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Dysfunctional team is mess on field, off
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Monday, Nov 24, 2008
CLEVELAND: There was 7:34 left Sunday in the Browns' 16-6 loss to Houston, and Braylon Edwards had just slipped and fallen, making a third-down pass incomplete.
A woman in the club seats wearing a brown cap with dog ears turned and gestured with both arms to the press box.
''What the hell is going on?'' she screamed.
This was not an easy question to answer.
Not after Brady Quinn had been yanked and Edwards had done a Keystone Cops routine and
the Browns defense had turned Sage Rosenfels into a Joe Montana-type quarterback.
Not after the Browns had ended Houston's eight-game road losing streak and three-game overall losing streak.
Not after Derek Anderson had replaced Quinn and showed that it really didn't matter who played quarterback if the rest of the team played so poorly.
Not after a quagmire of a game had sent the Browns to their fifth loss at home in six games this season.
Not after this woeful team looked as woefully bad as it had at any point during this woeful season, and perhaps at any point since its rebirth in 1999.
A week that included a never-should-happen obscene e-mail from a GM to a fan concluded with as bad a loss as a team can imagine.
The team presents itself as a mess off the field and a mess on the field.
Dysfunctional barely begins to describe the situation.
This loss, this week, is the kind of loss and week that lead to people losing their jobs. And it's hard to defend anyone involved, from the players to the coach to the front office.
It stinks, and the fans who departed in droves as the fourth quarter went on and left a near-empty stadium for the final two minutes said all there was to say.
This team has frustrated the fans week after week after week. It was coming off an uplifting win on Monday night, and it played a 3-7 team at home with a backup quarterback across the line.
The Browns stunk.
And naturally, the finger of blame will go to the head coach. Romeo Crennel would figure to deserve plenty of responsibility. Not all the players see it that way, of course, and the ones who don't are the ones you want on your team.
Linebacker Willie McGinest called it a ''copout'' to blame the coach.
''Interceptions, penalties, things like that, that's all mental,'' McGinest said. ''Things that happened that we do on the field, that's all us. That's mental. That's preparation. That's knowing the situation. That's not being focused.''
The Browns had five turnovers, with two interceptions thrown by Quinn and one by Anderson.
They had two more dropped passes by Edwards — one a crucial fourth-quarter drop — and a missed touchdown pass by Edwards that he knows he should have caught.
They had another critical pass interference penalty on Kellen Winslow.
And they had a game when they called for 20 running plays and 32 passes. On a cold day, in the time of year when the game is built for Jamal Lewis, the Browns ran Lewis 10 times.
Lewis averaged 5.8 yards per carry and gained 58 yards, but had 10 carries.
Lewis was referring to that statistic when he scoffed at the notion that Crennel should be responsible for the loss.
''I think he prepared us well and he got us ready to go like he should have,'' Lewis said. ''He can't get out there on the field of play. And he's not calling plays. He's the head coach. He organizes us and he gets us ready to go. I think he did his job this week.
''I think it's on the coaches on down, the position coaches and coordinators on down.''
It's not a coincidence that Lewis mentioned the play-calling and the coordinators.
He clearly was not pleased with the game called by Rob Chudzinski against the run defense ranked 24th in the league. He said the change in quarterbacks was confusing, and he even went as far as saying his second fumble was a tough handoff for a new quarterback who hadn't practiced all week (Anderson).
Can we count the problems?
Chudzinski, after all, had nothing to do with the defense giving up an eight-minute touchdown drive on the game's opening possession. And nothing to do with this team lacking a legitimate secondary and wideouts. Or with the GM embarrassing the entire organization with his implied obscenity to a fan.
Perhaps the Browns should just be mad at themselves.
For letting their fans down.
Week after week, these fans stream into the stadium, spending their hard-earned money — to watch that?
It's a brutal loss, the kind of loss that leads to firings and major changes.
And the way this is going, it's impossible to defend anyone involved with the final product.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
CLEVELAND: There was 7:34 left Sunday in the Browns' 16-6 loss to Houston, and Braylon Edwards had just slipped and fallen, making a third-down pass incomplete.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Wilmington, NC
Posted 06:35 AM, 11/24/2008
Maybe Shaun Rogers can be our coach next year. While he's at it, perhaps he can play quarterback and throw the ball to himself.
Posted 06:40 AM, 11/24/2008
So, what else is it going to take? "Mess off the field, mess on the field?" Sounds like another company in need of a bailout deal. Let's get original here; I suggest an all-out effort to re-engineer this entire franchise. New everything from top to bottom. There should be no one who expects to be a part of the Browns organization next year. Learner is a business man. He will need to work tough to bring his business back to life. Fan support is there, the revenue is available, do something big.
Posted 06:47 AM, 11/24/2008
It's all about discipline...and there is none.
Akron, OH
Posted 06:57 AM, 11/24/2008
Shaun Rogers is our MVP.
Posted 08:05 AM, 11/24/2008
Willie Mcginest is not the person to ask anything about RAC, he likes him as a person but would never admit he is a bad head coach. Although I like Jamal Lewis he is also not the answer at running back, we need a youngin in the draft. Edwards and Winslow need to be traded for picks and please, please find a coordinator who knows how to calla football game.
Norka, Oh
Posted 08:32 AM, 11/24/2008
....Runaway train
Akron, OH
Posted 08:44 AM, 11/24/2008
JUST SAY NO--to watching football on Sunday--you'll find there are many more worthwhile pursuits out there. And you will reduce your frustration factor and blood pressure!
Posted 09:08 AM, 11/24/2008
Braylon had minimum 4 drops. Not sure why Pat's being so nice.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:20 AM, 11/24/2008
Maybe the fans should make the stadium look like it did in the last two minutes of this so called game, for the whole 60 minutes of next weeks game against the Colts. That would get Randy Learner's attention.
edison, NJ
Posted 09:37 AM, 11/24/2008
this group ( i will not call them a team since
they bear no semblance of a professional team )have no respect for the game, or the fans that support them. a total disgrace from the top down.
Port Saint Lucie, Fl
Posted 09:39 AM, 11/24/2008
Need to run a "brushhog" through the organization,clean it up.Boxing had its "hands of Stone"(Duran) and Cleve.has the footbal version in Edwards.With the QB problems why wouldn't any cogent off.coordinator put Harrison and Lewis in the backfield at the same time and run 70% of the time?That strategy worked in the Mack/Byner days.I can't believe the $ that is paid to some of these coaches who seem to be brain dead.
Cleve. needs to stop trading for and drafting these "shuck and jive" prima donnas and find players with character and brains.Look at the type of players Penn State produces,the Steelers have etc.Look at the QB for the Ravens,the guy came out of the Ivy League for crying out loud.Ah,what's the use.
Posted 09:50 AM, 11/24/2008
Fans in Cleveland should organize a boycott and not go to the game this Sunday. Send a real message to the team.
akron, OH
Posted 09:52 AM, 11/24/2008
VERY SAD
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 10:18 AM, 11/24/2008
Browns fans stay home ?? It needs to happen but for some reason the place will be packed with idiots with their dog noses and waving dog bones...
The whole situation is sad. Make a statement people ! Refuse to support this "team" until some real changes are made !
Posted 11:04 AM, 11/24/2008
It all starts at the top. Look at Parcells in Miami. Bascially the same team but he came in with discipline and tough coaches and the Dolphins have won more games than the Browns.
Barberton, OH
Posted 11:38 AM, 11/24/2008
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the sole reason I play fantasy football is because I can't stomach the Browns' ineptness week in and week out. At least with Fantasy football I can still enjoy the sport without always being disgusted in my home town team.
Posted 11:44 AM, 11/24/2008
How great would life be if you could fail in every aspect of your career and still somehow keep your job? Crennel is an embarrisment to Cleveland and needs to go! He thought D.A. was going to "spark" this team? Give me a break! Only absolute ingnorance could be to blame for that comment. Go Away Crennel!
Akron, OH
Posted 11:55 AM, 11/24/2008
An empty stadium won't do squat. Look at the stands in the 4th quarter of all the games we've blown this year... they're basically empty then, and nothing changes. So if anyone has any GOOD ideas of how to get this team turned around, please let us know!
Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with it, ..
Posted 11:57 AM, 11/24/2008
Revised 11/20 post:
1. Start Jerome Harrison at RB
2. Start Joshua Cribbs at WR
3. Cut Braylon "Baby" Edwards (Wants out of Clev. (again)/intentional drops)
4. Cut Jamal "One-Way Road-Grader" Lewis (free-up salary )
5. Implement West Coast Offense
6. Hire Jake's Crane to remove Large Sh*t Bag from Browns Stadium; Frog march Phil Savage from Browns Staduim during Half-Time festivities
7. RANDY LERNER: Fly to wherever Cowher is, hand him a blank check giving him full reign, then fly back to London and stay there until (see #9)
8. Rent Barge on Lake Erie to float out Cowher's "weed-outs" to an undisclosed destination for burial at sea.
9. Make Super-Bowl preparations by 2011.
P.S. There's another Large Sh*t Bag operating at Notre Dame posing as a Head Coach with identical ties as the Browns' Large Sh*t Bag. Rule #1: All Belichick disciples are not automatically qualified to be Head Coaches on any level.
Posted 12:11 PM, 11/24/2008
Cowher!! Cowher!! Cowher!!
Posted 12:12 PM, 11/24/2008
The entire coaching staff is lost, and it has rubbed off onto the players.
Posted 01:11 PM, 11/24/2008
The only people who want Romeo and his staff to stay are the Steeler fans! They'll probably let us win on December 28th too.
somewhere near you, OH
Posted 01:55 PM, 11/24/2008
The clowns are a joke, the whole bunch needs to be shown the door. Isn't there another city we could sell them to?
N. Canton, Oh
Posted 02:50 PM, 11/24/2008
Bring back the "Cardia Kids!"
N. Canton, Oh
Posted 02:51 PM, 11/24/2008
I'm sorry, I mean the "Cardiac Kids!"
Posted 03:03 PM, 11/24/2008
Just wondering,the milk company that Edwards endorses, has there sales DROPPED. LOL
Posted 03:45 PM, 11/24/2008
For those of you questioning why fans show up to the games every week, do you not understand that the majority of the people with tickets are season ticket holders. They have already paid for these tickets. Not going to the game doesn't refund their ticket price.
I had tickets for many years. In the down years (there were many, recently and in the early 90s) I stopped spending much money at the stadium. Parked for free, tailgate before, take in a flask, and don't buy their crap.
But to suggest to people that have already spent their money (and are obviously big fans to sacrifice the time and money to attend games) that they just stop going is stupid. Unless you are a season ticket holder yourself, and are willing to stop going to games, you shouldn't be asking others to do that.
Besided, none of that will matter. An empty stadium doesn't affect the teams revenue enough to make a difference. It may look bad on TV, or give the team a bad reputation, but the product on the field is doing that already.
I don't know what to do or say, there needs to be lots of change. Unfortunately that just means more years of rebuilding, not expecting a good team, and probably more years of crappy or mediocre teams.
PS Cowher may not be the solution, even if he wants the job, and Lerner offers it to him.
Posted 04:06 PM, 11/24/2008
Yikes, they are brutal to watch now.
Regime change at end of season. And whatever coach comes in, listen to me...NO 3-4 DEFENSE !
Posted 04:45 PM, 11/24/2008
"Maybe the fans should make the stadium look like it did in the last two minutes of this so called game, for the whole 60 minutes of next weeks game against the Colts. That would get Randy Learner's attention."
I was thinking the same thing. If a consumer doesn't like the product, they don't buy it. This team no longer deserves the fan loyalty it has enjoyed since 1999. Maybe Pat's tongue in cheek comment that fans embrace the Steelers isn't so out of line after all. At least fans have fun watching them. Isn't this why we watch this game?
Posted 06:58 PM, 11/24/2008
Pathetic.
Port Saint Lucie, Fl
Posted 07:02 PM, 11/24/2008
A thought.As bad as the team is there are teams with worse records,ie.theLions,49er"s,&Bengals.The Jags have the same record with a more stable ownership and a better headcoach.Three of their wins are vs.two decent teams and the Super Bowl champs.There is hope,just rebuild the engine not replace the whole car. kp
Port Saint Lucie,Fl.
Posted 07:28 PM, 11/24/2008
I think the Browns are afraid to fire RC for obvious reasons!
Akron, OH
Posted 07:49 PM, 11/24/2008
Will somebody please tell me why it has been more than 24 hours after the Browns got BURIED by the Titans and Romeo Crennel is still the head coach?
Akron, OH
Posted 07:50 PM, 11/24/2008
Ray,
Don't even play the race card, idiot! A bad coach is a bad coach.
You suck!
Anti-Politically Correct & Anti-GOP, OH
Posted 06:15 AM, 11/25/2008
Bergermeister: The Browns did not play the Titans, they played the Houston Oilers.....errr Texans!
Posted 09:21 AM, 11/25/2008
What good would it do to fire Romeo now? Let him finish out the season then address it. Remember how well the season ended after Butch left halfway through the season?
Akron, OH
Posted 09:31 AM, 11/25/2008
and that's why I don't go to the games anymore.
