When is a win really a loss??? Only in Cleveland

Sunday was the little anticipated battle of Ohio in the NFL.  Last year, Cleveland and Cincinnati battled in an offensive showdown that saw 96 points put on the board.

Where did those teams go?  The powerhouses that showed off there talented scoring ability were offensive on Sunday, but in the other sense of the word.

Cleveland’s 20-12 win over the Bengals showed one truly telling thing that Browns fans everywhere can look forward to for the rest of the season: more of the same.

By more of the same, I mean more 1 yards plunges up the middle on 1^st and 10.  More 3^rd and 8’s where receivers run 5 yard outs.  More glorious Zastudil punts.  And finally, we’re destined to see many more losses.

The offense is about as vanilla as it could be.  Good coaching creates mismatches or confusion in the defense making big plays possible.  Our coaching makes the defense foam at the mouth because they know what is coming, again, and again, and again.

And the worst side effect that came out of that brilliant win over possibly the worst team in football that was starting a rookie QB with no experience was the fact that our beloved coach Romeo Crennel will somehow spin a putrid performance by Derek Anderson into a pro-bowl display.

Derek made some good plays on Sunday.  But he also made some throws that against even a mediocre defense (see Baltimore Ravens last week) would have been turned into 6 points.

I’m sure there is pressure from the front office to be careful about benching a 30 million dollar quarterback, but isn’t this league about winning?  Derek’s decision making is just not getting any better. 

For instance, there was a play in the middle of the 3^rd quarter where the Bengals had clearly jumped off-sides.  10 million Browns fans were screaming “free play, free play” at their TV sets.  Anderson decides to throw a 1 yard out to Braylon Edwards.  The pass was so bad that any of the three defenders in the area had an easy pick.  Maybe Derrick wanted to test out Braylon’s tackling skills?

I long for the days of Kosar.  I long for the days of Sipe.  Gosh, what do think Kelly Holcomb is doing right now?  Or maybe we should try that “other guy” (a.k.a. Brady Quinn).

Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou head, Romeo?