Cleveland Browns' Mike Holmgren Must Ask Tough Questions About Recent Wins

THE DAWGHOUSE  December 7, 2010

I know many of you expect this Bleacher Report site to be a "rah-rah-Browns-are-great-no-matter-what" kind of place, and so I know fully well that I'm running the risk of upsetting just about all of you reading this, but the question must be asked:  Are you really satisfied with the Browns performances of late?

Sure, our beloved Browns beat both Carolina and Miami, but those victories leave THE DAWGHOUSE with more of a taste of bonemeal than of meat.  Carolina wins if they make the fieldgoal, and Miami wins if cornerback Nolan Carrol hangs on to the easy pick-six.

Easy now, I can sense your anger rising... so calm down... down, boy!  A win is a win, and lucky breaks and bounces go both ways depending upon the mad, mischievous mirth of the warped football gods cheering and jeering from on high.  (A tip of the cowboy hat Dandy Don... may the light shine you as if it were Monday night!)

But what would you be feeling and thinking if the Browns, by the flipside football fluke that gave them these victories, had lost both games?  Where's the brash and brilliant Browns team that destroyed both New Orleans and New England and almost won the "New" trifecta by crashing the Jets?

It's true that injuries, varying quarterback and receiver skills, and opponent tendencies cause shifts in strategic thinking, but I still wonder why the Browns offense can't seem to put together an appropriate, thoughtful, consistent entire game.

The first half of the Carolina game demonstrated a terrific and effective version of the West Coast offense.  But the Browns almost lost that game by diving into their conservative shell after a couple of interceptions.  Instead, they should've thought, "Okay, the Panthers picked six, so let's stick with what's worked and score another 21 or 28 points in the second half." 

The Miami game offense led with a Hillis running attack rather than the successful West Coast short passing game that special delivers running yardage via an air mail strategy.  Instead of Delhomme dropping back short and throwing quick hitters, he was asked to drop back deep where pass coverage and a Dolphin defensive line onslaught created problems all day long.  This version of the offense scored 3 points in the first half.

Look, my heart pumps orange blood, and I'll stack my Browns fan scar tissue bona fides against any comers.  I must ask these questions because I want to see another Cleveland Browns dynasty of winning, and because I think it's entirely possible with Holmgren and Heckert at the helm. 

Why is there a new and inconsistent offense week after week... one that appears to have learned nothing from past performance?  Why are the Browns, so dominant versus New Orleans and New England, only squeaking by lesser teams with fickle wins decided by errors, flukes and fate?

These are questions that must be explored and answered by Mike Holmgren as he picks and develops the team of players and coaches that will carry us into what we all hope is a new decade of Browns football dominance.

On the bright side, Rob Ryan's defense growled, howled and protected the yard in the win over Miami with crisp, low, tying up the legs, yardage stopping, ball carrier dropping definitive tackling.  Missing for much of the year, it's a beautiful thing to see that the Browns D truly knows how to put on the stop.

IN THE DAWGHOUSE for the Miami game

There were no standout candidates to spend this week in the motley mutt motel, so as a preventative defensive measure designed to fend off the flood of vitriolic venom for what I've written above, I'm tossing myself into THE DAWGHOUSE.  I'll just hunker down low and wait for the snow show as the greatest team in the history of professional sport shuffles (shovels?) off to Buffalo.  Bow-wow, baby.