A little bit of this and a little bit of that about the Browns following their 26-23 loss in overtime to the Denver Broncos on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium:
*ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING — The Browns have a losing attitude. Instead of finding ways to win, they find ways to lose. When things get tight at the end of the game, the Browns have no belief that they’ll win. They hope they can win and if it happens great, but there’s no expectation of such.
The Broncos have a winning attitude. They always believe they’ll find a way to get it done. That’s what carried them past the Browns. When it seemed hopeless at the start of overtime when the Browns got the ball at the Denver 41 following the interception of linebacker Barkevious Mingo, the Broncos didn’t quit. They just dug in and got the job done.
*FOR STARTERS … — Before the season started, the book on the Browns was that because they lacked explosiveness and a quick-strike capability on offense, they couldn’t afford to get behind early in games. They had to jump out to leads quickly to have a chance to win.
So what has happened? The Browns have trailed early in nearly every game. They fight like crazy to get back into the game, then can’t finish the job. The loss to Denver is a prime example of that.
And why do the Browns lack the ability to score on big plays? Because General Manager Ray Farmer refuses to draft big-play wide receivers. With the incredible focus on passing in today’s NFL, the refusal to recognize that, and select players accordingly in the NFL Draft, has put the Browns into the hole they now find themselves.
*FIRST THINGS FIRST – A team can’t swing and miss badly in the first round of the draft. That’s especially the case when a club has two first-round picks. In the first round in 2014, the Browns drafted a cornerback who can’t play in Justin Gilbert in No. 8 overall, and a quarterback who appears to have some kind of significant personal issues in Johnny Manziel at No. 22.
And we wonder why the Browns are stuck are in the mud.
*MORE ON MANZIEL – In a perfect world, this situation begs for a quarterback change sometime soon, not just for McCown’s problems down the stretch but also because the Browns need to see what Manziel can do. But can the Browns do that? Is Manziel ready to do that? Can he be trusted to prepare himself accordingly if given the chance?
No one knows the answers to these questions, but Pettine and his offensive coaches have been put into a difficult situation because of the inability of Farmer and his personnel people to do their homework on Manziel and see these potential red flags in his behavior and personality.
*RUNNING INTO TROUBLE – Also going into the year, the Browns were banking their hopes on the belief they could both run the ball, and stop the run. They can do neither. In fact, they have failed miserably in both aspects of the game.
Is the problem talent acquisition? Is it coaching, with poor schemes? Is it something else, such as the players refusing to be accountable? Or is it a combination of all three? Whatever it is, it’s yet another thing that reflects negatively on Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine and his staff.
*THE BOTTOM LINE – Unless Farmer and Pettine can figure out a way to get this ship turned around NOW, then they and the members of respective personnel and coaching staffs will all get fired at the end of the season. That’s just the reality of the situation.
