Tag: san francisco 49ers

Can’t Make Much of Browns Win Today

We aren’t going to make too much out of today’s 24-10 win by the Cleveland Browns over the San Francisco 49ers.

Let’s face it, the 49ers are a terrible team, just like the Browns and since Cleveland was at home, we aren’t surprised by the victory and it doesn’t prove anything about Mike Pettine, his coaching staff, and even Johnny Manziel.

The Browns gained 481 yards against the Niners, even running for over 200 yards on the game, with Isaiah Crowell rushing for 145 yards on 20 carries, the first Browns’ RB to get over the century mark this season.

The defense showed a pulse too, recording nine sacks, meaning over half of their sacks on the season (26 total) have come against Tennessee (7) and today.

Armonty Bryant and rookie Nate Orchard each had two sacks and Desmond Bryant had 1-1/2 on the day.

They still didn’t turn the ball over so that trend continued this afternoon.

After five straight games of allowing 30 points or more, Jim O’Neil beleaguered unit held a terrible 49er offense to just 10 points, including a meaningless score in the final minutes.

As for the thing everybody focuses on in this city, the quarterback play, Johnny Manziel had one throw we are sure he would like back (the pass over the middle right before halftime), but otherwise played well.

He completed 21 of 31 throws for 270 yards and a touchdown in winning his second game of the season.

But you can’t make much of this because the other win was also against one of the NFL’s lesser lights in Tennessee.

He’s proven he can play well against bad teams.

He does have an opportunity now to play against the defending NFC champions next week against Seattle, and two playoff contenders in Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

That will tell us and the front office more about the former Heisman Trophy winner than today’s win.

Two things that cause us to scratch our heads…first, another field goal block, with the pressure coming over the two rookie first round draft picks, Danny Shelton and Cam Erving.

Why wouldn’t Chris Tabor make some adjustments in the protection scheme after the last two games?  This is exactly what bothers us about this staff.  The inability to make changes when something isn’t working.

The other thing was not using Terrelle Pryor in the passing game.  Look, Brian Hartline had 100 yards receiving in his last game of the season (he suffered a broken collarbone in the victory), and Gary Barnidge continues to impress, but why not use Pryor a little.

Yes, he did play, but there didn’t seem to be a play call which intended for the ball to go to him.  Why not use him since you are sitting at 2-10 coming in?

In our mind, this win changes nothing.  The Browns beat a bad San Francisco team, which they should have done.

Yes, it’s better than losing to the Niners, but you can’t get excited about it.

As for falling back into a tie with Tennessee and San Diego for the worst record in the league?  Who cares.  That’s for losers and you have to understand the players aren’t out there worried about next year’s draft pick.

Next week will be a huge challenge.  We believe the Browns will be the biggest underdog of the NFL season against the Seahawks, with our guess being Cleveland will be at least a 17 point dog.

Is it better than losing to a bad team?  Of course.  However, you can’t get excited by today’s performance.

The Browns simply did what they should have done.

JD

Note to Haslam: Losing Won’t Be Tolerated Anymore

The Cleveland Browns had another bad public relations moment on Tuesday.

You might think it was Phil Dawson’s announcement that he is signing with the San Francisco 49ers, ending his tenure as the last Brown remaining from the 1999 expansion team.

The way the team handled Dawson’s free agency wasn’t smart, with team president Joe Banner seemingly indifferent about the departure.

However, in the long run, the front office was just adhering to Branch Rickey’s long ago theory:  It is better to get rid of a player a year too early, than a year too late.

At Dawson’s age, even though he’s had great seasons the last two years, you can make that argument.

Dawson should be commended for a great career here, and someday his name and number will be on the team’s Ring of Honor, but he’s a kicker.  There isn’t a great deal of difference between the best field goal kicker in the NFL and a middle of the road guy.

The real story though should be owner Jimmy Haslam’s comments regarding Dawson at the owner’s meetings in Arizona.  Haslam said it’s not like the Browns are going 13-3 next season.

Really?!

We’ve said this before, but there is no more patience with this football team, and no one cares about new ownership, new front office, and a new coach.

The Browns were 5-11 last season with a poor (to say the least) offensive coaching staff.  It would not be a stretch to say Cleveland could have been a 7-9 team with better offensive game plans and better utilization of a few offensive players.

So, for the owner to dismiss a turnaround to a playoff contending season is not something to ignore.  Did his right-hand man Joe Banner tell him that with all the changes being made, winning is impossible in 2013?

Teams make quantum leaps in terms of success every year in the NFL.  Last year, the Indianapolis Colts went from having the leagues worst record to a playoff spot.

A year earlier, San Francisco hired Jim Harbaugh and immediately became one of the better teams in the NFC.

That’s the type of improvement that Haslam, Banner, and Mike Lombardi should be expecting at this point in the off-season.  Not telling the fan base that they should expect another year of mediocrity.

It’s simply not acceptable.  When former GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur were let go, it wasn’t done as part of another “five-year plan”.  Haslam was viewed as an owner that felt losing was not an option.

He said he wanted to build the right way, through the draft, and not have the Browns have one year of solid football and go back into mediocrity.  But it appears, he and his people feel the team needs another year or two of rebuilding.

The owner may be trying to slow down optimism a bit with his comment, but he should know better than to say something like that.  With a new head coach, an experience offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, and a hot defensive headman in Ray Horton, the Browns better be closer to 13-3 this season than they are to 3-13.

If they aren’t, the goodwill from buying the franchise that Haslam has will be as short-lived as Shurmur’s tenure here as head coach.