The article summed it up perfectly...The Vikings are going to be a top 5 team in the league this year, and the Browns are going to be a bottm 5 team this year. I felt Mangini had Quinn play too tight this game.

Do you REALLY believe that Quinn's tight play was the result of Mangini telling him to play that way? Quinn is a slightly more talented version of Tim Couch. Lots of short completions with no ability to effectively stretch a defense. DA can stretch a defense, unfortunately he's a bumpkin when it comes to making smart plays which is why we're stuck with Quinn.

Let's hope Quinn realizes that conservative play doesn't win many starting QB jobs in the NFL.

It was one game, with a new coach, against a Super Bowl Contender. They played a tough, physical first half... they lost it in the second. Overall it isn't as bad as you make it sound.

There were times the Browns looked like a pro football team, maybe 1/4th of the time...over the long haul, it adds up to 4-12. Spend your time backing the Zips.

OSU loses Sat. night to a top five opponent, the Browns were the same, and tomorrow's Monday...

The Browns are so lucky to have die hard fans like Dave.

Going to withhold negative comment for positive...thank goodness for LeBron James.

Something positive - WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.
Jim Brown and Paul Warfield had to be wondering why they even came to see this bunch of overpaid underachievers.

Chaos and incompetence abound...

Less than 2 minutes left in the 2nd, Vikings have it 3rd and long and the Browns have 3 Timeouts. The Browns defense makes the play and the Vikings will punt. Do the Browns immediately call timeout? Of course not... 6 or 7 seconds run off the clock.

Did this affect the outcome? No.

The attention to detail and knowing situations never seems to be there with this team. This is the source of a much bigger problem.

Colt McCoy...Sam Bradford...

The game was what everyone expected. Braylon Edwards is the equivilent of "Wild Thing" in Major League. Million dollar talent with a ten cent head. Brady Quinn is like every raw talent quarterback we have seen here. That means we will never know whathe can really do because he does not have anyone around him. All that being said, the Browns will win more games this year then last year. One game against a contender does not a season make.

This is my first time whole-heartedly disagreeing with P-Mac.

They have shown improvement in EVERY area. We were going against the best rusher in the league. We stuffed him for at least a third of the game. We had some great plays from our secondary. We were going against a Hall of Fame QB, older version. We kept it competitive for a while.

I was disappointed in the loss, but I was proud of my Brownies, for the most part.

I am not worried just yet ,Vikings are one of the best teams out there. I am more concerned with the facts of too many penalties,our receivers can't seem to get open, or Braylon period, 2 stupid penalties and ran the wrong route, how do you fix stupid ?
Oh and of course our linebackers will have stellar numbers in tackles ,what the numbers DON"T tell you is they gained 8 yrds. first.

I saw improvement. Are they a good team ?--no. Browns fans,keep the faith---They will get better----this year.

Maybe someone forgot to tell Browns that exhibition season was over... no overreaction here though , i predict a wide learning curve for this team and with small steady improvement in different areas of the game week to week by seasons end the finished product on the field will remind fans more of the future than what we saw on Sunday:)

Looking like another flop of a draft.

Scary part, they could get worse.

Good part. I didn't hear the Little Rascals sound track in the background until the second half.

If you people think that the Browns are bad then try being and Kansas City Chiefs fan. Yes we do exist and we have held on to nothing more than hope for years and years.

This guy's blog is hilarious. He slams our coach, but he his funny:

http://npsportsinacorner.com/

"is funny."

Hate that we can't edit.

Todd Beockman is still out there. Probably working on his Masters degree or stocking groceries..

Third and long -

We got Metcalf up the middle.

Same old stuff, new names..

Look at the bright side. At least Derek Anderson didn't get an unsportsmanlike penalty for existing on the sideline this week like he did last week.

browns home record (see above) why is this guy a browns writer? he is soooo anti browns please fire him

First off, let's try to keep a coach around for about a decade before we kick another one out. I don't care who it is.

Also, why do the Browns on a 3rd and 15 throw a pass for 5 yards?? If you need 15, you throw for 16. Until they figure this one out, they will always go 3 and out.

Quinn did pretty good. This was a hard time to beat. But at least the finally did get a touchdown LOL. Give the kid a chance, he will get better in time. As for the coach give them time too. The first game is not the most important one, it would of been nice to win. But we got alot more games to play. GO BRADY STILL BACKING YOU.

I grew up playing receiver. But I was only 5'5". Now older, as I watch the game I realize that the biggest thing a receiver should do is "receive" or catch the ball. That would be the most noticeable part of the job. The other 2 things that come to mind are route running and blocking. And we see in this first week of football our dumbest, overpaid receiver rarely catches the ball and he cannot run routes either. That is 2 out of 3. Good job Braylon.

Did anyone ever think the Browns would win one against the Vikings? NOPE. We all admit, the Browns have a long way to go, and we knew that going in. What we are looking for is improvement each and every week. There will be more Viking like games along the way, that cannot be changed, but the way the team plays, individually and as a team will be what we are watching. Unnecessary penalties and sloppy tackling has to stop.

Mangini came here with a mess of a team on his hands, which is so strange how quickly it happened. In just 2 years, they have become one of the worst teams in the league. That says a lot about the past coach and general manager. Just remember, the Steelers once were 1 and 13 when they began their turn around.

It does appear that Mangini has the proper profile and drive of a winning coach. It is only a matter of finding and developing the right players to fit. Lets just hope that fit comes sooner than later.

Patty boy, negativity is your game not sports writing!! Please go into politics.

@ EastSideJo

RE: Good part. I didn't hear the Little Rascals sound track in the background until the second half.

That is true . . . but I also heard the theme song from "The Three Stooges" over and over again too. Kinda' like the Browns dance mix . . . a sweet backbeat with the "Little Rascal's" theme scratching over the defense . . . er . . . The Stooges theme.

They must of not pumped it into the stadium.

Reality...this team is a total mess. Mangini will definitely be mangenius to get more than 5 wins out of them this season.

The biggest problem was not Quinn, it was the defense. Adrian Peterson was awesome and made the defense look like swiss cheese. Did anyone actually expect Quinn to get the offense to score 35 points.

Much work to be done and DA is not the answer.

My Season tickets are up for sale.

Among the 800 things that bothered me yesterday about this debacle, one really stands out. When was the last time this team scored a TD on the opening series of a game? I could have predicted with 100% certainty yesterday that the opening series would end just as it did - march the ball down the field (thanks in part to great field position) and then bog down inside the 25 and settle for a field goal. It's like clockwork. The other is how absolutely horrible this team is on second down. Second down ought to occupy 75% of Mangini's playbook. Finally, trash that Wildcat formation until you guys have some clue as to what you're doing. It blows. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it's deja vu all over again this season in Cleveland.

OSU cant find the end zone and the Browns cant find the end zone. Young quarterbacks, its going to be a long season.

@george lopez:

Objectivity my man, objectivity.

Win, lose, stink, doesn' matter. They're still my team! Go Browns!

How do they get all those clowns into that tiny. little car?

Until I was the photograph accompanying this story, I thought Coach Mangini was an average size guy. If Brady Quinn is 6'3" as advertised, then the coach is maybe around 4'11""?

its abuse dude whoops i guess the pope couldn't tell diff.

Sure we lost. But like Mangini said, they only played one half of football and they didn't look too bad that first half. Better than last year. It is only their first game. Why does everyone think that this team is gonna turn around overnight? For all you that thinks this is how it works you are sadly mistaken. Some are still complaining about Braylon. Yes i am not a big fan either but did you see the catch he made after he was pushed out of bounds!?!?! Th at ball couldn't have been 6 inches off the ground! And Brady not taking "chances" downfield!!!! I am glad he doesn't take "chances" downfield. He makes good decisions, something DA knows nothing about. Did this team not look like a football team and not a bunch of bumbling idiots like last year. I for one can obviously see the improvements. Another poster made a great ponit. Let's keep this coach for a few years so he can get his playres and system in place. Just like Brady needs to stay the starter. You pick something and STICK with it. Because he and DA have been swapping reps in camp it is hard to get a good rythem. Be patient, please. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. No we won't make the playoffs this year but we will be better than 4-12.

Hey Patrick - why don't you go to another town and write - you hate the Browns and always have.

Faux sports showed a statistical comparison of A.P.'s first 30 games, with those of Jimmy Brown's first 30. The numbers were similiar for touches, yards, average yards per carry. But Brown scored 36 td's in his first 30. Brown, a first ballot H.O.F.'er, is unanimously called the best running back ever. Lucky for this team, they only have to face A.P. once this year, and not for another four years. In Brown's day, the Giants, Cards, Eagles, Steelers, 'Skins, and later, 'Boys, faced him twice a year, and all did everything they could to stop him, to no avail. A.P is in his league, and it's a very short list. This to me puts it in perspective that this team isn't as bad as P-Mac says. Also todays cheap shot rules(horse collar, forearm shiver, and helmet-to-helmet hits) didn't exist. Every team tried to hurt Brown, but he never missed a game. On an unrelated note, Quinn is better at reading defenses, and when he settles down and works better with his recievers, he will succeed. He reminds me of other successful west coast offense qb's. You don't have to possess a canon arm, just brains and the ability to fit the ball in there and scramble, when needed. Anybody can see he's the better athlete. He'll be fine.

Great comment from bosco1962: "Braylon Edwards is the equivilent of "Wild Thing" in Major League. Million dollar talent with a ten cent head."

It seems what we have is a failure to communicate. Or the trickle down affect. Ownership, General Manager, Scouts, Coach, Players. Ten years of absolute bust number one draft picks. Should of started with Mc Nabb by the way still playing. Next year another bust rather then Jamal lewis. Still playing even after jail he was so tough. Next year Gerald warren instead of Seymour tomilison, Moss (santana). Point being another bust in Quinn. No idea what there trying to accomplish. Pittsburgh who is tough, looses players to free agency but signs later round picks. But go in with a detailed goal in what they see in the draft. Im really tired of watching a really non competive browns team. With bad management choices and draft picks. With a scout team that is lead by Stevie Wonder. Maybe 6 wins if lucky.

Agree that there was much room for improvement.

I do know that the Browns scored more points yesterday than 15-17 of the other teams in the NFL this weekend, and that they played a top defensive team in the Vikes.

Not all is lost. And I suspect that half the NFL teams will be 0-1 by tomorrow morning.

Go Browns!!! ....and take the Indians with you!

Edwards definitely has a ten cent head...........Oops, make that a nickle...
Hey, what did you expect ?? He came from Michigan... "welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order ??"
Worthless and excessively overpaid !!

Play calling sucked, the D was okay but got tired as always and Quinn and the team should have had that final pre-season game to pactice. Oh well they are 0-1 and Sunday will be here soon.

I'm a McManamon fan and usually agree with his negative (read: honest) rants.

I didn't see the game live, but did watch it on DVR last night. I didn't really think they did all that badly. Peterson wore down the defense, but overall it wasn't as ugly as the 2nd half of last year.

Recall that around the mid-season point last year the Browns were 3-5. Then they started having to play Ken Dorsey and Bruce Gradkowski for most of the 2nd half of the year. I'm still thinking 4-12 or 5-11 this year, but thought that yesterday's performance wasn't all bad.

I still can't understand why the Browns hired Mangini. What did they see in this guy, he didn't win in New York with better talent. If they lose to the Broncos then he really needs to be throwm into lake erie. {Pitiful}

I am sick and tired of the boo-hooing over the Browns. They'll never be good. The team never should have came back.

They play one game . . . . and everybody . . . . everybody . . . . . including MacMannamon, knows what's wrong. Did the Browns do anything right? . . . . well . . . not according to all the Monday morning quarterbacls. By the way, I think that they got rooked out of that Edwards TD.

RMK akron

Wow, how sick is someone that they find politics in everything? Patriot76, Peyton Manning is a Republican, guess you wouldn't want him?
Let's see, if someone doesn't want a winner... then by definition, that person must be a _____?

The play calling was terrible. you can;t run 2 yard plays and expect to get first downs. The vikings were staying right at home and blitzing because they didn;t have to defend anything more then 5 yards. If you don;t throw down field and stretch the defense you cut the playing field down to the line of scrimmage. This is what Mangini did in New york and that's why he lost his job there. Why on earth would the Browns hire this nut. I saw alot of players who came to play yesterday. I saw several coaches who hindered that effort.

By the way, the Browns will never be a quality organization as long as Randy Lerner is the owner. Randy's passion is soccer. Randy bought a down trodden English club, Aston Villa Football Club, and returned them to respectiblity, in short order. Randy makes quick decisions about the Browns so he can focus on the Claret and Blue. The Browns are a cash cow for Randy Lerner.

Get used to it folks, it's not our team, it's Randy Lerner's team. And he's playing us for suckers.

Rmk I agree Edwards had a touchdown. That was just a blown call to say he didn;t get enough steps back in. How could he when he was pushed out at the goal line?

The Browns playe poorly to be sure. Very Poorly.
Fortunately they play better than you write. Consider an attitude adjustment. Find solace in prayer. Don't let the Savage era and your short tenure with the Browns poison your pen!

There's always next year...

And the year after that...

And the year after that...

imagine that we lost our first game against a super bowl contender and everyone is ready to give up the season, well this is a much improved football team and ill tell u why. our D is going to b much better, we are not goin to see A.P. every week we got pressure from every where FS SS LB DL. josh cribbs is the best all around football player in the NFL. B.Q. will be our qb for a long time, he avoided about 8 sacks that D.A. would have taken, the more he plays the better he'll get! Well finish 7-9 ang get better every year! GO BROWNS (from a true fan!)

McManaNon: You are worse than I thought. Your cheap shots at the Browns must be your niche to try to get people to read your shallow perception of sports. Charlie Fry is long gone. If Anderson is so great, why is he holding a clipboard.
This was a game we had little chance to win, the FOX lock of the week. Brady has started four games and we better see what he can do since he was a first round pick. Apparently noone has come throwing high draft picks our way to obtain Anderson either. Anderson is not great either.
If you don't want to support the home team, bye-bye! The beacon would be better served with Marla Ridenour as their featured reporter! At least she sounds like she played the game.
And by the way Pat, Charlie Frye beat out Jeff Garcia as the Raiders third team QB. You are certainly not a Terry Pluto writer either!

Sorry eltten. Frye didn't REALLY beat out Garcia. Garcia wanted out if he wouldn't be the starter. So, out he went!

Now, he's starting for the Eagles this coming weekend. Better than sitting on a bench in Oakland.

2-14

Valentine's Day!

What do I win?

It's easy to say they suck but it's the more intelligent football fans that'll say they improved.

I was impressed with the defense in the first half. They were very good at getting to the ball carrier and staying in their lanes.

The main problem with this team is the still the offense. They couldn't stay on the field to give the defense a rest. Going against the #1 RB in the league (and prolly the best in this decade) you need to keep him OFF the field by moving the ball on offense.

I can't blame the defense for the 4th quarter. Without that amazing display of power and talent that is Adrian Peterson and his long TD run... he would've been held to about 116 yards on 24 carries. That's not bad when defending a RB like him.

Peterson's 1st half stats -
9 carries for 25 yards and a 1 yd TD

2nd half stats -
16 carries for 155 and 2 TDs.

The offense is the problem but I have some hope that they will improve with time.

Minnesota's top 5 defense didn't help either.

Timbo...this team hasn't scored a TD in 6 freaking games and you want them to do it on the first drive now??? Let's let them score a TD ANYTIME they want before we dictate an opening drive TD. Heck, they're still trying to get Braylon to run a route correctly and catch and things. I'm surprised he doesn't need help breathing??

You gotta have 2 feet in bounds in order for it to be a catch. Braylon was out of bounds.

Patty boy needs a couple midol and a pint of Haagen Daas. Every article he has written about this team over the last few months he sounds like a bitter 15 year old girl.

The writer of this article is a hack. I will never read another of his crappy articles. First game of the season and he already stuck the knife in the club. If he's so knowledgable about football, why don't we read some of his enlighted articles on national wires?

McMamon you can go suck an egg.

"They are who we thought they were."

Come on, folks. The writer was just calling a spade a spade. This team is terrible. There's nothing wrong with being a diehard fan, but let's be realistic. Nothing has changed.

The Vikings have the #1 rated run defense in the league, and they're prepped to make a realistic run at the Super Bowl. The Browns are not there yet. Nobody who knows football disputes these facts.

That being said, there's a lot of indications that the Browns are finally pointed in the right direction. Davis will be pivotal in establishing the running game, which in turn sets up the pass and provides clock control, keeping opponents in a catch-up position. It's simple day-one stuff we're talking about here.

Among our many problems is a qb who thinks muscle lifting is more important than flexability. And with that being said how is it that our weight lifting boy band qb can't throw the ball over 10 yds more than once a game? I almost called for tv service thinking that my 2,000 hd tv was broken making it look like 11 vikings were close in up on the line all game ON D.

empowermentone1...
You're an dolt.

So ALL NFL QBs don't lift weights then? Brady Quinn is the only QB ever to have a weight lifting program.

I guess McNabb never lifts, he's just swelled since college.

Throwing a football has more to do with the size of your hand, your grip and mechanics than it does with strength and flexibility. Sure they help a lot, but your point falls on deaf ears.

Good article Pat, pretty much summed it up. I would like to know though why Brian Daboll isn't getting any heat ? The play calling was so predictable even that so called wild cat disaster everybody knew what was coming. I guess Daboll is just one of mangini's monkeys so he gets a pass. Wasn't he a ballboy or something before this? You are absolutely right this week is a make or break game, 4 out next 5 on the road, then Green Bay. This ain't looking good, I say go ahead and play the young guys give them a chance.... good luck Brownies !