Browns Sack Grantham

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was let go today. Guess you had to see that coming…or did you?

 

Since arriving in 2005 the Browns defense has gotten statically worse each year. They were the 16th ranked unit in ’05, before falling to 27th in ’06 and finishing 30th this season. With numbers like that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Browns decided to go in a different direction. But does it?

I honestly thought they were going to give Grantham another year. They did give him an extension in June. Rumors were that if Crennel was fired during this season that Grantham would be the interim head coach, and have an inside shot at the job outright. It could be argued that Grantham has never had a ‘full deck’ of players to work with. Certainly the woes of the defensive line are not entirely his fault. But remember that most of the blame for the ‘off’ year’ in ’06 was given to injuries in the secondary. Grantham was given a pass for that season. This year the defense stayed relatively healthy.

Browns Extend Chudzinski

The Browns haven’t officially announced it, but multiple sources are reporting that offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has removed his name from consideration for the Baltimore Raven’s head coaching vacancy and signed an extension to continue with the Browns. Thanks to RockKing for the heads up on the story. Here is the link for the Plain Dealer article. Interesting to see how or if this has any impact on the Romeo Crennel extension talks.

Obviously, we are thrilled with the news! Let’s hope this is the beginning of a great sports day here in Buckeye land!

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.

The ‘Dawson Bar’

A reader of Patrick MaManamon suggested it, and I’m all for it.

I’m not sure how many times it may come up in conversation, but from henceforth, whenever you are referring to the single, curved, pole support of a football goalpost- it shall be named the Dawson Bar.

As in the Phil Dawson Bar. While the Cleveland-Baltimore game earned the Dawson Bar national attention, it was the Buffalo game last week that cemented Dawson’s name on the bar permanently. Some who watched the game may not even be aware of it however.

Let’s go to the tape…

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.

Halftime Adjustments Hall of Fame

No, there isn’t one…yet, but if there was, Brian Westbrook would have earned his way in it yesterday.

By now you probably know the scenario. The Eagles were beating the Dallas Cowboys 10-6, with just over two minutes to go in the game. Dallas had used all of their timeouts. On a first down carry, Westbrook broke through the line and found himself with a waltz to the end zone. As I watched him run towards the goal line I figured this TD was going to secure the game, even though Dallas would get the ball back. What happened next amazed me.

Westbrook slid on the 1 yard line, forfeiting the the touchdown, so that the Eagles could run the clock out. Word is that he was told by O-lineman Jon Runyan to fall down if he got near the goal line. Even if that is the case, it was still an amazing unselfish play for Westbrook to go through with it. I was extremely impressed with his decision, and would be happy to have Westbrook play for my team any day.

Let’s ask this question- would Terrell Owens have done the same thing if he were in that situation? Of course not. Owens not only would have taken the TD, but he would have celebrated in some way that his team was penalized on the kick-off.

Congrats Westbrook. Way to show teamwork and class, and to realize there are things more important than your own numbers.

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.

For Browns the playoffs begin now

Cleveland hosts the Bills this week with a wild card spot on the line. Good to have meaningful football on the North Coast in December again!

It certainly has been a long time since a December game in Cleveland had playoff implications for both teams. Not since the Kelly Holcomb led Browns have we even sniffed a December to remember. That is about to change.

The Buffalo Bills come to town with a chance to get back to the playoffs themselves, but they will have to leapfrog the Browns for the last wild card slot. A win this Sunday would certainly help them in that leap. They will have to beat a motivated Cleveland team to do it. The Browns have the playoffs in their sight. They can nearly taste it. But they realize that without this game it will be an uphill battle. Browns quotes to follow.

Tressel did what???

Here’s the first line of an article I came across…

Jim Tressel encouraged 13 of his juniors to ask the NFL where they might be selected in the next draft.

Of course my first thought was along the lines of, “What are you thinking? Have you gone mad?” But as I continued to read through the article, which is an AP article available after the jump, I realized Tressel was simply trying to control the situation. There is no doubt that some of these young men would be entertaining notions of leaving early, and Tressel wants them to understand where they would stand if they decided to enter the upcoming draft. It also seems like he is trying to avoid a repeat of what happened last year, when players might have been distracted by talk of the NFL before the big game. It seems the players themselves realized this could have been a problem last year, and are taking steps to correct it. They have decided as a group not to talk about it until after the game against LSU. Let’s hope that’s true.

As for Tressel, it makes a lot of sense for him to help his players make this difficult decision. He has invested a lot into their lives for the last three years, and he is always trying to make them better men, not just better football players. Despite what Mo Clarrett said, Jim Tressel does have his players’ best interest at heart. I suppose I am more comfortable with our young players getting coached through this process by the Vest than Ted Ginn’s dad, like what happened last year. Perhaps Antonio Pittman would have come back for his senior year, instead of bolting for the NFL. He could have been a Heisman finalist this year. Instead, he sits on the Rams’ bench. Full Article follows…

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.

Joe Thomas honored

Not a major award, but certainly Thomas deserves a post for his contributions to the Browns. (Photo from Browns 247.com)

You would think that a former offensive lineman would pay more attention to the Browns rookie offensive tackle. Shame on me. Truth is that Joe Thomas has had an outstanding rookie year, and it is starting to be noticed around the league. Joe Thomas earned the league’s AFC Rookie of the Month for November. Joshua Cribbs was also honored as the AFC’s special teams player of the month.

Joe Thomas is performing at a very high level, at a very difficult position. He certainly has benefited from outstanding play from Eric Steinbach, lined up right beside him. But make no mistake, Thomas is the real deal at left tackle. Does he have a chance to be the rookie of the year in the league? No. Simply because of the year that Adrian Peterson is having. Ironic that many fans complained about the Browns taking Thomas over Peterson. It seems that the future is lined with pro-bowls for both of these players, barring injury.

Thomas has kept top pass-rushers off Derek Anderson this season. He has lined up against the likes of Mario Williams, Terrell Suggs, James Harrison, Jason Taylor and Richard Seymour. In 7 games against the Browns, those players had 4 sacks against the Browns, and I can’t verify if all of those came against Thomas. My memory says Jason Taylor’s was not, neither was Suggs’. In any case, that is outstanding for a rookie LT. In addition to his pass blocking, he has shown tremendous rush blocking technique. He pulls well and blocks well down field.

Because of the signing of Steinbach, and the drafting of Thomas the Browns’ offense is ready to fire on all cylinders.

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.