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Do IT this week: Layering
Foundation for '08 might form, but wins could be hard to find
Published on Sunday, Sep 09, 2007
Without the bridge, one is stuck.
And one must build the bridge.
To hear the Browns, the past two seasons were about building a bridge that would take the team from a mess to respectability.
This season is about crossing it.
''We've invested 31 months in the roster,'' General Manager Phil Savage said as the season approached with the opener today against the Pittsburgh Steelers. ''This '07 season, from my perspective, is all about protecting what we've done the last 31 months.''
Savage has dismantled the 2004 team, and given the team's performance that season, he dismantled for good reason.
The Browns finished 4-12 in 2004, losing nine of their last 10 games.
Many of the usual starters on that team are not only no longer Browns but are out of football completely: Antonio Bryant, Ross Verba, Enoch DeMar, William Green, Lee Suggs.
Others have caught on with other teams, but are not exactly shining such as defensive tackle Gerard Warren.
''To go from where we were in '04 to where we are now, you're going to go through the brier patch to get out of that mess,'' Savage said. ''It was a mess.''
Two starters remain on each side of the ball from that team and on offense, both have asterisks. Right tackle Ryan Tucker is suspended for the first four games, and tight end Steve Heiden shares time with Kellen Winslow.
Defensively, the only two players left are end Orpheus Roye and linebacker Andra Davis.
Savage clearly thought that the team he took over was sorely lacking in NFL talent, and anyone who watched the Browns lose 37-7 to the Buffalo Bills in December of that season would have a hard time arguing.
So the Browns have spent two years trying to build a roster that can be competitive and provide a base for success.
That's where the bridge comes in. This year is the ''bridge'' year, the year when the Browns go from decrepit (2004) to being able to compete for the playoffs (2008).
Note that the playoff expectation is next season, not this one. But if the season on the bridge proves successful and the playoffs arrive this season, the Browns will be thrilled.
But the important thing this season, Savage said, is the processes. The way the team plays will be more important than the won-lost total. Translation: We should compete this season, but we don't know how many games we can expect to win.
''I'm not as concerned about records, but I'm concerned about how we get to those final records,'' Savage said. ''If we're playing good football and they make a 57-yard field goal with no time on the clock, then I think we can feel good about ourselves.''
Every bridge needs foundations, and the Browns think that they are starting to get those at key positions:
Linebacker Kamerion Wimbley had an excellent rookie season and could be the outside pass rusher every team needs.
Left tackle Joe Thomas will learn on the job this season, but he is expected to anchor the left side of the line for a decade.
Winslow tied a team record for receptions last season playing on a knee that needed offseason surgery.
Quarterback Brady Quinn clearly has been given the keys to the team's future. He will not start immediately, but he will eventually.
Wide receiver Braylon Edwards is expected to build on last year's success on the field. He has vowed to grow up off the field as well.
The Browns have a ways to go as evidenced by 6-10 and 4-12 seasons in the first two years of the Savage-Romeo Crennel era.
But they firmly believe that for the first time they and they hope the fans can see the foundation for the future.
That might or might not add up to 10 wins in 2007, but the plan states that by season's end, the Browns will be across the bridge and ready to compete for a division title in 2008.
The hurdles
Though the Browns seem closer to competing this season, there are hurdles.
Primary is the team's inability to stop the run, a weakness since the Browns returned to the field in 1999.
In those years, the Browns have given up 171, 157, 138, 130, 132, 145, 138 and 142 yards rushing per game.
Those numbers are pitiful.
And the defensive line a key to the three-four defense because the defensive linemen are supposed to occupy blockers so linebackers can get to the ball is a large question mark.
Savage candidly concedes that fact.
''The defensive line is an area where we've done some auxiliary work, but we haven't been able to address it through the draft yet or through a high-priced free-agent,'' he said. ''I would certainly think that's on the Rolodex coming up.
''If you go to any team, there's going to be two or three areas of concerns, because with a 53-man roster and a salary cap, there's no way you're going to have great depth at every single position.''
The quarterback position also remains muddled.
Charlie Frye will start the season, but even Frye has to know it will be a difficult task to keep the job all season. Everyone from Rootstown to Lordstown expects Quinn to take over at some point.
That can't help Frye's frame of mind, or his confidence.
And for part of the preseason, Frye played like a quarterback who needed a confidence boost. Same is true of Derek Anderson. Neither seemed to be helped greatly by the quarterback competition that took place in camp.
Frye faces a brutally difficult opening game, and month which is one reason that the Browns are not putting Quinn in right away.
But if it would be difficult for Quinn, it also will be difficult for Frye to face the Steelers, a team that set him back badly with the 41-0 Christmas Eve massacre in 2005.
The third problem is the schedule. Had the NFL types in New York programmed a computer to come up with a difficult first six weeks for the Browns, it could not have done better.
The first six weeks feature games against the team's arch rival (Pittsburgh), a team the Browns do not match up well
Get the full article here.
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