Can the Browns finally win an opener? It?s not completely out of the realm of possibilities. The struggles in season openers for the Cleveland Browns has been well documented. And this season, while the Browns don?t open at home, the threat to lose another opener is real. The game is at Pittsburgh. Of course it is. Can the Browns win this game? They can. The NFL surprises each and every week. Will they? Probably not. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but it is hard to be confident entering this game after the Browns? circus that was the offseason and preseason. The Browns have had some crazy offseasons and preseasons and this was among the craziest. As far as what is consistent, the Browns enter the opener with a new coach and new starting quarterback. All this adds up to pessimistic feelings surrounding Sunday?s opener. The Browns can turn it around and give their fans some hope. That is, if these three things happen Sunday. 1. Sack Ben Roethlisberger. A lot. This is a known weakness of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They simply can?t protect Ben Roethlisberger. Now, as was the case in many of the previews Browns-Steelers games, the inability to bring down Roethlisberger has led to big plays and big losses. We?ve heard about Mike Pettine?s defense and their ability to confuse and sack quarterbacks. Now it?s time to see it in action. 2. Don?t make dumb plays, Brian Hoyer Avoid turnovers. In five career starts Hoyer has six touchdown passes and five interceptions. He simply can?t turn the ball over Sunday in Pittsburgh. Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will try and confuse him and put his players in position to confuse Hoyer. Smart, safe throws are needed from Hoyer to keep the Browns offense moving in the right direction and a big key brings us to? 3. Run the football. Well. The time is now for Ben Tate, Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell to shine. If the Browns can average four yards a carry, it takes the pressure off Hoyer and it lessens the impact of a blitzing LeBeau defense. New coach Pettine displays sort of an old-school mentality and approach when it comes to football. Play good defense and run the ball. While rules are being relaxed for the sake of the passing game, the tried-and-true old-school method is not extinct. Ask the Seattle Seahawks if it still works OK. If the Browns are to be in position to win Sunday, it may not be a thing of beauty. Offenses may not shine and many points may not be scored, but a win very well could happen. Hey, why not? Full-blown Browns pessimism doesn?t fully take effect until mid-October.
Bluez, 4 and 12? Is there no hope? Have we not raised the talent level? Has Pittsburgh shown anything? Does anyone truly believe in Cinci? Did RayLewis return to Baltimore? Oh yeah, the new coach thing, and the "who" is playing QB, and the league's top receiver isn't on the team, and we haven't beaten Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh without making 7 sacks of Ben, and after all we are Cleveland. Half empty? Yeah, and most likely the 2bd half of most games. Or is that about the change? Is this the year our D actually plays it's best in the 4th quarter? Is this the year we don't self mutilate the O, by dismal QB play? Is this the year we see a running game that grinds down defenses, and break through in the final quarter? Uh.......... Maybe. It's September and we are undefeated, so.. no white flags here. GO Browns!
BTW, I saw Pettine on the NFL net, and he's starting to worry me. This back and forth with the QB question is bugging me. He has to be a leader. Make your choice and defend it until you change your mind, not hedge it daily with idiotic statements about Johnny Football. How much confidence do the players have in a guy who seems to waffle, on a question that he has aledgedly answered. Show some backbone! He has the right to change his mind at any point, but to dangle the possibility of making the change daily, undercuts his QB, and his O's confidence. Hell if you want to go Johnny then GO. If you believe in the choice you made then shut up and let sell the team on how this is their QB, and let's go to war? It make me uneasy about the focus of the team, when the HC seems undecided. Am I way out of bounds here, or does this strike anyone else as "wishy washy". Not what i'm looking for in my HC.
IMHO Pettine is just playing the media. I have my doubts that he is waffling on the QB situation. I think it is merely a ploy to keep teams guessing at what the game plan may be. We'll find out for sure on Sunday GO BROWNS!!!
The good news? One of the major obstacles between the NFL, NFLPA, and a new drug policy has been tentatively cleared. The bad news? At least one other big one remains. Per a league source, a tentative agreement has been reached on the lingering-for-months dispute over the question of whether discipline for PED and hGH violations arising from something other than a positive test would be appealed via third-party arbitration or to Commissioner Roger Goodell. The union has wanted third-party arbitration, since appeals for positive PED/hGH tests would be handled that way under the new deal. The league has preferred that Goodell to retain the power that he currently has over discipline imposed in BALCO/Biogenesis-style cases. Per the source, a form of neutral arbitration will be used, if the tentative agreement becomes an actual one. But now the primary impediment has become the league?s request that it be able to impose a suspension for player DUI arrests before the legal case is resolved. (So much for ?due process.?) It?s a non-starter for the NFLPA, and it?s an issue the league should quickly abandon, if it truly wants to get a deal done sooner than later. Even Colts owner Jim Irsay (have you heard that the NFL held him to a higher standard?) wasn?t disciplined until his legal case ended. While certain violations of the personal-conduct policy would be sufficiently severe to justify action before litigation has ended, first-offense DUI cases not involving injury or death should be permitted to percolate through the proper channels. Ultimately, the player can win the case, attacking one of the various potential flaws that can arise in DUI investigations, from the legality of the stop to the implementation of field-sobriety testing to the accuracy of the breath test to other issues that could result in the case being dismissed or the player being acquitted at trial.
I saw on an ESPN poll that most fans thought the Browns would win 4-7 games. That's about right in my opinion. That is our normal. If this team wins 6 games I'll be happy. 7 I'll be beside myself. I just hope the Bills win only 2-3 games. Time to start looking at my college preseason all-american WR's. GO BROWNS!!!!!
Man, What in the hell happened to the Buckeyes? They looked like the Browns! So far, this young football season doesn't look very good here in Ohio! The nation is right. The big ten is weak. Michigan, Michigan St. and Ohio St. got their arses handed to em. The Buckeyes without Miller is looking like the Browns without Gordon. NOT VERY COMPETITIVE! I have a feeling that it's going to be another long season here in Cleveland. As someone already stated with the #3 pick the Cleveland Browns select........... Then a few picks later...... With the #6 selection the Cleveland Browns select..... Now my prediction without Gordon 3-13. With him 5-11. Depends how many games the pot head plays. At least my Irish downed Michigan. GO BROWNIES
The Morning Kickoff ? Roster re-evaluation: After the Browns? initial cutdown to 53 players over the weekend, coach Mike Pettine said the roster was fluid and would settle down by Wednesday. So pretty much what you see now is what you get. The bulk of work on this 2014 Browns team is over. Now it?s up to Pettine and his coaching staff to make something of it. Everything that has happened up to now is on GM Ray Farmer, who inherited tons of salary cap room and extra draft choices from his predecessors. Farmer has final say on all transactions, the draft, and the makeup of ?the 53.? After basking in the glow of a well-received draft in May, Farmer has slipped out of sight during some puzzling, if not downright controversial, roster decisions ? decisions that leave you wondering whether this franchise has made any progress at all in making up ground on Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati. Repeated requests to speak to Farmer have been denied. It?s possible that Farmer will address the media before the opener in Pittsburgh. Until then, we wonder what he was thinking about ? * The wide receiver situation Farmer knew that Josh Gordon was facing a minimum one-year suspension before the draft, yet he selected not a single receiver in one of the richest receiver drafts in recent times because he didn?t want to force a position of need ahead of a player ranked higher on his draft board. Citing the Seattle Seahawks? model of winning a Super Bowl without a receiver drafted high, Farmer proceeded to attempt to patch the position by signing retreads and undrafted free agents. At the final cut, Farmer whacked Nate Burleson, 33, who had talked of retirement and had barely been on the practice field, despite $350,000 in guarantees. With numerous NFL veterans available after league-wide roster cuts, the only receiver added was Dallas Cowboys castoff LaRon Byrd, who has size (6-4 and 220 pounds) and one catch for eight yards in two previous NFL seasons with Arizona. Farmer?s actions (and non-actions) left the Browns with a receiver roster of: Miles Austin, 30, who averaged 44 catches over the past three years with the Cowboys and numerous leg ailments; Andrew Hawkins, a 5-7, 175-pound prototypical slot receiver; Taylor Gabriel, a 5-8, 167-pound undrafted free agent from Abilene Christian; Travis Benjamin (5-10, 175), who had ACL surgery 11 months ago; and Byrd. * The running back situation Free agent pickup Ben Tate, as expected, prevailed over third-round rookie Terrance West for the starting job. Undrafted rookie Isaiah Crowell leapfrogged Dion Lewis with a late surge for the No. 3 spot. Despite his short stature (5-8, 195), Lewis was lauded by Pettine a week earlier for being able to pass-block on third-down situations. Lewis didn?t make the final cut. Farmer then added a fourth running back, Glenn Winston, an undrafted free agent cut by San Francisco, who enters the NFL after serving two six-month jail terms at Michigan State for fighting and having an ACL repaired. Pettine described Winston (6-1, 220) as a downhill, one-cut runner. The question now is which rookie is trusted to protect the quarterback on third downs if Tate, who has had durability issues with Houston before signing with the Browns, is off the field. * The quarterback situation There?s Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel and ? nobody. Hoyer has four career NFL starts, winning (and completing) two with the Browns last year. Manziel, of course, is a rookie who unabashedly admitted two weeks ago that he was not quite ready to play in a real NFL game. Veteran Rex Grossman, supposedly added in August (better late than never) to help mentor Hoyer and Manziel in the Kyle Shanahan offensive scheme, was cut. Grossman was entering his 12th NFL year, which means his full salary would have guaranteed if he were on the opening game roster. Maybe there is a casual agreement for Grossman to return after Week 1 to circumvent the salary guarantee. In the meantime, Pettine declined to say who would serve as an emergency quarterback if the unthinkable happened to sideline Hoyer and Manziel in Pittsburgh. Let?s not forget that Farmer?s hand-picked choice for the No. 3 job was Tyler Thigpen, the ex-Chief and author of a 1-11 career NFL record as a starting quarterback. Thigpen threw more interceptions at practice, a team scrimmage and one preseason game than he threw spirals in his entire time with the Browns. I exaggerate not. * The backup situation at offensive line The Browns have a proven unit of ironmen starters. But behind them right now are veteran swingman Paul McQuistan, who enters the season in a walking boot with a possible dreaded high ankle sprain; tackle Ryan Seymour, a waiver pickup from Seattle who was taken in the seventh round in 2013; and tackle Vinston Painter, a 2013 sixth-round pick of Denver waived by the club. With McQuistan hobbled, there is no backup guard heading into the Pittsburgh game. * The defensive backfield situation Making the roster were seven cornerbacks and five safeties. Pettine has a passion for defensive backs. Many of them will be put on the special teams. The thing about defensive backs is they don?t tackle very well. So coverage against Pittsburgh?s potentially explosive return units should be interesting. * The ?undrafted? situation The most recent transaction ? adding Painter and subtracting another offensive lineman ? reduced the number of players on the roster who entered the NFL as undrafted free agents to 21. That?s an unusually high number in a league which purports the draft to be the lifeblood of every team. Speaking of the draft, the good news is the Browns have two picks in the first round of the 2015 ? theirs and that of the Buffalo Bills ? which both could wind up in the top five of the order. Further, the Browns are in great salary cap shape, as usual. So next year is looking bright. There?s always next year.
Browns at Steelers Browns: CB Pierre Desir, RB Glenn Winston, CB Robert Nelson, LB Eric Martin, OL Paul McQuistan, DL Desmond Bryant, DL John Hughes Steelers: QB Landry Jones, WR Martavis Bryant, WR Lance Moore, CB Brice McCain, OL Wesley Johnson, G Chris Hubbard, DL Daniel McCullers.
I maybe the NFL lead analyst here, but today I'm cheering for Browns. 1) The enemy of my enemy is my friend...this week. 2) I'd like to see them get another season opener win against the Steelers for a change. One since 1999 is just wrong. Good luck! Go Brownies!!
