Monday leftovers (Tuesday edition)

There is no question the Browns’ offensive explosion – relatively speaking, of course – caught a lot of us by surprise.

Given the stodgy, old-fashioned, buttoned-down approach to offense the team displayed in the exhibition season and first game of the regular season, it’s fair to say the 27-point salvo they laid on the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday was eye-opening.

It was a where-did-that-come-from kind of afternoon. Most fans obviously were pleased, but at the same time had to wonder just where was this offense earlier?

The return of rookie running back Trent Richardson definitely was a factor. After missing the entire exhibition season with knee surgery, no one counted on him being healthy enough to be considered a factor until at least the fifth or sixth week of the season.

But all it took was one sensational run by Richardson on the final play from scrimmage in the third quarter to stun Browns fans all around the globe into the realization that maybe their woebegone team has finally struck gold.

Followers of the college game knew all about this stud. They knew he was something special. But they did not know whether his game would translate to the National Football League. After all, they play the game on a much higher level there.

So when Richardson went down in training camp with a bad knee, doomsayers figured this was just another blown draft pick. Just another notch in the club’s bad-luck belt. And when he returned last week in the season opener against Philadelphia, he looked below average.

Then came the Bengals game, where Richardson used Paul Brown Stadium as his personal stage to introduce himself to NFL defenses in a most spectacular way.

It’s only one game, to be certain, but based on that performance and the notion that the coaching staff will finally realize the talent this kid has and design an offense that maximizes his enormous talents, there’s no telling how much of an impact he can have.

That TD against the Bengals, officially a 23-yard pass and run, was really a three-yard dump off as Brandon Weeden’s second choice on the play, and he turned it into the second of his two scores on the afternoon. What made it special was his innate ability to see the field so clearly, he made Bengals defenders look foolish.

Most great runners have speed, quickness and the ability to break tackles. But the one asset most people overlook is vision. Great peripheral vision allows that kind of runner to anticipate another player’s move and counter it before he can make it.

That’s what happened in Cincinnati. Three Bengals honed in on Richardson in those final 20 yards. All three flailed and grabbed nothing but air as he anticipated their moves and was gone by the time they arrived. Basically, he sees the game in slow motion.

And that, with help from the offensive coaching staff, can be a difference maker. Richardson, who compiled 145 yards (109 on the ground) on 23 touches,  is a playmaker. He just needs the opportunity to make those plays. That’s where good coaching comes in.

Brad Childress coached Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. He knows how to handle superstar running backs. As the Browns’ offensive coordinator, it’s incumbent on him to bring out the best in Richardson.

It could make the difference between yet another moribund season and a season filled with hope and optimism for the future.

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Lost in the aftermath of the loss in Cincinnati was the fine game turned in by Mo Massaquoi. The wide receiver was targeted seven times by Weeden and caught five passes for 90 yards.

He consistently gained separation in the Bengals’ secondary and made some nice catches. He looked nothing like the skittish receiver who seemed to tiptoe through opposing secondaries after a two-concussion season last year.

If this is a portent of things to come, that makes Weeden even more effective. It gives him another big target to go with Greg Little, who finally hit the score sheet with his first five catches of the season in Cincinnati.

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It was nice to see Chris Ogbonnaya get a shot Sunday. Filling in for Brandon Jackson (guessing Jackson must have been hurt), Ogbonnaya caught all six passes thrown his way for 73 yards. Kudos to Pat Shurmur and Childress for sticking with Ogbonnaya after a second-quarter fumble on his second touch of the game short-circuited a brief Cleveland drive late in the second quarter. It came at the tail end of a 21-yard play and was the only Cleveland turnover. The defense picked him up and forced a Bengals punt.

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Notes: It’s only two games, but veteran linebacker D’Qwell Jackson is playing at a Pro Bowl level. His tackle total is down somewhat, but he’s helping the young linebackers get into position to make plays, making certain they line up correctly. And he’s making plays all over the field. His three sacks and two interceptions lead the club. . . . Throughout training camp, we were told second-year tight end Jordan Cameron was going to be a contributor. His contributions thus far have resulted in no catches and limited playing time. Maybe the coaching staff overrated him. . . . So far, Joshua Cribbs looks like any ordinary kick returner. In other words, nothing special. Based on the past, fans expect Cribbs to break either a punt of kickoff for a touchdown just about every time he grabs the ball. The relatively new kickoff rule, which went into effect last season, has definitely hurt him . . . Tough work ahead for the run defense. After holding the Bengals to 80 rushing yards last week, their assignment Sunday at home to Buffalo is shut down C. J. Spiller, who leads the NFL in rushing with 292 yards and three touchdowns. The Bills are coming off a 35-17 victory in Kansas City.

An offensive awakening

Whether it was a blip on the pro football radar or the real thing, it sure was fun watching the young Browns offense grow before our very eyes Sunday in Cincinnati.

Sure, the team lost its fourth game in a row to the Bengals, but this time, the offense awoke from Rip Van Winkle land and provided some excitement along the way. This one was lost due to a defense that couldn’t stop the pass and poor special teams play.

The Browns sent fair warning to the Bengals that this just might be the beginning of something big, not only in the series between the two teams, but as a broad hint that they no longer consider themselves a soft spot on the schedule.

If there is any solace to be gained from this loss, it’s that the offense came alive. The 34-27 final is much easier to swallow because that offense, which showed absolutely no signs of life last week against Philadelphia, began making plays.

Trent Richardson ran like a top draft choice. Brandon Weeden threw just like he did in his final two years at Oklahoma State and the Cleveland offense performed as it hadn’t in a long, long time.

The Bengals were hanging on at the end. And when you break down the game, the difference was Pacman Jones’ 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter when five different Browns missed tackles.

After a very forgettable debut against the Eagles, Richardson showed why he was considered the best running back to come out of college in the last five years. He displayed a burst and speed that is tough to defend.

He rang up 145 total yards and two touchdowns in 23 touches and didn’t look as though he was just six weeks removed from knee surgery. He clearly provided the spark this offense has longed for. Barring injury, this is the kind of performance we can expect from him every week.

Once the Browns’ coaches realize there are other running plays besides the boring dive play, Richardson should become an impact running back. His slashing style is tailor-made for misdirection plays.

Weeden, meanwhile, did not look like a freshman college quarterback as he did last week. He was confident in the pocket, did not stare down receivers for the most part, saw the entire field much more clearly and was extremely decisive in delivering the ball, especially on checkdowns.

It was as though he suddenly opened up his eyes and saw the game in a completely different way. He did not rattle and was precise with his reads.

And then there’s that throwing arm. We heard about it when he was drafted, but hadn’t seen any evidence of its worth. But against the Bengals, thrown footballs arrived at their expected destinations with great velocity and almost unerring accuracy, two facets of Weeden’s game that was AWOL against the Eagles.

Weeden arrived in the National Football League known for his accuracy of nearly 70% in college. So was last week’s 34.3% completion rate an aberration? Or did the Eagles just get lucky? Perhaps Weeden was nervous in his NFL debut.

Coming back and completing 70.3% of his passes with no interceptions against the Bengals should hold off those howlers (yours truly included) who wondered if the step up to the NFL was too big for him. Based on what we saw Sunday, no way.

Critics will throw up the caution sign and warn it was only one game. No need to get too excited. He has shown us he can put up significant numbers. Now comes the hard part for Weeden. He has to do it again and again and again. He has to show he can be consistent.

In the meantime, he can’t be happy the Browns lost. And he can’t be thrilled the club is 0-2. But Sunday’s performance should act as a confidence booster, not only to him, but his cohorts on the offense.

It took the better part of two seasons under coach Pat Shurmur, but we finally saw receivers get separation in the opposing secondary. And we final saw a game where only two passes were dropped.

Of Weeden’s 26 completions (in 37 attempts), 12 were caught by wide receivers, a meaningful statistic. If he can maintain that ratio of apportionment with the wideouts, then maybe, just maybe, a light has flickered in that tunnel.

The self assurance that begins in the huddle with the quarterback seems to be spreading. The offensive line threw up a more solid pocket for the rookie. Then again, maybe it seemed that way because Weeden was getting rid of the ball on time.

It all added up to a 439-yard afternoon, the most net yards a Cleveland offense has posted since throwing a similar number at the Lions in Detroit  in a 2009 loss. After what we’ve seen the last two seasons, it was clearly an eye opener.

An offense even remotely resembling that last week against the Eagles, when they posted just 12 first downs and 210 yards of offense, and we’d be talking about a .500 Browns team.

What disappointed the most was the inability of the defense and special teams to prevent the big play and the 10 penalties that stymied drives on offense and prolonged them on defense. There is no excuse for three holding penalties (Shawn Lauvao, Joe Thomas and Alex Mack) and two false starts on the offense.

That shows a lack of discipline and if there’s one thing this team needs now that Weeden shows signs of belonging, it’s discipline. This young man needs all the help he can get.

The secondary, supposedly the strength of the defense, was exposed for the second week in a row and has now surrendered 601 yards through the air. The run defense, supposedly a weakness, has allowed 230 yards in two games, including just 80 against the Bengals.

Last week, the defense and special teams held up their end of the bargain. This week, it was the offense. Just the offense. One of these weeks, this team just might put it all together.

And won’t that be something.

Critical game? It is for Bengals

It isn’t often the second game of the season is considered critical. Hyperbole aside, let’s have some fun and call Sunday’s meeting between the Browns and Bengals down in Cincinnati critical.

The Bengals, who dropped the season opener in Baltimore, have playoff aspirations for the second straight season. Starting this season 0-2 is not exactly the way to make plans for games in January and beyond.

The Browns’ aspirations are to just play competitive football at this point. And starting 0-2 would hurt the ego more than thoughts of playing beyond the first 16 games of the season.

The Bengals, clearly the more talented team, need this one more. The Browns, who played well enough on defense to win last Sunday against Philadelphia, need to find a pulse in the offense.

That won’t be easy against a Bengals defense that is much better than the one that surrendered 37 of the 44 points the Ravens scored. This week, it won’t have to face Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta and Torrey Smith.

That right there gives Cincinnati the edge. Based on the first game of the season, how many defenses would be frightened of what the Browns call their offense?

How frightened would they be of a receiving corps that runs incorrect routes and has trouble holding on to passes? Or an offensive line that has a problem opening holes for its runners and protecting the quarterback? Or that quarterback coming off an embarrassing National Football League debut?

No, this week’s meeting most likely is considered a breather by the Bengals after last week’s embarrassment in Baltimore. They won’t say it, although one Bengal dropped a broad hint earlier this week.

Referring to Browns rookie running back Trent Richardson, linebacker Rey Maualuga told CBSSports.com, “He can run you over and you can miss a tackle. At the same time, from what we’ve seen, he didn’t do anything spectacular.

“From running screens, missing passes, trying to find a hole when he’s running the ball, he just didn’t do anything spectacular . . . I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to get after it once he plays us.”

Can’t argue that after Richardson’s 19-carry, 39-yard NFL debut. But the Browns’ top draft pick took the bait, anyway.

“When somebody wants to talk mess, I mean, that’s them,” he told the Plain Dealer. “I let my game speak for itself. So if they want to see how mad I am, or how upset they got me about the comment, you’ll see Sunday.”

Sounds like a story line that bears watching. If it takes some macho criticism from an opponent to motivate the rookie, so be it. Now all he needs is for fellow rookies Brandon Weeden, Mitchell Schwartz and Josh Gordon to join him in that regard.

Weeden can’t be any worse than what he showed against the Eagles. Or can he? With a running game stuck in neutral and terrible receivers, it wouldn’t be surprising if Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer gets blitz happy and attempts to force Weeden into mistakes.

Schwartz, on the other hand, had to have learned something after his sloppy NFL debut. Working on his footwork in pass protection would be a good start.  If Zimmer does unleash the blitz, the rookie right tackle can expect another long afternoon,

At least Gordon did better than the Browns’ No. 1 receiver last week. His two catches were two more than Greg Little, who was targeted four times and is still looking for his first catch of the season. He might me leaner and meaner than last season, but his stone hands haven’t changed one bit.

The Cleveland defense meanwhile will face a very angry Cincinnati offense, especially after last week’s thumping. Whether it’s too early to say quarterback Andy Dalton is experiencing a sophomore slump should be determined by late Sunday afternoon.

The red head failed to throw a touchdown pass against the Ravens, but managed to bring the Bengals to within 17-13 early in the third quarter before the Baltimore avalanche began.

Expect the Cleveland secondary, minus the suspended Joe Haden for the next four games, to become a heavy target for Dalton and receiving buddies A.J. Green, Andrew Hawkins and tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Benjarvus Green-Ellis comes out of the shadows in New England to replace Cedric Benson at running back and the Bengals, at least based on the opener, do not miss Benson, who wound up in Green Bay. Green-Ellis ran for nearly 100 yards and the lone Bengals touchdown last week.

Cincinnati has won six of the last seven meetings between these two rivals, including the last three in a row, and 12 of the last 15.

I see no evidence that supports the notion the Browns will escape Cincy with a 1-1 record. It’ll be close, though, through the first half as the defense again plays tough.But this time, the guys on that side of the ball run out of steam in the second half as the offense sputters once again, still looking for its first TD. Make it:

Bengals 23, Browns 9 

Shotgun solution

Judging strictly from his first game as a professional, it looks as though Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden is a lab experiment. Gone bad.

The offensive coaching of staff of the Browns is hell bent on turning Weeden into a pro-style quarterback. And the results of these mad scientists could cost Pat Shurmur his job.

Now I realize it’s just one game, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen such poor quarterbacking as I witnessed Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener.

And I place the blame on Weeden’s sad and embarrassing performance squarely and absolutely on the coaching staff. They are trying to make the rookie into something he is not – a pro style quarterback.

For his entire career in high school and at Oklahoma State University, Weeden has played in and is most comfortable with the spread formation, lining up roughly seven yards behind his center.

In piling up monstrous passing yardage at OSU, it was always out of the spread. It was a comfort level with which he was able to reinvent himself after a failed career as a minor-league pitcher.

Robert Griffin III operated with the same system at Baylor and won a Heisman Trophy. It caused the Washington Redskins to mortgage a significant chunk of their future to draft him in the last National Football League college football draft.

The Browns tried desperately to move up to get Griffin, but had to settle for Weeden. The two made their pro debut Sunday and the stark difference in their results was more than obvious.

Instead of trying to ease Weeden into a new offense, the Browns have force-fed him to play with his hands under center Alex Mack in the pro set. He looked uncomfortable at best, confused at worst in his three exhibition games.

Taking snap after snap in training camp was not going to make the transition easy. He tried hard and didn’t look awkward, but there was a lack of smoothness that comes with years of experience.

The rhythm of the position is dramatically different when getting set under center. Footwork is paramount with the three-, five- and seven-step drops a quarterback must take from the pro set when attempting to pass. In the shotgun, it’s far different. To someone who has never worked from the pro set, that footwork can be tricky.

Shurmur should know that. So should offensive coordinator Brad Childress. It doesn’t work that way, especially with a soon-to-be 29-year-old rookie who is more comfortable lining up seven yards behind the center.

Mike Shanahan knew that in Washington. He and his son, Kyle, the Redskins’ offensive coordinator, knew Griffin was much more effective when operating out of the shotgun. And it showed Sunday when the Skins upset the Saints in New Orleans.

The Redskins ran 71 plays from scrimmage and Griffin was in the shotgun on 40 of the first 58 plays. The Shanahans knew Griffin was more effective out of the shotgun and maximized his talents.

Then they put him back under center almost exclusively, but only when the Redskins forged a 33-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. In the shotgun, he threw 22 times, completing 16 and scrambling several times when pass plays were called.

The Redskins also ran out of the shotgun with sixth-round draft pick Alfred Morris the major beneficiary. The rookie ran for nearly 100 yards and scored twice.

Conversely, Weeden lined up in the shotgun 18 times (in 59 snaps) against the Eagles and completed six passes for 79 of his 111 yards and threw three of his four interceptions.

And not once did the Browns run the ball from the shotgun. Not a single solitary time did Weeden hand the ball off. On several occasions he was in a naked backfield with only a lousy offensive line in front of him.

When the Eagles saw that, they threw a standard four-man rush at Weeden and flooded the secondary. They knew there was no way the Browns were going to run. Talk about predictability.

Conclusion: It is time to give Weeden an offense with which he can be successful. He is not a west coast kind of a quarterback. At least not yet. Shurmur and Childress are trying to make him into something he’s not.

Weeden is the round hole in the square peg that is the Cleveland offensive mind-set. You can see he’s not the least bit comfortable when dropping back from the pro set. He needs to work out of the shotgun to be effective.

Granted, it’s still early, but if there isn’t significant improvement in the next two games, his confidence will be shot. And there’s nothing worse in the NFL than a quarterback with no confidence

Weeden might be a 28-year-old with a lot of poise, but he’s now seeing sophisticated defenses he never saw at Oklahoma State. His confusion has led to uncertainty, which has led to bad plays. And thus, he’s not giving his team a chance to win.

In order for Weeden to reach his comfort level, he needs to do what Griffin has been allowed to do in Washington. He needs to get out from under center a majority of the time.

If Shurmur and Childress don’t see this, they’re fooling only themselves. And if they don’t leave their west coast comfort zone and adapt for Weeden, then we’ll see Colt McCoy a lot sooner than anyone thought.

And it won’t be because Weeden is hurt. It’ll be because it’s in the best interests of the Cleveland Browns.

Monday leftovers

It’s somewhat ironic the Browns’ defense, easily best unit of the afternoon, is taking some heat for the club’s 17-16 loss to Philadelphia Sunday afternoon.

It’s not substantial by any means, but when you look at the box score of the game, you can’t but notice the Cleveland defense surrendered 456 yards of offense to the Eagles. That’s a lot of real estate.

But when you break it down, and I mean really break it down, you also can’t help but notice that number could have been a lot worse if not for that defense. A whole lot worse.

The Eagles compiled 456 yards on offense and the best they could do was 17 points? Seventeen measly points in a game they were losing until the final minute? Misleading? No.  Let’s examine.

The Eagles ran 88 plays to the Browns’ 59. They owned the ball for 36 of the game’s 60 minutes? And that was whose fault? The defense? No way. The offense? Bingo.

Entering the fourth quarter, the stout Cleveland defense had allowed just 10 points and 312 yards of offense. The Cleveland offense, meanwhile, sputtered mightily and looked inept throughout the entire game.

The longest Cleveland drive of the day was six plays for 53 yards in the second quarter unless you count a seven-play drive for 19 yards in the third quarter. That’s it.

In 15 series, the offense racked up six three-and-outs, while two others were aborted by interceptions on the first play. The offense couldn’t stay on the field, which meant the defense couldn’t catch its breath. Brandon Weeden looked like a freshman quarterback making his first college start.

On the other hand, the first 13 Philadelphia drives resulted in five turnovers and six punts. Yeah, the defense hung four picks on Vick and recovered a LeSean McCoy fumble. Those turnovers results in 13 of the 16 points, but let’s knock off six because the lone Browns touchdown was scored by the defense.

So by the time the fourth quarter arrived, the Cleveland defense was gassed. Even though the coaching staff rotated defensive linemen all afternoon to keep them fresh, whatever pass rush the Browns had was spent.

The Browns owned the ball in the fourth quarter for just three minutes and 40 seconds, compared to Philly’s 11 minutes and 20 seconds. Maybe that’s why Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was able to drive his club 91 yards for the winning touchdown after D’Qwell Jackson gave the Browns a 16-10 lead with a pick 6 early in the fourth quarter.

There is no way this Cleveland defense can pick up the offense for an entire game. It is good, but not that good. Blame for this loss should be property awarded to the offense, which converted just two of 13 third-down opportunities.

Not much the defense can do when the offense tanks. Two, maybe three, minutes of rest and it’s back to work.

So these 456 yards that now go on the Cleveland defensive record can, for the first week at least, be considered one of the most deceiving statistics in the first week of the National Football League season.

The job defensive coordinator Dick Jauron did, considering some of the injuries he had to deal with, was outstanding.

Vick had no idea where the pressure was coming from. Jauron displayed a disciplined aggressiveness on defense I haven’t seen in a long time in Cleveland. His reputation as a conservative tactician took a hit. And that’s not a bad thing.

His blitzes came from all over the field, and his disguises in coverage in the secondary gave Vick fits all afternoon. Whether it was a combo or strict man-to-man or zone in the Cleveland defensive backfield, the Philly quarterback’s confusion was palpable.

And the play of young linebackers A.J. Fort and Craig Robertson was nothing short of sensational. Filling in for the injured Chris Gocong and idle Scott Fujita, the linebacking didn’t miss a beat.

Robertson checked in with a team-leading nine tackles, five solo, and an interception, while Fort contributed three solo tackles and a pick. Credit Jackson, who played one of his best games as a Brown, with making certain his young teammates were lined up correctly.

Based on this game, Robertson and Fort have a good shot at becoming fixtures. Both are active, quick and tackle well.

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It has become obvious that one of the problems the Browns face in the passing game is the inability of the wide receivers to gain any kind of separation from defenders. How often did we see any of them wide open against the Eagles? And the few times we did, Weeden badly overthrew them. . . . Also take into consideration that the ultra-conservative game plan of coordinator Brad Childress and ultra, ultra conservative play calling of coach Pat Shurmur were vital contributors. . . . If it was the Browns’ intent to take advantage of the Eagles’ wide-nine defense up front by running the ball, they were sadly let down by a soft offensive line. They didn’t take into consideration that the Eagles’ linebackers, especially DeMeco Ryans, fill holes quickly and tackle well.

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Other standouts Sunday include safeties T.J. Ward and Eric Hagg, whose blitzing off the edge was refreshing; cornerback Buster Skrine, who played well when Sheldon Brown went down early and, for a little guy, shows no fear in run support; rookie defensive lineman Billy Winn, whose aggressiveness at end and tackle bodes well for the future; and Reggie Hodges, who finally punted an entire game without having one blocked. . . . Surprise! No standouts on offense. 

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Most disappointing was the coaching of Shurmur and Childress, who have been around long enough to know better than to devise a game plan like that. At Monday’s news conference, Shurmur was asked what he’d tell those who call for Colt McCoy to replace Weeden. “I’d tell them Brandon Weeden is our starting quarterback and he’s going to get better.” Can’t argue that. Of course he’s going to get better. Any worse than the way he played Sunday is unfathomable.

So close and yet . . . 

How many times have we heard from football coaches that the difference between winning and losing sometimes is as infinitesimal as executing one play properly?

If one is to believe that, then, the Browns Sunday did come within that infinitesimal margin twice and didn't execute those plays properly or else they would have upset the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2012 season opener at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

A couple of ifs come into play here in what turned out to be a 17-16 Eagles victory in a game that should have – and could have – wound up in the victory column for Cleveland. It was a case of shoulda, woulda, coulda, didn’t.

If Owen Marecic does not drop a simple third-down (and 2) swing pass from quarterback Brandon Weeden with 49 seconds left in the first half and the teams tied at 3, the Eagles don’t get the ball back. And score.

Marecic’s drop of the easy pass breathed new life into a Philadelphia offense that had been stifled and strangled the entire first half by a remarkable Cleveland defense, which turned Philly quarterback Michael Vick into a mere mortal.

He drove his team 74 yards in five plays as the aggressive and very opportunistic Browns defense switched to conservative mode. In other words, the dreaded prevent defense. It took Vick just 32 seconds to give his team a 10-3 halftime lead. But if Marecic does not drop the pass, it’s a tie game.

Switch to the latter stages of the game with the Browns, still playing aggressively on defense, clinging to a 16-10 lead and headed for the first big upset of the National Football League season.

They had picked off Vick four times already and added a LeSean McCoy fumble recovery, blunting and parrying just about every move the Eagles tried on offense. The Cleveland offense, meanwhile, had fallen into a sinkhole and disappeared.

So it was up to the defense, which fittingly put Cleveland’s only touchdown of the day on the scoreboard (a D’Qwell Jackson pick 6 early in the fourth quarter), to step up. Just 6:25 remained and the Eagles were pinned at their 9-yard line.

Pessimistic Browns fans at this point of the game had to be wondering just how their team would lose. That’s normal for fans of this club when it has a lead late in close games. Somehow, they almost always find a way to lose.

One big play. The Browns’ defense needed just one big play to shut this one down and come up with their first season-opening victory since 2004 and only their second in the last 14 seasons. One measly big play. And they had that opportunity.

It took Vick a shade more than five minutes to take his club to the Cleveland 4-yard line. On second-and-goal, Vick attempted to hit Jeremy Maclin in the right corner of the end zone.

But rookie Cleveland linebacker A.J. Fort, who had one of his club’s four interceptions, reached up for the pass. It slithered through his hands and fell to the ground harmlessly. He makes the grab, game over. Browns win.

So close and yet so far. And so very frustrating.

The Browns got the ball back, but the way the Cleveland offense was playing, this one was over.

Weeden, whose dream of playing in the NFL turned into a nightmare on this afternoon, immediately threw his fourth interception of the day. And you can almost hear segments of Browns Nation starting a quarterback controversy.

Colt McCoy, who lost his starting job to Weeden, has a lot of supporters who probably think their man could have done a better job against the Eagles. Or better yet, no worse.

“Heck,” McCoy must have been saying to himself on the sideline, “I couldn’t be any worse than this.” And he would have been correct.

Weeden looked like a college quarterback who had no business playing in an NFL game. He was uncertain, stared down his receivers repeatedly, looked confused by some of the Eagles’ defenses and compounded that by several times overthrowing wide open receivers.

Fact is Weeden had not run a play from scrimmage since the latter stages of the first half in the exhibition loss to the Eagles on Aug. 24. That’s 16 days between meaningful snaps, a long time for any quarterback, let alone a rookie.

Coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress did Weeden a disservice by sitting him in the final exhibition game. Sunday’s performance magnified it. That’s dumb thinking.

Top draft pick Trent Richardson, who missed the entire exhibition season because of knee surgery, ran for just 39 yards on 19 carries. Blame for that should be shared equally by the coaching staff, which has the imagination of a 3-year-old (with the exception of a well-executed double reverse in the second quarter), and a highly overrated offensive line.

The holes were not there for Richardson as Shurmur dialed up conservative play after conservative play. The only trickery was the double reverse, which saw rookie wideout Travis Benjamin scoot 35 yards. Other than that, it was strictly vanilla.The only play that was there was the quick slant, but the Eagles shut that down in a hurry in the second half.

The offense, which gave a whole new meaning to the word terrible, never got untracked despite five turnovers from coordinator Dick Jauron’s well-designed defense. Vick was dropped just twice, but was up close and personal with the CBS turf on at least a dozen other occasions, throwing many passes before he wanted to.

While credit can be given the Browns’ defense for making the final score as close as it was, the same cannot be said for the Philly defense. The Browns ran just 55 plays from scrimmage, while the Eagles checked in with 88.

The Eagles offense was on the field for 36 minutes. The Cleveland defense was gassed by the time Vick began his winning march. Even so, it took the Eagles 17 plays to score the winning TD.

But still, if Marecic holds on to that little swing pass late in the second quarter and Fort, who played a terrific game, holds on to his second pick of the afternoon, we’re not talking about a quarterback controversy. And we’re not wondering if the Browns will ever again win a season opener. And we’re not talking about what’s wrong with the offensive line.

We’re talking about a Browns victory.

Only the final score is different

Predicting the outcome of the first game of the National Football League season is always more difficult than any other.

Why? Simple. The speed and quickness of the game changes dramatically between the last exhibition game and the first one where money is on the line.

Rookies are told about the change, but until they see it, they have no idea what to expect. Or how to handle it. The game is fast enough to begin with. For those who get it and know what to expect, it eventually slows down.

We watch players go through the motions during the exhibition season. All of which proves absolutely nothing. No way can we tell based on those performances how a team is going do in the regular season.

How many times have we seen teams go unbeaten in the exhibition season only to stagger in with a 5-11 or 6-10 record and maybe worse? And how many times have we seen a team fail to win a practice game and yet make the postseason with no trouble?

We’ve seen the Browns play four exhibitions, winning the first two on the road and dropping the final two at home.

One of the road victories was in Green Bay against one of the best teams in the National Football League. And that proves what? Nothing. Doesn’t mean the Browns are better than the Packers.

Green Bay most likely will win its division, while the Browns most likely will once again bring up the back end of their division.

But that first game of the season is always a mystery until you can record concrete evidence by playing it. Especially if the team you root for has 15 rookies and another dozen who have played only one season.

But when it comes to opening the season at home, picking the Browns to lose is a no-brainer. This Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, it will be no different when the Philadelphia Eagles invade.

Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have opened up at home every season but one. That includes the first 11 seasons before hitting the road for the opener in Tampa in 2010.

Their record in those 13 lid lifters? How about 1-12. The lone victory was a 20-3 pasting (relatively speaking) of the Baltimore Ravens in 2004. The Browns finished 4-12 that season, which proved to be the last under coach Butch Davis.

So it’s not difficult to predict the outcome of the first game when it comes to the Browns. The only problem is deciding just how badly they are going to get beaten.

The schedule maker couldn’t have picked a worse rival for the Browns in this one. The Eagles, everyone’s Dream Team last season, got off to a miserable start before finishing strong to check in with an 8-8 record.

They underachieved on just about every level, placing coach Andy Reid’s job on the line this season. Reid is a players’ coach and the theme this year should be retribution, if it already isn’t.

The Eagles are an abundantly talented team and should have no problem handling the Browns. They did so with relative ease just a few weeks ago in the third exhibition game of the season.

In that one, you’ll recall, the Eagles’ pass rush dropped Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden three times and introduced him to the strip sack, NFL style.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Eagles this week welcomed back defensive end Jason Babin, who sat out the exhibition season with an injury. Handling Babin, coming off an 18-sack season, will be rookie offensive right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.

The reality is Browns coach Pat Shurmur has no idea what to expect from his troops. Weeden hasn’t taken a snap since the first half of the Eagles exhibition on Aug. 24. And since he did not play the final exhibition game, that’s 16 days between games.

A lot of rust can build in that period of time, especially for a quarterback who relies on timing. Never mind that he’s been practicing during that period. He’s been practicing against his teammates.

On the plus side, it looks as though top draft pick Trent Richardson will see the field for the first time since undergoing knee surgery a month ago. How much he can give, or how effective he’ll be, is another mystery.

Scott Fujita’s return after winning his appeal in the NFL Bounty scandal is also plus. The Browns are hurting at linebacker and Fujita’s appearance can’t hurt.

Overall, however, this one promises to be a rout as Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, also back from an injury, plays pitch and catch with his receivers, and LeSean McCoy chews up chunks of yardage. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles picked the Browns apart in the exhibition game, so you can only imagine what the veteran Vick will do.

It will not be pretty as the Browns disappoint new owner Jimmy Haslam III and a sold-out CBS as the Eagles undress the Cleveland defense in a game that will be a laugher by halftime. Only Reid’s compassion for his pals with the Browns in the second half will make the final score look relatively decent. Make it:

Eagles 31, Browns 9

Browns’ best head coach otherwise occupied

Mike Holmgren said it. He really did.

In a news conference recently, the Browns’ president was asked if he would walk away from his job when new owner Jimmy Haslam III arrives.

“I’ve never quit on anything in my life,” he declared.

Asked if he intended to fulfill his contract, he replied, “I hope so. That’s what the plan is.”

Of course Holmgren is not walking away when National Football League owners approve Haslam as the new boss of the Browns. He’s in the middle of a five-year contract that pays him roughly $8 million a year.

Why would he walk away from something like that? They’d have to fit him with a straitjacket if he even thought about something like that.

Holmgren is in the uniquely uncomfortable position of having to dance as fast as he can to cover the fact he most likely will be without a job in the very near future. When Haslam finally has the words principle and owner affixed in front of his name, Holmgren is history.

What’s probably going to happen is Haslam, as reported months ago out of Philadelphia, will bring in former Philadelphia Eagles President Joe Banner to run his team. Haslam will then shove Holmgren out and allow him to pull the ripcord of his shiny golden parachute.

Before that happens, and as he whistles his way past the graveyard, Holmgren is free to pontificate on what he believes will happen to – and with – the Browns this season.

“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, and did not add “and it’s not an oncoming train.”  But he did add, “We’ll see what happens.”

A nice generic way of saying “I have no idea where this team is going, but I can’t say that even though I might not be around here much longer.”

He did, however, have an interesting take on the man he chose last year to run his team. “I’m still learning his coaching style,” he said of coach Pat Shurmur. “When he calls the team together, they listen to him.”

That is a classic example of damning with faint praise.

After one full season and two training camps, Holmgren still hasn’t fully absorbed Shurmur’s coaching style? Really?

He hasn’t noticed how maddeningly conservative Shurmur’s offensive approach is? Or his inept handling of time management? Or his failure to think well ahead of his coaching rivals?

“When he calls the team together, they listen to him.” Of course they listen to him. Is Holmgren joking? What an inane statement to make.

The game plays out much slower than it should in Shurmur’s mind. Thinking quickly on your feet is a trait found among most of the successful head coaches in the NFL.

Holmgren should know this. He lived it for 17 seasons as a head coach. He knows what it takes to be successful in this league. If (probably when) he’s enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it’ll be that attention to every detail that helped pave the way.

Too bad it will eventually turn out this way for Holmgren in Cleveland. He didn’t know it, but as it turns out, the best head coach the Browns have has another title: President.

Please pass the pacifier

Call them the Baby Browns.

Whether or not it was by design, the pruning of the Browns’ roster down the final 53 men has turned the club into one of the youngest teams in the National Football League.

It is said that a team can expect to lose at least one game for every rookie on its roster. That, of course, assumes those rookies will start.

Well, after Tom Heckert Jr. sliced and diced his way toward the final 53, an astounding 15 rookies remain on the squad, including five free agents. That represents more than 28% of the roster.

Add 12 more players entering their second season and that percentage rises dramatically to slightly more than 50. Throw in six more players with just two years’ experience and that number jumps to 62.2%.

In other words, nearly two out of every three players on the team check in with less than three years’ experience. That’s asking for trouble.

Two ways to look at that. On the optimistic side, Heckert is building quite a core for the future. On the pessimistic side, the lack of experience will cost the Browns dearly in a season they play the NFL’s third-toughest schedule.

Based on the final roster, it’s pretty safe to say they re going to experience an extremely bumpy first half of the season as they struggle to gain any semblance of respectability.

The size of some of the losses could be potentially harmful to the psyche of this club. It will severely test coach Pat Shurmur’s ability to keep his guys focused and on track to improve on a weekly basis.

Losses figure to heavily outweigh the victories in the first half of the season because of the inexperience. Fans will become intolerant once again as another doom and gloom season unfolds.

The H guys (Jimmy Haslam III, Mike Holmgren and Heckert) most likely will get together and issue a call for patience. Their pleas will fall on deaf ears.

Because they’ll be taking baby steps at first, we’ll get a much better read on this team in the second half of the season. It will be much more telling than the first half. We’ll have a much better idea the direction in which it is headed as it gains experience.

It remains puzzling, though, that a general manager in his third year, with a new owner ready to climb onboard, chose to take this path. It’s almost as though he decided the groundwork he laid in the first two years wasn’t working and moved in a different direction.

It is generally believed that it takes three years to totally reconstruct a team in the NFL. If that is, indeed, the case here, Heckert has chosen a most unusual course to navigate.

If it was his intention to cut unnecessary fat from the roster and replace it with new blood, he sure succeeded. But when you wind up with nearly two-thirds of the roster lacking significant playing time, you are gambling big time.

The disastrous 53

Why is it so difficult to get excited about the Browns’ final 53-man roster?

For a team anxious to escape the lower depths of the National Football League, some of the decisions General Manager Tom Heckert Jr. made to prune the roster set off the meter of disbelief.

OK, so it is fluid, depending on what free agents are more attractive to the powers-that-be than the ones that made the final 53, and could change before the regular season opener Sept. 9 in Cleveland. But not in a significant way.

The release of tight end Evan Moore, for example, strengthens my belief the guys who make these command decisions have seriously misjudged how to use him effectively.

At 6-6, 250 pounds, Moore is built like a tight end if you follow the prototype. But the former Stanford wide receiver blocks like a wide receiver. Heckert and his merry men pigeonholed him as a tight end, and that was that.

One of the reasons Moore was unable to stay healthy was because he was called on to do something he does poorly . . . block, as most tight ends are required to do. Most of his injuries occurred blocking bigger players.

Ask him to run pass patterns and catch a football was an entirely different matter. He isn’t fast, but he’s not slow, either. He rarely drops a pass and has the ability to get open. Just like a wide receiver. Which is what he is. He’s not a tight end.

The Browns are aching for wide receivers who can get open and catch passes. They had one, didn’t realize it and let him go because he wasn’t what they wanted him to be.

As for the other cuts, why is it that when someone shows signs of being a playmaker, he isn’t long for the roster? Free agent safety David Sims came in and almost immediately got the coaching staff’s attention with a few interceptions.

The first one goes somewhat unnoticed, the second one gets your attention and by the time the third theft occurs, you really begin to think this kid is something special even though it’s just the exhibition season.

So when the final cuts are announced and the Browns trade Sims to Philadelphia for a future draft choice, it makes one wonder just what a player has to do to make the final roster.

Two potential playmakers gone.

Other eye openers: Why is offensive tackle Oneil Cousins still on the roster? Ditto Montario Hardesty, Owen Marecic, Mo Massaquoi and Usama Young.

Cousins, on his best day, is awful. A turnstile of an offensive tackle who is a walking, talking holding penalty. If this is the best the Browns can do at backing up regular tackles Joe Thomas and Mitchell Schwartz, they better hope neither man gets hurt. The other backup tackle, rookie Ryan Miller, is a better guard, relatively speaking.

Guessing here that the reason the Browns won’t give up on Hardesty is because he was a Heckert pick and they gave up a lot to get him a couple of years ago. Injuries have turned him into a below-average runner who can’t be trusted to hang on to the football.

Marecic, a two-way player at Stanford, has been an abject disappointment at fullback. He contributed almost nothing last season as a rookie and there are no signs he’s going to be any different this season. Why not try him at linebacker, his college position, where he can’t be any worse?

Massaquoi is used most effectively on pass routes that take him over the middle. But that’s the land of concussions for him and his worth diminishes due to his obvious reluctance to mix it up.

Young, who missed the exhibition season, has lost his job to Eric Hagg, one of Heckert’s late-round draft picks. In his brief stint with the Browns, Sims showed more play-making ability than Young ever did.

As for the starters, the offensive line is a work in progress. Thomas had an uneven exhibition season, making mistakes he normally doesn’t make. Schwartz is big enough for the running game, but is maddeningly slow in pass protection against speed rushers.

Center Alex Mack is solid, but the guys who flank him leave a whole lot to be desired. Guards Jason Pinkston and Shawn Lauvao have shown no improvement over last season. If anything, they are backsliding.

And if he’s healthy, running back Trent Richardson will be a key factor, taking some of the heat off fellow rookie Brandon Weeden at quarterback. Figure that coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress will employ a button-down offense at first.

On the other side of the ball, don’t be surprised if opponents this season put the ball up much more often than last season. Last season, the Browns’ secondary was lucky opponents didn’t pick on it. That’s because opposing teams gouged out tons of yardage on the ground and didn’t have to throw the ball. That’ll change this season.

Factor in that the Cleveland pass rush is well below average and you have a potential disaster because the secondary isn’t that good. Unless, of course, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron suddenly changes his philosophy and turns his guys loose.

The run defense can’t get any worse than the last few years. Or can it? With Phil Taylor out for at least the first half of the season and rookies Billy Winn and John Hughes rotating in the middle, another repeat looms.

Right now, the final 53 is a mixed bag of question marks and exclamation points with many more of the former. Playing the third-toughest schedule on paper, escaping the lower depths of the NFL might have to wait at least another season for the Browns.