Browns Show Nothing To Grow On Today

At the beginning of this season, we said we would not measure this year’s edition of the Cleveland Browns by their win-loss record. We knew that wasn’t going to be good.

Rather, we said the season wouldn’t be a abject failure is the Browns showed progress from week to week, particularly the young players, of which there are a bunch.

We understand the Dallas Cowboys are one of the best teams in the NFL this year, and they have perhaps the best offensive line in the league, and a dominant running game, led by former Ohio State standout Ezekiel Elliott.

Expecting a win today would have been ludicrous. However, the Browns were overwhelmed in every phase of football today.

And we aren’t seeing progress.

Here is a short positive, lengthy negative review of today’s 35-10 loss, which dropped the Browns’ record to 0-9. And today’s referee was Jeff Tripplette, which pretty much speaks for itself.

Positives. Look, Cody Kessler may never make a Pro Bowl, heck, he might only be a starter for this season, but that doesn’t mean he can be considered a questionable draft pick anymore.

Kessler connected on 19 of his 27 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown, and generally moved the football very well, at least in the first half when it was kind of a game.

He connected with Isaiah Crowell for a 44 yard gain on the opening drive, which set the Browns up for a field goal.

Kessler should be the starter the rest of the way unless there is an injury, or the coaching staff wants to see what Robert Griffin III can do when he is healthy.

Terrelle Pryor caught the TD pass, and four other passes. He has become the guy that opposing defenses want to stop on the Browns.

Corey Coleman returned to the field and snagged three passes for 41 yards. He should give Kessler another weapon when the Browns have the football.

Negatives. The Cleveland defense continues to resemble a sieve. Dallas controlled the ball for 40 minutes, Ray Horton’s crew had no answer for the visitor’s attack.

However, there are things defensively that seem to be repeating from week to week, and that should concern Hue Jackson and the front office.

Tight ends continue to plague this team and have all season. We were critical last year that then defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil didn’t change anything, especially against the run. We have the same thought about Horton.

Three plays where the defense lined up in the neutral zone? Xavier Cooper should lose playing time for doing this twice in the same game. That’s a mental error.

The secondary is general continues to be horrendous. Opposing receivers are wide open way too often.

We understand you can’t play all rookies, but some of the veterans who do play simply aren’t getting it done.

We’ve talked ad nauseum about Tramon Williams, but it wouldn’t bother us if OL Alvin Bailey didn’t play anymore, as we fear for Kessler’s safety.

We have two problems with Jackson’s play calling today. First, he abandoned the run too early again. The Browns have to continue to try to run, if only to shorten games.

In the first half, with a 3rd and 2 deep in Dallas territory, Jackson went for the end zone and the pass to Pryor was incomplete. He then tried a field goal and Cody Parkey’s attempt hit the upright.

The pass to the end zone should have only been called if you were going to go for it on fourth down. Otherwise, the correct play is move the chains and keep the drive alive.

Now, the Browns have a short week, playing Baltimore on Thursday night.

For the first time this season, this young football team looked dejected, defeated. Jackson has to get that attitude adjusted in a couple of days.

Otherwise a nationwide audience will witness another butt kicking.

Browns’ Defense Needs Fixing…And Now Would Be Good

Probably the most disheartening defeat the Cleveland Browns had since their return to the NFL in 1999 was the Dwayne Rudd helmet game, when he was penalized for taking his helmet off on what would have been the last play of the game, and instead the Kansas City Chiefs were able to kick a game-winning field goal.

Mr. Rudd is now off the hook.

Today, Tramon Williams, a nine-year NFL veteran, jumped offside as San Diego kicker Josh Lambo missed a 39-yard field goal, which would have sent the game into overtime.

Instead, Lambo made a 34-yarder and the Browns dropped to 1-3 after a 30-27 loss to the Chargers.

Play like a Brown, indeed.

And while we are sure the sports talk in Cleveland will continue the “who should start at quarterback” debate that rages annually in this town, the real question should be “why does this defense stink?”

The Chargers came into this game with a battered offensive line, and had wide receivers leaving the game, and yet, Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil’s defense couldn’t slow, let alone stop, the San Diego offense.

Philip Rivers led the Lightning Bolt attack to 438 total yards, and only sacked Rivers twice, while allowing big play after big play, particularly in the second half.

The Cleveland defense allowed five plays of over 20 yards, three of them in the second half, and two of those immediately after the Browns scored, one to take the lead, and the other to close within one point.

Right now, the defense is akin to having a bad bullpen in baseball. You fight to score and take a lead or to get close, and the defense gives up a huge play to give it away.

Pettine came into the game saying San Diego RB Danny Woodhead was a match up nightmare, but apparently he didn’t do anything about that, as Woodhead took a short pass over the middle and ran 61 yards to the CLE 19 after the Browns took a 16-13 lead.

Then, he ran for 19 yards on the last drive to put the Chargers into field goal range, which after Williams’ gaffe, they converted to win the game.

Pettine needs to get this fixed now. And we don’t want to hear excuses (from fans, Pettine won’t make them) that Joe Haden was hurt, and Tashaun Gipson was nicked up too.

The front office and coaching staff has spent many high draft choices and money on free agency on the defense, and to continue to get this kind of result is a disgrace.

It is time to either change personnel and/or scheme, because it isn’t working for Pettine and O’Neil.

It is ironic that one of the sack the Browns had today was from a rookie, DE Xavier Cooper. Maybe more youngsters should be on the field.

Donte Whitner had seven tackles to lead the team, but how many do you remember as being a big play?

The offense gained 432 yards, controlled the ball for 34 minutes, and put 27 points on the board, so you cannot blame them, no matter how many big play guys they are supposed to be lacking.

A couple other thoughts…

People have been asking about using last year’s first round pick, Justin Gilbert, on kick returns, something he excelled at in college. He returned three kickoffs for an average of 36.7 yards per return. Why wasn’t he used there sooner?

Cleveland threw on the first three plays of the game, and 10 of the first 16 plays. Again, running the ball is a mindset, and the Browns seem confused as to how they should play with the ball. Maybe Pettine can communicate this to offensive coordinator John DiFillippo.

The receiving corps is productive without any contribution from Dwayne Bowe. Cut him, and bring in a player who can impact the performance within a game.

Now it’s on to Baltimore with the Ravens coming off a win that salvaged their season, at least for now.

If the coaching staff cannot fix the defense, the Browns season may be beyond that point.

Browns Add Experienced Free Agents

After sitting out the first week of free agency in the NFL, and irritating their fans and local media alike, the Cleveland Browns opened their check book and signed a pair of free agents yesterday.

They inked former Green Bay cornerback Tramon Williams to replace Buster Skrine, and also signed two-time Pro Bowler Randy Starks from Miami, apparently replacing Ahtyba Rubin.

It seems that Ray Farmer’s plan is to not give big dollars on a long-term deal to average to above average players, and instead pay veterans nearing the end of their usefulness as players to short deals. Our guess is in the meantime, he will use the draft to find more permanent solutions.

It would also not be surprising to see Cleveland sign another such player, former Kansas City Chief WR Dwayne Bowe to another two or three-year deal to provide another experienced wide out to go along with Brian Hartline.

The Browns had weaknesses going into the off-season on the defensive line and at outside linebacker, as well as wide receiver.

There is no question that the receiver position has been upgraded since the end of the year, and they have replaced a couple of the free agents they lost with equal or better players in Starks and Williams.

They do need an outside linebacker to replace Jabaal Sheard, who wasn’t a good fit in Mike Pettine and Jim O’Neil’s scheme.

So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Farmer sign an outside linebacker, probably one in his late 20’s or early 30’s, and look for more help in the draft in late April.

That seems to be Farmer’s strategy. Get some short-term help at reasonable dollars and then get a long-term solution in the draft.

If the GM would bring in another experienced quarterback, like Matt Moore, you could make a well-reasoned argument that the Browns’ roster is stronger now than it was ending the season with a five game losing streak to wind up at 7-9.

Let’s say Moore would come here, and there are reports that he is quite happy in Miami backing up Ryan Tannehill. A quarterback room of Moore, Josh McCown, and Johnny Manziel (no, we aren’t forgetting Thaddeus Lewis) is certainly better than one with Brian Hoyer, Manziel, and Connor Shaw.

These signings don’t fit the narrative that the Browns’ organization is a complete mess, so we don’t expect the signings to receive much fanfare. And Williams and Starks aren’t sexy names.

Heck, former NFL passer and CBS Sports radio commentator Boomer Esiason rated the free agent QBs and listed McCown ahead of Hoyer. So, at least one person that has knowledge of the sport thinks the Browns actually got better at the position.

Again, you have to remember that most players who reach free agent status in the NFL are usually past their prime. That’s why you don’t want to commit a huge amount of money to them.

Starks and Williams are in the same boat, and although it looks as though the Browns gave them big cash, the contracts are short because of their age.

It’s a different way of looking at the free agent market. It doesn’t mean Ray Farmer is wrong, it’s just different.

Time will tell if he is right, and if he doesn’t address the roster problems in the draft, then criticism is fair.

Let’s just let it play out first.