HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS?
By STEVE KING
Ask yourself this as the Browns get ready to host the Carolina Panthers at 1 p.m. Sunday atFirst Energy Stadium: what do all – or at least almost all — of the great teams in pro football not just now, but in history, have in common?
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They each have both a great quarterback and a great head coach, such as:
*Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
*Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin, and, before that, Bill Cowher.
*Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning.
*Joe Montana and Steve Young, and Bill Walsh.
*Troy Aikman and Jimmy Johnson.
*Roger Staubach and Tom Landry.
*Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll.
*John Unitas and Weeb Ewbank.
*Joe Namath and Ewbank.
Unitas, Dan Marino and Bon Griese, and Don Shula.
*Len Dawson and Hank Stram.
*Ken Stabler and John Madden.
*Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi.
*Otto Graham and Paul Brown.
Other than Graham and Brown, look at the other best Browns teams, and you’ll see:
*Frank Ryan and Bill Nelsen, and Blanton Collier.
*Brian Sipe and Sam Rutigliano.
*Bernie Kosar and Marty Schottenheimer.
How about the Browns’ opponent on Sunday? Where would Carolina be without Cam Newton and Ron Rivera?
And today’s Browns? Where would they and their vast improvement in the second half of theseason be without Baker Mayfield and Gregg Williams, who is a tremendous upgrade on Hue Jackson?
I could go on and on with this, but I don’t have to. You get the point, and it is that this quarterback-head coach combination is a big deal – a really big deal.
So, if theBrowns want to start winning – and winning big – then they have to find their head coach to go along with Mayfield. It’s really that simple, and it’s whyeverybody is so focused on it.
While the game against the Panthers is important is that it gives these young, building Browns another chance to get better, the big move will come when the season is over and General Manager John Dorsey finds his coach.
It will be so interesting to watch it all play out.
Stay tuned.
