Browns Have More Talent, Not More Wins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He seems to second guess himself.

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

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

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

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

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

Is Browns Win a Sign of Things to Come?

At least for one week, the doomsayers among the Cleveland Brown fan base will be quieted.

No talk about how Colt McCoy would be doing better than Brandon Weeden if he got the chance, no talk about how Tom Heckert’s drafts are overrated, and no talk about going 0-16 for the season.

The Browns snapped their losing streak at 11 with a 34-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at home. It also snaps a losing streak within the AFC North and it marked consecutive weeks that the offense put up more than 21 points.

After several weeks where the Browns looked like a team getting close to a victory, they finally played solid football in all phases for four quarters and came away with a win.

And they were balanced offensively too. Shurmur’s crew ran the ball 34 times and threw 29 passes, which is close to the 50/50 ratio you want to have offensively. However, if you would have been told Montario Hardesty would lead Cleveland in rushing before the game, you probably would have thought of an 0-6 record.

Hardesty came in when Trent Richardson hurt his ribs, and displayed a burst into holes that he didn’t show in the preseason, gaining 56 yards in 15 carries. He also scored his first professional touchdown to give the Browns a lead they would never lose at 20-14.

Rookie WR Josh Gordon showed that he might just be the go to receiver Cleveland has needed for a while, hauling in three Weeden throws for 99 yards, including a 71 yard hookup in the first half. It’s the second straight week Gordon has scored on a pass play of over 60 yards.

That the kind of quick play strike capabilities today’s NFL offenses have.

Weeden completed 17 of 29 passes for 231 yards with two TDs and one interception off a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage. Another solid game for the rookie who seems to get more and more confident every week.

He even got to use his former college teammate WR Josh Cooper, who caught two passes in the first half for 39 yards. He displayed the good hands that he was noted for when he signed with the Browns.

Defensively, the presence of Joe Haden, who returned from a four game suspension, seemed to make a huge difference.

He had an interception, one of three by Bengals’ QB Andy Dalton, and there was a stretch from the beginning of the second half into the fourth quarter where Dick Jauron’s guys totally shutdown the Cincinnati offense.

They made big plays as well. Sheldon Brown got a touchdown on an interception which gave Cleveland a commanding lead at 34-17, and any Bengal hopes for a comeback were dashed when Emanuel Stephens strip sacked Dalton inside the Browns’ 20 late in the fourth quarter, and another rookie DT Billy Winn picked it up and ran 30 yards to seal the deal.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game, however, belonged to a guy who has been the symbol of the Browns over the past few years. Josh Cribbs’ punt return of 60 yards in the third quarter seemed to spark an offense that hadn’t had a first down since early in the second quarter.

Cribbs may have lost a step, but he’s still among the AFC leaders in both kickoff and punt returns, and also had two tackles on special teams as well. He’s still a difference maker with the ball in his hands.

So, with a win under their belt, Shurmur’s squad will look to build on today’s momentum against Indianapolis next week.

Today’s win showed that progress is being made on the field. Most people thought the Browns would be a better team at the end of the season than the beginning. They have the opportunity to start a winning streak next Sunday.

Turnovers A Killer for Browns in New York

The Cleveland Browns were looking good Sunday afternoon against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants as they were ahead 17-10 and driving with 4 minutes to play in the first half.

The game suddenly turned on them in a hurry.

Coach Pat Shurmur called a pass play on 3rd and 1 at the NY 25 yard line. Trent Richardson was not on the field for the play. The Giants knew the Browns were going to throw the ball at that point and Stevie Brown picked off the pass and returned it to the Cleveland 40. Two plays later, the Browns advantage was erased and the score was tied.

After six more plays were run, the Giants were on top 24-17 following a fumbled kickoff return by Josh Cribbs.

At the very least, Shurmur’s crew could have extended the lead to 10 points. Instead, they trailed by seven heading into the locker room.

It was a strange play call to say the least. If you are taking your best offensive player out of the game (while he was having a great deal of success, mind you), then surprise New York by running Chris Ogbonnaya. As said before, when the rookie from Alabama came out of the game, the Giants knew a pass was coming.

Even so, you can blame the play calling all you want, and judging by talk shows after the game, that was the focus of fans’ discontent, but the real culprit was a terrible defensive showing by Dick Jauron’s crew.

You simply cannot win in the NFL giving up 502 yards of total offense, especially with 243 of it coming on the ground.

For all the hand wringing done about defending Eli Manning, more focus should have been given to stopping Ahmad Bradshaw, who carried 30 times (note that Browns!) for 200 yards.

This enabled the Giants to win the time of possession battle by over 10 minutes.

Remember our familiar refrain about the Browns? Can’t stop the run. It was never more evident than today.

That’s not to say the secondary is blameless. Manning looked at times like he was running a 7 on 7 drill in practice, just sitting in the pocket and picking out open receivers.

The Cleveland defense could not put pressure on Manning, as he wasn’t sacked at all on the day. With the Browns’ defensive backs being either very young or very old, they couldn’t stop the aerial assault either.

New York had a whopping 30 first downs for the game, and they only had to punt twice.

It’s tough to say any Cleveland defensive player stood out, but rookie DT Billy Winn continues to impress and S Usama Young had an interception. That’s about it.

Offensively, the coaching staff seems to resist the temptation to give the ball to the rookie from Alabama more often. Richardson had just 17 carries and caught five passes, far short of the at least 30 touches he should get. He averaged almost five yards per carry.

QB Brandon Weeden came up just short of his second straight 300 yard passing performance, throwing for 291 on 22 of 35 completions. He threw two TD passes to rookie WR Josh Gordon, but threw two interceptions as well, the ill-fated pass mentioned earlier and another was picked off in the end zone with the Browns trailing by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

WR Greg Little took a goose egg on the day, but Jordan Norwood responded with nine catches for 81 yards, and Ogbonnaya caught three balls for 54 yards, including a 38 yard gain.

And besides the fumbled kickoff return, Cribbs returned six kicks for an average of 36.8 yards.

So now the Browns come back home at 0-5 and a return date with Cincinnati, who is coming off a disappointing loss to the Dolphins.

At this point, you have to wonder when a victory will come, because it is becoming obvious that this group has forgotten how to put one in the win column.

Browns Need Offense? Give it to Richardson

After most Browns’ losses, we bemoan the inability of the team to run the ball and defense the opponents’ running game.

That is usually a recipe for defeats, even in today’s pass happy NFL.

That’s why it is time for coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress to get more touches for RB Trent Richardson.

The third overall draft pick last spring, the rookie from Alabama gives the teams playing the Browns someone to account for when Cleveland has the ball.

Finally!

After Richardson’s game against Cincinnati, in which he ran for 109 yards in 19 carries, the defensive coordinators in the Browns’ last two games (vs. Buffalo and Baltimore) have put eight men in the box, daring Brandon Weeden to throw the football.

That has led to the rookie quarterback throwing the football an average of 40 times per game, a total far too high for a player getting his first NFL experience.

It is time to give Richardson more of a load for several reasons. Right now, he’s averaging a little less than 20 touches per game. That number needs to get closer to 30.

And it doesn’t have to be 30 runs, it can be 24 carries and catching six passes out of the backfield, getting T-Rich in space.

First, he’s the best skill player the Browns have. With the receivers dropping Weeden’s throws at an alarming rate (a continuation of last season’s problems for Colt McCoy), getting the ball to your biggest weapon needs to be a priority.

Second, the life of an NFL running back is around four seasons.

True, some guys last longer than that, and can remain effective for up to seven or eight seasons, but for the most part, Richardson will have about five years of playing at a very high level, and the Browns should take advantage of using him before the rigors of the NFL take a toll on him.

Naysayers might say it is dumb to run into eight and nine man fronts, and by and large that is true.

However, it is still a matter of execution. If every team thought like that, then running backs like Arien Foster, Ray Rice, and Frank Gore, just to name a few, would be obsolete.

Shurmur and Childress shouldn’t bang their collective heads against a brick wall, but they can’t forget about getting the ball in the biggest weapon’s hands.

If an opponent stacks that line of scrimmage to stop the run, that doesn’t mean your quarterback should be throwing 45-50 passes per game.

And even if you aren’t handing off to the rookie, you can still get him the ball in space by throwing it to him out of the backfield.

This much is clear, the offense shouldn’t ignore him.

In fact, after four games, it’s time for Shurmur and Childress to know who can make plays (and who can’t) and try to get the ball in those players hands as much as possible.

That requires creativity on the coach’s part and that may just be the rub.

Let’s face it, the Cleveland offense may not be vanilla, but it certainly isn’t rocky road either. It tends to be a bit predictable.

This is an area that needs improvement, and it starts by getting the ball in the hands of Trent Richardson more often.

Browns Can’t “Catch” a Win

There are no moral victories in the NFL, and as Bill Parcells once said, you are what your record says you are.

The Cleveland Browns are 0-4 on the season, and need a win in the worst way because they have to be frustrated with having a chance to win a football game and not being able to do so.

Last night in Baltimore, the Browns made one huge mistake, an interception by Brandon Weeden that Cary Williams returned 63 yards for a touchdown, and it cost them in a 23-16 loss.

That makes 10 consecutive losses for Pat Shurmur’s crew, accumulated over two seasons.

However, the area that stood out in the contest was the play of the Ravens’ wide receivers, particularly Anquan Boldin, who hauled in 9 passes for 131 yards, many of them contorting his body in different shapes to catch the ball.

Browns’ receivers? Not so much.

The same problem that haunted Colt McCoy last season, is plaguing Weeden as well. He isn’t able to throw the football and catch it downfield as well.

Trailing 23-13 in the fourth quarter, Weeden fired a pass down the middle to Greg Little in the end zone, a play that would have cut the Baltimore advantage to just three points with more than 12 minutes to play. Little had it go through his hands.

It wasn’t a routine play, but it was one that Ravens’ passer Joe Flacco’s receivers were making all night long. But, Little couldn’t come up with it.

It wasn’t the only ball dropped by Cleveland receivers during the game, simply the biggest.

Jordan Norwood, inactive for the first three games, saw his first action last night and dropped at least two passes. Not a good way to make sure you’ll get more playing time.

Despite all the drops, Weeden wound up 25 of 52 for 320 yards (his second 300 yard passing game in four weeks, Colt McCoy has one). He stood in the pocket and made strong throws most of the night. Even though he’s becoming a lightning rod like all Cleveland quarterbacks, he’s developing nicely.

Trent Richardson was impressive too, even though he had just 14 carries for 47 yards. He caught four more balls for 57 more yards.

Richardson is definitely a player defensive coordinators are planning for. Baltimore made its first priority to account for the rookie. When was the last time the Browns had a player like that.

The difference in the game was the Ravens’ wide receivers. They caught the ball and made plays, while the Browns’ pass catchers didn’t.

Defensively, Dick Jauron’s crew played valiantly. LB Craig Robertson, an undrafted free agent, continues to impress, intercepting a Flacco throw in the end zone, and making open field tackles on Ray Rice a couple of times.

The defense also put a lot of pressure on Flacco, sacking him four times. The line play was thought to be a question mark coming into the year, but they are getting to the quarterback frequently, and most of the time with four rushers.

And what can you say about Phil Dawson, who kicked three field goals of over 50 yards. If the Browns were contending for the playoffs, Dawson would most certainly get the Pro Bowl nod he richly deserves.

It hasn’t showed up in the standings yet, but this is definitely a better football team than last year’s squad.

Still, Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress need to put more points on the board. They’ve only scored more than 20 points once this season, and that doesn’t get it done in today’s NFL.

In fact, in the 52 games Shurmur has been the offensive coordinator (with the Rams) or head coach, his teams have scored more than 20 points just six times. It’s a disturbing trend.

Perhaps they could score more with receivers that hold on to the ball.

The Losing Keeps Continuing for the Browns

The Cleveland Browns were not ready for what the Buffalo Bills had in store for them this afternoon, and Pat Shurmur’s crew was quickly down 14-0 before the first quarter ended.

It was a hole they couldn’t dig all of the way out of, and the Browns fell to 0-3 with a 24-14 loss at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Cleveland did have chances, but they fell back into their old habits, their usual way of defeat. That is they couldn’t run the ball, and the couldn’t stop the run.

The Browns caught a break when the NFL’s leading rusher, C. J. Spiller had to leave the game in the first quarter with a possible separated shoulder. Spiller had already taken a screen pass 32 yards for a touchdown to give Buffalo a 14-0 lead with the contest not quite 10 minutes old.

But Tashard Choice, the Bills third string running back, ran for 91 yards on 20 carries, as the visitors ran for more than 100 more than the home team’s total.

Trent Richardson gained just 27 yards for the game on 12 carries.

However, Buffalo came into the game with the intention of taking the rookie from Alabama away from Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress. At least the Browns can now say they have someone the defense has to respect.

That opened up the passing game for Brandon Weeden, and until the last two possessions of the game, he took advantage of it.

After his 22-yard touchdown pass to yet another rookie, WR Travis Benjamin late in the third quarter, Cleveland was very much in this game, trailing by only three at 17-14.

That was as close as they would come.

The Browns forced a three and out on the next Bills’ possession, but the offense couldn’t capitalize after picking up one first down, and gave Buffalo the ball back, and on the first play Choice slashed through the defense for 22 yards.

The defense had one more opportunity to hold the visitors to a field goal, but gave up an 11 yard gain on a bubble screen on third and nine. The Bills scored two plays later and the game was basically over.

After that, Cleveland made mistake after mistake with Weeden throwing two interceptions and a key holding penalty on C Alex Mack ending drives.

Another problem was wide receivers dropping passes. Greg Little dropped one near the end of the first half with at least 15 yards of real estate in front of him. It could have put Cleveland in a position to get a field goal heading into the locker room, closing the gap to 14-10.

And Benjamin dropped one on a 3rd and 19 with a lot of room in front of him in the third quarter.

Weeden finished hitting on 27 of 43 throws for 237 yards, with the TD toss and two interceptions. His longest completion was a bubble screen to Josh Cribbs for 24 yards, a play that wasn’t used again.

Say what you will about Cribbs, and his shortcomings at wide receiver, but when he’s on the field, he makes plays offensively.

Weeden’s only other completion over 20 yards was the touchdown pass. Other than that, he became a dink and dunk passer, taking what the Bills gave him. This is typical of the Shurmur offense.

Remember that Shurmur’s attack doesn’t score many points.

In his two years as St. Louis’ offensive coordinator, the Rams scored more than 20 points just four times. Last year, running the Browns’ attack, Cleveland scored over that mark just once.

After last week, that means the Shurmur offense has scored more than 20 points just six times in 51 games. That won’t win you too many contests in today’s NFL.

Until his young team can put up at least 21 points on a weekly basis, the Browns aren’t going to be successful.

The Browns have a short week with a divisional game against the Ravens on Thursday night, staring 0-4 right in the face.

When teams don’t win occasionally they forget how to win. That’s something the Browns have to overcome. They don’t do the little things that translate into wins. New owner to be, Jimmy Haslam can’t be impressed by what he sees.

Browns Look Better in Most Areas, But Still Lose.

For those Browns’ fans who were panicked that GM Tom Heckert horribly screwed up last April’s draft, you can rest easier today. If you are coach Pat Shurmur, and your team is 0-2, you have to be concerned especially since you have a new boss.

And if you are Joe Haden, you have to feel like you let your team down because a porous secondary and a bad special teams play were the biggest deciding factors in a 34-27 loss to Cincinnati Sunday afternoon.

Usually, the formula that leads to a Cleveland defeat is that they can’t run the ball and can’t stop the run. That wasn’t the case today.

Rookie Trent Richardson showed why Heckert traded up to get him with his first 100 yard rushing game, getting 109 yards on 19 attempts and catching four passes for 36 more yards, scoring two touchdowns.

His fellow rook, QB Brandon Weeden put aside all the jokes about a 5.1 passer rating with a club rookie record 322 passing yards and two TD tosses, one to Richardson and the other to WR Greg Little. He had no turnovers after throwing four picks in his debut.

Meanwhile, the Bengals ran for just 80 yards on 25 carries, a 3.2 average per carry.

However, they didn’t need to run because they had so much success through the air.

The Cleveland secondary, minus their best player in Haden, allowed touchdown plays of 44 and 50 yards through the air, allowing Andy Dalton 318 yards passing.

The Browns leading tacklers for the game were CB Buster Skrine, CB Dimitri Patterson, and S T. J. Ward. What does that tell you? That Dick Jauron’s defense was making a lot of stop after Cincinnati receivers caught passes.

The defense did have six sacks and an interception (three of the former and the pick by MLB D’Qwell Jackson, who was excellent), but allowing the opponent’s QB to complete 24 of 31 throws equals a bad day in the aerial defense department.

Although Cleveland put pressure on Dalton most of the day, hence six sacks, they played very passively in coverage, allowing Bengal receivers an eight to ten yard cushion at the line of scrimmage. That allowed Dalton to hit short passes at will.

The key play of the game was probably the first one in which a Bengal player touched the ball. After one first down on the Browns first possession, Adam (Pacman) Jones took Reggie Hodges’ punt 81 yards for a touchdown. During the run, at least five Cleveland players’ had shots at Jones, but all missed.

It put the Browns in a hole they couldn’t get out off the rest of the day.

A couple of curious things should be questioned and both have to do with who was active for the game. Defensively, Sheldon Brown was active, but didn’t play. With the secondary struggling, couldn’t he and his experience helped a bit? And if not, should he remain on the roster.

Offensively, Brandon Jackson was not active in favor of Chris Ogbonnaya, who caught six passes for 73 yards in a third down back role, but fumbled ending a promising drive in the first half.

It was an odd game in that no statistic really stands out as to why Cleveland lost, but they did.

They outgained Cincinnati. The ran the ball better and stopped the run as well. The Bengals converted only 4 of 12 third downs, while the Browns did better, picking up 7 in 15 opportunities. The turnovers were even.

It really comes down to poor tackling defensively and on special teams.

The Browns showed improvement in a lot of areas in-game two, but now they need to convert that improvement into a victory. A home game next Sunday is a perfect chance for that.

Browns Start 2012 With Another Close Loss

When you come down to it, the Cleveland Browns lost their first game of the season to the Philadelphia Eagles in a most predictable way. They couldn’t run the ball when it counted, and they couldn’t stop the run either.

You could make the argument that if Eagles’ coach Andy Reid had not been so stubborn about throwing the football, the visitors would have won rather easily.

Philadelphia averaged five yards per carry running the football, yet had QB Michael Vick throw the ball 56 times. His four interceptions kept the Browns in the game, and his last resulted in a touchdown return by LB D’Qwell Jackson which gave Cleveland a 16-10 lead.

The Browns ran for 99 yards and a 4.5 per carry average, but here is where statistics are meaningless. 35 yards came on a double reverse by rookie WR Travis Benjamin and 25 more came on QB Brandon Weeden’s 25 yard scamper as the first half ended. On the other 2o attempts to run to ball, Cleveland gained just 49 yards.

After the pick which gave the Browns the lead, the Eagles ran for 44 of the 52 yards they gained to set up a field goal try of 45 yards, which Alex Henery missed giving the home team the ball back with a six point lead on their own 35 yard line and 9:01 remaining in the game.

It was time to run some time off the clock and shorten the game, but in the end Cleveland could only run about two and a half minutes off the timer, and gave Philadelphia and all their weapons the ball back with over six minutes left.

Cleveland ran two running plays and a short pass to pick up one first down, but on the next play, rookie RB Trent Richardson was stuffed for a one run loss, and then Weeden threw two incomplete passes, which of course stopped the clock.

The Eagles then converted the next drive for a touchdown with 1:18 remaining and it took only one play for Weeden to throw his fourth interception of the game and seal the deal for Philly.

The rookie passer has a dreadful day, hitting just 12 of 35 throws for 118 yards, and could not get Cleveland into the end zone.

Of the four pick offs, two were bad. The one that virtually ended the game, and a deep sideline route for his third turnover.

The first was a beautiful throw that WR Greg Little couldn’t hold in the red zone, and the second was a deep throw on third and ten which amounted to nothing more than a punt.

The rookie did fumble twice, which is beginning to be worrisome. He simply has to hold on to the football.

And he was overthrowing a lot. He missed several wide open targets because passes were fired ten yards over their heads.

Richardson had his moments, like when he ran over Philadelphia S Kurt Coleman, resulting in the Eagle’s helmet flying off, but it was curious that offensive coordinator Brad Childress never had the rookie running wide all day. Pretty much all of his carries were between the tackles.

Several people have hammered on Pat Shurmur about not going for two after Jackson’s TD and make it a 17-10 game. However, you can’t assume they will get the two points. If it fails, the score is 15-10, and a touchdown alone beats you. Plus, the Eagles then would have definitely gone for two, which would have meant a field goal would send the game to overtime.

Defensive coordinator Dick Jauron deserves credit for a great game plan, and S T.J. Ward and CB Joe Haden had fine games. Ward caused a fumble and Haden had an interception, both of which resulted in Phil Dawson field goals.

And rookie free agent LBs, L. J. Fort and Craig Robertson both had interceptions as well. Guess the coaching staff was right in not being worried about playing either guy.

The Browns almost won, and losing another close game is tough to swallow. However, remember this team has 15 rookies and nine second year players. They will no doubt get better, and Weeden will play better next week.

As much as it is difficult, you have to keep the big picture in mind.

On Modell’s Passing

Growing up in the 60’s, the Cleveland Browns were the arguably the hallmark franchise of the National Football League.

My father would point out with pride that the Browns were the winningest team in NFL history in the late 1960’s. Cleveland played in the championship games in 1964, 1965, 1968, and 1969. Wins in the last two games would have put the Browns in the Super Bowl.

At that point, the city of Cleveland loved Art Modell. He owned the Browns! The Indians weren’t too far removed from their winning days of the 50’s, but they weren’t contenders either.

The Cavaliers did not exist.

The Art Modell that owned the Browns during from 1970 until he ripped the hearts out of the city was a little different.

This is how we remembered Art Modell as he died early Thursday morning.

His obsession with winning a Super Bowl caused him to meddle with personnel moves, and he fell in love with anyone who gave him a glimpse of hope, and turned on them quickly when that hope started to vanquish.

Sam Rutigliano was an unknown at the time, and in his third year as coach, 1980, led the Browns to the playoffs, the ill-fated “Red Right 88” game. He immediately received a new contract.

In 1984, without Brian Sipe, who left for the USFL, the Browns got off to a 1-7 start and Rutigliano was fired.

Modell brought in Ernie Accorsi as GM, and he was very aggressive. Raiding the crumbling USFL for talent such as Kevin Mack and Frank Minniefield, working some magic to get the rights to Bernie Kosar, and building the foundation for a team that went to three AFC title games in four years.

However, Modell liked his coach, Marty Schottenheimer, and when the coach wanted more power, including the draft, the owner gave it to him and forced Accorsi out.

Schottenheimer was gone after the second title game loss, but not before he got rid of LB Chip Banks, and drafted the “mad dog in a meat market” in Mike Junkin.

Sometimes Modell tried to fancy himself as a “football man” and make personnel decisions that he wasn’t qualified for. He needed a QB to replace Bill Nelsen in the late 60’s and fell in love with Mike Phipps, trading Hall of Famer Paul Warfield to get him.

He did the same thing for Bill Belichick in the 90’s when he wanted a wide receiver and spent big money, cash he didn’t have, to get Andre Rison, who turned into a bust.

Owning an NFL franchise is basically a license to print money, but it wasn’t that way for Modell, who had major financial problems.

That’s what led him to move the team to Baltimore. He was broke, but couldn’t see himself clear of selling the franchise, which was always supported by the fans, to someone who would keep it in Cleveland.

The other NFL owners came out in support of Modell’s place in the Hall of Fame because his work on the television committee and his move to Baltimore (and the many new stadium deals it spawned) put a lot of money in their pockets.

That doesn’t mean he should be enshrined in Canton. As owner of the Browns, he came up short. The team had many more droughts from 1970-1994 than it had successes.

His heart was in the right place in those days, but he couldn’t let the right people run the team. Heck, he even fired Belichick after they got to Baltimore.

No one can blame the people of this city for their opinion of Art Modell. He hurt Cleveland badly, and he could have done it differently and had an entirely different legacy.

Defense Will Be Key for Browns

The highest profile additions to the 2012 Cleveland Browns were on the offensive side of the football. And after watching the team’s play last season, that definitely is where the management should have focused on.

Most of the talk in the off-season has been about rookies RB Trent Richardson, QB Brandon Weeden, T Mitchell Schwartz, and WRs Travis Benjamin and Josh Gordon. That’ s a lot a new faces in the skill positions for Pat Shurmur’s crew.

However, fans have forgotten about the other side of the football, and if the Browns have any success this season will depend on how a very, very young defense performs this season.

A look at the defensive line shows that two rookies (DT John Hughes and Billy Winn) will get a lot of playing time, and one of them will start next to veteran Ahtyba Rubin. Another 2nd year player, Jabaal Sheard, starts at DE, and after a good rookie year, he will have to deal with how offensive coordinators around the league game plan for him.

He wouldn’t be the first defensive end to have a good rookie season, and fizzle the following year because he doesn’t have a secondary move to get to the quarterback.

Behind the defensive line is a very young corps of linebackers around vet D”Qwell Jackson. Rookie James Michael Johnson is injured and will likely miss the first one or two regular season contests, so that means a lot of playing time for Kaluka Maiava, who’s suited more for special teams, and undrafted free agents L. J. Fort and Craig Robertson, and rookie Tank Carder, who was just picked up yesterday.

That’s an awful lot of young players to be depending on.

It doesn’t mean the Browns defense is doomed to failure. The young players who made the roster have shown a lot of athleticism and speed, something last year’s defense lacked, particularly at linebacker. So, it’s very possible the defense will show improvement. They definitely will get better as the season goes on.

Remember, one of the biggest problems for the Browns since 1999 has been the failure to stop the run. So, if the defensive line doesn’t play well early in the season, the potential “stars” added by GM Tom Heckert will have a difficult time getting on the field.

That’s why the key players early in the season will be Hughes and Winn. If they can team with Rubin to stop opponents from going through the Cleveland line like a hot knife through butter, the Browns can compete early in the campaign.

Really, it’s another reason that Richardson is the key rookie from an offensive standpoint, besides the fact that he was the third overall pick in the draft.

If he’s as good as advertised (we haven’t seen him play yet), then he takes a lot of pressure of fellow rookie Weeden, and a strong running game controls the tempo and clock, and doesn’t leave a young defense on the field too long.

What we are most anxious about as the regular season starts a week from today is whether or not the Browns have corrected the two areas that have plagued them for many years, the ability to run and the ability to stop the run.

In both cases, Shurmur and Heckert are depending on very young players. If they are right, the foundation could be set for extended success for this franchise.