With one monkey off the back, it’s time to shrug the next one.  The Browns finally scored in the second half.  Seneca Wallace showed that he could lead a team and score points.  The Browns hung into this game longer than I expected.  I was impressed when the lead changed in the second half.  I wish that the defense had stepped up on pulled out a stop.  The thing that impressed me the most was the fact that Hillis was able to run all over the Baltimore Ravens defense.

As requested by Rufio, I have compiled that data from the first 3 weeks in each season, 2009 and 2010 respectfully.  Last year the Browns played the Ravens on week 3 and this was the infamous Brady Quinn benching for the outstanding Derek Anderson.  This year there is a bit more stability and the Browns have more offense.  Speaking of the offense, the Browns were the first team to score a touchdown on the Ravens defense (moral victory I guess).

So the stats indicate that everything is moving in the right direction, but the season in the win-loss column is the same.  The stat that stands out to me the most is the PF-PA.  The team is scoring and I believe that is a credit to sticking with the coaching staff.  The players that were on the team last year know what to expect and the new ones can be taught by the veterans.  With a new competitive edge to the team I feel like they can pull out an upset win in one of the upcoming games.  My hope is the Steelers, a welcome back to Big Ben. 

There was an expectation at the beginning of the offseason.  With the new VP, Czar, and the returning leadership of a team that won four straight in the 2009 season, mixed with a new vamping of the Quarterback position, and the team looked like it could put up some numbers.  Then the 2010 Schedule came out and looked like the Browns could pick up right where they left off with two teams that finished the 2009 season with worse records then the Browns.  As we, as a fan base, found out Sunday, there is still a lot of room for improvement.  The Browns have gone two straight games leading at the half and unable to finish.  They have not scored in the second half in those games.  They appear tired and out of shape.

But with all that pessimism I am here to give you a ray of hope.  The Browns may have lost two winnable games, but there are improvements from last year.  I have compiled a comparison of the first games of last season and this season:

In every category the team looks better, except turnovers.  This is a great sign for the Browns considering most of these stats come in the first half.  There needs to be more consistency in the second and I think the team can start closing games.

In the next month, the true test will come when they compete against some of the better teams (on paper) in the league.  There is a chance to start 0-7 this year, but if Coach Mangini and "Czar" Holmgren can ignite this team, it may pull out a few victories.

As everyone in the world knows, the Super Bowl is going to be played on February 7th.  Through its history there have been dynasties, decade champions, and many remarkable achievements.  It has solidified greatness by answering questions like; "Can John Elway win the big one," "Does Payton Manning’s legacy need a Super Bowl championship," "Is the AFL really as good as the NFL?"  Through all these questions, there has been a remarkable statistic that binds nearly every Super Bowl played: Paul Brown has his mark on the Super Bowl.

Long before the Super bowl, and 4 years before the Browns entered the NFL, Paul Brown was creating a team that would play in Championship games for a decade.  But this post is about his coaching style, what his legacy is to the sport.  Paul Brown has the most remarkable, and successful coaching tree in the NFL. 

via www.sports-central.org

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 I am a Browns fan living in Fairfield (Travis AFB).  I want to wish you luck this weekend.  I would like nothing more than the Browns to win 3 straight, but the Raiders can put up some numbers, depending on the QB.  There is nothing to gain from either of these games, but both teams will come out hard and play to the end.

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via www.kcchiefs.com

The biggest news to come out of Cleveland Browns is the courting of Mike Holmgren.  It has been reported that he may give his answer by the end of the weekend.  This has received about as much, if not more than the Browns bye week.  (By the way, what do these coaches and GMs do with all of their team apparel.)  But is this all that is happening this week?  I know it is a big story and I know that there are a lot of opinions about Holmgren, but there is a game this week.  I see no new posts about the Chiefs v Browns game.  This is the time to get excited abot the game.  I have a feel about this game that it will be as entertaining as the Lions game.  One you get 2 teams that are pretty equal in ability, good or bad, it makes for an exciting game.        

  Let’s not forget about the histories of the teams, sharing players and coaches (Len Dawson and Marty). 

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I was listening to The Dan Patrick Show on the radio today and he was talking to Peter King.  When asked if Charlie Weiss get fired at Notre Dame, could he come back and be an offensive coordinator in the NFL?  King answered him with an absolutely.  He mentioned he might be able to get picked up in New England.  He has contacts in Miami, and maybe if Eric Mangini somehow keeps his job, he could be in Cleveland.  With that being said, Daboll will probably not be here next year, no matter what happens.  I think there is a legit chance we could land him as OC.

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ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning announced that Jon Gruden just signed a multi-year contract to keep contributing to MNF.  For Browns fans this might be a bit depressing.  There has been some slight speculation that if Mike Holmgren accepted the job with Cleveland, that he would bring in Jon Gruden as a coach.  With this recent news there, the only remaining "big name" coaches not under contract are Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher.  As for the Browns it would leave Shanahan, as Cowher would rather not coach against the Steelers.  So here is to the future and another possible year with Mangini as head coach.

Here is the link.

Jamal Lewis is calling it quits after this season.  There are some people that think he still has gas in his tank, but that remains to be seen.  His former teammate and name sake, Ray Lewis, wants Lewis to stick around and keep his career going.  Lewis has had one productive game so far this year, vs. Buffalo.  Then again, someone had to be productive to get that win.  Lewis remains under contract with the Browns till 2010, but that doesn't mean he won't ask to be released like Brett Favre.  The only trouble with that is he is a 30 yr old RB and the NFL doesn't look kindly on aging backs.

With this being said, Lewis is talking a lot about the organization, as well as Mangini.  Does announcing retirement give you the right to start speaking against your coach?  If he takes the advice of his friend and one time teammate and not retire, will he be granted a release or even a trade?  If he speaks too much he might not get any of those opportunities.  What ever his decision I wish him the best, and he will forever be the Browns killer.

There are a lot of new rumors about the Cleveland Browns right now.  I don’t know of any other team that had so much action during their bye week this season.  The GM was fired and there is another starting QB secret.  Now, throw in Mike Holmgren as a possible Vice-President of Football Operations and there is plenty of spin out there.  As it stands right now, Randy Lerner, publically, will not ax his head coach, Eric Mangini.  I agree with not mentioning his plan for Mangini now, it would just undermine Coach’s decisions from here on out.  Also I think Mangini may need one more year to figure this team out.  A lot of people on this site are posting that Brady Quinn was not given enough time to show what he can do before being benched.  Isn’t this the same situation with the coach?  It is hard to judge someone by their first year coaching.  So before calling for his head, let’s give him a chance, unlike how he gave Quinn a chance.  That being said, this is a hypothetical post about Mangini returning next season.

Again Hypothetically, Mangini has pulled out 5 wins in the last 8 games.  These wins would be against the Lions, Chiefs, and Raiders.  I will give the team one more win due to the fact that I believe, to save his job; he needs to win more games than Romeo Crennel did last year.  For that reason I have chosen the Bengals, because the Browns played them close in Oct.  Now during the off season there will be moves done.  First thing is the QB situation.  Both Quinn and Derek Anderson will be gone trades and draft picks.  I will not get into whom, what, and where but they will be gone.  Kellen Clemens will be a free agent (FA) in the offseason and Mangini will pick him and he will be the starter.  Clemens is a 2nd round pick out of Oregon and he was Mangini’s 3rd ever draft pick as a head coach.  This is his guy that he was going to groom to be his starter.  With Clemens starting that would put Bret Ratliff as back up, and then I believe there will be a QB drafted in later rounds.  Now that puts to rest the QB controversy, let’s move on to Joshua Cribbs.

I believe that, remember this is Mangini being the head coach next year; Cribbs will be gone next year.  And I have justification for that.  Based on the situation of contract disputes with Cribbs and the organization and FA, Mangini will get another former Jet and draft pick.  He will pick up Leon Washington, who was drafted round 4 in the same year as Clemens.  The justification for this move will be, besides he is a former Jet, Washington is a dynamic kick returner and will fill that slot for Cribbs, but also the Browns will be needing a RB due to Jerome Harrison being a free agent in 2010 and Jamal Lewis retiring.  This will put the depth chart at James Davis as #1 back and Washington at #2.

I feel with the history of how Mangini has run this Browns team, he will get more New York Jets to move to Cleveland.  I wonder what will happen in the Draft but really don’t want to speculate since that has been done way too much.  Also it will be over posted come week 17.  I honestly think it would be unfair to Mangini not to give him a fair shake at Head Coach because he took over a bad team.  We may need to give him time to put his plan into action.  And this may, or may not, be that plan.

With all the talk about the Offense, we are forgetting about the Defense.  The Cleveland Browns had a dynamic offense in the past.  The way the NFL is today, the offense gets all the "hype".  When was the last time anyone on defense was named MVP?  It was 1986, and that man was Lawrence Taylor.  that being said, the defense is not doing great for the Browns.  They are ranked 32 in overall defense and mostly in the bottom on every category.  I realize that the secondary is bad, but the front 3 aren't doing good either.  The only good point is the linebackers and they are above average at best.  The best statistic is sacks.  They are ranked 22, but that is still nothing to be too proud of.  To be honest, shouldn't Rob Ryan be blamed for this?  We blame the offense on Daboll and Eric Mangini, so why are we not talking about Ryan?

Ryan is quite possibly someone who you could run into at the Flats and be one of the guys.  He is a blue color coach, and that gives him a slide for the fans.  I think it also gives him a slide from the players.  he is a good coach and i think he can do better with better players.  I also think that the team can do better, but we need a good mixture of young players and veterans, not a lot of rookies.  Go Browns, i haven't given up on this season yet.  I still think you can win each Sunday. “On any given Sunday you're going to win or you're going to lose. The point is, can you win or lose like a man?” - Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday.

I am brand new to this site, and this is my first Blog, but I felt compelled to write how i feel about the Cleveland Browns.  I have been a Browns fan my whole life.  My mother moved from Illinois to Ohio when she was just out of high school.  She was a Packer fan but she wanted to be a local fan and took the Browns under her wing.  I was born in 1980 and being a Browns fan was not that bad growing up.  They were winning the Central Division, making the playoffs and things were alright.  I even laughed during the 2007 Draft when they showed a picture of Brady Quinn in the Bernie Jersey.  I had almost the same exact picture growing up.

I am a fan through and through, I will never give up cheering for the Browns, but I can’t stand what the front office is doing the team.  When the Browns hired Mangini all I heard was how he was going to get the Browns back to History.  When I think about the Browns history, I think or Paul Brown and Otto Graham winning 7 championships in 10 years (and the 3 they didn’t win they were still in the championship game).  I think about Jim Brown beating the Baltimore Colts, Bernie leading the team to 3 AFC Championship games.  So when Mangini says he wants to return the team to glory, I am all for that.  My problem is that the moves he is making is not helping the team.

I understand that he is rebuilding and it takes time.  Next year will be better… I guess.  But to me there has to be someone that you rebuild a team around.  He has shipped away the decent players to other teams (Jets) and benched Brady Quinn.  To me, if you say you are rebuilding the team and you choose a Quarterback, that is who you are going to build the team around.  Give the kid a chance to grow with the team.

It is hard to be a Browns fan today, but I just have to stick it out.  I will utter the words that have become synonymous with Cleveland sports, “Well, there is always next year!”