Browns & Much More

Phil Savage Has No Shame
Let’s start with something that involves a total lack of integrity and loyalty - the Phil Savage Story.

Some individual take responsibility for their actions and can admit mistakes, and some never do – enter Phil Savage.

I was going to do a larger piece on this guy later this coming week, but I’ll keep it short and sweet instead. He came out of hiding last week and did a “try to save my job press conference” for the media. It was despicable.

At one point, he reiterated that he picked the 53 players but did not coach them. There’s more, but you get the point. This guy is delusional. He deserves at least as much of the blame for the team’s on-the-field failures in 2008 as RC. Now, he’s doing a PR tour trying to save his own neck.

I knew a guy like this once. The individual actually stood up in a staff meeting, of people he hired, and shouted - "If someone's going to get fired, it will be all of you before me."

I kid you not.

Phil seems like he lacks some of the same integrity DNA.

You can bet others around in the NFL have also noticed. Remember, when Randy Lerner finally hires someone with clout, that individual won’t want or need Savage around – unless it’s in a diminished role he won't accept.

Look for Savage to go up his sleeve for an ace and try to convince Lerner to bring in Brian Billick as head coach of the Browns. This is where I would go if I were Phil Savage thinking purely about survival and nothing else.

Think about it - Billick is one of his boys from Baltimore, he’s won a Super Bowl, so he can be sold to the media and public, and if Lerner goes for it – SAVAGE KEEPS HIS JOB!

My guess is Lerner has had enough of Savage’s embarrassing performance and will clean house.

Browns- Titans Post-Mortem
No defense should ever give up a 17 yard gain on a draw play on third and 16 like the Browns did early in this contest. That’s ridiculous.

I cannot stand the NFL’s long-standing defensive interference call that awards the offense possession at the spot of the foul. No penalty should ever cost a team more than 15 yards. That would be the first rule I would change if I ran the show.

There are two Browns’ players who have not quit on their teammates and their coaches - D’Qwell Jackson and Josh Cribbs. And to complete the puzzle, there are two players who have unfortunately already packed their bags – Butterfingers and Donte Stallworth.

Cleveland had arguably one of the top-5 receiving corps in the NFL in 2007. You could argue they have the worst receivers, as a group, in the league in 2008 with Butterfingers’ total meltdown, Stallworth giving them nothing but valuable experience for the team trainers, and the rest of the group, likely be out of the league by this time next year.

My how much difference one year can make.

I detest watching teams run off-tackle after the defense forces a big turnover in the opponent’s end. D’Qwell Jackson gets a pick inside the Titans’ 30-yard line and the Browns follow that up with a vanilla running play on first down.

Hell, run some play action and take a shot deep. If it’s not there, check down to the back in the flats. What do you have to lose?

I have no idea why teams do not run the 2-minute offense more often. Is there a rule that says you can’t run it unless there are actually two minutes left in each half?

The old Bengals, with the mad doctor Sam Wyche in charge, ran it a lot and were successful with it, and ditto for Jim Kelly and the Bills, during their numerous Super Bowl runs in the 90s.

Even if you do not have an outstanding quarterback, use it occasionally to shake things up – especially if nothing else is working.

Why haven’t the Browns ever utilized the shovel pass? It would seem like a natural with scat back Jerome Harrison in the backfield. And it just might slow down the pass rush some.

Speaking of Harrison, we called on CHUD to use him more a couple weeks ago when it was clear the season was over and it was time to look at the kids. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. Please, start the kid the next three weeks and get him 20 touches a game so he can be evaluated.

Of course, this coaching staff will not be around next season, so they don’t give a $#@! what the right thing to do is. That’s part of the problem – everyone is on lame duck status, and they don't care about 2009 like the rest of us do.

Boy, the Browns’ offense looks awful pedestrian this season. And it’s been that way with all three quarterbacks. For some reason, there have been very few long pass completions.

And trust me - everyone is at fault.

First, the quarterbacks have not been accurate the few times guys have gotten open downfield.

Secondly, when the ball has arrived, there have been too many drops.

Third, the offensive line has not sustained their blocks long enough to allow the quarterback and receivers time to go downfield.

Fourth, the quarterbacks have done a lousy job of leading the receivers so they have an opportunity to turn up field quickly after the catch.

And finally, the receivers have not gotten much separation in 2008.

Did you follow all that?

Where does that leave us?

The field shrinks for the defense and you find yourself getting a five yard completion and immediate tackle on third and eight. That has happened way too often in 2008.

This offense right now looks a lot like the Tim Couch offense of 2000. Sorry Tim, it’s not all on you. You had very little help.

Again, it’s amazing how much can change in one year. Last year, the Browns were among the league-leaders in 20+ yard completions.

I won’t even go into how many consecutive quarters the Browns have gone without scoring a TD. It’s getting uglier and uglier.

You want to know what discipline is - It’s not getting a “hands to the face" penalty like one of the Browns’ corners was called for when the Titans were facing a 3rd and 20+.

The Browns have been playing more four-man defensive fronts the past few weeks and it has not significantly helped the pass rush. They still get very little pressure unless it’s off a blitz package.

That Bengals – Browns game down the road looks like a thriller in the making.

Hail To The Steelers
The Steelers found a way to win over the Cowboys today. Good teams with a clear identity do that.

Their formula is simple – draft well, stop the run on defense, and run the ball on offense. It’s been the same identity for the past 40 years and it has worked.

That’s the best organization is sports my friends. I said so several years ago and it’s still true. We in Cleveland may not want to hear it but there is a reason why they are competitive just about every year – they have an identity, and to have an identity, you need good people in the background choosing and developing the talent.

You also need plenty of patience, which is totally lacking in sports today, and something the Rooney family has had plenty of.

The Browns had a little of that back in the late 80s with Marty ball, but then he got too much power, screwed up the draft, and eventually was let go because he couldn’t win the big one.

Well, he still hasn’t won the big one – but that’s another story alltogether.

Yours truly was opposed to canning Marty back when. The same can be said when the Cavaliers dumped Mike Fratello and when the Indians fired Grover, when the genius John Hart claimed he wanted someone in charge who could "take the Indians to the next level."

How did those moves work out?

One of my sports commandments is as follows – never dump a leader who gets the most out of the talent he has (i.e. Mike Fratello) or one who wins consistently (i.e. Grover/Marty)!

The point – the Rooneys would have never fired Marty. They may not have given him complete control either. Remember, it took Bill Cowher 14 years before he won a Super Bowl and there were plenty of media types and fans who wanted him canned prior to 2005 because of his post-season failures in Steel Town. Morons!

It’s called hiring good people and being patient.

Troy
By the way, pound for pound, the best player in the NFL right now is Troy Polamalu. It’s not even close. He’s been one of the NFL’s best run stopping safeties for a long time, but now he’s making more and more big plays in passing situations. He's the best safety I have seen since Ronnie Lott was patrolling the secondary for S.F.

Aaron Rodgers
The Packers were right. Aaron Rodgers can play. And I’m saying this as the Pack is sitting under .500 for the first time in a long time.

It’s not his fault. He has done a lot more good than bad this year. The defense has let them down time and time again.

I was one who would have brought Brett Favre back and stated so on these pages. However, I can see what they saw. Rodgers can play and should be a very good quarterback for them for a long time.

Favre may have won an extra game or two for the Pack in '08, but even he couldn’t have gotten them to the playoffs this season with that defense – in my humble opinion.

The Packers were clearly tired of the yearly off-season soap opera with Favre and they felt confident in Rodgers. They decided to bite the PR bullet (criticism) and moved on.

Some will criticize the Pack if the Jets make the post-season and Green Bay does not, but it’s not Rodgers’ fault. His numbers have been good enough.

Green Bay showed big stones with the move, it did not pay off in the short run but should down the road.

I still would have kept Favre. Another one of my sports 10 commandments is as follows: You ride a Hall of Famer until he’s done!

However, I give the Pack credit for stepping out on a limb like that. Most teams would not have been so bold even if they truly believed in their young QB.

Guts like that are rare in sports where people spend a good deal of their time covering their rear (i.e. see first entry up top).