NFL Cleveland Browns: 5 Facts to Confuse You During Bye Week

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

John Adams

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. 

Vince Lombardi

Fact 1: Injuries

Shurmur is starting to sound like Belichick when it comes to injury updates.

A)  Joe Haden (sprained knee):  We’ve gone from (paraphrasing here) “he could miss 3-4 weeks” to “this injury could be worse than expected,” to “Joe practiced indoors on Tuesday” to being “hopeful that Joe will be ready to return in Week 6 against the Oakland Raiders“

Gee, thanks. That really clears it up.

Dimitri Patterson is saying all the right things about being a versatile back who is comfortable stepping into the starting role if Haden can’t play. Dimitri has recorded seven solo tackles in four games from the nickel slot. Not bad. Not a budding super star, but not bad.

B)  Josh Cribbs (sprained knee): CBSsports.com has the double offensive threat listed as "probable" for Week 6. Great. But how many times in the past two years has this man been less than full strength? Think about it. This is how he plays hurt? How dominant would he be healthy?

C)  Alex Mack (appendectomy):  How can you play Center in a professional football game when you are having such a bad attack of appendicitis that you are in surgery the next day? I don’t even want to think about how awful that was for him. I love football players. They are as bad as doctors: “This is going to be a bit uncomfortable.” In my wussy world, that translates to agony.

I would be out for a month; Roethlisberger came back in two weeks—but he didn’t play well for a month. Hmmm. I’m betting Mack will be on the line in Week 6. I’m sure Colt is hoping he’ll be back on the line. We’ll have to see if there is a surgery hangover.

D)  Mohamed Massaquoi’s shoulder should be healed enough for him to play next week.

Bottom Line:  Your biggest playmaker on defense is hovering somewhere between a little stiff and out for a month, you have a 25-year-old QB and your ProBowl center just had abdominal surgery and your biggest playmaker on both offense and special teams (with apologies to two excellent kickers) has yet another knee problem. Yikes.

Fact 2: Chronic Ownership Under-Appreciation

Deion Sanders had a running joke about re-naming Joshua Cribbs “Pay the Man.” This was in the years when Cribbs was the only playmaker of any kind wearing orange. And the team strung this outstanding athlete and classy young man along for an entire season.

Now it’s Peyton Hillis’ turn in the taken-for-granted chair. Actually, I think it’s worse than that. I think Shurmur is trying to push him out. The player on your team that is so productive and consistent that he is on the cover of Madden. Yeah, that’s good thinking.

I told you Shurmur was suspect in the run department. If Pat is really leaning towards the speedier Hardesty over power-stud Hillis, then he is firmly in the Andy Reid coaching camp. And how many Super Bowls has that gotten you, Andy? Quarterbacks constantly on the injury list and only a short-passing option on 3rd-and-1. Great.

Gee, it must have been torture for Shurmur last year in St. Louis. Forced to lean on Steven Jackson to carry your team. Poor guy.

I so hope I’m wrong on this. And I could be, because there is, after all, an agent involved. If only agents could have a force field put around their offices and a filter put on their phones so that they can communicate only about contract language and never with the media.

Kennard McGuire, you are doing your client no good service here. Do you honestly think that alienating the fans by casting aspersions on No. 40’s commitment is going to get the Ohio public to pressure ownership for a new deal? Shut up and let the guy be the Cleveland hero that he should be.

But the inability or refusal of the Browns’ management to forge a contract is disturbing. Of course, Mr. McGuire doesn’t sound like the most reasonable of humans, either. But as a fan I would absolutely be expecting my new head coach to sound a little more passionate about his most effective weapon.

And while we’re on the subject of passion, how about a bit more confidence in your players from the mic, there, Pat? See, saying things like, “I consider Colt McCoy to be almost a rookie,” does not endear you to the kid who is getting smacked around on the field every Sunday. Even if you believe it, let’s not over-share.

On the one hand, Pat’s Freudian slip was kind of funny and charming. But I really don’t like seeing my head coach looking that lost. Reminds me of Wade Phillips and that has never turned out well.

The smartest thing I’ve heard Shurmur say at a press conference to date was about learning the wind conditions at Browns Stadium: “I’m leaning on the kickers; they’re like meteorologists.” Dandy.

Fact 3: They Have Talent on Defense

But they are very young and in transition.

When Holmgren decided to keep Mangini at the helm for a year, some wondered if it would turn out to be a lost season in the evolution of this team. I don’t know if that is true, since two of the D-linemen are rookies. And I do think that Dick Jauron is a good defensive coordinator. But switching to a 4-3 dictated drafting for the D-line immediately. The talent is absolutely there, both with the rookies and the two sophomore DBs.

Yes, they look confused sometimes. How could they not? The mistake of Week 1 and the outclassing that occurred against Tennessee last week won’t be the only growing pains this year. But they are in good hands with Jauron, so they’ll figure it out quickly.

But what happened against the Titans wasn’t confusion; they were flat out manhandled by that Tennessee O-line. Apologists have said that it was because they aren’t as big as that older O-line. And that is true.

The Titans are in the usual 6’2”-6’5” range across the center of the O-line. And then you get to the Tackles:  they are both 6’7” and 320 lbs. No wonder the Browns’ Ends couldn’t get past them and no wonder Matt Hasselbeck looks so happy. Heck, sign me up—I could at least hand it off behind that line.

Respected analyst Vic Carucci wrote that this young and relatively compact group of 6’2” and 6’3” fellows must find a way to succeed against bigger O-linemen. Well, duh. But unless you are Freeney and Mathis on turf, I’m not quite sure how you accomplish that.  Stay tuned.

Fact 4: The Problem with the Browns’ Receivers Isn’t Speed

So, I’d been going along like a lot of us:  assuming that the reason Colt can’t get the “vertical” game going is the inability of Cleveland’s WRs to outrun the competition. All but Joshua Cribbs of course. So I looked them up—and was quite surprised at what I found. Cribbs is certainly the fastest of the group, right? Uh, not so much.

Brian Robiskie:  4.46

Greg Little:  4.5

Massaquoi:  4.57

Norwood:  4.58

And…

Joshua Cribbs:  4.61, at the Combine, many years ago and before he had a bum knee.

So, it’s not about speed. It’s about football IQ (don’t forget that Cribbs is a former QB), route running and one-on-one skills. Sounds like a job for a head coach, right? Uh-huh. Or maybe they should seriously consider T.O. in November. Just a thought—don’t shoot me.

Then, to depress myself, I looked up Mike Wallace and DeSean Jackson. Wallace’s 40 time at the Combine was 4.33 and in college he was clocked at 4.22. Jackson’s Combine 40 was 4.35. Hmmm. Okay, well, maybe part of the problem is speed.

Fact 5: Colt McCoy Is Tougher and Better Than He Looks

I don’t watch much college football because my husband already doesn’t see me much during football season and if I tried to watch pigskin play all day Saturday, too, I think it would be the last straw. So the first time I saw Colt McCoy was in the National Championship where he was put out of the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. Hence my concern about his stature.

But I’m a huge Drew Brees fan, and I see a lot of both Brees and Hasselbeck in Colt. And the kid is hanging in there. When All-Pro Tackle Joe Thomas tells anyone who will listen that you are tough—then you are tough.

Colt has been sacked six times, has thrown six TD passes and three INTs. He is 100 out of 172 for a completion percentage of 58. Last week he threw for 350 yards on 61 attempts with 40 completions. So, why is his QB rating only 78? Because those 350 yards only resulted in 13 points. Ah.

Mr. McCoy has “it.” He needs work, especially in the red zone, but he'll get there. Let’s just try to give him someone to throw to and keep him out of the hospital until that happens. Besides, he’s so darn likeable:

The sun is out today, it’s a good day and you just keep working. (Colt McCoy, October 4th)

Absolutely.