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.

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.

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.

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.

 

NFL News and Notes

The Browns have announced that Charlie Frye will be the starter for the Pittsburgh game. Crennel said that Frye give the team the best chance to win against the Steelers. Hmmm…I think I said something pretty similar about a month ago. Seriously, I don’t many people that believed anyone but Frye would start this game. What was interesting to me is that Crennel said the QB situation will be evaluated on a week by week basis. Wow. That’s kind of brutal isn’t it? Better not have a mediocre game…that hook is coming if you do. Romeo also failed to mention who was going to be the second string QB. Let me end the suspense…if the Browns are getting shelled, Quinn might see the field this week. If it is a close game and Frye goes down, you better believe Anderson is getting the ball.

Good News on the Browns

So the Browns signed first rounder Joe Thomas (3rd overall) and their second round selection CB Eric Wright. These signings are especially important for the Browns because they both are expected to compete for starting spots. Getting them to camp was priority one for Phil Savage. Certainly we would love to have all of the draft picks at camp when it begins today, but I believe most Browns fans are willing to let Savage do what he has to do and stand firm with Brady Quinn. Let’s face facts- Quinn had little chance to win the starting job this year. With the brutal schedule to open the season, it was always going to be Charlie Frye or possibly Derek Anderson. I give the edge to Frye myself.

So I applaud the efforts made to get Wright and Thomas into camp. Let’s make sure we recognize that Thomas signed for a little less than what #4 pick Gaines Adams signed for with Tampa Bay. Certainly they had Gaines’ contract numbers reported to them, but they didn’t let that get in the way of what they had already discussed. Thomas said from day one he expected to be in camp on time. Credit him for making it happen along with Savage. The only thing that I am a little disappointed in is the contract length. Apparently there is a clause that can void the sixth year of the deal. ESPN’s article seemed to infer that it was the player’s option, meaning if Thomas is the real deal he can be a free agent sooner. I guess that is a concession the Browns had to make to get him in camp. So be it. Good job Savage. As for Brady Quinn- you’re an idiot to hold out for very long. You might as well flush this season down the toilet if you make Crennel mad.