Cleveland Browns - Week 6

The Browns are seemingly back to their winning ways. With Weeden calling the shots and directing the offense, it's going to be a painful year for the Browns. For the first time in a long time, Browns fans had real hope of doing something: winning the division, making the playoffs, having a winning record. Of course, all of these are still possible, just not feasible.

The worst part is that it was actually there. With Hoyer leading the Browns, we were winning close games. Hoyer basically interned Tom Brady for a few years, so he's had a great teacher as a young NFL QB. Weeden was thrown into the mix from his rookie year and just hasn't developed. There are too many things that need fixing right away, and even though it's a lot to ask of a second-year player, Cleveland has to ask it of him due to his age. Hoyer showed what the Browns are capable of with a decent QB; the rest of this year, if we have to rely on Weeden, will be tough.

Negatives

We're starting to fill up this column more now. It starts with Weeden. He holds the ball too long and doesn't trust his receivers. Part of this is his habit of waiting until receivers are open before he throws it. Hoyer commented that one of the things he picked up from Brady was to lead his receivers and trust them: throw it before they're open. Because of this, Weeden will never be a good starting QB.

Coach Chud is now on the list. After leading 6 games at halftime, the Browns have dropped 3 of those games. Granted, all 3 were with Weeden and he is not clutch. What really worries me is that Chud was quoted as saying halftime adjustments are "overrated." I really love this coaching staff, but it's become obvious some changes are needed. All great coaches make halftime adjustments; that's how great teams stay in games. Look at any great coach: Bill Belichick, Phil Jackson, and Rick Pitino to name a few. Across all sports, these coaches knew how to make adjustments at halftime. If Chud thinks they're overrated, that tells me that he's not going to be an elite coach. How many elite teams are there without elite coaches?

Another coach makes the list: offensive coordinator Norv Turner. I was all set to put the blame squarely on Chud and Weeden, but I read an article that brought up some good points with Norv. In the second half, when the Browns are ahead, we don't run the ball. Granted our run game hasn't been electrifying, but with Weeden in the game, neither has our passing game. At least this way we can eat up some clock. This probably wouldn't do much for the offense, although it would prevent teams from dropping 7 in coverage, but it would give allow the defense to have to defend for a little less clock time which physically and mentally can make a difference.  

Craig Robertson has been exposed on defense. The halftime adjustment the Lions made (which turned out to be the reason they won...take note, Chud) was to pick on the inside linebacker. He looked slow and lost in most of the second half. Our defense is still a top 5 defense and will only get better next year, but one of the key positions to address aside from CB will be inside LB.

Positives

There aren't many. The same play-makers are still play-makers: Jordan Cameron, Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin. However, they aren't doing as well with Weeden at the helm.

One of the negatives can actually be a positive, or at least a hope for it. The Browns have gone into halftime winning in every game. This means if we can just make some adjustments in the second half and keep up that energy from the first, we really only need to make adjustments for 30 minutes instead of 60. Some teams envy being in that position.  

This year didn't have much hope, but the Browns really are coming together. With this year in the books, the Browns will come out even hungrier next year: especially since Weeden will (hopefully) be out of the picture and we'll have either Hoyer or a young, drafted QB to lead the team.

Take Away

Like most Browns fans, I've given up hope for our current QB. And again, it's possible, but very unlikely anything happens this year for the team. Not only are we dealing with a less-than-stellar QB, but it's a new coaching staff, new regime, a lot of new players, and new management. Granted these things all improved, but it still takes some time getting used to them. It may not officially be that time, but unofficially we need to break out the 'maybe next year' chants. Except next year, we're going to be a scary good team.

Cleveland Browns - Week 5

Let's face it - the biggest story line of week 5 for the Cleveland Browns wasn't the fact that they won 3 games in a row since, overlooking week 14 of the 2012 NFL season (Gordon averaged 90 receiving yards a game during that span), week 16 of the 2009 season. It wasn't that McGahee rushed for over 70 yards and keeps getting better. It wasn't that the Browns stood their ground when the game went into clutch situations. It wasn't the defense and T.J Ward's beautiful pick-six to seal the game. It wasn't the fact that they took first place in the division and were over .500 for the first time since the Browns got a team back in Cleveland in 1999.

It was Brian Hoyer's injury. The new-found excitement Browns fans were finally feeling took a fleeting shot to the stomach as the news broke that Hoyer was going to miss the season. I for one am really saddened. I don't know if Hoyer was the answer at QB, but there is one good thing to come out of this: Weeden and the Browns know that we can win games with a good, not great, QB leading the team. If Weeden fails to live up to expectations as a decent QB this year, he's gone. Like I said last week, unless by some miracle he proves to be a potentially-elite QB, we need to get rid of him, keep Campbell, keep Hoyer, and draft a franchise QB. The big wrench thrown into this was the question as to whether Hoyer could be a franchise QB still. Either way, I'd rather have 2 great QB's than none. Draft the guy you think it'll be and let Hoyer battle it out with him. I think we also grab a second or third-round QB in case we can trade one of them, perhaps dropping Campbell in that situation.

Negatives

The main negative is Hoyer's injury. Now Weeden has to show us what he's got.

Even though the right side of the O-line did better this week, I still think it needs to be adjusted. Once Lauvao starts to get back into his groove while Martin Wallace and Patrick Lewis return from being inactive last week.

I don't think it's a coincidence that once Weeden got healthy, Cameron's touches went down. Maybe the Bills just locked him down since he's been the best TE in the league this year not named Jimmy Graham. Or maybe it's just that, once Weeden came back, everyone's touches seemed to go down a little. Cameron has to be thrown the ball; he's a top-5 TE that nobody knows about yet.

The biggest negative that will come about from this week is the wind being knocked out of Browns fans. Even if Weeden proves to be a good QB, nobody is excited about him. Hoyer was new, doing extremely well, clutch, and he's a Cleveland-area native. Weeden is older, hasn't put up great numbers, and sadly is compared in his class to Andrew Luck, RG3, and Russell Wilson. The Browns and its fans need some excitement, especially at QB.

Positives

Travis Benjamin may not become a great WR in this league, but he's sure going to be a great special teams guy. I know that Josh Cribbs was a good player but I wasn't a fan once it came out that he wanted a bigger role on this team and wanted to be paid for it. Taking a risk on Benjamin by not signing Cribbs was one I endorsed at the time and am glad to see it's starting to pay off.

With Bryant leaving to go to the hospital along with Sheard and Groves being out, the defense really did a good job against the Bills. Granted, EJ Manuel did leave the game injured, so it wasn't against a starting QB, but we weren't at full strength either. Manuel was the guy I wanted the Browns to pick up in the draft, thinking he'd fall to the second or third round. He's going to be a really good QB in this league, and the defense did a good job making stops when it needed to. A bigger challenge comes next week against the Lions.

Trent Richardson only rushed for 56 yards on 18 carries. That's a measly 3.1 yards per attempt. Not that I wish bad on Trent, I just think that trade that caught everyone off guard, even myself, is turning out to not be so bad.

Take Away

Here are the 11 remaining games for the Browns:

• versus Detroit
• at Green Bay
• at Kansas City
• versus Baltimore
• (bye week)
• at Cincinnati
• versus Pittsburgh
• versus Jacksonville
• at New England
• versus Chicago
• at NY Jets
• at Pittsburgh

In looking at the schedule, there are a few very winnable games, some reasonably winnable games, and some tough games. Here are the breakdowns:

Very Winnable Games (6)

Maybe this is too optimistic, but I count 6 very winnable games: vs. Detroit, vs. Baltimore, at Cincy, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Jacksonville, at NY Jets. Detroit has underachieved so far this year and Calvin Johnson is banged up, even though he may play this week after taking off last week. They're also under .500 on the road so far. We already played Baltimore close this season, and now we get them at home. The Ravens are also under .500 this year, and do we really need extra motivation to play the old Browns? We get Cincy on the road, which will be tough, but we've already beaten them this year. We'll have a bye week to prepare and the Bengals may find themselves in a QB controversy if Dalton keeps slipping.

We beat Pittsburgh last year and it looks like they're going to be the new bottom-feeder once the Browns get their QB. I'll split these games with the Browns winning at home, but they're not doing a lot right these days. Jacksonville is the worst team in the league and one of the few teams who envy our QB situation. And we're at home. The Jets are the last team on the list, which despite their 2-2 record, are not nearly as put together. Both the Browns and Jets have really good defenses and okay offenses. I think the Browns defense will be just a little better. Plus, they're the Jets. Ryan will probably be looking to get fired by week 16 so he won't care.

Reasonably Winnable Games (3)

My picks for this one are at Green Bay, at New England, and at Pittsburgh. Green Bay has always had an electric offense, but their defense seems to be suspect. While their run D will probably stop McGahee, being ranked #8 per attempt, their pass defense is 29th in the league per attempt. This game will depend on our QB, whoever that is, so while not a lock, we have a fighting chance in this one.

New England is probably going to win their division and there always seems to be a great team that loses to the Browns, whether it's the Saints, Giants, or Patriots. It's usually for no reason, means nothing, and they go on to be really good despite the loss. This can be that game for Cleveland as New England may not really care about taking a week off, especially if they start out struggling against a very formidable Browns defense.

Especially if we beat Pittsburgh at home,  the Steelers may end up with a horrible record by week 17: when the Browns travel to play them. If they've given up hope and are 'sucking for Manziel' or whichever QB or college athlete (maybe Clowney?) they really want, this may be a win for the Browns who will hopefully have figured out their QB situation at this point.

Tough Games (2)

At Kansas City and versus Chicago are not looking great for Cleveland. Anything's possible, but both of these teams having something to prove and are very good.


If I had to make a prediction, I'd say the Browns go 0-2 in tough games, 1-2 in reasonably winnable games, and 3-3 in very winnable games. I'd like to say they go 4-2, but with Weeden at QB, I don't know. I'd say that about Hoyer, maybe even 5-1. It looks like our record this year will end up at 7-9 or 6-8. Our record won't reflect the progress we've made, but as long as the team knows it and stays motivated, great things will be coming out of Cleveland shortly.