Monday leftovers
Despite his confident protestations regarding his job status
in Cleveland, Hue Jackson has to be at least a little wary of what awaits his
fate as the Browns' head coach the next two weeks.
The bye week can seem awfully long to a coach who has won
only once in 23 attempts, especially when that break comes exactly midway
through the 16-game season. And you never know what ownership thinks.
Up to now, owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam III have been eerily
silent. “I totally have the support of Mr. and Mrs. Haslam,” Jackson boasted
following the Minnesota loss Sunday in London.
The dreaded vote of confidence, that harbinger of doom in
the sports world, has not been uttered by anyone who is someone at 76 Lou Groza
Blvd. Everyone, it seems, is tight-lipped.
Maybe that’s because Jimmy Haslam III is gun shy about
beginning yet another makeover for his billion-dollar investment. There’s a
chance he is conflicted. His previous history of being trigger happy with
regard to the front office and coaching of this team has drawn criticism in the
past.
Where is the consistency, argue critics of previous changes.
But it’s not like progress of any sort is being made on any
front, whether it’s in the front office or the coaching on the field. The
Haslams’ investment, for whatever reason, has become a joke around the National
Football League.
If the team showed any signs of progress, it would be a
different story. But it’s the same thing week in and week out. There has been
precious little progress, certainly not enough on a consistent basis to dispel
any notion of making changes.
This team has problems from top to bottom. The only
consistency is it always manages to find ways to lose. It has become habit
forming and more often than not eventually has to lead to frustration in the
locker room. The fact it hasn’t yet borders on remarkable.
If nothing else, the Browns are No. 1 in the NFL in dealing
with losing. They are so used to it, it has almost become commonplace. Maybe
now after eight games the players have figured out the roster as now
constituted is unable to overcome numerous mistakes because it does not have
enough talent to do so.
Someone has to pay the price. But is paying that price right
now the correct solution from a timing standpoint? That depends solely on who
is eventually brought in to straighten out this mess.
If the Haslams do, indeed, choose to make the move in that
direction now instead of waiting until the day after the final game of the
season or shortly thereafter, you can bet it has been done surreptitiously
through back channels.
This franchise is on a downward spiral that shows no signs
of getting even close to reversing direction. There are teasing moments along
the way. That occasional positive glimpse within a game that causes fans – and
probably coaches – to think maybe there is hope.
And then it all comes crashing down like a house of cards
when the team reverts to the myriad reasons that have caused a 4-41 record
since the latter part of the 2014 season.
The monotony of losing week after week after week with no
hope remotely in sight wears on the players. It also wears on Browns Nation,
that global-wide group of ardent fans of this franchise who still cling to the
fantasy of being around to celebrate when this all changes.
That all rests with the decisions of the Haslams. The big
question is how much more of this can they take?
* * *
Jackson offered an explanation for his team’s inability to
score more points than the opposition at the end of games. It was part truth,
part bullroar.
“Everything has to be perfect for us to have a chance to win
a football game,” he said following Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. “We
get it and we work that way. But we all know that’s not how football is played.
You can’t be perfect. (Really?!)
“You’re going to make mistakes. But that’s where we are. . .
. Today, we didn’t make as many (mistakes), so we were in the game for quite a
while. . . . And then the game flips.” If two-and-half quarters constitute a
while, then yes, he is correct.
* * *
Spencer Drango was the first player other than Joe Thomas to
start at offensive left tackle for the Browns since the final game of the 2006
season. And he did very well against Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen, who
entered the game with nine sacks in seven games, including at least one in
every game.
Drango helped keep DeShone Kizer clean until the final
stages of the fourth quarter, when the Browns were in pass-only mode attempting
to make the final score look more respectable and the Vikings were in full
attack mode.
The second-year tackle had occasional help with Griffen from
left guard Joel Bitonio, fullback Danny Vitale, running back Isaiah Crowell and
a tight end. Griffen wound up with just one tackle, one tackle for loss, five
quarterback hits and a sack that came on the final play of the Browns’
penultimate series.
* * *
Even though it wound up as an incomplete pass, a late
third-quarter play proved Jackson does have at least one creative page in his
playbook. If rookie tight end David
Njoku had held on to a perfectly thrown pass by Kizer on a misdirection play,
the Browns would have been well into Vikings territory down only 23-16.
The Cleveland offense is so predictable, anything other than
zone blocking right or left on a run play, a rare trap play, an even rarer
screen play or a long pass along the boundaries is a surprise.
This play had the Minnesota defense fooled except for one
defender who recovered and arrived late to momentarily disturb Njoku’s
concentration. Had the pass been delivered a second or two earlier, Njoku might
have been able to pick up a large chunk of yardage.
More plays like this please.
* * *
Full disclosure: I heartily endorsed the selection of
placekicker Zane Gonzalez in the seventh round of the last college draft. Great
pick. He’ll be the team’s kicker for many seasons.
Halfway through the season, Gonzalez has been a large
disappointment. Not that his foot is the difference between winning and losing.
It’s not. But his inconsistency is baffling.
The youngster from Arizona State is a modest 7-of-11 overall
on field goals. But he has missed half of his four attempts from 30-39 yards
and is 2-of-3 from 40-49 yards, distances that are practically automatic to
good NFL kickers.
The Browns score rarely as it is, so it’s almost paramount Gonzalez
be almost perfect inside midfield. To add to his misery, he tacked on his first
missed extra point of the season after the first touchdown against the Vikings in
the opening moments of the game.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Jackson holds auditions for a new
kicker during the bye break in an effort to scare the kid.
* * *
Carl Nassib, standing in for the injured defensive end Myles
Garrett, had a strong game with three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, two
passes defensed, a quarterback hit and the club’s lone sack of Case Keenum. He
also used his 6-7 height to deflect two passes, the first of which led directly
to a Joe Schobert interception and the Browns’ first touchdown.
* * *
Finally . . . The
Cleveland linebackers had a terrific statistical game against the Vikings.
Schobert rang up 11 solo tackles, Christian Kirksey had eight stops (seven
solo) and Jamie Collins checked in with seven solos. That’s 26 tackles in 85 snaps, all but one solo. . . . From the department of great stats: The Browns
have lost the last 25 straight games played on a Sunday dating back to
mid-December in 2015. Their only victory last season was on a Saturday. . . . Jackson
on not playing wide receiver Kenny Britt, who suited up: “I made a decision to start the
other guys and play them. I just knew I was going to play some different people
at X and try my hand at that, so that’s what I did this week. . .. No
(discipline) issue at all. I just felt I was going to put the best version of our
football team out there and that’s what I did.” Roughly translated: Kenny Britt
is in my doghouse and will remain there for the foreseeable future. . . . The
Browns committed five penalties (that were accepted) for 74 yards. All resulted in Minnesota first downs. . . . Running back Jerick McKinnon and wide
receiver Adam Thielen combined for 210 of the Vikings’ 375 yards Sunday. . . . Duke
Johnson Jr. touch watch: Six carries for 33 yards; four pass receptions for 10 yards.
Total: 10 touches for 43 yards before he left the game with concussion
symptoms. He cleared protocol following the game.
Well, at least we do have consistency, consistently bad. So much for the idea that keeping losers around when they've proved their ineptness adds something beneficial to the mix.
ReplyDeleteThat last sentence pretty much covers the entire franchise from top to bottom.
ReplyDelete