Browns’ Front Office Keeps Looking Toward “Next Year”

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, you must also be a fan of the movie Groundhog Day, because you should be used to seeing the same thing day after day after day.

Yes, you did have a brief ray of sunshine watching local product Brian Hoyer win his first two starts, and the Thursday night win against Buffalo actually gave the Browns a winning record after five contests.

But Hoyer got hurt, and it is back to the weekly crapfest on Sunday afternoons.

Seemingly, no one in the front office cares because they are focused on the 2014 season and the almighty NFL draft. Their confidence in that process is probably higher than it has any right to be.

No team, let us repeat, no team, hits on every one of their draft choices.

The Browns have turned into the sign seen in various bars: “Free Drinks Tomorrow!” That’s the mantra in Berea every year: We’ll Be Good Next Year.

Except that so far, next year never comes.

They traded Trent Richardson after the second game of the year for a first round pick in next May’s selection process.

While Richardson has shown to be an average running back at best, and getting a first round pick has to be considered a win, it still left a gaping hole in the running game.

Defenses don’t have to respect the running game when playing Cleveland. That makes it tough on the quarterback. There has to be better players out there than 32-year-old Willis McGahee.

Chris Ogbonnaya is never going to be compared to Jim Brown or Barry Sanders, but he did have some decent games in 2011, gaining 334 yards in 11 games with 4.6 yards per carry average. Why not give him the ball 15-20 times per game?

Because he’s miscast on this roster as a fullback.

Why not bring in a legitimate fullback and let Ogbonnaya get more carries? Because the Browns are going to be good…next year.

After Hoyer was injured against the Bills, management didn’t go out and get another quarterback. If they had, the newcomer would have already spent two weeks learning the offense and would be an option to play perhaps as soon as after the bye week.

What if Jason Campbell plays poorly after replacing Brandon Weeden? What alternatives do Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner have? They can’t possibly go back to Weeden for a third time.

However, there is no alternative on the current roster.

Once again, that’s because the management is focused on 2014, not this season.

Browns’ fans have suffered through fifteen seasons of failure and shouldn’t have to endure any more. Granted, it’s not the current regime’s fault for the past, but they should be cognizant that the fans base is getting disenchanted.

They shouldn’t make moves that could handicap real progress being made down the road. But there are players who could be brought in to play and contribute without salary caps implications.

This front office is clearly putting all of its eggs into picking several impact players in next year’s draft.

However, what is their plan if that fails? Another three year rebuilding plan? The coaches are trying to win every game. It would be nice if management helped them do anything within reason to facilitate putting games in the win column.

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 Want Franchise QB. Where is He?

The Cleveland Browns made every indication that they are looking to next year when they traded Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

Most speculate that president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi will be looking for their franchise quarterback next spring in the draft.

However, there are plenty of holes in that argument.

The first question would be are there any “franchise” quarterbacks available next May. Oh, there will be plenty of players who so-called experts will say are franchise players at that position, but are they really that good?

There is no Andrew Luck available next year.

People will say no, but maybe there’s another Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson. Although he looked great last season, the former had a severe knee injury at the end of last season, and while Wilson played very well for Seattle last year, the major burden of the offense isn’t on him.

While the Browns would be better off with either player, there still isn’t any substantial evidence that either guy is an elite quarterback at this time.

Next, how do you get that QB, assuming that there is one near the top of the ’14 draft? Is Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, or Brett Hundley of UCLA on the same level as Luck or Griffin? Or are they guys like Geno Smith, currently with the Jets.

Obviously, the Browns figured having two first round picks will enable them to get them to where they want to be. But you have to remember the reason the Redskins were able to deal up to get Griffin.

The Rams had that pick and already had their signal caller in Sam Bradford.

Will another team that has a quarterback land in the top two or three choices and be willing to trade up with Cleveland?

That is doubtful.

It’s difficult to tell after just two weeks of the season, although Banner and Lombardi obviously figured out in that time that their team wasn’t good, who are likely candidates to have high draft picks next spring.

Many experts feel Jacksonville will be one of those teams, and they would be looking for a quarterback, and Oakland is another team mentioned as one of the league’s worst, and even though they are still unpredictable even without Al Davis running things, you have to figure they will be looking for a QB as well.

If the Browns finish 4-12 again and even if Indianapolis goes 8-8, would the 5^th and 17^th picks be enough to entice a team needing a passer to trade down? That’s highly unlikely.

Why 4-12 instead of say 2-14? The front office may be looking toward 2014, but the players and coaches still have pride.

We say this knowing that the best player in the draft isn’t a quarterback, it is South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney.

That’s the real criticism of this trade. It was made because Banner and Lombardi want to find a franchise quarterback, and want to be bad enough to get a high draft choice. But it doesn’t look like there is a mortal lock to be that guy available.

If you are going to do something like this, then getting Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, or Alex Smith doesn’t make you considerably better. You need to surround them with a great deal of talent to succeed.

Blowing up a season to get a high pick is a cowardly way to run an organization. We’ve seen turnarounds in San Francisco and Seattle in recent years, and for that matter in Kansas City this season without dismantling the franchise.

And if this trade makes the Browns better in the present, then they will foil the front office’s strategy. That will be hilarious.

If a franchise player is available in a draft, like LeBron James, then it might make sense to sacrifice a season. That guy’s not there next spring.

Meanwhile, the front office sold out their fans. Hope they can live with that.

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.

No Matter How Much is Changed, Browns Lose the Opener

Next year, the Cleveland Browns should request opening the season on the road, just to try something different. Because one thing is for sure, no matter who the opponent is, the Browns can’t win the season lidlifter at First Energy Stadium, no matter what it is called.

For the 14th time in 15 seasons, Cleveland starts the year 0-1 after a 23-10 loss to Miami.

It looked like a new era was signaled when the first play from scrimmage for the home team was a Trent Richardson run that went outside for eight yards. This was something that was never used last season.

However, we have come to this conclusion. Richardson must have something in his uniform which makes him invisible to his own coaching staff, as we received only 13 carries for the game, with six coming in the first quarter. Those six carries netted 26 yards.

What is more strange is that of the offense’s first eight plays, a drive culminated by a Brandon Weeden interception, Richardson touched the ball on five of them, gaining 40 yards.

He touched the ball just ten times the rest of the afternoon, and according to our recall just one run was sent to the outside.

This was a 13-10 game going into the fourth quarter, so there was no need to go away from the running game.

After the Browns fell behind 20-10 with 6:51 remaining in the game, they were forced to pass, needing two scores. Cleveland understandably did not run the ball after that, and Weeden threw 17 of his 53 passes in that time frame.

It is strange that Richardson carried the ball just seven times total the balance of the game.

That lack of a running game allowed the Dolphins’ defense to go after Weeden, who was sacked six times. Mitchell Schwartz had troubles with Miami DE Cameron Wake, and Oneil Cousins was a disaster at guard.

We were surprised Cousins was not replaced by rookie Garrett Gilkey at some point, he was being beaten that badly. Surely, GM Michael Lombardi was be searching the waiver wive for an experience guard this week.

Defensively, Ray Horton’s crew shut down the Miami running game, allowing them just 20 yards in 23 attempts. However, making the Dolphins one-dimensional did not help, because they couldn’t put pressure on QB Ryan Tannehill much after the halftime.

They did have four sacks in total, two by DE Desmond Bryant.

We said coming into the season that Horton’s crew would give up some big plays, and CB Buster Skrine was victimized for a 34 yard TD catch by Brian Hartline, and they allowed the Fish to convert 8 of 16 third downs.

The Browns were horrible in this area too, forcing the Miami defense to stay on the field just once in 14 third down situations.

Fans who are anti-Weeden will point to three interceptions, but the first two were really not his fault. WR Travis Benjamin didn’t really fight to prevent the first, and WR Greg Little had the second go off his hands into Dmitri Patterson’s waiting ones.

This was a game that could have went either way until the fourth quarter, but the Browns just simply couldn’t make the big play. Is that the result of losing season after losing season? Quite possibly.

Eventually, the Dolphins did make the big play with the pass to Hartline, and the Browns couldn’t respond.

The only bright side of this loss is that everyone else in the AFC North lost as well, meaning everyone is still even.

Rob Chudzinski and the coaching staff must learn from this loss quick as they visit the Super Bowl champion Ravens next Sunday, and they will be looking to rebound from the beatdown they received in Denver last Thursday.

This is the new coach’s first challenge of 2013.

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 Looking Professional So Far

There is no question that you can’t take a lot from NFL preseason games.

For one reason, you don’t know the motivation of the opponent. There is no way to tell if the team you are playing is trying to win, or simply just get out of there without getting anyone hurt.

All Pro T Joe Thomas said after the first game that it was easy to block the Rams defensive line because they were basically just standing there.

However, there are some good things to say about the Cleveland Browns after two games that do not involve talking about their 2-0 record in games that do not count.

In watching the two games, the team looks crisp. Gone are the silly penalties that occurred throughout each of the last two seasons, and they don’t seem to be struggling to get plays off before the play clock goes off.

To simplify, they seem less confused.

They also seem more willing to throw the ball downfield, not using the dink and dunk attack used by Pat Shurmur when he was running the offense. To be fair, QB Brandon Weeden has made a huge mistake such as throwing a critical interception.

When that occurs, we will see if coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner get conservative with the play calling in order to avoid mistakes, or if they will continue to be aggressive. The guess here is if Turner gets his way, Weeden will continue to stretch the field more than he did in his rookie season.

Trent Richardson saw his first action last night getting six carries for 33 yards. But one play stood out to us.

Richardson took a pitchout, ran wide and gained eight yards. Last year, for whatever reason, the third overall pick in 2012 ran almost exclusively between the tackles, which was odd because you would think you would want linebackers and defensive backs trying to bring him down.

Turner has a history of developing tight ends as well, and Jordan Cameron has been able to get up the field and caught two TD throws against the Lions.

It is tough to judge the defense because WR Calvin Johnson, arguably the best wide receiver in the game, didn’t play for Detroit, but in watching the action, defensive coordinator Ray Horton seems to be true to his word. He wants to get after the quarterback.

The days of watching “bend, but don’t break” schemes appears to be over.

The Browns may give up big plays at times, but fans won’t have to watch 14 play drives where the opponent has the ball for seven minutes endlessly.

Individually, NT Phil Taylor seems poised for a very good year, making impact plays thus far. And OLB Jabaal Sheard looks like he can definitely make the conversion to his new position.

The defense is fast and aggressive, which is something not seen in Cleveland for a long time.

This is not to say that the Browns are going to the playoffs this season. Remember, when they take the field at FIrst Energy Stadium at September 8th, their record will be 0-0.

But after watching this team over the last five seasons, it is refreshing to see a product that resembles a professional football team.

That’s progress anyway you measure it.

Passin’ Pat Ignores the Run, Which Was Working.

Cookie Monster loves cookies.

Wilt Chamberlain loved the ladies.

Pat Shurmur loves the forward pass.

Earlier during the high school football season, St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said his best defense against Mentor QB Mitch Trubisky was the running game because if his team had the ball, it would be difficult for Trubisky to operate.

Perhaps Shurmur should have heeded Kyle’s advice today against the great Peyton Manning, because Manning put on a passing clinic, going 20 of 43 for 339 yards, starting from the opening drive of the game until he was mercifully taken out of the game with the Broncos well in command 34-12, which was the final score.

Judging by the score of the game, you would think the Browns needed to play catch up all day long, and although they did trail from the first drive of the game on, it was still a two score game at 21-6 heading into the fourth quarter.

Cleveland’s best chance would have been to control the clock with the running game, mixing in the pass, and the Browns did run the ball effectively when they put it into the hands of Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty. They averaged five yards per carry as a team and even if you take away Colt McCoy’s 15 yard scramble at the end of the game, Richardson still picked up almost six yards a pop (9 carries for 53 yards), and Hardesty toted the pigskin three times for 14 yards (4.7 per rush).

Unfortunately, they only ran the ball 18 times for the game and only 14 of those were by design.

We get that it’s a passing league, and the most successful teams have explosive passing attacks, but think about this–the Broncos have a guy going to the Hall of Fame in Manning, and their running back, Knowshon Moreno carried the football 22 times.

Passin’ Pat and his aerial circus. That’s what the Browns should be nicknamed.

Instead, the coach decided to let Manning run 75 plays from scrimmage and have the ball seven more minutes than his team, exposing a secondary depleted by injuries to T. J. Ward, Tashaun Gipson and Sheldon Brown, and the odd release of Dimitri Patterson during the week, to his sophisticated passing attack.

After watching this game, does anyone still want to address the quarterback situation in the 2013 draft?

It is obvious that the Browns need help in the secondary because Manning pretty much stayed away from Joe Haden most of the time and instead looked where Brown was lined up before the veteran was injured in the second quarter.

The defense also needs another pass rusher because they couldn’t get near Manning hitting him only a couple of times on the afternoon.

Besides forgetting about the run, the defense couldn’t help the offense get the ball back, allowing 9 of 15 third down conversions, and two of those stops came with back up QB Brock Osweiler in the game.

And for those who predicted the Denver pass rushing duo of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil would dominate, the Broncos only recorded two sacks while the game was in doubt, before they were able to tee off on McCoy, who replaced starter Brandon Weeden, who left with an injured shoulder after the second of those sacks with the score 21-6.

Weeden played well for the most part, particularly on the first two drives of the game, in which the Browns mixed in the run, hitting on 12 0f 19 throws for 104 yards. The Browns used a bootleg pass in which he completed a pass to TE Benjamin Watson, but that play (unlike the Redskins last week) was never seen again.

This ignorance of the run didn’t start last week. If the Browns did an internal audit, they would see their best games were the ones where they had a balanced offense. But too many times, Passin’ Pat goes back to what he loves, throwing the short pass.

It was funny that one of Weeden’s long completions to Greg Little, a 21 yard strike in the second quarter came off play action. However, if you stop running the ball, using play action has no effect.

Next week, the Browns will likely end the season without Weeden and Richardson, who injured an ankle late in the game (why was he in?), so critics of the two rookies will get what they want, a lot of McCoy and Hardesty.

After a three game winning streak, the Cleveland Browns have laid two gigantic eggs. It makes the decision that Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner will make after next Sunday’s game a little bit easier.

Browns Pass, Pass, Pass Offense Returns in Loss to Redskins

The Cleveland Browns seemed to have everything going for themselves as today’s game against the Washington Redskins unfolded.

The contest was at home, where the Browns had won three straight games. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees, incredibly warm for this time of year in Cleveland. And Redskins’ QB Robert Griffin III was inactive for the game because of a knee injury.

However, Pat Shurmur’s squad looked at all their good fortune and smashed them with a sledgehammer.

Washington hammered the Browns 38-21 and ended whatever slim playoff hopes this football team had.

One can’t help but think coaching had everything to do with today’s debacle, starting with a total ignorance of the running game.

When the Browns scored the first touchdown of the game following a T. J. Ward interception on a 6-yard run by Trent Richardson, it gave the rookie 24 yards on four carries, with a long run of 14 yards.

After getting a three and out, the next time Cleveland had the football, they ran just once, with Montario Hardesty getting the carry. It was just a three play series for the Browns.

The next possession by Cleveland featured a one yard run on first down, followed by two passes, one a six yard loss to Richardson, the other incomplete.

The Redskins scored after 34 yard punt out-of-bounds by Reggie Hodges to tie the score.

The subsequent possession featured six plays, five passes and a one yard run by Richardson, who now had 6 carries for 26 yards, a 4.3 average per carry.

The Cleveland defense held, but the offense gave it right back on three straight passes, one of which was a nine yard completion to Mohammad Massaquoi.

Meanwhile, Dick Jauron stacked the defense to take away the Washington ground game, which leads the NFL in yardage. Alfred Morris didn’t have a lot of success, but still the Redskins kept giving him the ball to keep the Browns’ defense honest.

Washington took the lead on the next drive to put themselves in the lead at 10-7.

The Browns scored the next time they got the ball using nine plays to go 75 yards. Five of the nine plays were passes, with Josh Cribbs carrying once out of the “wildcat” formation. The last two plays were Richardson runs totally four yards. He now had 9 attempts for 29 yards. He carried just twice more for the rest of the game, and one of those was the first play of the second half.

Weeden threw a terrible interception to open the third quarter which wound up giving the ‘Skins a lead they would never relinquish, but the Browns were still only losing by 3 points.

Richardson’s last carry came with 13:08 left in the third quarter, and the Browns only attempted one other run the rest of the game, that by Hardesty.

Even after another short punt led to another Redskin touchdown, the Browns trailed 24-14, but there were still 22 minutes left in the contest!

After the game, Weeden talked about the problems that occur when the offense becomes one-dimensional, but it wasn’t the Redskin defense that forced that, it was the play calling of the Browns.

Washington averaged less yards per carry than Cleveland for the game (3.5 compared to 3.9), but they didn’t stop giving the ball to Morris. They kept mixing up the play calls.

Meanwhile, Shurmur allowed the Redskin defense to play pass exclusively. It was a weakness going into the game for Mike Shanahan’s team, but when you don’t have to play the run, it makes the job a little bit easier.

It was the same trap the Browns fell into in past games. In the three game winning streak, the attack was much more balanced.

For those begging for the current coaching staff to stay in 2013, today’s game was a cold slap back to reality. The Browns need more imagination on offense. For inspiration, they need only to look at their opponents today.

Winning Streak, but Offense Still Leaves Points On Field

The dates were September 26-29 of this year. That’s more than two months ago.

What is significant about those dates? It was the last time a Cleveland major league sports team won consecutive games, and it was the Indians.

However, right now, the Cleveland Browns have a two game winning streak, as they defeated the Oakland Raiders 20-17 on the road to raise their record to 4-8 for the season.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t any anxious moments along the way.

After taking a 13-3 lead with 9:51 remaining in the third quarter, and dominating the game, things took a turn when Phil Dawson had his attempt at a 30th straight made field goal blocked. Instead of taking a 16-3 advantage, the Browns had just a field goal lead after Carson Palmer hit Rod Streater for 64 yards a little over a minute later.

When the next Cleveland drive stalled, the Raiders were on the attack. Going without a huddle, Palmer started peppering the Browns’ secondary moving the ball down the field with ease.

Then the game turned back toward Pat Shurmur’s team when CB Sheldon Brown picked off a deep throw. It was the veteran second straight game with a pick.

Given new life, the offense moved in for the kill. QB Brandon Weeden hit his tight end often in moving the Browns 94 yards in 14 plays, chewing up over six minutes, climaxing with a Trent Richardson three yard run to put the game away.

Weeden hit Benjamin Watson with passes of 22 and 7 yards, and hit Jordan Cameron for 23 more yards on the drive.

And the Browns came home with their first road win since September of last season against the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts.

Until that last drive though, it looked like the offense was going to have another week where their seeming affection for the field goal was going to do them in. And once again, even in victory, the Browns did not score 21 points.

This was the 60th game that Shurmur has been the offensive coordinator or head coach and his teams have scored over 2o points just seven times. His offense doesn’t score enough in today’s NFL.

The offense gained 475 yards and punted the ball away only twice. The Raiders came into the game giving up points by the bushel full, but Cleveland only scored 20 today.

The Browns averaged 9.5 yards per pass play and a little over four yards per run. They could have scored almost 30 points the way they moved the football, but they didn’t.

To be fair, if Dawson hadn’t had his field goal partially blocked, Cleveland would have scored 23 points today. And Weeden threw two interceptions, both deep in Oakland territory, which stopped drive which should have resulted in points.

Still, how many times have you seen the attack go ultra conservative when they get close. Even on the last touchdown, the last four plays were all runs.

Weeden did throw for 364 yards, his third game of the season over the 300 yard mark, and had a touchdown throw of 44 yards to fellow rookie Josh Gordon, who caught six tosses for 116 yards. He’s looking more and more like a #1 receiver.

Watson also had a productive day, catching six throws for 80 yards, and Greg Little had four receptions for 48 yards and had a crushing block on a 54 yard catch and run by Mohammad Massaquoi.

Richardson (20 carries for 72 yards) and Montario Hardesty (5 rushes for 39 yards) ran the ball well.

It was mistakes by the quarterback and the conservative nature of the coaching staff that allowed this game to be close at all.

Take the second drive by the Browns which resulted in a Dawson field goal. Cleveland had a third and four from the OAK 21, and called a flat pass to Richardson, on which he was tackled for a loss.

It’s no problem getting the ball to Richardson, but why not throw a five yard pattern to get the first down. It’s clear Shurmur doesn’t have confidence in Weeden’s ball security, especially after he throws an interception.

Now the Browns come home to take on the 2-10 Chiefs, who won an emotional game against Carolina today after the tragedy of yesterday. It will be another game where Cleveland will be favored.

It’s a chance to win three in a row, and also to surpass last year’s victory total. For once, progress could be shown in the win column.