Titanic triumph

It is easy for most Browns fans to look at what happened in the opening game last Sunday and wonder what direction the 2015 season will take as a result. Was that a portent of things to come or an aberration?

Not only were the Browns humiliated physically and emotionally by the New York Jets, it appeared as though they didn’t care one way or the other. With the exception of safety Donte Whitner, who publicly apologized for the dreadful performance, relative silence emanated from the locker room.

The here-we-go-again cloud that has hovered over this team since the resurrection in 1999 was not referenced, although no one would have blamed anyone for bringing it up. It was only one game for goodness sake.

All of which makes one wonder whether the anger that should have spilled over from that game is being internalized and saved for Sunday’s home opener against the Tennessee Titans.

Emotion is such a huge part of the game in the National Football League. The Browns showed none in the Jets beatdown. That, in large part, can be blamed on the head coach, whose main job is to make certain his team is ready to play on all levels.

In the NFL, there are times when the emotional aspect of the game lifts an average team to play well beyond its talents. There is a large degree of truth to the notion that “on any given Sunday in the NFL, anything can happen.”

The phrase, originally coined by NFL Commissioner Bert Bell in the 1950s, means that despite what oddsmakers think of the game, any team is capable of beating its opponent no matter the disparity in talent.

Now the Browns are point-and-a-half underdogs to the Titans. That’s right. Home opener – the home team normally gets three points for home field advantage – and they are 1½-point dogs to a team that finished 2-14 last year. That’s almost as humiliating as the Jets loss.

Perhaps it’s because Johnny Manziel will start at quarterback for the Browns while Josh McCown recovers from his concussion. It’s somewhat understandable why the experts believe the Browns are not as strong a team offensively with Manziel in charge. More on that later.

Sunday’s game presents a different kind of problem for the Browns. This is the same Titans team that slapped their own brand of humiliation on the Buccaneers in Tampa last Sunday with Marcus Mariota severely outplaying Jameis Winston in a battle of the top two picks in this year’s college draft.

You can also see why the so-called experts believe the Titans will deliver another blow to the Browns and render the Factory of Sadness even sadder. After all, they are coming off the drubbing of the Bucs while the Browns . . . well no need to be repetitious.

Don’t expect Mariota, who threw more touchdown passes (four) than incompletions (three) against Tampa Bay, to replicate that performance in Cleveland. He certainly can’t better it. There is no way to better perfection (a 158.3 passer rating). Only equal it and that’s not going to happen.

The Titans are certainly a better team than last season and the talented Mariota is clearly the future of the franchise. Talented skill players like running back Bishop Sankey, wide receiver Kendall Wright and tight end Delanie Walker make his job that much easier.

The Titans, however, are a run-first team with Sankey and former Brown Terrance West their main men. Mariota threw only 16 passes in the Tampa Bay victory. The offense totaled just 309 yards.

The big question was whether Mariota could transition from the super-speed up-tempo spread offense he ran at Oregon to a more disciplined pro style offense. He thus far has shown that is not a problem.

The weakness on offense for the Titans is up front on the line. If the Browns, who struggled with the pass rush against the Jets, have an advantage, it will be against a very average Tennessee offensive line.

Defensively, only the Browns ranked lower in stopping the run last season than the Titans, who sacked opposing quarterbacks just 39 times. To that end, the Titans brought in former Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to help Ray Horton integrate the zone-blitz scheme. It worked last week with four sacks of Winston.

The Titans also will have revenge on their minds in this one. The two teams met in week five last season with the Browns escaping with a 29-28 victory in Nashville after trailing, 28-3, late in the second quarter.

Brian Hoyer connected on a pair of late fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Travis Benjamin and special teamer Tank Carder blocked a punt out of the end zone as the Browns outscored the Titans, 19-0, in the second half.

As for Manziel, who had some positive moments in the Jets loss, how well he performs depends on the kind of packages John DeFilippo gives him. The offensive coordinator has to understand his quarterback needs to get rid of the ball quickly or else his feet take over and that’s not necessarily good.

Manziel needs to be given high-percentage, low-risk passes. The ball needs to be gone within three seconds. The longer he holds on to the ball, the more likely something negative will occur.

He does not yet know how to step up into the pocket to avoid the pass rush. His first step when he is trouble is to the side and that’s where there is usually a lot of traffic. That’s why quick-developing plays should be inserted into his arsenal.

The Browns need this one if only to prevent the season from slipping away. Lose and this could very well mushroom into the start of the franchise’s worst season ever. Worse than the 2-14 the expansion 1999 team recorded as the all-time low. That’s how critical this game is.

After next Sunday’s game at home against the Oakland Raiders, the Browns play the next 13 games against teams that either had winning records or a .500 record last season. That includes five of the next seven on the road. They will be underdogs in just about every one.

This Sunday, however, they will show Mariota the NFL isn’t nearly as easy as it was in week one and bring him crashing back down to earth with something he rarely saw against the Bucs – solid defense. Look for the Browns to disguise their coverages to confuse the rookie.

The pass rush that wasn’t there against the Jets will show up with the addition of rookies Nate Orchard and Xavier Cooper to the lineup. The offense will still struggle somewhat, but that won’t matter because the defense will help this week with a strip sack and by picking off a pair of Mariota passes.

The Cleveland offensive line, which failed to live up to its reputation as one of the league’s best against the Jets, will rebound against the Titans and provide the necessary holes for running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr. and protect Manziel, who will keep mistakes at a minimum.

What the oddsmakers don’t know is this Sunday will be one of those anything-can-happen Sundays and that anything is a Cleveland upset.

Crowell and Johnson will combine for 164 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, Manziel will throw another touchdown pass to Benjamin and his usual pick, but the defense will completely flummox Mariota and drop him three times. Make it:

Browns 24, Titans 13

Not just another QB signing

It was an insignificant signing. Worth nothing more than an agate line of type under National Football League transactions in your local newspaper.

The Browns, hurting physically somewhat at the quarterback position depending on the condition of Josh McCown, signed quarterback Matt Blanchard Tuesday and placed him on the practice squad.

Just another body in camp in the event other club quarterbacks go down. And the reckless manor of Johnny Manziel’s performance in Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets indicates that’s a distinct possibility.

Get ready, Austin Davis. If McCown doesn’t pass concussion protocol by Sunday’s home opener against the Tennessee Titans and Manziel decides he is more running back than quarterback, you are the next man up.

So why, then, is Blanchard even a story? Well, let’s begin by suggesting that the mere mention of his name in Alliance, Ohio, is like uttering a dirty word.

Alliance is the home of the University of Mount Union (formerly Mount Union College), which boasts arguably the preeminent program in Division III college football. Since 1993, the Purple Raiders have appeared in a remarkable 18 Div. III championship games, winning 11. They missed appearing only four times.

The Purple Raiders currently have a 10 consecutive title-game streak, nine of them against the Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Warhawks, whose dominant uniform color is also purple, have won six of those games.

The two teams are so well coached, it is almost a foregone conclusion they will meet again in the championship game later this year in Salem, Va. It seems to have become an annual event.

Check this out: In the last 10 years, the Warhawks are 139-6 with the Purple Raiders inflicting half of those losses. Mount is 143-7 over that span, six of the losses dealt by the Warhawks.

So what does all this have to do with Matt Blanchard? The Wisconsin-Whitewater quarterback in three of those title-game victories (2009-11) over Mount Union was none other than the 6-3, 225-pound Blanchard, who transferred to Whitewater from Northern Michigan after his freshman season.

He never lost a game in three seasons with Whitewater, throwing for 5,106 yards, 44 touchdowns and completing 70% of his passes. At one point, he threw 212 straight passes without an interception. Even so, it wasn’t good enough to rate being a selection in the 2012 NFL college draft.

The Chicago Bears signed Blanchard to a free-agent contract that year and he wound up on the practice squad. He subsequently spent time on the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad and was in Green Bay’s training camp this year before being released.

The only Div. III quarterbacks to make an NFL roster and play with at least a fair degree of success are Jack Kemp from Occidental with the Buffalo Bills back in the 1960s and Augustana’s Ken Anderson, who spent 16 seasons (1971-86) with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Blanchard, now 26, arrives with the reputation of having a strong arm and a high degree of accuracy. For right now, though, he’s just another player for whom rabid Browns fans can get excited.

The odds of Blanchard becoming anything more than that line of agate type are not good. Only time will tell whether Cleveland is just another stop in his career or he is the next Jack Kemp or Ken Anderson.

Monday leftovers

Looking hard for something positive to say about the Browns following their extremely disappointing performance in the season opener Sunday against the New York Jets.

Besides punter Andy Lee, that is.

How about Travis Benjamin? The wide receiver/punt returner looks like a new man. The confidence he displayed as a rookie is back. He is fully recovered, mentally and physically, from his ACL surgery a little less than two years ago.

Last season, he played so tentatively, the Browns replaced him for a short period on punt returns and worked him only sparingly into three- and four-receiver packages.

This season, it has been different. The slender wideout from Miami of Florida has stood out in training camp, the exhibition games and now in the first game of the regular season. He had only three receptions for 89 yards against the Jets, but one was a 54-yard scoring strike.

The speed that was missing last season is back. And it’s that speed and lightning-like quickness that quarterbacks Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel are going to have to get used to. If Benjamin had not adjusted to Manziel’s underthrown pass Sunday, he might not have scored.

He is clearly not a possession receiver. Unlike just about everyone else on the wide receivers roster, he can stretch a field. It’s up to the two Cleveland quarterbacks to make the necessary adjustments to take advantage.

It’s also incumbent on offensive coordinator John DeFilippo to dial up at least two or three go routes a game for Benjamin just to keep opposing defenses honest. Why he didn’t go back to it later in the Jets game, especially after the Jets jumped out to a big lead, is puzzling.

When you have weapons such as Benjamin, you try to take advantage. Lord knows the DeFilippo offense is stodgy and boring. No reason not to spice it up with someone who can be useful deep in opposing secondaries.

And when you’ve got a weapon like Benjamin, sending him across the middle or out on a hitch or stop pattern is wasting his talent. This team has so little quickness and speed on offense, it makes much more sense to maximize what you’ve got.

*       *       *

The Browns won one of the two pivotal battles against the Jets, owning the ball for nearly 32 minutes. That paled, however, to the turnover ratio. The minus-4 is the main reason they were drilled.

When you cough up the ball five times – Manziel had one interception and lost two fumbles – and force only one turnover, which they promptly gave back, that puts that much more stress on the defense.

That defense has an awful lot to atone for next Sunday in the home opener against the Tennessee Titans. That’s the same Titans team that scorched Tampa Bay, 42-14, Sunday with Marcus Mariota racking up a perfect passer rating of 158.3, completing 13 of 16 passes for 209 yards and four touchdown passes in his first game as a pro.

If the Cleveland offense ignites another stink bomb, it will be up to defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil to make certain there is not a repeat of what happened against the Jets.

The strength of this team is the defense. Here it is only one game into the season and we’re already strongly suggesting that side of the ball start behaving and playing like most fans expect.

*       *       *

One of these days, the Browns’ brass is going to realize that drafting Smurfish players for the secondary is an exercise in futility. All you had to do was watch Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall singe Browns cornerback Joe Haden time and again to realize something must be done to correct that height disparity.

Haden, listed at 5-11, gave away fine inches to the 6-4 Marshall, who made some easy catches over the much smaller Haden. Perhaps Haden feels more comfortable working against 5-7 teammates Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel and the 5-10 Benjamin in practice.

Pierre Desir, at 6-1, apparently isn’t good enough to play and 6-0 Justin Gilbert looks more and more like a huge draft mistake. Nickelback K’Waun Williams, who is 5-9, also was on the burning end of a touchdown pass to Eric Decker of the Jets. Decker is 6-3.

*       *       *

A telling statistic: The Browns converted six of their first eight third-down situations against the Jets. They were still in the game at the time, trailing by just 14-10 early in the second half. They faced eight more third downs the rest of the way and converted just two.

Manziel’s lone interception on a poorly thrown ball to Brian Hartline was on third down with the Browns driving. Marcus Williams’ pick and subsequent 18-yard return set up a 28-yard Jets scoring drive that took all the momentum away from the Browns.

*       *       *

Two of the inactives Sunday were outside linebacker Nate Orchard and defensive tackle Xavier Cooper. Unless we missed it, both men were healthy scratches. These two, at least we have been told, are highly regarded draft choices, both of whom, again we are told, excel at rushing the passer.

And since the Browns recorded a whopping zero sacks (and one measly hit) of Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, is it all right to wonder just why these two guys weren’t suited up?

*       *       *

Notebook: The Jets arrived in the red zone six times against the Browns and put points on the board on four of those occasions. The Browns, meanwhile, arrived twice and scored once (a Travis Coons field goal). . . . On the way to that field goal, Hartline made a remarkable catch of a Manziel pass on a third-and-10 from New York 35 late in the second quarter. While on his knees 11 yards downfield, the veteran wide receiver from Ohio State reached back with his right arm, caught the ball and cradled it before completing the play. Jets coach Todd Bowles challenged the catch and lost. . . . Manziel’s TD pass was the first of his National Football League career. . . . Because of penalties, Coons attempted the extra point following the Cleveland touchdown three times before finally hitting. . . . It was that kind of an afternoon for everything Cleveland Browns.

Please pass the oxygen

OK, Browns fans. Take a deep breath. A really long, deep breath.

Repeat.

After the season opener Sunday in the Meadowlands of New Jersey against the New York Jets, you are going to have to get used to taking very long, very deep breaths if that's an indication of what lies ahead.

The 31-10 drubbing the Jets hung on the Browns in no way was indicative of how easily this victory was achieved.

It wasn’t as though the Jets could do no wrong. It wasn’t as though they thoroughly dominated the game from beginning to end. Oh no. They had help. Lots and lots of help.

The Browns, who lost their 11^th straight season opener, must have thought it was Christmas, sending five beautifully wrapped turnovers the Jets’ way. Not only did the Jets say thank you very much, they turned the gifts into 21 points.

The Browns lost the game in just about every conceivable way. Through the air. On the ground. They played about as well as they did in their four exhibition games. Someone forgot to send the memo that this one counted.

They were a step slow on defense, had practically no pass rush against a veteran quarterback who would much rather stay in the pocket and were roasted in the secondary on key plays by that same quarterback.

The run defense, which was supposed to be fixed with the drafting of nose tackle Danny Shelton, surrendered 154 yards. Granted a lot of them were gained in the second half when the outcome became clear. Why throw the ball when the opposition can’t stop you?

Jets All-Pro center Nick Mangold and guards Willie Colon and James Carpenter schooled Shelton, who played about half the snaps, all afternoon. The kid had only one solo tackle, rarely got past the line of scrimmage and was nothing more than a cipher along with his linemates.

The pass rush – what pass rush, you ask; good question – produced no sacks and just one hit on Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw scoring passes to Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker in recording his fourth victory against the Browns in five starts.

Marshall had no trouble catching passes against cornerback Joe Haden, who is supposed to be one of the best cover corners in the league.

The vaunted Cleveland defense got no help from the offense. Shocking! But it also couldn’t get off the field in key situations.

It’s easy to blame this disaster on the offense, which lost starting quarterback Josh McCown to a concussion late in the first quarter. McCown was attempting to score on a 14-yard scramble only to surrender the first of four fumbles, which was recovered by the Jets in the end zone.

McCown, who played just two series, and Johnny Manziel, who provided the Browns’ only touchdown with a 54-yard strike to Travis Benjamin early in the second quarter, scrambled all afternoon.

A lot of the blame should be shared by the offensive line. Yep, the same one many people consider one of the best in the National Football League. Not only did it fail to adequately protect the quarterbacks, it did no favor to the run game.

The Browns rushed for 104 yards against a strong defensive line, which dropped Manziel three times. But when your leading ball carriers are Manziel (35 yards) and McCown (23 yards), something is terribly wrong.

Duke Johnson Jr., Isaiah Crowell and Shaun Draughn combined for 46 yards infantry style. If Mike Pettine and his offensive coaches don’t point fingers of guilt squarely at the offensive line this week and come down hard, it really is going to be a long season.

If this is the kind of offense fans can look forward to this season, hang on. The key to the success of coordinator John DeFilippo’s brand of offense is running the ball successfully. If the ground game is stopped, so is the Cleveland offense.

We saw a lot of that against the Jets, who crowded the line of scrimmage and practically dared McCown and Manziel to throw the ball. It won’t take long for the rest of the NFL to discover that little secret.

The only time the Browns attempted to the stretch the field was on Benjamin’s touchdown grab that gave the Browns a 7-0 lead. Other than that, the Cleveland offense played giveaway. The Jets started three of their drives in Cleveland territory.

Give any team a short field and bad things happen. Even the Browns capitalized, beginning a late second-quarter drive at the Jets’ 35 that led to a Travis Coons field goal (ending the Cleveland scoring for the afternoon).

The Jets, who won only four games last season, were clearly the better team in just about every phase of the game. The only exception, on second thought, was the superb punting of the Browns’’ Andy Lee, who averaged 60½ yards on two boots.

The Jets capitalized on just about every Cleveland mistake, of which there were too many. The Browns embarrassingly couldn’t take advantage even after creating their only turnover of the afternoon.

On the New York drive following Benjamin’s touchdown, Cleveland free safety Tashaun Gipson swiped a Fitzpatrick pass deep in Browns territory, monetarily shifting the momentum.

However, the alert Marshall, for whom the pass was intended, ripped the ball out of Gipson’s hands when he started to return the theft and the Jets recovered at their 9-yard line. Two plays later, they were on the board with the first of Chris Ivory’s two scores and the romp, although no one knew it at the time, was underway.

It’s so easy to blame this one of Manziel, who is an easy target. He actually looked decent some of the time. No, this one belongs totally to the entire team (except Lee) and the coaching staff. Twelve penalties for 109 yards also suggest lack of discipline. That’s on the coaches.

It was somewhat surprising the Jets controlled the line of scrimmage, especially on offense. They did nothing fancy. Just straight in-your-face, smashmouth football and the Browns were either not ready for it or don’t have the horses to handle it.

The hardest part to accept is the Jets were one of only three teams on this season’s schedule that had a losing record last season. The future does not portend many happy moments.

So don’t forget to take a deep breath. A really long, deep breath.

Scraps R Us

Probably wasting my time, but trying to figure out what makes Austin Davis and Robert Turbin so darn valuable that Mike Pettine is practically drooling over obtaining them is causing a headache.

Can’t understand the two latest roster moves because of what they yielded: more mediocrity. Just what this club needs.

The Browns couldn’t leap on Davis and Turbin quickly enough when their names appeared on the waiver wire. Neither player has exactly distinguished himself thus far in their respective National Football League careers.

One has to wonder why the St Louis Rams waived Davis and the Seattle Seahawks parted ways with Turbin. Hmmmm. Maybe it’s because they’re not that good. The Browns seem to be in the business of picking up scraps.

Explained Pettine to the media Friday, “We had a chance to add a player (Davis) we had positive reports on and a guy (Turbin) we had done a lot of research on before.” The Turbin move bumped quarterback/wide receiver Terrelle Pryor from the roster in what seems to be a bizarre move given the excitement surrounding his signing.

Davis was waived because the Rams were satisfied with Case Keenum and Sean Mannion backing up Nick Foles. And Turbin became available when the Seahawks picked up Fred Jackson following his release by the Buffalo Bills.

So what makes these two guys so special that the Browns practically soiled themselves when they popped up on the waiver wire?

In Davis’ case, perhaps it’s the fact he’s right now a better NFL quarterback than Johnny Manziel, whose sore elbow makes him probably the league’s weakest backup quarterback this weekend.

Davis, an undrafted free agent who has hung around the NFL for the last three seasons with the Rams and Miami Dolphins, started eight games for the injured Shaun Hill in St. Louis last season.

He knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks en route to a 3-5 record and has completed 63.4% of his 284 career passes for 2,000 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Turbin, meanwhile, has been tethered to the Seattle bench for most of the last three seasons, watching Marshawn Lynch shred opposing defenses. He arrives with a high ankle sprain he says will take another month to heal.

Strictly a north-south runner, he appeared in all 48 games in the last three seasons, starting three (all last season). He has compiled 928 yards on the ground and another 427 yards through the air, scoring just twice.

Based on those stats, no longer does one have to wonder why Davis and Turbin wound up on waivers. They wore out their respective welcomes. The only thing they have in common is they were jettisoned because, at the risk of being repetitive, they were deemed not good enough.

And now, they are getting second chances on a team that seems to be just desperate enough to gamble on them. The offensive side of the ball needs all the help it can get. After all, what have they got to lose? The Browns, not Davis and Turbin. 

Gonna be another long season

It will not be difficult to predict how the Browns will fare this season. It’s relatively cut and dried.

The 2015 version of the Browns will be, in fact, one of the most predictable teams in the National Football League, especially against one of the league’s toughest schedules.

Because of severe deficiencies on offense, most notably with the lack of so-called skill players, the Browns will not light up scoreboards. Instead, they will have to rely on the defense to keep the games competitive.

That defense is another matter altogether. It is the saving grace of the team; the backbone of the team; easily the strongest part of the team.

But defenses, no matter how stout, break down eventually if they receive no help from the other side of the ball. And that is precisely what is going to happen this season in Cleveland.

It might take half a season, but the Cleveland defense will be so hang-dog tired by mid-season, not even the coaching expertise of Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll and Don Shula will be able to prevent a total collapse. The offense will be incapable of rescuing it.

If you’ll recall, the Cleveland offense died last season following game 11 with the Browns owning a 7-4 record. The exhausted defense, which had played reasonably well up to that point, with the exception of stopping the run game, disappeared.

The coaching staff was do desperate and frustrated with the offensive ineptitude, it panicked and benched quarterback Brian Hoyer in favor of the totally unprepared Johnny Manziel and eventually dropped down to third stringer Connor Shaw for the season finale.

It was a complete meltdown reminiscent of previous seasons. And the chief culprit was the offense, which received little or no help from the front office during the offseason unless you consider the addition of wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline, both with fading skills, improvement.

Josh McCown, a 36-year-old itinerant quarterback whose luggage contains more tags than many world travelers, is this season’s Hoyer. Do not expect much from the journeyman, who has never provided much in the past during his tour of NFL cities. Consider Cleveland only his latest stop.

Isaiah Crowell is back at running back for now almost by default since the club traded Terrance West. Until someone else healthy is added to the roster he will be run ragged in an offense that is expected to heavily feature the ground game.

Cutting quarterback/wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Thursday in favor of adding injured running back Robert Turbin to the roster will not help. Turbin, claimed off waivers from Seattle, is just another body. The strange move is palliative in nature.

And since only rookie Duke Johnson Jr. is behind Crowell for the time being and we really don’t know what to expect from him since he can’t stay healthy, Crowell won’t have to complain about non-use. It would help McCown, though, if he improved his pass blocking.

As for the passing game, again do not expect much with a corps that does not feature a No. 1 guy. Or a No. 2 guy. It has a boatload of No. 3 guys. Just enough mediocrity to spread around.

McCown who throws as many interceptions as he does touchdown passes, is as consistently inconsistent a quarterback as you’ll find around the league. He’ll thrill you one minute and break your heart the next.

The defense is an entirely different matter. The front office attempted to improve the awful run defense by drafting defensive linemen Danny Shelton and Xavier Cooper. The pass rush should be better with outside linebacker Nate Orchard. And the secondary, at least statistically, is one of the best in the NFL.

But most opponents last season ran roughshod over the Browns, thus limiting the number of passing attempts. Why throw when the opposition can’t stop you on the ground? Makes no sense.

When it became apparent midway through last season that the best way to beat Cleveland was by winning every battle in the trenches, it became a relentless pounding on a defensive line beset by injuries all season.

This season, it will be different with a new and improved run defense. But if the offense can’t stay on the field, that means more playing time for the defense.

Look for that to happen because once teams figure out the Browns’ passing game is poor at best, McCown & Co. will face more stacked boxes within five yards of the ball in an effort to shut down the run and force the Cleveland quarterback to throw the ball.

When you force McCown to throw the ball, especially to his way below average group of receivers, bad things happen and the defense comes trotting back out onto the field. As the offense goes this season, so will go the Browns.

Keys to the Browns’ success this season lie in the plus-minus ratio in giveaways and takeaways and time of possession. They are so bereft of overall talent on the offensive side of the ball (with the exception of the line), they must win both of those battles in order to have a chance to win games.

As for that line, it is just one injury away from repeating its rapid decline last season after a strong start when center Alex Mack went down with a broken leg early in the season. There is no help on the bench unless you place rookie Cameron Erving in that category.

But Erving’s performance during the exhibition season was disappointing at best. The Browns had to figure their second pick in the first round of the last college draft was good enough to supplant someone on the right side of the line. Didn’t happen.

This season starts off easy enough with teams (at New York Jets and home games against Tennessee and Oakland) that finished below .500 last season. They might be the only games on the schedule where predicting a victory is not a wild guess.

The next 13 games, however, are against teams that finished at or – in most cases – well above .500. Not a loser among them, which makes forecasting a victory much more precarious.

After the first trio of games, the Browns play five of their next seven on the road, including all three division rivals. At one point, they play division opponents Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati again four straight games with the bye in between.

If – and this is a monstrous if – the Browns are in contention at that time, they finish the season with four of the final six games at home.

Last season, the Browns took advantage of one of the easiest schedules in the NFL and posted a 7-9 record, which, with a stronger offensive performance in several games, could easily have been 9-7 or better.

That’s not going to happen this season. They aren’t good enough or talented enough to hang with the teams this tougher schedule presents.

It all begins Sunday in New Jersey against the New York Jets in a game featuring the two teams that inaugurated Monday Night Football on ABC-TV 45 years ago on the 21st of this month.

The Jets feature a new coach (Todd Bowles), a new quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick), a strong run game featuring Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell, a nice addition in wide receiver Brandon Marshall, a solid offensive line and an aggressive defense led by end Muhammad Wilkerson and cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Season openers have not been kind to the Browns since the resurrection in 1999. They have won just one season-opening game since then, a 20-3 victory over Baltimore in 2004. They finished 4-12 that season.

Believe it or not, this will be only the third time since 1999 the new Browns have opened the season on the road, losing to the Buccaneers in Tampa to begin the 2010 season and in Pittsburgh last season.

It’s hard to pick the Browns over the Jets given their miserable record in the first week of the season, but the odds favor their first opening-game victory in 11 seasons.

The Jets will try too hard for their new coach and make silly mistakes. Fitzpatrick, a bit of a vagabond himself (the Jets are his sixth team), has thrown 123 career touchdown passes, but has been picked off 101 times in 89 starts. He has faced the Browns four times, winning three with six TDs and three picks.

This very well could be a game where each team plays just badly enough to keep it close with turnovers. If it is, it favors the Browns, who were surprisingly opportunistic last season when they were reasonably healthy.

The teams will combine for seven turnovers in a low-scoring game with the outcome still in doubt heading into the final minutes. The team with the ball will win with a last-second field goal. That team will be the Browns. And that kicker will be Travis Coons, who will sneak a 27-yarder just inside the right upright. Make it: Browns 17, Jets 14

Oh, yeah, the rest of the season.

The Browns will win their first three games, eliciting cries of “the future is now” and “the corner has been turned” only to watch those cries disappear quietly when the club is forced to play the rest of the schedule.

They’ll win only two of those next 13 games, probably the Dec. 6 game at home against Cincinnati and the season finale at home against Pittsburgh to finish 5-11. By then, other cries will be heard seeking yet another change in the ivory tower. Someone will have to pay.

This time, though, coach Mike Pettine will survive. He cannot possibly win with what offensive weapons General Manager Ray Farmer has given him. This time, the man responsible for the lack of offensive talent on the club whips out and updates his résumé. The man who coaches that talent gets one final reprieve.

More changes on the way

If you think this is the final 53-man roster for the Browns, stop. It’s not.

Right now, it is as fluid as water, especially in the middle and bottom end. A quick perusal reveals a few weak areas.

There is no way, for example, the Browns are going to carry only six offensive linemen. That’s just going to happen.

Obviously, they are not happy with the backups they brought in to stand ready in the event one of the stating five goes down. Only first-round draft pick Cameron Erving survived. But he disappointingly did not beat out any of the incumbents.

Look for at least one, more likely two pickups off the waiver wire as the other 31 clubs get down to the 53-man limit.

And there is no way the club will go with 11 defensive backs even though that appears to be coach Mike Pettine’s favorite position on that side of the ball. That’s an unusually high number for the secondary.

Keeping four tight ends was a bit of a surprise, especially since Rob Housler did not have a good training camp or exhibition season. The reason he was kept was probably because he is, by far, the best receiver among the group.

The Browns fully intend to make the running game the focal point of their offense this season. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of two tight-end sets – and two-back sets with rookie fullback Malcolm Johnson – in order to buttress the ground game and take pressure off quarterback Josh McCown.

Speaking of quarterbacks, slicing Thad Lewis off the roster was a bit of surprise. Either Johnny Manziel’s sore elbow is better or the Browns are otherwise taking a huge gamble if it’s not.

The reason Lewis was cut lies in the game tape of Thursday night’s 27-0 loss in the final exhibition in Chicago against the Bears. He was terrible at best. It appears the Browns would much rather gamble with an injured Manziel.

Why the Browns kept seven wide receivers is puzzling. If they are going to play button-down football on offense, they don’t need more than six. It’s obvious the coaching staff is intrigued with Terrelle Pryor to see what he can do as a wideout now that he is healthy. (See Marlon Moore thoughts in a previous commentary).

No big surprises elsewhere on defense outside of the number of defensive backs. The hybrid 3-4 scheme features eight linemen and eight linebackers (four inside, four outside). Look for the Browns to frequently use situational sub packages to keep everyone fresh. Expect a lot of rotating, especially in the trenches.

The not-so-final roster includes eight of the 12 picks in the last college draft. Only wide receiver Vince Mayle and inside linebacker Hayes Pullard III did not make it. Right end Randall Telfer and cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu were placed on the reserve/non-football injury list.

Roster tidbits: Tight end E. J. Bibbs is the only undrafted rookie of the nine first-year players on the roster. . . . Of the final 53, 33 return from last season. . . . Everyone is new on special teams – punter/holder Andy Lee, placekicker Travis Coons and long snapper Charley Hughlett. . . . Newcomers elsewhere include defensive tackle Jamie Meder, a Cleveland native, and wide receiver Brian Hartline from the Canton area. 

Berea bumbling

There are times in life where you just shake your head and wonder why people in high places make puzzling decisions.

Take, for example, the Browns’ decision Saturday to cut wide receiver Josh Lenz en route to trimming the final roster (loosely speaking) to 53 men. The club released 22 players and no one complained about 21 of them.

But by cutting Lenz, the Browns managed to do something that’s extremely hard to do in Cleveland. They upset a portion of their fan base if the reaction in the Twitterverse is any indication.

When Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle initially broke the news via Twitter that Lenz was history in Cleveland, that universe erupted angrily. And that’s putting it mildly. The heat was palpable.

For example:

From Mattfromthefactory: that’s the Browns we all love, always doing the opposite of what a good team would do!!!

Wow, three exclamation points!

Then there’s Rob Colon: lol clueless organization once again

Tweeted nate: Hahaha I knew they’d cut him. They are afraid that he might benefit the team and no one wants that.

There’s more from T. Graham, placing his tongue firmly in his cheek with this: I swear #Browns fans overreact to everything . . . he wasn’t going to see the field, he can only play WR!

steveohio contributed, citing Browns General Manager Ray Farmer: With Lenz cut, “play like a Brown” means nothing. Shame on Farmer (again).

Releasing Lenz and retaining the services of veteran Dwayne Bowe and rookie Vince Mayle ticked off Ed Smith, who tweeted: This organization is a nightmare. Cut productive players and keep mistakes like Bowe & Mayle. The Browns will never learn.

Added Brian Dagy: Yet they’ll keep Vince Mayle who couldn’t catch a cold. (Actually, they didn’t. Mayle was among the trims.)

Want more? OK, two more.

Mark Pinkerton contributed this: That’s why we are what we are. Sad stuff and #Pathetic

Daria Gay had some advice for Lenz, tweeting: Run, Josh, as fast as you can to get away. You are the lucky one and will land in a better place.

Apparently, Farmer and his minions do not listen to the players, either. One of Lenz’s biggest boosters was veteran Cleveland safety Donte Whitner, who tweeted the following only a day ago:

I give credit where credit is due and @Josh_Lenz deserves it!  Watched this guy come in from day 1 and flat out ball! & showed tons of heart

And: We talk about #PlayLikeABrown, right? Well, just take a look at him and he is the true definition of #PlayLikeABrown

All this for a wideout who caught seven passes in four games (tied for the team lead) for 108 yards (to lead the team), played safety for a few plays in the final exhibition game in Chicago Thursday night and did nothing to harm his chances of making the final roster.

Except, maybe, having the same skill set as Brian Hartline and Andrew Hawkins, veterans who made the final roster as expected. The guess here is too much of a good thing isn’t kosher in Berea.

In the meantime, motor mouth Dwayne Bowe is still around as Murphy’s Law continues to dog this franchise. He is one of seven wideouts on the roster. Why the Browns hold on to Marlon Moore is puzzling.

In five seasons with three teams, he has caught 19 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. His contributions last season in 13 games with the Browns: Zero catches for zero yards and zero touchdowns. And for that, they cut Josh Lenz.

Lenz never got a chance to play with the 1s. He was never on the field with Josh McCown. He never really had a chance to make this team because he wasn’t given one.

All he did was make plays in training camp and in the exhibitions games when he had the opportunity. His coach spoke of him only in praiseworthy terms. And then contributed to his departure.

Lenz tweeted his thoughts Saturday morning in diplomatic fashion: Well, just done signing the release papers. Thanks to everyone for support this pre-season! It’s been real Cleveland! #DownNotOut

Unless I miss my guess, the 24-year-old Lenz will pop up somewhere else in the National Football League in the next day or two. Other teams had to have noticed his contributions and talent. If the Browns are hoping he clears waivers and they pick him back up and place him on the practice squad, they better do some heavy-duty praying.

At just a shade under six feet with good hands and the ability to get open, Lenz would be a perfect fit in New England, where Bill Belichick loves productive receivers (think Wes Welker and Julian Edelman) on the relatively small side for his Hall of Fame quarterback.

That’s not to say Lenz is another Edelman or Welker, but he sure fits the mold. He’s not that big, has decent speed, runs good routes and catches the ball. Not much else you can ask for in a receiver.

Lenz’s days of bouncing around the NFL – the Browns were his fourth team in two years – might very well be coming to an end. Too bad it won’t be in Cleveland as once again a dark cloud hovers over 76 Lou Groza Blvd. when important decisions need to be made. 

The Browns' front office unfortunately is full of contortionists who every now and then perform thought-to-be-impossible feats that involve their craniums and rear flanks. 

No big (figuratively) loss

It took slightly more than four years and numerous knee operations before the Browns Tuesday finally got rid of the bitter taste of a terrible trade in 2011.

Defensive tackle Phil Taylor, the last vestige of that trade, was cut. The 6-3, 335-pounder never panned out because he couldn’t stay healthy. His knees had trouble supporting his massive girth.

So the Browns finally decided to head in a different direction, first by selecting Danny Shelton with their first pick in this year’s college draft and second by recognizing there were other players at that position on the roster who played well enough to stick around.

On draft day in 2011, the Browns held the No 6 pick in the first round. Sitting there was a need in wide receiver Julio Jones. But the so-called brain trust of the team – President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert Jr. – suffered a massive and collective brain fart.

Instead of writing Jones’ name on a piece of paper and simply sending it in, they made the mistake of listening to the Atlanta Falcons, who owned the 27th pick. Yep, No. 27.

The Falcons wanted Jones for Matt Ryan, their young quarterback, and were willing to surrender that pick, plus their second- and fourth-rounders in 2011 and a first- and fourth-rounder in 2012.

The H&H guys couldn’t pull the trigger quickly enough and Jones became a Falcon. In the four years since that deal (he missed all but five games due to injury in 2013), Jones has caught 278 passes for 4,330 yards and 26 touchdowns. Last season, he caught 104 passes for 1,593 yards and six scores.

And whom did the Browns get in that wonderful deal? Well, they traded back up in the first round with Kansas City in 2011, giving the Chiefs one of their second-round picks, and grabbed Taylor at No. 21. 

In the second round, they selected wide receiver Greg Little and took fullback Owen Marecic in the fourth round. In 2012, they grabbed quarterback Brandon Weeden with the Falcons’ pick and selected inside linebacker James-Michael Johnson in the fourth round.

To recap, the Browns gave up the opportunity to draft elite wide receiver Julio Jones for Phil Taylor, Greg Little, Owen Marecic, Brandon Weeden and James-Michael Johnson. Is it any wonder Holmgren and Heckert are long gone from Cleveland?

Little was last seen in Cincinnati, barely hanging on; Marecic is out of football; Johnson is a reserve inside linebacker in Kansas City; and Weeden busted out with the Browns and now backs up Tony Romo in Dallas.

Taylor never played well enough, when he was healthy that is, to excite the coaching staff. He was a space eater who had little mobility. The Browns even tried him at defensive end just to get him on the field. He had no pass rushing ability.

So now Taylor is gone. Finally. And some other team out there will sign him and then find out the Browns made the correct move.

It took four years, four very long years, to move the big guy, who missed 20 games in two of the last three seasons. His career totals: Seven sacks, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble and 109 tackles.

As it turns out, Taylor is just another in a long line of first-round Cleveland busts. Another small example as to why this franchise has floundered since its resurrection in 1999.

More meanderings

If the Browns even consider signing Ray Rice and/or trading for Robert Griffin III, they should have their heads examined.

Not that they have a team considered a serious threat for the postseason right now, but adding those two to the roster will in no way strengthen it. If anything, it would do more harm than good. This team does not need headaches like those two.

First of all, Rice was well on the downside of his career when he made the mistake of slugging his then-fiancée in an elevator last year. And The Third peaked as a National Football League quarterback as a rookie.

The Browns have enough trouble in their attempt to become competitive to the point where they can honestly picture the playoffs in their future. Adding a fading running back and bust quarterback does not help.

Slapping their names on a roster does not enhance it. Rice was already beginning to regress in Baltimore and The Third has become known as one of the most injury-prone quarterbacks in the NFL. He is an injury waiting to happen.

The Redskins wanted badly for him to regain the magic that made him one of the most exciting rookies a few years ago. They gave him every chance. But a variety of injuries, which might or might not have contributed to some bad outings, kept getting in the way.

It just wasn’t working and the club finally gave up on him Sunday, naming Kirk Cousins as the starter. Rumors immediately spread that the Redskins were shopping his services to teams with quarterback needs.

The Browns certainly fall into that category with a 36-year-old starter and a mercurial backup with a sore elbow. They would be wise, however, to take a pass on The Third. Some team will find out his best days are well behind him. Hopefully, that team does not reside on the shores of Lake Erie.

As for Rice, the Browns don’t need him. I’d much rather see veteran free agents Pierre Thomas or Ahmad Bradshaw in Cleveland than Rice. Right now, Duke Johnson Jr. can’t stay healthy, but there is nothing wrong with Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West that an effective offensive line can’t resolve.

That line, thought to be one of the best in the league, has not played well in the exhibition season. Once a more sophisticated offense – instead of the vanilla offense used in the exhibitions – is installed for the regular season, that could change.

Remember last season when the Browns had one of the best run offenses in the NFL before Alex Mack went down with a broken leg in game five? The same five men up front are back. Let’s see what new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo has in mind for them.

There is no question the ground game will be heavily emphasized this season to take pressure off Josh McCown. Crowell, West and, when he heals, Johnson will get more than their share of carries. It’s up to the guys on the line to provide the holes. They did last season. No reason to believe they can’t this season.

*       *       *

There is also no question we are seeing a brand new Travis Benjamin this season. He looks like an entirely different player. He’s bold, unafraid and playing with reckless abandon in what seems to be his way of saying last season was a fluke.

A more tentative Benjamin was a big disappointment last season, playing as though he was fearful of reinjuring a surgically repaired knee. He fair-caught way too many punts and was not the breakaway threat he was before going down early in the 2013 season.

That fear is gone as a return man – his 53-yard return for a touchdown against Tampa Bay is ample proof – and wide receiver. No longer is he afraid when his pass route takes him across the middle. Benjamin has made a couple of receptions in that area already during the exhibition season.

He also has made some terrific grabs of passes that have arrived behind him. Sooner or later, McCown will time up his throws better as he adjusts to Benjamin’s speed. He is capable of being so much more than a possession receiver. He has the speed to go deep.

*       *       *

The Cleveland running game, as previously mentioned, has been somewhat subpar thus far. But a 17-yard run by West in the third quarter on a scoring drive against the Buccaneers could serve as a portent of things to come.

It was a perfectly executed trap play that sprung West loose for the club’s largest gain on the ground with right guard John Greco pulling left and picking off a defender closing in on West at the point of attack.

With such blocking sophistication, there is no reason to think the Cleveland run game will be successful again. This line is so versatile, there is no reason to believe it cannot successfully run the counter trey, especially against reactive defenses.

*       *       *

With the release of little Shane Wynn Monday, it’s almost a foregone conclusion the Browns will hold on to Terrelle Pryor in some way even though he hasn’t played as down yet.

The Browns are fortified with smallish receivers and return men, so setting the 5-6 Wynn free won’t hurt. Fans wonder why the former Glenville High School standout was trimmed instead of Vince Mayle.

Two reasons: Mayle is as fourth-round draft choice; Wynn was an undrafted free agent. And Mayle is 6-2, 225 pounds and worth keeping around in hopes he will stop dropping passes a la Greg Little. It will take more than three exhibition games.

*       *       *

Players on defense flying under the radar: Defensive tackle Jamie Meder and safeties Landon Feichter and Ibraheim Campbell.  Meder, a first-year man from Ashland, is extremely active in the run game – he led the team in tackles against the Bucs – and the two safeties have an aggressive bent that gets your attention. Meder, Campbell and Feichter had sacks against Tampa Bay. The safeties are tied for the team lead in tackles with 13. Feichter has 11 solos.

Players on offense flying under the radar: Tight end E. J. Bibbs (a rookie) and wide receiver Josh Lenz, a first-year man.  Bibbs is tied for second on the team with six receptions, while Lenz, an early favorite target in training camp, has three catches for 59 yards, 48 of which was against Tampa Bay. Both are from Iowa State.

*       *       *

As it stands, Bibbs’ strong performance could mean the Browns will go with four tight ends this season. The two-tight-end look works well in the running game. Jim Dray and Gary Barnidge are known more for their blocking. If the coaching staff decides to go with just three, Rob Housler, who has not looked good thus far, could be the victim.

*       *       *

Notebook: Was it me (or is it I?) or were the orange numerals with white piping on the Browns’ brown jerseys difficult to read from a distance? Shouldn’t it be white numerals with orange piping? . . . The Cleveland ground game has averaged just 84 yards a game, but the defense has permitted only 102 a game. . . . The pass rush has generated 11 sacks, six against the Bucs, while the offensive line has surrendered 10. . . . It was refreshing to see four passes targeted for running backs against the Bucs, an obvious effort to improve that aspect of the offense. . . . In addition to the six sacks, the Browns registered eight tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits.