Browns’ Fans Have Something To Celebrate…Joe Thomas

Since the Cleveland Browns re-entered the NFL in 1999, their fans have had little to cheer about. There have been just two playoff appearances (2002 and 2020) and only three winning seasons.

The only winning season that did not result in a playoff appearance was 2007, a team that featured a rookie left tackle named Joe Thomas.

It’s not a Super Bowl or conference championship appearance, but at least Browns’s supporters will have something to enjoy and relish in when Thomas becomes the 18th member of the Browns to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Thomas played 11 seasons with Cleveland and made 10 Pro Bowls. The only season he didn’t was his last, when he was injured. Without a doubt, he would have been selected that year as well. He was first team All Pro six times and second team twice.

Offensive line play is very difficult for fans to focus on, we all want to focus on the football and who is running it, throwing it, or catching it. However, what Browns fans did know (and the many, many quarterbacks Thomas blocked for knew as well) is if the opposition had an excellent pass rusher, he would be neutralized by the man who was drafted third overall out of Wisconsin.

No doubt, it was one of the best draft picks the team ever made.

Cleveland has had a long line of outstanding players at the position. Lou Groza manned the spot from 1948-59. Dick Schafrath took over for him and held the spot from ’60 to ’71. Doug Dieken succeeded Schafrath and played there from ’72 to ’84.

Before the team was moved, Paul Farren and Tony Jones had lengthy runs at the spot. But Thomas is the greatest of all of them. Most fans purchase jerseys of the team’s quarterback, running back, or wide receiver to wear to games or around town, in northeast Ohio, people bought #73 jerseys, the number Thomas wore.

He was the rock Browns fans could hang their hat on. He was good, excellent really, and the one player football fans around the country could recognize on the Cleveland roster.

He represented the city as well. No glitz, just a guy who worked hard and showed up every day, as his streak of 10,363 consecutive snaps shows. He personified the area. Heck, he famously went fishing with his father instead of attending the draft the year he selected.

Who does that?

It is a shame that after the 10-6 mark in Thomas’ rookie season, the next best season for the team while he was playing was the 7-9 mark in 2014. It is likely no great player in NFL history were on worse teams than Joe Thomas.

However, in a way, that shows his greatness. He didn’t have to be on playoff teams or contending teams for everyone to know how dominant he was at his position. The pro football intelligentsia saw the performance and talent. The Browns didn’t even have to win for it to show through.

Thomas is the first of the “new” Browns to reach Canton. Who is next? Perhaps his former offensive line mate Joel Bitonio. But it should be a big party just an hour south of here in July when the enshrinement ceremony takes place.

With all due respect to Darrelle Revis, Ronde Barber, Zach Thomas, and the others selected for the honor this season, the 2023 ceremony will be the Joe Thomas show.

An appreciation from the fans of the Browns of how much he meant to this franchise whose fans have had little to celebrate in the 21st century.

Free Agency Frenzy Improves Browns

Since last Friday afternoon, GM John Dorsey is remaking the Cleveland Browns with a series of trades and free agent signings.

He attacked the biggest weak points on the team, and in doing so, he didn’t touch the organization’s biggest draft assets, their picks in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft.

There are critics on the deal for QB Tyrod Taylor, which cost the team the highest pick they gave up, the first pick in the third round, but if you think of that pick as the Browns’ sixth draft choice, it makes a lot of sense.

Taylor is the antithesis of what Cleveland has had at quarterback for much of the recent past, he takes care of the football.

In the midst of all this talent acquisition though, came the loss of the Browns’ best player, Joe Thomas.

An perennial all pro, Thomas will head to Canton and the Hall of Fame in five years. It is a shame that he never got to play in a playoff game during his time in brown and orange.

Dorsey addressed the offensive line and the secondary in the first days of free agency.

In the defensive backfield, he signed CB T.J. Currie (from Oakland), who should claim a starting role and CB Terrance Mitchell (from Kansas City), who will provide depth at the position.

We also feel strongly that one of Cleveland’s first five picks will be used on another cornerback, perhaps Ohio State’s Denzel Ward.

Dorsey needed to replace Thomas on the offensive line, and perhaps T Chris Hubbard from the Steelers, who wasn’t a starter, but played well when pressed into duties with Pittsburgh last season.

Hubbard, 26, could get a crack at replacing Thomas at left tackle, or perhaps Shon Coleman could move there, or one will be drafted.

The only other free agent that will likely be a front line players will be RB Carlos Hyde, who replaces Isaiah Crowell, who went to the Jets.

Hyde is a bigger back, the kind we believe the coaching staff prefers. He can pound in between the tackles, which really Crowell was better at too, but Hue Jackson seemed intent on running him outside.

He’s also a better receiver. All in all, it’s probably a wash, and look for the Browns to add a running back in the first two rounds of next month’s draft.

The rest of the signees were about building depth, most notably DE Chris Smith from the Bengals, and after the last two seasons, Dorsey needed to have options when the injuries which inevitably hit an NFL team come around.

All in all, this free agent class doesn’t really affect how the front office will view the draft.

The Browns will still be looking for a quarterback, a running back, another pass rusher to pair with Myles Garrett, a left tackle, and cornerbacks.

Outside of running back, those are perhaps the most important positions on the football field. And the Browns are looking for great players at those spots, guys who impact the game.

You generally can’t get those people in free agency, meaning right now, we like the new GM’s approach at this time of the year.

Browns’ Draft Thoughts

In two months, the endless draft talk regarding what the Cleveland Browns should do after a pair of horrific seasons which netted one win in 32 games.

Looking at the draft, we agree with the notion that former Browns GM Ernie Accorsi has said, the two most important positions in pro football are quarterback and a guy who can get to the quarterback.

Certainly, the brown and orange need a passer. They haven’t had one since Bernie Kosar was unceremoniously released in 1993.

They got a guy who can get to the QB last season in Myles Garrett, but like pitching in baseball, you can never have too many pass rushers.

We think Emmanuel Ogbah can develop into a great bookend with Garrett, but we think GM John Dorsey will look for another player who can get to the opposing team’s passer.

Still, we feel the offensive and defensive lines are the team’s strengths, although the Browns have to be on the lookout for Joe Thomas’ replacement whether or not he retires prior to next season or not.

Besides quarterback, in our opinion, the biggest needs for the organization are the secondary, including linebacker, and running back.

We would also say that anyone who feels the Browns can pass on a passer with the first overall pick are crazy. Again, it’s been 25 years since Cleveland has had a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

Which one of the college QBs would we take? The guy who has the highest floor, the one who has the lowest bust factor. We think that is Josh Rosen.

Rosen was the premier prep quarterback coming into college as a freshman, meaning he was at the top of the class then, and he has maintained that position.

That said, we like Baker Mayfield a lot too. And if Dorsey and his cadre of talent evaluators think he is the answer, then we would have no problem with the Browns selecting him.

After all, if they are right, then the Browns are a step closer to competing for a Super Bowl.

There are a lot of draft “experts” who rate Penn State running back Saquon Barkley as the best player in this year’s draft.

While we certainly have seen running backs help teams transform into winners the past two seasons with Zeke Elliott in Dallas and Leonard Fournette in Jacksonville, we don’t put Barkley in the same category.

Barkley is a home run hitter, but we have questions as to whether he can take the pounding of getting 20-25 carries every week in the NFL.

Besides, this year is purported to be a deep running back draft, so you can get a solid back with one of your second round selections.

We would be more intrigued with CB/S Minkah Fitzpatrick from Alabama, DE Bradley Chubb from NC State, or CB Josh Jackson from Iowa, all of whom would fill a big need for the Browns.

We would probably look for Thomas’ replacement with one of the four selections the Browns have from pick #33 through #65, as well as one of the spots they didn’t fill with the fourth overall choice.

Trading down? We would stay away from that, in fact, we would probably look to trade back up for another first rounder.

If they would consider moving down, it should only be to drop two or three slots, so you can still get the guy you like.

There will be plenty of speculation between now and April 26th, particularly this week with NFL Draft Combine going on. Although, none of the candidates have played a game since January.

There. We got that out of our system. No more draft talk until at least April.

Just What Is Hue Whispering?

For the second time in three weeks, the Cleveland Browns outgained their opponent and lost a football game.

In a strange way, this could be progress.

However, once again, turnovers raised their ugly head, and along with some odd coaching moves (again!), the Browns dropped to 0-7 on the season with a 12-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans in overtime.

Hue Jackson’s team lost the turnover battle 3-1, with two of the picks coming as the team was driving.

And once again, Jackson changed quarterbacks, going to Cody Kessler in the third quarter after DeShone Kizer threw a pick at the end of the first half, and then threw another early after halftime.

There were several odd coaching decisions in this one, the first coming on the game’s first drive, when Jackson declined a personal foul penalty on 3rd and 1 in Cleveland territory.

The Titans went for it on fourth and one, and picked up the first down. Thankfully, the defense stiffened and held Tennessee to a field goal.

Didn’t Jackson consider the possibility that the Titans would go for it? Also, the penalty yardage would have backed the Titans out of field goal range.

Another odd play was Kessler’s interception in the fourth quarter.

On 3rd and 13 from the Titans’ 47 yard line, Kessler fired the ball downfield and it was picked off on the Tennessee 8 with Cleveland trailing 9-6.

One, why not try to get seven or eight yards and then go for it on fourth down. Two, the replay showed there were no route underneath to do just that.

Jackson forced his QB to throw a long pass downfield, and we believe everyone would believe that throwing downfield is not Kessler’s strong suit.

The Browns had another penalty filled day, another thing that can be attributed to the coaching staff.

The special teams had a block in the back call (to be fair, a little questionable) on the Browns last drive forcing them to start 10 yards further back after forcing a punt, and they received another flag on Cleveland’s last punt for a player being out of bounds, giving Tennessee an extra five yards on the game winning drive.

Then, in overtime, both possessions started offensively for Cleveland with runs, putting Kessler in unfavorable down and distance situations.

We understand we want the Browns to run the football, and they did make a concerted effort to do that today, but they still wound up running 26 times vs. 39 passes.

Our point in overtime is with Kessler in there, why not throw a short pass to gain 4 or 5 yards on first down and give your passer options?

To top off the entire mess, Joe Thomas got hurt in the game and had his consecutive snap streak ended. His availability for next week is in doubt. And if he can’t play, the offensive line is a mess.

Want positives? Rookie TE David Njoku continues to show he is a player, with two catches for 58 yards. The question would be why just two catches?

The other positive is the defense, which did not allow the opposition into the end zone. Granted, Tennessee likes to run the ball, and the Browns are very good at stopping the run, but they accomplished this with Jason McCourty and Jabrill Peppers inactive with injuries.

So, now it’s off to London for a game against the Vikings, followed by the bye week.

Another game with weird coaching decisions and the front office may have to do something. Perhaps change play calling responsibilities, maybe a change at special teams’ coach.

It’s tough to be 1-22, when this was supposed to be a season where progress was to be seen.

We don’t think Hue Jackson is giving us any confidence that it will be.

Browns Continue To Get Younger

The Cleveland Browns cut down to 53 players today, although our guess is that the final roster will won’t be finished for several days.

A common theme since the beginning of last year has been youth. If your name is not Joe Thomas, and you are over 30 years old, it is very difficult to make this roster.

After the end of last season, we speculated that Desmond Bryant and John Greco might have difficulty being with the team in 2017, and we wound up being correct. Neither are still wearing brown and orange.

Besides Thomas, only two players have reached their 30th birthday, and one of them is the punter, Britton Colquitt. Only CB Jason McCourty escaped the wrath of the organization’s obsession with Father Time.

Not that we disagree with what Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry have done. They took over a football organization that made one playoff appearance since returning to the NFL in 1999, and never really tried to build through the draft.

From the first year Cleveland returned, they had players like Jerry Ball, Lomas Brown, and John Jurkevic on the roster.

The second and third year, they didn’t have many players over 30 on the roster, and they got to 7-9 in the third year (2001), and made the playoffs in 2002 at 9-7.

After making the playoffs, it seemed like that became the goal, and the organization started adding veterans every year, mostly guys nearing the end of their careers, players like Orpheus Roye, Ross Verba, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Joe Andruzzi, Kenard Lang, etc.

Combined with not drafting well, and you can see why the franchise was floundering.

Brown and DePodesta stopped the madness, although many veteran football media people couldn’t see what they were doing.

Outside of Thomas, they unloaded veteran players who were no longer improving. The only holdover was Thomas, a future Hall of Famer for sure. And Thomas had to buy into the process, otherwise he would have asked out.

As of right now, 42 of the 53 players on the roster were brought in the past two years, and that doesn’t count players like Christian Kirksey, Joel Bitonio, and Danny Shelton, who are still young guys, but were drafted by Ray Farmer.

The new regime needs to has success, for sure. We aren’t saying that Brown and DePodesta did the right thing after going 1-15 a year ago.

However, we do feel the team is going in the right direction, and fans shouldn’t be discouraged if the Browns go 4-12 or 5-11 this season.

Why? Because they will be doing it with a very, very young roster that should continue to improve over the next three or four seasons.

And because the front office seems to be drafting better. Knock on wood, but it looks like both first round picks, Myles Garrett and Jabril Peppers, can be impact players.

Last year’s choices look to be improved too. Emmanuel Ogbah, Corey Coleman, Shon Coleman, Derrick Kindred, Joe Schobert, and Seth DeValve look like contributors.

The scouting department has found solid players like Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Tyrone Holmes, and Dan Vitale off the waiver wire.

Whether success comes in the next few years or not, what the Browns are doing is the right thing to do.

We have said it many times, the only thing worse than being a bad team is being a bad, old team.

The Cleveland Browns definitely cannot be considered the latter.

Slight Change In Browns’ Plan?

Looking at the current roster of the Cleveland Browns, one thing stands out, or should we say, the absence of one thing stands out.

Take a look at the experience column. Three players have been in the NFL for more than 10 seasons. TE Gary Barnidge and OL John Greco have been in the league for ten years, while stalwart T Joe Thomas has been in the league for 11 seasons.

This comes after the release of two veterans yesterday, QB Josh McCown and DB Tramon Williams were both given their walking papers, and actually, probably a year too late for both of them in our opinion.

If you look at the ages of the roster, those three, plus DL Desmond Bryant, P Britton Colquitt, and WR Andrew Hawkins represent the only players on the team that have passed the big “3-0”. Colquitt is probably safe, but it would not be surprising if the other two were let go, before the new league year starts.

The significance of the releases of McCown and Williams is it frees up another $11 million in salary cap space for the Browns. This is where the slight change in the Browns’ plan comes in.

Our guess is the front office is going to make a splash in free agency, and not like before when they signed guys like Donte Whitner and Karlos Dansby, players well past their prime, but brought in as culture changes.

Our belief is the Browns will go after some players finishing their first pro contract, players just entering the prime of their career to speed up the building process. With a tremendous amount of money below the salary cap, an estimated $113 million, perhaps Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson can bring in three starters, plus the draft class which will include five picks in the first 65 players taken.

Those are guys you want. Most of those guys are in the 25-27 years of age range, and signing them to a three or four year deal takes them through at the most age 31. And that seems right in line with what the Browns plan is.

Get good young players and let them grow together, and hopefully you can win sooner than later.

It is hard to argue with that logic. It may just allow the Browns to fill six or seven spots in the starting lineup, and a few of those will be with players who have a track record in the league.

The point men for this will be Jackson and new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. They will have to sell these players and their agents, that Cleveland isn’t the vast wasteland of the NFL and they are building something to last.

Of course, they will probably have to overpay to do this, but when you are $113 million under the cap, that’s not a big deal either.

And we believe that number will grow, because it would not be a shock if Bryant and Hawkins are cut soon as well.

It’s a subtle shift, but one that should speed up the process of winning. And that is something we can all buy into.

Browns Have More House Cleaning To Do

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the Cleveland Browns’ need to get younger because it’s bad enough to stink, but to have many old players and stink is worse.

Since then, the Browns have cut ties with Karlos Dansby, and Alex Mack departed via free agency. Both were over 30 years old.

However, Sashi Brown and coach Hue Jackson still have a bunch of grizzled veterans who wouldn’t seem to have a place on a building football operation.

Notice he didn’t use the term “rebuilding” because something needs to be in place at one time, and having two winning seasons in 16 years doesn’t really qualify.

Cleveland still has 10 players over 30 years old on the roster, nine if you disqualify punter Andy Lee, because he should be able to kick a football effectively for a few more years.

That leaves this group with their ages listed:

Josh McCown (36)
Tramonn Williams (33)
John Greco (31)
Joe Thomas (31)
Gary Barnidge (30)
Desmond Bryant (30)
Andrew Hawkins (30)
Paul Kruger (30)
Donte Whitner (30)

We would get rid of all of them, and we feel most will no longer be with the team after the NFL Draft occurs in late April.

Rumors already have the brown and orange shopping McCown now that Robert Griffin III signed here as a free agent.

Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Jackson are probably holding on to most of these guys trying to move each of them for additional draft picks during the draft, and if trades can’t be made, many of them could be released shortly after the selection meeting.

The most controversial name here is Thomas, a nine time Pro Bowl player.

We wouldn’t move the future Hall of Famer unless Cleveland can secure a first round draft choice for him. This is likely the last time Thomas would be able to garner such a haul, and our guess is the “analytical” approach of the front office tells them the same thing.

If Thomas is dealt, the Browns may keep Greco to keep at least one veteran on the offensive line. Barnidge will likely stay as well, since the team signed him to a friendly three year deal last season.

For the rest of the players, well, let’s say we wouldn’t get involved in long term lease arrangements.

In our opinion, the new regime wants to get rid of the losing attitude that has hovered over the locker room over the past ten years. It’s no disrespect to these players, who play hard for the most part, but when you lose 10 or more games year in and year out, it is human nature to insulate yourself against all the losing and you begin to accept it.

You lose your will to be angry about it.

The Browns need to build around this draft class and the young players from the past couple of drafts who can play.

We also have a feeling that we will see what a terrible coaching staff this team had the past two years, and perhaps Danny Shelton, Cam Irving, Nate Orchard, and some others aren’t as bad as originally thought.

Basically, the Browns need to do a thorough cleaning of their locker room, getting rid of the losing stench.

So, we anticipate more roster adjustments will be made. In one month, this roster will look completely different from the one who ended the season.

Why Losing Free Agents Isn’t That Big Of A Deal For Browns

Since the NFL calendar year started a week ago, the Cleveland Browns have once again become the butt of jokes in the national media because five of their six free agents have left the team.

Included in those five players are four starters, including Pro Bowl offensive lineman Alex Mack and RT Mitchell Schwartz.

In our eyes, the latter was the biggest and really only loss from a team that went 3-13 a year ago. Schwartz showed he was one of the best right tackles in the league, and he would have entered this season at 27 years old.

And apparently, according to some reports, he left because Sashi Brown and the new regime showed stubbornness in the negotiations, telling the lineman the offer they had made went away if he left the room.

While many football writers are hammering the Browns for losing the four players, although we would have kept Schwartz, we can see the front office’s thinking.

In losing the two starting lineman, you can be sure Hue Jackson’s team will be near the bottom of the NFL in running the ball and in protecting the passer.

Oh wait, that’s where Cleveland ranked in 2015 with Mack and Schwartz. So, how big of a loss is the duo?

It could be that the front office thinks there is a losing attitude within the entire roster and they are going to have to start from scratch to establish a winning culture.

If that’s true, then we can definitely see the Browns trading their All Pro left tackle, Joe Thomas, as well. We have often said that although Thomas is undoubtedly going to the Hall of Fame, he seems to accept defeat easily.

He doesn’t think losing is unacceptable, he thinks it just stinks. We always say that everyone likes winning, but we would rather have players who hate to lose.

We aren’t sure the Browns have enough players who have become sick of what has gone on here over the last five years, let alone since 1999.

We would not be opposed to trading Thomas, but only if the Browns can get a first round pick this year in return. As we have advocated before, if you are going to start over, then get rid of all players over 30 years old (outside of perhaps punter Andy Lee), and accumulate as many draft picks as possible.

That will accelerate the process.

As for the pursuit of Colin Kaepernick, we believe it does not change the Browns’ intention to get a quarterback early in the draft, but it may allow them to wait until the 32nd pick to do so.

Kaepernick has struggled over the past year and a half, but the guess here is the front office views him as an upgrade to 37 year old Josh McCown.

Really, the Browns are saying if we are going to have a mediocre veteran at the position, we would rather have him be 29 years old instead of 37.

However, we believe a third round pick is way too high for a player who was benched a year ago. We wouldn’t give up anything more than a fourth rounder to San Francisco.

After over 15 years of terrible football, it looks like the Cleveland Browns are basically starting over, and that starts by getting rid of players who aren’t still in improving mode.

That might hurt for now, but it’s really the only thing they haven’t tried.

Why not give it a shot?

Browns Start Dumping Vets, Who Should Be Next?

The reshaping of the Cleveland Browns roster started last week with the release of DL Randy Starks, now 32 years old, and TE Jim Dray, who is 29.

We would anticipate the roster being pared of many more players in the same situation over the coming weeks.

As we have said for a long time, the only thing worse than being a bad team, which the Browns were in 2015, it’s being a bad, old team.

It appears that Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Hue Jackson think the same thing.

If you aren’t going to be good, you should at least do it with young players, guys who will get better over the next few years.

Here is a list of the players 30 years old and over currently on the Cleveland roster–

Josh McCown           36
Karlos Dansby         34
Andy Lee                   33
Tramon Williams    32
Dwayne Bowe           31
Joe Thomas               31
Gary Barnidge          30
Desmond Bryant     30
John Greco                30
Paul Kruger               30
Alex Mack                 30
Donte Whitner         30

Out of those dozen players, we can see perhaps 8-10 being elsewhere in 2016. And we could make a good argument it would be a good idea to replace all of them.

We were surprised at the age on the offensive line, where three of the five starters are on the wrong side of 30 years old.

Especially, since the unit didn’t play well last season. Mack can opt out of his contract and become a free agent, and the age involved with the entire unit makes it imperative that Brown and company sign RT Mitchell Schwartz, who is a free agent.

Of the players listed above, the only players who could be considered to have a better than average season would be Dansby, Lee (the punter!), Thomas, and Barnidge, with the latter two going to the Pro Bowl.

Mack went as well, but that seems to be a reputation selection.

When the league year starts on March 9th, it would not be a shock if Williams, Bowe, and Whitner were released. Bowe rarely saw the field in ’15, while Williams got burned more and more as the season went on, and Whitner’s play declined from his first year with the Browns.

We understand that new/old defensive coordinator Ray Horton talked up Kruger in a press conference last week, but the reality is Kruger has a high salary and low production. Does anyone really think he’s an elite edge rusher?

And although Joe Thomas is the best player on the Browns, a future Hall of Fame player, if the front office could get a first round draft choice in this year’s draft, we would think very, very hard about making a deal for him.

Again, the collective age of the offensive line plays into this decision, especially if the Browns are drafting a quarterback in the first round.

That QB should take a couple of years to be fully ready, and by then, Thomas will be 33 or 34. Will he still be the same player?

And would getting an additional first round pick this year speed up the rebuilding process?

If Brown, DePodesta, and Jackson see progress in Cam Erving in the off-season, do they make he and Joel Bitonio the anchors of the line going forward, and make a move with Thomas.

The Browns may decide to keep the All Pro, and even if they do, the rest of the veterans listed above could have shaky futures here.

There is no reason to keep these players if you are going to rebuild from the ground up.

And really, that’s what the Browns should be doing this spring.

We Have Some Questions For You, Coach Pettine.

Only the Cleveland Browns could have a situation where they knock the opposing quarterback out of a game, and have him replaced by a future Hall of Famer, who throws for 379 yards and three touchdowns.

In many ways, the key play of today’s 30-9 thumping by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Browns was the one where Desmond Bryant forced the offensive tackle to step on Landry Jones’ foot early in the first quarter, because that brought Ben Roethlisberger into the contest.

Big Ben threw three touchdown passes and drew several pass interference penalties by the Browns’ secondary, as the Cleveland defense allowed 30 or more points for the sixth time in 10 games this season.

But, we are sure we will be again talking about who should start at quarterback two weeks from tomorrow when the Ravens visit First Energy Stadium.

Mike Pettine gave the media the “I have to review the film” spiel after the game, and bristled when someone (we think it was Tom Reed) asked if it looked bad that the defensive backfield was terrible and last year’s first round pick Justin Gilbert was inactive for the game.

The coach didn’t really answer the inquiry.

Here are some other questions we would like Pettine to answer.

…Who on the coaching staff thought it would be a good idea to have special teams standout Johnson Bademosi matched up with Steelers’ all pro wide receiver Antonio Brown?

Brown caught 10 pass for 139 yards and two touchdown and drew two interference calls.

Bademosi wasn’t on Brown all the time, but too often, it was either he or raw rookie (first NFL game) Charles Gaines. That’s a ridiculously bad match up.

…Why wasn’t Gilbert active?

He leads the Browns in kickoff return average, and made some nice special teams plays in punt coverage over the last few weeks. And he didn’t seem to be excessively targeted in the Thursday night loss to the Bengals when he did play cornerback.

He is in the same spot as Johnny Manziel. The organization needs to see if Gilbert can be a decent NFL corner.

…Why can’t this team run the football?

Cleveland had 15 rushing and the leader was Manziel, who gained 17 on three scrambles. The Browns have two Pro Bowl players on the line in Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and John Greco and Mitchell Schwartz are solid. Joel Bitonio was out today, but last year was on the all-rookie team.

The Browns had a couple of decent runs early going straight ahead with Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell. They spent the rest of the game trying to run wide and losing yardage.

Why not stick with what was working, at least a little?

…What is the coaching staff doing about the penalties?

Cleveland had 12 flags thrown against them for a whopping 188 yards.

Late in the third quarter, the Browns had the ball with a first down inside the one. They had consecutive penalties (holding on Cameron Erving, illegal formation) to take them out of a scoring opportunity.

That kind of sloppy play points to the coaching staff.

Manziel played well (33 of 45 for 372 yards with a TD toss and a pick). After fumbling on the first play, he showed that he can play and deserves to start the rest of the season, especially with the Browns sitting at 2-8.

He certainly isn’t looking like the bust everyone says he is. And really, there isn’t much evidence that Gilbert is either because he doesn’t play.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some talent on this football team, but it isn’t used properly.

Hopefully, however is coaching next year, and we are confident someone else will be, can put those players in a position where they can contribute.

After all, that is kind of the definition of coaching, isn’t it?