Forget Derek Anderson and Jamal Lewis…

Without Rob Chudzinski, the Browns are in trouble.

 

Found this in the Plain Dealer today.

Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski will interview for the Baltimore Ravens head-coaching position, General Manager Phil Savage said Thursday. Chudzinski, in his first year with the Browns, helped develop the Cleveland offense into one of the best in the NFL. The Browns ranked eighth in the league with an average of 25.1 points and 351.3 yards per game. One reason for their success was quarterback Derek Anderson, who was fifth in the NFL with 29 touchdown passes.

The Browns’ success this season can be attributed to many things; a revamped and healthy offensive line, a solid running game led by Jamal Lewis, the improved play of Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and of course Derek Anderson. But in my opinion, Rob Chudzinski was reason 1A that the Browns’ offense was a success.

On the Outside Looking In

The Browns finished the regular season 10-6, and missed out on the post-season on tie-breakers. Good season guys!

I refuse to whine about the Colts game. If the Browns would have taken care of their own business they would have never been in that situation. I will say that the NFL should think about this last week of the regular season however. Personally, I think the Colts should have just forfeited. They obviously had no interest in winning the game, as they were only looking to achieve individual numbers and get out without injury. Of course, had they forfeited they would have to refund too many tickets I guess.

The Browns’ defense looked pretty good yesterday, but keep in mind they were playing a team that had only the most basic offense possible available because of the new QB. Truthfully, I thought they did a terrible job in the first half. Frank Gore ripped off nice runs, and we got no pressure on Weinke. Sure, that changed in the second half when the Browns seemed to realize the 49ers didn’t have the personnel to win that game. Then the sack party was on, and the San Fran running game was shut down.

Josh Cribbs returned a punt and a kick-off back for touchdowns yesterday, though the kick-off was called back on a phantom illegal block penalty. Cribbs was a difference maker yesterday, and that is why he is headed to Hawaii.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us here at Halftime Adjustments!

It would be too easy. I could rip the Browns, and in particular Derek Anderson for that dismal performance yesterday. I could lament how Anderson could have just cost my favorite team their first playoff appearance in years, while at the same time throwing my shot at a fantasy football title in the dumpster. Or I could write about the Cavs. I could spew venom for an hour about the Wine and Gold getting ripped on their home court last night by the Warriors. I could gripe about them never having a lead in the game. I could continue to rant about the albatross around the Cavaliers neck that is Larry Hughes.

But I’m not. Instead, I will say Merry Christmas to you. I hope that you are celebrating the birth or our savior with friends and family. I will also mention that I don’t plan on posting much this week, as I will be celebrating with my family.

If I could give Christmas presents to our favorite teams, I would give the Cavs relief from their salary cap struggles, as well as a point guard that can maximize the talent already on the roster. I would give the Browns some help on the defensive line, and turn back the clock to allow them a do over of yesterday’s game. The Indians would get an all-star left fielder, health for those with nagging injuries (Hafner) and a dominating closer. The Buckeyes would get exactly what they need- redemption in the form of a BCS title. Here’s hoping they don’t need any help from me on that one!

 Merry Christmas!

Pro Bowl Snubs Announced

Wow. How Eric Steinbach was left off that roster I’ll never know.

Congratulations to Josh Cribbs, who will be the ‘starting’ kick returner for the AFC Pro-Bowl squad, and also to Braylon Edwards who made the roster at WR. Those two are certainly deserving of their first Pro-Bowl appearance. Unfortunately for Cribbs and Edwards, every article written about the Browns and the Pro-Bowl will more than likely focus on who was not invited to Hawaii. I understand that because of injuries another Brown or two might find themselves invited, but there is something to be said for being nominated from the get-go.

We know this for certain- Browns guard Eric Steinbach was the leading vote-getter on the offensive line from the fans. That vote is supposed to count for one-third of the final tally. The other two-thirds come from the players and the coaches. So what does that tell us? Well, apparently Eric is either not well liked, or not well respected among those in the league. He was first among guards from the fans, and obviously didn’t crack the top three from either the coaches or the players or he would have made the roster.

It’s not over yet…

The Browns survived the storm on Sunday, but let’s hold off on the champagne for now.

They say that’s Derek Anderson sliding through the snow to celebrate a Browns’ victory over Buffalo. I see a 3 in there somewhere, so I’ll have to take their word for it. Anderson, who admitted he’d never played a game in conditions remotely close to this, spent the majority of the game watching his big running back carry the pile 3 or 4 yards. Watching the game with me, Mrs. Adjustments repeatedly said, “I can’t believe they didn’t cancel this game.” She grew up in Kentucky, where they probably would have cancelled it.

This was a game built for Jamal Lewis. As many have already said, his stature and short choppy running style are perfect for these conditions. I’m frankly surprised that he didn’t find the end zone. Lewis ran for 163 yards, averaging just a hair under 5 yards per carry. His counterpart on the Bills had a decent game going early on, but finished with 82 yards on 21 carries. It was Lynch’s first time running in these types of conditions.

The Browns looked to be in their element. They certainly seemed to be the most confident and sure-footed of the two teams out there. The defense was aggressive, daring the Bills to try and beat them through the air. Safeties Brodney Pool and Sean Jones crept up to the line of scrimmage early and often to make plays in the running game. The defense pitched a shut-out, and my first reaction was that there probably should be some type of asterisk next to this shut-out, but then I reconsidered. If we had shut-out the Buccaneers, or the Dolphins, or the Cardinals I would say none of those teams are designed to play in these type of conditions, and you could understand why they would struggle. But these are the Buffalo Bills! Last time I checked their weather was about the same as ours. They get no sympathy from me. Edwards and Lynch are California guys who looked startled to even be standing around in snow like this, let alone trying to play football.

An Order of Crow With a Side of Humble Pie to go, Please

John returns with his state of the Browns evaluation, and this time it’s surprisingly optimistic. 

Hey everyone . . . So, last time you heard from me I was entertaining the idea of calling for Romeo Crennel’s head. OK, I admit I was a bit hasty; mostly because I was writing out of frustration after watching my beloved Browns give away a game to the Steelers. I have had some time to settle and have to admit that this team has made significant improvement this season.

At the beginning of the season, my hope was that the Browns would win 8 games. Well, Sunday’s win over the Jets was number 8, and with 3 games to play the Browns are staring at a likely playoff berth: they hold the second Wild Card spot with destiny in their hands (a good position to be in). There is even an outside (way outside) shot at the North Division Champion spot as Pittsburgh continues to struggle. When all is said and done, I believe the Browns have a really solid shot at winning 10 games.

Browns vs Cardinals, the good, bad, and the ugly

Let’s start with the good…(crickets chirping)…ok, let’s move on.

I’m not even going to take time to talk about the final play. Yeah, the refs probably got that one wrong, but there were two calls that could have been reversed and weren’t earlier in the game. The refs aren’t to blame for this game. The Browns are.

First the bad. 1. Josh Cribbs and the return team. Josh gets a pass for this performance. He has played at a pro-bowl level this year, and so we give him a break for the fumble yesterday. The return team as a whole did not perform well yesterday. The Cardinals squibbed several kicks instead of giving Cribbs the opportunity to burn them, and the Browns didn’t seem to know how to handle those kicks. They nearly lost another kick-off by not fielding the ball properly. 2. Derek Anderson. DA made poor choices with the ball. He overthrew and under threw receivers all day. His sloppy play forced the Browns to abandon the running game too early.

Now the ugly. This one goes to the entire team, but probably needs to be pinned on the coaching staff. What in the world is going on with this team and stupid penalties? Bodden kicks a ball after a big third day stop for a 15 yard penalty? After the penalty gives a first down to the Cardinals they finish the drive for a TD. How many false start penalties do we average a game? That is the most ridiculous penalty, and is a tell-tale sign of a team without discipline. Andre Davis and the offsides penalty on the final drive? You are right over the ball!!

Does Brady Quinn need to play?

Hear me out Browns’ fans. I’m not saying he should be the starting QB…

As the Browns continue to win, and get closer to the playoffs, Derek Anderson cements his place as the team’s starting QB. He will get Pro-Bowl consideration this season. He has led this team to their best record since my nephew was born. But let me ask you a question, if Derek were to get hurt this week or next what would happen to the Browns’ playoff chances?

The Browns have a second string QB that has never thrown a pass, or taken a snap in an NFL regular season game. Imagine this scenario, fourth quarter of a playoff game in Pittsburgh with the Browns down 4 and D.A. gets Kimo’d. (Sorry Bengal fans.) Quinn comes in for his first ever series? Is that fair?

So here’s my suggestion. Sometime in the next couple of weeks (like say, this one) Romeo needs to pull Derek and Brady in the office and have a conversation something like this-

(Sniff, sniff) Is that the playoffs?

Easy there big guy, take a breath. One game at a time.

For once it wasn’t all Derek Anderson and the flying receivers. The defense and especially the running game contributed to this win. Chud’s game plan was terrific in this one. I will admit that in the first half I was a bit skeptical. It seemed we were calling an awful lot of running plays without much to show for it. But those early running plays helped set the ground work for the pounding that was delivered in the second half.

Jamal Lewis was running downhill by the end of the game, finishing with 134 yards on 29 carries. Jason Wright provided a nice change of pace as well. The pair finished Houston off in the fourth quarter, as the Browns held the ball for roughly 11 minutes of the final quarter.

The defense rose to the occasion as well. Much has been, or will be written about rookie cornerback Brandon McDonald who was spectacular on Sunday. He covered Pro Bowl wide out Andre Johnson for most of the game, and absolutely shut him down. Before Sunday Johnson had played just three games due to injury, but in those 3 games he averaged just over 125 yards and scored at least 1 TD in each of his games. Against the Browns- 3 catches for 37 yards. McDonald sealed the win when he made a great read and jumped one of Johnson’s routes for an interception.

Is It Time to Bid Farewell to Crennel?

John is back, and he is a little mad about today’s Browns game. John the floor is yours. 

It’s bad enough that the Browns’ secondary couldn’t cover a high school receiving corps, but when your coaching crew wastes 2 valuable timeouts to review a play that was an obvious catch it might be time for Savage to line up some interviews for some new coaching. Harsh? Maybe, but when the game is close it comes down to coaching and the Steelers with rookie head coach Mike Tomlin out-coached the Browns staff to beat Cleveland when it counted.

Kudos to Roethlisberger, Tomlin and the Steelers for playing 60 minutes and pulling off the comeback. Down 21-9 at the half, the Steelers made the defensive adjustments that stymied the Browns’ offense in the second half. Pittsburgh’s D didn’t even give up a first down in the second half until there was less than 2 minutes in the game.

So why do I blame this loss on the Brown’s coaching staff? Fundamentals, plain and simple. The Cleveland defense allows teams to pick apart their secondary consistently week after week. What have they done about this problem? I really don’t know because there has been no obvious adjustments being made. Penalties: while they are not one of the most penalized teams in the league, the penalties always seem to come at the critical times in the game destroying drives and extending the opponents’ drives at just the wrong time. And how does a defense give up a 30 yard touchdown run up the middle to the quarterback? Arm tackles and blown coverage are becoming the norm for the Brown’s late in games. And that’s bad coaching when it comes to fundamentals.

Browns’ O-Line dominant in OT win over Seahawks

Jamal Lewis runs for 4 TD’s; no sacks allowed all day for Browns!

The Browns fell behind early, but came on late to win a close game over a good opponent. The Seahawks may not be a Superbowl contender this year, but they came in with a 4-3 record, good enough for first in the weak NFC West. The Browns had trouble stopping Seattle’s passing attack, as Hasslebeck picked the Browns apart to the tune of 318 yards. Everytime the Browns had Seattle in a third and 5 it seemed Bobby Engram was always open. Well, judging by his 14 catches and 139 yards I guess he was.

This game nearly went into the loss column for two reasons. First, the Browns stubborn refusal to rush more than 3 defenders. On Seattle’s game tying drive in the fourth quarter, the Browns sent only three rushers everytime. It might as well have been a 2 man rush, because nose tackle Shaun Smith seemed to take every other play off, staying at the line of scrimmage and trying to bat the ball down. Had it not been for a replay reversal of a Hasslebeck scramble, the Browns probably lose that game because they couldn’t get any pressure on the QB.

The second reason the Browns nearly lost this game was dropped passes. There were at least six balls dropped by Browns receivers. Braylon Edwards had the most violations, including a drive killer in the fourth quarter, and a dropped TD pass that eventually was overcome by a Lewis TD run. Winslow also dropped a TD on that drive, but stayed focused and set up the game tying score with a nice catch and run to the 1 yard line. Winslow finished with 125 yards on 11 catches. Edwards had an off game, failing to reach the end zone while grabbing 5 balls for 67 yards.

Browns overcome early deficit, penalties to beat Rams

File that one under ‘we’ll take it’. The Browns won ugly, but they won a game on the road for the first time this season, and they won consecutive games for the first time since 2003. They overcame an early 14 point hole en route to a 27-20 victory.

The state of the Browns

The bye week has come and gone. Now the Browns prepare for the stretch drive. They sit at 3-3, and have some very winnable games coming up. This week they play the winless St. Louis Rams. This Rams team has certainly been one of the bigger disappointments of the NFL so far. That being said, they are still a dangerous team. They have Torry Holt and Steven Jackson is returning from injury this week. The Browns have yet to win a road game, and haven’t won consecutive games since Reagan was in the White House. (They may be an exaggeration.) Even still, they are favored to win, and many experts are picking the Browns.

 

Charlie, We Hardly Knew Ye

So, Charlie Frye is now Matt Hasselbeck’s back-up. I say, good for him, bad for the Browns. I am also not surprised in the least. As quick as Crennel pulled him for Anderson Sunday I knew Charlie wasn’t going to be wearing the brown and orange for long. It’s my opinion that Frye has been on the trading block since training camp began. The powers that be were just afraid to pull the trigger until now because of Quinn’s holdout and lack of practice in the system. Crennel has never really shown any confidence in Frye and Anderson has never really performed.

Charlie Frye will not start this week

That’s not much of a limb, since he was TRADED THIS AFTERNOON!

Frye was traded to the Seahawks for what looks like a 6th round draft pick. Rumors started floating as early as yesterday when Ken Dorsey’s truck was spotted at Brown’s headquarters. Brady Quinn was upset when Dorsey was cut, claiming that Dorsey was the best mentor that Quinn had on the team. If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine I don’t know what will. How about trading for Charlie Batch, or Vinny Testaverde to mentor young Brady? What’s Montana doing these days? Sign him up. I’d give up a roster spot so that Quinn has the right kind of NFL education.