Browns Will Be Improved, But No Playoffs Yet

By all accounts, last year’s Cleveland Browns were a mess.

The team was sold pretty much right as training camp opened, which probably made the front office and coaching staff feel like lame ducks, which it turned out was entirely correct.

While GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur continued to work hard at their jobs, in the back of their minds, they surely felt they would be looking for work after the season.

This year, new owner Jimmy Haslam and team president Joe Banner have their own people in place, making for more stability and confidence for both the personnel people and the coaching staff.

Since professional football is probably the sport where coaching makes the most difference, the new experienced coordinators will make first time head coach Rob Chudzinski seem more experienced. That will be critical this season.

Chudzinski and his staff have inherited a lot of talented, young players which should also make the growing pains less severe. In fact, we see a lot of improvement for the Browns both in terms of the players and the team’s record.

There is no reason we can see that this football can’t finish around the .500 mark, going anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7.

Why won’t this team lose 10 games for the sixth consecutive year?

Because the new offensive staff will put the players in position where they will succeed instead of making them adapt to a system to which they were ill-suited.

That is to say, Norv Turner will let Brandon Weeden throw the ball downfield and run more plays out of the shotgun formation, two of the things that made him a first round pick out of Oklahoma State.

He will stop running Trent Richardson between the tackles exclusively. Richardson ran an off tackle play against the Lions in the second preseason game and we almost fell out of a chair. Let linebackers and defensive backs try to bring down the former Alabama runner.

Chudzinski and Turner will also reap the benefit of several young players coming into their own as NFL players. WR Greg Little, TE Jordan Cameron, T Mitchell Schwartz should all be nearing the peak of their abilities.

Defensively, Banner and GM Mike Lombardi made getting after the opposing quarterback a priority, and defensive coordinator Ray Horton is just the man to implement the plan.

The Browns have quality and quantity on the defensive line, and mostly with young players too. Players like former first round pick Phil Taylor, Ahtyba Rubin, Billy Winn, John Hughes and outside linebackers Jabaal Sheard and Barkevious Mingo have the ability to make the other team’s passers very uncomfortable.

Gone are the days of the bend, but don’t break schemes the Browns have used for most of the past fifty seasons. Horton’s group may give up some big plays, but they will make more than they allow.

Some of the improvement will come from the coaching staff, but much more will come from just having the talented players drafted in the last few years come into their own. Of course, the coaches will take advantage of this.

You hate to make a judgment like this, but by the end of the year, we may be talking about how Shurmur may have been one of the worst head coaches in the NFL in recent years.

This year’s team should play an exciting brand of football, and one that will pay off in a few more victories too.

The first step to a playoff spot comes this season.

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.

Browns’ Fans Need to Chill

The Cleveland Browns have many knowledgeable fans, they just don’t seem to be very vocal.

How else can you explain the reaction to last Friday nights ~~exhibition~~, er, pre-season game, a game in which Cleveland ended up winning!

What was viewed as a very good draft by GM Tom Heckert is now relegated to horrible, based on one quarter of the Browns first game that doesn’t count.

How ridiculous is that.

Let’s look at the first few picks made by Heckert last April:

Trent Richardson, the third overall pick, had a “hangnail piece of cartilage” removed from his knee last week, so he is referred to as a bust who will never, ever be healthy. We aren’t doctors, but it sounds like a very minor procedure and it shouldn’t keep Richardson out of the season opener against Philadelphia.

The team’s second first round pick, QB Brandon Weeden didn’t complete every pass he threw, and didn’t lead the Browns to touchdowns in the three possessions he played, so now fans are looking forward to getting the first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft so they can pick USC signal caller Matt Barkley.

It didn’t help Weeden that Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck looked impressive in his first start against the St. Louis Rams, who had the second worst record in the NFL last season. The Lions, by the way, made the playoffs.

Second round pick T Mitchell Schwartz was shaky against a pretty good Lions’ pass rush, led by All Pro Ndamukong Suh. So, he’s another rookie labeled as a bust, despite playing a half in his team’s first pre-season contest.

Supplemental pick WR Josh Gordon didn’t catch four passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, so he stinks. Of course, no one allows that he hasn’t played a meaningful game of football on any level for over a year.

Detroit ran the ball very well last Friday, so third pick DT John Hughes certainly will never become even a decent NFL player.

The complaints go on and on.

The truth is these guys are rookies. This was their first game played at that speed, the professional speed. It would be very odd if they played great right out of the gate and stayed at that level for the rest of their careers.

It just doesn’t work that way.

Luck was regarded as the most NFL ready passer to enter the league since Peyton Manning, who’s been in the NFL for more than ten years. That’s how infrequently players like that come along. So, it’s not fair to Weeden to expect he plays at a high level right from the get go.

It will be interesting to see how all of the rookies play Thursday night at Green Bay. Will they take the lessons learned in the first game and make corrections.

Even if they don’t, it’s still crazy to proclaim them busts until they’ve played at least an entire NFL season.

As for Richardson, from many reports, he could have played with the soreness his cartilage fragment generated, but he and the team figured it was better to get it taken care of now.

If after four games, all of the rookies are struggling, then fans can be concerned. And concerned only. No panic, no proclamations of a horrible draft.

The more comments heard after the Detroit game, the more you have to think about former GM Phil Savage’s comments about Browns’ fans. They have a “woe is me” mentality.

CSP Potpourri

As Cleveland celebrates the opening of the Horseshoe Casino this evening, we just want to express some thoughts on what is going on in the wide, wide world of sports.

LeBron Gets His Third
The former Cavalier received his third MVP in four years, and to be quite frank, we were a little surprised.

Why?

First, the NBA writers are known to have long memories, and they remember last season’s NBA Finals when the supposed most talented player in the game stayed away from the ball in clutch situation like it had “cooties”.

James’ stats were incredible, as usual, but most of the season he was criticized for staying away from game deciding shots in favor of Dwyane Wade, so how can he be the MVP of the league?

Don’t the best players step up for their teams when it matters?

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant or San Antonio’s Tony Parker would have been better picks for the award.

Browns Rookie Mini-Camp
If the Browns’ rookies played in a first year player Super Bowl, apparently they would win. They were that impressive this weekend.

Take it easy!

Look, it is good that QB Brandon Weeden showed a strong arm, RB Trent Richardson is a physical specimen, a “freak” according to Weeden, and WR Travis Benjamin is as fast as advertised.

However, they weren’t wearing pads! They weren’t playing real defense! No one was smacking Weeden as he dropped back to throw!

Nothing has changed since the day GM Tom Heckert drafted these players and signed others as undrafted free agents.

There should be optimism about the draft, it appears the Browns have improved the offense quite a bit. But until they start hitting and playing for real, the jury is still out.

Tribe Roster Moves
In addition to dropping three straight games to Boston after winning the series opener, the Indians also made a few roster moves.

One was required after Josh Tomlin had a sore wrist, and Zack McAllister filled in nicely, giving Manny Acta seven innings Saturday night in a 4-1 loss.

Another came after reliever Dan Wheeler imploded Sunday, giving up six runs in an inning of work. Wheeler joins Jamey Wright and Chad Durbin as failed experiments bringing in veterans relievers. Hopefully, the front office will stay away from these types of guys again.

The last move, sending Jason Donald back to Columbus, is a tad curious, if only because it makes Jack Hannahan the backup shortstop according to Acta.

Look, if Hannahan could play that position decently, he would play there because historically his bat hasn’t been up to par for the hot corner.

The Indians’ roster has been ill-conceived from the get go, and this latest move doesn’t help.

Kyrie Gets An Award
No one should be surprised by the news that Cavs’ point guard Kyrie Irving has been elected the NBA Rookie of the Year. In fact, the only mystery is will he be given the award unanimously.

It wasn’t all that long ago that fans were saying GM Chris Grant should take Derrick Williams with the first pick and then Brandon Knight with the fourth selection last June.

When you have the first pick, you have to take the best player. Kyrie Irving was clearly the best player in the 2011 draft, so Grant made the correct selection.

And the Cavs have a cornerstone for the future of the franchise. Remember, point guard and center are the two toughest spots to fill on a team.

MW/JD/KM/JK

Browns Draft Addressed Needs

With all of the discussion that takes place before the NFL draft, what comes after the selection meeting, which is what the NFL calls it, the so-called grading period, can be even more ridiculous.

Usually these grades are given based on where the person assigning the mark had them rated. Which means if you like player A, and your team takes player A, then that team gets a good grade. Really meaningless if you think about it.

The Browns went into the draft needing to improve their offense, and their first three selections produced three likely starters, which for those with limited math skills, is 27% of the starting lineup.

While we can all debate on the wisdom of taking QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd overall pick, if GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur felt that Colt McCoy was part of the problem with the offense, then Cleveland moved quickly to improve that position.

And the supposed failure to draft a wide receiver in the first three rounds is also predicated on that opinion. Obviously, the front office and coaching staff felt McCoy was the reason the receivers were not as productive as they could be and will be with Weeden under center.

Really, what comes first: The “#1” receiver or the franchise quarterback?

Green Bay has a tremendous passing game, right? Well, their two leading receivers (Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings) were both 2nd round picks out of Kansas State and Western Michigan respectively.

Drew Brees’ favorite targets in New Orleans were TE Jimmy Graham, a 3rd round pick and former basketball player, and WR Marques Colston, picked in round seven.

The other top three passing team in the NFL was New England, and Tom Brady’s favorite guys to throw to are Wes Welker, an undrafted free agent, and TE Rob Gronkowski, another 2nd round pick.

All of these receivers are talented, without a doubt, but they weren’t regarded as future All-Pro’s at the time they were drafted. The guys who throw the ball made them that.

Both Shurmur and Heckert seem to feel the production of players like Greg Little, Josh Cribbs, Ben Watson, and others will increase with a stronger armed passer throwing them the football.

The Browns also addressed the weakness on the offensive line by draft T Mitchell Schwartz from California to replace Tony Pashos as the starter on the right side. If he’s as good as advertised, Weeden and new feature back Trent Richardson will operate behind a young group, with Joe Thomas being the oldest.

Nevada LB James-Michael Johnson is another selection who figures to be on the field quite a bit as a rookie. Johnson played inside in college, but several reports have him possibly beating out veteran Scott Fujita on the outside.

Cleveland needed some depth at linebacker, so Johnson and 6th round pick Emmanuel Acho from Texas should provide that.

The other picks made by Heckert also addressed depth. G Ryan Miller, DE Billy Winn, and CB Trevin Wade should be able to help out positions where you can’t have enough good players.

In addition, Winn and Wade were both graded as 2nd or 3rd round talents by CBS Sports, so they were good value picks in the 6th and 7th rounds.

Most of the critics of the draft cite the picks of DT John Hughes in the third round and not picking a wide receiver until the 4th when speedster Travis Benjamin was picked. If those critics are to be fair, they have to give Heckert kudos for Winn and Wade.

No matter what people want to say, the Browns identified their weaknesses, the same ones the fans could see, and they picked players who can improve the team in those areas.

What else did anyone want them to do?

Browns Offense Gets A Makeover

The Cleveland Browns acted boldly in the first round of the NFL draft trading up at the beginning of the draft, and making a quarterback change later in the first round.

Moving up one spot to pick Alabama RB Trent Richardson was done to make sure the Browns got the best running back in the draft. Richardson is arguably the best runner Cleveland has had since the days of Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner.

There are critics who say GM Tom Heckert didn’t have to move up, but obviously he was weary of Tampa Bay dealing with the Vikings to get the pick with the idea of getting Richardson.

It says something about it being a good pick that other teams were trying to move up to get him.

Besides, even though the NF L is a passing league, you still can’t win unless you can run the ball and you can stop the run. The Browns have ranked in the lower third in the league in rushing for sometime now.

The bigger surprise was the selection of Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd pick.

There were reports that the Browns were enamored of Weeden, but it was thought Heckert would take him with his second round selection.

That choice tells you all you want to know about how the team felt about Colt McCoy. It is obvious coach Pat Shurmur felt McCoy was responsible for the poor performance of the offense last year.

Now, Cleveland has a passer with a big time arm, so there can be no more excuses as to why the attack doesn’t throw the ball downfield more often.

As for the biggest question mark about Weeden, his age, if he’s going to start next season, it’s not really a factor. The Browns can still get 8-10 years out of him if he avoids injury.

And that’s up to Holmgren and Heckert to make sure he has the proper protection.

It would be surprising if McCoy is still on the roster come Monday morning. The bet here is he will be dealt for a late round draft pick before the end of the draft.

Just remember this, however, St. Louis’ offense had similar yards per attempt numbers when Shurmur was the Rams’ coordinator, and he had Sam Bradford as his quarterback in the second year there.

So, fans will see once and for all if it was McCoy or the Pat Shurmur version of the west coast offense that is the problem.

Shurmur will have a lot of explaining to do if after the first half of the season, the passing offense is still filled with a variety of short throws. West coast offense or not, the passing attack has to be opened up if Cleveland is to win.

Back to Richardson, if he’s as good as advertised, we will provide someone opposing defenses will have to game plan for. When was the last time the Browns could say that?

He also takes pressure off of Weeden, who should have a strong running game to keep the heat off of him.

And you can expect Heckert to draft a wide receiver today, perhaps as early as the 37th overall pick. That would give Weeden a pair of solid wide outs, as we suspect Greg Little will be a much better player than he was as a rookie.

Perhaps it’s the Browns version of “the triplets”.

Hopefully, yesterday started the next era of Browns football. There is no doubt it will continue today with rounds two and three.

All Kinds of Reasons Not to Draft People

The year of NFL draft analysis is almost over, so the Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the world will go back to irrelevance as of Sunday.

Of course, both of those guys and others like them will start their analysis of the 2013 draft almost immediately.

It is funny how the “draftniks” decide who should be picked and where.

Everyone seems to have a reason as to why a particular player should not be picked instead of the current analysis, which would be picking the best player on a given team’s draft board.

And they bring up odd data to support their reasoning. That’s the beauty of all this misinformation.

For example, the Browns should not take Alabama RB Trent Richardson because the 4th overall pick is too high to take a running back.

Look at the NFL’s leading rushers. Maurice Jones-Drew led the league in yards gained on the ground, and he was a 2nd round pick. So, was Ray Rice of the Ravens, who finished second in the NFL in rushing.

Therefore, no team should draft a running back in the first round, right?

Heck, Houston’s Arian Foster (5th in 2011) wasn’t even drafted.

However, there are many productive backs in the league today who were picked in the first round, such as Marshawn Lynch, Steven Jackson, Ryan Mathews, and Willis McGahee.

If the Browns have Richardson as the best player available at #4, they should pick him.

Then, you have Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, regarded as the best receiver in the draft this year.

The draft pundits will say that Blackmon is not as good as last year’s fourth overall pick, Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, so he shouldn’t be picked there.

Once again, if the GM Tom Heckert thinks he’s the best player when Cleveland in on the clock, they should take him.

The critics will say the Browns can’t take Texas A & M QB Ryan Tannehill because he’s the third best passer available in the draft. Forget that Ben Roethlisberger was rated the third quarterback in the 2006 draft behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

That’s worked out pretty well for Pittsburgh, hasn’t it?

And certainly Heckert shouldn’t take LSU CB Morris Claiborne because they need help so badly on offense. Why shouldn’t the Browns take him and team him with Joe Haden to have possibly the best pair of cornerbacks in the NFL.

The last time Cleveland has a pair of shut down CB’s was in the late 1980’s when they had Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. It is a coincidence that was the last time the Browns were a power in the league?

The way the so-called experts talk about why players shouldn’t be taken by the Browns, it’s no wonder that the talk of trading down for more picks is out there.

The purpose of the draft is so the teams who didn’t have a good record in the previous year can get better, and the way to do that is to take the most talented players.

It’s really very simple.

With the fourth pick in the draft, Heckert needs to take the best player on his board, and position shouldn’t really matter. The only caveat would be T Matt Kalil, who plays the same position as Joe Thomas, the Browns’ best player.

If Cleveland thinks Trent Richardson is that guy, and a few scouts have said he’s the best running back prospect to enter the league since Adrian Peterson, then the Browns should take him.

Of course, the “draft gurus” will tell you that’s a mistake. Then again, they aren’t picking anyone.

A Notable Week in Cleveland Sports

According to the calendar and weather forecast, this should be another cold week at the end of April.

It’s kind of cruel because of the 1o days of summer that hit northern Ohio in the middle of March. That makes this seasonal weather in April harder to take.

However, it should be an eventful week for Cleveland sports. The Indians are coming home from a tremendous 7-2 trip, which puts them back over .500 after their tough start to the season.

The Browns will be the center of the sports universe because of the NFL Draft which starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday.

And the Cavaliers are finishing up the NBA season with three games, starting tonight in Memphis. At stake for them is where they will wind up in the draft in late June.

Here’s a look at the week that will be:

Indians. The Tribe offense is striking out less and walking more and so far this has led to an attack that is scoring more runs than expected. To be fair, a boatload of those tallies came against the Royals, who are here tomorrow night for a three game series.

One Indian that is red-hot is DH Travis Hafner, currently hitting .359 with an on base percentage of .509. Pronk has even hit two tape measure home runs this young season.

There is no question that when Hafner is healthy, he’s a great offensive player. He has a lifetime OPS of close to 900, an outstanding figure.

However, we have to caution those fans proclaiming that Pronk is back. Remember, when he hit the grand slam to win the game against Toronto on July 7th, he was hitting .347 with an OPS of 994.

He wound up the season at .280 and 811.

If Hafner can stay healthy and productive, he gives Manny Acta an all-star type hitter. The biggest word in that sentence is the first one.

Browns. Enough has been written about what Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert will do with the 13 picks the team has at the end of the week.

There is no question the brown and orange need an influx of talent, particularly playmakers on offense. Look for Heckert to take at least two players who will be able to make a difference when Cleveland has the football, and take them early.

The front office needs to understand this week is the start of the turnaround of the Cleveland Browns. A disgusted fan base may turn into an apathetic one with another 4-12 record in 2012.

Cavaliers. Right now, the Cavs sit with the 5th worst record in the NBA, meaning they would have the fifth best shot at the first overall pick.

However, with three games left, they could wind up with the third worst record or the finish with the 8th worst mark. This wild fluctuation is obviously very important to their future.

We never advocate losing, but with two of the three games being on the road, the lone home game left is with Washington, a winnable contest, it is likely Byron Scott’s team will finish at 22-44.

The wild card is New Orleans, who has won six of their last ten, but whose two remaining games are on the road.

The Cavs-Wizard’s game makes no difference for Cleveland because the wine and gold cannot finish with a worse record than Washington.

Still, we will have a good idea of where GM Chris Grant will be able to pick at the end of this week.

It may not be a huge week on the field or court, but make no mistake. By next Sunday, Cleveland fans will know a little more about the future of their football and basketball squads.