As bad as it is for the Browns right now – and after last Sunday’s brutal, dysfunctional 24-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, it’s pretty bad – it could be worse, believe it or not.
Indeed, they could be the New York Football Giants.
The Browns are 0-2, which is where most people thought they would be. But the Giants’ 0-2 mark is a real surprise, considering they finished 11-5 in 2016 in head coach Ben “Don’t Call Me Bob” McAdoo’s first season and made the playoffs – as a wild card – for the first time in five years.
But while second-year Browns head coach Hue Jackson continues to shoulder all the blame for his team’s lousy play in Baltimore, especially offensively, the unit for which he doubles as coordinator, McAdoo, also someone whose expertise is offense, appears to have thrown his veteran quarterback, Eli Manning, under the bus following Monday night’s 24-10 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions.
The Giants’ offensive effort was as putrid as that of the Browns. Ditto for Manning’s performance being as bad as that of Cleveland quarterback DeShone Kizer.
Concerning a delay-of-game call on the goal line on fourth down that cost the Giants dearly against Detroit, McAdoo appeared to go right after Manning, explaining it by saying in the post-game press conference, “Sloppy quarterback play. The reason why the coach didn’t call time out? Because we have a veteran quarterback who has played a lot of football. I expect us to get the ball snapped.”
Even though Kizer is a rookie with only two starts under his belt, Jackson is probably as upset as McAdoo. But Hue wisely kept his mouth shut, at least in public. Behind closed doors, it may well – and likely is – totally different. However, that’s OK, because no one else can hear it. As such, it’s the way almost every team rolls since points can be made back and forth between only the parties involved and there is no public relations problem.
McAdoo chose to do it otherwise – 180 degrees-the-other-way otherwise. Along with the problem of having to fix his horrible offense, now he also has potential problem in the locker room after verbally undressing the team’s two-time Super Bowl-winning, and Super Bowl MVP-winning, quarterback.
Considering that, then, it will be interesting to watch what happens first, the Giants exploding or imploding.
In Cleveland, Hue has it much easier. He is can concentrate solely on getting the offense, and his young quarterback, jump-started. His players still respect him.
The original intent for this posting was to offer Jackson some criticism on several fronts concerning Kizer and the offense. But that will have to wait for Thursday or another day.
And while I will still take Hue Jackson to task at some point, I am extremely thankful that he – and not someone like Ben McAdoo, who apparently doesn’t understand the modern player – is coaching the Browns.
