BL Predicts: Week 16 vs Pittsburgh

Bill Fitch once said that close only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades and drive in movies. Well, in 2011 the Browns actually came close to having a decent team. There are numerous games that we could have won had we had a break here or there or avoided a bone head mistake or two. All that said, we are going to lose more games in 2011 than Eric Mangini lost in 2010. At least the Holmgren years have been consistent.

Against Pittsburgh tomorrow we can only hope the game will be close. The Steelers have a lot to play for and since they are our arch rival, it would be nice to hurt them badly by beating them. Slim chance of that, though we might just come "close".


BL Predicts

Browns 9
Steelers 23

The Brown Log is 9-6 year to date on the prediction front.

Disarray is standard operating procedure for the Cleveland Browns, both on and off the field

During the soon to be finished 2011 season in which our Browns won only 4 games, there were several episodes of poor organization that marked key division losses.

For example, in the first game of the season against the Bengals, the Browns defense was caught in the huddle by the Bengals offense who proceeded to pass for the game winning touchdown.

In our most recent game against the Ravens, with less than one minute remaining in the first half, the Browns had a first down inside the Baltimore 10 yard line. While the Browns had no time outs left at that point due to fits of disorganization on offense earlier in the same half, there was plenty of time on the clock to take 3 shots at a scoring pass in the end zone before trying a field goal. So what happened last Saturday? The Browns threw a flat pass that kept the clock moving, then our Brownies tried a run with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Hillis was stopped short of the goal which allowed time to run out without even attempting a field goal. This in a game eventually lost by 6 points. I have been watching the NFL for 35 years and cannot recall a worse case of clock management. It was pure Three Stooges.

Now Browns fans are being told that we need to be patient and that hope springs eternal because our Browns have several high draft picks in the 2012 draft.

What is highly concerning to me is the fact that our Director of Player Personnel, Jon Sandusky may have other things on this mind. Just for starters on November 8, Tony Grossi tweeted that Sandusky was taking a leave of absence.


Later the same day, the same Grossi tweeted a confirmation that Sandusky has in fact remained with the team.

Tony Grossi's reputation is rock solid, he would not tweet something like this without talking to a source inside the Browns.



This whole mess has nothing to do per se with the personal life of Jon Sandusky, who has a right to privacy and should not be judged by events he has no control over. What is of major concern is the dissarray both on and off the field in the Cleveland Browns organization at such a critical moment for the Browns.

The above sequence reminds me of a front office version of the defense remaining in the huddle against the Bengals. For this to happen means there is confusion and disorganization in the Browns org. A bad sign considering that if the Browns screw up this draft, it likely means 10 more years of losing in Cleveland.

The Brown Log has been a big supporter of Mike Holmgren, but our patience is wearing thin. Let's hope that the Browns Director of Player Personnel, Jon Sandusky, together with the entire Browns organization is focused 100% on getting this team on track in the future and that the mistakes of 2011 both on the field and off, are behind the team.

Browns QB Colt McCoy still out with concussion

Looks like Colt's long sophomore season has ended. The report card for Colt this year is at best a C. He had very little help but it's also true that he absolutely did not raise the level of play of his teammates. He sunk to their level and in the NFL that's just not good enough. Can he improve? Maybe but he will clearly have to fight for playing time next year. I think he will be a good backup for the next few years and hope the Browns hold onto him in that role.
Browns QB Colt McCoy still out with concussion  | ajc.com

Yet another way to lose a football game!

That bonehead series of plays at the end of the first half was almost as embarrassing as Phil Taylor's offsides to clinch the loss.

BL Predicts: Week 15 vs Baltimore

These last few weeks are easy pickings for the prognosticator looking to drive his full year won loss record up. Our record in predicting the outcome of Browns games is 8-6 and it should be easy to finish 10-6. No likely upsets coming.

The only points of human interest today will be to observe if Shurmur's troops continue to play with motivation. It's a credit to Shurmur's leadership that his teams have shown up every Sunday all season and given it their best and by and large had a chance to win every game in the 4th quarter. At 4-10, these are the real dog days of the season for both players and fans so we have to hang our hat on the hope that Seneca wants to show his ability, Hillis is playing for gazillions in his next contract and many players are auditioning to keep their job next year, given that the Browns have a lot of early draft picks in the next draft.

The other point of interest will be to see how Seneca does this week. He did not look all that bad last week (better stated, he was clearly superior to the Colt).

BL Predicts
Browns 13
Ravens 27

Browns Ravens preview

Colt McCoy: NFL Backup

Several things that Seneca Wallace did last Sunday that contrast with Colt McCoy

- Very fast decision making, a must in the West Coast Offense
- Crisp passes to all parts of the field
- mobility

I know that Colt has played behind a bad offensive line and with mediocre receivers but it is also true that Colt has not been able to lift the talents around him whatsoever. He has sunk with the ship. Perhaps he can improve but many are beginning to seriously doubt that.

Chances are the Browns are going to be looking for a new QB this off season.

Holy shit! Not again!

This song song sums it all up for the pathetic loser Browns.

BL Predicts: Arizona

Arizona 21
Browns 14

The BL is 7-6 so far this season.

BL Predicts: Week 13 vs Pittsburgh

A leader of any large organization, sooner or later, is going to run into turbulent times. Those difficult moments will test his ability to lead. Failure to lead a group through a crisis usually means career failure both in business and sports.

Tonights game will tell us a lot about what is happening behind the scenes with Pat Shurmur, his coaches and players. When I separate out the emotions of being a Browns fan and look only at the facts, I like what I see in Cleveland. Building a team takes time. Personnel decisions have been solid, progress is being made. Undoubtedly, questions remain. Can Colt McCoy lead the team to a championship and is Pat Shurmur a championship caliber coach are the two biggest questions.

This evenings game will tell us a lot about Pat Shurmur. A string of tough losses leaves the Browns at 4-8 today. Fans are not able to observe how Shurmur is managing all of this. For certain a number of things are happening. During any crisis in an organization leadership will get challenged. A good leader of men knows how to push the right buttons to keep everyone on the team pulling in the same direction. Is Shurmur leading his men appropriately day to day and hour to hour? One big clue will be in the performance of the Browns tonight. Will the team play hard all game long or will they give a half effort? Will the Browns fight and claw for every yard, or will they go through the motions?

I am convinced that Pat Shurmur is a championship caliber coach. When i watch his press conferences it is clear, he is an honest straight shooter and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He hates to lose but he takes full responsibilty. Finally, by all indications he is fair. These are factors that can hold a team together in crisis. Does he manage his team with the same qualities that he shows when speaking to the press? Tonight will tell us all we need to know.

My prediction is that the Browns will lose but they'll show up ready to play.

BL Predicts
Browns 19
Pittsburgh 28

The Brown Log are 6-6 on prognostication year to date.

BL Predicts: Week 12 vs Baltimore: I'm tired.....

Without any positive or negative connotations whatsoever, most Browns fans are tired.

Tired of years of waiting for next year. Tired of losing. Tired of watching one of the NFLs most fabled franchises continue to play in a way that dishonors the Browns tradition established by Ohio's Paul Brown in 1946. Brown and his Browns established a dynasty in the 50s and a winning tradition that lasted until the day the Art Modell era began in the early 1960's.

Today once again, the fact is that we all have to suffer through at least 5 more games before we have yet another shot at next year being the year that we finally terminate over 50 years largely marked by misery and it is extremely tiring.

The Brown Log is 5-6 year to date in predicting the outcome of Browns games. Time to get our won-loss record shored up. Under the leadership of Mike Holmgren there are reasons to be optimistic, but today is Sunday gameday and damn it, we are tired. It is hard to imagine the Browns winning another game this year.

BL Predicts

Ravens 23
Browns 12

BL Predicts: Week 11 vs Cincinnati

The Brown Log are 5-5 in predicting games this year and as I look back over the season there were two games, Oakland and Houston where I let my heart choose the winner instead of my head. This week, I am going with my gut.

While Cincinnati has far more at stake and they are at home, I believe the Browns will have both an emotional edge and a newfound competence on offense that the Bengals are ill equipped to manage on defense. Last week against Jacksonville, I saw signs that the Browns offense is finally coming together in the West Coast. McCoy was more confident, his throws more accurate, some plays developed quickly as they are supposed to in the West Coast. Most importantly Jason Pinkston and Shawn Lauvao showed dramatic improvement and the Browns ground game finally become a threat. Peyton Hillis is back and he is playing for millions so he will certainly give the Bengals some problems and finally, let's not forget that the Browns D has a score to settle with Cincinnati's O, who used a well planned trick to win game 1 this year when the Bengals quick snapped the ball while the Browns D was still huddled up. Embarrassing for every Browns defensive player and these guys are pros. They will want to settle that score today.

I think it all adds up to an upset win.

BL Predicts

Browns 21
Bengals 20

Interesting article on Colt McCoy

Interesting article on Colt from the Boston Herald

Reasons to be optimistic: D'Qwell Jackson

Browns fans have been buried in so much losing that it is hard to continue to say and think °wait til next year." So the Brown Log has decided to start a semi regular feature called "reasons to be optimistic." While this season has not gone as we all hoped, fact is we are one botched field goal attempt from already being a .500 club. Our leadership is strong and in the 2012 draft we have 9 picks in the first two rounds. There are many reasons for optimism and we shall point one out today: D'Qwell Jackson.

When I attend a game, and this year I have attended most home games, I have a habit of focusing my binoculars onto one or two players all game long. Last week against Jacksonsville, I spent a lot of time watching D'Qwell Jackson. What I found on the field was a middle linebacker who has blazing quick reads coupled with astonishing closing speed. Off the field I was impressed that after the second touchdown, during the kickoff, Jackson made a point to walk over to every single offensive lineman and give each one of them a pat on the back.

Leadership and ability, what more could a team ask for in it's defensive QB?

BL predicts: Week 10 vs Jacksonsville

Barring some kind of miracle transformation, today is the Browns last chance to win a game during the 2011 NFL Season. That stated winning today will not be easy. The Browns have several key players still injured and two ex Browns players, Matt Roth and Brian Robiske, now play with Jacksonville, and in particular Robiske, who was still a Brown 3 weeks ago, will have worked overtime preparting the Jags staff with insight into the Browns schemes. Not that any NFL defense needs help stopping the Browns offense.

It's not easy to win a game without scoring any points but I will go out on a limb and predict that somehow the Browns will ring up their last W of the season.

BL Predicts
Browns 18
Jags 13

6 field goals carry the day for our Brownies

Tim Tebow: Winner

One of the Brown Log's pet peeves is how NFL scouts miss the target so often in player evaluation. Football is not just a track meet or a fundamentals camp, it is a game of skill in which emotions play a large role.

A team with a player in a key position, who believes in himself and is able to transmit his confidence to other players is a fortunate team indeed. If by chance that player has some standout skills, the sky is the limit.

I am not a huge Tim Tebow fan but after 5 games starting in Denver, his 4-1 record is hard to argue with. His mechanics are bad but this guy has an intangible, he is larger than life. And he can run like a tailback. Pass defenses have become so sophisticated as have blitzing schemes, that the value of a QB that can run is growing.

Shurmur is responsible for today's loss

I like Pat Shurmur but today's loss was 100% unnecessary and 100% his responsibility. Let's see how he reacts, the press and fans are going to crucify him his week. It'll either drag him down or hopefully he will learn from his errors and grow.

Terrible and embarrassing loss.

A handoff to a TE on a run up the gut at the most critical moment of the game???????

Why? That was a terrible call. We played for a field goal, that was a mistake.

BL live blog: offensive line play

Today's game really reveals why the Browns struggle. Watch the offensive lines. Bradford has an incredible pass protection, allowing him time to check every option he has downfield. McCoy usually has 2-3 seconds max. It comes down to the skill of the offensive lineman. Our Browns are severely lacking skills on the offensive line.

Were it not for turnovers by the Rams, the Browns would be losing badly.

The "swaggerless" New England Patriots

Today on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, Chris Berman asked the question, based on this years disappointing results year to date, if the New England Patriots have lost their swagger.

I think it worth reminding folks of a fact: Since their cheating was revealed the Patriots have never won another Super Bowl. The evidence that was destroyed by the NFL pointed to the fact that the Patriots had the most sophisticated cheating system ever built in NFL history. It went far beyond the gamemanship of swiping a signal or two from the other team. The Patriots are believed to have extensively filmed other teams and documented play calls. Furthermore it's very likely the Pats have never stopped cheating, even post scandal.

It took the other NFL clubs years to catch on to how to work around the Pats unetical methods, but now that they have, the Pats are just another ordinary team with a very ordinary head coach.

NFL - Rams vs. Browns Preview

BL Predicts: Week Nine vs St Louis

Last week i predicted with my heart, not my head and approximately 5 minutes into the first quarter, when the Browns found themselves down 14-0 I realized the err of my ways. Pity.

This week the Browns face the 1-7 Rams and I really am worried that our Browns are going to lay another major egg. Sam Bradford will be back at the controls this week, TJ Ward is out with an injury and the Browns are coming off a very embarrasing loss in Houston last week.

Football is a game in which emotions count heavily and the winner of today's game will likely be the team that comes out more motivated.

The bottom line today is that both teams stink, but reality is that the 3-5 Browns have much more to play for than the 1-7 Rams. The fact is that if the Browns win, they are only 1 game south of .500 and a decent season will be still within their grasp. I like Pat Shurmur a lot and hope that last weeks beating at the hands of Houston, opened Shurmur's mind to the idea that a full implementation of the West Coast offense should be a long term project and maybe, just maybe, Shurmur should be a bit more realistic and consider putting a few simple and basic plays in his playbook that parlay the talents he has on his roster, such as Josh Cribbs. Furthermore, Shurmur, Holmgren et al, need to realize that our offensive line has so many holes that executing the West Coast is nearly impossible. Only one example, according to ProFootballFocus.com, rookie Jason PInkston has received a negative grade for his play EVERY WEEK of this season and only two guards in the entire NFL grade out worse than Pinkston.

The West Coast offense and it's complex twists and turns takes time to perfect, and that was never more apparent than last week when Colt McCoy's pass to Greg Little at the end of the first half was intercepted by Houston and nearly returned for a touchdown. On that play, Little read the defense one way, and took the option to head deep. In the meantime, Colt read the defense another way and the result - intercept and field goal Houston.....

So against all my instincts, I am going to guess that the team that has more to play for, our Browns, actually shows up motivated and that Shurmur will have a simple gameplan ready that uses the talent he has and considers the limitations of his current talent. But it will not be easy. The home field advantage is normally a big factor in favor of the home team but look for Cleveland fans today to be anything but loving to the home team. Don't be surprised if Bradford rings up a few big plays early and the Browns find themselves once again playing catch up, something they are terribly inept at.

BL Predicts

Browns 17
Rams 14

The Brown Log are 4-4 this year on the prognastication front.

Joe Paterno's dementia and the hypocrisy of the NCAA

A few weeks ago the Brown Log did a piece in which we considered the possibility that Joe Paterno might actually have died a long time ago and all this time Penn State has been propping him up, ala "Weekend at Bernies" just to get him the all time division I coaches win record. Well, the shocking events of the last week revealed that perhaps we were not too far off. I simply cannot understand how Paterno could have not done more nearly 10 years ago when Paterno learned that Jerry Sandusky was molesting young boys.

It has long been clear that Paterno has been a figurehead coach and that his mental functioning is not what it once was. Today we can see the true price paid for Penn State's board of regents allowing the proverbial tail to wag the dog. It has been many years that it is apparent to any impartial observer, that Paterno has shown signs of senility. The bottom line is that a person doing a given job, needs to be fully capable to carry out ALL of his duties. Up until this week, it was easy to overlook Penn State's inability to force Paterno out, because everyone could appreciate the sentimental element of retaining a figurehead coach. The horrible consequences of allowing a man not capable to perform his full range of duties these last 15 years is now clear.

Did a once honorable and ethical man like Paterno, do the legal minimum on the Sandusky matter simply because he was tired and disengaged??? I prefer to believe that Paterno was simply so detached from reality that he could not get his hands around even the most obvious situations. That is better than believing that Paterno did not do everything is his power to put a child molester behind bars.

Another bitter note here is that the NCAA has been embarrasingly silent on the Penn State matter. Why do I get the feeling that if Jerry Sandusky had stolen a few hundred dollars in NCAA merchandise, the reaction of the NCAA would have been lightening swift?

Peyton Hillis

Cleveland is a working class town where people show up for their job every day and take pride in working through even the worst of illness.

When our best playmaker Josh Cribbs a few years back struggled to get a new contract, he endeared himself further to Cleveland fans thanks to his workmanlike attitude. He showed up every Sunday, played hurt and contributed, in spite of Cleveland management at the time, trying to use time to grind him down.

Peyton Hillis finds himself in the same situation this season. What did he do? He refused to play a game he could have easily played, alienating his teammates. Later in the season, Hillis blew off a charitable function for Cleveland area kids that he had committed to.

Hillis does not fit into Cleveland, in short he is a jerk. I hope he never stains the field of play for Cleveland again.

Our sentiments exactly

BL Live Blog: Colt

I can't remember the last time I've seen a QB take more hits than Colt McCoy did today. He simply cannot be judged until he has an offensive line capable of giving him more than a split second of protection. I'm seriously concerned that McCoy won't make it through the season healthy.

Browns are FUCKING HORRIBLE

The Cleveland Browns are...fucking horrible.

BL Live Blog: Nevermind

The Texans are completely dominating the Browns

BL live blog: Jason Pinkston is being dominated

McCoy has no time to pass

BL Predicts: Week Eight vs Houston

It is officially panic time in Cleveland. Naturally the Browns are still in the hunt at 3-4, and have a chance to be a .500 team at the halfway point of the season, something that has not happened in ages. So why all the gloom and doom? I think nearly 50 years without a championship has simply clouded our ability to reason.

I will go on the record today and exclaim "stay calm". In spite of an offensive line that has two or three players who could not start for any other team in the NFL and in spite of having very little talent at WR this team has competed in nearly every game this season. Furthermore Peyton Hillis has managed to go from hero to villian in less than 8 games. Holding himself out of a game he could have played in put him in a bad position with fans in working class Cleveland. But the end of the love affair took place last Monday when Hillis blew off a commitment to attend a children's event he has promised to attend.

On the plus side, the Browns defense is in the top tier in the NFL which means that on any given Sunday this team can win and finally, for those of you who might doubt Pat Shurmur, I really suggest you listen to the man during his press conferences. He is a straight shooter and has a clear plan for this team. He also has the support of a skilled front office, it is only a matter of time before this guy is a winner and that time might well come this season.

So what do I think about today's game? I predict a shocking Browns win. As troubled as the Browns are right now, so are the Texans. They have key players missing due to injury and are 2-2 in the last 4 weeks. Look for the Browns D to come through big and even put a few points on the board today. Finally, today may be the game in which Carlton Mitchell finally contributes with some long gains. He will get a chance, that is likely

BL Predicts
Browns 20
Texans 13

The BL is 4-3 on the season in predicting Sunday's result

BL Predicts: Week Seven vs San Francisco

On the road vs a good Niners team this week. After the total disappearance of the Browns offense last week it is difficult to imagine anything other than a Browns loss this week.

BL Predicts

Browns 13
49ers 24

The BL is 3-3 this year on the prediction front.

Congratulations Coach Paterno

Coach Joe Paterno yesterday became the winningest head coach in division I college football history, surpassing Eddie Robinson with his 409th career win.

There is only one question left to be answered, "Is Joe Paterno actually still alive"?

Given some of the conspiracy theories out there that folks accept, is it really that hard to digest the idea? All I can say is that it's mightly fishy that Paterno gets hidden in the press box during games. Who knows, maybe Paterno will be the next head coach of the Browns.

BL Predicts: Week Six vs Seattle

In what is a must win game if the Browns are to hold onto playoff hopes, this Sunday is a major test. Pat Shurmur is starting to see how serious Browns football is to northern Ohioans. Holmgren had to step up and take a bit of the heat off Shurmur with a press conference earlier this week so that Shurmur could concentrate on getting ready for Seattle. At the same press conference Holmgren stated that Shurmur would not both head coach and offensive coordinator in 2012 so even Holmgren is starting to send some signals to his new head coach that while we have some good excuses, it is time to put those behind and get on with getting some results.

Optimism is quickly running out and patience wearing thin in winning starved Cleveland. There are a lot of negatives we can latch onto this week, with Hillis and Haden both likely out and morale among the troops apparently low. Still the home team wins 57% of the time in the NFL and this week lets hope that the home field advantage is enough for the Browns to pull out a W.

BL Predicts: Evan Moore has a big game and the Browns win

Browns 24
Seahawks 16

BL Predicts: Week Five vs Oakland

The Brown Log are 2-2 this season in game predictions after not only predicting the Tennessee game correctly but also darn near nailing the final score. After the drubbing at home at the hands of a Tennessee squad that many fans do not respect, prognosticators are nearly universal in predicting that the Browns will get beat soundly today in Oakland.

The Brown Log felt that the facts in the run up to the Tennessee game pointed clearly to the Browns being soundly defeated. So what are the facts on the table for today's Raiders game?

- Oakland are 3-2 and have won vs the Jets, Texans and beat Denver at Mile Hile, which is never easy. Furthermore the Browns have never done well vs Oakland on the road and we all know that the home team wins 57% of the time in the NFL.

However unlike the Tennessee game I see many factors working in the Browns favor this week:

- First and foremost, the Raiders have one of the worst defenses in the NFL, ranking near the bottom of the league both against the run and pass. If you want further evidence of just how significant of a mess the Raiders find themselves in, look no further than the fact that the Raiders traded this week for Seahawks back up linebacker Aaron Curry, a former first round bust and after all of three days to get ready, Curry will be starting today against the Browns.

- While the Raiders have one of the leagues top offenses, their success is due in strong part to a rushing game near the top of the NFL is yards per game. If the Browns prepare well, our 4-3 defense should have a chance to hold it's own against the Raiders rushing game.

- While the Browns D will be weakened by the likely loss of Joe Haden, the Raiders QB Jason Campbell is still prone to mistakes. One or two turnovers can change the complexion of a game quickly.

- The Browns have had two full weeks to prep for the Raiders while the Raiders during their one week of prep have had to deal with a historical distraction, the passing of their leader Al Davis, one of the great figures in NFL history. While the Raiders may get an emotional lift from the desire to play well during the week that their Hall of Fame President passed away, there can be no doubt that their game preparation had to be negatively affected. There simply was less time available than in a normal week for Raiders management and coaches to get ready for this game.

- This game is the real debut of the Cleveland squad. Because of the lockout, our team and it's new coach had four short weeks to install completely new systems on offense and defense. As a result we've seen Pat Shurmur continue to evaluate the entire roster in the first 4 games. These two weeks off have allowed Shurmur time to assess the first four weeks of the season and make some decisions. Look to see more of Evan Moore, Greg Little and Peyton Hillis today. Watch for the Browns to better balance the run and the pass and look in particular for Ben Watson to have a big day.

- The big negative for our Browns is the likely absence of Joe Haden today, who is quickly becoming a reliable shut down corner.

Bottom line: Look for the Browns to score often and shock the NFL today with a win in a high scoring shootout.

BL Predicts:
Browns 31
Raiders 28

Peyton Hillis' agent takes the blame

Sounds like a lame excuse Peyton Hillis' agent takes responsibility for advising not to play sick

BL Predicts: Week Four vs. Tennessee

Factors to be considered in advance of today's Browns vs Titans game:

- The Browns offense struggled last week against a mediocre at best Miami defense. It is clear that the West Coast offense the Browns are implementing takes a lot more than 7 weeks to install. In the West Coast offense, receiver and quarterback both must make reads and arrive to the same conclusion, often in a split second. Against the Dolphins, there were several occasions in which Colt made a decision to throw to one area only to find his receiver take another angle.

- The Titans defense is one of the best in the NFL.

-Colt McCoy is tied with Chad Henne for taking the most QB hits this season with 21. As a result at times McCoy throws off balance and falls down when barely touched. He is getting a bit punch drunk and this is a by product of an offensive line that has two signficant holes in it, left guard and right tackle. Tony Pashos is back at right tackle today and Jason Pinkston is steadily improving at left guard. Will it be enough? Probably not, especially when you consider that our Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas, will probably play but is listed as questionable due to a knee injury.

-There were signs last week that folks were not happy with Peyton Hillis' decision not to play. One need not read between the lines too much to interpret this in comments made by Pat Shurmur and Colt McCoy. Signs of dissension? Perhaps. One of the reasons that football games are hard to predict is that emotions play a larger role in football than any other sport. When two well prepared teams face each other, that extra inch you need often falls into place if every player is pulling in the same direction. Will a bit of rancor amongst the Browns troops cut into the teams spirit? It's possible, we'll have to watch and see today.

- Matt Hasselbeck is one of the hottest QBs in the NFL right now.

- Titans RB Chris Johnson got a late start after a contract hold out and has performed poorly in his first three games. All signs point to him being healthy, his timing is off. Game 4 could be the point that he puts it all together.

All of the above pointed out, the Browns came together last week at the last minute and performed when they needed to and that will give them confidence that they can build on. Finally, the home team wins nearly 58% of the time in the NFL.

So what do I think about today's outcome? While I believe that this team is going to improve every week and I believe after game eleven the Browns will still be in serious playoff contention, I also believe this week is going to be a learning experience for our young Browns. They are going to learn that it is not enough to avoid mistakes to win games against good teams, you also have to execute all game long. One thing is clear, with so many factors potentially working against the Browns today, if they come together and beat Tennessee, it will be a result of a well laid game plan and extra work this week.

BL Predicts: Today should be a long day for the Browns but a key turning point on their way to jelling as a team.

Browns 13
Titans 27

The winning organization

The Browns lost game one this season to Cincinnati for many reasons and without doubt one of those reasons was the poor job done by Pat Shurmur in his first game as an NFL coach. You could even hear in Shurmur's voice in the post game that he felt the burden of a job done poorly. His team made too many mistakes, especially with needless penalties and his defense got caught off guard and were still in their huddle as the Bengals quick snapped their way to the winning score. Does one bad game for a first year coach mean he is not up to the job? Of course not. Pat Shurmur is a relatively young, and obvioulsy skilled coach.

What is different about this Browns organization compared to those we have seen in the last 40 years is that the Browns President, Mike Holmgren, is not only a business man, but he understands first hand both the general managers role and the head coaching job. I can imagine that on Sunday evening following the Bengals loss, meetings were held with Shurmur and Holmgren to review the areas that needed attention following that game. Holmgren surely sought Shurmur's opinion on what went wrong, shared with Shurmur points that perhaps Shurmur did not see, and gave him some guidance on how to steer clear of those issues. The result was clear, mistakes in execution and game tactics were fixed and the Browns went on to win their next two games. Had Shurmur been left on his own without a boss who could both push him and also put things in perspective, our Browns could easily be 1-2 or 0-3 by now.

In many sports organizations, the senior executive does not have operational experience in critical roles. In the business world, when you have a young manager, he may have all the potential in the world, but he may be slow to face down problems he has no experience in managing. It's exactly the same in sports. A potentially great but young coach like Shurmur has a much greater chance of success if there is an experienced, mature and wise executive that he reports to, who can probe and assist in his development.

The Browns organization, led by Mike Holmgren is therefore capable of righting the ship quickly and efficiently and this is the main reason that in spite of being let down so many times in the past, Browns fans can justifiably start feeling optimistic about the 2011 season and the longer term future of the team.

BL Live Blog: live from Cleveland

BL Predicts: Week Three vs Miami

Browns fans should be concerned this week if for no other reason than the fact that the Brown Log is predicting a victory. So far this season the Brown Log is 0-2 in predicting the outcome. Our only saving grace is that we are not alone. Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer has also chalked up zero correct predictions this year.

Another source of concern this week is the fact that the Dolphins, at 0-2, have to be considering this game a must win. Emotions play a big role in football, hence should Miami come out with a do or die kamikaze mentality, the Browns are going to have their hands full.

What tilts the prediction for me is the fact that ex Browns "offensive" coordinator Brian Daboll, is now Miami's offensive coordinator. Daboll has lousy people skills and in his tenure in Cleveland he also demonstrated that he's not a very good coach. Rest easy Browns fans, tactically the Dolphins on offense are going to make mistakes. Add in the home field advantage and today should be an easy win for the Browns.

BL Predicts
Browns 31
Dolphins 17

BL Predicts: Week Two vs Colts

Week one was a major disappointment for our Browns however it is time to put things in perspective. The lock out gave the Browns a mere 4 weeks to put new systems in place on both offense and defense. Furthermore they had to do so with an array of new talent. There was a lot of bad points but also many good ones.

On defense, among the very positive points were the All Pro performance of Joe Haden, who together with rookie DT Phil Taylor give the Browns defense a major boost. On D the major points of concern were the disappointing step backwards taken by TJ Ward last Sunday and Chris Gocong's shaky week 1 performance.

On offense there were fewer signs of life. First off, it is clear that our receiving corps are still not NFL caliber, second the offensive line has too many new players, learning a new system. Rookie Jason Pinkston is playing guard for the first time in his life. I made a point to watch Pinkston on Sunday. What I saw is an athlete clearly up the challenge physically, Pinkston is going to be in the NFL a long time. However, Pinkston is playing a new position and in particular on passing downs, he had trouble recognizing stunts and blitzes. Finally, Colt McCoy, whom Pat Shurmur refused to annoint as team captain, showed Shurmur that perhaps his doubts are well placed. McCoy looked less than razor sharp both as a leader and a passer. I still believe in Colt and I always remind folks that Brian Sipe had some pretty bad games early on in his career, but I too was left shaking my head on the play towards the end of the game where Colt let a wet football slip out of his hands, resulting in a three stooges like interception. Colt, if you cannot handle a little rain son, then December in Cleveland is not going to be much fun for you.

Special teams were fine, thanks to always prepared Josh Cribbs.

So what is next against Indianapolis? Probably another tough loss. Road games are always difficult in the NFL and even without Peyton Manning, the Colts are going to be a handful for our Browns. It's going to be a tough start to the season though I keep reminding people that the Kardiac Kids started their magical season out 0-2 in 1980, and I think we will be off to an 0-2 start in 2011.

BL Predicts:

Colts 27
Browns 17

BL Live Blog: very disappointing loss

Lots of mistakes, a whole lot needs to be fixed

BL Live Blog: disappointing

Browns couldn't protect Colt when the game was on the line and McCoy was unable to rise above it all and scramble or create.

BL Live Blog: browns d wasn't ready

Stunning turn of events. Browns were still in the huddle when cincinnati snapped the ball.

It's Colts time to step up.

BL Live Blog: rookie mistakes

Browns last drive failed. On third down the Bengals stunted and Pinkston didn't read it. While Pinkston was helping Joe Thomas, Geathers of Cincinnati stunted in and was on top of McCoy. Pinkston run blocks well but he is a rookie who has never played guard. He's going to make mistakes.

BL Live Blog: Hardesty

Hardesty has looked good today the few times he's touched the ball. He's a good change up to the fastball better know as Peyton Hillis

BL Live Blog: Joe Haden

I haven't seen a Browns cornerback play this well since the days of Frank Minnefield and Hanford Dixon.

Great field position. Time to put some more points on the board.

BL Live Blog: solid drive

Great blocking on that drive by Shawn Lauvau and Oniel Cousins. The right side of the offensive line really stepped up.

BL Live Blog

A terrible Q1 but a brilliant Josh Cribbs kick return sparked the Browns back to life. Colt threw for two TDs and just as fast as we got in the hole we climb back out. 14-13 at half.

BL Live Blog: back in front!

BL Live Blog: Cribbs

Thank goodness for Cribbs. Our playmaker returns a kick 51 yards giving the Browns field position.

The Browns also put Hardesty in the backfield. Net result 7 points.

BL Live Blog: a terrible Q1

Numerous penalties, many of them stupid.

Pinkston is lost on pass coverage. The Bengals are ignoring Pinkston on passing plays and he basically is left standing there blocking nobody. He hasn't been able to reposition and help another lineman pass block.

TJ Ward looks very bad.

Long day unless we figure something out quick.

BL Live Blog: Colt

Colt has had two blocked passes.

BL Live Blog: TJ Ward

Ward looks one step slow, and the Bengals are going after him. Ward had the coverage on the Bengals TD and also gave up a long completion earlier in the drive.

Bengals are also wearing out the right side of the Browns D with their running game.

10-0 Cincinnati

BL Live Blog: offensive line

Lauvao has two penalties, Pinkston looks sluggish and even Thomas has a false start.

6 penalties overall for the Browns. The Bengals have started in Browns territory on both possessions.

Bad start!

BL Live Blog: Bad punt costs 3 points

- we are going to really miss Reggie Hodges brilliant punting this year.
- two all pro plays by Joe Haden in the red zone.
- Browns O looked sluggish on their first possession.

BL Predicts: Week 1 vs Cincinnati

This first game of the new NFL season is very hard to predict. There are a lot of new variables all coming together so let's study them:

Negatives
* A new coach together with a new offense and defense. I am very happy with Pat Shurmur and the direction he is taking the team, but for the first game of the year, the fact that he's new is more negative than positive, especially when you consider the lockout and short time Shurmur has had to acclimate his team to completely new ways of playing. Due to the lockout, the Browns lost the entire off season and only had a handful of weeks to teach their team these new systems.
* The offensive line has lost Eric Steinbach to a season ending injury and will start rookie Jason Pinkston in his place. Watch Pinkston's play today early if you want an initial take as to how the game might go. Look for the Bengals to try to confuse and take advantage of Pinkston on obvious passing downs. If Pinkston can rise to the occasion, it should be a good afternoon for the Browns. Otherwise, McCoy might find himself on his back more than a few times.

Positives
* Colt McCoy appears to be ahead of schedule in understanding the West Coast offense.
* In game one, the Browns are at home. The home team wins nearly 60% of the time in the NFL.
* The Bengals will start a rookie quarterback against the Browns. Andy Dalton will likely make a few errors during the game that will assist the Browns.

BL Predicts
Browns 23
Bengals 17

For reference find the Browns depth chart for today's game:
OFFENSE

QB: Colt McCoy
2nd - Seneca Wallace
3rd - Thaddeus Lewis

RB: Peyton Hillis
2nd - Montario Hardesty
3rd - Armond Smith

FB: Owen Marecic

TE: Ben Watson
2nd - Evan Moore
3rd - Alex Smith
4th - Jordan Cameron

WR: Mohammed Massaquoi
2nd - Josh Cribbs
3rd - Jordan Norwood

WR: Brian Robiskie
2nd - Greg Little
3rd - Carlton Mitchell

LT: Joe Thomas

LG: Jason Pinkston
2nd - Artis Hicks

CT: Alex Mack
2nd - Steve Vallos

RG: Shawn Lauvao
2nd - John Greco

RT: Tony Pashos
2nd - Oniel Cousins


DEFENSE

LDE: Jayme Mitchell
2nd - Emannuel Stephens

LDT: Phil Taylor
2nd - Scott Paxson

RDT: Ahtyba Rubin
2nd - Brian Schaefering

RDE: Jabaal Sheard
2nd - Marcus Benard

WLB: Chris Gocong
2nd - Kaluka Maiava

MLB: D'Qwell Jackson
2nd - Titus Brown

SLB: Scott Fujita
2nd - Quinton Spears

LCB: Joe Haden
2nd - Buster Skrine

RCB: Sheldon Brown
2nd - Dimitri Patterson
3rd - James Dockery

FS: Mike Adams
2nd - Usama Young

SS: TJ Ward
2nd - Ray Ventrone
3rd - Eric Hagg


SPECIAL TEAMS

P: Richmond McGee

K: Phil Dawson

H: Richmond McGee

LS: Ryan Pontbriand

KR: Josh Cribbs
2nd - Buster Skrine
3rd - James Dockery
4th - Armond Smith

PR: Josh Cribbs
2nd - Jordan Norwood
3rd - James Dockery
4th - Armond Smith

PRACTICE SQUAD
RB Quinn Porter
FB Eddie Williams
WR Rod Windsor
OT Dom Alford
OL Jarrod Shaw
DL Brian Sanford
DE Auston English
LB Ben Jacobs

Yawn

The lockout has made this preseason harder to get excited about and much less interesting than normal. Not to mention the fact that there have been tons of injuries. Losing Eric Steinbach is a major blow to any hopes of having an above average season.

We will try to get excited once the regular season starts.

Terrelle Pryor's Freedom Train derails

Terrelle Pryor might have thought he was escaping the bondage of the NCAA, but he discovered this week that his Freedom Train has derailed, at least for five more weeks. The NFL has stood by it's farm system partner (or should we say plantation system), the NCAA, who suspended Pryor for having profited off the sale of his own personal property. Why does the NCAA treat its "players" like criminals when they profit? Because the NCAA does not appreciate when it's slaves take from the hand of their master. This is understood, what is harder to digest is how the NFL can take 5 games salary out of the pocket of Pryor for his so called infraction. There is no good reason other than perhaps the NFL wishes to perpetuate the plantation system which develops players gratis for it's big league partner.

The NCAA and it's universities make well over a billion dollars a year in profits on the back of their players, most of whom will never play in the pros. A common sense solution should exist to share this wealth with players, many of whom come from poor families and struggle to get by even if the university pays room and board.

The hypocricy of the NCAA and it's treatment of athletes has one answer, the establishment of professional football minor league system like that of pro baseball. NFL owners would never do that, considering that the NCAA already does this job for them. So for the 18 year old football player what is left to say? All I can think of is "I have a dream".....

Hats off to Roger Goodell

Over these years, The Brown Log has been consistent in our support of many actions taken by NFL commish Roger Goodell. He has been tough on bad behavior and he has been a strong and reasonable voice in managing operations. With regards to the now concluded labor troubles, I believed Goodell would find it nearly impossible to manage the private club of owners without damaging the league and it's players in some way. In the end, the issues were solved without affecting the regular season and believe me, balancing the owners and players needs was no simple task. Blame would have been absorbed 100% by Goodell has this unrest continued through and caused games to be canceled. Therefore the credit for a great solution and 10 upcoming years of labor peace must go to Goodell.

Thanks commish, you did a helluva job!

Eric Wright picks Detroit

Eric Wright has signed with Detroit. Wright is replaceable but he was, without doubt a solid if average NFL player. One of those players who should not start but often comes in handy as a role player and back up.
Browns: Cornerback Eric Wright picks fresh start in Detroit

Free agent signings

The Browns have signed the following free agents. Most of these players won't make the final roster but a future pro-bowl player may be in this list too. 

In any case, it's a good sign that the Browns got out of he gate quickly signing free agents. 

Here is the list so far:

LB Brian Smith of Notre Dame 

6'5" WR Chris Matthews of Kentucky.

QB Troy Weatherhead of division II Hillsdale College

Tennessee State LB Sidney Tarver

 Oregon State CB James Dockery

UTEP RB Donald Buckham

DT Kyle Anderson of Georgetown

OG Dominic Alford of Minnesota

Maryland Alex Wojciak  LB

Appalachian State DT Jabari Fletcher

Jarrod Shaw OG Tennessee

It's over!

Now that owners and players have done the right thing and ended the lock out, we can get back to having fun.

It's going to a crazy and critical few weeks as team general managers try to squeeze nearly 4 months of activity into a few short weeks. We will try to keep up with the action.

Tressel resigns

Professional football today lost one of it's great coaches with the resignation of Jim Tressel.

It's exhausting to me just to think about how Tressel's resignation will be reported on and interpreted. There will be the "realists" camp that says he "just got caught" and there will be the "moralists" that say he was just another dishonest coach and that the vast majority of coaches do play by the rules. The truth is somewhere in the middle but who cares about the truth?? There really is a much more important issue at stake here and that is the blatant inconsistency of using student athletes to generate billions in profits for universities.

Tressel is clearly guilty of something. My guess is that Tressel thought he had found a perfect "work around" NCAA rules and regulations by stretching but not breaking them. The problem for Coach Tressel is that he was either naive or stupid. One cannot set up a wholesale "work around" operation with numerous persons involved and not understand the inevitability of that system eventually morphing into something abusive. And thus, "tattoo gate" and "used car gate" have come to be Tressel's waterloo.

Some coaches in the NCAA do follow the rules without trying to bend them, but human nature is that when there are hundreds of millions to be made in profits for each university and each coach, it is unrealistic not to expect greed to take over.

There is only one solution. We must put an end to the NCAA "for profit" system. Above all else, the disporportionate undercompensation of players is patently unfair. These athletes have limited years in which their body can endure the punishment of professional football and the current system robs them of four of their best years. A professional system that more closely mirrors professional baseball's minor league system or even better Europe's professional soccer system would eliminate the money from college football and create new professional sports teams and hundreds of paying jobs for football players, who could always get an education once their careers are finished. What would be left for universities are players not good enough to play professionally, in other words, student athletes.

RIP: Ron Springs

Ohio State great Ron Springs recently passed away . He was co-captain of the Buckeyes in 1978.

Over the years, it's easy to note how many former NFL players die young. Springs was 54, there are many others. Reggie White was 43, Corey Stringer was 27, Mike Webster was 50, the list goes on and on. NFL players make sacrifices and endure damage to their body and as a consequence many die young.

Springs is one more bit of evidence that a football career creates serious risks for a player.

in the current labor dispute, a central point is NFL owners want to put a rookie salary cap in place for the first 1-3 years of a players career. The average career length of an NFL player is 3 years! The vast majority of players DO NOT play more than 3 years.

NFL owners are greedy and without conscience. It is a terrible wrong that the NFL wants to impose a socialist salary cap on players income instead of allowing the free market to guide salaries. Especially when you consider that the NFL are asking these same players to take physical risks that may indeed significantly reduce the years a player actually lives.

Browns #1 Draft Pick Phil Taylor: He's a Bomber!

After giving it a couple of days to digest the 2011 NFL draft, I can reach but one conclusion regarding the Browns. Well played! They acummulated picks for this draft, stockpiled picks for next year's draft (including 2 number ones) and filled several needs. But the real kicker is the Browns first pick. Not only will he be able to immediatley come in and help stop the run (a badly needed assest for the Browns) he was the original drummer for Motorhead! If Philthy Animal beats his man half as well as he beat the skins behind Lemmy, then the Brownies are set to rule the AFC North with an Iron Fist. Taylor is a real Hellraiser. One word for Browns fans: Oragasmatron! Way to go Brownies!

Blake Griffin hypes Brown's draft pick Jordan Cameron

Here is a video of Jordan Cameron dunking a basketball.
Now if only the NFL would add a rim in the endzone

Draft comments

The Brown Log is staying locked out too in solidarity with NFL players, but since the owners opened their doors for a few short days after losing a court ruling a few days ago, we will unlock a short comment on the draft.

Most would agree the Browns had a very good draft. The absolutely one sided trade with the Falcons should go down in history as one of the most lopsided draft day trades in NFL history. 5 good players for one, another coup for Holmgren and team.

The only pick I would disagree with is using the 102nd pick to select USC back up tight end Jordan Cameron. I guess his athletic ability was too hard to resist but this guy could not even start for USC, how the hell is he supposed to play in the NFL?????????? Yes he can dunk a basketball but there aren't any rims in the end zone folks. As the Brown log has said a million times, football is a game, not a track meet.

Here is a short write up on Jordan Cameron

Moving on to the lock out, it's now back on after a court ruled that pending their review of the original decision the owners could in fact lock out the players. This week will be huge, if the courts rule in the players favor on Monday May 2, we will likely have a season in 2011. If the courts rule in the owners favor, it's very hard to imagine the 2011 season taking place in full.

The bitter irony is that conservative judges favor the owners and liberal judges are siding with the players. This in spite of the fact that the owners seek socialist solutions and the players seek only to let the free market rule.

Free market principals are the foundation of the laws that guide a judge's decisions yet conservative judges still side with owners, it's pure politics.

LOCKED OUT

On towards the lockout

It was not a glorious year of predictions for The Brown Log, which ended the season 8-9. I must admit that the Packers win was one game I was thrilled to be wrong about.

On our plate, post Super Bowl is the pending player lockout. An important meeting between owners and players was recently cancelled and this is just one more not so subtle clue of what's coming. The NFL owners intend to play hardball.

I believe the NFL's anti-trust exemption is wrong but it will likely never be overturned by Congress. That's a shame. The free market works.

I find it amusing that owners refuse to open their books to the players. Considering the fact that the basis of the lockout is the owners crying poverty, one would think transparency a good thing. If owners have something to hide it logically would be a factor that hurts their own negotiation. The only fact that could hurt owners would be if secondary sources of revenue are huge profit centers.

Onto the lockout!

BL Predicts: Super Bowl XLV

As much as I hate the Steelers, Its hard to ignore the fact that the Steelers are a far better team than Green Bay. Even more surprising is that many pundits have gotten caught up in the fact that the Packers are hot but those same pundits neglect the fact that the NFC simply cannot compare to the AFC.

Bottom line: The Packers are a wild card team on a bit of a roll while the Steelers are a talent laden team and the class of the AFC.

BL Predicts:


Steelers 24
Packers 14

Interview with Colt

Interesting interview with Colt McCoy in which he reveals that he played hurt during the entire 2010 season. That's certainly a surprise

also interesting is the following McCoy quote:

"I'm just excited about getting up there and learning our system," he said. "I need to get up there before the lockout 'cause once the lockout comes we can't talk."

what i find most interesting is "once the lockout comes". it shows that players believe the lockout is a certainty. Will we have a 2011 season?

Vintage Browns: 1978 tying drive vs Jets

An unprobable Sipe led comeback drive in 35 seconds vs the Jets in regulation ties the game and the Browns go on to win in OT.

A solution to the NFL labor woes: Capitalism

There is a benchmark solution out there that the NFL should look to in order to solve it's labor woes: Professional soccer in Europe. Ironically, in professional soccer, our normally socialist friends in Europe actually utilize a nearly pure capitalist system.

Among the most important highlights of the European pro sports system are:

- Soccer leagues in Europe do not have a player draft, players are free to sign with any club they wish to sign up with.

- Salary caps do not exist.

- There is not a single nation in Europe that has athletic teams at the university level. If an 18 year is worthy of a professional career he gets a paying job on a pro team.

- The revenue stream associated with European soccer is every bit if not more lucrative than the NFL. Fans pay top prices for seats and for games on pay TV. Advertisers are tripping over themselves to pay millions to get in front of Europe's soccer fan base.

- Finally, far more pro teams exist per capita in Europe. There are more leagues and many more jobs for pro athletes. There is a population of about 857,000,000 in Europe compared to about 300,000,000 in the United States. But if you only count the top ten European soccer nations (Italy, England, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Scotland, Holland, Russia, Sweden and France) there are nearly 200 top flight professional teams in Europe. That compares to 32 in the USA. You do the math. The comps get even more obvious if you look at all of Europe and itìs entire minor league system. There are over 1000 professional soccer teams in Europe in which players earn somewhere between a decent to an extraordinary salary. The fact that there are fewer than 100 professional football teams in America bares witness to just how successful the NFL Politburo are at exterminating any and all competition. Start a professional league such as the USFL, off to the gulag for you!

Capitalism is the greatest economic system ever invented. I do not envision that the NFL Politburo will ever implement a capitalist system in the NFL but have no doubt if they did, that the league would thrive, hundreds of new teams would be created along with thousands of good paying jobs for athletes, and fans would rush to buy seats just as they do today.

Bud Shaw sums up what I feel pretty damn well

Have a look at this article about patience and this article about the undertaking required for the Browns to successfully move to a 4-3 defense in 2011

Mangini's character gestapo

I recently heard a story, from a reliable friend, about a current Browns player who will remain unnamed. This key star very recently took part in a rather wild party and engaged in party animal behavior that bordered the limits of good character.

Look for the Browns current management team to be a bit less naive than Eric Mangini when it comes to using character to filter out bad apples. Mangini went too far when he got rid of players like Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow because of character issues, and this lack of playmaker talent in the end, cost Mangini his job. The final irony is that one need not put his ear too close to the ground to hear stories like the above about some of the current Browns. There were numerous players that were on Mangini's team that in fact "passed" his character test but are, like all the rest of us, just human beings with some of the same character flaws that drove Mangini to cut others. In reality therefore, Mangini didn't filter out all of the players with bad character, he simply got rid of the guys he did not like. Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow are most certainly jerks, but some of those close losses in 2010 could have been wins had we had some more talent in the receiving corps last year. My guess is that Mangini himself is already starting to realize the significance of the fact that his "character gestapo" was in fact both stupid and naive.

Meet Pat Shurmur

here is an in depth article that presents Pat Shurmur. One conclusion is already certain, Shurmur is a convinced disciple of the West Coast Offense and a conventional thinker. The Browns are going to use a traditional West Coast offense and a standard 4-3 defense. They will try to beat opponents by putting a better team on the field and by outplaying their opponents.

My worry is the Browns may now be in another 5 year plan that neither the fans nor the front office have patience for. Perhaps it was false hope, but there were moments last season in which Rob Ryan's crazy defensive formations or Eric Mangini's trick plays made one wonder if the Browns were ahead of the NFL in tactical innovation. I think one could reasonably argue that in 2010, especially on defense, that the Browns schemes allowed them to get far more results than the talent they had should have allowed. In particular, the use of 0, 1 or 2 man defensive lines allowed the Browns to mask the fact that they had no depth on the defensive front and in many cases, using up to 7 linebackers at a time, created massive confusion for the opposing QB. Just ask Drew Brees or Tom Brady. Moving forward, the Browns are clearly going to simply seek better players and play conventional football and that will require that the Browns make a major upgrade, especially on the defensive line.

On offense the Browns will go with the West Coast offense together with young QB Colt McCoy. The book on McCoy is out in the NFL, and we saw the results in the last two games this season: 6 intercepts in 2 games. I believe in McCoy but he still has to gain some experience and the West Coast offense needs strong wideouts for it to work. The Browns have the weakest receiver corps in the NFL so that is another position that requires major upgrade. Look for the Browns to work the free agent market aggresively and to draft to fill those position needs.

Pat Shurmur is going to have to clean house on talent to find new players to fit his approach and that likely means one step back to take two steps forward. Problem is that the Browns are about 5 steps from a Super Bowl. We believe Mike Holmgren but if Holmgren truly wanted to use his West Coast offense and a traditional 4-3, would it not have been better to cut the ties to Mangini one year ago?

Coach Shurmur?

Here is a good article on the man rumored to be the Brown's next head coach. Fritz Shurmur's son, Pat Shurmur.

Goodbye Coach Mangini

Onto the next episode

BL Live Blog: Goodbye Coach Mangini

If the effort of Browns players today is any indication, then it seems that they are voting in favor of Mangini's ouster tomorrow.

The NFL Politburo: Comrade Jerry Jones speaks!

Comrade Jerry Jones speaks out about the NFL labor situation in the below video from 60 Minutes Overtime.

Comrade Jones mentions in the video that "the model we have doesn't work." The current model between NFL owners and players involves a socialist revenue sharing scheme. Comrade Jones does not want to move back to a free market, what he does want is to further reduce the players share of the revenue.

Let's see if I have the facts correct. Owners previously agreed to share revenues with players, something players actually fought against in the last negotiation. Players want a completely free market but it angers the 32 NFL owners that in a free market the players command over 50% of revenues. One could argue that a good capitalist owner would not spend money beyond his means, but NFL owners are famous for their lack of control and all it takes is one big spender to drive up salaries for the others. That stated, is the solution to force players into a communist system because the owners cannot control themselves?!?!

In the original agreement, owners sold the communist salary cap as "cost certainty" and the players relutantly agreed to the owners salary cap proposal because they were able to negotiate a share of revenues that was almost in line with their expectations in a free market. Today owners simply want to reduce players share from the amount that the NFL Politburo previously agreed to.

It is a highly distasteful irony that NFL owners made their fortunes in the greatest economic system the free world has ever witnessed, the free market system. Comrade Jones in his private political life professes to be an American Republican however the NFL Politburo's actions speak louder than words. The NFL Politburo wants us to believe that further use of communist principals are needed to manage the NFL so therefore bring on new rookie salary limits and reduce the players percentage of the salary cap.

Karl Marx would be filled with joy at Comrade Jerry Jones approach, but I suspect that Ronald Reagan is turning over in his grave. The real solution to the NFL's issues are further market freedom by elimination of the anti trust exemption that the NFL has. Let free markets rule. Only a communist could disagree with that statement.

Interesting to note that CBS chose not to air these comments on the nationally broadcost portion of 60 Minutes.

Coach Holmgren?

One of the reasons I think it would be a mistake to replace Eric Mangini is that an owners lockout of NFL players in almost a certainty. A new coach would be severely disadvantaged should the lockout last months, as he would not be able to work with new players and implement his approach.

Therefore if Mike Holmgren decides to replace Mangini, look for the new Browns head coach to be... "Mike Holmgren".

There is no mistaking that the Browns are on the right path since Holmgren took over. We have competed all year long thanks to players brought in under Holmgren. If Holmgren decides he is tired of waiting for Mangini to mature, he will have the full support of all long suffering Browns fans as long as he names himself the new head coach.

Colt McCoy: First chink in the armor

Colt McCoy had his first bad line score in last weeks game vs the Ravens. His 3 intercepts were critical in the Browns loss and all of them came on long passes.

It's clear that Baltimore had studied McCoy on film and made some adjustments. What the Ravens did was to dare McCoy to throw long by increasing their coverage underneath. The strategy worked. McCoy was unable to hit the 15-20 yard passes that he is so incredibly accurate with but when he went long, his weaknesses were exposed. Colt struggles to get the ball downfield on longer tosses.

Time to give up on Colt?? No way. However in the poker game of adjustments, Colt and the Browns clearly need to step up. First and foremost, the Browns need to find some outside receivers capable of getting open long. Colt can thread the needle on short passes but on the bomb, Colt McCoy is no John Elway. There are two problems here. First, the Browns have no receiver who is consistently able to get open, especially on deep routes. Second, Colt can throw the pigskin more than far enough, he is however not nearly as accurate with his deep throws as an Elway or Kosar were. Hence, Colt, like Brian Sipe and many other QBs not blessed with strong arms, will need to recognize earlier when a receiver will come open deep. If he can get to that point, his arm strength will be a non issue.

Don't forget that Browns great Brian Sipe sat on the taxi squad for his first two full years before he started to get playing time. Once Sipe started to play, he showed immediate flashes of brilliance and like our Colt, he never wavered on leadership however if you sort through some box scores in Sipe's first years of playing, you can find some awful games that more than match the bad game Mr. McCoy had last Sunday.

I personally remain convinced that Colt McCoy has the work ethic to improve his game and above all, the intangibles needed to be a Super Bowl QB.