Browns - Cincinnati Post-Mortem

Let’s take a quick quiz – How many of you could name the Bengals’ back-up quarterback before this week? Exactly.

The Browns dialed up last year’s formula in winning their first game of 2008 – play a winless team, and for kicks, make sure they are missing their starting quarterback.

There will be some that will tell you “a win is a win.” That’s true. It counts in the standings. So what? Does anyone who watched that game today think the Browns will be competitive in their own building against the Giants in two weeks, then go Washington and Jacksonville and come away with wins?

Come on.

The most fascinating part of today’s come-from-behind win against some guy named Fitzsimmons and the winless Bengals is trying to figure out how Cleveland’s defense could line up off-sides four times in one contest. I’ve never seen that before – four times for being in the neutral zone. Cincinnati almost matched the hapless Browns for comical relief by having to burn all three of its second half timeouts for having the wrong personnel on the field.

There’s a reason these two teams were 0-6 between them coming in.

At least the Bengals can say they were missing their quarterback. What was the Browns' excuse for their horrid performance? That’s right horrid.

When I sat down to watch this game, I saw some guy I never heard of before warming up at QB for the Bengals. I turned to my son and said – “They (Browns) can’t possibly lose this one if they can get to double figures today.” For three quarters, the Browns were proving me wrong. Fortunately for them, they stumbled into the victory.

Yea, it counts. But so what? The Browns have clearly regressed from a year ago. Their “Home Run Hitter QB” can’t complete a pass beyond 15 yards, Butterfingers is back to acting like a fool (aka unprofessional) on the sidelines and the head coach is likely to be canned soon – the only question is when.

There’s much more, but you saw the same game I did. We went back in time – which was fortunate for the hapless Browns and the fans that bleed brown and orange, and pay PSLs for a franchise that has been abysmal since its return (1999).

I told a friend this morning, the Browns have been arguably the worst run franchise in team sports the past 10 years - both on the field and off. He smiled, paused, and reminded me the Lions still play football. He was right. Okay – Cleveland is #2 on that dubious list.

How many other teams can win a game and appear to be taking a step backwards?