On the Richardson Trade

Well Trent Richardson is gone.  Traded.  It happened.  I let that sink in for a few days before putting anything here, because I do try and let my emotions die down a little before writing anything.  I was absolutely stunned when it happened, as everyone was.

After letting everything sink in, I'm conflicted on my feelings.

The first reaction from me is always the fan, the Browns fan, the emotional, fiercely loyal, been kicked around enough Browns fan.  And that part of me was angry and confused.  Really angry and really confused.  That part of me still is.  Trent Richardson was the best offensive playmaker on this team.  He was grossly underutilized in my opinion, both by the previous coaching staff as well as through two games this season.  He was the one player on this team that defenses had to account for, to prepare and gameplan for.  He was a player worth paying to see play in the eyes of many, including the Browns organization, which is why his photo was on the tickets, on the pocket schedule, on the cover of the gameday magazine.  He's also only 22 years old, 17 games into his NFL career, and was the 3rd pick in the draft just a year and a half ago.  He flashed enough potential to give people hope that he was going to be a bigtime player, a Pro Bowl player.  And I still think he becomes that player, though now he'll do it with a horseshoe on his helmet.

That fan side of me feels like a white flag is now being flown for this season.  That this management team is deliberately throwing in the towel on this season, in an attempt to "earn" a top pick in the draft to select a quarterback to build around.  The fan side of me feels especially horrible for season ticket holders, who have invested so much and gotten so little in return, only to have another lost season thrown in their faces before the leaves have even turned.  I call Browns fans the best in the country all the time here, and they are.  Any other fans, of any other teams, would have turned their backs long ago.  And that part of me burns with anger about this move.

The other side of me is the sensible football person.  Looking at this objectively, it's not a bad deal.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that a small amount of doubt had set in about Richardson the player.  I don't think we've seen him at his full potential but if you stripped the nameplate off his jersey and looked at it empirically, he is far from irreplaceable.  3.5 yards per carry, 11 touchdowns, just over 1000 yards in his first 17 games.  Not exactly Jim Brown.  And the fact that they recouped a first round draft pick for a running back in today's day and age is extremely impressive.  Can Willis McGahee replace those numbers?  Probably.  Does Trent Richardson make this team markedly better?  Do they win more games with Richardson than without him?  Maybe one.  Maybe.  Running backs are complementary pieces in today's NFL.  It all starts at the quarterback position, and Banner and Lombardi seem to recognize that and are going all in to get one.  Which I understand, looking at it objectively.

But the fan side of me still has some questions.  With the way this team has performed, and the amount of quarterback talent potentially available in next year's draft, was this a move that had to be made?  Because if Jacksonville gets the first pick in the draft, one extra first rounder is not going to prevent them from taking their guy.  Trust me they have a worse situation at quarterback than we do.  Did we as Browns fans ever see Richardson playing with a full deck?  I don't think we did.  Between shoddy coaching, quarterback play, and offensive line play I don't think we ever saw the best that Trent Richardson has to offer.  And I don't see how trading him for a draft pick makes this team better.  For what it's worth, the last quarterback Michael Lombardi had a hand in picking was Jamarcus Russell, and the last two Joe Banner had a hand in picking were Mike Kafka and Kevin Kolb.  It's no guarantee that these guys will get it right.  And if they don't, it's back to square one (again).

 

 

So I am torn on the deal.  And I think most Cleveland fans are as well.  I've heard some people who love it and some who are so mad that they are done being Browns fans.  And I get it.  So if you're mad I'm sorry and I do feel it too.  If you're happy, that's good.  I'll be right there with you, especially the day after the season's over.  If you're Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi, I hope you're right, and I hope you get it right.  Like I heard it said best, you guys have bet on yourselves and you're all in.  Let's hope for once you get it right, and that the fans won't be the ones left holding the bag.

Week 1 - 2013

 

They say the more things change the more they stay the same.  That was certainly true.  It was supposed to be different.  New season, new coach, new management.  Stadium improvements.  The best offensive and defensive minds in the game in Norv Turner and Ray Horton.  A better fan experience.  It was going to be different, a complete remodel.  Well guess what.  It was exactly the same as it has been 14 out of the last 15 times they’ve opened in the Factory of Sadness.  A big fat loss in front of the greatest fans in football on a beautiful September day in Cleveland.  Another 0-1 start.  A loss to a crappy Dolphins team who managed less than 25 yards on the ground.  A quick death to optimism, just like every other damn year since 1999.  I don’t care about fires for intros or DJs or cell service.  When I come to a Browns game I want them to win.  If they want to improve the “fan experience” improve the team.

Seriously how can a complete remodel produce the exact same crap over and over again?  It’s like replacing a sewage treatment plant with a landfill.  It still STINKS.  It seems almost impossible.  But it happened again.  The same results, the same issues, the same fraudulent pretenders in orange helmets fooling us into thinking that they can be my Browns of the 80’s, or my dad’s Browns of the 60’s.  They aren’t, they never will be.  They’re the new Browns, the same old Browns, the expansion Browns.  And no matter the front office, no matter the coaches, no matter the owner, it’s the same junk year in and year out.

Where to begin?  I went to the game and haven’t watched it again, and not sure that I want to.  Do I want to watch Oniel Cousins embarrass himself again?  Seriously he’s the worst player at his position in the NFL.  There isn’t a worse offensive guard in football.  He’s the absolute worst.  He's an embarrassment to every offensive lineman who has ever played the game.  Do I want to see the Browns try and run behind him, instead of our Pro Bowl left tackle?  I don’t think I do.  Maybe I can watch another coach abandon the run AGAIN, essentially taking his best player out of the game.  I loved it so much when it happened last season.  New coach, same stupidity.  I don’t think I’d like to see Cameron Wake destroying Brandon Weeden on some of his 53 (!!!) pass attempts again.  Think Schwartz could have used some help there Chud?  Norv?  I don’t think I want to see Buster Skrine and Chris Owens try and cover Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson again.  That was fun enough once in person.  No I think I’ll pass on rewatching this team do their best impression of the other 14 Browns teams that opened their seasons with a home loss.  The players change, the results don’t.

 

While the offense was out there Shurmuring it up, the defense actually played respectably until they wore down late in the game.  Desmond Bryant had a great game.  There were encouraging signs out of the front 7, but the secondary needs help.  Chris Owens and Buster Skrine?  Not going to get it done.  Offensively they should run the pistol.  All game.  Every play.  It gives Weeden a shotgun look while keeping the ability to run the ball.  They ran it a few times early, but then got away from it.  I'm not positive, but I don't think they ran the ball one time out of the shotgun.  So they're pretty much letting the defense know what they're going to do when they come out in it. Pistol.  All day.  Also, some screens and draws might help keep a defense honest.  Just a thought there, Chud.  What a disaster.  I honestly am stunned that they played so badly.

 

I hope Joe Banner completely rebrands this team next year when they change their uniforms.  These guys don’t deserve to wear the same uniforms that Otto Graham and Jim Brown wore.  Go chrome on the helmet, completely redesign the jerseys.  People will cry about tradition.  What tradition do these “new” Browns have?  Losing every opener at home?  A complete overhaul every two or three years?  Not making the playoffs?  Those are the traditions of these new Browns.  And they sure held up their end yesterday.  A garbage loss to a crappy team at home.  I’m at a loss.  I’m sick of watching this team lose.  I’m sick of listening to coaches tell me it’s a process.  I’m sick of Brandon Weeden thinking that he plays well when he throws 3 picks.  I’m sick of Trent Richardson only getting the ball 10 times a game.  I was optimistic about the Browns going into yesterday.  I’m convinced now that they are a 4-12 team.  AGAIN.  Maybe they’ll get it fixed next week who knows.  But the optimism I had going into the season has been napalmed.  As B Ross says, maybe it’s tank for Teddy or Tajh time already.  After week 1.  It’s another Cleveland Browns tradition – looking forward to the draft in September.

 

 

gifs of the week

 

Jason Witten reenacts the Browns game in 2 seconds

 

FUMBLEROOSKI

 

Clay Matthews goes superman for a personal foul

 

And the idiotic play of the week, maybe the season.  Nice job Danny.

 

Week 13

Congratulations Pat Shurmur.  You've done something I never thought possible.  On December 9th, 2012 you coached an almost perfect game.  You led your team to a 30-7 victory over the Chiefs for their third victory in a row.  Your gameplan was outstanding.  You used creativity on offense and special teams.  You put the ball in the hands of your best playmakers.  You showed confidence in your players.  And you made me believe that maybe you should be the one to lead this team next season. 

Like this young team, Shurmur has gotten better.  Winning makes everything better, but Shurmur genuinely seems more at ease now that the Browns have been able to string together some wins.  The Browns looked like they were having fun playing football today.  I've been as big a critic as anyone, but I will give credit where credit is due.  After the Dallas game this team could have packed it in.  They could have laid down against the Steelers, especially after falling behind early.  They could have gone out to Oakland and laid an egg on the west coast following the win against the Steelers.  They could have come home and disappointed the home crowd against the Chiefs, and lost a game that everyone thought they were going to win.  And trust me, they could have.  I've seen it before.  But they didn't.  And forget about the competition, it's hard to win in the NFL, especially if you don't know how.  And for the first 10 games this season, this team didn't look like it knew how to win.  But they're learning now, both coach and team.  Maybe this is a shortsighted reaction to a few wins against lesser competition.  Maybe the Browns will come out and get pasted by the Redskins next week, and I'll kick myself for even thinking this.  But maybe, just maybe, Shurmur is the right coach for this team.  He has three more games, against better teams than the Chiefs and Raiders, to state his case.

But just think about this.  If LJ Fort catches the easy interception that Michael Vick lobbed into the endzone in week 1, and the Browns win that game, they would be 1 game behind the Steelers for the final playoff position.  Taking every bad coaching decision, dropped pass, clock management issue, every third and one, EVERYTHING out of the equation, the Browns are one easy interception away from being in the thick of the playoff race.

The Chiefs were coming off an incredibly emotional week, and seemed due for a letdown after a gutsy win the previous week against Carolina.  And it only took 1 play for them to take the lead, on an 80 yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles.  The Browns punted on their first possession, and the Chiefs used a blatant push off by Dwayne Bowe against Joe Haden on a 47 yard pass to move down the field.  However they missed a chip shot field goal that went off the uprights.  And that pretty much highlights the Chiefs offense.  The Browns added a field goal, and after forcing the Chiefs to punt on the next possession, they dialed up their first trickeration of the day, shockingly on special teams.  Josh Cribbs was back to return the kick but ran up to the line as Travis Benjamin, the Belle Glade Blur, simultaneously ran back to field the punt.  Benjamin fielded the punt at the 7, and bobbed and weaved his way through the coverage, getting great blocks from pretty much everyone on the Browns for a 93 yard touchdown.  And with that, the Chiefs were down 10-7 going into halftime.  They never threatened again.

On the first play of the second half, Shurmur dialed up a double reverse to Benjamin for 15 yards.  Weeden then completed passes to Josh Gordon and Greg Little, both of whom had outstanding games, moving the ball into the redzone.  They brought in Josh Cribbs, and gave him a chance to run the ball on a direct snap, which he took down to the one yard line.  Richardson then smashed into the endzone for a 17-7 Browns lead.  Creativity on offense.  It's a beautiful thing.

The Browns defense played exceptional in the second half.  On Kansas City's first possession in the second half, they sacked Quinn on first down.  After forcing him to scramble on second, Sheldon Brown jumped a  3rd down slant route to Jonathan Baldwin, just missing the interception but tipping the pass into the waiting arms of my man Tashuan Gipson, who picked it off and returned in to the Chiefs 13.  They had 5 sacks in the game to go along with the Gipson pick and credit must be given to Dick Jauron who has done a great job with this group.

The Browns could only add a field goal but actually scored two touchdowns, the first to Watson nullified by an illegal shift and the second nullified on an absolutely horrible offensive pass interference call on Trent Richardson.  20-7 and the Browns were rolling.

They forced another Chiefs punt on the following possession and rode the legs of Montario Hardesty and hands of Ben Watson down the field.  Shurmur called another great play on 3rd and 9, coming out with a 5 wide receiver set and motioning Little into the backfield before the snap.  Weeden pitched to Little with Joe Thomas and John Greco out in front and he gained seventeen yards down to the 1 yard line.  Richardson finished the drive with another one yard touchdown.  And while I like Richardson scoring the touchdown and tying Jim Brown's rookie rushing touchdown record, I also liked in the press conference after the game where Shurmur said he was "pissed off" at himself for not letting Hardesty score after getting them down there.  Players appreciate things like that.  Hardesty has played great as a complement to Richardson.

Dawson added a 34 yard field goal to close out the scoring, the Browns rolling off 30 straight points to win 30-7.  Colt McCoy came in and took some knees to close out the game.  The Browns were the dominant team, and rarely has a victory come with so little drama. 

An outstanding win for this young team, as momentum is starting to build.  The have Washington at home next week, and Denver and Pittsburgh on the road to close the season.  They are technically still in the playoff chase, and if they finish 8-8 they'll own the tiebreaker with every team except Buffalo.  There are no shortages of storylines for the last 3 weeks.  Playoffs??  Could the Browns run the table?  Would that save Shurmur's job?  Should it?  Or have the fates of Shurmur and Tom Heckert already been decided?

Maybe the writing is on the wall, and has been since the sale.  I refuse to believe that is the case, although the flames of change have produced a tremendous amount of smoke these last few weeks regarding both of their futures.  I already stated my case for Heckert here but I just don't see how it can be possible for Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner to ignore what seems to be building here, and the support and credibility that Heckert has developed with the fans.  But everyday it's a new rumor, and Joe Banner refuses to come out with anything public to endorse either man.  It seems more and more likely that Heckert will not be with the Browns after the season. 

Only in Cleveland would we have to deal with this.  Only Browns fans.  Not one other fan base has suffered through what we have.  We could have jumped ship, many did.  Those turncoats, those fair weather fans, they wear black and yellow now.  We didn't jump ship.  We stayed, knowing one day that our Browns would be back, a football team worthy of wearing those orange helmets and representing the best fans in the country.  I'm not ready to declare this team worthy yet, but they just may be.  At the very least, they inspire hope.  There are legitimate future stars on this team in Richardson, Gordon, and Haden.  Each of whom was brought here by Tom Heckert, who as GM has an obvious eye for talent and a willingness to roll the dice that has not been seen around here since the 1980's.  Those three players, possible franchise cornerstones, were not slam dunks.  Heckert selected Haden with the 6th pick in the draft despite his poor 40 yard dash at the combine, when "experts" said you can't draft a corner without world class speed that high.  Heckert was blasted for trading 4th, 5th, and 7th round picks to ensure he got Richardson, a franchise running back.  And Heckert took the biggest risk of all in this year's supplemental draft, giving up next years second round pick to select Josh Gordon.  I would venture to guess that there is not one other GM in the league that would have had the stones to make that pick in the same situation.  Every week, Josh Gordon gets better, and makes Tom Heckert look smarter, and makes the people who blasted him after he made the pick look stupid.  Only in Cleveland would we finally have someone who has built a team that we can enjoy watching grow, that offers real hope for the future, and have to worry about him getting replaced.  It would only happen here, that a guy who to this point has been as good as anyone in the NFL at his job would be replaced just for the sake of change.  I don't know what is going to happen over the next 3 weeks, or beyond.  I don't want to have to think about Michael Lombardi or Josh McDaniels, or about switching to a 3-4 defense, or about whether Joe Banner thinks Brandon Weeden is a franchise quarterback.  I want to enjoy the last 3 games for what they are, and hope that for once the course of the franchise is the right one.  And I want to believe that if they Browns keep playing like they have been, Banner and Haslam won't halt the momentum that is building.  And if they do blow this franchise up again, well, it would only happen in Cleveland.

That's my last Tom Heckert rant for this week.


Gifs of the week

Rivers don't want none of Tomlin

Pacquiao.  KO'd.

 

 

Santa.  KO'd.

 

Week 12

The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.

That is one of my favorite quotes, and applies perfectly to football.  On the first Sunday in December, the Browns imposed their will against the Raiders, and won their second straight game, 20-17.  The win was their first on the road since last September, breaking a 12 game road losing streak.  It also marked their first winning streak since winning two in a row against the Colts and Dolphins last September as well. 

For the second straight week, the Browns were the more physical team.  They smacked around the Raiders, and are becoming heavyweight sluggers.  I've been as critical of Pat Shurmur as anyone, but it is hard to argue with the fact that this team is starting to come together and playing extremely hard every week.  Improvement is evident both from an individual standpoint as well as from a team standpoint.  Weeden looks better.  Richardson looks better.  Josh Gordon, Greg Little, and Jordan Cameron all look better.  Montario Hardesty is running with a purpose.  And the defense is playing at a high level, noticeably better since Joe Haden and Phil Taylor, the team's last two defensive first round picks, in 2010 and 2011, have been back.  Even guys like Tashaun Gipson and Eric Hagg and Juqua Parker contributed to the win.  The Browns may be on the cusp of turning a corner, something I never thought I'd write about this season.

The Browns came out and dominated a Raiders team that they were expected to beat.  Following a Raiders punt on their opening possession, the Browns moved the ball on their first possession before Weeden overthrew Watson for an interception.  They allowed the Raiders to gain a couple first downs before getting the ball back and driving down the field for a field goal.  They mixed in Richardson and used some short passes on the drive, and Weeden looked comfortable with the plan early.  I honestly thought Shurmur had a good gameplan in this one. 

They led 3-0, and after forcing the Raiders to go three and out on their next possession, Weeden found Little for 18 yards and then dropped a pretty pass into Gordon on a go route for a 44 yard touchdown.  Gordon blew by the one on one coverage and looks more and more like an absolute steal in the supplemental draft.  Browns led 10-0, and looked on their way to a easy win.  This team doesn't do things the easy way, though.  After the teams traded three and outs, they allowed the Raiders to move down the field and Janikowski banged home a 51 yard field goal.  The Raiders appeared to catch the Browns off guard with a no huddle attack, but the Browns limited the damage.

Cleveland had a chance to add some more points, they got the ball back with about 4 and a half minutes left in the half, and moved the ball down the field before Weeden underthrew Josh Gordon, who again had gotten behind his man, and the pass was picked off.  Weeden was pressured on the play and it appeared he couldn't get enough on the ball.  Oakland moved the ball but Janikowski missed a 61 yarder at the end of the half.  Somewhat frustrating, Browns dominated the game but only had a 7 point lead to show for it and only 10 on the scoreboard. 

The Browns took the opening kick of the third quarter and did two things out of the ordinary.  Following a couple of Richardson runs for a first down, Ben Watson was called for a holding penalty.  Normally that would affect both team and coach, but they were able to gain 18 yards back and faced a 4th and 2 from the Oakland 42 yard line.  And Shurmur actually went for it!!  And they converted, gaining 21 yards after Weeden stepped up in the pocket and found a wide open Richardson.  Shurmur showed faith in his team (finally) and the team answered the bell.  That is a true sign of the progress we hear so much about.  Predictably though, they did have to settle for a field goal by Dawson, his 29th in a row.  13-3 Browns.

The Raiders continued their no huddle attack and moved the ball down the field, before a Juqua Parker sack knocked them out of field goal range.  Following the punt, Weeden hit Gordon for 20 yards and then stood in the face of the pass rush and hit Mohammed Massaquoi streaking across the middle of the field for a huge 54 yard gain aided by a GREAT block by Greg Little.  Greg Little made it easy for people to criticize him early this season, but he had turned himself around and has been outstanding these last few games.  He's a great blocker and hasn't dropped a pass in weeks.  Kudos to him and the coaches for sticking with him when idiots like me were calling for him to get benched. 

Following the big play, some of the problems with Shurmur reappeared.  They had to burn a timeout immediately after the big gain, then appeared to play for a Dawson field goal, which was partially blocked.  That ended his made field goal streak at 29, but that guy should have a place in the Browns ring of honor and should make the Pro Bowl.  He's the best in the league.

Momentum shifted following the field goal block and it looked like the Browns may let another one get away.  Palmer hit Rod Streater, who had broken away from Buster Skrine, for a 64 yard touchdown, making it 13-10.  A bad decision to bring the ball out from the endline by Josh Cribbs had the Browns backed up at the 9 yard line, and following 2 tipped passes, the Browns called their second timeout.  On a huge 3rd and 9 play Weeden again stared down the pressure and found Greg Little across the middle for a first down.  That was a huge conversion, and gave the offense some room to operate.  The drive stalled following a Weeden sack and the Browns had to punt.  Buster Skrine gave Oakland 15 free yards on a kick catch interference and again, things looked dire.

Oakland used their no huddle attack to move the ball down the field before Palmer threw the ball directly to Sheldon Brown, who had good coverage on the play and made the interception at the 6 yard line.  Sheldon Brown played an outstanding game, probably his best in years, at least since he's been a Brown.

Then, the Browns embarked on a grown up, man's game drive.  14 plays, 94 yards, 6:04 taken off the clock with Oakland burning all three of their timeouts in the process.  They ran, threw, and took advantage of Oakland mistakes.  They converted a 3rd and 3 on a pass to Gordon.  They overcame a lousy spot on a quarterback sneak on a 3rd an 1.  (Sidenote Coach Shurmur - if you're going to call timeout you may as well challenge the play, you lose the timeout if you don't win).  On the 4th and 1 following that play, the Browns offensive line rewarded their coach's confidence in them by decimating the Raiders at the point of attack for an easy conversion on the Weeden sneak.  They threw 23 yards to Cameron on the next play, ran the ball a couple times, and drew Oakland offsides on a 3rd and 1 before Richardson pounded the ball into the endzone for a 20-10 lead.  The Raiders scored in garbage time to make the final score Browns 20, Raiders 17.

It was a big time drive for both the coaches and the players.  It's important that the players know that the coaching staff trusts them to execute in tough situations, and important that the coaches know the players can do it.  The Browns are learning how to win, as is Pat Shurmur.  They've lost enough of these games that they needed that to know they can win them, too.  I don't care who the opponent was.  They need to win games, and they did.  2 in a row, with a chance to come home and get another one against the Chiefs, who have been generally awful all season.  If the Browns maintain the will to conquer that they've had the past few games, they should be able to close the season out strong and possibly give new owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner some tough decisions to make regarding the futures of Heckert, Shurmur, and Weeden.


Gif of the Week

All Nebraska/Wisconsin this week

Taylor Martinez - horrible QB, hellava runner

Huge block. Should not have been a penalty.  But DAMN.

Oakland Pig fan is my new favorite

This is pretty good stuff Mike Polk

http://fox8.com/2012/12/02/mike-polk-pat-shurmur-press-conference/

Week 11

Thanksgiving is the greatest holiday of the year.  No other holiday offers such awesome expectations.  Seriously on Thanksgiving you are expected to spend time with friends and family, eat and drink as much as possible, and watch football.  Nice try Christmas, you're not even close.  I love Thanksgiving.

And amazingly, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the Browns thanked their fans for sticking with them by defeating the hated Pittsburgh Steelers 20-14.  Yes, it took 8 Pittsburgh turnovers.  Yes it was against Charlie Batch.  I could care less.  A win against the Steelers is rare for these Browns, and I'll take them any way I can get them.  There's no better sight than seeing those dirtbag fans leaving our stadium with their heads down, the only use for those towels to wipe their tears.  A possible season wrecking loss by the Steelers, and a big win for the Browns, who needed one.

It looked like it was going to be the same old same old early.  Weeden had
a pass picked off on the Browns first series off a tip by that barbarian Brett Keisel and returned for a touchdown by Timmons, and Pittsburgh had a quick 7-0 lead.  Following a three and out the Browns punted to the Steelers and forced the first turnover of the day when Rubin stripped Mendenhall and Usama Young recovered.  The Browns turned that into a Phil Dawson field goal.  He's so damn good.  27 straight field goals, like Terry Pluto said we won't appreciate him until he's gone.

The teams traded punts until early in the second quarter when Juqua Parker forced another fumble which was recovered by Buster Skrine at the Steeler 10 yard line.  Weeden found Cameron for the touchdown on third down and the Browns took the lead 10-7.  It was Cameron's first touchdown, so congrats to him, and a big play seeing as how the Browns have had trouble scoring in the red zone.

 

The defense went soft at the end of the half and allowed the Steelers to score a touchdown on a Chris Rainey run following a Sheldon Brown pass interference in the end zone.  The Browns dominated the half but still trailed 14-13.

In the second half, the defense rose up and dominated.  They smacked the Steelers over and over in the mouth, and eventually they folded and the Browns were the one's left standing.  They turned a Sheldon Brown interception into a great 15 yard touchdown run by Richardson to take the lead for good, and then held on for the rest of the game for the win.  They forced every Steeler running back to fumble, and added another interception, by Joe Haden.  They out physicaled the Steelers.  And we haven't been able to say that in a long time.  I understand the circumstances but I don't care.  The Browns notched only their 5th win against the Steelers since they've been back.  And damn if it doesn't feel good.

We had only our second opportunity to see Phil Taylor and Ahtyba Rubin play at full strength, with last week being the first.  And guess what?  For the first time since 1989, the Browns held an opponent to under 65 rushing yards in consecutive weeks.  Well done defense.  I can't think of one defender who didn't play well.  On offense you'd like to see Weeden play with more consistency, you'd like to see Richardson hit the holes when they're there (he missed a couple), and you'd like to see less holding penalties, but I'm not going to nitpick after a win.  Browns win, 20-14.  A great win to cap a great weekend.  For guys like me, it doesn't get better than the Buckeyes beating Michigan and the Browns beating the Steelers in the same weekend.  It hasn't happened since 1962, so soak it in.  For the Browns, they've got the Raiders and Chiefs in their next 2 games.  Is a winning streak in the cards?  Let's hope so, but like Shurmur said, Richardson, Weeden, Schwartz, and the rest of the rookies are 1-0 against Pittsburgh, and that's something to enjoy, at least for a week.

On a side note, the officiating in the NFL is awful.  Replacement refs were really bad, but the real ones are pretty lousy as well.  The call in the early game on turkey day when Justin Forestt of the Texans was clearly down was horrible.  Yeah, Schwartz threw the challenge flag and he shouldn't have.  But that should not prevent the refs from getting the call right.  What a stupid rule, NFL. 

Here's a thought - even if Schwartz doesn't throw the flag, Gary Kubiak should have.  Teams should sacrifice 15 yards to ensure that those types of plays don't get reviewed.  Yeah I understand it's completely against what they're trying to do, but if Kubiak challenges saying he wanted to run more clock or whatever, and the play is automatically reviewed, the refs have to flag Kubiak and the play isn't reviewable anymore, just like they did to Detroit.  Kubiak would have been smart to throw the challenge flag himself and ensure the touchdown.  Just watch, some coach will be smart enough to do it before the season is over. 

Also, in the Browns game, Richardson clearly fumbled with just over 2 minutes left in the game.  Not. Good. Trent.  However, the Steelers were out of timeouts and couldn't challenge.  Finally a horrible call goes the Browns way, but geez these guys are bad.

The same play that happened in Dallas last week, where Miles Austin clearly made a catch and fumbled but the play was blown dead, happened again in Cincinnati when they were playing Oakland.  Oakland was down in the game, Bengals player catches the ball, tucks, has it knocked out.  Oakland recovers and returns the fumble for a score.  Buuuuttttt ref blew a whistle, meaning the play is not reviewable.  Total garbage.  Next play, a frustrated Oakland player throws Dalton to the ground, and a brawl ensues.  What a joke, the NFL should hold themselves to a higher standard.  Get it right.

And officials should have their calls graded and made publicly available by the league.  It would force them to be accountable for what they're calling, and would allow for an easy evaluation system that fans could be aware of.  I want to know how many pass interference calls the back judge that blew the Miles Austin fumble call in the Dallas game made.  Was it just one ref making all these calls or was it a few?  Everything players and coaches do is public and they're held accountable.  Why not the officials?  It'll never happen, but it should.

Random gifs

Yeah this pretty much sums up Michigan's day

Ouch

Yes.  Dance away Joe.  Dance away.

And just because.

Week 9

I'm really mad at myself.  Mad that I made the mistake of breathing in the fumes of optimism floating around this town this past week.  Mad for believing that the Browns were sick of being doormats in their division.  Mad for falling for the bravado that this young team exuded all week.  Mad that I thought that there was no way the Browns were going to lose a 10th straight game to those scumbags, the most vile and wretched team in the league.  Mad that I firmly believed that the Browns would seize the opportunity to win their third straight game at home against a reeling team on the decline.  Mad that I genuinely believed that the Browns were going to come out in front of their home fans, the best in the league, and punch the Ravens right in the mouth.  And most of all I'm mad that I believed that Pat Shurmur, fighting for his job, could coach this team to victory.  And after the game, like most Sunday's watching this sad sack franchise, I was just mad.  Ultimately it was Baltimore 25 Cleveland 15, the only positive being that it will more than likely be the nail in the coffin of possibly the worst coach in this franchise's history, Pat Shurmur.

This was going to be the game that marked the new era of the Browns, the most important game in at least the past few seasons.  The Ravens, the old Browns, with that awful ART patch on their jerseys, verses the new Browns, under new ownership.  Out from the nightmare that was Modell's pal Al Lerner and his family's ownership, this was a chance for this Browns team to show it's fans, loyal through all the absolute crap that has gone on since Modell sold his soul in 1995, that things are different now.  Instead, it was the same old Browns, the ones we've seen since 1999.  Another disappointing loss when things look to be turning around.  On Sunday morning, that turnaround seemed to be right around the corner.  On Sunday evening, that turnaround seems miles away.  It was just one game, it was the difference between 3-6 and 2-7.  But it was the difference between hope for the rest of the season and looking ahead to the next.  And it was another open hand slap to the fans that were rocking Cleveland Browns Stadium only to be sent home disappointed.  A Factory of Sadness indeed.

The Ravens came into the game with the 30th ranked run defense, without their heart and soul in Ray Lewis, and without their best cover corner, Ladarius Webb.  They came in with a chip on their shoulder off their bye, chirping as they always do, despite getting their butts kicked by Houston two weeks prior.  They are a team that had beaten the Browns 9 straight games.  Think about that.  Most of the Browns players probably had no idea because they hadn't been around for those losses, but the fans sure as hell have been.  If any game had the chance to change a culture it was this one. 

However, no matter how much improved the Browns are from a talent standpoint, they are handcuffed by their idiotic head coach.  The Browns got the ball first, threw incomplete on 1st down, and gained nine yards on a Richardson run on 2nd.  On 3rd and 1, against the 30th ranked run defense, Shurmur dialed up a pass, which ended up incomplete to Alex Smith, who wouldn't have even gained the first down had he caught it.  Again, Baltimore came in with the 30th ranked run defense.  But Shurmur likes to think he's smarter than everybody, and by God he's going to prove it.  Browns punt and the Ravens, apparently ready to play, take 10 plays mixing in Ray Rice and Anquan Boldan to score a touchdown.  Nothing like getting the home crowd into the game by being down 7-0 seven minutes into the game.  The Browns get the ball back, pick up nine yards on 1st down, fumble the ball (recovered by Mitchell Schwartz) on second down for no gain, and face 3rd and 1 again.  3 stinkin feet, against the 30th ranked run defense in the league.  Pat Shurmur, apparently in an attempt to show that he's no fool, dials up another pass.  Weeden overthrows Chris Ogbonnaya who was wide open.  The play was there, but it wouldn't have mattered as offensive pass interference was called on Josh Gordon. 

Now apparently in today's NFL, when Jeff Triplette, who is by far the WORST official in the league is working the game, it's considered offensive pass interference when a receiver runs 10 yards down field and gets body checked to the ground by a defensive back.  Horrible call in a game that had a few of them.  More on Triplette later. 

The Browns punt again, and the Ravens march down the field, mostly on the ground, and score another touchdown in 12 plays.  14-0 Ravens in the first quarter and by all appearances it looked like this one was going to get out of hand.

Then a curious thing happened.  The Browns decided to run the ball and utilize their best asset, Trent Richardson.  Richardson carried the load, coupled with a few Weeden completions, and the Browns moved the ball to the Ravens 17, where they had 1st and 10.  They did burn a timeout following a Baltimore penalty because they couldn't get the play in, a theme that would repeat itself.  After a 1 yard gain by Richardson, they dialed up a pass play that went incomplete.  They then burned another timeout, presumably to get a really good play called in the red zone.  That brilliant playcall ended up being a 2 yard pass to Alex Smith, and the Browns settle for a field goal.  That theme would also repeat itself.

Dick Jauron did an excellent job adjusting to the offensive genius that is Cam Cameron and the Browns got the ball back.  Behind the running of Richardson and a couple deep passes to Josh Gordon and Greg Little, the Browns moved into the red zone again.  They ran the ball twice gaining 2 yards, and on 3rd and 8 they dialed up another creative pass, this one going 4 yards to Alex Smith.  It doesn't take a Mensa member to figure out that you should throw the ball past the sticks on 3rd down, or that it may be a good idea to throw the ball into the endzone when your starting WR's are 6'3 and 6'2.  Whether that's on Shurmur or Weeden I can't say but it is inexcusable and it's happening over and over.  Regardless, the Browns settled for another Dawson field goal.

After forcing the Ravens to go 3 and out, the Browns got the ball back with 1:03 left in the half, at their own 39 yard line.  There have been multiple instances that I've discussed of Shurmur mismanaging this situation at the end of first halfs, and this game would be no different.  Down 14-6, with the ball in good field position, and 1 timeout, he dialed up a draw on first down.  They gained 2 yards and wasted 26 seconds.  They then proceeded to move the ball, with Weeden completing passes to Richardson, Watson, and Little.  Weeden then hit Benjamin on a comeback for 19 yards down to the Baltimore 11, but they only had 5 seconds on the clock.  They sent out Dawson rather than risk running out the clock by throwing one toward the endzone, but that wasn't in the gameplan anyway.  That is inexcusable by a NFL head coach.  I can't figure out why Shurmur cannot manage a two minute drill at the end of the half, but he can't.  The Browns went into the locker room with some momentum and down 14-9.

Coming out of halftime, the Browns defense forced a three and out by the Ravens, and the Browns, riding some of that momentum, had a chance to take control of the game, with good field position at midfield.  They gained 7 yards on first down on a run by Richardson, against the 30th ranked run defense in the league.  Shurmur then dialed up a pass to Cameron that was nowhere close, and followed that up with another pass.  Weeden got pressured and threw the ball to Jordan Cameron, who was streaking down the field and never turned around.  The pass was picked off by Cary Williams.  Again, Baltimore is not good against the run.  You're at home.  Your defense has tightened up.  You need three yards to keep the drive moving.  RUN THE BALL WITH RICHARDSON.  And if you come up short run it again.  You would think that a NFL coach would play to his teams strengths and the other teams weaknesses, but not our coach. 

Baltimore took over at the Browns 39 and were moved back on a holding penalty on Michael Oher, who basically held Jabaal Sheard the entire game.  The defense held, and forced another punt.  The teams traded three and outs, the slugfest continuing between two offensive geniuses in Pat Shurmur and Cam Cameron.

The Browns had momentum at this point.  They were winning the field position battle.  The crowd was into it.  The ran the ball and were aided by a personal foul on Baltimore, moving to the Ravens 30.  Shurmur dialed up a reverse to Benjamin who gained nine yards, aided by a huge block on Ed Reed by Josh Gordon who nailed him in the chest with his shoulder.  In the chest, with his shoulder, on a player trying to tackle a ball carrier.  And Jeff Triplette calls Gordon for unnecessary roughness.  It was a terrible call, although they called Baltimore's sideline for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Terrible call.  At this point the Ravens were on the ropes.  The Browns were imposing their will.  They were smacking the Ravens around just like I thought and hoped they would.  Baltimore was ripe for the taking as the Browns moved into the redzone again, to the Bal 17.  After a Richardson one yard run on first down, the Browns dialed up their favorite play, the two yard pass to Alex Smith, on 2nd and 9 this time.  The third down pass was nearly intercepted but fell incomplete off the hands of Massaquoi, who probably should have caught the ball.  Another red zone trip, another field goal, another failed opportunity to throw the ball into the endzone.  Shurmurball at it's finest. 

Dick Jauron's defense continued it's incredible play, forcing another three and out.  The Factory of Sadness was pulsing with energy.  The Browns were beginning to impose their will, the fans were beginning to believe that their optimism was well founded.  They had the ball at their 46 yard line, against a tired defense.  Aaaaand then a false start on Lauvao.  And another one on Greco.  And inexplicably, following those 2 penalties, Shurmur couldn't get a play called and had to burn a timeout.  Shurmured.  Following the timeout, Shumur called another one of his tremendous plays, a 1 yard pass to Richardson.  Weeden hit Richardson again for an 8 yard gain, and on 3rd and 11 threw incomplete to Ogbonnaya, another pass well short of the line to gain.  Browns had to punt, still trailing by 2.

Again (!) the Browns defense forced a 3 and out and the offense took over at their own 43.  Following some good running by Richardson and a couple nice passes to Little and Gordon, they had 1st and 10 on Baltimore's 22.  Richardson ran for 4 yards on first down, and after an incompletion, they had 3rd and 6 on the 18.  Baltimore blitzed the no back formation, Weeden stood in the pocket and delivered a laser beam in stride to Josh Gordon, who slipped a tackle for the touchdown.  The place went crazy, touchdown Browns! But remember, these are the Browns, and there was a flag on the field.  Chris Ogbonnaya didn't line up properly, covering the tight end who released.  5 yard penalty, no touchdown.  Gut wrenching.  It's even more troubling that he knew he was supposed to be off the line of scrimmage, just failed to line up that way.  Every week it seems like there is an incredibly stupid penalty, whether it's jumping offsides on a punt or on a fourth and 1, or getting pass interference with 4 seconds left in the half.  Add this one to the list.  The Browns still had a shot though, still had momentum, when Shurmur showed off his confidence in the offense and his quarterback by calling a DRAW on third and 11.  A gutless move by a gutless coach, playing for a field goal to go up by a point rather than taking a shot at the endzone.  That's Pat Shurmur in a nutshell.  His players make stupid mistakes in an obvious attempt to imitate their coach, who makes stupid decisions and has no balls.  Dawson kicked the field goal and the Browns took the lead, 15-14.

And then the inevitable happened, aided by Jeff Triplette, the worst official in the NFL.  Baltimore finally got a first down and moved the ball to their own 42.  Flacco threw incomplete on 2nd and 8, but Jeff Triplette, who is worse than any other official in the NFL, threw a flag and called roughing the passer on TJ Ward, who hit Flacco from behind on the shoulder pads.  It was a terrible call, total bullcrap, magnified even more by the fact that Jabaal Sheard was blatantly held ripped down from behind by Oher 5 feet away from Triplette.  That took the life out of the stadium and the defense, as Baltimore gained yards by the chunk before they faced a 3rd and 10 from the 19.  Joe Haden gave Torrey Smith a 15 yard cushion, Smith stopped after 10, caught the ball, spun, and ran unimpeded into the endzone for the go ahead touchdown.  Haden was then burned on the 2 point conversion and Baltimore was up by seven with 4:26 left. 

The Browns took over at the 20, with over four minutes left and two timeouts, needing a touchdown.  They proceeded to gain six yards on first down, and threw incomplete on 2nd, bringing up 3rd and 4.  For some unknown reason, they ran a 2 yard out to Greg Little, bringing up 4th down.  With 3:57 remaining in the game, and two timeouts, from their own 28  Pat Shurmur decides to go for it.  This is a guy who is so maddeningly conservative that he wouldn't go for a 4th and 1 with 6 minutes to go from the Colts 41 yard line just two weeks ago.  So he decides to go for it, and reaches into his bag of tricks to come up with a slant pass.  The exact same play they ran against the Colts when they had 4th and six two weeks ago (which didn't work).  The whole sequence looked off from the beginning, and Weeden fired a 98 mile per hour fastball 15 feet over Greg Little's head.  Ballgame.  Baltimore added a field goal but that was it. 

It more than likely sealed Shurmur's fate, who appeared to coach the game as if he was trying to prove a point to his critics rather than trying to win the game.  From the 3rd and 1's early to the decision not to punt, to the communication problems, to playing for field goals and not putting the ball past the sticks or into the endzone, Shurmur showed his full complement of deficiencies as a head coach.  He just doesn't have it, the game is too fast for him to act as a head coach and a playcaller, and he's too sensitive to the noise around him that comes with his job.  I don't think he'll be fired until the end of the season, but wouldn't care less if they canned him today. 

There were not a lot of positives to even discuss.  The offensive line and Richardson played well, as did Little and Gordon from what I could see.  The defense buckled down after a rough start and gave the offense a chance to put the game away on multiple occasions, but failed to make a stop when they needed to.  It's good to have Phil Taylor back, Sheard and Jackson both played well.

Weeden was not very good, and didn't seem like a guy that was too happy about the coaching.  He subtly called out the playcalling by saying they didn't expect to see so much cover 2 and weren't prepared for it.  He also gave a couple terse no comments when asked about the "communication problems".  He's a rookie and is going to struggle at times, but he did make a play when they needed one when he stood in and delivered the ball to Gordon on the touchdown that was negated. 

One thing that crossed my mind on Weeden is that I think he feels really comfortable when Josh Cooper is on the field.  Cooper was inactive for this game.  Weeden's best performances have come when Cooper has been active and on the field on third downs.  There's an obvious comfort factor there and I think that Weeden trusts Cooper a lot more than anyone else at this point.  It may be coincidental I'm not sure, just something I thought about.  I'd rather have Cooper out there on third downs than almost anyone else and I think Weeden feels the same.

Obviously this team has a long way to go, but it sure seems longer now than it did last week.  We have two weeks to soak in this loss with the bye week next week.  I was convinced that this was the game that would mark the turnaround for this franchise, the beginning of the rewards that this fanbase has surely reaped with all the crap we've had to deal with since 1995.  Maybe that game will happen this year, maybe the Browns can grow from this loss.  Maybe they put together a run towards the end of the season, beat the Steelers twice, learn how to win.  Learn how to throw a haymaker when their opponents are on the ropes rather than trip over their own feet.  But rather than doing it with a sense of optimism for this season, they'll be doing it with an eye on the next one.

Side note on the officiating.  I hate Jeff Triplette and I think I would fight him if I saw him.  He's a dirtbag and consistently screws the Browns, especially in Cleveland, as if it is this team's fault that he fired his flag into Orlando Brown's facemask (taking 3 years of football from him) and got his ass thrown down by Zeus.  I don't generally complain about officiating because bad calls are a part of the game, but Triplette is awful and shouldn't be allowed to officiate in Cleveland.


Random gifs

Looks like USC Reggie

 

 

 

 

Ouch.  Couldn't find Gordon's block on Reed but it looked a lot like this.  Presumably no flag on OU on this play

 



Mascot LOLZ

Week 8



 

It was an ugly win on an ugly day, but for a young team with a 1-6 record coming in, it's hard to complain about a win.  The Browns out slugged an awful Chargers team 7-6, giving the team it's second win of the season.  Pat Shurmur out-coached Norv Turner.  Just let that soak in for a minute.  Pat Shurmur won the coaching battle.  Yes, it was against Norv Turner, but Shurmur may only be the second worst coach in the league now.  Congrats Pat.

 

 

The conditions were miserable, with 25 mph winds and driving rain, and the Browns came out with a great gameplan.  Feed Trent Richardson.  And it worked early.  Following a 4th and 1 stop (great call Norv - bring in the backup running back) by TJ Ward, who played a great game, the Browns took over and pounded the rock, eventually getting into the endzone for the only time with a great Richardson run.  Shaun Lauvao had an assist on the play, steadying Richardson and shoving him towards to goalline.  That was about it from an offensive highlight standpoint, but Dick Jauron had the defense ready to play.  They gave up a field goal at the end of the half, and another one in the 3rd quarter, but that was it.  A great game by the defense, gotta give credit where credit is due.

 

 

 

 

 

Richardson was the bright spot on offense, along with Weeden.  I know his numbers don't reflect it, but before last week, the Browns had turned the ball over at least once in 23 straight games.  Sunday marked the second consecutive game without a turnover.  To quote Shurmur, that is progress.  Weeden did just enough to win, although again his receivers hurt him with drops.  Three awful ones that I can remember, one by Chris Ogbonnaya on a simple screen pass, one by Josh Cooper on a slant, and one by Greg Little on an out route.  Just brutal, they are always at the worst times.  It seems impossible that NFL receivers can make catching the ball look so difficult.  Right Robert Meachem?  It's like the Browns were playing themselves in a way. 

 

 

 

No Browns game is without questionable coaching decisions and there were a few of them.  Early in the second quarter, after a Billy Winn fumble recovery, Shurmur dialed up a double reverse.  Look I get it, but that play should be reserved for a game where it isn't windy and rainy and possessions won't be at a premium.  It was a dumb play call, regardless.  The Browns also have the absolute worst punter in the NFL.  Please please please cut Hodges and get somebody else in here.  He was typically horrible.  Josh Cribbs made some curious decisions on fielding some punts as well, the team was cursed with horrible field position most of the game.  But they gutted it out and survived a late forth quarter drive by the Chargers.  Typically the Browns lose these types of games, and I thought they were headed for a 9-7 loss.  But the defense held on and stopped the Chargers and they won, and that's what matters.  Again hard to argue with a win, and congrats to Jimmy Haslam on his first win as an owner.  Dude is a pimp by the way, sitting outside in the elements to watch that offensive explosion.

 

 

 

And although it was against the offensive genius that is Norv Turner, wins are so rare in this town that you just have to enjoy them when they come along.  That's two in a row at home.  It's hard (albeit less entertaining) to blast the Browns when they win.  So I won't do it this week.  I'm going positive and upbeat.  A 9-7 loss would have been a meltdown in this spot though, just so you all know.

 

 

It seems like the Browns are headed in the right direction.  Josh Gordon had a nice game, as did Joe Haden, TJ Ward, the entire offensive line.  The two young defensive tackles look like keepers, and Phil Taylor and Rubin should be back this week.  Jordan Cameron looks good.  Weeden and Richardson are for real.  For those keeping score, this team appears to have hit on their 2 first round picks (TRich and Weeden), and their second rounder (Schwartz) from this past draft and their second rounder next year (Gordon).  I'll make my case for keeping Heckert another time, but this team has some talent now.  And it's nice to see these guys win some games.  I've said it before, the Browns control the energy in this town, and a gray and rainy Monday still feels better after a win, 7-6 or not.  11-5 is dead, but 10-6 started yesterday, and continues next week against the Ratbirds.

 

 

 

Random gifs

 

I see you Urban you pimp

 

 

 

 

When asked what the dance was, Gronkowski responded, "That little nutcracker dude that's guarding the house."  GRONK IS A NATIONAL TREASURE

 

 

 

Happy Halloween

 

 

 

 



 



Bye Bye Baseball.  Thanks Walt.