Some New Stuff, But Some Old Habits Return In Opening Browns’ Tie

Well, it wasn’t a loss.

And when you go through an 0-16 season a year ago, you should be happy with even a ray of sunshine, and that’s the best thing that can be said about the Browns’ opener today, a 21-21 tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That the Browns’ defense forced six turnovers and had four sacks of Ben Roethlisberger, and still only managed a tie is disappointing the say the least.

A year after being the worst team in the NFL in turnover differential, turning the ball over a whopping 41 times compared to just 13 takeaways, the Cleveland defense was a machine in terms of taking the ball away today.

Gregg Williams’ unit has three interceptions and three fumble recoveries, and the Cleveland offense turned it over just once, which after averaging over 2.5 per game a year ago, was a welcome sight. But more on that later.

This game was all but over with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter when the Browns were stopped on downs, trailing 21-7.

But Myles Garrett forced a fumble by James Conner, which was returned to the Steelers’ one by Jabril Peppers. One play later, the Browns were back in the contest at 21-14.

Garrett wasn’t finished. On the second play of the next drive, he forced another fumble during a sack of Roethlisberger, and this time Joe Schobert fell on it.

The offense didn’t convert that one, but after an exchange of punts, Tyrod Taylor hit Josh Gordon with a 17 yard touchdown pass and the game was tied.

Garrett had two sacks and two forced fumbles, rookie CB Denzel Ward had two interceptions.

Rookie Genard Avery should have won the game for the Browns by forcing another fumble late in overtime which Schobert returned inside the Pittsburgh five, and a block in the back penalty moved the ball back.

Two things which have been a Browns’ tradition did raise its ugly head. First, after tying the game at 7 in the third quarter with a great drive running the football, the defense allowed the Steelers to score in five plays.

That cannot continue to happen. You have to get stops after your team scores to keep momentum.

The special teams have been an issue over the years, and they were again today. A poor punt in overtime was forced when the Steelers penetrated pushing the blocker into Britton Colquitt, and the potential game winning field goal was blocked when the Pittsburgh line dominated Zane Gonzalez’ line.

They didn’t get much out of the return game either.

As for the offense, the rap on Taylor was he was cautious about turning the football over, something the Browns needed after last season. It seemed today like Taylor was holding the ball an inordinate amount of time, although we will excuse him today because of the weather conditions.

Let’s see how he does next week in a dome in New Orleans.

The QB did run the ball 8 times for 77 yards, making him the Browns’ leading rusher. That’s not something we want to see going forward.

Jarvis Landry caught 7 passes for 106 yards, but it seemed like long stretches where the offense ignored him. To be fair, they ignored Josh Gordon too, so again this might have been due to the rain.

The decision to start Desmond Harrison at left tackle should be criticized, whether it was Hue Jackson, Todd Haley, or line coach Bob Wylie. He didn’t play with the starters in the pre-season, and looked like he wasn’t ready today.

He may have a ton of potential, but offensive line play is cohesive, and let having him with the starters in a game until today showed. The line needs to get better, and get better as soon as next week.

So, it’s on to New Orleans, and the Saints will be fired up after losing to a perceived to be poor Tampa Bay team today.

Let’s hope there is improvement in the offense in week two.

Today’s Browns’ Loss? All The Elements Which Caused 0-12.

Another Sunday, another day of insanity from the Cleveland Browns.

First, we had the national media (another leak from the coaching staff) saying coach Hue Jackson devised all kinds of plays to get the ball to recently reinstated WR Josh Gordon today.

Too bad, Jackson couldn’t do the same thing all season for guys like Duke Johnson, David Njoku and Seth DeValve.

Second, you had the local media reporting that Jackson wanted Carson Wentz all along in last year’s draft. This despite several reports saying the Browns’ head coach didn’t think Wentz was worthy of the second overall pick.

And then we got to the game, which the Browns dropped 19-10 to the Los Angeles Chargers to drop to 0-12 this season. With the 49ers win today, the Browns are the last team in the NFL without a win.

Cleveland’s first offensive play was a 9 yard completion to Gordon, and seemingly DeShone Kizer spent the rest of the day trying to force the ball to the wide out.

The Chargers were last in the NFL in rushing defense, so of course, Jackson had his offense throwing the ball all over place, with 35 passing plays (including three sacks) compared to just 22 runs.

Jackson continuously says he wants to run the ball, but we now have virtually two years of evidence that does not support it. The man simply would rather to throw the football.

Unfortunately, he has a 21-year-old second round rookie QB, who is not terribly accurate and has little pocket awareness. So, why wouldn’t you want to put the onus on him?

Kizer was below 50% today (15 of 32) and is has completed just 53% of his throws on the season, woefully low in today’s NFL.

This was on total display today, as Kizer missed Gordon twice on deep throws which should have resulted in touchdowns, and threw several other passes low and therefore uncatchable for his receivers.

He did make some great throws, two to Njoku come to mind, including one resulting in the Browns’ only touchdown.

However, the good quarterbacks make these kind of throws way more often. And that’s why the Browns need to address the position in the off-season.

As for Kizer’s pocket presence, let’s just say it’s not showing signs of improvement.

He was sacked and fumbled with a chance to make the score 19-17 in the fourth quarter, because he held the ball after escaping the pocket.

Then, on the next possession, he took a sack in the field of play with no timeouts left and Gordon all the way downfield running a route.

What exactly is Jackson whispering to Kizer?

To us, it seems the Browns don’t seem to know what each part of the team is doing.

Jackson’s reliance on the pass leads to the defense being on the field way too much. The Chargers had the ball for 35 minutes, and although we don’t agree with everything Gregg Williams does, his unit did allow just one touchdown despite allowing 429 yards, including 335 yards in the air to Philip Rivers.

Gordon did wind up with four catches for 85 yards during the game, but he could have had more with a more accurate passer.

Njoku continues to be underused, scoring his 4th touchdown of the year among his four receptions for 74 yards, but he doesn’t seem on the field as much as he should be.

Throw in two penalties for illegal formation (coaching) and a long kickoff return after the field goal which made the score 19-10, and you have a complete list of what seems to go on each and every week.

To complete things, we are sure Jackson once again said after the game that he doesn’t have the talent to win, and it would be “Groundhog Day” once again.

The only thing more disturbing would be the owner allowing this excuse maker around the Browns again next season.

Browns Tried to Fill Needs This Weekend.

As usual in Cleveland, with every ray of sunshine, there must be a little rain.

That’s what it felt like this weekend, when the optimism regarding the Browns’ draft was quickly doused by the news of All Pro WR Josh Gordon’s suspension for the 2014 season.

However, as GM Ray Farmer pointed out yesterday, the organization has to treat the news the same as if Gordon suffered an injury to keep him out for the year. The season is still going to be played and the Browns still need to win football games.

Cleveland came into the draft with several areas to upgrade, not just quarterback. They needed an inside linebacker, help in the secondary, offensive line help, another running back, and another wide receiver.

Outside of the last spot, Farmer attempted to fill every one of them. After the first day of the draft, the Browns selected offensive lineman Joel Bitonio, who they will likely play at guard, LB Christian Kirksey, who will compete for a job on the inside, RB Terrance West, and another CB in Pierre Desir.

You have to give the front office credit for recognizing the holes and attempting to fill them.

We aren’t going to be like some people though, and declare the Browns a completed project, because if we know anything about the NFL draft, it’s that it is not an exact process, and some of these players will not work out.

However, there wasn’t a head scratcher pick either. All of the Browns’ choices were thought of as good, solid picks.

And don’t forget, Farmer also added a first round choice in 2015 as well, and from Buffalo, a team no one is projecting as a playoff team at this point in the off-season. If they don’t reach the post-season, that choice will be in the top 20.

We love coach Mike Pettine saying players “play like a Brown”. We understand that it is cliche, but it does show the organization is trying to form an identity, and that is getting tough minded players, who hit hard, and are aggressive. After many years of drifting in the desert, it is a welcome approach.

And even though, Cleveland acquired a second first round choice in 2015, there doesn’t seem to be any look toward the future in Pettine and Farmer either. The time of looking toward next year looks like is over.

That’s why we believe the coach about competition at every position including quarterback. If Brian Hoyer has the best training camp this summer, he should be under center against the Steelers in the season opener. If Johnny Manziel outperforms him, then he should get the nod.

Either passer will not be the featured player in terms of the Browns winning. Pettine and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will make sure the Browns will be effective running the football, and it appears Cleveland is building a very good defense.

There won’t be very many games in which the Browns’ QB is out there throwing 40-50 times per contest. The pressure will be off of Hoyer and Manziel, at least in the 2014 season.

We didn’t want Manziel taken with the 4th overall pick because it is time for this football team to take a large step forward. They need to win between 7-9 games this season, at least.

No excuses about growing pains for a rookie QB and how this is part of the grand plan for the future. They need to take a giant step forward in 2014, and we believe the coach and GM understand just that.

The Browns came into the off-season with several holes and they have tried to fill them. They now after another pot hole at WR with Gordon’s possible suspension, and based on what they’ve done so far, it isn’t realistic to think they won’t try to find someone to play that spot before training camp.

There needs to be progress in ’14. The ten loss seasons need to be history.

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.

Young Athletes Too Arrogant to Care About Where They Play

After the Miami Heat won the NBA title, Cleveland Browns’ players Josh Gordon and Phil Taylor expressed how happy they were about the Heat’s triumph. These comments did not play well with fans in on the North Coast.

While certainly, Gordon and Taylor have the right to feel anyway they want on Miami’s victory, they obviously didn’t use a great deal of common sense.

Many of today’s younger athletes do not take the time to get to know the area in which they play, and to find out what will be a popular stance within the community and what won’t be.

If Gordon and Taylor had any idea about the sports history in this city, they would have kept their feelings to themselves.

It was a lesson the Cavaliers learned during LeBron James’ first game at Quicken Loans Arena wearing another uniform besides the wine and gold. His former teammates greeted him with open arms for the most part, and James woofed at the Cavs’ bench much of the game before an assistant coach finally told him to shut up.

The fans of northeast Ohio and Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert was appalled at the reaction of the team, and when the two teams met later in the year, it was a different attitude. Everyone in the organization knew that James was now the “enemy”.

The ridiculous part of Gordon and Taylor’s comments were that the Cleveland Browns have basically sucked for the last 14 years. Fans of the football team in Cleveland are used to getting their hopes up throughout the spring and summer, only to spend the fall watching the franchise compile a record of 5-11 or 4-12, whichever you prefer.

A more appropriate comment from the two players would have been if they said they watched the Heat celebrate, but can’t wait for a chance to have a party like that in Cleveland, when the Browns win the Super Bowl.

You notice that no one in the Indians organization said they were happy to see the Heat win.

Think about how much Tribe supporters have taken to Nick Swisher because he says he is excited to be here. Comments like that go a long, long way in gaining acceptance and love from the fans.

However, too often, young athletes have a lack of respect for opponents and the fan base.

Watch games and see how often today’s players feel the need to show up their opponents. Whether it is “generational” or not, it isn’t right.

Just yesterday, we witnessed a city recreation baseball game in which a player on a team winning 14-0 decided to score the 15th run by turning a cartwheel to touch home plate.

It’s a good thing he didn’t bat again in the game, because he probably would have the imprint of a baseball in his rib cage today.

Players who toil in Cleveland have to know what the area’s feeling are for James and the Heat. And we understand that as professional athletes, they like to watch excellence and enjoy watching James, currently the best player in the NBA.

Still, discretion is needed as well.

As we said before, Gordon and Taylor can wear Heat gear every minute of the day when they are in their houses or when they are outside of the Cleveland area.

However, they should understand that talking publicly about supporting them in northeast Ohio is like waving a red flag in front of a charging Bull.