Browns Should Have Accountability For Coach and GM

When the Haslam family bought the Cleveland Browns in 2012, initially there was a lot of change. Rob Chudzinski was hired as a coach for the 2013 season, promptly went 4-12 and was fired.

Mike Pettine held the job for two years. Hue Jackson for 2-1/2 seasons, including 1-15 and 0-16, so we can see the ownership was trying to be more patient. But Gregg Williams finished the 2018 season, was let go, and Freddie Kitchens had the gig for a year.

The same was true in the front office. Michael Lombardi was the GM in ’13, followed by Ray Farmer for two years, Sashi Brown for a couple, and John Dorsey for three seasons.

And rightly so, the Haslams were criticized for the turnover, not establishing any continuity within the organization.

The question we have is have they flipped the script now and perhaps are giving the people who run the football team a little too much rope?

The GM/head coach combination of Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski has been in place for five seasons, and some of the people who cover the Browns think they will be safe for this season as well.

We like Stefanski, who guided the Browns to two playoff appearances in the five seasons, and has gone through a slew of quarterbacks, compiling a 40-44 record to date. He’s been named coach of the year twice, once because he guided the Browns to their first post-season appearance since 2002 in 2020.

The second came when Cleveland went to the playoffs despite using four different starting quarterbacks, including Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker in 2023.

As for Berry, you can make the argument he has completely mangled the most important position in sports, the quarterback. Dissatisfied with former first overall pick Baker Mayfield, he engineered (maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but he’s the exec on record) perhaps the worst trade in NFL history, dealing three first round picks and guaranteeing the contract of Deshaun Watson.

We absolutely agree Stefanski and Berry should get a pass for the incredibly bad 2024 season, because it seems to us that year was about justifying the horrible deal for Watson, and not really about winning.

When you change several coaches, including the offensive coordinator, and change the offensive line blocking scheme, after a playoff season you have to think that was something decided by the entire organization (i.e. ownership) and that’s why the pair weren’t fired after the 3-14 debacle.

However, if the Browns don’t play better this year, meaning be competitive on the field, a spotlight should be shone upon the coach and GM.

The coaching staff fiasco seems to be repaired, and although they don’t seem to have a “franchise” QB, the veteran that got them to the post-season in ’23 is back in Joe Flacco, and they seem to have reinstituted an emphasis on the running game.

As for the GM, in his tenure, he has selected one Pro Bowl player. Part of that is not having three first round picks, but he seems to have chosen a lot of solid players, but no impact guys.

And in this past draft, despite needs on the offensive line, safety, and wide receiver, he took two running backs (we like both of them, by the way) and two quarterbacks.

We don’t want the ownership to return to their ways of firing people every two years, but we have no issue with having some accountability for Stefanski and Berry after this season.

Creating a mess and using it as a reason to keep your job shouldn’t be how it works.

Browns Biggest Problem? Lack Of One Vision.

Well, another year and another coaching change for the Cleveland Browns. Actually, the 2019 season had one less replacement than 2018, so if you are looking for a silver lining, we guess that is it.

Freddie Kitchens is out after one year, the second Cleveland coach to have that short of a tenure within the past ten years (Rob Chudzinski) and if you count Gregg Williams, the organization has given three coaches 16 games or less in the recent past.

And, of course, there are rumors that the firings may not be done in Berea, and perhaps GM John Dorsey’s job is in jeopardy.

People wonder why the Browns can’t win? It’s because of the wash, rinse, repeat cycle that is endless for the team, and in particular, Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

The owners apparently can’t stop listening to anyone and everyone, and the organizational structure, which right now has Dorsey and analytics guru Paul DePodesta both reporting to the Haslams, causes problems, time and again.

Those who don’t learn from the past and doomed to repeat it.

Remember that Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson both reported to the owners, and when the losing started after Brown gutted the roster (which Jackson knew was happening), the coach used his influence to get Brown out of town.

Then, Dorsey used the same process to get Jackson fired, even though both reported directly to the Haslams.

Dorsey hired Kitchens and the coach reported to the GM, but it has been reported that DePodesta didn’t want Jackson or Kitchens, instead wanting to hire Sean McDermott (now with Buffalo instead of Jackson) and then Minnesota offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski (not Kitchens).

It appears DePodesta has whispered to the Haslams that he was right on both counts and should have more of a say in the hiring of the new man.

Of course, if the new coach struggles, then Dorsey will be talking to them saying DePodesta doesn’t know anything, and we will start the process again.

The Browns need a director of football operations badly. They need one voice talking to the ownership about the team, so the political “football” (no pun intended) ends. It is obvious the Haslams cannot handle opposing viewpoints from people who talk directly to them.

They are like the kid who is trying to be popular in school, trying to be everyone’s friend.

Our two cents would be that Dorsey stays as the GM, as he’s brought a lot of talent into the organization, with the understanding that he starts taking character of the players into account.

Hopefully, he has learned from the past year, players who have talent but a questionable work ethics will no longer be tolerated.

The next coach should come from a collaborative effort using both men, so they both have a stake in the success or failure in the new head man. That would also mean they would work together to help bring in players.

That’s what the Browns need most, a front office team all pulling in the right direction. Until the ownership realizes that, the football team will be stuck in mediocrity.

If they can’t, then this will all be repeated in 2021, or heaven forbid, at the end of the 2020 season.

Those who don’t learn from the past, are destined to repeat it.

If Hoyer’s Not Hurt Last Year, Is Pettine in CLE This Year?

In a weird way, Browns’ coach Mike Pettine owes his current job to Brian Hoyer, and not because of the quarterback’s performance this year in leading the Browns to a 7-4 record thus far.

Let’s go back to last season, when Cleveland got off to a 2-2 start going into a week five matchup with the Buffalo Bills, who coincidentally are the brown and orange’s opponents this Sunday.

We all know what happened in that game, Hoyer tore his ACL and was out for the season, forcing then head coach Rob Chudzinski to have to use Brandon Weeden, who didn’t play well in a week one loss to Miami or a week two loss to Baltimore.

Later, Chudzinski went to Jason Campbell and back to Weeden because the former got hurt.

The effect we took away from the season was the Browns were a decent, competitive team when they received competent quarterbacking play, which is what they received from Hoyer in wins against Minnesota and Cincinnati.

Notice we didn’t say great QB play, just decent play. That’s how close the Browns were to respectability in 2013.

We decided to test our theory, and used the average passer rating from last year, which was the 87.0 mark posted by Andrew Luck. We arrived at this figure because there were 37 QBs who qualified for the rating and Luck ranked 18th, right in the middle.

Weeden achieved a QBR higher than 87.0 just twice last season. He posted a 95.3 rate (13 for 24, 197 yards and a touchdown) in the game he relieved Hoyer in a 37-24 win over the Bills, and a 94.8 rating in a 32-28 loss to the Jaguars (24 of 40, 370 yards, 3 TDs and 2 interceptions).

Campbell had three games in which his rating was above 87.0. He posted a 105.4 in a 23-17 loss to Kansas City, who was unbeaten at the time (22 of 36, 293 yards and 2 touchdowns), a 116.3 in a 24-18 win over the Ravens (23 for 35, 262 yards and 3 scoring throws), and a 116.8 in the heartbreaking 27-26 loss to New England that probably cost Chudzinski his job.

Campbell had three games with ratings of under 70, while Weeden had four such games. As a point of comparison, Hoyer has had three games all year with a rating under 70, two of those coming in the last two weeks.

Hoyer did have a rating of under 70 in the first of his two starts last season, that being in the win over the Vikings in which he threw three interceptions.

This means last year, Browns’ quarterbacks had eight games, half the schedule, in which they received poor quarterbacking play.

Based on Hoyer’s performance this season, you would have to think Cleveland would have won two more games (23-10 loss to Miami, 14-6 loss to Baltimore, 24-13 loss to the Jets?) if their quarterbacks had done even a decent job in those contests.

If that occurred, the Browns would have finished 6-10 and the improvement from the season before perhaps keeps Chudzinski is in the job, and Pettine planning how to stop the Browns as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator.

On the other hand, two of those losses came before Hoyer took over as the starter, so maybe if Chud would have picked the more competent guy in the first place, the season would have started differently.

Nevertheless, Hoyer’s injury against the team Pettine was coaching sent the Browns into a death spiral, as they won just one more game the balance of the year.

If Brian Hoyer doesn’t get hurt, Mike Pettine may not have his current gig, and he’s right now a contender for AFC Coach of the Year.

It’s funny how things have turned out.

A Coach’s Life Isn’t Fair, Just Ask Chud the Scapegoat

It turns out that Rob Chudzinski received just one year to try to turn around the Cleveland Browns, getting fired last night after a 4-12 season.

Did Chudzinski do a great job coaching this season? No, but he deserved another season to see if he would do better with a quality draft and therefore a better roster. Instead, he became the sacrificial lamb for a front office sensing more anger in an already disgruntled fan base.

The former head coach did make mistakes, most notably in his judgment of QB Brandon Weeden. Although Weeden did play well in the first two exhibition contests, it was clear early on that the football team didn’t respond to him.

However, isn’t the bigger miscalculation by Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi, who didn’t get another quarterback after the season ending injury to Brian Hoyer with the Browns having a 3-2 record. When Weeden struggled in games against Detroit and Green Bay after being put back in the lineup, the coaching staff had no other alternative than Jason Campbell.

And after Campbell became the starter, it made Weeden the only alternative going forward. That’s not on the coach, that’s on the personnel department.

We have been critical of the Browns’ ignorance of the running game, but what choice did they have after Banner and Lombardi dealt Trent Richardson to the Colts for a first round pick in 2014. Yes, it was a good deal (Joe and Mike can pat themselves on the back), but it left the squad without a legitimate running threat.

It would seem to be another case of the personnel people letting the coaching staff down.

Another thing that let Chudzinski down was the defense. After the Browns’ lost to the Steelers in Cleveland to drop to 4-6 on the year, they lost three games in which they scored a total of 85 points. That’s an average of 28 points per game.

However, Ray Horton’s unit allowed 97 points in those games against Jacksonville, New England, and Chicago. And the first two of those games were fourth quarter collapses by the defense.

Had the Browns won two of those games, they would have ended the year at 6-10. Would Chudzinski have been fired then?

Yes, your record is what it says it is, but the former coach was offensive minded and somehow he pasted together a plan (with Norv Turner) to put up 28 points with no running game and a veteran journeyman quarterback.

But he loses his job because the owner and front office want better results?

Supposedly, the team made the decision after the Jets’ game, which came one week after the Browns scored 31 points against Chicago. That means yesterday’s game didn’t figure in the decision.

So, the coach has one bad game and the decision is made to jettison the coach.

Many in the media are complimenting Haslam on a “bold” move. But, it says here he comes off looking like Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder, an impetuous owner who makes knee jerk reactions. The bold move would have been to see what Chudzinski could do with a year of head coaching experience under his belt.

Nobody wanted Haslam to be like the reclusive Randy Lerner, but with this move he comes off as a meddler.

Firing the coach puts the pressure squarely on the owner and his hand-picked people (Banner and Lombardi) to win and win now. That’s something that has been needed in Berea, but we’re not sure they had to relieve the head coach of his duties to establish it.

Browns Version of “What If?”

Monday, September 9th–

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

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

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

Monday, September 16th–

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Campbell went down for a loss just once.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Browns’ QB Dilemma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But do they?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 2013 season should be most important, not 2014.

Browns Win and Lose On Same Night

The Cleveland Browns have seemed to be in a state of chaos for the last 15 years.

Just as they seemed to find a diamond in the rough at quarterback in local boy Brian Hoyer, who led them to two consecutive victories, something happens to end the era of good feeling for Browns’ supporters.

Hoyer went down with a knee injury late in the first quarter and is out for the season, and coach Rob Chudzinski is forced to go back to Brandon Weeden, who wasn’t very popular with the faithful when he went into the game.

However, the contrast was very telling. Seeing Hoyer play at the beginning of the game served a stark contrast to the former first round pick.

Quite simply, Hoyer makes quicker decisions and gets rid of the ball faster, which makes the offensive line look better.

Here’s hoping Weeden can learn from the Cleveland native and can translate those things into his game. He admitted he must do that after the 37-24 win, which raises the Browns’ record to 3-2 on the season.

Weeden made some good throws last night, particularly two long bombs to Greg Little and Josh Gordon, with the latter grabbing a 37-yard touchdown strike after the throw to Little just two plays earlier.

One thing that helped Weeden was that the Browns didn’t abandon the running game at any point in the contest. Willis McGahee carried the ball 26 times last night. In the second year man’s first two starts this season, Cleveland ran the ball less than 20 times in the entire game.

Weeden will need to improve if the Browns are going to continue to win football games. He has to develop an internal alarm clock in his head that tells him to get rid of the football after three seconds.

Everyone will talk about the quarterback situation, but the real story of last night was Travis Benjamin, who set a franchise record for most punt return yardage, including a 79-yard return to give the Browns a 17-10 advantage.

Benjamin also had a 57-yard return, which set up a Billy Cundiff field goal earlier.

Once again, the defense did the job. Yes, Buffalo had 155 yards rushing, becoming the first team to reach the century mark against them this season, but 54 of those came on a touchdown run by C. J. Spiller. The balance of the 101 yards came on 30 attempts.

Yes, we know that counts, but what it does mean is that for a majority of the game, Buffalo could not run the football.

The pressure was also there, with Ray Horton’s defense getting four more sacks, and from four different players, most notably rookie DE Armonty Bryant, who recorded his first NFL sack.

And the defense also put the game away on S T.J. Ward’s interception return for a touchdown.

Cleveland gave up 24 points, but the first seven were a result of a horrible pass interference call on Joe Haden on the Bills’ first play of the game.

We have said it before; the NFL simply has to change the penalty for this infraction to 15 yards. On the play in question, there was just as much contact initiated by the receiver. Why penalize only the defense?

The Browns, winners of three straight, have some extra time off before the Lions visit a week from Sunday.

The season is back in the hands of Brandon Weeden, and he must show a lot of improvement if Chudzinski’s boys are to continue their winning streak.

If They are Tanking, No One Told Browns’ Players, Staff

If the Cleveland Browns front office’s plan was to be bad enough to be able to get their franchise quarterback in next year’s draft, someone forgot to let the players and coaching staff in on the plan.

The Browns scored more points in the first half than they had in the first two games in total, and then overcame their usual second half blahs to win their first game of the season, 31-27 over the Minnesota Vikings.

The offense was much more efficient under Brian Hoyer, playing for an injured Brandon Weeden, converting 6 of 15 third downs and although the offensive line struggled all afternoon, they allowed just three sacks.

It has been reported that Weeden could be available to play next week, but after a win and Hoyer’s performance today, why change back unless the former St. Ignatius star gives the coaches a reason to do just that.

The other dimension that returned to the offense was WR Josh Gordon, the subject of trade rumors by the national pundits before the game. Gordon caught 10 throws for 146 yards and a 47 yard touchdown reception which started the scoring for Cleveland.

Now, many people may say the Browns didn’t miss recently traded Trent Richardson because they emerged with the win, but the offense had no running attack the entire game, although they ran for 103 yards in just 17 attempts.

That’s because Cleveland’s leading rusher was Josh Aubrey, who picked up 34 yards on a fake punt, and Gordon also gained 22 yards later on an end around. Those two plays accounted for more than half of the offense’s rushing yards.

Richardson’s primary replacement, newcomer Willis McGahee, picked up just 9 yards on 8 carries.

Coach Rob Chudzinski and coordinator Norv Turner showed more aggressiveness in the first half than we have seen all season, pulling out both the fake punt previously mentioned and they also scored a touchdown on a fake field goal with punter/holder Spencer Lanning hitting TE Jordan Cameron with an 11 yard touchdown pass.

Cameron had another outstanding afternoon with three touchdown receptions, including the game winning 7 yard catch.

Hoyer did something in his first Cleveland start that is missing from Weeden’s resume, that is producing a game winning drive, after getting possession at his own 45 with almost three and a half minutes left.

He hit a key third down play immediately, hitting Gordon for 11 yards to keep the drive going after two incompletions.

Still, the lack of a running game is going to come back and haunt this team if they don’t figure it out soon. Cleveland’s last running play came with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Defensively, Ray Horton’s crew held RB Adrian Peterson under 100 yards rushing (88 total), and added four sacks and two turnovers. The sacks came from DE Desmond Bryant (third straight game, 3.5 on the season), LB Barkevious Mingo (second straight game), Billy Winn, John Hughes, and Jabaal Sheard.

ILB D’Qwell Jackson had seven solo tackles and forced a Peterson fumble and T.J. Ward picked off a Christian Ponder throw.

You can make a very good argument that had the Browns taken care of the football better (three interceptions and a fumble), this game wouldn’t have needed a late game drive to get the victory.

So, the first game coming after a week of turmoil (quarterback change and Richardson trade) was a success, with Chudzinski getting his first win as a head coach.

Now, we can see how the team performs in a more normal week, with a home game against the division favorite in the Cincinnati Bengals.

It was thought the front office was giving up on the 2013 season, but in retrospect, the Dolphins are now 3-0 after beating Atlanta today, and the Ravens blasted Houston 30-9 and now sit at 2-1.

Maybe the Browns aren’t as bad as some people in the organization think.

Browns Lack Accountability

There is no question that professional football is treated differently in Cleveland, Ohio.

About a year ago, Terry Francona was hired as the new manager of the Cleveland Indians. He didn’t get to claim that the players already on the roster were not his and therefore he could not be expected to win right away.

A few months ago, the Cavaliers hired Mike Brown as their new head coach, and Brown said he expected to get the wine and gold back to the playoffs.

In both cases, the respective front offices made moves to upgrade the rosters and at least in the Indians’ case, it has translated in to post-season contention.

The Browns hired a new head coach in Rob Chudzinski after the season, and brought in a new GM before the draft, and yet, their actions are telling the fans that this is yet another rebuilding season, their umpteenth in a row.

And then they dropped this bomb on its fan base, trading Trent Richardson, probably the team’s best skill position player to the Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

The “we have to get our own guys” argument is tiring. In no other sport does this occur. Both the Indians and Cavaliers made additions to their roster, as well they should considering they were terrible last season. They did not blow up the team though.

Hire a coach and have that guy get the best out of the current players. That’s what should be done. A lot of experts felt there was enough talent on this roster to finish 7-9 or 8-8, which would have been progress.

It is a sign of weak management to come in and condemn the entire organization, pretty much saying that they did nothing right.

There is just no accountability for the Browns’ coaches, management, or players.

Isn’t the object of the game to win?

Why isn’t anyone in the organization concerned that it appears only one player picked in last year’s draft, first round pick Barkevious Mingo, can get on the field consistently?

Mike Lombardi criticized several Browns’ choices over the years in his position at NFL Network, yet in his first shot choosing players, he comes up with one guy who can play on a team that won only five games a year ago!

And fans should be enthused that he now has two first round picks in next spring’s draft?

All that argument does is buy time for the new people coming in. Meanwhile, the fans are treated to more years of crappy football.

And this year, Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner, and Michael Lombardi are telling the rabid Browns fandom that they aren’t trying to win this year, just two games into the season.

It would serve them right if not one person goes to First Energy Stadium a week from Sunday. Why should we care if they don’t.

People who are outspoken about Mike Holmgren’s regime are entitled to their opinion, but “The Big Show” never did something like this.

It’s time to hold the Cleveland Browns management accountable for the junk we see every Sunday afternoon. We shouldn’t care that they all are relatively new.

As the late Al Davis said, “Just win, baby! That’s all that matters.

Browns Offense is Offensive So Far

When the Cleveland Browns and Phil Dawson parted way in the off-season, more than one pundit said it wasn’t a big deal because the new coaching staff was going to score touchdowns instead of kicking field goals.

How do those people feel now, as the team fell to 0-2 with a 14-6 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens.

The Browns’ new offense, coached by Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner, looks a lot like the one that performed last season. They’ve scored 16 points combined in the two contests, scoring just one touchdown, and getting three field goals from Billy Cundiff.

Much of the optimism came from the thought that Cleveland had a solid offensive line, but the injuries to guards Shawn Lauvao and Jason Pinkston have weakened that unit significantly, so much that Brandon Weeden has been sacked 11 times in the first two games.

The other thing killing the offense has been third down conversions. Through two games, the Browns are a pathetic 5 out of 29 in trying to stay on the field, a paltry 17.2%. That doesn’t get it done.

Cleveland came out with a big play, a 53-yard strike to TE Jordan Cameron on their first offensive play, getting them to the Ravens’ 7. But two Trent Richardson runs and a third down incompletion had the Browns settling for a field goal.

On their second possession, two consecutive penalties on third down, the first coming on a third and two situation, killed a drive. That cannot happen if you want to play winning football.

Two possessions later, two sacks stopped a drive that had accumulated three first downs.

Sacks, penalties, and the inability to run the football isn’t a formula for winning football. We’ve said for years that the common thread for the Browns in the last 14 years was they couldn’t run the ball, and they couldn’t stop the run.

Although once again, in a game they were trailing just 7-6 going into the fourth quarter, Trent Richardson didn’t carry the ball once in the final stanza. Not once. That’s a head scratcher for sure.

At least these Browns can stop the run. Ray Horton’s defense only allowed 99 yards on 36 attempts to Baltimore, an average of 2.8 yards per carry.

That just plays into our point, though. Just averaging less than three yards per attempt, Baltimore still attempted 36 runs. The Browns? They tried to run the ball just 20 times for the game, and two were runs by Weeden on aborted passing plays.

Until the Browns make a commitment to run the ball, they will continue to struggle moving the ball. They are putting too much of the offense on a quarterback who isn’t prepared to handle it.

Defensively, the Browns pitched a shoutout in the first half, but for the second straight week, the opponent made adjustments and moved the ball better after halftime.

Rookie first round pick Barkevious Mingo made his NFL debut and showed very well, getting a sack and pressuring Raven QB Joe Flacco a couple of other times. DE Desmond Bryant had a half sack (with Jabaal Sheard), giving him 2-1/2 on the season.

Buster Skrine was picked on once again, and was forced to make seven tackles, but opposing QBs are going to go after him because the alternative is Joe Haden.

You can’t argue about the defense though. They allowed just 14 points, and that should win games at the NFL level. In fact, that defensive performance would have won every single early game played on Sunday.

Chudzinski and Turner have to come out and run the football and stick with it even if Richardson isn’t getting five yards per carry. That should take some pressure off the line, making it easier to protect Weeden.

Until that happens, this football team is going to continue to struggle.