Third-down blues

There is no question that the most pivotal down in any series is third down. Convert a majority of them and chances are you’re going to win a lot of games. Don’t and you become the Cleveland Browns.

Any wonder the Browns are 0-2 at this juncture? Try 1-for-14 on third down in the opening-game loss to Miami and 4-for-15 in the loss to the Ravens in Baltimore last Sunday. That’s mighty ugly territory.

Conversely, the Cleveland defense has faced third down on 32 occasions in the two games and shut down the opposition just 16 times. A chain-moving stat like that almost guarantees a tired defense in the second half. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen so far.

An exhaustive (slight exaggeration) perusal of the offensive statistics in the two games reveals one gigantic problem: The Browns are awful on first and second down on that side of the ball. With very few exceptions, there has not been anything remotely resembling a manageable third down yet this season.

The five conversions’ distances were four, two, four, three and four yards. Eighteen of the 29 attempts were eight yards or more, 13 of which were double digits. Four attempts wound up with a Brandon Weeden sack.

Favorite target on third down is (surprise!) Davone Bess, who caught four of the five conversions. Greg Little caught (yes he did) the other, a four-yarder on third and 3 in the Ravens game.

The Browns’ average distance to go on third down thus far is 8.93 yards. That unbelievably is the average. Breaking that down, it was 10.22 yards in the Miami game and 7.13 yards in the Baltimore game. Some would call that progress.

Is it any wonder Spencer Lanning has punted 13 times this season? He’s on a pace to boot the ball an astounding 104 times by the end of the season finale in Pittsburgh. That, of course, is if his right leg doesn’t fall off by then.

Remarkably, that’s 10 punts shy of the National Football League record for most punts in a season, held jointly by Chad Stanley of the 4-12 Houston Texans in 2002 and Bob Parsons of the 6-10 Chicago Bears in 1981.

Now comes my favorite stat: Three of the third-down attempts resulted in delay-of- game penalties. All you can do is shake your head and wonder just what you, as fans, did to deserve this kind of football.

When the offensive coaches break down game tape, or whatever they use these days, the above numbers have to leap out at them. They have to be embarrassed by what has transpired.

Yes, it’s still early in the season, early enough to use the word “correctable” regarding these mistakes and safely mollify those who still believe this team has the talent to mount a comeback.

Sometimes, however, the numbers do not lie. This sure looks like one of those times.

THIS JUST IN: Brian Hoyer will start at quarterback for the Browns Sunday in Minnesota. Wise move, Rob Chudzinski, no matter what happens. Who whispered the loudest in your ear, Joe Banner or Mike Lombardi? Or was it a team effort?

If Weeden can't go, it should be Hoyer

If Brandon Weeden’s sore thumb prevents him from playing against the Vikings Sunday in Minnesota, Rob Chudzinski would be wise to elevate Brian Hoyer to replace him as the Browns’ starting quarterback.

Yes, Hoyer is the third stringer. The guy the Browns brought in strictly as insurance should Weeden and Jason Campbell go down. And yes, Campbell is more familiar with Norv Turner’s offense, having played one season in it.

But Campbell is nothing more than a journeyman, a guy whose career has been hit and miss to the point where you’re never going to win anything with him. He’s up, he’s down. You never know what you’re going to get on any given Sunday.

Hoyer, on the other hand, is the X factor. You don’t know what you’re going to get from the Clevelander, either, because he has no track record from which to make a judgment. He’s also four years younger than Campbell and much more mobile.

Bill Belichick thought enough of him to keep him around in New England for a few seasons before deciding to keep only two quarterbacks. And we all know that Cleveland General Manager Mike Lombardi has a crush on his talents.

Chudzinski will make the final decision should Weeden be given the week off to heal, but it will be interesting to see how much influence Lombardi has should he choose to weigh in on the decision.

Of course, we’re dealing with a potential hypothesis here. But what the heck, why not try Hoyer at this time? Give him a shot. What does the coach have to lose? Another game? He’s lost his first two already.

Let’s see what Hoyer can do when the game is much more meaningful than looking decent in a few exhibition games. You never know.

So he doesn’t have the throwing arm to successfully implement Turner’s down-the-field offense, especially now that Josh Gordon is back. Campbell, of course, does, But Hoyer’s positives outweigh his negatives.

He plays the game as much between the ears as he does from a physical standpoint. That’s right. He’s a thinking man’s quarterback. Now whether that translates into something that would generate positive results remains to be seen.

Time to find out and a good enough reason he should be the starter against the Vikings if Weeden can’t go. This might be his best opportunity, but only if Chudzinski chooses wisely.

Stranger things have happened to quarterbacks who weren’t deemed good enough and languished only to ultimately find themselves under center due to an injury. I give you Tom Brady and Kurt Warner. 

Obviously not comparing Hoyer to either man. Only the circumstances under which they eventually found their way to superstardom. 

Monday leftovers

One of the key ingredients in establishing a winning franchise in any sport is the ability to produce playmakers. Those players who make clutch plays when needed. Those players who step and consistently say, “Follow me.”

The Browns have none. You can’t name one player on this 53-man roster who comes even close to qualifying for the title of playmaker. No one comes even close. They haven’t had one for a long, long time. And that’s why they continually bottom feed in the National Football League.

Scan the rosters of those teams that annually have winning programs and you’ll find at least a modicum of playmakers. No need to be specific with names here. There are too many to delineate.

There are times during football games when just one play can make the difference between winning and losing. Such a play – actually a series in this case – played a large part in the Browns’ 14-6 loss in Baltimore Sunday.

After pretty much controlling the Ravens’ offense in the first half, the Cleveland defense, getting little or no help from the offense, needed to maintain its superiority. And failed. Not once. Or twice. But three times.

In the Ravens’ opening second-half drive, the Browns thrice forced a third and long situation. And all three times, the Ravens converted.

It was a momentum changer. With an 80-yard scoring drive, the Ravens took over the game emotionally even though they led by just a point. It regenerated the Baltimore defense, which wasn’t playing that badly to begin with, and ultimately sealed the Browns’ fate.

The Browns needed to make just one play. One stinking play to produce a punt. Whether it was a sack, an interception, an incompletion or making Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco do something uncharacteristic. Anything.

If nothing else, those three conversions emboldened Flacco and his offense, which, in turn, emboldened the Baltimore defense, which choked off any chance the Browns had at winning the game.

So on the one hand, there’s no way the Browns would have been in the game – it was a one-score game until the end – had it not been for the defense. On the other, it could have been a much different result had the defense come up with that one big play.

The offense, after just two games, is a lost cause in the playmaking category. The line is a shambles. It can’t run block. It can’t pass block with any degree of effectiveness. Whoever is under center is going to absorb a lot of punishment when dropping back to pass this season.

And the running game is laughable. Running between the tackles has become an exercise in futility and frustration. It’s almost like running into a brick wall. Over and over and over again.

Offensive coordinator Norv Turner is a smart man. His reputation as an offensive guru preceded his arrival in Cleveland. Based on what we’ve seen in the first eight quarters of the season, it’s taking a huge hit.

This week, the offense welcomes Josh Gordon back after serving his two-week suspension. Who knows? That might make a difference. It will help, however, only if Gordon can do something no one else seems capable of.

Make a play.

~ This is Greg Little’s third season with the Browns. And the way it has started, it could very well be his last.

There is no excuse for Little to be dropping passes, especially those that wind up not just in the vicinity of his hands, but directly in them. Last season, the wide receiver appeared to have solved his catching problem with some clutch grabs, including a few that were thrown badly and required extra effort to catch.

This season, he has reverted to the form of his rookie campaign, when he led the NFL in drops. He has been targeted 22 times in two games and produced eight catches for 59 yards. One has to wonder (a) why he is in the starting lineup and (b) why he is targeted so much.

He’s got the size and the hands. His concentration – or lack thereof – appears to be his biggest problem. And that, unfortunately, is something that might be extremely difficult to correct. If it’s between the ears, good luck.

~ You’ll have to excuse Weeden if he thinks he’s the team token piñata. He has been sacked 11 times, knocked down 20 or so times and hurried another 35 times in two games. His popularity among opposing pass rushers has reached news heights. Or is it depths?

If he’s still vertical by midseason – and we don’t know yet whether his injured thumb will prevent him from playing Sunday in Minnesota – it will be somewhat of a miracle. His mobility in the pocket and recognition of opposing defenses is mindful of Tim Couch.

~ Based on what we saw in his limited play against the Ravens, Barkevious Mingo could be the spark the Browns need on defense. His quickness and speed off the edge is what prompted the Browns to make him the surprise sixth pick in the college draft in April.

He embarrassed Baltimore offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie on his first play and dropped Flacco, caused a holding penalty on a punt that gave the Browns better field position and hurried Flacco on one other occasion.

It’s obvious the Browns are going to be careful with Mingo from a health standpoint, given the severity of the lung injury he suffered early in the exhibition season. They do not want any setbacks. But I’d sure like to see a lot more of the outside linebacker in obvious passing situations as the season unfolds.

~ Notebook: It seems that just about every time Jordan Cameron gets his hands on the ball, good things happen. So why not target the tight end more often than 20 times in the first two games? Like maybe every play, considering the success he has (14 catches in 20 targets for 193 yards and the lone touchdown of the season). . . . The main reason the Browns signed linebacker Paul Kruger was his reputation for finding, sacking and making life generally miserable for opposing quarterbacks. Thus far, that has not happened. Kruger has just seven tackles and one sack while playing full-time. Fact is, he’s a situational pass rusher and shouldn’t be a three-down guy. . . . The Browns have quietly become quite solid against the run in the first two games, limiting the opposition to just 119 rushing yards. But the secondary has been torched for 452 yards. Flipping that coin, the Browns have rushed for an embarrassing 112 yards and passed for 438 more. . . . Flacco was 7-for-8 on third down in the second half. That’s what a playmaker does.

Only the faces have changed

Anatomy of yet another loss by the Browns . . . they’re just not very good. In fact, they’re losing the struggle to achieve mediocrity.

All that talk about the offense being aggressive this season? That’s all it was. Just talk. At least based on what we’ve been subjected to thus far.

This team does not know how to win. This coaching staff does not know how to prepare the players adequately enough to win. The frustration mounts almost by the snap.

We were told, in so many words, that fans were in store for a different look when Cleveland owned the football. No more of that tortoise-like movement. This was going to be a well-oiled machine. OK, maybe not well-oiled, but noticeably different.

Many fans bought that line. Members of the media bought it as well. My natural skepticism warned to see it first before you believe it. Well, we’re waiting and I'm not believing.

All we see are Trent Richardson slamming into the line on yet another dive play and Brandon Weeden dropping back to pass, only to look totally perplexed as to what to do with that spheroid in his right hand.

The Browns are 0-2 (for the fifth time in the last seven seasons) because they’ve played well enough to be 0-2. It’s not an undeserving record and the coaching staff shares in the culpability.

In the 14-6 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore Sunday, it’s also fair to ask what the hell happened with time management? The Browns were penalized three times for delay of game. It would have been four if Weeden hadn’t called a timeout just two seconds before the play clock expired. On the fourth play of the opening series! The fourth play of the game!

There is absolutely no excuse for not getting the play called down and into Weeden’s helmet receiver on time. That’s on the coaches. How difficult can it be for offensive coordinator Norv Turner in the booth upstairs to choose a play?

We have to assume he’s not brain dead. Or suffers from narcolepsy.

What in the world is head coach Rob Chudzinski hearing in his headphones? If it happens once, that’s a lot. But four times in one game?

Yes, it’s only two games into the season, but at some time, Chudzinski has got to lay down the law. What’s going on now offensively is inexcusable and unacceptable. This offense looks lost.

Did that lose this game? No, not totally. But it sure tells you all you need to know about how poorly organized this coaching staff is when it comes to getting a handle on the importance of communication.

No. What lost this game was a myriad of problems, not the least of which is Weeden’s startling inability to get the ball out on time. He was sacked six times and forced to scramble on two other occasions.

Why? It was a combination of not finding the open receivers, shoddy pass protection and poor pocket awareness. No, make that no pocket awareness.

On at least three occasions, Weeden could have avoided a sack by sliding away from the pressure. He does not see trouble quickly enough. And when he does, he almost unfailingly slides toward the pressure. He looks lost and most uncomfortable.

He’s looking more and more like a college player getting his first chance to play in the National Football League, not a second-year pro. The growth factor seems to be lost on the soon-to-be 30-year-old quarterback, who suffered a thumb injury and was replaced by an ineffective Jason Campbell on the final series of the game.

He entered this season with a lot of questions hovering over his job. And he seems to be coming up with all the wrong answers. It won’t be long before Chudzinski, who insists there is no leash on Weeden, begins to act like a coach who has a leash on his quarterback.

Considering the way the Browns have played the first eight quarters of the season, Weeden is not the quarterback who gives this club the best chance to win. It’s not even close.

The defense played well enough Sunday to keep the Browns in the game. And yet, the 6-0 halftime lead evaporated just like that when the Ravens came out no-huddle and put together a way-too-easy 12-play, 80-yard march on their first drive of the second half. They stayed no-huddle throughout the half.

Along the way, they converted a third-and-6, third-and-7 and third-and-8 after going 1-for-7 on third down in the opening 30 minutes. All three conversions were crossing or clearing patterns against a Cleveland zone defense.

Why are the Browns playing zone on obvious passing plays? Weren’t we told the defense was going to be aggressive? Aggressive means press coverage.

The Ravens subsequently went on to make it six straight third-down conversions (three later of 10, eight and four yards) as the Cleveland defense, mostly in zone, began to wear down.

The Browns appeared to catch a break late in the third quarter when Craig Robertson separated Ray Rice from the football and D’Qwell Jackson recovered at the Baltimore 45. Four plays and a dramatic measurement later, they turned over the ball on downs.

After Weeden was sacked for the fifth time and Greg Little dropped his second pass of the afternoon that would have given the Browns a first down, Weeden got lucky when his floater (caused when his arm was hit) resulted in a 15-yard completion to Chris Ogbonnaya.

Then came the drama when Weeden’s fourth-down throw to Jordan Cameron fell, quite literally, less than half a link short of a first down. Referee Bill Vinovich agonized over the call before determining it was a 1/64^th of an inch short.

Tandon Doss’ 21-yard return of a Spencer Lanning punt gave the Ravens a short field with which to work a couple of series later, setting up an eight-play, 42-yard drive that led to a Marlon Brown touchdown catch.

By this time, the Cleveland defense was completely gassed because of an offense that piled up a miserable 85 yards in the second half. It’s an offense that has rung up just one touchdown and 16 points in two games.

The main culprits in this charade are the offensive line, the quarterback, receivers who have trouble getting open and the play calling of an offensive coordinator that conjures up images of dinosaurs and cavemen. All the imagination and creativity seems to have been left on the blackboards in Berea because none of it has shown up the last two Sundays.

One-eighth of the season has resulted in the kind of football no one expected. Only the faces have changed.

Is there any doubt?

A quick check of the statistics tells you all you need to know about what will take place Sunday when the new Browns and Ravens (nee old Browns) collide in Baltimore.

Since Art Modell pulled up stakes in Cleveland and pirated (being kind here) the team to Baltimore, these two teams have met 28 times since 1999. The Browns have managed to squeeze out seven victories in 14 seasons, none in the last five.

Or ever since John Harbaugh took over as the Ravens’ head coach.

That’s right. Harbaugh has no idea what it’s like to lose to the Browns as the head man. Neither do quarterback Joe Flacco, running back Ray Rice, cornerback Lardarius Webb, offensive tackle Michael Oher, tight end Ed Dickson and a few others.

And Sunday, you can bet the Ravens will be more than thrilled to open their home season against their favorite patsy after getting shellacked by the Broncos, 49-27, in Denver in the season opener as a national television audience watched.

You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find out when the Browns last knocked off the Ravens. In fact, the Browns won the season series that year during their ill-fated run at playing past December. Otherwise, the Ravens own the Browns.

Since Harbaugh took over the team, the Ravens have been almost invincible at home, winning 33 of 40 games, including a 21-3 record the last three seasons. He came in and immediately changed the culture of the locker room following the reign of Brian Billick.

The defending Super Bowl champions have outscored the Browns, 251-122, in the last half decade and now Harbaugh looks to add a fourth Cleveland coach to his victory belt. He has already bested Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur.

Rob Chudzinski, however, knows how it feels to beat the Ravens. He was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in that 2007 season, orchestrating what is arguably the club’s best offense since the resurrection.

Back then, though, he had quarterback Derek Anderson (career year), wide receiver Braylon Edwards (career year) and running back Jamal Lewis (with some gas still left in the tank) handling the majority of the load.

Obviously, he has far less talent with which to work this season unless Brandon Weeden, Josh Gordon, Trent Richardson and the offensive line can summon up career years. But that falls heavily under the category of wishful thinking.

The most interesting aspect of this one will be how different the Ravens will look – and play – without the talents of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. There is no question they will be a different emotional team now that Lewis has retired.

Fellow linebacker Terrell Suggs is trying to pick up the emotional baton Lewis has left as his legacy as he awaits his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame five years hence. But it’s not the same. Lewis lifted a team with his words. Suggs, easily the most vocal of the linebackers now that Lewis is gone, can’t do that.

Reed, who defected to Houston in free agency, was the dagger in the secondary who seemingly always came up with the big play when the Ravens needed it. The free safety has 61 career interceptions (seven returned for touchdowns), a whopping 11 of them against the Browns.

He also scored twice on fumble returns, once on a punt return and three times with blocked punts, and owns the National Football League record for the two longest interception returns for touchdowns. Some day, he’ll join Lewis in the HOF.

But now that Lewis and Reed are no longer part of the landscape, the emotional mantle now belongs to Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP. And that’s where the Ravens might be their most vulnerable.

Most of the emotion in football lies on the defensive side of the football. The more aggressive nature of the game is on defense. That’s why Lewis, with his bombast, and Reed, with his quiet demeanor and playmaking ability, were vital factors in the Ravens’ success.

It would appear that the Browns’ best chance of defeating the Ravens lies on the offensive side of the ball. The Ravens, with Flacco, Rice & Co., should have no trouble putting points on the board even though they are weaker at wide receivers after trading Anquan Boldin in the offseason and losing Jacoby Jones to injury for the next six weeks.

The Browns will have to outscore the Ravens in this one unless their defense plays a much more aggressive game than they did last week against the Dolphins. In order to do so, the offensive line will have to play much better against a defense looking to redeem itself after last week’s debacle in Denver.

If Joe Thomas, John Greco, Alex Mack, Oneil Cousins and Mitchell Schwartz arrive Sunday without an attitude, it’s going to be another long afternoon for the Cleveland offense. Daryl Smith is no Ray Lewis and Michael Huff is no Ed Reed for the Ravens and the Browns, most notably Brandon Weeden, must take advantage of that.

Schwartz is also in redemption mode after being schooled by Cameron Wake last Sunday. This Sunday, he’ll face another speed rusher in Elvis Dumervil for the most part with Suggs occasionally swinging over to the strong side. Either way, he’s in for a busy afternoon.

It’s easy, at least based on Harbaugh’s pristine record against the Browns, to suggest the Browns will be 0-2 by 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon. But there are too many positive factors favoring that suggestion, not the least of which is Harbaugh is a much better coach than Chudzinski.

Home opener, coming off an embarrassing loss, having 10 days to prepare and better overall talent all add up to only one result. Make it:

Ravens 23, Browns 6

Monday leftovers

It has been said, written and proffered by those much wiser than you and I that football games are won and lost in the trenches.

That relatively small piece of turf, artificial or otherwise, on a football field where the down and dirty meet around 150 times a game is the determining location for the final outcome. Win the line of scrimmage and chances are you most probably win the game. It’s as simple as that.

That, obviously, is lost on the coaching staff of the Browns, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. If the performance of the offensive line in Sunday’s 23-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins in the season opener is any indication of where this team is headed, gird yourselves. It’s going to be a long, bumpy road.

This is not a good line. It’s not even close. And a majority of the blame for that must be placed on those most responsible for what we saw against the Dolphins. Want names? Let’s start with Joe Banner, who seems more than willing to step up and take the heat.

While he was running the show in Philadelphia, the Eagles were known for having strength in the trenches. Rarely did a college draft go by and the Eagles pass on linemen. That was one of the main reasons they were so successful.

Then there’s Mike Lombardi, the personnel guru on whom Banner leans heavily. He knew there was a problem at the guard position for the Browns. And yet, he did nothing in the draft or free agency, unless you consider selecting Garrett Gilkey in the seventh round doing something.

Yes, it’s the responsibility of the coaches to coach those who make the final roster. But there is just so much the coaches can do if the talent level falls far short of expectations.

After the line’s awful performance against the Dolphins, particularly on the right side with unacceptable performances by Mitchell Schwartz and Oneil Cousins, one gets the impression this could eventually turn out to be the norm rather than a blip on the radar.

Cousins was downright awful at best. How he made the roster is a head scratcher. A tackle by trade, he had never played guard. And it showed. Schwartz, on the other hand, was dominated by All-Pro Cameron Wake. But he is good enough and smart enough to correct his mistakes.

Cousins is a lost cause. Did he cost the Browns the game? No, but he was a significant contributor. His performance makes one (OK, me) yearn for the quick return of Shawn Lauvao. And that’s not meant as a compliment for Lauvao, who had problems all last season. But he's better than Cousins. 

“(Cousins) is the best we’ve got and Oneil will make the improvements and he will get better,” said coach Rob Chudzinski after the game Sunday. It sounds as the coach is trying to rationalize the situation. If Cousins is the best the Browns have, batten down the hatches and hide the children.

You can blame Brandon Weeden all you want for the mess against Miami. Sure, the quarterback had a terrible game. With any kind of help from his offensive line, though, the results might have been different. We’ll never know.

The argument can be made that it’s just one game. Maybe so, But when you play only 16, the importance of winning and losing takes on a whole new meaning. Unless the Browns make significant changes on the offensive line, the Dolphins game will seem like the norm.

~ If memory serves, Chudzinski, or was it Norv Turner, who said the goal for Trent Richardson was at least 300 carries this season. After his 13-carry game against the Dolphins, the burly running back is on pace for 208. It’s almost as though he’s not considered one of the most important pieces of the offensive puzzle.

Hard to believe, but the last time Richardson touched the football against Miami was the last play of the third quarter. It was his fifth – and last – carry of the half. The final 27 play calls of the game by Turner were passes, although the Browns trailed by only three (13-10) at one point.

Why is Richardson being shackled? Is there something wrong with him? Or are the coaches afraid he might get hurt if he’s on the field too often? Maybe that’s the case with only rookie Bobby Rainey behind him as the front office goes brain dead when it comes to running back depth.

There is no reason Richardson should get anything less than 18-20 chances per game to run from scrimmage. And he should get another five to six touches through the air. His underuse is inexcusable. If he’s too tired to play, go out and get some more running backs.

~ And then there’s tight end Jordan Cameron, the lone bright star on offense Sunday. Nine catches, 108 yards, a touchdown and no injuries. That last stat is important. As long as he’s able to stay on the field, this is the kind of production we can expect to see.

His injury-prone past, however, lurks around every corner as he plays the game hard. He had better stay healthy. He’s the only receiving threat at the position. Combine that with the uncertainty at wide receiver and you can see how vital it is he stays healthy.

~ Didn’t defensive coordinator Ray Horton promise a more aggressive, blitz-happy defense this season? If it was there against the Dolphins, I missed it.

There was relatively little blitzing – and if there was, it was ineffective – and it seemed as though the Browns played a loose zone on most third-down plays with Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill finding most of the holes in those zones.

The Cleveland offense, as bad as it was, still needed the defense to get the ball back. Failure to do so enabled the Dolphins to stretch the lead out to 10 points in the fourth quarter and kick it into desperation mode for the offensive coaching staff.

~ Final thoughts: We’ll see just how good the run defense is (only 20 yards against Miami) in the next two games. Up next, Ray Rice and the Baltimore Ravens, followed by Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings. . . .  Blame Weeden for only one of his three interceptions. Two deflected off the hands of Greg Little and Cameron right to ex-Brown Dimitri Patterson. And at least four of his incompletions bounced off receivers’ hands. . . . Maybe it was expected, but Joe Haden nevertheless deserves credit for rendering Mike Wallace almost invisible with only two meaningless catches. . . . One for 14 on third down? Shame on you, Norv Turner.

Good news dwells among the bad

First, the bad news. The Browns lost another season-opening game Sunday, this one to the Miami Dolphins. At home. Nothing new there.

They got walloped, although the 23-10 final score does not indicate that, and the Brandon Weeden haters began circling their prey mere moments after the game. (More on him later.) 

And then there’s the real bad news. Even though the faces and attitudes and game approaches are different, it seems as though we’ve seen this act before. It does not play well at all.

Fresh start to the season. Everyone is geared up. The club is unbeaten. The game is being played before a friendly audience inside the former Cleveland Browns Stadium (sorry, I can’t mention that other corporate name). Then this stinker. 

But wait. There’s good news. Yep, even after that sorry performance the Browns put forth against the Dolphins, there really is some good news. The loss is not a total disaster.

The Browns are tied for first place in the AFC North. Or is it last place? In one of those statistical rarities, all four AFC North teams brought shame to the division by losing their opening games.

Of course, that doesn’t make the Dolphins loss seem any better. In fact, all it does is raise more questions as to just how much different Rob Chudzinski’s and Norv Turner’s offense is compared to Pat Shurmur’s of the last two seasons.

Based solely on Sunday’s performance, the Browns seemed to have fine-tuned stodgy, stuck-in-the-mud football featuring one of the slowest offensive teams in the National Football League.

The line, which played reasonably well in the first half, suffered an almost total collapse in the second half and Weeden, again getting little or no cooperation from his receivers who either had trouble getting open or holding on to the ball, looked totally inept.

If Chudzinski and Turner continue to remain blind to the fact that only two of their offensive linemen can be relied on, this season could turn out to be more disastrous than initially believed. Oneil Cousins was an embarrassment against the Dolphins and Miami defensive end Cameron Wake schooled Mitchell Schwartz all afternoon.

Weeden was sacked six times, hurried on at least 25 other occasions and knocked down more than a dozen times. Again, it was a combination of confusing Miami coverage and the inability of Cleveland receivers to get open.

Quickness and speed are foreign words to the Browns’ offense. And using wide receivers and good hands in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Taking nothing away from Weeden, who seemed to have problems all afternoon figuring out just what the Miami secondary was doing, the guys who are paid to catch the football stole some money from their employers.

If it weren’t for the defense, this one would have been a rout. The Dolphins twice began drives deep in Cleveland territory following a turnover early and taking over on downs late in the game, and the best they could come away with were two of Caleb Sturgis’ three field goals.

Based entirely on this outing, the Browns seem to have solved what had been a major weakness almost since the resurrection. The Dolphins ran the ball 23 times and gained 20 yards. That is not a typo.

However, it took the Dolphins the major portion of the first three quarters before they finally decided that maybe throwing the ball might engender more positive results.

Ryan Tannehill hooked up repeatedly – with surprising ease – with veterans Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson when he needed to make an important throw. Hartline and Gibson combined for six receptions against a tired Cleveland defense early in the fourth quarter.

The Cleveland pass rush, which dropped Tannehill four times, never got close to him on a 10-play, 85-yard scoring drive that took five minutes off the clock and gave the Dolphins a 20-10 cushion just when it looked as though the Browns would somehow, some way, stay alive despite a poor showing.

After all, they held a 7-6 halftime lead despite all three of Weeden’s interceptions and some awful play calling. Again, it was the defense that stiffened when it had to, forcing the Dolphins to settle for field goals.

But Hartline’s double move on Buster Skrine (sound familiar?) resulted in a 34-yard touchdown heave by Tannehill late in the third quarter to give the Dolphins a lead they never relinquished.

Of course, it’s only the first game of the season. And you can count on Chudzinski and Turner to say all the mistakes made Sunday (far too many to mention) are correctable (again, sound familiar?).  But next Sunday’s opponent is a much, much better team than the Dolphins.

If the Browns play against the Ravens in Baltimore the way they did against the Dolphins, particularly on offense, the Miami loss will seem tame by comparison. The Ravens are coming off a 49-27 thrashing in Denver and will not be in a welcoming mood.

The Browns have a boatload of problems on offense and a lot of them reside in the coaching room. That must be addressed ASAP.

There have to be better plays for Trent Richardson to run other than dive plays and stretch plays. That, of course, depends on whether the guys up front are capable of executing anything other than those run plays.

As for screen plays, forget them. The Browns tried two against Miami and both failed miserably. Stash screens until the offensive line can execute them properly. If they are incapable, rip those pages out of the playbook and burn them. They’re useless.

Then there’s Weeden, whose most embarrassing pass of the day was a throwaway on fourth down in the final minutes of the game. It was an embarrassingly stupid play, completing an embarrassing afternoon. That’s way too many embarrassments for one paragraph.

The second-year quarterback has an awful lot of damage repair to attend to before next Sunday. If he doesn’t rebound, his detractors – and they are gaining in numbers seemingly by the minute – won’t need to make much more noise because one gets the feeling Chudzinski won’t let the season get too far out of hand and beckon Jason Campbell from the bench.

Now before you go off and sulk about another Browns loss, remember this: The Browns are in first place in the division . . . the Browns are in first place in the division . . . the Browns are in . . . 

New faces, same result

At the beginning of the Browns’ training camp last month in Berea, I had a good feeling about the 2013 team.

New head coach, solid coordinators on both sides of the football and a seemingly different culture that translated into a welcome change of direction from the woebegone days.

My usual pessimism (realism?) was slowly being chipped away, giving birth to a feeling of hope. It was a strange feeling, one that hasn’t been felt since the Browns’ run at the playoffs in the 2007 season.

I envisioned a definite uptrend from the massive number of double-digit loss seasons. For the first time in a long time, the club seemed headed in the right direction.

A .500 season became a distinct possibility while reasoning out just how the Browns would fare this season. Anything more than that would be wishful thinking considering the tough division in which they play.

Brandon Weeden finally gets to work in an offense with which he is much more familiar after being handcuffed with a stodgy scheme in his rookie season. The young wide receivers are a year older and, hopefully, a year better.

Even though the offensive line still lacks for guards who can be effective in the run game, that can be overlooked because the Browns will put the ball up about two-thirds of the time this season.

A couple of problems, though, on offense.

The club has just five wide receivers, only one of whom has more than two years experience. Josh Gordon misses the first two games of the season on suspension; fellow wideout David Nelson, expected to be a significant contributor to the offense, was cut; and Travis Benjamin, who subs for Gordon, is a distinct downgrade.

The Browns have only one running back on whom they can count. Trent Richardson is the entire backfield. Dion Lewis and Montario Hardesty are injured and gone for the season. Brandon Jackson was released. Only 5-7 rookie Dennis Johnson and 5-8 second-year man Bobby Rainey remain and they joined the team just a few days ago.

It looks as though offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s desire to stretch the field will take a hit in the early going with tight ends figuring heavily in what probably will be a replay of last season.

On defense, we have no idea what to expect except what coordinator Ray Horton has promised almost since the day he took the job. In the exhibition season, we saw mostly vanilla looks.

What we see Sunday against the Miami Dolphins in the season opening game most likely will look nothing like what we saw in the practice games. But Horton will have to begin the season somewhat short of full manpower.

Defensive end Desmond Bryant’s back is acting up and outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo’s bruised lung will severely limit his contribution early on. Now comes word that cornerback Buster Skrine and defensive end Ahtyba Rubin are questionable for the game, leaving the defense that much thinner.

And then there’s the secondary. In Horton’s world, the defensive backfield will play an awful lot of press coverage because he intends to blitz opposing quarterbacks as they step off the bus. That kind of thinking necessitates man coverage.

That might be asking too much of a Cleveland secondary, which has just one member taller than 5-11. Only safety Johnson Bademosi is a six-footer and just barely at 6-0,

That backfield is midget-sized compared to other secondaries around the National Football League with three men at 5-9, two at 5-10 and a couple at 5-11. With the trend toward bigger wide receivers, it is vitally important to match them with larger defensive backs.

After six weeks of training camp and four exhibitions, I am not nearly as sanguine about the Browns chances of achieving break-even status. Certainly not when the club’s brass whacks two kickers on cutdown day and holds a tryout the week of the season opener.

There is an air of uncertainty that emanates from on high in Berea. One gets the feeling Joe Banner and his minions are far from being satisfied with the roster as it now stands.

At one point, I honestly thought the Browns had a chance to get to .500 this season. Not anymore. I do, however, believe they will flirt with avoiding another double-digit loss season, but come up just short and finish at 6-10.

Entering the season woefully thin at running back could be hazardous to Richardson’s health. And the absence of Mingo, at least early on, could have a negative effect on Horton’s avowed campaign to make life miserable for NFL quarterbacks.

Along the way, though, the Browns will show flashes of what the future holds. Once Gordon returns, Turner will remove the shackles from Weeden’s arm and permit the ball to be thrown vertically.

As for Miami, its offense is one year older and that much wiser. Last season, rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill got his NFL feet wet with offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, his coach at Texas A&M. Tannehill’s stats were somewhat disappointing with just 3,330 yards, 12 touchdown passes, 13 interceptions and a 58% completion rate.

The Dolphins have given him a deep threat with former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Wallace and a couple of strong possession receivers in Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson. Second-year man Lamar Miller, who will operate behind a huge offensive line, handles the running game.

On defense, the Dolphins rely heavily on end Cameron Wake to bring the pressure. The former Penn State star has racked up 43 sacks in four seasons, including 15 last season. If Browns offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz can neutralize Wake, Weeden’s afternoon should be relatively pleasant.

Much like the Browns’ suspect secondary, the Dolphins are vulnerable to the passing game. Which means this game very well could turn out to be a scoring bonanza with most of it coming through the air.

The key on defense is the effectiveness of Horton’s blitzing tactics. If Cleveland can disrupt Tannehill’s timing, then the Browns have a shot. On offense, the key will be winning first and second down, which was a problem during the exhibition season.

Winning opening games has been foreign to the Browns since the resurrection in 1999. This will be the 15^th season opener (14 at home) since then and the best they could do was a 20-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in 2004. One victory in 14 openers. After Sunday, make that one victory in 15.

Tannehill throws three touchdown passes, two to Wallace, and Miller runs for 102 yards and a score, but the Miami defense cannot stop Weeden and the short passing game. The Cleveland quarterback connects on scoring throws to Cameron Jordan, ex-Dolphin Davone Bess and Richardson, who tacks on 123 yards on the ground.

It will come down to whichever team has the ball last in a scoring marathon. It will be the Dolphins with rookie Caleb Sturgis kicking a 27-yard field goal with four seconds left. Make it:

Dolphins 38, Browns 35 

Browns' spinning wheel out of control

As the player personnel merry-go-round spins merrily, so, too, does the Browns’ roster.

See ya L. J. Fort, Brad Smelley, Brandon Jackson, Kellen Davis, Caylin Hauptmann and Jarrod Shaw. We hardly knew ye.

Howdy running backs Bobby Rainey and Dennis Johnson, tight ends MarQeuis Gray and Keavon Milton, offensive lineman Patrick Lewis and inside linebacker Brandon Magee.

Hang in there, newcomers, but don’t get too comfortable. Your stay in Cleveland might be shorter than you think if the Whack Squad of Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi, Ray Turner and Rob Chudzinski has anything to say about it.

The ride to the season opener will be bumpy and perilous for any member of the team who does not have a starting position locked down.

Given the moves the front office quartet has made in the last 24 hours, one might think they gather in the bunker and throw darts at a board loaded with the names of players released or waived by other National Football League teams.

The latest (and, most likely, not the last) round of moves keeps the tight ends roster at four, offensive linemen roster at an amazing dozen and linebackers roster at 10, and swells the running back corps to four.

This crazy, almost incomprehensible player movement has to cause some concern among the fans. It’s almost as though the front office does not know what it is doing. Despite the optimistic picture Chudzinski paints when speaking of the newest Browns, there appears to be no rhyme or reason for the number of moves.

To say the Browns’ roster is fluid is an understatement. It’s a veritable flood.

The biggest surprise cuts were Jackson, mainly because there is absolutely no depth behind Trent Richardson, and Smelley, whose versatility as a tight end and fullback was thought to be valuable. Guess not.

Then again, wasn’t it Tom Heckert Jr. who brought Jackson to Cleveland and drafted Smelley? Hmmm, you don’t suppose . . .

With the season opener less than a week away, there is no way the Browns can put together a running game without wearing down Richardson. Who is going to replace him when he needs a breather? Rainey and/or Johnson? They can’t expect to know Norv Turner’s offense in four days of practice. Chris Ogbonnaya? Who plays fullback then?

You can expect Brandon Weeden to put the ball in the air at least 70% of the time against the Miami Dolphins in the opener. And a majority of those throws will go to the tight ends.

Looking at the big picture, there will be a certain segment of Browns Nation that will praise the moves and lend support to the front office. The club’s spin doctors will help you see that. That gives birth to blind faith.

“They certainly know a lot more about what they are doing than you or anyone else does,” the sycophants will cry. “They do this for a living. We have to trust them.”

No you don’t. The mercurial manner in which they currently operate is more a cause for concern than elation. 

A most fluid roster

Suffice it so say the Browns’ 53-man roster as of 6 p.m. this afternoon will, in no way, remain the same throughout the week leading up to the regular-season opener Sept. 8 against Miami.

It probably won’t even be close, considering the bloodletting Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi and Rob Chudzinski unleashed Saturday afternoon as the club got down to the National Football League’s mandatory roster number.

Among the cuts were veteran wide receiver David Nelson, rookie safety Jamoris Slaughter, inside linebacker James-Michael Johnson and both placekickers. That’s right. Both kickers.

That had to be the strangest, most bizarre roster cut in the entire league. A week and a day to the season opener and the Browns most likely will have someone who has never kicked for them doing so a week for tomorrow.

Now it’s possible they might change their minds and bring back Shayne Graham, whose bad back prevented him from kicking in the final exhibition game. Even so, it’s difficult to remember an NFL team slicing both kickers on cutdown day.

That peculiar move aside, the not-so-final roster breaks down this way:

On offense: Three quarterbacks, three running backs (including fullback Chris Ogbonnaya), four tight ends (including hybrid Brad Smelley, who can play fullback), five wide receivers (although only four will dress for the first two games while Josh Gordon sits out his suspension) and an incredible 12 offensive linemen.

On defense: Seven defensive linemen (four ends and three tackles), 10 linebackers (four inside and six outside) and eight defensive backs (four cornerbacks and four safeties).

Taking a closer look at the numbers, nine rookies made the team, including five undrafted free agents; only five players are 28 or older; just two (quarterback Jason Campbell and offensive lineman Rashad Butler) are 30 or older; and not one player has accumulated 10 seasons in the league.

Now comes the truly remarkable statistic. The average age of this team is 23.45 years. Call them the Baby Browns. That figure undoubtedly will change somewhat once Banner, Lombardi, Ray Farmer and Chudzinski nosedive into the cuts of the other 31 teams.

Looking at the final 53, one has to wonder how Martin Wallace, Caylin Hauptmann, Jarrod Shaw and Butler made the team. Don’t know who they are? They’re four of the 12 offensive linemen. If more than one makes it to the Dolphins’ game, I’ll be surprised.

How about Eric Martin and Paul Hazel? They’re two of the 10 linebackers. Martin plays inside and Hazel plays outside. They better be good special teamers because that’s the only way they make the Dolphins game.

Right now, one also has to wonder why only three running backs made the cut. If Trent Richardson, who is expected to be the workhorse, ever breaks down, this team is in big trouble. There is absolutely no speed, quickness or depth at the position.

In the first two games of the season, there also will be no depth at wide receiver. There is no one beyond Greg Little, Davone Bess (oops, overlooked him in original post), Travis Benjamin and Josh Cooper. Little and Bess are possession receivers; Benjamin, who played sparingly in the exhibition season, is the speedster; and Cooper is slow, but has good hands.

There is no question the Browns will become tight end centric with four on board. Jordan Cameron, Gary Barnidge, Kellen Davis and possibly Smelley will see plenty of footballs thrown their way in the first two games.

Offensive coordinator Norv Turner loves to incorporate tight ends into his schemes. And now, he’s got a boatload with which to work. Look for a majority of Brandon Weeden’s throws against the Dolphins to be in the short to medium range.

Strictly guessing here . . . Banner and his minions most likely will try to beef up the running back and wide receiver positions at the expense of the offensive line and linebackers corps. Twelve offensive linemen and 10 linebackers? Ridiculous.

Outside of the starters and special teamers, the only players safe this week are long snapper Christian Yount and punter Spencer Lanning. Or are they?

The way Banner & Co. operate, no one is truly safe.