Brandon Weeden Wasn't Great, But There Are 11 Guys

I think this picture sums up opening day for the Cleveland Browns.  Of course Brandon Weeden didn't ever look comfortable in the pocket... there was no pocket to be comfortable in.  How is a quarterback supposed to perform at all in the conditions that our offensive line gave him?  But I hear people pinning everything onto Weeden.  Now I'm no Weeden fanboy, but I can tell when a guy isn't getting any support on the field.  Against the Dolphins, Weeden took dozens of hits, but when he got a ball to someone they couldn't seem to catch it.

This has been an alarming trend since the return of the Browns.  We draft wide receivers who can't catch.  And I noticed that Brandon Weeden just simply stopped looking to Greg Little, yet he remained in the game.  And Miami picked up on the fact that Little wasn't being targeted, and simply moved their coverage to Devone Bess.  It was a simple formula to beat an offense that was barely executing, cover the only guy they have in that can play.  It also doesn't hurt when Oneil Cousins ruined every other drive where we were actually moving the ball.

But this final picture will summarize what happens to any quarterback that has zero support from his teammates.

 

So Much For Expectations: Miami Dolphins 27 - Cleveland Browns 10

And so it goes again, we suck.  And suck bad.  I'm not going to comment on the game, I'm too pissed.  I just watched Randall Cobb look like a pro receiver and score a touchdown for Green Bay.  We passed on Cobb because Greg Little was so much better than Cobb.  What a joke.

Greg Little you suck, but you aren't alone.  Brandon Weeden, Oniel Cousins, John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, Joe Thomas, Chris Owens, Buster Skrine, Travis Benjamin, Trent Richardson, Tashawn Gipson, and Alex Mack, you all sucked as well.  Thanks for ruining yet another Sunday afternoon for me you worthless pieces of crap.

Ratbird week is coming up, and I wasn't going to be incredibly nice to then this week, but guess what Browns, I'm not aiming to be that much nicer to you.

Son of a bitch!

It's Finally Here!

Well it has been a long offseason.  It seems like a long time since Pat Shurmur was handed his walking papers after yet another disappointing Browns season.  And a lot has changed since then.  We were all expecting Chip Kelly to come in and run the Browns, yet that didn't happen.

Rob Chudzinski took over the reigns and with him came an army of hope in the form of Norv Turner and Ray Horton.  Then things got ugly as owner Jimmy Haslam's personal business became national news.  Then things got even worse when Mike Lombardi was hired as the GM, despite his rocky relationship with the Browns fans.  Then things looked up as the Browns pursued a couple actual veterans in Paul Kruger and Desmond Bryant.

In a nutshell no one knows what to expect.  The starter's play in the preseason was either awful or exceptional.  But there are question marks nearly every where.  Was Brandon Weeden's lackluster season last season a product of a poorly organized offensive scheme, or is he just not that good?  After Joe Haden who on this team is capable of covering an NFL receiver?  What happens if something happens to Trent Richardson?  Will our pass rush actually work?  Can we run block?  Will Josh Gordon and Greg Little pull their heads out of their rears and become true professionals?

To me it sounds like too many questions that need answered positively to have any hope for post season this year.  So let me post what I believe to be the most important question that needs answered this season.  Are we heading in the right direction?  If that answer is yes, I will be fine with it.  

Yes it is sad but true, there has only been one year that the Browns haven't started 0-1 since they have come back.  And the only opener that the Browns have managed that 1-0 start they beat the Baltimore Ravens in Jeff Garcia's debut in 2004.  And even that season went straight down the tubes.

But the Browns have lost some games in the worst way.  I will never for the Dwayne Ruud helmet throwing game in 2002.  Ruud removed his helmet before the final play of the game was finished and drew a penalty allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to kick a field goal on the extra play securing a 40-39 win.  Highlights of that game are below:

And who could forget the 2007 opener where Charlie Frye played so terribly that he was pulled out of the game in the first quarter and traded the following week.

Anyway the wait is almost over to see if the trend of losing football is about to end in Cleveland, or suffer forward to another long year.  So Browns fans, you know the drill this Sunday.  Hope for the best, expect the worst.      

Trash the Opponent Thursday: Miami Dolphins

Sunday is the day that we finally get to see the Rob Chudzinski led Cleveland Browns in regular season action.  The opening day opponent is the Miami Dolphins.  This is an intriguing matchup between two teams that have had some recent parallels.

Both teams are still in a rebuilding phase from allowing old coaches run their front offices.  Obviously the Browns are in their first full year without Mike Holmgren in charge of football operations.  While it has been well documented that Holmgren was a complete and utter failure as the leader of the Browns, many have also forgotten the time that Bill Parcells ran the Miami Dolphins.  Parcells was also quite a disappointment in his role trying to get Miami back to it's former glory.

But most significant in this game will be the matchup between Browns QB Brandon Weeden and the Dolphins' Ryan Tannehill.  Both will be entering their second season of pro football after being "the other guys" in the first round of last year's NFL draf that also featured Andrew Luck and Robert Griffith III.  The jury is still out on both quarterbacks, and this game will provide a great opportunity for one to outshine the other.

Miami's biggest fear is that they have sacrificed too much of their offensive line to acquire deep threats for Tannehill.  The most significant move was letting OT Jake Long leave for the Rams freeing up cap space to sign free agents at other positions.  Former Pittsburgh Steeler WR Mike Williams was among those pickups.  But experts warn that Tannehill can't really utilize Williams' skills without time to throw the ball.

Either way, game on this Sunday, they start to count for real.