Browns Continue to Search For Identity

If you ask Browns’ coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer to tell you how they envisioned their team winning games this season, we are sure they would tell you victory could be accomplished with a strong defense and an offense that can run the ball effectively.

Three games into the season, they better improve that plan or come up with a new one because both were virtually non-existent in today’s 27-20 loss to the Oakland Raiders, which dropped the Browns to 1-2 on the season.

The Raiders gashed the Cleveland defense all day long, and as you can well imagine, if the Browns’ supposed best defender, CB Joe Haden, is having a bad day, the rest of the defense is struggling too.

Haden was assigned to rookie WR Amari Cooper to start the game, and the first year player out of Alabama had a huge first drive, catching three passes for 54 yards, and Jim O’Neil’s unit was off to a very long day.

And once again, Oakland’s running game, which had struggled for the first two contests, flourished today, as Latavius Murray ran for 139 yards on 26 attempts, and overall the Raiders hammered the Browns for 155 yards and a 5.2 average per carry.

This has now been a problem for two years under the Pettine/O’Neil coaching staff (really, it has been a problem since 1999), and our question is, when will it be fixed? It’s a complete and utter joke right now, and it is time for the staff to come up with an answer.

The Browns’ defense allowed 469 yards of total offense, and created only one turnover.

We said it after the opening day loss to the Jets, and we will repeat it today. If the Browns don’t play very good defense, it will be a long, long season for the team.

Their success is predicated on stopping the opposing offense. It is where they have expended a great deal of money through free agency, and high draft picks.

As for the offense, once again, the inability to run the ball or even to commit to the run was left lacking.

Cleveland ran for just 39 yards against a team allowing 118 yards per games against the rush.

On the first drive for the Browns, they tried two runs and threw four passes. The second drive? The same, two running plays and four pass plays (one a sack). The next possession was a three and out, consisting of two passes and a run.

If you are going to commit to the run, you have to stay with it. Does Pettine and offensive coordinator John DiFillipo think they are going to open every game gaining five yards per carry?

Isaiah Crowell had just 10 carries for 36 yards, one a 17-yard jaunt just short of the end zone. The Browns tried him twice from the one, but he could not get it in.

The turning point of the game came late in the second quarter after the Browns’ Travis Coons kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1:44 left in the first half.

The Raiders quickly went 65 yards in five plays to tack on a TD before halftime and give Oakland a confidence boost, and a 17-3 advantage.

Josh McCown was okay, completing 28 of 49 throws for 341 yards with two touchdowns and a pick.

However, three times by our count, he had Travis Benjamin behind the defense and couldn’t make a connection. We guess the “luck” Johnny Manziel had a week ago in completing those throws wasn’t with the veteran today.

So, the supposed soft part of the Cleveland schedule is over, and it is off to San Diego next week to take on a Chargers team that was embarrassed by Minnesota today. It won’t be any easier.

If Pettine and his staff cannot get this defense and running game to be any better. Any hopes of building an identity this season could be out the window.

That’s very disconcerting for the football fans of northeast Ohio.

Panic Can Be Eased, Browns Now 1-1

It was doom and gloom all week in Cleveland regarding the Browns, after they played a horrible game in the season opener and got hammered by the New York Jets.

The reality is most teams that turn the ball over five times will probably lose, and a 21 point loss might just be the average margin of victory.

Today, they didn’t turn the ball over once (more on that later), and surprise, surprise, the wound up winning their home opener, defeating the Tennessee Titans, 28-14 at First Energy Stadium.

The turnovers were the difference as the Browns’ defense forced three of them, and harassed rookie QB Marcus Mariota all day long, sacking him seven times as Cleveland evened its record to 1-1.

The Browns were aggressive early, as Johnny Manziel found WR Travis Benjamin for a 60-yard touchdown pass on the second offensive play to give Cleveland an early 7-0 advantage.

After a Terrance West fumble (Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine had to be smiling to themselves after that), the offense took advantage of the short field to move 50 yards in seven plays into the end zone as Isaiah Crowell ran it in from 11 yards to make it 14-0.

It seemed that Pettine and offensive coordinator John DiFillippo went a little conservative in the play calling after that, probably to take pressure off of Manziel, making just his third professional start.

They got a bonus at the end of the half when Benjamin struck again, taking a punt 78 yards to another TD. However, “The Rabbit” wasn’t done.

After the Titans climbed back into the game with two touchdowns to make it 21-14 with a little over six minutes to go, on a 3rd and 6 from midfield, Manziel scrambled away from pressure and found Benjamin again for a score on a play that looked like Johnny Football’s days at Texas A & M.

Manziel threw just 15 times, completing eight for 172 yards and the two touchdown tosses.

Now, for the negatives in the victory.

Once again, the Browns had problems against the run, particularly in setting the edge, forcing runners inside. The Titans ran for 166 yards, with Dexter McCluster getting 98 of them on just 10 carries.

The defense did a little better on third down, allowing 7 of 16 conversions, but did not get off the field well in the first half.

To be fair, because Cleveland scored on big plays, Jim O’Neil’s unit was on the field for 35 minutes today, so fatigue could have been a factor.

Manziel fumbled two more times, but was fortunate that his teammates recovered both miscues. He must be more diligent with ball security, particularly when his team has the lead. If either ball had been recovered by Tennessee, we might be talking about a different outcome today.

Who did well? Besides Benjamin, Crowell gained 72 yards on 15 carries and gashed the Titans in the second half.

Duke Johnson showed improvement as well, getting 43 yards on 12 totes of the pigskin.

Armonty Bryant had 2-1/2 sacks and John Hughes had 1-1/2 as well, as there was much more pressure on the QB than last week.

It didn’t show in the stats, but Tramon Williams was solid too, making nice open field tackles to stop Titan ball carriers short of first down yardage.

And Andy Lee is showing he was worth the 7th round draft pick the Browns used to get him, as he is proving to be a great weapon. He averaged 53.2 yards on six punts.

So, the Raiders come to FES next week in another winnable game. Still, the Browns have to play well, and improve on this week’s performance if they want to get over .500.

However, the panic about an awful season should be abated for a week. The Browns showed that when they play like they want to (run the ball, play solid defense), they are capable of winning games.

Browns Not As Bad As People Think

Sunday afternoon, the Cleveland Browns open another NFL season on the road against the New York Jets.

The training camp was filled with hamstring pulls, and the media brought up the quarterback situation once again, as if GM Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine don’t realize the position needs an upgrade.

And of course, the media continued to hammer away at the “dysfunction” of the franchise, with every misjudgment in terms of talent, or even how the play in the pre-season is held up as proof of that.

We have a different view. Remember that the Browns were 7-5 heading into a home game against Indianapolis, who advanced to the AFC title game in January.

Cleveland outplayed the Colts that day, except that Brian Hoyer had a terrible game and Andrew Luck and Indy pulled out a 25-24 win, dropping the Browns’ record to 7-6.

We have always said that when the Browns get decent play at quarterback, they win, and it would have been true on that Sunday, because if Hoyer had been merely good that day (he was 13 for 30, 136 yards and two picks), the Browns would have been 8-5, very much in the race for a playoff spot.

Now, we are a firm believer in “you are what your record is”, but that game sticks in our collective craw. The entire season changed on that contest.

Mike Pettine went to an unprepared Johnny Manziel the following week in Cincinnati, and both Manziel and Hoyer were hurt vs. Carolina, forcing undrafted Conner Shaw to start the season finale at Baltimore.

A game the Browns lost 20-10 with their third string passer.

Our point is that this isn’t as bad of a football team as people think.

The biggest weakness the Browns had a year ago was the inability to stop the run, and it appears they addressed that with the drafting of Danny Shelton and the signing of Randy Starks as a free agent. We won’t know for sure until they line up for real on Sunday, but if Cleveland improves in that area, with their strong secondary, the defense will be among the league’s best.

That will keep them in most games.

And that brings us back to our earlier statement that the Browns can win with decent quarterback play, which means not turning the ball over. That will be Josh McCown’s job and challenge this year.

As usual, the key to the season will be how the Browns handle the AFC North. They proved last year that the gap has closed, and they defeated the Steelers and Bengals in dominating fashion, and lost to Pittsburgh and the Ravens on the last play of the game.

If they can split the divisional games, they can win seven games again this season, albeit with a tougher schedule, and may even get to the break even mark.

We don’t see the other teams in the division being substantially better than they were a year ago.

There are three keys to the season in our view: 1). Improved defense vs. the run. 2). Josh McCown’s ability to not turn the ball over. 3). Avoiding catastrophic injuries, which change the season of most NFL teams.

If the first two things happen, the Browns will continue on the path of improvement.

Browns Settle on 53, But They Aren’t Done Yet

Except for the NFL Draft in the spring, no day is awaited with more anticipation among Browns’ fans than final cutdown day, when the front office decides which 53 players have made the team.

And, of course, with the reputation of the dysfunctional team that permeates both nationally and locally, critics were ready to hammer GM Ray Farmer.

First, a couple of things to say about the process. It is a game within the game. Sometimes, players get cut because management knows they can get through unclaimed by another team so they can be put on the practice squad.

Second, the front office knows that the 53 players they decide on Saturday will not be the same players who will suit up a week from today when Mike Pettine’s squad takes the field in New Jersey.

Much of the uproar from fans and media (and even one player) early in the day involved WR Josh Lenz. Lenz had a solid pre-season and a good game Thursday night, but was let go by Farmer.

Lenz is a good player, but the Browns knew if Terrelle Pryor were to be let go, another team would pick him up, and they’ve seen enough of the former Ohio State quarterback to know they would like to see more.

On the other hand, Lenz will probably not be claimed by another team, and could end up on the practice squad. That’s what we mean about a game. And Farmer played it correctly.

The second point involves the final roster as it stands right now. There will certainly be more changes afoot.

Cleveland is only carrying six offensive linemen, which is one or two short of what they will need. As we said the other day, the back ups in place during camp weren’t getting the job done, so we knew Farmer would be looking for help on the waiver wire.

They will pick up at least one lineman via that method this week.

The other big news was that last year’s third round pick, RB Terrance West was either going to be cut or traded. One media member even reported that Farmer and Pettine liked Shaun Draughn better than West. Draughn was cut later that afternoon.

Perhaps West will be traded today and Draughn will be brought back, but what harm is there in asking a team that needs running backs if they are interested in a player who will be a reserve for your team? To us, that’s just being smart.

What if Dallas or Houston were willing to give up a second round pick for West? Then, you’d make the deal, no?

The Browns are probably worried about how West will be in the locker room if he is not getting touches, and are hoping to take care of that issue. But they don’t want to give him away.

We always say everyone is tradeable for the right price. Not that this would ever happen, but if Green Bay offered you Aaron Rodgers for Joe Haden, you would turn it down? Of course not.

The point is, let’s see what happens in the next few days with the roster, because it will no doubt change.

On the other hand, we don’t see any glaring examples of potential starting players getting cut either.

That won’t stop the criticism of the “dysfunctional” Browns though, will it?

Browns Subs Lose Pre-Season Finale

First of all, if you are on the Cleveland Browns roster and you are playing in the fourth pre-season game, either you are a rookie or your career isn’t going as well as you would like.

Of the 22 starters in last Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay, only two were even suited up last night in the 24-0 loss to the Chicago Bears.

In other words, if you are real important to the Browns when the regular season starts a week from Sunday in New Jersey against the New York Jets, you didn’t even suit up yesterday.

So, can anything be taken away from last night’s contest?

Despite reports prior to the game that WR Dwayne Bowe might be released if he didn’t show a lot against the Bears, coach Mike Pettine said after the game that the veteran’s spot was not in jeopardy, and we will take him at his word.

We believe that Isaiah Crowell will be the principle running back at least until rookie Duke Johnson is ready to go. That statement was made when Terrance West got most of the carries in the first half.

We have said all along that Terrelle Pryor would make the team, and that Pryor got a few touches in a “wildcat” formation proves that. Why put it in if the former Buckeye signal caller isn’t making the team.

Our guess is that one area of extreme interest for the Browns in scouring the waiver wire will be offensive line help. Yes, the starters should be solid, and first round pick Cam Irving lends some depth, but the rest of the reserves are sieve-like. GM Ray Farmer needs to find one or two more solid players at that spot.

Several players probably played themselves out of any chance to make the final roster with key mistakes.

WR Darius Jennings fumbled inside the Bears 15-yard line. He later had a long kickoff return, but with the wide receiver position already loaded at least in numbers, that didn’t help. Also, Cleveland has a number of smaller wide outs, of which Jennings is one.

There were several defensive backs who played poorly as well. However, that is one of the team’s strengths, so those guys didn’t figure to make the team anyway.

It will be interesting to see what Pettine and Farmer do about WR Josh Lenz. If they keep eight receivers, he will probably make it. The first year player out of Iowa State even played defensively at safety, a good sign that he has impressed the coaching staff.

He looked the best out of the wide receivers who played last night.

He also believe that the only way Pettine keeps three quarterbacks is if Johnny Manziel can’t play in the opener. Thaddeus Lewis completed a bunch of short throws, but fumbled once and was picked off twice against the Bears’ second team.

He didn’t make a very good case for himself in the Windy City.

So now, Pettine and Farmer will lock themselves in a room with the rest of the coaching staff and begin the difficult chore of paring down the roster to 53. And for the first time in a while, they will have to cut some players who have the ability to play in the NFL.

Letting Phil Taylor and Ish Kitchen go earlier in the week was the first sign of that.

However, even after the roster is pared on Saturday, there will still be some changes, particularly in the offensive line.

It will definitely be an interesting weekend.

Browns Show Blueprint Of How They Need to Play

If you wanted to know how the Cleveland Browns envision themselves as a team, last night’s 31-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the blueprint.

The Browns’ defense stopped the run early, then confused rookie QB Jameis Winston, sacking him twice in the first quarter and then forcing a turnover (an interception by rookie CB Charles Gaines).

It is amazing how much better the defense looked with Pro Bowl CB Joe Haden on the field. He improves the pass defense immensely, and tonight was the only game in August he will play.

After the first series was a three and out by Tampa, the special teams came up with a big play as Travis Benjamin returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown, and Mike Pettine’s crew was off and running.

QB Josh McCown didn’t throw the ball downfield much, but he was efficient, completing 17 of 23 throws for 117 yards and two touchdowns. After last week’s game where he made two bad throws that resulted in interceptions, he did not turn it over last night.

The running game worked well too, and it appears that Isaiah Crowell took the lead in the running game derby with 27 yards in eight carries, while Terrance West did more dancing than we are sure the coaches will like.

Crowell also caught two passes for 12 yards.

Duke Johnson ran the ball well once, in between the tackles, gaining four yards before leaving with a concussion later in the first half. We would have liked to seen more of the rookie.

But this is how the Browns want to play, and it is encouraging that in the one pre-season game that both teams game plan for, Pettine and his staff had his team prepared and they executed.

However, let’s remember that the Bucs had the first overall pick in the last spring’s draft and they didn’t trade for it. They are a bad football team. Still, Cleveland took care of business.

Had they lost to Tampa, the negative members of the fan base and media would be citing this game as proof that the Browns will be horrific during the regular season.

Rookie Danny Shelton continues to look like the beast in the middle he was projected to be, and DE Desmond Bryant had two sacks, but we are also impressed with another first year player, S Ibraheim Campbell, who is always making plays, and has done so in all three games.

Gaines is another rookie to be excited about, as he made several nice plays. Besides the interception, he broke up two other Winston passes.

With no one of consequence playing Thursday night at Chicago, this is the last we will see of the best Browns’ players until the opener against the Jets on September 13th.

Thursday will determine who makes up the end of the roster, probably spots 45-53.

And hopefully we will see Terrelle Pryor, who we believe will make the team whether he plays or not. We believe Pettine and GM Ray Farmer have seen enough of his athletic ability to understand someone will pick him up if the Browns cut him loose.

Quite frankly, Cleveland isn’t in the position to cut someone who can be a difference maker on offense. They simply have to keep him.

Until then, Pettine has to be very satisfied with the result last night. It is just as they wanted the script to be written when the regular season starts in two weeks.

Browns Lose, But They Are Still 0-0

Last night’s Browns-Bills preseason contest should be exhibit A in any case where a football fan wants to sue NFL teams for charging full prices for these games.

It was that ugly.

Besides the numerous players on both teams that sat out the game with injuries (the Browns had 19 players listed as inactive for the contest), the play from both teams was sloppy and inconsistent.

That should be expected considering the number of guys who played that wouldn’t if the game really counted.

If you were upset early on with Browns’ CB Johnson Bademosi struggling in coverage, remember that if Mike Pettine has to have him covering the starting wide receivers from the opponent, it will indeed be a looooong season for the brown and orange.

And that wasn’t written to denigrate Bademosi, a very good special teams player. However, on the pecking order, he is behind Joe Haden, Tramon Williams, K’Waun Williams, Pierre Desir, and probably Justin Gilbert.

The game was entertaining only to the two head coaches, Pettine and Rex Ryan, who seemed to have a contest on who could dial-up a more exotic blitz package against the other.

Josh McCown looked like a journeyman, throwing two bad interceptions, but we thought the play calling was odd, not that it matters in the pre-season.

Against a team with a pass rush like Buffalo, you almost have to pass on first down to stay out of second or third down and long situations, but offensive coordinator John DeFillipo wanted to establish the run, and McCown had to face a hard rush because the running game wasn’t working.

The veteran did have a good drive before the half, and Isiah Crowell had a couple of good runs, and once Terrance West figured out to make one move and cut up field, he had more success than he did early in the game. McCown needed that, if only to restore confidence among the fan base.

Johnny Manziel led the Browns to their only touchdown drive, and although he is still is looking more and more like a pro QB, he had to run for his life for most of the half. Still, he did make plays.

It would be interesting to see Manziel with the first unit if only to see if he can make plays from the pocket. It is worth noting that GM Ray Farmer needs to find some offensive linemen when teams start cutting down, because outside of rookie Cam Irving, the second team line is a sieve.

TE Rob Housler looked good and probably put himself back in good graces, but undrafted free agent TE E.J. Bibbs continued to impress as well, meaning somebody with talent may not make the team if Cleveland decides to go with three tight ends.

WR Shane Wynn caught the Browns’ lone touchdown pass and had an electrifying punt return called back by penalty, but isn’t he the same player as Travis Benjamin and Taylor Gabriel? The brown and orange need a big target, and that is why Terrelle Pryor is so intriguing. He has size.

He also may have the ability to score from the Browns’ own 30 yard line. Name another player on this roster who has this capability. That’s why the former quarterback will be given every opportunity to make the final roster.

Next week is the “dress rehearsal” against Tampa Bay. Our guess is several of the players with minor injuries will play that game, and that game only.

That should give us a better idea about this team going into the regular season. Because right now, we can’t say we know anything.

Nothing Really Learned From Browns Last Night

When watching NFL pre-season games, this is the rule of thumb we use–

For the first game, only the first quarter matters. For the second game, the first half matters. In the third game, the “dress rehearsal” if you will, the first three quarters matter. And the last game is just to decide who makes the back-end of the roster.

So, what did we learn from last night’s game against the Redskins? Not much.

First, it is tough to judge anything considering the Browns’ two best players, Joe Thomas and Joe Haden, didn’t even play. Nor did Dwayne Bowe, Terrell Pryor, Duke Johnson, and several others who could be key members of Mike Pettine’s squad when the regular season starts on September 14th.

The morning newspaper was filled with praise for new starting QB Josh McCown, which we thought was jumping the gun a little bit.

McCown played just one series, made the throws he needed to make, benefited from a pass interference penalty, and otherwise dinked and dunked the Browns into the end zone.

This is not to say, we don’t think McCown will be better than Brian Hoyer, because we think he will, but we didn’t see anything special about the performance last night. We want to see more.

As for the backup quarterback, Johnny Manziel, he showed improvement from last year, mostly in that he looked like an NFL quarterback.

Gone was the “Johnny Package”, the read option non-sense that is being phased out by most NFL teams because defenses have caught up to it.

And although Manziel scored a touchdown on a run, it was the type of run he should have made. He dropped back, the defense parted like the Red Sea, and he took the opportunity to get his team in the end zone. But, there was a marked difference in the way he approached the offense this year.

Overall, the offense was pretty vanilla with mostly short, safe throws, and perhaps the reason for that was the absence of Bowe, Pryor, and Johnson, who we think will be a big part of the passing game.

It was a little disturbing to see last year’s first round pick, Justin Gilbert, get torched on the opening series of the game, losing Pierre Garcon wide open on a deep pass, which he dropped.

He also whiffed on his next chance, a sideline route. He did recover to defend two passes in the end zone, but he needs to be better in the next couple of contests if he is going to contribute.

The run defense, which was arguably more of a weakness than the quarterback play a year ago, didn’t shine, so that is a bit concerning as well. They still have a hard time keeping backs from getting outside. To be sure, that will be a point of emphasis this week in practice.

Next week, we will get to see the people who are going to play in the regular season a whole lot more, probably through the first half. At that point, we should see more things to start forming opinions.

It was good to see football again, but that’s about all we saw. Nothing to get excited about, nothing to be depressed about.

That’s probably the ideal circumstance if you are Mike Pettine.

Sometimes “Conflict in Front Office” Is Good.

The other day, we wrote about how the Cleveland Browns get no credit for trying something different, when the Cleveland Indians are a stand pat organization, and they get criticized for not making any changes.

There is another way the two organizations are different as well, and it has to do with the relationship between the front office and the head coach/manager.

On the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, it’s a Kumbaya fest. Everyone seems to be on the same page and have the same opinion. In fact, it is difficult to tell who is doing the talking sometimes, be it president Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti, or Terry Francona.

They always seem to be in lock step, at least publicly.

On the other hand, the media loves to report about the discord between Browns’ GM Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. It is further proof of the team’s “dysfunction”.

The reality is behind the scenes, there should be some disagreement between the coach and the person who picks the talent, because they should be coming at it from two different perspectives.

The coach or manager is trying to win, and win right now. That’s the way he gets to keep his job, and also, he is ultimately the person who the wins and losses are assigned to.

When the Browns have a 4-12 record, no one is saying that Ray Farmer’s squad has that record. It goes on Pettine’s record.

The general manager has to look at not only this year’s team, but also the future of the franchise, and if football’s case, salary cap implications.

Many coaches fall into the trap of favoring veterans with little upside because they are dependable, instead of going with a young player, who may have a bigger upside.

Think about the Indians in this situation. Terry Francona likes to have his bench filled with veterans like Ryan Raburn, Mike Aviles, etc., instead of keeping younger players like Tyler Holt or Jesus Aguilar.

In baseball, the GM has to weigh the positives of major league experience against not playing. For young players, they need to play. No one gets better by watching extensively. If that occurred, there would be a lot of fans who would be suddenly able to play professional sports.

When a team is in a situation like the Cavaliers are, it is easy for the coach and GM to be on the same page, because there, the goal is clearly stated. The Cavs are trying to win a title now, and everybody is “All In”.

However, in other situations, there is a different point of view for both the front office and the coaching staff, and that is healthy. It’s why you also don’t want to have a coach/GM in charge.

We remember Butch Davis proudly saying that all of his draft picks made the team. Of course, they did, because he was in charge of keeping them or letting them go.

Now, you don’t want the two people is total disagreement to the point where they cannot work together either. But, they should not be in lock step with each other.

To be sure, there have to be players that Farmer likes, that Pettine doesn’t, and vice-versa. It’s healthy and necessary in a winning organization.

The Indians seem to have a “group think” approach, and that’s not working well for them.

So, don’t be concerned that Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine don’t see eye to eye on everything. They have two different points of view.

Browns Get Criticized For Doing What We Wish Tribe Would Do

Yesterday, Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam took some members of the media to task for some of the reports regarding the “dysfunction” of the team.

We believe that the sports journalists, both print and broadcast, criticize GM Ray Farmer because the Browns aren’t being built the conventional way.

That way would be to find a “franchise” quarterback and then construct the rest of the team around said QB. Because the Browns do not have that guy, and they weren’t willing to overdraft in last April’s draft, it means Cleveland once again doesn’t have a clue, at least in terms of the Cleveland sports media.

By the way, doesn’t it say something that Farmer didn’t repeat the mistake, if he indeed made one, of picking another quarterback in the first round after the struggles of Johnny Manziel in his rookie season?

Farmer has said this publicly and apparently the people reporting on the Browns do not listen. He said the reality of the situation is that very few NFL teams has an elite passer, so those teams have to figure out another way to win.

The Browns’ front office recognizes this, and one of the things you always hear about the Indians situation when they complain about their small market status, is that other teams in the same situation figure out how to win, so why can’t the Tribe?

Haslam, Farmer, and head coach Mike Pettine have decided to try a different way to win, and that is building through a strong defense and a solid running game. It may not be the sexy way to compile victories, but they know that Josh McCown and/or Manziel aren’t top-notch quarterbacks, but they don’t use it as an excuse for not winning.

Pettine says it all the time, it’s a pass/fail league. And they don’t use not having an Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger as a reason to just punt the season.

Instead, they have decided to build the rest of their football team, and make each game about playing in the teens or low twenties, and putting up just enough points to claim a win.

And early last season, it worked. They dominated the Steelers at home, and the Bengals in Cincinnati. They lost to Pittsburgh on the road and the Ravens at home on last second field goals.

Yes, yes, we know those were losses, but losing on the last play is a bit different that leading going into the fourth quarter and getting hammered then.

Part of the problem the media has with Farmer is his attitude toward them. He’s not warm and fuzzy, and comes off at times like he’s smarter than the people who cover the team, which he is. If he wasn’t, their situations would be reversed.

The Indians front office acts like that all the time, yet no one challenges them, and if fact, because they are nice people, they seem to escape the criticism for their poor results.

If Farmer and Pettine turn this thing around, guess what. They will be even more detached from the media because they will have been correct.

Haslam set himself up yesterday by saying he like the direction of the team and there aren’t plans to make changes if the Browns have a bad season last year. However, at this point, he should be taken at his word, even though his track record says otherwise.

The reality is no matter what kind of schedule the Browns played a year ago, they did get better by three wins. The five straight losses is what makes everyone so down on the team.

Just think what the perception of the team would be is the season had been reversed, and the Browns lost their first five, and then rallied to a 7-9 season.

We both know that Farmer and Pettine would be hailed for putting the team in the right direction.

This is a key season because the slate is tougher in 2015. But give the Browns credit for not saying woe is us, we don’t have Tom Brady, so we are just going to finish 3-13. They have a plan, it’s just now one the media agrees with.