Cleveland Browns: 10 Things the Team Should Do During the Bye Week
With the Browns going into the bye on a high, after a shocking 30-17 thrashing of the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints, the Browns have a opportunity to right the ship coming out of the bye with back-to-back home games against the New York Jets and New England Patriots as well as a favorable schedule with Jacksonville, Carolina, Miami in upcoming weeks.
Here are the 10 things that the Cleveland Browns should do that cannot only help them improve but even contend for a possible Wild Card.
No. 1: Commit to Colt McCoy as the Starter, Period
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How does your first ever NFL win sound when it is on the road and against the defending Super Bowl champions?
That sounds good if you are third-round pick, QB Colt McCoy, who after a admirable 281-yard and one touchdown debut against Pittsburgh throws for only 74 yards and leading a 1-5 team to the biggest upset of the year in the NFL.
In his two starts, McCoy has thrown for 355 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, but what stands out the most besides his mobility is his 65.8 percent accuracy and impressive knack for making a play on his feet.
Having a modest 76.5 QB rating isn't bad either and with a easier schedule coming up, I feel that if the Browns really want to fairly evaluate what they have in McCoy then commit to him, let him take all the first-team snaps in practice and make McCoy the official starter so that McCoy can develop chemistry with the rest of the offense.
No. 2 Move Eric Wright to Special Teams
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CB Eric Wright has been Mr. Wrong for the Browns defense and the clear weak link that opposing defenses attack in the Brown's secondary just ask Raven's WR Anqoin Boldin and Steeler's WR's Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.
He has already given up five touchdown passes and is one of the most targeted defensive backs in the league.
A move to special teams might be a good thing and with his 60-yard scamper off of a Joshua Cribb's lateral, he showed his speed in athleticism in the open field for once instead of using it to chase down wide receivers that have already blown by him.
No. 3: Promote Joe Haden to Starting CB
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Browns rookie cornerback, Joe Haden offers the Browns more athleticism on the CB spot and also in kick/punt returns as he is second on the team behind Joshua Cribbs with 45 return yards and team-leading average of 22.5 yards.
Haden also seems to be in better position to make a play, such as his 62-yard interception of Ben Rothlisberger in the Browns 28-10 loss to Pittsburgh.
His 24 total tackles and four passes defended are not as many as fellow cornerback, Eric Wright, but he also doesn't leave himself vulnerable to opposing offenses for big plays as they seem to go after Wright and shy away him.
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No. 4: Work Mike Bell into the Offense So That Peyton Hillis Stays Fresh
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One thing that has become a big positive for the Browns is the emergence of former Denver Broncos running back as the Browns version of former Tampa Bay FB, Mike Alstott, now with the second half of the season about to start, the Browns must guard against over-working Hillis and allowing teams to "load the box" for him.
Bell, acquired in a trade with Philadelphia for Jerome Harrison, fits the tough, physical running style that the Browns want to run—much better than Harrison—and is also a much better blocker. And although Bell may not have Harrison's outside running abilities, Bell is much better between the tackles.
Look for Bell to take some of the load off of Hillis in the second half of the season and make people forget about Harrison.
No. 5: Get the Receivers Involved More in the Offense
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There are few teams that can get away with having their tight end as their leading scorer and receiver, take San Diego for example with Antonio Gates.
Consider that the Browns leading scorer and wide receiver is tight end, Benjamin Watson, with 30 receptions and two touchdowns. Watson also leads the Browns in receiving yards with 336.
A alarming stat is that of the Browns six offensive touchdowns—wide receivers have only two of them, belonging to Joshua Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi.
For the Browns to not only score more points and win in the second half, they must have McCoy attack downfield more with his wide receivers if they want to stand a chance in any game.
No. 6: Daboll Needs To Open Up the Playbook for McCoy, Slowly.
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For Browns Colt McCoy to take his next few steps in his NFL development, that will depend on Browns offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll and his play-calling, which for the most part has been fairly conservative and mainly about team management.
Daboll is being prudent in giving McCoy small bits and pieces of the Browns newly installed hybrid West Coast offense and Browns fans should expect to see McCoy become more comfortable in the pocket and even run more bootlegs and downfield strikes.
What Daboll needs to do is continue to give McCoy plays that emphasize his greatest strengths, mobility and his accuracy, something that hasn't been seen in a long time by a Browns QB.
And after seeing the horrific offline throws by former signal-callers Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, this could be easy getting used to.
Accuracy...it's a beautiful thing!
No. 7: Tighten Up the Right Side of the Offensive Line.
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For the Browns to win in the final months of the year and especially against AFC North Titans, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Browns will need to really tighten up and work on the right side of the line.
When Browns QB's Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme were under center, the right side of the line was like a pratical turnstile for defensive ends to get in the vision of their strong side, and with McCoy now under center, the Browns must do a better job of not only protecting McCoy's strong side but also opening up running lanes for Hillis and Bell.
Have any of you noticed that almost all the Browns offensive plays are to the left or predominantly behind Thomas, Mack and Steinbach and away from the right side of the line? Bingo.
No. 8: Let The Dawgs Loose on Defense!
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The Browns defense may have finally had a breakthough in picking of Saints QB, Drew Brees four times and while it's a sign of promise, I think that Rob Ryan needs to turn the Browns defense loose.
It clearly appeared that the "UFO" defense confused Brees enough to not enable the Saint's offensive line to pick up Cleveland's blitzes.
For the Browns to continue to play well in the second half of the season, they need to be more aggressive in bringing more blitzes and take some chances instead of letting themselves be surgically dissected Grey's Anatomy-style.
Through seven games, they give up 244.1 yards per game to opposing defenses, and with a young secondary, they will continue to be easy picking unless they bring the heat more often.
And that run defense needs to "man up" down the stretch as well, as they give up the 19th most number of yards on the ground at 119.3 per game.
No. 9: Let Mangini Coach!
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It's hard enough that your team is 2-5 going into the bye with a rookie quarterback and having every call and play dissected under the intense microscope that is Cleveland Browns football.
But it is even tougher when you have your new boss a future Hall-of-Famer named Mike Holmgren ready to can you if your team doesn't play well.
For the record, I've never been a fan of Mangini since his days with the New York Jets, but I do feel that someway, somehow that Mangini will rally the Browns in the second half to some victories and possibly save his job and his team from distractions such as his job security and Holmgren dropping the axe on him and Daboll.
Ironically I'm saying lay off of Mangini and let him coach, not just for his sake but for the stability of the Browns.
No. 10: Prepare To Play Hard Down the Stretch, Take Advantage of Schedule.
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With two five-win teams in New York and New England coming out of the bye and two five-win teams in Pittsburgh and Baltimore bookmarking the end of the schedule, the Cleveland Browns have a very good oppurtunity to take advantage of a weak schedule in the middle.
With the exception of the 3-3 Miami Dolphins, the Browns face four teams with losing records in the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals, the 1-5 Carolina Panthers, the 3-4 Jacksonville Jaguars and the win-less 0-6 Buffalo Bills.
Cleveland's final nine opponents have a combined record of 29-27 for a .517 winning percentage and this would be the best time for the Browns to really bring along McCoy and perhaps even make a push for a realistic 7-9 or even better 9-7 record and possible AFC Wild Card.
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