Well, the title is a bit misleading, because I'm not going to rank all 20 games.
I ranked the Top 10 games in the series last season on this blog. You can find a link to that right here:
http://joeclevelandblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/top-10-browns-steelers-games-according.html
What I'm going to with this one is pick up where I left off last season and rank the second-best 10 in the long series of the best rivalry in the AFC. I don't give a crap what ESPN says about the Ravens-Steelers, the Browns and Steelers are where it's at.
And, two wins in the last four seasons, with the chance to make it three and a rare sweep of those Yinzers this Sunday, shows that balance of power is shifting. No longer will the Browns be a guaranteed 'W' on the Steelers schedule. When a team misses the playoffs twice in the last four seasons and are limping to the finish line with a three-game losing streak, it shows that the days of wine and roses in Pittsburgh are coming to a close.
Joe Cleveland is going to enjoy the change, just like he enjoyed compiling this list. We'll start at No. 20:
20. Browns 17, Steelers 7 (Sept. 16, 1985): A new era of Browns football began with this Monday Night Football clash at Cleveland Stadium on the second week of the regular season. With Marty Schottenheimer in his first full-season as the head football coach and veteran Gary Danielson and rookie Bernie Kosar taking over at quarterback, the Browns needed to knock off their hated rivals after dropping a 27-24 overtime loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in last week's season opener. Danielson, making his second start as a Brown, completed 18-of-30 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown and an interception. His 17-yard scoring pass to wideout Fred Banks in the second quarter opened the scoring for both teams, and an 18-yard field goal by Matt Bahr in the third made it a 10-0 Browns lead heading into the fourth quarter. Mark Malone found John Stallworth for a 6-yard score in the fourth to cut the Browns' lead to 10-7. But Cleveland put the game away on its ensuing possession with a 21-yard touchdown run by second-year running back Earnest Byner. Byner rushed for 82 yards on 18 carries, while rookie Kevin Mack added 40 yards on 12 carries. Both backs would go over 1,000 yards rushing -- just the third time in NFL history a pair of running backs would accomplish the feat -- and the Browns wound up winning the AFC Central Division with an 8-8 record, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and winning their first division title since 1980.
19. Browns 19, Steelers 13 (Dec. 26, 1987): Wins at Three Rivers Stadium could never be counted on, especially since the Browns had just ended a 16-year losing streak the previous season. Yet the Browns needed to win at their perennial house of horrors in the 1987 season finale to clinch their second-straight division title over an 8-6 Steelers team. The Browns jumped out to a 9-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal from Matt Bahr and a two-yard touchdown pass from Bernie Kosar to backup tight end Derek Tennell, but a 39-yard field goal by Gary Anderson cut that lead to 9-3 at halftime. The Browns got a 30-yard field goal from Bahr to take a 12-3 lead heading into fourth quarter, and the Steelers cut that deficit to six with another Anderson field goal. However, the Browns put the game away with two-yard touchdown run by Earnest Byner to take a 19-6 lead. Pittsburgh's Cornell Gowdy made things interesting with a 45-yard interception return late in the fourth quarter to make it a six-point game, but the Browns were able to run out the clock and improve to 10-5. Hanford Dixon and linebacker Eddie Johnson each picked off Mark Malone once apiece, while Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome caught six passes for 94 yards to lead the Browns offense. The 10-5 Browns reached the AFC Championshp game three weeks later, but lost a heartbreaking 38-33 game to the Denver Broncos when Byner fumbled on the 2 with just over a minute remaining in the game.
18. Browns 27, Steelers 7 (Nov. 20, 1988): The Browns, who had started four different quarterbacks during the season, were sitting at 6-5 with the hapless Steelers coming to town. If the Browns wanted to get back to the playoffs for the fourth-straight season, they needed to take care of business against Pittsburgh. With Bernie Kosar healthy and back under center, the Browns didn't waste any time showing who the dominant team really was. After opening the scoring with a 32-yard field goal from Matt Bahr, Kosar found backup tight end Derek Tennell for a two-yard scoring pass to take a 10-0 lead into the second quarter. Frank Minnifield added to that lead when he blocked a Harry Newsom punt and returned it 11 yards to give the Browns a 17-0 lead that the Steelers cut to 17-7 just before the half. Kosar, who threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, found Reggie Langhorne for a 77-yard touchdown bomb early in the third quarter to put the game away, and Bahr added a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The Browns defense sacked Steelers starter Bubby Brister six times, led by rookie Michael Dean Perry's two, and picked him off twice. Linebacker Eddie Johnson had a sack and an interception, while Minnifield had the other pick to go along with his huge blocked punt. The Browns used this performance to win five of their last six games and finish 10-6, qualifying for the playoffs as a wild-card team. This was also the last time the Browns swept the Steelers in a season series (until this Sunday, perhaps).
17. Browns 23, Steelers 20 (Sept. 17, 2000): The Browns had just stunned the Steelers, 16-15, at Three Rivers Stadium in 1999 -- one of just two victories for the expansion Browns that season -- and had rebounded from a 27-7 thrashing by Jacksonville in the 2000 season opener to defeat the Bengals, 24-7, on the road to take a 1-1 record into Cleveland Browns Stadium and their next meeting with the hated Steelers. The Browns jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind two first quarter touchdown passes from Tim Couch to tight end Aaron Shea and fullback Mark Edwards, respectively. But the Steelers, behind former Ohio State quarterback Kent Graham, rallied to cut that lead to 14-10 at halftime with a field goal and a four-yard scoring run by Richard Huntley. A 23-yard field goal by Phil Dawson gave the Browns a 17-13 lead midway through the third quarter. However, a 10-yard rush by Jerome Bettis gave the Steelers a 20-17 lead heading into the fourth. Instead of rolling over, the young Browns fought back with a pair of fourth-quarter Dawson field goals -- the latter from 19-yards out with 2:48 remaining -- to take a 23-20 lead. Graham had the Steelers marching into field goal territory on his final two-minute drive. However, with no timeouts, rookie No. 1 overall draft choice Courtney Brown sacked Graham for a four-yard loss with 13 seconds remaining, and the Steelers ran out of time before assembling the field goal team. It's the last time the Browns have won two straight against the Steelers (hopefully, until this coming Sunday). The Browns couldn't sustain that 2-1 start, finishing a dismal 3-13. Ironically, of Chris Palmer's five wins as the Browns' head coach in two seasons, two of those wins came against the Steelers. That loss dropped the Steelers to 0-3, but they rebounded to finish 9-7 (and missing the playoffs).
16. Browns 33, Steelers 13 (Oct. 5, 2003): This is still the only time the Browns have won at Heinz Field (until this Sunday, hopefully). More importantly, not only was this a nationally-televised Sunday night game, but this was the teams' first meeting since the Steelers came back from deficits of 24-7 and 33-17 to escape with a 36-33 playoff victory. Tim Couch, playing arguably the best game of his short five-year career, completed 20-of-25 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. William Green gauged the vaunted Steeler defense for 115 yards on 33 carries. Couch's six-yard touchdown pass to Andre Davis and a short Phil Dawson field goal gave the Browns a 10-0 first quarter lead, and a 9-yard scoring pass from Couch to Kevin Johnson made it a 16-3 advantage midway through the second quarter. Jerome Bettis plunged in from the 1 to cut that lead to 16-10, but Couch capped a 9-play, 78-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left to give the Browns a 23-10 halftime advantage. Daylon McCutcheon's 75-yard interception return off a Tommy Maddux pass early in the third quarter was the final nail in the Steelers' coffin. The Browns improved to 2-3 with the win (same record as the Steelers). However, they would finish 5-11. It would be Couch's final year in the NFL. This would also be the Browns' last win over the Steelers for the next 12 games and six seasons.
15. Browns 45, Steelers 7 (Oct. 29, 1950): The rivalry made its first appearance on the shores of Lake Erie with the 4-2 Browns taking on the 2-4 Steelers. The Browns had beaten Pittsburgh three weeks prior, 30-17 (see No. 14 on this list) in a dominating effort, and actually were more dominant at home. Hall of Famer Marion Motley rushed for 188 yards on 11 carries and scored a 69-yard rushing touchdown and a 38-yard receiving touchdown from Otto Graham. Both scores helped the Browns open up a 24-0 lead midway through the third quarter, and a 14-yard scoring run by Don Phelps made it a 31-0 lead after three quarters. After the Steelers scored, the Browns put the game away with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Dub Jones and a 38-yard TD pass from backup Cliff Lewis to Horace Gillom. The Browns defense forced eight turnovers in this romp, and the Cleveland offense outgained Pittsburgh, 533-349. The Browns wound wind up going 10-2 in their first NFL season and won the NFL Championship -- their fifth title in their first five years of existance.
14. Browns 30, Steelers 17 (Oct. 7, 1950): This was the first-ever meeting between these two storied franchises, and the Browns -- in their first year in the National Football League after dominating the All-American Football Conference from 1946-49 -- quickly showed who the dominant force was. Played at Pitt Stadium, Hall of Famer Otto Graham rushed for two one-yard touchdowns to give the Browns a 14-3 lead, followed by a Dub Jones 7-yard rush to make it a 21-3 halftime lead. Cleveland put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 48-yard touchdown run by Jones to make it a 30-10 advantage. The defense forced six Steeler turnovers, despite giving up 345 yards of total offense.
13. Browns 30, Steelers 17 (Dec. 18, 1983): This was Brian Sipe's final game in a Cleveland Browns' uniform, and he went out with a blaze of glory against their hated and bitter rival in this late-season showdown. With the Steelers at 10-5 and already clinched the division title, the 8-7 Browns needed to win just to get a chance at a playoff berth. Sipe completed 14-of-22 passes for 199 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions to lead this minor upset. Sipe opened things up with a 64-yard touchdown pass to rookie wideout Rocky Belk, and added a two-yard scoring toss to backup tight end Harry Holt and a three-yarder to wideout Ricky Feacher to give the Browns a 23-10 halftime lead. The Sipe-Holt connection put the game away early in the third quarter with a one-yard scoring toss and a 30-10 lead. Belk would only play that season, finishing with five receptions and two touchdowns. Franco Harris, in his final game as a Steeler, would be held to just 56 yards on 20 carries by a Browns defense that picked off quarterbacks Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone once apiece. Alas, the 9-7 Browns finished second in the AFC Central with the win, but missed out on the playoffs by tiebreakers. It would be the last hurrah of the Kardiac Kid-era Browns -- head coach Sam Rutigliano would be fired midway through the 1984 season after a 1-8 start.
12. Browns 10, Steelers 9 (Dec. 19, 1982): I put this as my honorable mention game in my previous list because it landed on my ninth birthday (it's still the last time the Browns have won a game on my birthday). However, a closer look shows just how important this win really was. The Browns, in the strike-shortened season, were just 2-4 heading into this showdown at Cleveland Stadium with Paul McDonald at quarterback replacing an injured Brian Sipe. A loss would have essentially ended their season. However, the defense picked off Terry Bradshaw four times -- three of which by Hanford Dixon -- and sacked him three times. The Steelers led, 7-3, at halftime on a six-yard TD pass from Bradshaw to John Stallworth. However, McDonald, who completed 19-of-40 passes for 227 yards, led the Browns on a third-quarter scoring drive, capped by a 1-yard plunge by fullback Johnny Davis. An intentional safety taken when punter Steve Cox ran out of the end zone in the final seconds made it a one-point game, but it wasn't enough. The win improved the Browns to 3-4 and led to a 4-5 season. It was good enough for them to make the playoffs under the expanded eight-team format, and this win propelled them to that playoff berth. It was also the last time the Browns beat a Bradshaw-led Steeler team -- he retired after just one game in 1983.
11. Browns 20, Steelers 14 (Nov. 25, 2012): We end our list with the most recent chapter in this long rivalry, and the most recent victory for the good guys. With the Steelers down to third-string quarterback Charlie Batch, the Browns defense forced a whopping eight turnovers -- three of which occured in the final three minutes of play. They intercepted three Batch passes, but recovered five fumbles from five different Steeler running backs. Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden, who had a batted pass intercepted and returned for a 53-yard touchdown by linebacker Lawrence Timmons on the fourth play from scrimmage, recovered to lead the Browns to 20 points. He threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Cameron late in the second quarter off of a turnover, but the Steelers led, 14-13, at halftime on a Chris Rainey 1-yard run in the final seconds of the second quarter. Kicker Phil Dawson connected from 28 and 32 yards out in the first half. But rookie Trent Richardson's 15-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter gave the Browns a 20-14 lead, which was good enough for the long-awaited 'W.' Richardson finished with 85 yards on 29 carries, while Weeden (who was knocked out of the game late in the fourth quarter) threw for 153 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Hopefully, this Sunday adds another solid chapter to this list of Browns' triumphs.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks ... and Pittsburgh Sucks!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Change is a comin'
The 38-21 loss to a Washington Redskins team led by a fourth-round, second-string rookie quarterback named Kirk Cousins all assured it, and last week's lackluster 34-12 drubbing by Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos all but cemented it.
By this time next week, Pat Shurmur will be gone, and Tom Heckert may as well be gone, too.
That's even if the Browns can somehow knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road this Sunday, clinching the first season-sweep of our hated rivals since 1988 and first since the team returned in 1999. In fact, it would only be the four season-sweep of the Steelers since 1970 (the Browns went 0-16 in their first 16 years playing at Three Rivers Stadium and wound up only winning there five times before it was mercifully imploded following the 2000 season).
The Browns will go into that game potentially with their third-string quarterback under center -- Thaddeus Lewis, who has never taken a regular season snap and was on the practice squad for most of this season. Josh Johnson, a former Tampa Bay quarterback who had been out of the league since the 49ers cut him in training camp, was brought in as the emergency quarterback in case starter Brandon Weeden or backup Colt McCoy (both shoulder injuries) can't go.
It's eerily reminisent of the last act of the Romeo Crennel/Phil Savage era. The Browns couldn't keep a healthy quarterback as the 2008 season wore down, losing Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson and third-stringer Ken Dorsey to injuries heading into the season finale at Pittsburgh. Bruce Gradkowski, who had just been signed two weeks earlier, was thrust into action and went a dismal 5-of-18 in a 31-0 drubbing by the Steelers.
That Steelers team wound up winning the Super Bowl, even though Ben Roethlisberger was carted off the field during that loss. This Steeler team is lugging a three-game losing streak into this season finale and have only won one game since the Browns beat them, 20-14, at home. All three losses have come with Roethlisberger at the helm, and the last two have directly been his fault with late interceptions directly leading to the game-winning points.
Oh, and did I mention the Steelers will miss the playoffs? Beauty.
Joe Banner has promised to make speedy decisions on both Shurmur and Heckert, which means that, by 10 a.m. New Years Eve, you can expect to get a press release saying both parties have been fired, followed by a press conference held by both Banner and owner Jimmy Haslam III defending their decision to make the change and talking about potential candidates.
Those candidates include Alabama head coach Nick Saban, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, soon-to-be fired Eagles head coach Andy Reid, ESPN football commentator Jon Gruden, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and the possibly fired Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett.
The Browns will have competition as they look for a new head coach. There could be at least 11 teams making a change at head coach this season. Along with the Browns, the Chiefs, the Chargers, the Eagles and (if they miss the playoffs) the Cowboys are assured of seeking a new head coach. The axe could be falling in Buffalo, New York (Jets), Jacksonville, Carolina, Arizona and Tennessee this offseason as well. So, they'll need to act fast if they want to hire the best person for the job.
Reportedly, if Saban wants the Browns job, it's his. Haslam is prepared to offer him a 10-year contract to come to Cleveland, reportedly, and that's regardless of who they hire at GM. Kelly has also been linked to taking Romeo Crennel's job in Kansas City, while Reid has been linked to Norv Turner's job in San Diego.
The new coach and GM's first major decision will be made at quarterback, with 30-year-old Weeden entering his second-year in the NFL. If he doesn't take another snap, Weeden will finish with 14 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions and 3,385 yards. Those are the most yards in a single-season since Derek Anderson threw for 3,787 yards, 29 touchdowns and 19 interceptions for the Browns in 2007. That year, the team went 10-6, but missed the playoffs by tiebreakers.
Tim Couch, the last Browns quarterback to start all 16 games in a regular season, threw for 3,040 yards with 17 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 2001 for a Browns team that went 7-9.
Weeden's yardage total is the second-highest for the Browns since they've returned in 1999. In fact, it's the third-highest single-season total by a Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar threw for 3,487 yards, 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions for a 6-10 Browns team in 1991. That was also the last time a Browns quarterback started all 16 games until Couch did it in 2001.
It's pretty apparent that Weeden is a ill-fit for the West Coast offense operated by Pat Shurmur. Weeden has had a ton of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage because of the slant and short crossing routes -- defensive linemen who are blocked just follow his eyes and reach up as Weeden tries to thread the needle. That offense will be history next season.
Weeden has the arm strength to succeed in the NFL, especially in a cold-weather climate like Cleveland. He has displayed poise and has a bit of a gunslinger's attitude. That has led to some interceptions. However, Shurmur and Brad Childress have tried to rein him in, and that has only hindered Weeden's progress.
Unlike last season, there is not a deep quarterback draft to find an heir apparent. Matt Barkley and Geno Smith are the two best options, and both have fallen off the radar after dismal seasons.
In trades or free agency, the choices aren't all that great, either. The 49ers' Alex Smith, the Jets' Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, the Jaguars' Blaine Gabbert, the Seahawks' Matt Flynn, the Patriots' Ryan Mallett and the Eagles' Michael Vick are the most intriguing options that could be obtained, and all of them don't necessarily ooze "franchise-changer" at QB.
Joe Cleveland is inclined to give Weeden another season with an offense more tailored to his strengths and the strengths of running back Trent Richardson. Joe Cleveland does not want to see Colt McCoy return as the starter -- we've seen enough. Also, Bears backup QB Jason Campbell, Chiefs' deposed starting QB Matt Cassel or Raiders starting QB Carson Palmer aren't attractive options, either.
Let the speculation go in full force a week from now. But for now, this edition of the Browns have one more game to play and it's against the hated Steelers.
***
Before Joe Cleveland goes, congrats to Browns' left tackle Joe Thomas on his sixth Pro Bowl berth of his six-year NFL career. Thomas was Phil Savage's lone great choice (yeah, he passed on Adrian Peterson for him, but I think Thomas will have a longer career) and is well on the way to a Hall of Fame career.
Also, a hearty congratulations to long-time kicker Phil Dawson on his long-awaited, well-overdue first Pro Bowl berth. Dawson certainly deserves it after a long and successful career as the Browns' primary kicker since they returned in 1999, and his 2012 season has been fantastic. He's only missed one field goal, and that kick was blocked. Hopefully, Haslam and Banner ensure that Dawson ends his career in the Brown and Orange, because he certainly deserves to.
With Josh Cribbs (kick returner and special teamer), D'Qwell Jackson (inside linebacker) and Alex Mack (center) as first alternates, there could very well be five Browns playing in Hawaii the week before the Super Bowl. Joe Cleveland may have to actually watch the game now.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
By this time next week, Pat Shurmur will be gone, and Tom Heckert may as well be gone, too.
That's even if the Browns can somehow knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road this Sunday, clinching the first season-sweep of our hated rivals since 1988 and first since the team returned in 1999. In fact, it would only be the four season-sweep of the Steelers since 1970 (the Browns went 0-16 in their first 16 years playing at Three Rivers Stadium and wound up only winning there five times before it was mercifully imploded following the 2000 season).
The Browns will go into that game potentially with their third-string quarterback under center -- Thaddeus Lewis, who has never taken a regular season snap and was on the practice squad for most of this season. Josh Johnson, a former Tampa Bay quarterback who had been out of the league since the 49ers cut him in training camp, was brought in as the emergency quarterback in case starter Brandon Weeden or backup Colt McCoy (both shoulder injuries) can't go.
It's eerily reminisent of the last act of the Romeo Crennel/Phil Savage era. The Browns couldn't keep a healthy quarterback as the 2008 season wore down, losing Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson and third-stringer Ken Dorsey to injuries heading into the season finale at Pittsburgh. Bruce Gradkowski, who had just been signed two weeks earlier, was thrust into action and went a dismal 5-of-18 in a 31-0 drubbing by the Steelers.
That Steelers team wound up winning the Super Bowl, even though Ben Roethlisberger was carted off the field during that loss. This Steeler team is lugging a three-game losing streak into this season finale and have only won one game since the Browns beat them, 20-14, at home. All three losses have come with Roethlisberger at the helm, and the last two have directly been his fault with late interceptions directly leading to the game-winning points.
Oh, and did I mention the Steelers will miss the playoffs? Beauty.
Joe Banner has promised to make speedy decisions on both Shurmur and Heckert, which means that, by 10 a.m. New Years Eve, you can expect to get a press release saying both parties have been fired, followed by a press conference held by both Banner and owner Jimmy Haslam III defending their decision to make the change and talking about potential candidates.
Those candidates include Alabama head coach Nick Saban, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, soon-to-be fired Eagles head coach Andy Reid, ESPN football commentator Jon Gruden, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and the possibly fired Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett.
The Browns will have competition as they look for a new head coach. There could be at least 11 teams making a change at head coach this season. Along with the Browns, the Chiefs, the Chargers, the Eagles and (if they miss the playoffs) the Cowboys are assured of seeking a new head coach. The axe could be falling in Buffalo, New York (Jets), Jacksonville, Carolina, Arizona and Tennessee this offseason as well. So, they'll need to act fast if they want to hire the best person for the job.
Reportedly, if Saban wants the Browns job, it's his. Haslam is prepared to offer him a 10-year contract to come to Cleveland, reportedly, and that's regardless of who they hire at GM. Kelly has also been linked to taking Romeo Crennel's job in Kansas City, while Reid has been linked to Norv Turner's job in San Diego.
The new coach and GM's first major decision will be made at quarterback, with 30-year-old Weeden entering his second-year in the NFL. If he doesn't take another snap, Weeden will finish with 14 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions and 3,385 yards. Those are the most yards in a single-season since Derek Anderson threw for 3,787 yards, 29 touchdowns and 19 interceptions for the Browns in 2007. That year, the team went 10-6, but missed the playoffs by tiebreakers.
Tim Couch, the last Browns quarterback to start all 16 games in a regular season, threw for 3,040 yards with 17 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 2001 for a Browns team that went 7-9.
Weeden's yardage total is the second-highest for the Browns since they've returned in 1999. In fact, it's the third-highest single-season total by a Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar threw for 3,487 yards, 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions for a 6-10 Browns team in 1991. That was also the last time a Browns quarterback started all 16 games until Couch did it in 2001.
It's pretty apparent that Weeden is a ill-fit for the West Coast offense operated by Pat Shurmur. Weeden has had a ton of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage because of the slant and short crossing routes -- defensive linemen who are blocked just follow his eyes and reach up as Weeden tries to thread the needle. That offense will be history next season.
Weeden has the arm strength to succeed in the NFL, especially in a cold-weather climate like Cleveland. He has displayed poise and has a bit of a gunslinger's attitude. That has led to some interceptions. However, Shurmur and Brad Childress have tried to rein him in, and that has only hindered Weeden's progress.
Unlike last season, there is not a deep quarterback draft to find an heir apparent. Matt Barkley and Geno Smith are the two best options, and both have fallen off the radar after dismal seasons.
In trades or free agency, the choices aren't all that great, either. The 49ers' Alex Smith, the Jets' Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, the Jaguars' Blaine Gabbert, the Seahawks' Matt Flynn, the Patriots' Ryan Mallett and the Eagles' Michael Vick are the most intriguing options that could be obtained, and all of them don't necessarily ooze "franchise-changer" at QB.
Joe Cleveland is inclined to give Weeden another season with an offense more tailored to his strengths and the strengths of running back Trent Richardson. Joe Cleveland does not want to see Colt McCoy return as the starter -- we've seen enough. Also, Bears backup QB Jason Campbell, Chiefs' deposed starting QB Matt Cassel or Raiders starting QB Carson Palmer aren't attractive options, either.
Let the speculation go in full force a week from now. But for now, this edition of the Browns have one more game to play and it's against the hated Steelers.
***
Before Joe Cleveland goes, congrats to Browns' left tackle Joe Thomas on his sixth Pro Bowl berth of his six-year NFL career. Thomas was Phil Savage's lone great choice (yeah, he passed on Adrian Peterson for him, but I think Thomas will have a longer career) and is well on the way to a Hall of Fame career.
Also, a hearty congratulations to long-time kicker Phil Dawson on his long-awaited, well-overdue first Pro Bowl berth. Dawson certainly deserves it after a long and successful career as the Browns' primary kicker since they returned in 1999, and his 2012 season has been fantastic. He's only missed one field goal, and that kick was blocked. Hopefully, Haslam and Banner ensure that Dawson ends his career in the Brown and Orange, because he certainly deserves to.
With Josh Cribbs (kick returner and special teamer), D'Qwell Jackson (inside linebacker) and Alex Mack (center) as first alternates, there could very well be five Browns playing in Hawaii the week before the Super Bowl. Joe Cleveland may have to actually watch the game now.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, December 10, 2012
No trophy for this Lombardi
Lombardi
A certain magic still lingers in the very name.
It speaks of duels in the snow and November mud...
He remains for many the heart of pro football, pumping hard right now.
-- Steve Sabol
Steve Sabol's poem, read famously by the "Voice of God" John Facenda as a narration on an NFL Films special, is not about the guy who's being rumored to become the new general manager of the Cleveland Browns, Michael Lombardi.
No, this poem was about the late, great Vince Lombardi -- one of Fordman's legendary "Five Blocks of Granite" offensive line, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants in the 1950s (while Tom Landry served as the offensive coordinator) and the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during that teams' ascension to glory during the 1960s.
Lombardi's teams won the first two Super Bowls, and the winner of the Super Bowl is annually awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The only link to Vince Lombardi and Mike Lombardi is that they just so happen to share a remarkable last name. The fact that I just linked these two in the same sentence will probably make Vince roll over in his grave and have his ghost haunt me.
Mike Lombardi was here in Cleveland, from 1987 to 1996. He was the team's Pro Personnel Director in 1987 after serving as a scout for Bill Walsh's 49ers teams from 1984-87. He was promoted to Director of Player Personnel in 1992 when Bill Belichick was hired as the head coach and Ernie Accorsi took that as his cue to depart.
Lombardi was essentially the general manager during Belichick's final four years as the head coach of the Browns before the Dead Judas decided to move the franchise to Baltimore in a selfish act of greed. During that time, the Browns went 7-9 (1992), 7-9 (1993), 12-6 (1994) and 5-11 (1995). The ''94 team went 11-5 in the regular season and reached the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The 20-13 home victory over the Patriots on New Year's Day 1995 is still the last playoff victory for the Cleveland Browns -- home or overall.
In that time period, the Browns drafted such "luminaries" as Tommy Vardell, Patrick Rowe, Gerald Dixon, Dan Footman, Mike Caldwell, Romeo Bandison, Issac Booth, Craig Powell, Eric Zeier, Mike Frederick and Tau Pupua. To be fair, he also drafted Steve Everitt, Derrick Alexander and Antonio Langham, but overall, this guy was a freaking disaster. Even then, I may be generous about Alexander and Langham -- Alexander was a bust in his two seasons with the Browns, while Langham had an injury prone career and didn't play beyond 1999 after being drafted in the first round in 1994. I can remember seeing Langham getting torched repeatedly when he came back to the Browns during the expansion season.
Remember the 1995 draft, the last Belichick/Lombardi draft? Lombardi had Belichick convinced that a big tight end named Kyle Brady was the answer to his prayers. When the Jets selected Brady ninth, both guys blew their stacks and made a trade with the 49ers. San Francisco moved up to the 10th spot and selected receiver J.J. Stokes, who had a decent career. The Browns moved all the way to the bottom of the first round and took Powell, an Ohio State linebacker who couldn't get off special teams duties.
The Dead Judas gave the ax to both Lombardi and Belichick when the move was officially approved. He then served as an advisor for the St. Louis Rams in 1996, a consultant to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997, the Director of Pro Personnel in Philly in 1998, and the Senior Football Executive for the Oakland Raiders from 1999-2007.
In his last draft with the Raiders, Lombardi selected one of the biggest draft busts of all-time, LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, with the first overall pick. Russell only played three years in the NFL and hasn't even gotten a tryout since the Raiders washed their hands of him in 2009.
In 1996-97, Lombardi got a TV gig as the "insider" on CBS's pregame show, The NFL Today. He had his own segment and eventually became a regular on the desk toward the end of his tenure. That was just a small taste of what he's done since 2007.
In 2008, both the NFL Network and HBO hired him to be an on-air "insider." He worked on the Emmy-award winning Inside the NFL show while also serving as a studio analyst on NFL Network's Total Access show. From 2008-10, he started writing columns for Sports Illustrated's Web site, NationalFootballPost.com (which he helped found) and NFL.com.
He's also been a very outspoken critic of all things related to the Browns since the team returned in 1999. He gave Tom Heckert's 2012 draft a 'C,' and was critical of the trade to move up to select Trent Richardson and the selections of Brandon Weeden, Mitchell Schwartz and John Hughes.
And, THIS is the guy Joe Banner wants to turn the keys to the castle over to? REALLY?!?!?
I can remember Lombardi being a swarmy asshole during his tenure in Cleveland. He was supposedly the main imputus behind Bernie Kosar's outright release during the 1993 season, to the point where he had a tape made of nothing but Kosar lowlights and showed it to the Dead Judas as the reason why they had to get rid of him, even though Vinny Testaverde was injured and they were let with a non-descript third-stringer named Todd Philcox.
I also find it interesting that, of all the people associated with Belichick during his Browns years, Lombardi was the only one who never was re-hired by Belichick when the latter got back into head coaching five years later with New England and was never publicly vouched for by Belichick.
Nick Saban, Jim Schwartz, Eric Mangini, Scott Pioli, Kirk Ferentz, Tom Dimitroff, Ozzie Newsome, Phil Savage ... all got the Belichick seal of approval. All (except Ozzie and Saban) have failed without being around Belichick, but you get the picture.
According to a recent story in the Boston Globe that claims that Lombardi is a "serious candidate" to be Banner's hand-picked GM to replace Tom Heckert, Lombardi is serving as an unofficial consultant to Belichick this season and helping him by providing scouting reports on their opponents. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen -- Belichick still hasn't acknowledged Lombardi publicly.
The story in the Globe, and that has been reported on other "insider" NFL Web sites, says that, if Lombardi gets hired in Cleveland, he will likely hire Saban, Chip Kelly or Patriots offensive coordinator and former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels as the new head coach. That's an awful big promise list there. Funny that, at one point, three different reports linked Lombardi to the three different candidates before it's been merged to being one of the three.
Lombardi has not publically commented on the possibility of coming back to Cleveland, or as to how (and if) he can deliver on his head coaching wish list. However, these news outlets are getting their info from somewhere.
Banner gave a veiled denial a few weeks back, and some Cleveland sources are saying that reports chasing Heckert out of town are very premature. One thing, though, is that Heckert's job description has changed -- Banner now has the final say over everything football related, including over the roster, whereas Heckert had that say when he left Philly to become the Browns' new GM in 2010 under Mike Holmgren.
Perhaps the source of all of this Lombardi talk is Lombardi himself.
Being a so-called "NFL insider" and working as a bit of a rumor monger himself for different Web sites, I'm sure he's met a lot of reporters and sided up to them over the years. Perhaps he's been promoting himself as this candidate with these visions of grandeur of hiring a new head coach while doing so "anonymously" and "off the record."
Does Lombardi have a tie to Saban still? Who knows? Saban, who is preparing his Alabama team to take on Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship in a few weeks, hasn't commented on anything not related to the game and his quest for his second-straight national championshp, his third since taking over Alabama, and his fourth overall as a college football head coach.
Saban had one forgettable stretch as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, where he went 15-17 from 2005-06. That was right after he won the national championship at LSU and before he took the Alabama job. His only other NFL job was when Belichick plucked him from being the head coach at Toledo to becoming his defensive coordinator for the Browns from 1991-94.
That 1994 team had one of the best defenses Cleveland had ever seen. I believe they finished ranked second overall when that season was concluded. But, after that season, Saban accepted the head coaching gig at Michigan State, and just one season later, the Browns were no more.
Saban was already a candidate to replace Pat Shurmur (if Jimmy Haslam III decides to make a coaching change) because of those Cleveland ties, along with his being from West Virginia and a former player, graduate and assistant coach at Kent State. Many people believe that if he wins his second-straight national title and third in the last four years at Alabama, he would be inclined to test the waters in the NFL again.
The reporter for the Boston Globe, in that story, blamed Saban's coaching shortcomings in Miami to working with Randy Mueller as the GM. The two had never worked with each other before and didn't seem to grasp each other's systems. As for the real reason, who knows.
Of the three on Lombardi's so-called "wish list," McDaniels seems the least desirable, even though he grew up in Canton and played football for John Carroll. McDaniels got off to a 6-0 start with the Denver Broncos in his first season, even though he ran off Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Peyton Hillis, among others, before he even got started. But, that team slumped to 8-8, and he didn't even last his full second season before being shown the door by new team president John Elway.
While this talk continues to swirl about, the Browns have suddenly become one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Since Haslam officially took over as the team's owner, the Browns have gone 4-3, with close road losses to Indianapolis and Dallas and a close home loss to Baltimore staining that record. The Browns have won their last three games in a row and have looked better and better with each win.
The defense has emerged as one of the best defenses in the league under Dick Jauron. They've improved on their run defense and have forced a lot of turnovers. The eight turnover game against the Steelers has kick-started this win streak, which has kept the Browns alive for the postseason with three games left in the regular season.
PLAYOFFS!! PLAYOFFS??
In order for that to happen, the Browns would have to turn that three-game win streak into a six-game win streak -- a tall order, indeed. But, they'll be facing a Redskins team with a gimpy Robert Griffin III at home this Sunday, a Broncos team that, despite having Peyton Manning, has already clinched their division just before Christmas, and a suddenly very-beatable Steelers team at the big ketchup bottle in the season finale on Dec. 30.
Could that Steeler game suddenly have playoff implications for BOTH teams?
Could the Browns go into that game with a five-game winning streak?
Could the Browns pull off the rare season sweep of the Steelers -- something that hasn't happened since 1988? In fact, the last time the Browns won consecutive games against the Steelers was back in 1999-2000.
And, when it's all said and done, could Shurmur and Heckert retain their jobs?
Of the two, Heckert should be the safest. However, you hear more rumors about replacing Heckert than you do about Shurmur (I still believe it's because of Lombardi's behind-the-scenes self-promotion). Many people believe that a change at coach would lean to a change at GM as well.
The Browns have many people in this town finally believing that something is there. The offense has improved under Weeden and Richardson, and Josh Gordon (who Lombardi ripped the Browns for picking in the second round of the supplemental draft, by the way) has emerged to become a legitimate deep threat. Greg Little, who many fans (Joe Cleveland included) were ready to run out of town earlier this year with his bout of dropped passes and self-promotions, has become a fantastic receiver over the second half of the season.
Tight ends Ben Watson and Jordan Cameron have become reliable receivers, and Montario Hardesty -- who came into this season as the one glaring blemish on Heckert's resume -- has emerged to become a legimate change-of-pace back to the pounding Richardson and has looked very good. Even fourth-rounder Travis Benjamin showed glimpes of being a playmaker this past Sunday with that 93-yard punt return touchdown.
Could a proven head coach, like a Saban or an Andy Reid or a Jon Gruden, come in and take what this team has done and get them to the next level? Or, does it make sense to stick with Shurmur one more season and see if he can continue to build off of what he's accomplished.
The 4-3 defense should be here to stay. The Browns are playing the best defense we've seen, arguably since Saban's 1994 unit. That defense was also a 4-3 defense. Or, Bud Carson's attacking 1989 unit, which was also a 4-3. Most of the current Belichick disciples are rooted to the 3-4 (just ask Mangini and Romeo Crennel how well that worked out for them). Like the Steelers did with Dick LeBeau when they replaced Bill Cowher with Mike Tomlin, the Browns should insist the new coach retains Jauron and his philosophies or else take a hike.
The West Coast offense could use some tweaking. Perhaps trying to go to more of a spread-style would work with the weapons the Browns have. Weeden excelled in a spread at Oklahoma State, and his receivers played in it at the college level. While Richardson did not play in a spread at Alabama, I'm sure he'd do just fine in it. Perhaps a guy like Chip Kelly, whose innovative offensive schemes at Oregon have gotten some kudos, could make the spread work at the NFL level. Or, perhaps a hybrid WC scheme, like the ones used by the Eagles, the Packers or the Saints, would work better.
As a Browns fan, it's good to be excited about games in late December -- it's been a while since that happened. And, it's good to be legitimately excited about what the future holds for this franchise.
Joe Banner and Jimmy Haslam, don't drink the Lombardi Kool-Aid. Don't let him destroy the process that has taken place. Don't let his promises of Saban and Kelly persuade you to bring him in. He's a bullshitting blowhard -- always has, always will.
You've done nothing but ooze goodwill since you've taken over this franchise from Absantee Randy. Hiring a clown like Lombardi would deflate that balloon really quickly.
Instead of his Lombardi's name reminding of "duels in the snow" and "November mud," it speaks of wasted draft picks and bad PR.
This will be an intriguing offseason, indeed, in many, many ways. Hopefully, it's for all the right reasons.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
A certain magic still lingers in the very name.
It speaks of duels in the snow and November mud...
He remains for many the heart of pro football, pumping hard right now.
-- Steve Sabol
Steve Sabol's poem, read famously by the "Voice of God" John Facenda as a narration on an NFL Films special, is not about the guy who's being rumored to become the new general manager of the Cleveland Browns, Michael Lombardi.
No, this poem was about the late, great Vince Lombardi -- one of Fordman's legendary "Five Blocks of Granite" offensive line, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants in the 1950s (while Tom Landry served as the offensive coordinator) and the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during that teams' ascension to glory during the 1960s.
Lombardi's teams won the first two Super Bowls, and the winner of the Super Bowl is annually awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The only link to Vince Lombardi and Mike Lombardi is that they just so happen to share a remarkable last name. The fact that I just linked these two in the same sentence will probably make Vince roll over in his grave and have his ghost haunt me.
Mike Lombardi was here in Cleveland, from 1987 to 1996. He was the team's Pro Personnel Director in 1987 after serving as a scout for Bill Walsh's 49ers teams from 1984-87. He was promoted to Director of Player Personnel in 1992 when Bill Belichick was hired as the head coach and Ernie Accorsi took that as his cue to depart.
Lombardi was essentially the general manager during Belichick's final four years as the head coach of the Browns before the Dead Judas decided to move the franchise to Baltimore in a selfish act of greed. During that time, the Browns went 7-9 (1992), 7-9 (1993), 12-6 (1994) and 5-11 (1995). The ''94 team went 11-5 in the regular season and reached the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The 20-13 home victory over the Patriots on New Year's Day 1995 is still the last playoff victory for the Cleveland Browns -- home or overall.
In that time period, the Browns drafted such "luminaries" as Tommy Vardell, Patrick Rowe, Gerald Dixon, Dan Footman, Mike Caldwell, Romeo Bandison, Issac Booth, Craig Powell, Eric Zeier, Mike Frederick and Tau Pupua. To be fair, he also drafted Steve Everitt, Derrick Alexander and Antonio Langham, but overall, this guy was a freaking disaster. Even then, I may be generous about Alexander and Langham -- Alexander was a bust in his two seasons with the Browns, while Langham had an injury prone career and didn't play beyond 1999 after being drafted in the first round in 1994. I can remember seeing Langham getting torched repeatedly when he came back to the Browns during the expansion season.
Remember the 1995 draft, the last Belichick/Lombardi draft? Lombardi had Belichick convinced that a big tight end named Kyle Brady was the answer to his prayers. When the Jets selected Brady ninth, both guys blew their stacks and made a trade with the 49ers. San Francisco moved up to the 10th spot and selected receiver J.J. Stokes, who had a decent career. The Browns moved all the way to the bottom of the first round and took Powell, an Ohio State linebacker who couldn't get off special teams duties.
The Dead Judas gave the ax to both Lombardi and Belichick when the move was officially approved. He then served as an advisor for the St. Louis Rams in 1996, a consultant to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997, the Director of Pro Personnel in Philly in 1998, and the Senior Football Executive for the Oakland Raiders from 1999-2007.
In his last draft with the Raiders, Lombardi selected one of the biggest draft busts of all-time, LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, with the first overall pick. Russell only played three years in the NFL and hasn't even gotten a tryout since the Raiders washed their hands of him in 2009.
In 1996-97, Lombardi got a TV gig as the "insider" on CBS's pregame show, The NFL Today. He had his own segment and eventually became a regular on the desk toward the end of his tenure. That was just a small taste of what he's done since 2007.
In 2008, both the NFL Network and HBO hired him to be an on-air "insider." He worked on the Emmy-award winning Inside the NFL show while also serving as a studio analyst on NFL Network's Total Access show. From 2008-10, he started writing columns for Sports Illustrated's Web site, NationalFootballPost.com (which he helped found) and NFL.com.
He's also been a very outspoken critic of all things related to the Browns since the team returned in 1999. He gave Tom Heckert's 2012 draft a 'C,' and was critical of the trade to move up to select Trent Richardson and the selections of Brandon Weeden, Mitchell Schwartz and John Hughes.
And, THIS is the guy Joe Banner wants to turn the keys to the castle over to? REALLY?!?!?
I can remember Lombardi being a swarmy asshole during his tenure in Cleveland. He was supposedly the main imputus behind Bernie Kosar's outright release during the 1993 season, to the point where he had a tape made of nothing but Kosar lowlights and showed it to the Dead Judas as the reason why they had to get rid of him, even though Vinny Testaverde was injured and they were let with a non-descript third-stringer named Todd Philcox.
I also find it interesting that, of all the people associated with Belichick during his Browns years, Lombardi was the only one who never was re-hired by Belichick when the latter got back into head coaching five years later with New England and was never publicly vouched for by Belichick.
Nick Saban, Jim Schwartz, Eric Mangini, Scott Pioli, Kirk Ferentz, Tom Dimitroff, Ozzie Newsome, Phil Savage ... all got the Belichick seal of approval. All (except Ozzie and Saban) have failed without being around Belichick, but you get the picture.
According to a recent story in the Boston Globe that claims that Lombardi is a "serious candidate" to be Banner's hand-picked GM to replace Tom Heckert, Lombardi is serving as an unofficial consultant to Belichick this season and helping him by providing scouting reports on their opponents. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen -- Belichick still hasn't acknowledged Lombardi publicly.
The story in the Globe, and that has been reported on other "insider" NFL Web sites, says that, if Lombardi gets hired in Cleveland, he will likely hire Saban, Chip Kelly or Patriots offensive coordinator and former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels as the new head coach. That's an awful big promise list there. Funny that, at one point, three different reports linked Lombardi to the three different candidates before it's been merged to being one of the three.
Lombardi has not publically commented on the possibility of coming back to Cleveland, or as to how (and if) he can deliver on his head coaching wish list. However, these news outlets are getting their info from somewhere.
Banner gave a veiled denial a few weeks back, and some Cleveland sources are saying that reports chasing Heckert out of town are very premature. One thing, though, is that Heckert's job description has changed -- Banner now has the final say over everything football related, including over the roster, whereas Heckert had that say when he left Philly to become the Browns' new GM in 2010 under Mike Holmgren.
Perhaps the source of all of this Lombardi talk is Lombardi himself.
Being a so-called "NFL insider" and working as a bit of a rumor monger himself for different Web sites, I'm sure he's met a lot of reporters and sided up to them over the years. Perhaps he's been promoting himself as this candidate with these visions of grandeur of hiring a new head coach while doing so "anonymously" and "off the record."
Does Lombardi have a tie to Saban still? Who knows? Saban, who is preparing his Alabama team to take on Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship in a few weeks, hasn't commented on anything not related to the game and his quest for his second-straight national championshp, his third since taking over Alabama, and his fourth overall as a college football head coach.
Saban had one forgettable stretch as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, where he went 15-17 from 2005-06. That was right after he won the national championship at LSU and before he took the Alabama job. His only other NFL job was when Belichick plucked him from being the head coach at Toledo to becoming his defensive coordinator for the Browns from 1991-94.
That 1994 team had one of the best defenses Cleveland had ever seen. I believe they finished ranked second overall when that season was concluded. But, after that season, Saban accepted the head coaching gig at Michigan State, and just one season later, the Browns were no more.
Saban was already a candidate to replace Pat Shurmur (if Jimmy Haslam III decides to make a coaching change) because of those Cleveland ties, along with his being from West Virginia and a former player, graduate and assistant coach at Kent State. Many people believe that if he wins his second-straight national title and third in the last four years at Alabama, he would be inclined to test the waters in the NFL again.
The reporter for the Boston Globe, in that story, blamed Saban's coaching shortcomings in Miami to working with Randy Mueller as the GM. The two had never worked with each other before and didn't seem to grasp each other's systems. As for the real reason, who knows.
Of the three on Lombardi's so-called "wish list," McDaniels seems the least desirable, even though he grew up in Canton and played football for John Carroll. McDaniels got off to a 6-0 start with the Denver Broncos in his first season, even though he ran off Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Peyton Hillis, among others, before he even got started. But, that team slumped to 8-8, and he didn't even last his full second season before being shown the door by new team president John Elway.
While this talk continues to swirl about, the Browns have suddenly become one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Since Haslam officially took over as the team's owner, the Browns have gone 4-3, with close road losses to Indianapolis and Dallas and a close home loss to Baltimore staining that record. The Browns have won their last three games in a row and have looked better and better with each win.
The defense has emerged as one of the best defenses in the league under Dick Jauron. They've improved on their run defense and have forced a lot of turnovers. The eight turnover game against the Steelers has kick-started this win streak, which has kept the Browns alive for the postseason with three games left in the regular season.
PLAYOFFS!! PLAYOFFS??
In order for that to happen, the Browns would have to turn that three-game win streak into a six-game win streak -- a tall order, indeed. But, they'll be facing a Redskins team with a gimpy Robert Griffin III at home this Sunday, a Broncos team that, despite having Peyton Manning, has already clinched their division just before Christmas, and a suddenly very-beatable Steelers team at the big ketchup bottle in the season finale on Dec. 30.
Could that Steeler game suddenly have playoff implications for BOTH teams?
Could the Browns go into that game with a five-game winning streak?
Could the Browns pull off the rare season sweep of the Steelers -- something that hasn't happened since 1988? In fact, the last time the Browns won consecutive games against the Steelers was back in 1999-2000.
And, when it's all said and done, could Shurmur and Heckert retain their jobs?
Of the two, Heckert should be the safest. However, you hear more rumors about replacing Heckert than you do about Shurmur (I still believe it's because of Lombardi's behind-the-scenes self-promotion). Many people believe that a change at coach would lean to a change at GM as well.
The Browns have many people in this town finally believing that something is there. The offense has improved under Weeden and Richardson, and Josh Gordon (who Lombardi ripped the Browns for picking in the second round of the supplemental draft, by the way) has emerged to become a legitimate deep threat. Greg Little, who many fans (Joe Cleveland included) were ready to run out of town earlier this year with his bout of dropped passes and self-promotions, has become a fantastic receiver over the second half of the season.
Tight ends Ben Watson and Jordan Cameron have become reliable receivers, and Montario Hardesty -- who came into this season as the one glaring blemish on Heckert's resume -- has emerged to become a legimate change-of-pace back to the pounding Richardson and has looked very good. Even fourth-rounder Travis Benjamin showed glimpes of being a playmaker this past Sunday with that 93-yard punt return touchdown.
Could a proven head coach, like a Saban or an Andy Reid or a Jon Gruden, come in and take what this team has done and get them to the next level? Or, does it make sense to stick with Shurmur one more season and see if he can continue to build off of what he's accomplished.
The 4-3 defense should be here to stay. The Browns are playing the best defense we've seen, arguably since Saban's 1994 unit. That defense was also a 4-3 defense. Or, Bud Carson's attacking 1989 unit, which was also a 4-3. Most of the current Belichick disciples are rooted to the 3-4 (just ask Mangini and Romeo Crennel how well that worked out for them). Like the Steelers did with Dick LeBeau when they replaced Bill Cowher with Mike Tomlin, the Browns should insist the new coach retains Jauron and his philosophies or else take a hike.
The West Coast offense could use some tweaking. Perhaps trying to go to more of a spread-style would work with the weapons the Browns have. Weeden excelled in a spread at Oklahoma State, and his receivers played in it at the college level. While Richardson did not play in a spread at Alabama, I'm sure he'd do just fine in it. Perhaps a guy like Chip Kelly, whose innovative offensive schemes at Oregon have gotten some kudos, could make the spread work at the NFL level. Or, perhaps a hybrid WC scheme, like the ones used by the Eagles, the Packers or the Saints, would work better.
As a Browns fan, it's good to be excited about games in late December -- it's been a while since that happened. And, it's good to be legitimately excited about what the future holds for this franchise.
Joe Banner and Jimmy Haslam, don't drink the Lombardi Kool-Aid. Don't let him destroy the process that has taken place. Don't let his promises of Saban and Kelly persuade you to bring him in. He's a bullshitting blowhard -- always has, always will.
You've done nothing but ooze goodwill since you've taken over this franchise from Absantee Randy. Hiring a clown like Lombardi would deflate that balloon really quickly.
Instead of his Lombardi's name reminding of "duels in the snow" and "November mud," it speaks of wasted draft picks and bad PR.
This will be an intriguing offseason, indeed, in many, many ways. Hopefully, it's for all the right reasons.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
How sweet it is!
The week hasn't officially started yet, and Joe Cleveland is already chalking it up to being the greatest week ever.
This is what happens when Ohio State can take out Michigan and the Cleveland Browns can do the same to the Pittsburgh Steelers in back-to-back home games on back-to-back afternoons.
Joe Cleveland was fortunate enough to witness the latter in person. I was also at the 2009 Thursday night game in which the Browns sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times and stunned the Squeelers, 13-6. This one might have been a bit better.
Sure, Consentlessberger wasn't in uniform for this one. He sat on the sidelines nursing broken ribs. Also, Troy Polamalu wasn't in uniform, but then again, he hasn't been in uniform very much this season and yet the Steelers defense came into Sunday's game ranked No. 1.
It doesn't matter.
As Pat Shurmur told the team after their 20-14 victory that was more dominating than the score actually indicated, "You rookies are now 1-0 against the Steelers."
Jimmy Haslam, who was in the other owners box for several Browns-Steelers games that went the way of the Yinzer, is now 1-0 as the Browns' owner against the team he was once affiliated with.
Shurmur is now one of just three Browns coaches since the team returned in 1999 to beat the Steelers. The other two -- Eric Mangini (2009) and Chris Palmer (1999 and 2000). Coincidentally, both Mangini and Palmer were fired after just two years on the job, and -- a win Sunday regardless -- Shurmur is still expected to be fired after this season, his second year on the job.
Brandon Weeden becomes the third Browns starting quarterback to win a game against the Steelers. Tim Couch was the starter for the wins in 1999, 2000 and 2003, while Brady Quinn started the 2009 game. Weeden also becomes just the second rookie quarterback to beat a Dick LeBeau defense while LeBeau headed up the Steeler D.
The eight turnovers forced by the Browns were the most a Steeler team committed since 1989. It was also the most the Browns forced since 1989. Coincidentally, the last time it happened for either team, they played each other in a very memorable 51-0 season-opening victory at Three Rivers Stadium (Bud Carson's finest hour).
Sure, the starting quarterback may have a 37-year-old third-stringer and one of the wideouts may have been a 35-year-old guy who was sitting on his couch this season and had missed most of the last four seasons after shooting himself in the leg at a nighclub. And, it may have only been a six-point win.
But, in the end, it was a Browns victory ... OVER THE STEELERS!!!
Hallalujah!
Last season, you could sense the Browns were right there, as far as being physical with the ever-intimidating Steelers. The Steelers won both games, 14-3 and 13-9, but the Browns made the Steelers work for both games.
The Browns injured Roethlisberger in that first game, and forced him to play the entire game in the season finale when they had hoped to jump out to a commanding lead in that season finale to prepare for the playoffs. They also took out Polamalu and running back Rashard Mendenhall during that season finale, and without them, Pittsburgh lost a Tim Tebow-led Broncos team in the first round of the playoffs.
This year, it was the Browns that were the physical team. It was the guys in brown jerseys who were intimidating. It was the Browns that delivered solid hits that forced six fumbles -- five recovered by the Browns.
Don't look now, folks, but the the balance of power in the AFC North is shifting. The Steelers are getting older and more beat up, while the Browns are younger and hungrier.
The Ravens continue to win, but they, too, are also getting older and beat up. Meanwhile, the younger Bengals made the playoffs last season and are sneaking back into the hunt after being written off by many following a 34-24 loss to Browns a few weeks ago.
Could the road to the AFC North championship be going through Cleveland and Cincinnati the next few seasons? What does this Sunday tell you?
The Browns dominated the Steelers. The Bengals dominated the Raiders. The Ravens had to rally to beat the rudderless Chargers in overtime -- a team that lost to the Browns a few weeks ago.
Haslam wisely stepped in and pulled the plug on the disasterous "white flag" promotion. They should have put those palates outside the Steelers locker room so they could take them as they left. Or, handed them out after the game to anyone wearing black and yellow and crying in their little yellow towels.
Probably the only thing better than watching the Browns beat the Steelers was watching all of those stunned Steeler fans, who so gleefully twirled their towels and tried to make Cleveland Browns Stadium Heinz Field West just a few hours earlier, walk out into the chilly Cleveland afternoon zombie-faced, like the famine just hit their village or something.
It was a beautiful thing.
Now, the Browns improve to 5-23 against those Stillers since 1999. Not a fantastic stat, but keep this one in mind.
In the years Cleveland beat Pittsburgh (1999, 2000, 2003 and 2009), the Steelers were denied a playoff berth. Sitting at 6-5 with another game with the Ravens on tap next week and not getting any healthier, 2012 could be another notch in that chain.
This week, Browns fans don't have to hear it from those front-running losers at their workplaces or in their circle of friends. Now, WE can be the ones who let them have it.
Like I said before, we haven't seen the Buckeyes and Browns score wins over their archrivals in the same weekend since 1962, so this one was a long time coming. Just imagine if the Cavs could have held on against LeQuitter's Heat Saturday night?
Speaking of the Buckeyes, you've got to congratulate them on a 12-0 season -- a season that nobody expected. Sure, some true Buckeye homers probably thought Urban Meyer would have Ohio State in the national title game in his first year, but most would have been happy with a winning record and another win over That Team Up North.
Who would have thunk it that, if not for a bowl ban, Meyer could have very well had the Buckeyes playing for a national championship in January, and against Notre Dame, even? Take that, ESPN and SEC!
Last season, this team finished a dismal 6-7 under Luke Fickell. With Meyer, that got transformed to 12-0. This is not a coincidence.
Meyer's spread offense fits Braxton Miller like a glove. Unlike Rich Rodriguez, who came to Michigan as an unpopular choice and then proceeded to force his spread down his school's throat despite not having the proper personnel (and was fired after just three seasons), Meyer knew that the Buckeyes had the pieces in place to make the transtion to the spread pretty seemless.
He was able to convince the seniors, whom he didn't recruit, to stay, even though they had the right to transfer penalty-free to another university when the NCAA sanctions were handed down.
They didn't blow the doors off their opponents, which some critics have brought up. However, the fact remains that they played in 12 games and won them all.
If Ohio State is not the preseason No. 1 next season, then something is definitely wrong.
Meyer got the rivalry back to Ohio State's side after Jim Tressel owned Michigan during his 10-year career (9-1) and the hiccup last season under Fickell. It looks like it will be there to stay for the time being.
Ohio State beating Michigan and the Browns beating the Steelers. Yes, Thanksgiving DOES mean something, after all!
***
Don't look now, but this Browns team could use the Steeler win to springboard themselves to a fanstastic finish.
The 2009 team responded from that 13-6 Steeler win to rip off four consecutive victories to end the season. The winning streak saved Mangini's job for a season under incoming team president Mike Holmgren, who was rumored to have been hired just before that Steeler game.
This season, the Browns follow up with games against Oakland on the road (3-7), Kansas City (1-10) and Washington (5-6) at home, and Denver (7-3) and the Steelers (6-5) on the road. Only the Bronco game appears to be totally unwinnable, and that could be interesting if they clinch prior to that and rest Peyton Manning and some of the starters.
The Redskins under Robert Griffin III are playing well lately, but it should be cold on Dec. 16. RG3's idea of cold growing up in Texas was 55 degrees.
The Browns could very well be 8-8 (if all the planets and stars align properly) or, at least, 6-10 when this season is all said and done.
6-10 isn't great, but it is progress from 4-12 and 5-11 over the last four seasons. If two of those six wins are against Pittsburgh, you can make a case for Shurmur to stick around for another season.
Some idiots are complaining about draft position ... ENOUGH ALREADY!! If we perennially play for the damn draft, we'll always rebuild. You need to win games, that's the bottom line. And, is there any lock-down player that you need to get in the top three or four this year? Matt Barkley, Geno Smith and Collin Klein aren't looking likc locks to be future QB studs in the NFL, and most of the high prospects appear to be on the defensive side.
So, quit bellyaching about how the Browns won or why they won. The bottom line is, THEY BEAT THE DAMN STEELERS!!! Be a true damn Browns fan and ENJOY IT for once!!!
I will say, though, that anything less than that 6-10 projection, and Shurmur is gone ... even if they can beat the Steelers again at Heinz Field in the season finale.
The Browns aren't a great team, but anyone with any knowledge of the NFL can see that this team has some interesting and intriguing pieces in place. This team has talent, and that talent was on display. That talent will only get better with more experience and with better coaching.
Football fortunes are on the rise in Ohio. Just you wait and see.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
And, PITTSBURGH SUCKS!
This is what happens when Ohio State can take out Michigan and the Cleveland Browns can do the same to the Pittsburgh Steelers in back-to-back home games on back-to-back afternoons.
Joe Cleveland was fortunate enough to witness the latter in person. I was also at the 2009 Thursday night game in which the Browns sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times and stunned the Squeelers, 13-6. This one might have been a bit better.
Sure, Consentlessberger wasn't in uniform for this one. He sat on the sidelines nursing broken ribs. Also, Troy Polamalu wasn't in uniform, but then again, he hasn't been in uniform very much this season and yet the Steelers defense came into Sunday's game ranked No. 1.
It doesn't matter.
As Pat Shurmur told the team after their 20-14 victory that was more dominating than the score actually indicated, "You rookies are now 1-0 against the Steelers."
Jimmy Haslam, who was in the other owners box for several Browns-Steelers games that went the way of the Yinzer, is now 1-0 as the Browns' owner against the team he was once affiliated with.
Shurmur is now one of just three Browns coaches since the team returned in 1999 to beat the Steelers. The other two -- Eric Mangini (2009) and Chris Palmer (1999 and 2000). Coincidentally, both Mangini and Palmer were fired after just two years on the job, and -- a win Sunday regardless -- Shurmur is still expected to be fired after this season, his second year on the job.
Brandon Weeden becomes the third Browns starting quarterback to win a game against the Steelers. Tim Couch was the starter for the wins in 1999, 2000 and 2003, while Brady Quinn started the 2009 game. Weeden also becomes just the second rookie quarterback to beat a Dick LeBeau defense while LeBeau headed up the Steeler D.
The eight turnovers forced by the Browns were the most a Steeler team committed since 1989. It was also the most the Browns forced since 1989. Coincidentally, the last time it happened for either team, they played each other in a very memorable 51-0 season-opening victory at Three Rivers Stadium (Bud Carson's finest hour).
Sure, the starting quarterback may have a 37-year-old third-stringer and one of the wideouts may have been a 35-year-old guy who was sitting on his couch this season and had missed most of the last four seasons after shooting himself in the leg at a nighclub. And, it may have only been a six-point win.
But, in the end, it was a Browns victory ... OVER THE STEELERS!!!
Hallalujah!
Last season, you could sense the Browns were right there, as far as being physical with the ever-intimidating Steelers. The Steelers won both games, 14-3 and 13-9, but the Browns made the Steelers work for both games.
The Browns injured Roethlisberger in that first game, and forced him to play the entire game in the season finale when they had hoped to jump out to a commanding lead in that season finale to prepare for the playoffs. They also took out Polamalu and running back Rashard Mendenhall during that season finale, and without them, Pittsburgh lost a Tim Tebow-led Broncos team in the first round of the playoffs.
This year, it was the Browns that were the physical team. It was the guys in brown jerseys who were intimidating. It was the Browns that delivered solid hits that forced six fumbles -- five recovered by the Browns.
Don't look now, folks, but the the balance of power in the AFC North is shifting. The Steelers are getting older and more beat up, while the Browns are younger and hungrier.
The Ravens continue to win, but they, too, are also getting older and beat up. Meanwhile, the younger Bengals made the playoffs last season and are sneaking back into the hunt after being written off by many following a 34-24 loss to Browns a few weeks ago.
Could the road to the AFC North championship be going through Cleveland and Cincinnati the next few seasons? What does this Sunday tell you?
The Browns dominated the Steelers. The Bengals dominated the Raiders. The Ravens had to rally to beat the rudderless Chargers in overtime -- a team that lost to the Browns a few weeks ago.
Haslam wisely stepped in and pulled the plug on the disasterous "white flag" promotion. They should have put those palates outside the Steelers locker room so they could take them as they left. Or, handed them out after the game to anyone wearing black and yellow and crying in their little yellow towels.
Probably the only thing better than watching the Browns beat the Steelers was watching all of those stunned Steeler fans, who so gleefully twirled their towels and tried to make Cleveland Browns Stadium Heinz Field West just a few hours earlier, walk out into the chilly Cleveland afternoon zombie-faced, like the famine just hit their village or something.
It was a beautiful thing.
Now, the Browns improve to 5-23 against those Stillers since 1999. Not a fantastic stat, but keep this one in mind.
In the years Cleveland beat Pittsburgh (1999, 2000, 2003 and 2009), the Steelers were denied a playoff berth. Sitting at 6-5 with another game with the Ravens on tap next week and not getting any healthier, 2012 could be another notch in that chain.
This week, Browns fans don't have to hear it from those front-running losers at their workplaces or in their circle of friends. Now, WE can be the ones who let them have it.
Like I said before, we haven't seen the Buckeyes and Browns score wins over their archrivals in the same weekend since 1962, so this one was a long time coming. Just imagine if the Cavs could have held on against LeQuitter's Heat Saturday night?
Speaking of the Buckeyes, you've got to congratulate them on a 12-0 season -- a season that nobody expected. Sure, some true Buckeye homers probably thought Urban Meyer would have Ohio State in the national title game in his first year, but most would have been happy with a winning record and another win over That Team Up North.
Who would have thunk it that, if not for a bowl ban, Meyer could have very well had the Buckeyes playing for a national championship in January, and against Notre Dame, even? Take that, ESPN and SEC!
Last season, this team finished a dismal 6-7 under Luke Fickell. With Meyer, that got transformed to 12-0. This is not a coincidence.
Meyer's spread offense fits Braxton Miller like a glove. Unlike Rich Rodriguez, who came to Michigan as an unpopular choice and then proceeded to force his spread down his school's throat despite not having the proper personnel (and was fired after just three seasons), Meyer knew that the Buckeyes had the pieces in place to make the transtion to the spread pretty seemless.
He was able to convince the seniors, whom he didn't recruit, to stay, even though they had the right to transfer penalty-free to another university when the NCAA sanctions were handed down.
They didn't blow the doors off their opponents, which some critics have brought up. However, the fact remains that they played in 12 games and won them all.
If Ohio State is not the preseason No. 1 next season, then something is definitely wrong.
Meyer got the rivalry back to Ohio State's side after Jim Tressel owned Michigan during his 10-year career (9-1) and the hiccup last season under Fickell. It looks like it will be there to stay for the time being.
Ohio State beating Michigan and the Browns beating the Steelers. Yes, Thanksgiving DOES mean something, after all!
***
Don't look now, but this Browns team could use the Steeler win to springboard themselves to a fanstastic finish.
The 2009 team responded from that 13-6 Steeler win to rip off four consecutive victories to end the season. The winning streak saved Mangini's job for a season under incoming team president Mike Holmgren, who was rumored to have been hired just before that Steeler game.
This season, the Browns follow up with games against Oakland on the road (3-7), Kansas City (1-10) and Washington (5-6) at home, and Denver (7-3) and the Steelers (6-5) on the road. Only the Bronco game appears to be totally unwinnable, and that could be interesting if they clinch prior to that and rest Peyton Manning and some of the starters.
The Redskins under Robert Griffin III are playing well lately, but it should be cold on Dec. 16. RG3's idea of cold growing up in Texas was 55 degrees.
The Browns could very well be 8-8 (if all the planets and stars align properly) or, at least, 6-10 when this season is all said and done.
6-10 isn't great, but it is progress from 4-12 and 5-11 over the last four seasons. If two of those six wins are against Pittsburgh, you can make a case for Shurmur to stick around for another season.
Some idiots are complaining about draft position ... ENOUGH ALREADY!! If we perennially play for the damn draft, we'll always rebuild. You need to win games, that's the bottom line. And, is there any lock-down player that you need to get in the top three or four this year? Matt Barkley, Geno Smith and Collin Klein aren't looking likc locks to be future QB studs in the NFL, and most of the high prospects appear to be on the defensive side.
So, quit bellyaching about how the Browns won or why they won. The bottom line is, THEY BEAT THE DAMN STEELERS!!! Be a true damn Browns fan and ENJOY IT for once!!!
I will say, though, that anything less than that 6-10 projection, and Shurmur is gone ... even if they can beat the Steelers again at Heinz Field in the season finale.
The Browns aren't a great team, but anyone with any knowledge of the NFL can see that this team has some interesting and intriguing pieces in place. This team has talent, and that talent was on display. That talent will only get better with more experience and with better coaching.
Football fortunes are on the rise in Ohio. Just you wait and see.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
And, PITTSBURGH SUCKS!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Raising the White Flag
Sometimes, Joe Cleveland wonders why he so steadfastly roots for the sports teams in this city when so many of them do dumb things.
The Indians organization, for example, it a walking nightmare. It would not surprise me to see them hand out white flags to the 8,000 fans who show up to watch a game against the Tigers or the White Sox. You would hope, however, that they would be smart enough to not do it.
Unfortunately, sometimes the Browns organization IS that dumb. Like this Sunday, for instance.
The national media and some comedians (and I'm sure Steeler fans) are having a field day over the morons in the Browns' marketing department's latest decision -- to hand out inflatable white flags to all the fans who walk into Browns Stadium Sunday morning for their huge game with the hated Stillers.
As a Browns fan, I can't even try to defend this decision. It's moronic. It's stupid.
I can only imagine how this went down:
(Browns Marketing Department meeting, late August, discussing promotions)
"Well, we need a promotion for the game on Nov. 25. Who are they playing again?"
"Ummm, that would be Pittsburgh."
"Yeah, Pittsburgh. Don't their fans bring in little yellow towels to wave whenever that does something?"
"Yeah. I think they call them 'Terrible Towels.'"
"You're darn right those things are terrible. They terribly clash with our orange seats. They're terrible to watch. We need something that will clash with that."
"How about a flag?"
"Perfect. A flag is better than a towel. What color should that flag be?"
(The closet Steeler fan working in the department, silently taking it all in, seizes his opportunity)
"Well, how about a WHITE flag? You know, because white should blind out the yellow."
"A white flag ..."
(The Steeler fan, who barely suppressed his or her laughter while saying that last word, holds his or her breath as that person's sure the suggestion will be laughed out of the room)
"... BRILLIANT! I like it. How about you, Johnson?"
"White flag sounds good. Anyone else?"
(unanimous grumbling about how a white flag sounds perfect)
"I'm sure Mr. Lerner and Mr. Holmgren will be pleased. Next game ..."
Well, unfortunately for the nincompoops that make up the Browns marketing department, Mr. Lerner and Mr. Holmgren aren't around anymore. Mr. Lerner was barely around to begin with, and Mr. Holmgren didn't seem too concerned about any matters that weren't football related.
Now, it's Mr. Haslam and Mr. Banner. And if Mr. Haslam and Mr. Banner had any decency, even though 50,000 of these ridiculous white flags have already been ordered, they would keep those things locked away on palates and not hand out anything.
Because NOTHING is better than a national joke.
This is my third year of being a Browns season ticket holder. If someone tries to hand me one of those ridiculous things, I either throw it on the ground in front of them, or I keep walking.
Because when I think of finally beating the hated Steelers, I think of 50,000 fans waving white flags in the crow to combat the sea of yellow from the black jersey-clad Yinzers and Northeast Ohio frontrunners.
The craxy part is, this may not be an isolated incident when it comes to the Browns marketing department, and why the man who made his fortune creating multipurpose truck stops needs to run these idiots all out of town and hire his own people.
He'll be hiring all his own people to run the football team next year from the head coach on down, why stop there?
According to ESPNCleveland.com, a story has been circulating about why the marketing department didn't sell any game-day programs to the season-opening game against the Eagles.
The Browns marketing department is in charge of the editing and printing of the game day programs. A source told the radio station that just hours before kickoff, someone in the communications department noticed that on the main roster centerfold, the first page everyone opens to in the program, the head coach’s name was spelled “Pat Schurmur.”
Yes, the head coaches name was spelled wrong.
As the team was scrambling to figure out an easy fix, the marketing department had a brilliant idea. They decided they would add a separate one page insert with a corrected roster. At the top of that insert, in bold letters it said, “Please disregard the misspelling of Pat Shurmur’s name on the original roster."
You can’t make this stuff up folks. The marketing department misspelled the most important person on the roster’s name and then, to cover it up, drew more attention to the mistake.
According to the article, the communications department pushed hard and finally got all programs pulled from the game before fans arrived. If you somehow got a hold of one of those, it might be worth some money someday.
Browns players are hoping the white flags idea doesn't come to fruition.
“I try to focus on the Steelers but I’m not a fan of the white flags,” middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said. “That’s the simplest way I can put it. I’m not a fan of it whatsoever knowing that we’ll see the terrible towels flying and it’s just not a message I like and I’m sure other guys don’t approve of.”
“I think I’m going to let D’Qwell speak for all of us,” added long-time kicker Phil Dawson, who has (literally) seen it all when it comes to the Browns. “When your mom told you growing up if you don’t have anything good to say, probably better not to say it, I think I am going to follow those words.”
If there is one positive to that story, it's that it is never too late to pull a mistake. Let's hope Haslam (or anybody for that matter) pulls the plug on this one, too.
The Browns were able to avoid one embarassment when they were able to convince the NFL to exempt them from the league-wide mandate to have a moment of silence for Dead Judas the Theiving One prior to that Eagles game. Hopefully, they can avoid another.
***
Speaking of waving the white flag, that's exactly what Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and president Gordon Gee decided to do when they decided to accept a berth to the Gator Bowl so their 6-6 Buckeyes with the lame-duck head coach could play Florida.
Taking that bowl game (and losing to suffer the very rare under-.500 season) allowed the NCAA to hand down a bowl ban for this season when they officially announced their sanctions agaisnt Ohio State for Tattoo-Gate.
So, a 6-6 team with a meaningless head coach and meaningless lame-duck coaching staff played in a meaningless bowl and lost, so that a potential 12-0 team with a fantastic head coach and fantastic coaching staff (except for the defense) can stay home instead of accepting a potential berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
Take a bow, Gene Smith! Take a bow!
Smith incredulously refused to believe that, had he self-imposed a bowl ban last year, the NCAA would not have given them one this year. He still maintains he did the right thing.
How this man has a high-profile job at a Division I university is one of life's great mysteries. How he didn't get run out of town along with Lord Tressel in the wake of Tattoo-Gate has baffled me ever since the scandal broke.
Then again, we have a guy working for the Cleveland Indians who traded back-to-back AL Cy Young award winners and not only got bubkiss for them, but wound up with a promotion. We have a head coach for the Cleveland Browns who was only an offensive coordinator for one season, and it was for a mediocre team. We have a marketing department that believes it is a great idea to hand out white flags to wave for a game against your most hated and bitter rival.
This is why Joe Cleveland should have his head examined for rooting for these teams. Apparently, shit does flow upstream in Ohio.
Please, for the love of God, can the Buckeyes and the Browns just do right on the field Saturday and Sunday against the teams this fanbase loves to hate? All of the above will go away, even if for just one day, week or month.
Here's hoping for some great news on ALL fronts come Monday.
O-H ... I-O!!!
Here we go, Brownies! Here we go! WOOF-WOOF!
And remember ...
We don't give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, cuz we're from Oh-Hi-O!
Finally ...
Only bitches wave little yellow towels! Beat Pittsburgh and the Three River Rednecks they brought with them!
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
The Indians organization, for example, it a walking nightmare. It would not surprise me to see them hand out white flags to the 8,000 fans who show up to watch a game against the Tigers or the White Sox. You would hope, however, that they would be smart enough to not do it.
Unfortunately, sometimes the Browns organization IS that dumb. Like this Sunday, for instance.
The national media and some comedians (and I'm sure Steeler fans) are having a field day over the morons in the Browns' marketing department's latest decision -- to hand out inflatable white flags to all the fans who walk into Browns Stadium Sunday morning for their huge game with the hated Stillers.
As a Browns fan, I can't even try to defend this decision. It's moronic. It's stupid.
I can only imagine how this went down:
(Browns Marketing Department meeting, late August, discussing promotions)
"Well, we need a promotion for the game on Nov. 25. Who are they playing again?"
"Ummm, that would be Pittsburgh."
"Yeah, Pittsburgh. Don't their fans bring in little yellow towels to wave whenever that does something?"
"Yeah. I think they call them 'Terrible Towels.'"
"You're darn right those things are terrible. They terribly clash with our orange seats. They're terrible to watch. We need something that will clash with that."
"How about a flag?"
"Perfect. A flag is better than a towel. What color should that flag be?"
(The closet Steeler fan working in the department, silently taking it all in, seizes his opportunity)
"Well, how about a WHITE flag? You know, because white should blind out the yellow."
"A white flag ..."
(The Steeler fan, who barely suppressed his or her laughter while saying that last word, holds his or her breath as that person's sure the suggestion will be laughed out of the room)
"... BRILLIANT! I like it. How about you, Johnson?"
"White flag sounds good. Anyone else?"
(unanimous grumbling about how a white flag sounds perfect)
"I'm sure Mr. Lerner and Mr. Holmgren will be pleased. Next game ..."
Well, unfortunately for the nincompoops that make up the Browns marketing department, Mr. Lerner and Mr. Holmgren aren't around anymore. Mr. Lerner was barely around to begin with, and Mr. Holmgren didn't seem too concerned about any matters that weren't football related.
Now, it's Mr. Haslam and Mr. Banner. And if Mr. Haslam and Mr. Banner had any decency, even though 50,000 of these ridiculous white flags have already been ordered, they would keep those things locked away on palates and not hand out anything.
Because NOTHING is better than a national joke.
This is my third year of being a Browns season ticket holder. If someone tries to hand me one of those ridiculous things, I either throw it on the ground in front of them, or I keep walking.
Because when I think of finally beating the hated Steelers, I think of 50,000 fans waving white flags in the crow to combat the sea of yellow from the black jersey-clad Yinzers and Northeast Ohio frontrunners.
The craxy part is, this may not be an isolated incident when it comes to the Browns marketing department, and why the man who made his fortune creating multipurpose truck stops needs to run these idiots all out of town and hire his own people.
He'll be hiring all his own people to run the football team next year from the head coach on down, why stop there?
According to ESPNCleveland.com, a story has been circulating about why the marketing department didn't sell any game-day programs to the season-opening game against the Eagles.
The Browns marketing department is in charge of the editing and printing of the game day programs. A source told the radio station that just hours before kickoff, someone in the communications department noticed that on the main roster centerfold, the first page everyone opens to in the program, the head coach’s name was spelled “Pat Schurmur.”
Yes, the head coaches name was spelled wrong.
As the team was scrambling to figure out an easy fix, the marketing department had a brilliant idea. They decided they would add a separate one page insert with a corrected roster. At the top of that insert, in bold letters it said, “Please disregard the misspelling of Pat Shurmur’s name on the original roster."
You can’t make this stuff up folks. The marketing department misspelled the most important person on the roster’s name and then, to cover it up, drew more attention to the mistake.
According to the article, the communications department pushed hard and finally got all programs pulled from the game before fans arrived. If you somehow got a hold of one of those, it might be worth some money someday.
Browns players are hoping the white flags idea doesn't come to fruition.
“I try to focus on the Steelers but I’m not a fan of the white flags,” middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said. “That’s the simplest way I can put it. I’m not a fan of it whatsoever knowing that we’ll see the terrible towels flying and it’s just not a message I like and I’m sure other guys don’t approve of.”
“I think I’m going to let D’Qwell speak for all of us,” added long-time kicker Phil Dawson, who has (literally) seen it all when it comes to the Browns. “When your mom told you growing up if you don’t have anything good to say, probably better not to say it, I think I am going to follow those words.”
If there is one positive to that story, it's that it is never too late to pull a mistake. Let's hope Haslam (or anybody for that matter) pulls the plug on this one, too.
The Browns were able to avoid one embarassment when they were able to convince the NFL to exempt them from the league-wide mandate to have a moment of silence for Dead Judas the Theiving One prior to that Eagles game. Hopefully, they can avoid another.
***
Speaking of waving the white flag, that's exactly what Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and president Gordon Gee decided to do when they decided to accept a berth to the Gator Bowl so their 6-6 Buckeyes with the lame-duck head coach could play Florida.
Taking that bowl game (and losing to suffer the very rare under-.500 season) allowed the NCAA to hand down a bowl ban for this season when they officially announced their sanctions agaisnt Ohio State for Tattoo-Gate.
So, a 6-6 team with a meaningless head coach and meaningless lame-duck coaching staff played in a meaningless bowl and lost, so that a potential 12-0 team with a fantastic head coach and fantastic coaching staff (except for the defense) can stay home instead of accepting a potential berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
Take a bow, Gene Smith! Take a bow!
Smith incredulously refused to believe that, had he self-imposed a bowl ban last year, the NCAA would not have given them one this year. He still maintains he did the right thing.
How this man has a high-profile job at a Division I university is one of life's great mysteries. How he didn't get run out of town along with Lord Tressel in the wake of Tattoo-Gate has baffled me ever since the scandal broke.
Then again, we have a guy working for the Cleveland Indians who traded back-to-back AL Cy Young award winners and not only got bubkiss for them, but wound up with a promotion. We have a head coach for the Cleveland Browns who was only an offensive coordinator for one season, and it was for a mediocre team. We have a marketing department that believes it is a great idea to hand out white flags to wave for a game against your most hated and bitter rival.
This is why Joe Cleveland should have his head examined for rooting for these teams. Apparently, shit does flow upstream in Ohio.
Please, for the love of God, can the Buckeyes and the Browns just do right on the field Saturday and Sunday against the teams this fanbase loves to hate? All of the above will go away, even if for just one day, week or month.
Here's hoping for some great news on ALL fronts come Monday.
O-H ... I-O!!!
Here we go, Brownies! Here we go! WOOF-WOOF!
And remember ...
We don't give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, cuz we're from Oh-Hi-O!
Finally ...
Only bitches wave little yellow towels! Beat Pittsburgh and the Three River Rednecks they brought with them!
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
An easy choice
Every couple of years, the planets and schedule-makers align to where, in back-to-back days on the same weekend, Ohio State is playing Michigan and the Browns are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Throw in the Cavs travelling to Miami to take on LeQuit and his Heat on Saturday night, and you have the makings of a very intense weekend for a Cleveland sports fan.
One notable time you had OSU-Michgan and Browns-Steelers on the same weekend was in 2006.
No. 1 Ohio State hosted No. 2 Michigan in a game for the ages, where Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith improved to 3-0 against That Team Up North with a 316-yard, 4-touchdown performance in a 42-39 victory at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 18.
The following day, the Browns squandered leads of 10-0, 13-3 and 20-10 (in the fourth quarter), as the Steelers scored 21 fourth-quarter points and won, 24-20, at Browns Stadium.
I'm sure it's happened quite a few times in history. And I can't remember when the last time both the Buckeyes and the Browns happened to beat their archrivals in the same weekend (although I'm sure it's happened before). It surely hasn't happened within the last 35 years. On Nov. 25, 1973, the Browns beat the Steelers, 21-16, and Ohio State and Michigan tied 10-10 the day before.
Actually, according to some Joe Cleveland research just now, I did find the last time the Browns and Buckeyes won on the same weekend. On Nov. 24, 1962, Ohio State blanked Michigan, 28-0, at the Horseshoe. The following day, at the old Cleveland Stadium, the Browns handled the Steelers, 35-14, behind a big day from the great Jim Brown. So, it's been a while.
Saturday is the 109th meeting between the two flagship schools in the Big Ten. Michigan leads the series, 58-43-6, although Ohio State has won 9 of the last 11 matchups against That Team Up North (8, if you want to factor in the 2010 game was officially vacated due to NCAA sanctions against the Buckeyes).
Sunday is the 121st meeting between the two oldest franchises in the AFC, including playoffs. The Steelers lead the series, 64-56, and have won 18 of the last 19 games against our beloved Brownies.
I can remember back in 2006, someone asked me if I had to pick one team beating their rival -- Ohio State or the Browns -- which one would it be. I easily answered the Browns. Folks were shocked. Keep in mind, the Buckeyes were the No. 1 team in the country and playing for a berth in the BCS Championship Game, while the Browns were on their way to another non-descript 4-12 season.
My answer was the Browns in 2006, and my answer in 2012 remains the Browns, even though the Buckeyes are playing for an undefeated 12-0 season (their first unbeaten season since the 2002 National Championship team) and an unofficial Big Ten championship (NCAA sanctions prevent Ohio State from playing in either the Big Ten Championship Game or a bowl game this season), while the Browns are heading for another 4-12 season.
My first reason -- my name is "Joe Cleveland," not "Joe Columbus."
Sure, I love the Buckeyes and I hate That Team Up North with every fiber of my being. However, I didn't go to Ohio State. I never lived in the Columbus-area. I have a cousin that goes to Ohio State, but that's about the extent of my family ties to that great university.
Meanwhile, I've lived in Northeast Ohio my entire life. I've loved the Browns since before I could walk. And as much as I love the Browns passionately, I hate the Steelers even more passionately. I used to have a second-favorite NFL team (growing up, it was the 49ers). Now, my second-favorite NFL team is the team that happens to be playing the Steelers. And yes, that even includes those Theiving Modells from Colt-ville.
You don't see many Michigan fans around these parts anymore (most of them donated their Maize and Blue after Jim Tressel came to town and turned the rivalry on its ear. Translation -- most local Michigan fans are frontrunners, and quietly switched sides when Ohio State started winning). Meanwhile, there are Steeler fans all over the place around here (like the local Michigan fans, local Steeler fans are nothing but frontrunners who all were Browns fans during the Bernie Kosar years but switched when the Steelers started winning Super Bowls again and started dominating the Browns).
Local Steeler fans are the most annoying group of fans I've ever witnessed. They talk about the six rings. They sing praises about their rapist quarterback. They wear their Steeler gear everywhere or plaster it on their cars. You usually see them gather at a local sports bar because the Steeler game is blacked out for the Browns game. This is why I quit going to local sports bars to watch the games every Sunday -- it got too damn annoying and I really didn't want to get into any fights.
If the Steelers beat the Browns again, those front-running idiots will be out in full force, waving their little yellow towels and talking about how much their hometown team sucks and how us Browns fans are all idiots. Meanwhile, if Michigan beats the Buckeyes, sure, a couple of frontrunners will suddenly find that Desmond Howard Heisman Trophy shirt from the early 1990s up their attic in mothballs and put it on, but it's on a lesser scale.
My final reason -- Ohio State fans EXPECT to beat Michigan this Saturday. Browns fans HOPE to beat the Steelers this Sunday. There is a difference.
Sure, an Ohio State win and a Browns loss will be a nice consolation prize. There would be nothing worse than both of these teams losing to their most hated rivals within days of each other, so I'll take one over nothing. But, locally, a Browns win would trump a Buckeyes win.
On sports talk, all you'd hear during the week would be Browns fans finally talking trash to their Steeler counterparts. People would wonder if Pat Shurmur was finally turning the corner.
Eric Mangini saved his job in 2009 when his Browns upset the Steelers on a brutally cold Thursday night in Cleveland. A win over the Steelers this Sunday may not be enough for Shurmur. However, that 2009 kicked off four consecutive wins to end the season and propel some optimism (that went away late in 2010 when Mangini's team lost their last four games and he was fired). A win over a Steeler team -- even one that is down to starting their third-string quarterback -- 37-year-old Charlie Batch -- and is so banged up, they brought a 35-year-old Plaxico Burress out of quasi-retirement to play receiver -- would boost the civic pride and may propel this Browns team on a similar streak to end the season.
So, in a perfect world, Joe Cleveland wants to party like it's 1962 -- celebrating a Buckeyes win over Michigan and a Browns win over the Steelers. But, if I had to have just one, I'd choose the Browns 10 times out of 10 times.
And, if an injury-depleted Cavs team can beat LeQuit and the Heat, I'd be a very happy Joe Cleveland on this Thanksgiving weekend. But, let's not get too carried away.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Throw in the Cavs travelling to Miami to take on LeQuit and his Heat on Saturday night, and you have the makings of a very intense weekend for a Cleveland sports fan.
One notable time you had OSU-Michgan and Browns-Steelers on the same weekend was in 2006.
No. 1 Ohio State hosted No. 2 Michigan in a game for the ages, where Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith improved to 3-0 against That Team Up North with a 316-yard, 4-touchdown performance in a 42-39 victory at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 18.
The following day, the Browns squandered leads of 10-0, 13-3 and 20-10 (in the fourth quarter), as the Steelers scored 21 fourth-quarter points and won, 24-20, at Browns Stadium.
I'm sure it's happened quite a few times in history. And I can't remember when the last time both the Buckeyes and the Browns happened to beat their archrivals in the same weekend (although I'm sure it's happened before). It surely hasn't happened within the last 35 years. On Nov. 25, 1973, the Browns beat the Steelers, 21-16, and Ohio State and Michigan tied 10-10 the day before.
Actually, according to some Joe Cleveland research just now, I did find the last time the Browns and Buckeyes won on the same weekend. On Nov. 24, 1962, Ohio State blanked Michigan, 28-0, at the Horseshoe. The following day, at the old Cleveland Stadium, the Browns handled the Steelers, 35-14, behind a big day from the great Jim Brown. So, it's been a while.
Saturday is the 109th meeting between the two flagship schools in the Big Ten. Michigan leads the series, 58-43-6, although Ohio State has won 9 of the last 11 matchups against That Team Up North (8, if you want to factor in the 2010 game was officially vacated due to NCAA sanctions against the Buckeyes).
Sunday is the 121st meeting between the two oldest franchises in the AFC, including playoffs. The Steelers lead the series, 64-56, and have won 18 of the last 19 games against our beloved Brownies.
I can remember back in 2006, someone asked me if I had to pick one team beating their rival -- Ohio State or the Browns -- which one would it be. I easily answered the Browns. Folks were shocked. Keep in mind, the Buckeyes were the No. 1 team in the country and playing for a berth in the BCS Championship Game, while the Browns were on their way to another non-descript 4-12 season.
My answer was the Browns in 2006, and my answer in 2012 remains the Browns, even though the Buckeyes are playing for an undefeated 12-0 season (their first unbeaten season since the 2002 National Championship team) and an unofficial Big Ten championship (NCAA sanctions prevent Ohio State from playing in either the Big Ten Championship Game or a bowl game this season), while the Browns are heading for another 4-12 season.
My first reason -- my name is "Joe Cleveland," not "Joe Columbus."
Sure, I love the Buckeyes and I hate That Team Up North with every fiber of my being. However, I didn't go to Ohio State. I never lived in the Columbus-area. I have a cousin that goes to Ohio State, but that's about the extent of my family ties to that great university.
Meanwhile, I've lived in Northeast Ohio my entire life. I've loved the Browns since before I could walk. And as much as I love the Browns passionately, I hate the Steelers even more passionately. I used to have a second-favorite NFL team (growing up, it was the 49ers). Now, my second-favorite NFL team is the team that happens to be playing the Steelers. And yes, that even includes those Theiving Modells from Colt-ville.
You don't see many Michigan fans around these parts anymore (most of them donated their Maize and Blue after Jim Tressel came to town and turned the rivalry on its ear. Translation -- most local Michigan fans are frontrunners, and quietly switched sides when Ohio State started winning). Meanwhile, there are Steeler fans all over the place around here (like the local Michigan fans, local Steeler fans are nothing but frontrunners who all were Browns fans during the Bernie Kosar years but switched when the Steelers started winning Super Bowls again and started dominating the Browns).
Local Steeler fans are the most annoying group of fans I've ever witnessed. They talk about the six rings. They sing praises about their rapist quarterback. They wear their Steeler gear everywhere or plaster it on their cars. You usually see them gather at a local sports bar because the Steeler game is blacked out for the Browns game. This is why I quit going to local sports bars to watch the games every Sunday -- it got too damn annoying and I really didn't want to get into any fights.
If the Steelers beat the Browns again, those front-running idiots will be out in full force, waving their little yellow towels and talking about how much their hometown team sucks and how us Browns fans are all idiots. Meanwhile, if Michigan beats the Buckeyes, sure, a couple of frontrunners will suddenly find that Desmond Howard Heisman Trophy shirt from the early 1990s up their attic in mothballs and put it on, but it's on a lesser scale.
My final reason -- Ohio State fans EXPECT to beat Michigan this Saturday. Browns fans HOPE to beat the Steelers this Sunday. There is a difference.
Sure, an Ohio State win and a Browns loss will be a nice consolation prize. There would be nothing worse than both of these teams losing to their most hated rivals within days of each other, so I'll take one over nothing. But, locally, a Browns win would trump a Buckeyes win.
On sports talk, all you'd hear during the week would be Browns fans finally talking trash to their Steeler counterparts. People would wonder if Pat Shurmur was finally turning the corner.
Eric Mangini saved his job in 2009 when his Browns upset the Steelers on a brutally cold Thursday night in Cleveland. A win over the Steelers this Sunday may not be enough for Shurmur. However, that 2009 kicked off four consecutive wins to end the season and propel some optimism (that went away late in 2010 when Mangini's team lost their last four games and he was fired). A win over a Steeler team -- even one that is down to starting their third-string quarterback -- 37-year-old Charlie Batch -- and is so banged up, they brought a 35-year-old Plaxico Burress out of quasi-retirement to play receiver -- would boost the civic pride and may propel this Browns team on a similar streak to end the season.
So, in a perfect world, Joe Cleveland wants to party like it's 1962 -- celebrating a Buckeyes win over Michigan and a Browns win over the Steelers. But, if I had to have just one, I'd choose the Browns 10 times out of 10 times.
And, if an injury-depleted Cavs team can beat LeQuit and the Heat, I'd be a very happy Joe Cleveland on this Thanksgiving weekend. But, let's not get too carried away.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Shurmur's Replacements
Before we get going, wasn't it refreshing to see the owner of the Cleveland Browns during a telecast of the football game?
Seeing him was enough (especially since we never saw Randy Lerner). But seeing him give genuine emotion during the game? Times, they are a changing, my friends.
Jimmy Haslam III's body language during Sunday's game in Indianapolis told Joe Cleveland a lot about what he thinks about the coach he inherited, Pat Shurmur.
It now leads me to believe that the question is no longer "if" Shurmur will be fired at the end of the season, it now becomes "when."
As in, will Haslam fire Shurmur next week? At the bye week? With two weeks to go in the regular season? In the locker room following the season finale?
Mike Holmgren is on his way out the door. Shurmur's fresh out of friends. Sure, new CEO Joe Banner knew Shurmur when the latter was an assistant coach on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia, but that may not be the best thing for Shurmur.
Shurmur's only won five games in a year-and-a-half. Shurmur has an 11-game losing streak to his credit. Shurmur has made countless coaching blunders during games that have cost his teams a chance to win.
I'll let this one sink in for you ... Shurmur was outcoached yesterday by an interim coach. Bruce Arians (remember him as the offensive coordinator who perpetuated the Tim Couch-Kelly Holcomb controversy back in the early 2000s) outcoached Pat Shurmur.
Joe Cleveland woke up Monday fully expecting to see a banner headline on Cleveland.com saying that Shurmur was fired. It would not have surprised me.
Sure, Shurmur could still save his job. But this team is 1-6 and lost to a very beatable Colts team. Coaching decisions, such as the decision to punt on fourth-and-1 from the Indy 40 with six minutes left (then going for it from the same yard line but fourth-and-six), kicking the extra point instead of going for the potential game-tying 2-point conversion after Josh Gordon's touchdown to start the third quarter, and essentially abandoning the run game against a very weak run defense in a game that within one possession the majority of the game will come back to haunt him.
Shurmur would have to win at least five more games over the remaining nine to even be in the discussion to come back. I believe that he would have to sweep the Steelers as well. Can it be done? There are some winnable games on the schedule -- the Chiefs, the Redskins, the Raiders, the Steelers (both), the Ravens and the Chargers are all winnable games. That's seven of the remaining nine games, so it's not as if they're having to play the Patriots, Packers, Falcons, Texans and 49ers.
The only two games on the schedule that look like definite losses are the Cowboys and the Broncos on the road. Even the Cowboys look beatable.
Will it be done? Even with a roster of up-and-coming talent that has been competitive each and every week, I don't think it will.
So, let's get the ball rolling and see who could be on the short list of guys to replace Shurmur. Mike Holmgren essentially took himself out of the equation by retiring at the end of this season, and I can't see existing assistants with head coaching experience such as Brad Childress and Dick Jauron being legitimate candidates.
Haslam and Banner will want a proven head coach that can turn this collection of talent into a perennial winner, or at lease someone with a winning background. Here's who could be on that list:
1. Jon Gruden, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst: Gruden, a Sandusky native who grew up as a Browns fan, was everyone's No. 1 choice two years ago when Holmgren fired Eric Mangini. Gruden was from the Holmgren coaching tree and the two remained close through the years. Gruden turned a struggling Raiders franchise into a winner then left after a falling out with owner Al Davis. He landed in Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl (over the Raiders) in his first season there, giving the perennial losing Bucs their first Super Bowl berth and title. He kept the Bucs a perennnial winner, but was fired in 2008 after his team missed the playoffs. For whatever reason (ego?), Holmgren decided to go the unproven route (a decision that greased his skids out of town). But the time may be right for Gruden to get back into coaching. He's also high on current rookie QB Brandon Weeden, and he may look forward to working with him. Gruden has ring, the local pedigree and the big name to get people talking.
2. Bill Cowher, CBS NFL analyst: Cowher is always on Browns fans' radars whenever they make a coaching change. He'll always be the one that got away in a lot of fans' eyes when the Dead Judas passed on the former Browns linebacker and defensive assistant for Bill Belichick back in 1991. The next year, Cowher was hired to replace Chuck Noll at Pittsburgh, and he immediately turned around a franchise that was stagnant under Noll back into a contender. Cowher was always a thorn in the Browns' side, but, like his mentor Marty Schottenheimer, his Steeler teams were prone to a big playoff choke every single year. He finally got that monkey off his back in his second-to-last year when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005. Since he stepped down, he's been a fixture on CBS's Sunday game-day telecasts. At least once, Cowher turned down Randy Lerner to be the Browns head coach and he has not given any indication that he would be interested in returning. Also, Haslam's Steeler ties occurred AFTER Cowher left, so they do not have a prior relationship. Do I think Cowher would come to Cleveland? Probably not. But, as long as there is a coaching vacancy, you have to include him on any short list.
3. Nick Saban, Alabama head coach: Saban's name has suddenly become hot rumored commodity, especially after Saban's interview for the NFL Network documentary "Cleveland 95: A Football Life," in which he waxes poetically about his time as the Browns defensive coordinator under Belichick and how close that team was to becoming a winner. Saban left the Browns to become Michigan State's head coach, and he has been very successful there, at Louisiana State (a national championship in 2006) and at Alabama (two national championships in 2008 and 2011 and potentially a third this year). In between LSU and Alabama, there was a forgettable two-year stint as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06, in which his teams went 15-17. Saban's track record shows a guy who doesn't like to get settled down in one place too long, and he may feel the time is right for a return to the pro game. With his former Tide star Trent Richardson as the cornerstone of the Browns' offense, and with Haslam's deep checkbook, Saban could come here. But, let's take a moment and remember the last college coach that came here, Butch Davis, and how well that four-year stint went. Just because a guy was successful in college doesn't mean that will translate to the pros.
4. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles head coach: Reid's hot seat in Philly keeps getting hotter the more his team loses games. His firing of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo at the bye week reeked of a desperation move. He came very close to losing his job last year after going 8-8 despite a ton of high profile free agent signings that bolstered both defense and the offense. He's only been to one Super Bowl in his 10 years in Philly, so it may be title or bust for him. Banner worked closely with Reid at the Eagles, although their relationship was strained at best (according to some reports). Reid also worked with current Browns GM Tom Heckert, although Reid had final say on the roster. Reid may keep a lot of the assistant coaches because of his familiarity with them and may keep up some of continuity. Reid's a proven winner (129-83-1), but he's never won a championship.
5. Brian Billick, FOX NFL/college game analyst: If Cowher's the one that got away for the old Browns, Billick is the one that got away for the expansion era. Billick quickly emerged as Carmen Policy's No. 1 candidate to be the head coach of the new Browns. After his Vikings were upset in the NFC Championship game by the Atlanta Falcons, then-GM Dwight Clark was whisked to Minneapolis on Al Lerner's private jet with a contract for Billick to sign. However, Billick wanted to meet with the Ravens first and talk about their opening. An insulted Policy yanked the offer away from Billick and watched him agree to become the Ravens coach. He quickly turned Baltimore's fortunes around, winning the Super Bowl in just his second year and turning the franchise into a perennial winner. The Browns may have cost him his job in 2007, when they memorably swept his Ravens and knocked them into a losing season. Since then, he has not been a serious candidate for any head coaching openings. Who knows if he has the itch, but his familiarity with the AFC North Division (especially the Ravens) would make him a legitimate candidate if he decided to test the waters. Plus, he has a ring and his name is recognizable. Oh, and did I mention he was an Ohio native (Fairborn)?
6. Jim Tressel, University of Akron vice president: Tressel is like a modern-day Paul Brown when it comes to Ohio football coaches. Tressel, after turning Youngstown State into a perennnial Division I-AA (FCS) powerhouse, winning four national championships in the 80s and 90s, came to Ohio State and immediatly won the school's first national championship since 1968 (well, in his second year, but it was pretty close to immediate). He coached the Buckeyes to two other national championship games and always had his program on the verge of national contention. His teams owned the Michigan rivalry, only losing once from 2001-10. However, he was forced out following a scandal involving several of his players selling their memorablilia (such as trophies) for tattoos. Last season, he served as a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts and was interviewed for their head coaching job (which wound up going to Chuck Pagano). The NCAA has barred him from accepting another college head coaching job for the next five years. He stated many times that the one NFL job he would even consider leaving Ohio State for was the Browns job, because he grew up in Berea and was still a die-hard Browns fan. He was even linked to the job twice during Romeo Crennel's up-and-down four-year tenure, but was never a serious candidate. While his style may be best suited for college players, there's no denying that he's a winner. Plus, he'd be a very popular choice with the fans -- many still think he got a raw deal even though it was proven that he lied to NCAA investigators.
7. Tony Dungy, NBC Sunday Night Football analyst: Dungy, like Cowher, Gruden and Billick, has found a home on television following his retirement from being the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts following the 2008 season. Since then, Dungy has been a fixture on NBC's Football Night in America highlight show and on the SNF postgame studio show. Dungy was in the process of turning Tampa Bay's football fortunes around from 1996-2001 before he was mysteriously fired (and replaced by Jon Gruden, who promptly won a Super Bowl with his players). Indy snapped him up to replace Jim Mora, and, with the help of Peyton Manning, rode a wave of prosperity with the Colts from 2002-08, even winning the Super Bowl in 2006 and building a team that got to the Super Bowl a year after he stepped down. Dungy, a former Steeler player and assistant coach, is one of the most respected figures in professional football today and would bring instant credibility to this franchise. However, it appears he's comfortable as a TV analyst and hasn't leaked any indication of a possible return to coaching. He'd be worth talking to, though.
8. Kevin Gilbride, New York Giants offensive coordinator: As the architect of the Giants' offense, Gilbride has won two Super Bowl championships over the last five years and has the chance to win a third this season. Gilbride is one of the most respected offensive minds in the NFL, dating back to his Run-&-Shoot offensive scheme with the Houston Oilers in the early 1990s. However, as a head coach, he didn't cut the mustard, going 6-16 during his two years as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers (1996-98). Gilbride may be one of those guys who is just cut out to be a top-level assistant but not ready to be a head coach. However, the work he's done with the Giants lately has seemingly put him back on the radar for head coaching gigs. He's arguably the top candidate among current assistant coaches. If the Giants reach the Super Bowl again, his name will definitely be a hot commodity.
9. Philip Fulmer, CBS college football analyst: I throw Fulmer's name on this list because he's a coaching legend from the University of Tennessee. Haslam's father was a football player for the Volunteers, and the Haslam family is one of Tennessee's biggest athletic boosters and a very influential family down there. Fulmer won Tennessee's only BCS National Championship in 1997, and his Volunteers are still the last SEC team to win back-to-back conference championships (1997-98). Fulmer hasn't coached anyone since Tennessee fired him after a 5-7 season in 2008, but he has said that he hasn't ruled out a return to coaching. I refer to my earlier statement on college coaches making the transition to the NFL, and, if any college coach makes the jump, it's likely to be Saban. Also, Fulmer has never even been an NFL assistant coach. But, anything's possible.
10. Dom Capers, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator: Capers has had a sketchy track record as an NFL head coach. In two four-year stints with the Carolina Panthers (1995-98) and the Houston Texans (2002-05), his record is just 48-80. However, he did take over two expansion franchises, and his Panthers reached the NFC Championship game in just his second year. However, that 1996 season was his only winning season as a head coach. His defenses were always tough, but his offenses were conservative and lackluster. Capers is an Ohio native (Byesville) who played collegiately at Mount Union and also served as an assistant coach with both Kent State (1972-74) and Ohio State (1982-83), so he has some Ohio ties. He was also the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1992-94 under Cowher. His Packers' units are known to be among the top defenses in the NFL. However, he did win a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2010 and could very well do it again this year. His background in the 3-4 defense clashes with the Browns' current desire to go with a 4-3.
HONORABLE MENTION: Urban Meyer, Ohio State head coach; Aaron Kromer, New Orleans Saints interim head coach; Todd Haley, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator; Herman Edwards, NFL Network analyst; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach; Jay Gruden, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator; Wade Phillips, Houston Texans defensive coordinator; Joe Vitt, New Orleans Saints assistant head coach; Rob Ryan, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.
There is no shortage of legitimate candidates to be the next Browns head coach, one that would surely get the fans excited and help put this team over the hump.
And, I've got to say, I would prefer anyone on this list over Pat Shurmur.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Seeing him was enough (especially since we never saw Randy Lerner). But seeing him give genuine emotion during the game? Times, they are a changing, my friends.
Jimmy Haslam III's body language during Sunday's game in Indianapolis told Joe Cleveland a lot about what he thinks about the coach he inherited, Pat Shurmur.
It now leads me to believe that the question is no longer "if" Shurmur will be fired at the end of the season, it now becomes "when."
As in, will Haslam fire Shurmur next week? At the bye week? With two weeks to go in the regular season? In the locker room following the season finale?
Mike Holmgren is on his way out the door. Shurmur's fresh out of friends. Sure, new CEO Joe Banner knew Shurmur when the latter was an assistant coach on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia, but that may not be the best thing for Shurmur.
Shurmur's only won five games in a year-and-a-half. Shurmur has an 11-game losing streak to his credit. Shurmur has made countless coaching blunders during games that have cost his teams a chance to win.
I'll let this one sink in for you ... Shurmur was outcoached yesterday by an interim coach. Bruce Arians (remember him as the offensive coordinator who perpetuated the Tim Couch-Kelly Holcomb controversy back in the early 2000s) outcoached Pat Shurmur.
Joe Cleveland woke up Monday fully expecting to see a banner headline on Cleveland.com saying that Shurmur was fired. It would not have surprised me.
Sure, Shurmur could still save his job. But this team is 1-6 and lost to a very beatable Colts team. Coaching decisions, such as the decision to punt on fourth-and-1 from the Indy 40 with six minutes left (then going for it from the same yard line but fourth-and-six), kicking the extra point instead of going for the potential game-tying 2-point conversion after Josh Gordon's touchdown to start the third quarter, and essentially abandoning the run game against a very weak run defense in a game that within one possession the majority of the game will come back to haunt him.
Shurmur would have to win at least five more games over the remaining nine to even be in the discussion to come back. I believe that he would have to sweep the Steelers as well. Can it be done? There are some winnable games on the schedule -- the Chiefs, the Redskins, the Raiders, the Steelers (both), the Ravens and the Chargers are all winnable games. That's seven of the remaining nine games, so it's not as if they're having to play the Patriots, Packers, Falcons, Texans and 49ers.
The only two games on the schedule that look like definite losses are the Cowboys and the Broncos on the road. Even the Cowboys look beatable.
Will it be done? Even with a roster of up-and-coming talent that has been competitive each and every week, I don't think it will.
So, let's get the ball rolling and see who could be on the short list of guys to replace Shurmur. Mike Holmgren essentially took himself out of the equation by retiring at the end of this season, and I can't see existing assistants with head coaching experience such as Brad Childress and Dick Jauron being legitimate candidates.
Haslam and Banner will want a proven head coach that can turn this collection of talent into a perennial winner, or at lease someone with a winning background. Here's who could be on that list:
1. Jon Gruden, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst: Gruden, a Sandusky native who grew up as a Browns fan, was everyone's No. 1 choice two years ago when Holmgren fired Eric Mangini. Gruden was from the Holmgren coaching tree and the two remained close through the years. Gruden turned a struggling Raiders franchise into a winner then left after a falling out with owner Al Davis. He landed in Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl (over the Raiders) in his first season there, giving the perennial losing Bucs their first Super Bowl berth and title. He kept the Bucs a perennnial winner, but was fired in 2008 after his team missed the playoffs. For whatever reason (ego?), Holmgren decided to go the unproven route (a decision that greased his skids out of town). But the time may be right for Gruden to get back into coaching. He's also high on current rookie QB Brandon Weeden, and he may look forward to working with him. Gruden has ring, the local pedigree and the big name to get people talking.
2. Bill Cowher, CBS NFL analyst: Cowher is always on Browns fans' radars whenever they make a coaching change. He'll always be the one that got away in a lot of fans' eyes when the Dead Judas passed on the former Browns linebacker and defensive assistant for Bill Belichick back in 1991. The next year, Cowher was hired to replace Chuck Noll at Pittsburgh, and he immediately turned around a franchise that was stagnant under Noll back into a contender. Cowher was always a thorn in the Browns' side, but, like his mentor Marty Schottenheimer, his Steeler teams were prone to a big playoff choke every single year. He finally got that monkey off his back in his second-to-last year when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005. Since he stepped down, he's been a fixture on CBS's Sunday game-day telecasts. At least once, Cowher turned down Randy Lerner to be the Browns head coach and he has not given any indication that he would be interested in returning. Also, Haslam's Steeler ties occurred AFTER Cowher left, so they do not have a prior relationship. Do I think Cowher would come to Cleveland? Probably not. But, as long as there is a coaching vacancy, you have to include him on any short list.
3. Nick Saban, Alabama head coach: Saban's name has suddenly become hot rumored commodity, especially after Saban's interview for the NFL Network documentary "Cleveland 95: A Football Life," in which he waxes poetically about his time as the Browns defensive coordinator under Belichick and how close that team was to becoming a winner. Saban left the Browns to become Michigan State's head coach, and he has been very successful there, at Louisiana State (a national championship in 2006) and at Alabama (two national championships in 2008 and 2011 and potentially a third this year). In between LSU and Alabama, there was a forgettable two-year stint as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06, in which his teams went 15-17. Saban's track record shows a guy who doesn't like to get settled down in one place too long, and he may feel the time is right for a return to the pro game. With his former Tide star Trent Richardson as the cornerstone of the Browns' offense, and with Haslam's deep checkbook, Saban could come here. But, let's take a moment and remember the last college coach that came here, Butch Davis, and how well that four-year stint went. Just because a guy was successful in college doesn't mean that will translate to the pros.
4. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles head coach: Reid's hot seat in Philly keeps getting hotter the more his team loses games. His firing of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo at the bye week reeked of a desperation move. He came very close to losing his job last year after going 8-8 despite a ton of high profile free agent signings that bolstered both defense and the offense. He's only been to one Super Bowl in his 10 years in Philly, so it may be title or bust for him. Banner worked closely with Reid at the Eagles, although their relationship was strained at best (according to some reports). Reid also worked with current Browns GM Tom Heckert, although Reid had final say on the roster. Reid may keep a lot of the assistant coaches because of his familiarity with them and may keep up some of continuity. Reid's a proven winner (129-83-1), but he's never won a championship.
5. Brian Billick, FOX NFL/college game analyst: If Cowher's the one that got away for the old Browns, Billick is the one that got away for the expansion era. Billick quickly emerged as Carmen Policy's No. 1 candidate to be the head coach of the new Browns. After his Vikings were upset in the NFC Championship game by the Atlanta Falcons, then-GM Dwight Clark was whisked to Minneapolis on Al Lerner's private jet with a contract for Billick to sign. However, Billick wanted to meet with the Ravens first and talk about their opening. An insulted Policy yanked the offer away from Billick and watched him agree to become the Ravens coach. He quickly turned Baltimore's fortunes around, winning the Super Bowl in just his second year and turning the franchise into a perennial winner. The Browns may have cost him his job in 2007, when they memorably swept his Ravens and knocked them into a losing season. Since then, he has not been a serious candidate for any head coaching openings. Who knows if he has the itch, but his familiarity with the AFC North Division (especially the Ravens) would make him a legitimate candidate if he decided to test the waters. Plus, he has a ring and his name is recognizable. Oh, and did I mention he was an Ohio native (Fairborn)?
6. Jim Tressel, University of Akron vice president: Tressel is like a modern-day Paul Brown when it comes to Ohio football coaches. Tressel, after turning Youngstown State into a perennnial Division I-AA (FCS) powerhouse, winning four national championships in the 80s and 90s, came to Ohio State and immediatly won the school's first national championship since 1968 (well, in his second year, but it was pretty close to immediate). He coached the Buckeyes to two other national championship games and always had his program on the verge of national contention. His teams owned the Michigan rivalry, only losing once from 2001-10. However, he was forced out following a scandal involving several of his players selling their memorablilia (such as trophies) for tattoos. Last season, he served as a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts and was interviewed for their head coaching job (which wound up going to Chuck Pagano). The NCAA has barred him from accepting another college head coaching job for the next five years. He stated many times that the one NFL job he would even consider leaving Ohio State for was the Browns job, because he grew up in Berea and was still a die-hard Browns fan. He was even linked to the job twice during Romeo Crennel's up-and-down four-year tenure, but was never a serious candidate. While his style may be best suited for college players, there's no denying that he's a winner. Plus, he'd be a very popular choice with the fans -- many still think he got a raw deal even though it was proven that he lied to NCAA investigators.
7. Tony Dungy, NBC Sunday Night Football analyst: Dungy, like Cowher, Gruden and Billick, has found a home on television following his retirement from being the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts following the 2008 season. Since then, Dungy has been a fixture on NBC's Football Night in America highlight show and on the SNF postgame studio show. Dungy was in the process of turning Tampa Bay's football fortunes around from 1996-2001 before he was mysteriously fired (and replaced by Jon Gruden, who promptly won a Super Bowl with his players). Indy snapped him up to replace Jim Mora, and, with the help of Peyton Manning, rode a wave of prosperity with the Colts from 2002-08, even winning the Super Bowl in 2006 and building a team that got to the Super Bowl a year after he stepped down. Dungy, a former Steeler player and assistant coach, is one of the most respected figures in professional football today and would bring instant credibility to this franchise. However, it appears he's comfortable as a TV analyst and hasn't leaked any indication of a possible return to coaching. He'd be worth talking to, though.
8. Kevin Gilbride, New York Giants offensive coordinator: As the architect of the Giants' offense, Gilbride has won two Super Bowl championships over the last five years and has the chance to win a third this season. Gilbride is one of the most respected offensive minds in the NFL, dating back to his Run-&-Shoot offensive scheme with the Houston Oilers in the early 1990s. However, as a head coach, he didn't cut the mustard, going 6-16 during his two years as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers (1996-98). Gilbride may be one of those guys who is just cut out to be a top-level assistant but not ready to be a head coach. However, the work he's done with the Giants lately has seemingly put him back on the radar for head coaching gigs. He's arguably the top candidate among current assistant coaches. If the Giants reach the Super Bowl again, his name will definitely be a hot commodity.
9. Philip Fulmer, CBS college football analyst: I throw Fulmer's name on this list because he's a coaching legend from the University of Tennessee. Haslam's father was a football player for the Volunteers, and the Haslam family is one of Tennessee's biggest athletic boosters and a very influential family down there. Fulmer won Tennessee's only BCS National Championship in 1997, and his Volunteers are still the last SEC team to win back-to-back conference championships (1997-98). Fulmer hasn't coached anyone since Tennessee fired him after a 5-7 season in 2008, but he has said that he hasn't ruled out a return to coaching. I refer to my earlier statement on college coaches making the transition to the NFL, and, if any college coach makes the jump, it's likely to be Saban. Also, Fulmer has never even been an NFL assistant coach. But, anything's possible.
10. Dom Capers, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator: Capers has had a sketchy track record as an NFL head coach. In two four-year stints with the Carolina Panthers (1995-98) and the Houston Texans (2002-05), his record is just 48-80. However, he did take over two expansion franchises, and his Panthers reached the NFC Championship game in just his second year. However, that 1996 season was his only winning season as a head coach. His defenses were always tough, but his offenses were conservative and lackluster. Capers is an Ohio native (Byesville) who played collegiately at Mount Union and also served as an assistant coach with both Kent State (1972-74) and Ohio State (1982-83), so he has some Ohio ties. He was also the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1992-94 under Cowher. His Packers' units are known to be among the top defenses in the NFL. However, he did win a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2010 and could very well do it again this year. His background in the 3-4 defense clashes with the Browns' current desire to go with a 4-3.
HONORABLE MENTION: Urban Meyer, Ohio State head coach; Aaron Kromer, New Orleans Saints interim head coach; Todd Haley, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator; Herman Edwards, NFL Network analyst; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach; Jay Gruden, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator; Wade Phillips, Houston Texans defensive coordinator; Joe Vitt, New Orleans Saints assistant head coach; Rob Ryan, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.
There is no shortage of legitimate candidates to be the next Browns head coach, one that would surely get the fans excited and help put this team over the hump.
And, I've got to say, I would prefer anyone on this list over Pat Shurmur.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Great week for Cleveland
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Today caps a fantastic week for Cleveland sports.
And the Browns snapping their 11-game losing streak just like they snapped their last 11-game skid -- with a home win over the Bengals -- was only part of it.
You can start with the Indians decision to fire Manny Acta and give Sandy Alomar the interim job for the last week of the regular season. He went 3-3 and his teams showed some fight that had been missing since ... well, arguably, since May.
Give the Indians credit for acting fast when it came to a new manager. They targeted two candidates -- Alomar and former Red Sox manager and Indians player/front office member Terry Francona -- interviewed them, made their decision, and hired who they feel is the best man for the job.
That man was Francona, who comes to town with two World Series rings on his fingers from his time with the Red Sox. One of those rings (2007) came at the expense of the Indians. Both of those ended a long streak of no championships for a town that lives and dies with their baseball team. The so-called "Curse of the Bambino," if you will, is no more.
With his seat getting hotter and hotter, Pat Shurmur (now easily third on the depth chart of professional coaches in this town behind Byron Scott and Francona) coached his beleagured Browns to a much-needed victory in their most complete performance since Shurmur took over. 34-24, and it honestly wasn't that close. A garbage TD pass by the Bengals cut the Browns lead from 17 to 10, and a cluch sack/forced fumble by Emmanuel Stephens with the Bengals in the red zone, which was recovered and returned 40 yards by Billy Wynn, thwarted any nonsense about a fourth-quarter meltdown.
The defense picked off three Andy "Ginger" Dalton passes. One of which was by the returning Joe Haden, whose impact was immediately felt in the defense. Another was a pick-six from veteran Sheldon Brown that cemented the Browns' victory.
Brandon Weeden, who you either love or hate (depending on which type of Browns fan you are), shut up a lot of his dectractors with a solid two-touchdown, 290-yard performance. His only interception came off a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage on the Browns' first offensive possession. He clearly outplayed Dalton Sunday.
Montario Hardesty, who many Browns fans were wondering why he even still had a job after not getting any playing time in the four previous games, had to spell an injured Trent Richardson and responded with 54 huge second-half yards and his first pro touchdown. Hardesty played his butt off.
The win has sent Cleveland fans riding a wave of euphoria not seen in a while, and that wave was only extended today when Jimmy Haslam III (see the above video) was unanimously approved as the new owner of the Cleveland Browns.
You can't help but love this guy. He's the first owner this team has had that truly "gets it" since Mickey McBride sold the team in the 1950s to David Jones. Say what you will about the Dead Judas, but I can't recall ever hearing him refer to the Cleveland Browns as "YOUR Cleveland Browns." His selfish move to the land of crabcakes proves that point.
Haslam has been a fixture at Browns headquarters since he first agreed in principle to buy the team from the Lerner Family in early August. He's been at every game. He's been in the locker room. He's been talking to everybody -- the media, the out-of-town media, the coaches, the front office, other NFL owners, you name it. You can probably count on one hand how many times Randy Lerner was spotted at Browns headquarters last year.
This is nothing about Randy Lerner, who I believe is a huge Browns fan and truly cared about the team. He just didn't want to be a team owner and didn't deal with the pressures of that, especially in a city and region such as this one that lives and dies with every Browns snap.
Simply throwing money at people to try to fix it became tiring. His lastest splurge -- five years and $40 million to Mike Holmgren -- will wind up being a wasted purchase.
Holmgren may have brought in some pieces, such as general manager Tom Heckert, to overhaul the Browns roster and add more talent and playmakers. However, his handling of the head coaching position -- from leaving Eric Mangini around for the first year when it was clear to everyone their philosophies would not mesh to hiring the untested Pat Shurmur and letting him twist in the wind for two miserable seasons -- will be his downfall here in town.
Holmgren's ego wouldn't allow him to bring in a head coach with cred. But yet, he didn't want to coach the team himself. Instead of helping out Shurmur, who clearly wasn't ready to be an NFL head coach, he disappeared to Seattle and was rarely around. He was more hands-on with Mangini was the head coach than he was his second year.
Holmgren essentially owned an NFL team without every having to purchase one. Hell, he was given $40 million to own a team. He had carte-blanche to do as he pleased because he didn't have any accountability. He was working for an absentee owner who didn't want to be bothered.
That changed when Lerner finally found a buyer in Jimmy Haslam. Haslam didn't need someone to go to the owners meetings for him or run the franchise for him. He plans on doing that himself.
Suddenly, Holmgren became expendable. Haslam's been around more than Holmgren has this year, and Haslam didn't officially own the team until today.
So, his retirement, which Haslam announced within the first minute of his introductary press conference, wasn't much of a surprise. He'll finish off the year working with the new CEO, Joe Banner, and helping Banner and Haslam transition to their positions of power. Then, he'll ride his Harley off into the sunset, or somewhere near the Puget Sound.
Regardless of what Haslam and Banner decide to do with Heckert and Shurmur in the offseason, it's apparent Haslam wants to turn the Browns into a consistant winning franchise. If he sees enough growth in Shurmur this year, he'll retain him. If not, he'll let him go.
If Haslam and Banner believe they can get a better general manager to be responsible for the makeup of this roster, they'll hire him and fire Heckert. If not, they'll retain him.
Heckert, of the three, has made more of a case to be retained by the new regime. But even then, what jaw-dropping maneuvers or signings has he made? His big splashes were the trade down the the Falcons for multiple draft picks (passing on wide receiver Julio Jones, who has done well with the Falcons) and the trade up with the Vikings to select Trent Richardson. The Weeden first-round draft pick has been scrutinized because of his age and because the Browns were in line to have the No. 1 overall pick (and their choice of either West Virginia's Geno Smith or USC's Matt Barkley) and because of his early-season struggles.
Joe Cleveland has thrown his trust behind Butch Davis, behind Phil Savage and behind Holmgren when they all came aboard. My trust has been crushed by all three of these individuals.
But, I trust Haslam. He's saying and doing all the right things. His presense has been a breath of fresh air in a town that has had it's share of terrible sports owners, including Lerner and Indians owners Larry and Paul Dolan. Dan Gilbert has enjoyed the top spot in Cleveland sports owner hirarchy since he rode into town from Detroit. However, he may have to vacate that spot for Haslam.
And, suddenly, the Browns schedule doesn't look so daunting. The Indianapolis Colts, with rookie Andrew Luck, look beatable, as does the underachieving San Diego Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens (who the Browns nearly beat a few weeks ago in Baltimore and are getting decimated on defense), the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs, the RGIII-led Washington Redskins ... heck, even the underachieving Dallas Cowboys look beatable at this point.
There is room for the Browns to salvage this season and for Pat Shurmur to salvage his job for at least one season. Holmgren's gone -- Shurmur and Heckert are fresh out of friends. They will be held accountable for their jobs, and the No. 1 judge for that is how this team performs (and wins) on the field.
***
As far as the Indians go, Francona was a smart hire. He was by far the top managerial candidate available, and he wanted to come here. When a guy with his credentials wants to come to town, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to screw it up.
Although, you can't put anything past Paul and Larry Dolan.
One thing that concerns me is the out-clause he put in his four-year contract that gives him the right to leave if the Indians decide to fire president Mark Shapiro and/or GM Chris Antonetti. Both of these guys are on shaky ground at the moment based on their mismanaging of the Indians' talent, draft and minor league system.
You want Shapiro and Antonetti to be more accountable for their jobs. But now, it seems that they have a four-year pass because they are married to Francona.
Do the Dolans want to lose Francona before that four-year contract is up? Or does player personnel decisions make it a gamble worth taking?
I can only hope that the money the Dolans forked over to bring in Francona (he certainly wasn't cheap) signals at least some type of hope that they invest some of those $30 million profits into bettering this roster. I'm not saying they need a $200 million payroll like the Red Sox. However, this $40 million payroll crap just ain't gonna cut it anymore.
If the Dolans weren't going to invest in their roster, it made more sense to hire the cost-effective Alomar. Alomar would have come cheaper than Francona and the fans would have given Alomar a longer leash than they gave Acta or Eric Wedge. The Indians could have sucked a few more years and the fans may have put up with it because of who the manager was.
While Francona is a credible name, he also comes in with high expectations from this fan base. They want to see results. That puts pressure on Shapiro and Antonetti to make sure those results happen, whether they want to believe it or not.
Yes, the Browns will always been No. 1 in this town. However, history has shown that this town can be a baseball town when the product is at least watchable. The anger and vitriol directed to the Dolans and Shapiro isn't because people don't like the Indians; on the contrary, it's because they still passionately care about the Indians and are tired of seeing this franchise that dominated the 1990s like no one has seen being drug through the mud based on terrible personnel decisions and horrrible decisions from an ownership group that is (fair or not) perceived as cheap.
Hopefully, the Francona hire signals a change in the mentality from the Tribe brass. Perhaps they do care about wins and losses instead of just about the bottom line. The funny part is, if you care more about wins and losses, the bottom line takes care of itself.
Joe Cleveland will keep a curious eye on the Indians this offseason to see what exactly they do. He'll also be keeping an eye on what happens with the Browns for the next two months and beyond.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Today caps a fantastic week for Cleveland sports.
And the Browns snapping their 11-game losing streak just like they snapped their last 11-game skid -- with a home win over the Bengals -- was only part of it.
You can start with the Indians decision to fire Manny Acta and give Sandy Alomar the interim job for the last week of the regular season. He went 3-3 and his teams showed some fight that had been missing since ... well, arguably, since May.
Give the Indians credit for acting fast when it came to a new manager. They targeted two candidates -- Alomar and former Red Sox manager and Indians player/front office member Terry Francona -- interviewed them, made their decision, and hired who they feel is the best man for the job.
That man was Francona, who comes to town with two World Series rings on his fingers from his time with the Red Sox. One of those rings (2007) came at the expense of the Indians. Both of those ended a long streak of no championships for a town that lives and dies with their baseball team. The so-called "Curse of the Bambino," if you will, is no more.
With his seat getting hotter and hotter, Pat Shurmur (now easily third on the depth chart of professional coaches in this town behind Byron Scott and Francona) coached his beleagured Browns to a much-needed victory in their most complete performance since Shurmur took over. 34-24, and it honestly wasn't that close. A garbage TD pass by the Bengals cut the Browns lead from 17 to 10, and a cluch sack/forced fumble by Emmanuel Stephens with the Bengals in the red zone, which was recovered and returned 40 yards by Billy Wynn, thwarted any nonsense about a fourth-quarter meltdown.
The defense picked off three Andy "Ginger" Dalton passes. One of which was by the returning Joe Haden, whose impact was immediately felt in the defense. Another was a pick-six from veteran Sheldon Brown that cemented the Browns' victory.
Brandon Weeden, who you either love or hate (depending on which type of Browns fan you are), shut up a lot of his dectractors with a solid two-touchdown, 290-yard performance. His only interception came off a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage on the Browns' first offensive possession. He clearly outplayed Dalton Sunday.
Montario Hardesty, who many Browns fans were wondering why he even still had a job after not getting any playing time in the four previous games, had to spell an injured Trent Richardson and responded with 54 huge second-half yards and his first pro touchdown. Hardesty played his butt off.
The win has sent Cleveland fans riding a wave of euphoria not seen in a while, and that wave was only extended today when Jimmy Haslam III (see the above video) was unanimously approved as the new owner of the Cleveland Browns.
You can't help but love this guy. He's the first owner this team has had that truly "gets it" since Mickey McBride sold the team in the 1950s to David Jones. Say what you will about the Dead Judas, but I can't recall ever hearing him refer to the Cleveland Browns as "YOUR Cleveland Browns." His selfish move to the land of crabcakes proves that point.
Haslam has been a fixture at Browns headquarters since he first agreed in principle to buy the team from the Lerner Family in early August. He's been at every game. He's been in the locker room. He's been talking to everybody -- the media, the out-of-town media, the coaches, the front office, other NFL owners, you name it. You can probably count on one hand how many times Randy Lerner was spotted at Browns headquarters last year.
This is nothing about Randy Lerner, who I believe is a huge Browns fan and truly cared about the team. He just didn't want to be a team owner and didn't deal with the pressures of that, especially in a city and region such as this one that lives and dies with every Browns snap.
Simply throwing money at people to try to fix it became tiring. His lastest splurge -- five years and $40 million to Mike Holmgren -- will wind up being a wasted purchase.
Holmgren may have brought in some pieces, such as general manager Tom Heckert, to overhaul the Browns roster and add more talent and playmakers. However, his handling of the head coaching position -- from leaving Eric Mangini around for the first year when it was clear to everyone their philosophies would not mesh to hiring the untested Pat Shurmur and letting him twist in the wind for two miserable seasons -- will be his downfall here in town.
Holmgren's ego wouldn't allow him to bring in a head coach with cred. But yet, he didn't want to coach the team himself. Instead of helping out Shurmur, who clearly wasn't ready to be an NFL head coach, he disappeared to Seattle and was rarely around. He was more hands-on with Mangini was the head coach than he was his second year.
Holmgren essentially owned an NFL team without every having to purchase one. Hell, he was given $40 million to own a team. He had carte-blanche to do as he pleased because he didn't have any accountability. He was working for an absentee owner who didn't want to be bothered.
That changed when Lerner finally found a buyer in Jimmy Haslam. Haslam didn't need someone to go to the owners meetings for him or run the franchise for him. He plans on doing that himself.
Suddenly, Holmgren became expendable. Haslam's been around more than Holmgren has this year, and Haslam didn't officially own the team until today.
So, his retirement, which Haslam announced within the first minute of his introductary press conference, wasn't much of a surprise. He'll finish off the year working with the new CEO, Joe Banner, and helping Banner and Haslam transition to their positions of power. Then, he'll ride his Harley off into the sunset, or somewhere near the Puget Sound.
Regardless of what Haslam and Banner decide to do with Heckert and Shurmur in the offseason, it's apparent Haslam wants to turn the Browns into a consistant winning franchise. If he sees enough growth in Shurmur this year, he'll retain him. If not, he'll let him go.
If Haslam and Banner believe they can get a better general manager to be responsible for the makeup of this roster, they'll hire him and fire Heckert. If not, they'll retain him.
Heckert, of the three, has made more of a case to be retained by the new regime. But even then, what jaw-dropping maneuvers or signings has he made? His big splashes were the trade down the the Falcons for multiple draft picks (passing on wide receiver Julio Jones, who has done well with the Falcons) and the trade up with the Vikings to select Trent Richardson. The Weeden first-round draft pick has been scrutinized because of his age and because the Browns were in line to have the No. 1 overall pick (and their choice of either West Virginia's Geno Smith or USC's Matt Barkley) and because of his early-season struggles.
Joe Cleveland has thrown his trust behind Butch Davis, behind Phil Savage and behind Holmgren when they all came aboard. My trust has been crushed by all three of these individuals.
But, I trust Haslam. He's saying and doing all the right things. His presense has been a breath of fresh air in a town that has had it's share of terrible sports owners, including Lerner and Indians owners Larry and Paul Dolan. Dan Gilbert has enjoyed the top spot in Cleveland sports owner hirarchy since he rode into town from Detroit. However, he may have to vacate that spot for Haslam.
And, suddenly, the Browns schedule doesn't look so daunting. The Indianapolis Colts, with rookie Andrew Luck, look beatable, as does the underachieving San Diego Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens (who the Browns nearly beat a few weeks ago in Baltimore and are getting decimated on defense), the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs, the RGIII-led Washington Redskins ... heck, even the underachieving Dallas Cowboys look beatable at this point.
There is room for the Browns to salvage this season and for Pat Shurmur to salvage his job for at least one season. Holmgren's gone -- Shurmur and Heckert are fresh out of friends. They will be held accountable for their jobs, and the No. 1 judge for that is how this team performs (and wins) on the field.
***
As far as the Indians go, Francona was a smart hire. He was by far the top managerial candidate available, and he wanted to come here. When a guy with his credentials wants to come to town, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to screw it up.
Although, you can't put anything past Paul and Larry Dolan.
One thing that concerns me is the out-clause he put in his four-year contract that gives him the right to leave if the Indians decide to fire president Mark Shapiro and/or GM Chris Antonetti. Both of these guys are on shaky ground at the moment based on their mismanaging of the Indians' talent, draft and minor league system.
You want Shapiro and Antonetti to be more accountable for their jobs. But now, it seems that they have a four-year pass because they are married to Francona.
Do the Dolans want to lose Francona before that four-year contract is up? Or does player personnel decisions make it a gamble worth taking?
I can only hope that the money the Dolans forked over to bring in Francona (he certainly wasn't cheap) signals at least some type of hope that they invest some of those $30 million profits into bettering this roster. I'm not saying they need a $200 million payroll like the Red Sox. However, this $40 million payroll crap just ain't gonna cut it anymore.
If the Dolans weren't going to invest in their roster, it made more sense to hire the cost-effective Alomar. Alomar would have come cheaper than Francona and the fans would have given Alomar a longer leash than they gave Acta or Eric Wedge. The Indians could have sucked a few more years and the fans may have put up with it because of who the manager was.
While Francona is a credible name, he also comes in with high expectations from this fan base. They want to see results. That puts pressure on Shapiro and Antonetti to make sure those results happen, whether they want to believe it or not.
Yes, the Browns will always been No. 1 in this town. However, history has shown that this town can be a baseball town when the product is at least watchable. The anger and vitriol directed to the Dolans and Shapiro isn't because people don't like the Indians; on the contrary, it's because they still passionately care about the Indians and are tired of seeing this franchise that dominated the 1990s like no one has seen being drug through the mud based on terrible personnel decisions and horrrible decisions from an ownership group that is (fair or not) perceived as cheap.
Hopefully, the Francona hire signals a change in the mentality from the Tribe brass. Perhaps they do care about wins and losses instead of just about the bottom line. The funny part is, if you care more about wins and losses, the bottom line takes care of itself.
Joe Cleveland will keep a curious eye on the Indians this offseason to see what exactly they do. He'll also be keeping an eye on what happens with the Browns for the next two months and beyond.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, October 1, 2012
Indians Acta-propriately
The only person who believed Manny Acta would survive the Indians' historic collapse this season from first place to worst in the span of two months was, apparently, Manny Acta himself.
The questions with the Indians was when they would drop the ax on Acta, and who else would be ridden out on the rails?
The Tribe answered one of those questions last Thursday, when Acta was fired with six games remaining in the regular season. Bench coach and former Indians all-time great Sandy Alomar Jr. was named interim manager for the rest of the season and has been identified as a leading candidate for the permanent job next season and beyond.
The other question hasn't been officially answered. But, it looks like team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti will be spared for at least one more year.
Joe Cleveland was never a fan of Manny Acta. He did not have a proven winning track record coming in to Cleveland. His perceived passive-aggressiveness in the dugout led observors to believe that he didn't seem to care. And, it also looked like his team quit on him from July through September.
It was clear a change had to be made, especially given the Indians' belief that 2012 would be a season of "contention." For the first two months, they looked to be right.
However, while Eric Wedge's team patented the slow start and red-hot finish during his way-too-long seven years at the helm, Acta's teams patented the opposite -- the red-hot start and slow finish.
Acta's teams wound up with 90 losses in two of his three seasons. The middle season was 80-82, but that year saw a fall from a 30-15 start in June that many believing that the Indians were going to the playoffs.
But, it's not totally Acta's fault. He was given Spam by his front office and expected to turn it into prime rib.
At the very least, Antonetti should have also been shown the door, because every move he's made since becoming the team's general manager has blown up in his face.
For starters, he was heavily influencial on the hiring of Acta as manager. When that manager doesn't even last three seasons, that's a reflection on the guy who hired him.
Antonetti's biggest trade may have been his worst -- acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez from Colorado for four prospects, including first-round pitchers Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. While both White and Pomeranz have struggled in Denver's thin air and have not panned out as expected, the Indians' farm system took a serious hit for a guy that has struggled to win games and be consistant since he was brought to town last July.
Jimenez was on track for at least 19 losses before the Indians mercifully shut him down. It remains to be seen if they will pick up his $5.75 million option for the 2013 season.
Antonetti's most recent offseason may have been his worst. From the re-signing of injured Grady Sizemore for an incentive-laden, $5 million base salary for one year (and then watching him sit out the whole season with a myriad of injuries) to the acquision of aging Derek Lowe, who didn't survive July to the belief that the triumverate of aging Johnny Damon, journeyman Shelly Duncan and minor leaguer Aaron Cunningham would fill the left field void while deciding to not give Josh Willingham a third year and watching Minnesota grant his wish are just the tip of the iceberg.
There's picking up Fausto Carmona's contract option, only to lose him for most of this season due to an identity fraud case that saw him being really named Roberto Hernandez and aging from 29 to 32.
There's signing the banjo-hitting Casey Kotchman as a bargain-baseman free agent to fill the void at first base.
There's going with a predominantly left-handed lineup, which allowed teams to exploit this by lining up their left-handed starters to face the Indians.
There's picking up former International League MVP Russ Canzler in the offseason and watch the right-hander tear up AAA pitching once again while his major league, desperately crying for a right-handed bat with power, didn't call him up until September.
There's turning down decent offers for Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez at the trading deadline, but then not acquiring anything that would help his team push Chicago and Detroit for the Central Division title that once seemed within their grasp. Instead, the team only won 5 games in August, Perez continued to make an ass out himself (even publicly ripping the front office) and Choo had a decent season, but not a great season.
Asdrubal Cabrera, who Antonetti signed to an extension during the offseason, suddenly channeled his inner Jhonny Peralta and became a butcher at shortstop (19 errors) while also suddenly losing his motivation to play (and not playing very well when he did).
The starting rotation, believed to be the strength of the team by Antonetti, became one of the worst starting rotations in MLB. Justin Masterson (who was also being bid upon by teams at the deadline) seriously regressed, along with Ubaldo, and minor leaguers like Corey Kluber, David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez were counted on to be the main starters.
Then, there's the saga of Matt LaPorta, who Acta never seemed to care for. LaPorta lost his job to Kotchman, did decently down in Columbus, but was never given a true chance by the Indians this season. Whenever LaPorta did play, he didn't play well. Whether that's because of his problems with Acta or not remains to be seen. But, the lynch-pin of the CC Sabathia trade has suddenly become an afterthought.
Antonetti didn't make the Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez trades (Shapiro did before he got promoted). But, like his predecessor, Antonetti hasn't seemed to make the draft a top priority and has failed at developing talent in the minor leagues.
The roster Antonetti tried to say was a major league, contending roster this season was a joke. Credit Acta for taking this lineup of Punch and Judy hitters and mediocre starters and turning it into a first place team by the end of May. However, a good manager builds off of that success, and Acta is not a good manager.
Antonetti is a mediocre MLB general manager who deserved to be shipped out on the same bus as Acta was. Somehow, Larry Dolan (the worst sports owner in Cleveland) was convinced these moves were good moves and that he (and Shapiro) deserved another chance to run his team.
All they've done is run his team into the ground. However, the penny-pinching Dolan doesn't seem to care as long as his team can turn a profit.
So, it appears the Red Perm and his Boy Wonder will be responsible for picking the next manager of the Cleveland Indians. The last two guys this braintrust were responsible for were both pretty miserable hires --Wedge and Acta -- so I don't have the utmost confidence in their ability to hire a competant guy.
In the end, though, whether it's Alomar or former Indians player and exec Terry Francona or some other candidate, it's not going matter unless something is done to overhaul the talent pool.
This team has regressed in three years in overall talent, and it may not get better unless something drastic happens.
At the very least, the bloated contracts for Travis Hafner, Sizemore and Hernandez/Carmona will come off the books since they will become free agents. Also, the contracts of Choo and Perez will certainly be dangled for whatever top-shelf prospects they can land, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cabrera, Masterson and Jimenez are also dangled as well.
Other than Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana (who took a step back this season) and Lonnie Chisenhall, there isn't much to build around or to hope for as an Indians fan. Perhaps Canzler opens enough eyes during this September call-up to be given the first base job this season. Even then, though, Canzler has been a career minor leaguer for a reason.
Pitching wise, it's a mess. Carlos Carrasco may be ready to return from Tommy John surgery, but he wasn't exactly the second-coming of Fernando before the injury happened.
The bullpen should be strong enough to combat the loss of Perez. Vinnie Pestano has the makeup to be a successful closer. However, he has had his share of shaky moments in the ninth this year. But, to be honest, this team won't be expected to win very much, so a closer is a luxury they really don't need.
It will be interesting to see if the Dolans hire Francona, since you'd expect that he'd command a hefty price tag. After all, he did help Boston overcome their "Curse of the Bambino" with World Series wins in both 2004 and 2007. He may ask for some say in the personnel department as well, which would cut into Antonetti's and Shapiro's responsibilities.
Alomar should get a longer leash than Acta did by the fans becasue of who he is. Other than Omar Vizquel and (thanks to last year) Jim Thome, Alomar is one of the most revered members of those 1990s super-teams by the Indians fan base. Like Omar, Alomar didn't leave by choice, and he always considered himself an Indian at heart even as he played for five other franchises to end his career. While Alomar would be a good PR-hire, he's also universally recognized as a solid baseball man and an up-and-coming managerial candidate. Plus, Alomar would be cheaper than Francona, which would be music to the meiserly Dolans' ears.
I'd expect that Alomar is given the permanent managerial job after the season ends. Perhaps Francona takes a front office position to help ease the (obvious) burden placed on Antonetti and Shapiro for jobs they are clearly not ready or prepared for.
However, by firing Acta and retaining the brain trust, the Dolans have (without saying so) place the target squarely on both of their heads. Losing won't be Alomar or Francona's fault, it will be on the guys who are responsible for acquiring the talent to make up the roster.
Hopefully, this move greases Antonetti's skids out of town, and hopefully, the swarmy Shapiro follows him out the door.
We can only hope that this is Larry Dolan's cue to sell the club, but you can wish in one hand and defecate in the other and see which one fills up first. A new owner would be the cure-all to this franchise's ails because he would clean house and bring in his own baseball people.
We shall see. But, while it once appeared that the Indians were the closest of the three Cleveland franchises to fielding a winner, it is now apparent they are a distant third, whether Sandy's the man in charge or not.
***
Joe Cleveland goes into every Sunday rooting for a Browns victory, and is extremely disappointed when that doesn't happen.
So far, the Browns have not tasted victory through four games and it looks like that skid may grow to five (11 losses overall) this Sunday at the Meadowlands against the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.
However, unlike some fellow Browns fans, Joe Cleveland has been encouraged by what he's seen.
Even though last year's team was 2-2 at this point and started off 3-3, this year's team is MUCH better, in terms of talent. That has been apparent through these four losses.
The Browns have played three playoff teams and a fourth that was off to a red-hot start following some high-profile free agent signings very, very tough and have been competitive. They came within seconds of upsetting Michael Vick and the Eagles in the season opener and gave AFC North foes Cincinnati and Baltimore all they could handle on the road.
Brandon Weeden is still a work in progress, but he's shown flashes of being a very good quarterback. Two 300-yard games on the road against division foes -- one of which has a historically tough defense (the Ravens) -- is more than enough to open this person's eyes.
Trent Richardson is the real deal. Teams are already game-planning to stop him by stacking the box, making it tough for him to get any running room. But, he's become a reliable receiving threat out of the backfield, making people look silly in the open field. As long as his knee stays healthy -- which it has thorugh these four games -- he could be the best Browns running back since the great Jim Brown himself. It's a high comparison, but I believe it's warrented.
Joe Haden's absense only proves how valuable he is to the play of the secondary. Without Haden, Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Joe Flacco have shredded the Browns secondary -- a secondary that was one of the top-five units in the league last year with Haden playing all 16 games.
D'Qwell Jackson has become a legitimate playmaker and leader on the defensive side. And young linebackers Craig Robertson and L.J. Fort have shown glimpes of being good NFL linebackers.
The wide receivers have, once again, let this team down. They're not giving Weeden much help, and yet he's still putting up decent numbers. The Browns' inability to address this area in the offseason is coming back to bite them in the ass, and that's the fault of Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert.
Jimmy Haslam doesn't need a whole of excuses to bring in his own people. Heckert appeared the safest of the three (Holmgren and head coach Pat Shurmur) and still does. However, the decision to go with 15 rookies was his decision, and that may turn the tide against him.
Following the Giants' game, the Browns' next four opponents will be the Bengals at home, the Colts on the road, the Chargers at home and the Ravens at home. Haden will be back, and defensive tackle Phil Taylor may be cleared to return by the end of that stretch. It will be these four games that will make or break the Browns, especially Shurmur. The Browns have proven they can play with both Cincy and Baltimore on the road, the Colts are in the same boat as the Browns, and the Chargers are regressing.
Anything less than a 2-2 record in those four games may result in a bye-week coaching change (conveniently located right after that Ravens game), and signal the beginning of the end of the Holmgren regime. It should also be a better barometer for the progress of Weeden and Richardson.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
The questions with the Indians was when they would drop the ax on Acta, and who else would be ridden out on the rails?
The Tribe answered one of those questions last Thursday, when Acta was fired with six games remaining in the regular season. Bench coach and former Indians all-time great Sandy Alomar Jr. was named interim manager for the rest of the season and has been identified as a leading candidate for the permanent job next season and beyond.
The other question hasn't been officially answered. But, it looks like team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti will be spared for at least one more year.
Joe Cleveland was never a fan of Manny Acta. He did not have a proven winning track record coming in to Cleveland. His perceived passive-aggressiveness in the dugout led observors to believe that he didn't seem to care. And, it also looked like his team quit on him from July through September.
It was clear a change had to be made, especially given the Indians' belief that 2012 would be a season of "contention." For the first two months, they looked to be right.
However, while Eric Wedge's team patented the slow start and red-hot finish during his way-too-long seven years at the helm, Acta's teams patented the opposite -- the red-hot start and slow finish.
Acta's teams wound up with 90 losses in two of his three seasons. The middle season was 80-82, but that year saw a fall from a 30-15 start in June that many believing that the Indians were going to the playoffs.
But, it's not totally Acta's fault. He was given Spam by his front office and expected to turn it into prime rib.
At the very least, Antonetti should have also been shown the door, because every move he's made since becoming the team's general manager has blown up in his face.
For starters, he was heavily influencial on the hiring of Acta as manager. When that manager doesn't even last three seasons, that's a reflection on the guy who hired him.
Antonetti's biggest trade may have been his worst -- acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez from Colorado for four prospects, including first-round pitchers Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. While both White and Pomeranz have struggled in Denver's thin air and have not panned out as expected, the Indians' farm system took a serious hit for a guy that has struggled to win games and be consistant since he was brought to town last July.
Jimenez was on track for at least 19 losses before the Indians mercifully shut him down. It remains to be seen if they will pick up his $5.75 million option for the 2013 season.
Antonetti's most recent offseason may have been his worst. From the re-signing of injured Grady Sizemore for an incentive-laden, $5 million base salary for one year (and then watching him sit out the whole season with a myriad of injuries) to the acquision of aging Derek Lowe, who didn't survive July to the belief that the triumverate of aging Johnny Damon, journeyman Shelly Duncan and minor leaguer Aaron Cunningham would fill the left field void while deciding to not give Josh Willingham a third year and watching Minnesota grant his wish are just the tip of the iceberg.
There's picking up Fausto Carmona's contract option, only to lose him for most of this season due to an identity fraud case that saw him being really named Roberto Hernandez and aging from 29 to 32.
There's signing the banjo-hitting Casey Kotchman as a bargain-baseman free agent to fill the void at first base.
There's going with a predominantly left-handed lineup, which allowed teams to exploit this by lining up their left-handed starters to face the Indians.
There's picking up former International League MVP Russ Canzler in the offseason and watch the right-hander tear up AAA pitching once again while his major league, desperately crying for a right-handed bat with power, didn't call him up until September.
There's turning down decent offers for Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez at the trading deadline, but then not acquiring anything that would help his team push Chicago and Detroit for the Central Division title that once seemed within their grasp. Instead, the team only won 5 games in August, Perez continued to make an ass out himself (even publicly ripping the front office) and Choo had a decent season, but not a great season.
Asdrubal Cabrera, who Antonetti signed to an extension during the offseason, suddenly channeled his inner Jhonny Peralta and became a butcher at shortstop (19 errors) while also suddenly losing his motivation to play (and not playing very well when he did).
The starting rotation, believed to be the strength of the team by Antonetti, became one of the worst starting rotations in MLB. Justin Masterson (who was also being bid upon by teams at the deadline) seriously regressed, along with Ubaldo, and minor leaguers like Corey Kluber, David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez were counted on to be the main starters.
Then, there's the saga of Matt LaPorta, who Acta never seemed to care for. LaPorta lost his job to Kotchman, did decently down in Columbus, but was never given a true chance by the Indians this season. Whenever LaPorta did play, he didn't play well. Whether that's because of his problems with Acta or not remains to be seen. But, the lynch-pin of the CC Sabathia trade has suddenly become an afterthought.
Antonetti didn't make the Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez trades (Shapiro did before he got promoted). But, like his predecessor, Antonetti hasn't seemed to make the draft a top priority and has failed at developing talent in the minor leagues.
The roster Antonetti tried to say was a major league, contending roster this season was a joke. Credit Acta for taking this lineup of Punch and Judy hitters and mediocre starters and turning it into a first place team by the end of May. However, a good manager builds off of that success, and Acta is not a good manager.
Antonetti is a mediocre MLB general manager who deserved to be shipped out on the same bus as Acta was. Somehow, Larry Dolan (the worst sports owner in Cleveland) was convinced these moves were good moves and that he (and Shapiro) deserved another chance to run his team.
All they've done is run his team into the ground. However, the penny-pinching Dolan doesn't seem to care as long as his team can turn a profit.
So, it appears the Red Perm and his Boy Wonder will be responsible for picking the next manager of the Cleveland Indians. The last two guys this braintrust were responsible for were both pretty miserable hires --Wedge and Acta -- so I don't have the utmost confidence in their ability to hire a competant guy.
In the end, though, whether it's Alomar or former Indians player and exec Terry Francona or some other candidate, it's not going matter unless something is done to overhaul the talent pool.
This team has regressed in three years in overall talent, and it may not get better unless something drastic happens.
At the very least, the bloated contracts for Travis Hafner, Sizemore and Hernandez/Carmona will come off the books since they will become free agents. Also, the contracts of Choo and Perez will certainly be dangled for whatever top-shelf prospects they can land, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cabrera, Masterson and Jimenez are also dangled as well.
Other than Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana (who took a step back this season) and Lonnie Chisenhall, there isn't much to build around or to hope for as an Indians fan. Perhaps Canzler opens enough eyes during this September call-up to be given the first base job this season. Even then, though, Canzler has been a career minor leaguer for a reason.
Pitching wise, it's a mess. Carlos Carrasco may be ready to return from Tommy John surgery, but he wasn't exactly the second-coming of Fernando before the injury happened.
The bullpen should be strong enough to combat the loss of Perez. Vinnie Pestano has the makeup to be a successful closer. However, he has had his share of shaky moments in the ninth this year. But, to be honest, this team won't be expected to win very much, so a closer is a luxury they really don't need.
It will be interesting to see if the Dolans hire Francona, since you'd expect that he'd command a hefty price tag. After all, he did help Boston overcome their "Curse of the Bambino" with World Series wins in both 2004 and 2007. He may ask for some say in the personnel department as well, which would cut into Antonetti's and Shapiro's responsibilities.
Alomar should get a longer leash than Acta did by the fans becasue of who he is. Other than Omar Vizquel and (thanks to last year) Jim Thome, Alomar is one of the most revered members of those 1990s super-teams by the Indians fan base. Like Omar, Alomar didn't leave by choice, and he always considered himself an Indian at heart even as he played for five other franchises to end his career. While Alomar would be a good PR-hire, he's also universally recognized as a solid baseball man and an up-and-coming managerial candidate. Plus, Alomar would be cheaper than Francona, which would be music to the meiserly Dolans' ears.
I'd expect that Alomar is given the permanent managerial job after the season ends. Perhaps Francona takes a front office position to help ease the (obvious) burden placed on Antonetti and Shapiro for jobs they are clearly not ready or prepared for.
However, by firing Acta and retaining the brain trust, the Dolans have (without saying so) place the target squarely on both of their heads. Losing won't be Alomar or Francona's fault, it will be on the guys who are responsible for acquiring the talent to make up the roster.
Hopefully, this move greases Antonetti's skids out of town, and hopefully, the swarmy Shapiro follows him out the door.
We can only hope that this is Larry Dolan's cue to sell the club, but you can wish in one hand and defecate in the other and see which one fills up first. A new owner would be the cure-all to this franchise's ails because he would clean house and bring in his own baseball people.
We shall see. But, while it once appeared that the Indians were the closest of the three Cleveland franchises to fielding a winner, it is now apparent they are a distant third, whether Sandy's the man in charge or not.
***
Joe Cleveland goes into every Sunday rooting for a Browns victory, and is extremely disappointed when that doesn't happen.
So far, the Browns have not tasted victory through four games and it looks like that skid may grow to five (11 losses overall) this Sunday at the Meadowlands against the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.
However, unlike some fellow Browns fans, Joe Cleveland has been encouraged by what he's seen.
Even though last year's team was 2-2 at this point and started off 3-3, this year's team is MUCH better, in terms of talent. That has been apparent through these four losses.
The Browns have played three playoff teams and a fourth that was off to a red-hot start following some high-profile free agent signings very, very tough and have been competitive. They came within seconds of upsetting Michael Vick and the Eagles in the season opener and gave AFC North foes Cincinnati and Baltimore all they could handle on the road.
Brandon Weeden is still a work in progress, but he's shown flashes of being a very good quarterback. Two 300-yard games on the road against division foes -- one of which has a historically tough defense (the Ravens) -- is more than enough to open this person's eyes.
Trent Richardson is the real deal. Teams are already game-planning to stop him by stacking the box, making it tough for him to get any running room. But, he's become a reliable receiving threat out of the backfield, making people look silly in the open field. As long as his knee stays healthy -- which it has thorugh these four games -- he could be the best Browns running back since the great Jim Brown himself. It's a high comparison, but I believe it's warrented.
Joe Haden's absense only proves how valuable he is to the play of the secondary. Without Haden, Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Joe Flacco have shredded the Browns secondary -- a secondary that was one of the top-five units in the league last year with Haden playing all 16 games.
D'Qwell Jackson has become a legitimate playmaker and leader on the defensive side. And young linebackers Craig Robertson and L.J. Fort have shown glimpes of being good NFL linebackers.
The wide receivers have, once again, let this team down. They're not giving Weeden much help, and yet he's still putting up decent numbers. The Browns' inability to address this area in the offseason is coming back to bite them in the ass, and that's the fault of Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert.
Jimmy Haslam doesn't need a whole of excuses to bring in his own people. Heckert appeared the safest of the three (Holmgren and head coach Pat Shurmur) and still does. However, the decision to go with 15 rookies was his decision, and that may turn the tide against him.
Following the Giants' game, the Browns' next four opponents will be the Bengals at home, the Colts on the road, the Chargers at home and the Ravens at home. Haden will be back, and defensive tackle Phil Taylor may be cleared to return by the end of that stretch. It will be these four games that will make or break the Browns, especially Shurmur. The Browns have proven they can play with both Cincy and Baltimore on the road, the Colts are in the same boat as the Browns, and the Chargers are regressing.
Anything less than a 2-2 record in those four games may result in a bye-week coaching change (conveniently located right after that Ravens game), and signal the beginning of the end of the Holmgren regime. It should also be a better barometer for the progress of Weeden and Richardson.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
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