Cleveland Browns Lose: In Other News, the Sun Rises in the East

There is no question it is very difficult being a Cleveland Browns fan right now.

After yet another blowout, this time to the Green Bay Packers, the one question on everyone’s mind is: Can the Browns just forfeit the rest of their games and spare everyone the misery?

It certainly seems like head coach Eric Mangini would like to forfeit the rest of the season, because he really doesn’t seem to be focused on winning anything. There’s no doubt Cleveland is a bad team that will lose a lot of games, but these blowouts are getting ridiculous.

Listening to Mangini’s postgame press conference, he seemed more upset the team didn’t play harder than he was about the loss. When asked about all the adversity the team faced this week, his response noticeably lacked any notion of winning a game.

“We have to do a better job of working through those things and being able to come here on Sunday, our one opportunity to play, and play better and coach better," he said.

In order to coach better, the staff needs to recognize that even though this is a very thin team talent-wise, it is their job to get as much performance as they can out of the team.

If the game plan isn’t focused on winning, why should anyone be surprised the team lost?

A coaching staff focused on winning wouldn’t still be committing to Derek Anderson at quarterback. Given Anderson’s stats yesterday, 3-17 for 99 yards, it would make more sense to give Brady Quinn another shot.

He can’t be any worse.                                                                 

Even with the coaching staff’s apparent mindset of just getting through the season and using these 16 games as an extended preseason evaluation, why wouldn’t they put Quinn back in to see how he reacts to a full schedule of games?

The answer to that only brings more questions. Did Mangini see something in the first 10 quarters of the season everyone else missed? Is the benching purely to avoid paying the accelerators on Quinn’s contract?

Anderson has been no better than Quinn since he took over in the Baltimore game. Anderson now has played more quarters than Quinn, but Mangini indicated he has zero interest in putting Quinn back in.

Mangini also appears to have no interest in having a creative offense that scores points. Since both quarterbacks have been equally bad, that usually means the system is flawed.

However, hiring an ultra-conservative offensive coordinator is typical of a head coach who came up through the defensive ranks. Head coaches who formerly were defensive coordinators don’t like to have a wild offense because it messes with their defense.

This makes the hiring of Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator look a bit more logical. Daboll really isn’t qualified for the job at the moment and clearly is in over his head. Therefore, he will do what he is told without question.

Daboll won’t argue during the week about the schemes Mangini wants implemented and he won’t argue for any particular play or player during the game.

There is the possibility Daboll could grow into his job and be a very good coordinator in a year or two when the Browns have more talent, but that’s a big if when you see the plays being called in right now.

Once again, the Browns have little to no talent on the field, but when it’s third and 17 and the play being called is a screen pass; even if executed perfectly, how many times does a screen pass go for more than 15 yards?

Why does Joshua Cribbs, arguably the team’s most potent offensive weapon, only get one touch?

Those questions, and their lack of answers, are why Browns fans are staying away from the games and calling for Mangini’s job.

On the defense, Rob Ryan, for the most part, has done the best job he can with what little he had to work with. He had even less to work with this week after losing D’Qwell Jackson for the year to injury and having half his lineman go down with the flu.

The one criticism that can be leveled at Ryan is his defense still is doing a terrible job at tackling. All the other faults can pretty much be chalked up to lack of talent, but tackling is something that is so fundamental, there is no excuse for it to be this bad.

One reason the Browns have been outgained 460-139 and 449-197 in consecutive weeks is tackling. A complete and utter failure in the secondary would be the other reason, but even when our guys are playing man-to-man, the yards after catch being rung up are awful.

In the last two weeks, the running backs and wide receivers are bouncing off of Browns defenders like a pinball machine. Nobody in a Browns uniform seems capable of wrapping a guy up and bringing him down.

Browns fans expected to lose again this year, everybody realized this. But they were promised better, smarter, football to get them through the process.

Instead, all Mangini has put on the field is a rudderless team looking to the sidelines for guidance and finding none.