Short & Quick

FYI - I am adding a blog that was misplaced elsewhere last week at the bottom of this latest entry. My apologies. I am a moron. I may have others, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. Sorry.

I know we predicted a loss last week, but that doesn’t mean the following adage isn’t true – “There are losses, then there are bad losses.”

Tampa was actually worse than I thought.

In the season opener versus Tampa, the Browns lost to a team that will be lucky to win 5 games this year.

The Browns lost to a team whose starting quarterback took 8 snaps during the pre-season – and looked the part.

The Browns lost to a team that had a wide receiver corps that wouldn’t dominate the SEC – much like their own.

The Browns lost to a team that was poorly coached. How else to do explain taking your best offensive player (Cadillac Williams) off the field late in the game near the goal line? The great Wayne Fontes did that on occasion with Barry Sanders when he went jumbo backfield. Good call.

The Browns lost to a team that was dead last in the NFL in rush defense in 2009 – even worse than their own. Yet, Eric Mangini and his wizard “O” coordinator who lost 70 pounds in the off-season – mostly brain matter it seems - gave Jerome Harrison less than 10 touches in the running game. That’s the same JH who single-handedly saved Mangini’s job last year by rushing for well over 500 yards in the team’s last four games – all wins.

The Browns lost to a team that had such low expectations there were so many empty seats in the stands it reminded me of Progressive Field in September – circa ’08, ’09, ’10. You get the picture...

The Browns lost to a team that had Rich Gannon, the color commentator, make this remark as he watched the Bucs play midway through the third quarter – “You can’t make this many mistakes and beat a good team.” Gannon of course did not factor in Tampa’s opponent – the Browns, who are not a good team.

A second Gannon observation that caught my attention came when he uttered these words after the Jake D. pick late in the first half that changed the momentum in the contest – “Jake knows better than that.” Really? I’m not so sure. Check his 2009 number s and the fact that he was available and everyone passed but the Browns.

By the way, I like JD’s personality and fire. But in sports, if you lead with your mouth and don’t perform, the guys will turn you off quicker than a prostitute looks for her panties after her fifth john in three hours.

Did you notice the separation, or lack thereof, by Cleveland’s receivers? The scary part is that came against a mediocre secondary. What happens when they play a team that can actually rush the passer with DBs that can cover?

We mentioned this early up top, but someone PLEASE explain to me why you would go away from the one thing that worked last year – JH running the football behind the line – specifically, the left side of the offensive line? This is a classic case of coaches having way too much time on their hands in the off-season and training camp to dream up schemes that $#@! things up. Keep it simple stupid (KISS) works in life and sports as well. You started to form an identity at the tail end of last year.

Why would you go away from it this quickly – especially against a team that can’t stop the run? I know, these coaches are all way too smart for me.
Nice job saving all those timeouts at the end of the game. They’ll come in handy next week. Oops. I forgot. They don’t carry over.

If I were the Bucs, I would have most certainly kicked the field goal on fourth down deep in Browns territory with under a minute remaining instead of going for it on 4th down. Get up so the Browns have to go the distance with seconds remaining and no timeouts.

The Freeman touchdown that beat Joe Haden to put Tampa up was an excellent throw. The coverage wasn’t that bad. Freeman actually made a good pass – one of the few on the day. Just a couple plays earlier, he missed a wide open receiver Joe Namath could probably still hit today while loaded on vodka cruising for babes.

By the way just about every media member in Cleveland had them winning on Sunday. Some even guaranteed it. The cool aid was only 69 cents a pack in Northeast Ohio last week. It will go up some this week however.

If they lose to the Chiefs, the “Walrus” and/or “Chucky” Watch will begin in Cleveland.

As we said last week, we like the Browns to beat the Chiefs in week #2. How does 23-20 sound? Why am I picking them after ripping them? Simple. Tampa, KC and Cleveland are all likely to finish under .500. Therefore, I assume if the three played each other in pool A – they would all split since none of them would likely be good enough to go 2-0. Make sense?

I may actually root for the Ravens against the Jets tonight. Then again, I can’t. I hope it ends in a tie.

The Steelers, playing with a college quarterback at the helm, beat the Falcons, who I am told, have a franchise quarterback leading them. How did that happen?

Another franchise quarterback, Tony Romo, couldn’t get it done in week 1 either.
One more time – a “franchise quarterback” is a guy that has done it for years and is going into the Hall of Fame. There are currently three playing that clearly deserve that moniker – Manning, Brady and Favre. Yes, McNabb and Drew Brees, two of my favorites coming out of college, would be in the discussion. If I missed someone, let me know. I make mistakes like everyone else.

Along with “great,” it is the most overused and inappropriately used term in sports. I should know, I study words for a living.

"You can judge the morality of a nation by the way it treats its animals."
Ghandi

OTHER RECENT ENTRY FOLLOWS BELOW

Why is the NCAA finally deciding to finally crack down on illegal agent-player contact? What, they weren’t aware of it in the past?

How are they physically going to get Reggie Bush’s Heisman? If I am right, the school and player each get one. Sure, Pat Haden can take USC’s Heisman and drive himself it to Indianapolis in his ‘97 Malibu. But how are they going to re-acquire Reggie’s version?

Why does the NFL have to go to 18 games? Why not an odd number – 17? That way, you can keep three exhibition games and not extend the regular season by two more weeks.

I saw where the NFL players showed symbolic union unity prior to the season opener last night between the Vikings and Saints. I wonder how long that unity will last six weeks into the lockout when a good percentage of these scholars are out of money and can’t make their BMW payment. Some may end up on my new favorite television show “Pawn Stars” and fork over their gold earrings and necklaces to buy food for their kids.

Why do I feel the Browns, if they improved at all from a year ago, should open 2-0 based on the opponents, but I know full-well they will find a way to %$#@it up. Perhaps it’s because they have no pass rush whatsoever and not one quality NFL receiver on the roster.

So here goes – Tampa Bay wins 24-23 as K2 makes a couple of big plays to seal it.
For the Browns sake, let’s hope he picks up a flag for taunting and another one for moving too early.

I wonder how many of the cool aid drinking Browns fans/media will do a 180 on Jake D. is he tosses Sunday’s game way with a couple ill-timed picks. Let’s hope he goes 17-for-25 for 200 yards with 1 TD and no picks. If that happens, they win.

And based on what has been written and said to date, how can the Browns possibly win a football game without M. Hardesty in uniform?

Is it just me or is there some light at the end of the tunnel with the Tribe. Even though no one is paying attention, I am actually somewhat encouraged by how some of their young starting pitchers are doing. Yes, I know there’s a lot less pressure when no one is paying attention in August and September when you are 20 games out.

Regardless, you want to see consistency from young players, and when you do, that’s a good indicator the guy might be reliable in the future. Getting Sizemore and Santana back in the middle of that line-up next spring should also help immensely with that anemic offense.

I would also strongly recommend re-signing Westbrook in the off-season if he wants to come back and would work relatively cheap. Having one or two veterans is always a plus.

“Speak so the lowliest can understand you.” Abraham Lincoln