to play the guy who will be the future of the franchise before he is ready.

All that is left is for the organization to resist any temptation to play the rookie if the 2018 starts poorly.

That’s a habit that needs to be broken.

There is now experience at the most important position on a football team, and credible people for the rookie to learn from.

That’s a welcome change from the past five seasons.

Zebras Help Browns Drop to 4-9.

Usually on Sunday night, we dissect the Browns game played earlier today and talk about the reasons why the team won or loss the contest.

Cleveland lost today a game they had every right to win, dropping a controversial 27-26 decision to the playoff-bound New England Patriots.

Jason Campbell returned to quarterback and played a marvelous game, hitting 29 of 44 throws for 391 yards and three touchdown tosses. Josh Gordon continued his All Pro play by catching seven balls for 151 yards, including an 80-yard catch and run for a touchdown.

TE Jordan Cameron returned to the offense, catching nine throws for 121 yards and a TD that gave Rob Chudzinski’s team a 26-16 lead with 2:39 remaining in the game.

Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady threw for 418 yards, but was picked off by LB D’Qwell Jackson and was sacked four times by a tenacious Cleveland defense.

The Browns drop to 4-9 on the campaign with just three games remaining.

That’s about all we are going to say about the actual play on the field, because the officiating in this football game was the main story.

We have said it before and we will say it again today…NFL officials are the worst in professional sports. We say this because they like to make an impact on games, and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for the calls they make.

Certainly, the pass interference call which set the Patriots up for the winning touchdown was terrible and even the national media and a former supervisor of officials said so.

While Brady may have led New England to a touchdown anyway, the call put the ball on the Cleveland 1 yard line, basically giving the Pats a victory.

The professional game needs to adopt the college rule, making defensive pass interference a maximum 15 yard penalty only. In most cases, the contact involved is so incidental and/or being initiated by the offensive player to penalize a team more than 15 yards for the infraction.

However, that was only the last horrible call made by this crew.

They bungled the intention grounding rule twice, once allowing Brady to throw a ball away inside the tackle box while being pressured without a call, and then when Campbell escaped from the pocket, scrambled outside the hash marks, and threw a pass while being hit that bounced perhaps five yards away from Chris Ogbonnaya, he was flagged for 10 yards and a loss of down.

To prove this is not sour grapes, the Browns converted the first down on the next play anyway with Campbell hitting Gordon for a first down.

Another missed call was on Julian Edelman’s 2-yard TD catch with 1:01 remaining. Jordan Poyer was flagged for the hit on a defenseless receiver when he clearly (according to replays) hit Edelman in the shoulder with his shoulder. It was a hit designed to jar the ball loose, and he did not lead with his helmet, nor did he hit Edelman in the helmet.

The flag allowed the Patriots to try their onside kick attempt from the 50-yard line instead of the 35.

New England was on the short end of officials deciding the game earlier in the year, when officials cited the rarely called helping a teammate by pushing them forward penalty. That call resulted in the Jets getting another attempt for a field goal after a miss. The kicker made the second try and won the game.

The NFL is football on the highest level, and the players have a great deal riding on every game, since there are only 16 of them. The league needs to let the players decide the outcome.

The officiating is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Browns Version of “What If?”

Monday, September 9th–

After years of losing the season opener, the Cleveland Browns finally got it right, defeating the Miami Dolphins in the opener 24-17.

Since the other three teams in the AFC North all lost, new coach Rob Chudzinski’s team has an early advantage in the division and have an opportunity to put a severe dent in the Ravens hopes with a win next week against Baltimore.

Hometown starter Brian Hoyer led an efficient attack, hitting on 26 of 42 passes for 289 yards and two touchdown throws, one each to Jordan Cameron and the other to Trent RIchardson.

Monday, September 16th–

The Browns’ new regime is off to a flying start and the members of the Dawg Pound have to have thoughts of playoffs dancing in their heads as Cleveland won its second straight game, ruining the Ravens’ opener with a 16-14 win to raise their record to 2-0.

Brian Hoyer had another strong outing, throwing for 286 yards on 24 completions in 33 attempts, including a strike to TE Jordan Cameron for a touchdown. Cameron caught 8 passes for 131 yards as Hoyer repeatedly found him to keep the chains moving.

The Cleveland offensive line provided good protection for the second straight week as Hoyer was sacked just twice by the Baltimore defense.

Of course, this is fiction, but you have to wonder what the Browns record would be if the coaching staff had opted for either of the other quarterbacks on the roster instead of starting the season with Brandon Weeden.

Through the performances of both Hoyer and Jason Campbell in their appearances this year, it is obvious that Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner gave four starts to the team’s third best signal caller.

Let’s face it, the offensive looks much better with either Hoyer or Campbell at the controls, and it is in all phases of the game.

Last Sunday, the fear was the Cleveland passer being sacked repeatedly by a Chiefs’ rush that led the NFL in sacks, averaging five per contest.

Campbell went down for a loss just once.

Why? Because he reads the defense quickly and gets rid of the football. Hoyer’s style was similar when he started against the Vikings and Bengals. The offensive line looked much better than when Weeden was in the game, mostly because of the latter’s habit of waiting and waiting before throwing the football.

All of the quarterbacks have played under the handicap of virtually no running game, as only in the Buffalo game has a Cleveland running back gained over 75 yards.

Browns’ passers have thrown nine interceptions for the season, with Weeden throwing six of those. To be fair, Hoyer threw three in his first start, which he won, and Weeden has played the majority of the games, starting four and playing most of the Thursday night win against Buffalo.

Hoyer and Campbell have more accurate too, hitting for a combined 58.8% of their passes, compared to Weeden’s 52.8%.

Not to degrade the new coach, but you have to wonder why they started the season with Weeden? Is it because he was a first round draft pick? Was it his big arm?

You would have to think the offense runs much smoother with Hoyer or Campbell in practice as well.

Maybe it was the desire to see what Weeden could do under a new coaching staff, just as Chudzinski alluded to earlier this season. If that’s the case, how many wins did the staff cost this team.

What if the Browns had started Hoyer or Campbell right from the start? Would they be 5-3? Or 6-2?

The difference is so dramatic, it makes you pause and wonder.

The Browns’ QB Dilemma

After Brandon Weeden’s infamous flip that resulted in the interception that clinched the Lions’ win over the Browns on Sunday, it seems the only people who still have confidence in the quarterback is the Browns’ coaching staff.

Most media members, including ex-coaches and ex-players are advocating replacing Weeden with Jason Campbell, a serviceable veteran at best.

Even if Campbell eliminated the “dumb” plays that occurred last Sunday, it would be worth seeing him under center rather that Weeden, who doesn’t seemed to have progressed from his rookie season.

However, Rob Chudzinski announced that Weeden would start this Sunday against Green Bay.

What that means is the coach and his staff feel the former Oklahoma State star is better than Campbell and any other passer currently not on an NFL roster.

When you think about that for a minute, you realize it’s probably true.

Or does the front office not really care about this season, and that’s why they aren’t doing anything. If that’s true, that’s a disservice to every Browns fan in the country.

Especially since the team is 3-3 and is only one game out of first place in a division that is proving to be mediocre at best.

There were a lot of people (us included) who felt the Browns were giving up on the season when they traded Trent Richardson to Indianapolis. Three straight wins changed the opinions of the fans, but was the management impressed.

Of course, some of that optimism came with the play of Brian Hoyer, who orchestrated a comeback win against the Vikings and led the team to a victory over the Bengals.

Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi have stated they want to get a “franchise” quarterback in the draft, and the first round pick acquired in the Richardson deal gives them the assets to do just that.

But do they?

It will be difficult if the Browns win six or seven games, which is very possible, and Indianapolis win their division, which is also very possible now that the Houston Texans seem to have gone into the toilet.

Outside of the Giants, who have Eli Manning, or the Steelers, with Ben Roethlisberger, what other team that would currently pick in the top five wouldn’t want to take one of the top quarterbacks available in next spring’s draft?

Jacksonville, regarded as the NFL’s worst team will almost certainly take Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater with the top pick. Tampa Bay, another winless squad, will also be looking for a QB after letting Josh Freeman go.

Among the one win teams thus far, besides Pittsburgh, Washington and Atlanta wouldn’t be looking for new signal callers, but they also aren’t likely to stay at the bottom of the standings for the balance of the season.

Add to this Phil Simms’ opinion that there is no top-tier quarterbacks available next spring. ESPN’s Mike Golic said he thinks Bridgewater will be a good NFL player, but he’s not on the level of Andrew Luck.

If those guys are right, it means the quarterback derby in the ’14 Draft will be a crapshoot. You may get Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers or you may get Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith.

So, the Browns should do what they can to win and make the playoffs while they have a chance. And they have a chance this year.

If they believe Weeden is their best chance to win, he should play. If not, then give Campbell, a guy with a proven track record, a shot.

The 2013 season should be most important, not 2014.