The end of the season is near and many important decisions will be taken by Mike Holmgren based on the performance of the Browns over these last 3 games. Will the Browns come together as a team and perform well or will they ride out the string.
The 2010 campaign has been one of many ups and downs and looking back, after the disaster of 2009, the fact is that the Browns competed all season long in every game. That stated, I think only Mike Holmgren can judge if Coach Mangini will merit another year. If Holmgren fires Mangini, the likely reason is that while the Browns have in fact competed in 2010, it is primarily due to the innovations introduced by Rob Ryan on defense. The Browns defense took Dick Lebeau's zone blitz schemes to the next level, often substituting linebackers for defensive linemen, a strategy that infinitely complicated the opposing quarterbacks reads. Instead of having to account for 4 linebackers, opposing QBs often found themselves having to evaluate the positioning of up to 6 or even 7 linebackers. On 3rd and long the Browns have dared opponents to run, and one only need recall Tom Brady's awful showing against the Browns to realize that Ryan's schemes confused even the best quarterback in the game.
So the question is "does Mangini deserve credit for Rob Ryan's innovation?" My inclination is to say that Mangini does in fact deserve credit for the Browns defensive success in 2010. Everything on a team starts and finishes with the head coach. However only those persons associated with the Browns day to day truly can evaluate Mangini's role in putting this innovative defense on the field every Sunday. This is important because it is very likely that Rob Ryan will be lured away by some NFL team next year to be their head coach so next year Mangini will not have Rob Ryan' support.
Mike Holmgren's decision on whether to retain Mangini will tell us the inside story.
On to the Bengals game. When the Bengals and Browns played in game four earlier this season, the Bengals were still viewed as a one of the better teams in the NFL. The Browns were 0-3 at the time of that game and badly needed a W. The Browns led by Seneca Wallace got the win that Sunday in Cleveland and the Bengals have since stumbled to only 2 wins.
One point I clearly recall from that match up earlier this year is that the Bengals were one of few teams this year to come into the game with a good plan to counter Rob Ryan's innovative defense. At one point in the game for example, Ryan threw his zero down lineman scheme at Carson Palmer, the Bengals immediately went into a no-huddle and drove the ball down near to the goal line over the next few plays. Palmer passed for nearly 400 yards that day.
Pundits are getting wrapped in the fact that the Bengals have only 2 wins this year but a closer look shows that the Bengals have competed in nearly every game this year. Add in the following factors and I think today's outcome becomes clear:
- Bengals are at home.
- Colt will play but he still is not 100%
- Browns morale is down after a demoralizing defeat
I think it all adds up to a clear and solid loss. For the first time this year, we may see a game in which our Browns are soundly defeated
BL Predicts
Browns 17
Bengals 33
The Brown Log are 5-8 is our predictions this season
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