Ugly times for Browns offense, coaching staff, fans

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Well "mud" as I suspected the visibility of the Browns short-term future was last week, wasn't the proper viscous  semi-liquid, unfortunately. 

Mike Groll / Associated Press

The offensive production of the Browns versus the former two-win Buffalo Bills was an abomination.  The blame?  Where does it fall?  The ineffective play calling by offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and coach Eric Mangini?  The (supposed) lack of wide receiver talent that led (supposed) NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme to reduce the passing offense, yet again, to a series of 4 yard out patterns?  The front office?  Was Mangini forced to stay with Delhomme instead of giving Seneca Wallace a chance in the second half, when the Browns' offensive ineptitude was apparent?  The sheer edge-of-your-seat drama every time a Brown touched the ball, given the 27-or-so fumbles the Browns had on Sunday?

Regardless, it's apparent to everyone that, no matter what a good guy Delhomme is, he is not even the short term solution for the Browns.  If McCoy isn't healthy enough to go next week versus the Bengals, Wallace needs to get the snaps.

Interesting statistical analysis from AdvancedNFLStats.com.  They  have a stat called "Win Probability Added" and can rank skill players on that...do they add the probability for their teams to win.  Unfortunately, among quarterbacks, Jake Delhomme is so far in last place in this stats, he can't even smell the jocks of such luminaries as Clausen, (2010 edition) Favre, and Palmer.  See the ranking tables here, and click on the header to sort by WPA/G, or see a snapshot below.

Ugly.

Player	Team				WPA/G ▴			Att	Cmp	Cmp%	PassYds			Int
17-J.Delhomme	CLV				-0.37			149	93	62.4	872			7
2-J.Clausen	CAR				-0.17			224	115	51.3	1163			7
4-B.Favre	MIN				-0.12			351	212	60.4	2446			18
9-C.Palmer	CIN				-0.09			497	300	60.4	3187			18
14-R.Fitzpatrick	BUF				-0.08			378	221	58.5	2518			11
14-Sh.Hill	DET				-0.07			351	215	61.3	2206			11
3-D.Anderson	ARZ				-0.07			327	169	51.7	2065			10
3-M.Moore	CAR				-0.06			143	79	55.2	857			10
5-K.Collins	TEN				-0.05			178	104	58.4	1051			5
9-T.Romo	DAL				-0.04			213	148	69.5	1605			7
4-K.Kolb	PHI				-0.04			153	97	63.4	1035			4
7-C.Henne	MIA				-0.04			386	234	60.6	2673			14
11-A.Smith	SF				-0.02			269	160	59.5	1809			9
8-M.Hasselbeck	SEA				-0.01			423	253	59.8	2903			15
8-K.Orton	DEN				0.01			498	293	58.8	3652			9
8-S.Bradford	SL				0.03			474	286	60.3	2884			12
12-C.McCoy	CLV				0.03			127	81	63.8	975			3
5-D.McNabb	WAS				0.04			472	275	58.3	3377			15
5-B.Gradkowski	OAK				0.04			158	83	52.5	1059			7
3-J.Kitna	DAL				0.08			261	172	65.9	1945			10
10-E.Manning	NYG				0.10			401	260	64.8	2982			17
7-M.Cassel	KC				0.10			354	212	59.9	2503			4
10-V.Young	TEN				0.10			156	93	59.6	1255			3
6-M.Sanchez	NYJ				0.11			441	235	53.3	2852			12
6-J.Cutler	CHI				0.11			344	213	61.9	2697			12
8-J.Campbell	OAK				0.12			236	135	57.2	1763			6
7-B.Roethlisberger	PIT				0.12			291	180	61.9	2336			5
17-P.Rivers	SD				0.14			439	290	66.1	3868			11
18-P.Manning	IND				0.16			570	378	66.3	4028			15
8-M.Schaub	HST				0.16			403	258	64.0	3088			8
5-J.Freeman	TB				0.19			390	228	58.5	2708			6
7-M.Vick	PHI				0.19			294	187	63.6	2513			4
12-T.Brady	NE				0.22			425	284	66.8	3398			4
9-D.Garrard	JAX				0.22			290	190	65.5	2141			12
12-A.Rodgers	GB				0.23			410	268	65.4	3289			10
5-J.Flacco	BLT				0.27			398	248	62.3	2988			8
1-T.Smith	SF				0.29			126	66	52.4	1023			3
2-M.Ryan	ATL				0.32			475	300	63.2	3147			8
9-D.Brees	NO				0.32			525	362	69.0	3855			18

Brad Daugherty has a bee in his bonnet

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Vince Grzegorek pulls up a couple interesting Brad Daugherty comments from a Dime interview about "the LeBron situation."

Or maybe what I would have called "Cleveland gets intentionally embarrassed and humiliated by its beloved hometown hero, who threw away his vow to finally return a championship to Cleveland and become an eternal hero in Northeast Ohio in order to just go to 'South Beach' with his friends."

Seems Brad would not agree with me.

(Plus, follow Vince at his great blog, '64 And Counting, and on twitter.

Dime: You’re as closely associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers as any player. What’s your view of the LeBron James situation? 

BD: You know, you have to look at both sides of the alley. The only thing I had an issue with was “The Decision” show. I didn’t appreciate that, and I think as LeBron gets older he’ll look back and realize maybe he could have done that differently. Other than that my view of the whole situation is, he worked hard, he became a free agent, he left: Get over it. Why does he owe Cleveland anything? That’s one thing about pro sports that pisses me off is this whole idea of loyalty, how a player is supposed to be loyal. But you take another guy on the team — say he’s from Cleveland but he’s the 12th guy on the team — is there a big uproar when they cut him? If a guy is averaging one point a game, is there an uproar?

Four games to go, and it's clear as mud.

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After the ups and downs of the sports year in Cleveland, one could say that the Browns season is a relief.  Not only are they getting some respect across the league, but there could be a bona fide superstar hiding right in our backfield.

That is exactly why I thought, at the beginning of the season, that the 5.5 over/under for Browns season wins was an easy "over" bet.  I basically said (to many laughs) that the Browns could go anywhere from 5-11 to 10-6.  Of course, the reason I was confident was a different running back, James Harrison.  And the inkling that Jake Delhomme might just be the veteran we needed.

Of course, both of those assumptions were incorrect.  But yet this season has been a good one, albeit, in typical Cleveland style, one full of stomach-punch moments.  Even after losing their first 2 games--games universally (in Cuyahoga county at least) thought to be "must-win" games to make this a successful season--and then falling to the Ravens in a close game, there was positive signs.  After six weeks, the Browns were 1-5, and yet they had only gotten beat up once, by the Steelers.  Naturally.

Anyone watching those games was thinking one of two things.  (a) They're not that freaking bad, or (b) How many quarterbacks have we started over the last decade, again?  Yes, Jake Delhomme was hurt, Seneca Wallace came in and was okay, but then he got hurt, and the Browns were forced to turn to Colt McCoy.  Anyone who didn't think of Tim Couch's rookie shelling at that point, must be just too young to remember it.  (Can't believe I just typed that.)

Regardless, everyone knows what happened.  A great--but in retrospect a bit fluky--win on the road against the Saints, and then an epic ass-kicking of the New England Patriots.  Immeidately folllowed up by Games We Should Have Won (trademark pending) to the Jets and Jacksonville.  Tough teams, and blown opportunities.

So after 11 games, the Browns had the second toughest schedule in the league, to only Pittsburgh.  Conventional wisdom could say that the Browns could have easily been 6-5 or better, but alas, they sat at 3-7.  Now the easy part of the schedule, right?  Well, yes, but these Browns apparently play down to their competition, and eek out ugly wins versus the Panthers and Dolphins.

So now what?  Four more games to go.  And does anyone have any idea what they will do?

2 crappy teams.   Buffalo and Cincinnati.
2 awesome teams.  Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
It won't surprise me if they win 2 of those games.  Or zero.  Or four.  Not that I have any idea which ones are which.

We'll see.  But you can't say it hasn't been interesting.  And it looks like we'll have Mangini back for another year.  Regardless, the future is bright.  Brighter than the muddy road ahead over the next four games.  Not necessarily treacherous...but you never know.

Related articles

• Four games to go, and it's clear as mud. (clevelandsportstorture.com)

Waiting on a giant leap

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Cleveland’s sports scene needed an infusion of good news after the pants-splitting pratfall the Cavaliers took this week. The Browns delivered that pick-me-up today with a 13-10 victory over the Dolphins; a game that fans hope is a trendsetter of sorts - one that pushes the Browns from mere competitiveness to the airy realm of some-day playoff contention.

The playoff dream will remain unrequited this year. Nonetheless, we can see a team that’s growing, albeit slowly, with an emerging foundation of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Unlike past seasons, the 2010 Browns are in every game, with a play or two often being the deciding factor in victory or defeat.

Viability is certainly a good and necessary phase for the franchise. Still, in the development of a team, not being terrible anymore is probably the easiest step to take. Becoming an established playoff contender is a much larger leap, and that means the Browns can’t continue to operate on the razor-thin margin of error that has led to too many defeats in close contests this season.

The Browns seemed to be in for another hard-luck loss as the 4th quarter unreeled today. It was great seeing the Delhomme-to-Watson combo finally put the Browns into the end zone, but when a stop was needed on the ensuing Dolphins’ drive, the defense let the combination of a dreadful Chad Henne and Miami’s funky wildcat formation vex them into giving up a tying touchdown. These Browns simply don’t know yet how to handle success, and they’ll need to breach that at least somewhat psychological gap to finally get parallel with the Steelers, Ravens and Patriots of the world.

Maybe today’s happy finish was a small stride in that direction. A decisive win next week against a not-as-bad-as-their-record Buffalo team would be yet another one. We all know how long and rocky this road has been stretching all the way back to 1999. With just a little more patience and a few more tweaks to the engine, Browns fans could be cruising along smoother pavement before they know it.

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