Short & Quick

Poor Eric
Here’s a riddle – What do you do when someone is clearly not getting the job done and keeps making the same mistakes over and over again? Answer – you replace him!

Obviously, the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff did not take that course in personnel management 101.

Eric Wright, who we have been sounding the alarm bells about for two years, was beaten over and over again like a mouthy step child with bad habits and worse hygiene by the Ravens’ A. Boldin yesterday.

I actually felt bad for Wright, who was left out there on an island time and time again, much like a manager decides to leave his starter on the hill to eat innings down 7-0 early. The only difference is this – the Browns were still in this game.

What was Mangini’s and Ryan’s solution?

Leave him out there and occasionally sliding a safety over on top for help. That worked great by the way.

Obviously, there was never any serious thought to taking the guy off the field and replacing him.

Why would you do that? It’s not like you have a high first round pick on your bench who plays the exact same position ready to step in for just this kind of circumstance.

Here’s an out of the box thought – put Brown on Boldin and slide Haden over on Mason with some help on top if you think the rookie needs it.

Can you spell coaching malpractice? Look, these guys spend 24/7 looking at film and yet can’t make a common sense decision a pee wee coach could figure out.

It gets worse - Here's what their braintrust was saying - Eric Wright is our #1 corner. Why else would you put him on a futue Hall of Famer/their best WR?

A 12 year old who plays for the Catholic Youth Football League knows S. Brown is a superior cover corner. Keep breaking down film guys. It will all make sense someday.

Besides, if a guy is having a terrible day, get him off the field – for his own good. Wright’s head had to be spinning 100 mph. The last place he needed to be was on the field in the second half of that game making a fool of himself and costing his team dearly.

If you don’t want to sit him completely, make him the nickel back for a while to take some pressure off the poor guy.

Quick- What's the definition of insanity? Right. It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That would be the Browns’ coaching decision yesterday when it came to their secondary.

Now imagine being a player on that team and knowing you have to depend on that bunch(coaches) to make adjustments at halftime to win games. More on that two paragraphs down.

Anyone who had any doubts about Mangini being in over his head should have no more illusions. This was so poorly handled by this guy and his staff even the local media figured it out.

Need more evidence – this team led in the second half in all three games played to date, only to lose all three.

The way the game ended is indicative of the joke that is the Cleveland Browns – a player jumped off sides on 3rd and 4 late, securing the win for Baltimore. Come on –you can’t make this stuff up.

Women in Sports

Warning - I am about to cross the PC line here folks. Read at your own peril.

I am open-minded, but a local female scribe (ABJ) wrote a sidebar this morning with the narrative that Wright sat at his locker and took the heat for the poor play and the loss.

Okay. That’s easy to write and nice. Women like the touchy, feely stuff. I get it.

But the real story was what this broad buried in the piece. At one point she wrote that Wright was "on the verge of being a Pro-Bowl player coming into this season" or something to that effect.

Really? I never read that memo, and more importantly, someone forgot to tell the Ravens.

How the hell could anyone who knows anything about sports come to that conclusion? Understand this – this babe gets paid to watch football and report on it.

Here's my concern - Where the hell was her editor? The guy couldn’t do her a favor and take that line out and save her embarrassment.

He obviously asked her out on a date sometime back and she told him to take a hike, she had to attend practice and marvel at how the Browns throw effectively to their fullbacks. Or maybe not.

Here’s the problem with sports journalism in a nutshell – her editor probably had no idea that throwaway line made a fool of her.

Remember what we stated a long time ago when we started this work – less than 5% get it.

If I were her boss, I would have handed her an apron after she filed that piece and pointed her in the direction of the kitchen and told her to go practice making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for when she squeezes out some puppies.

Hey, at least broads have an excuse. Some male local talk show host got on the air yesterday and ridiculed the coaching staff for putting Wright on a #1 receiver saying he isn’t good enough to cover top flight WRs.

Boy, that takes huge stones after the guy puts on a show worthy on Dennis Northcutt on Monday Night football versus the Steelers when “Cutt” dropped all four passes thrown his way showing clearly that he wanted to get out of the cold.

Where was this genius two week ago?

Look, I saw Wright line up against Boldin in the first series and laughed out loud wondering how you put a nickel back on a true #1 receiver. Add the lack of pass rush and you had a trainwreck in the making.

The truth is I didn’t think the Ravens coaching staff was smart enough to go there time and time again. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Then I figured Mangini and his skinny D-coordinator would adjust accordingly. I was wrong again.

What’s next, the media calling for the rookie corner (#23) to start ahead of Wright this week? Geez, that’s really getting out in front of the story.

I apologize for my sarcasm, but I get closer and closer to quitting this column when I read and hear this stupidity time and time again.

Pass Rush Or Lack There Of
Another riddle – What’s worse, the Browns pass rush without Marcus Bernard or the team’s receivers? Answer – it’s a push.

The Browns turned Joe “I threw four picks last week and cost my team a win” Flacco into Dan Marino on Sunday. It helps when you can play pitch and catch without fear of being touched.

Speaking of the receivers, I heard another funny line prior to kickoff. One of the local talking heads was wondering how the Browns were going to adjust to
the “devastating loss of not having their possession receiver Brian Robiskie active.”

He was serious.

Something Positive
We saved some good news for last. The offensive line played very well yesterday against a very good defense. They pushed the Ravens’ front around and kept Ray Lewis' mouth shut for most of the game.

I ripped them last week, but they finally showed up Sunday. It’s about time.
That allowed Peyton Hillis to put on an “old-school” performance running straight ahead on every touch and rushing for over 140 yards.

One more time – you have to stay with the run and not abandon it early, especially when the alternative is to throw the ball to “Muhammad Ali” and “Stick With Me.”

This ain’t brain surgery folks.

QBs
One final point – It’s been impossible to judge a QB in this town the past two years since this bunch has been lining up at wide receiver. I know I keep belaboring the point, but you really have no idea how bad their receivers are.

Remember what I said last year - the worst group of WRs I have seen in Cleveland in 40 years of watching football.

Regardless, my boy Seneca Wallace was better this week – making the first guy miss, squeezing a couple in tight places and not making any glaring blunders.

Unfortunately, he just has no playmakers around him. There is no one on that roster that scares the defense. That is beyond sad.

And no, Josh Cribbs worries the defense, ne doesn't scare them.

Turnovers
Wouldn’t it be nice if the defense could force a turnover or two on occasion?

When you can’t rush the passer and don’t have any impact players in general you don’t force mistakes. It’s another glaring weakness on this team – among many others.

Expectations
We though this team could win 7 games this fall because of the additions at linebacker, the signing of a legitimate NFL starting corner and the hope they would run the ball effectively.

We also stated the following – “Unfortunately, this team is a lot closer to 5 wins than 9.” I hope I’m wrong, but if they don’t stay on the ground and can’t get to the quarterback, they might have a hard time reaching 5.

Next Week
Bengals 27 Cleveland 20. The Browns find another way to lose.