With the Cleveland Browns on their NFL-mandated bye week, the Indians on their Fall/Winter bye, and the Cavs on an owner-induced bye for the time being, we'll take a look at where the only active team is at. Seeing as that all the radio talks shows want to talk about now is the Peyton Hillis' contract and whether or not Colt McCoy is the right QB for the job, we'll take a more practical approach with the 2-2 Browns.
I have to admit that the loss on LG Eric Steinbach has affected the Browns much worse than I anticipated. His loss accelerated the learning curve for rookie Jason Pinkston at the left guard. At the right tackle position, we've seen Artis Hicks and Oniel Cousins were brought in as waiver-wire cuts to fill in for oft-injured Tony Pashos. A major strength for the Browns has turned into a weakness. Sure, we still have All-Pro LT Joe Thomas and Pro Bowl C Alex Mack, but it's a five-man unit. And right now we're below average as a unit. The line had as much to do with Peyton Hillis' breakout season last year as they do to the struggling start we have now. It's not so much with their ability as it is the revolving door at right tackle. I know I'm going to catch some flak from the OL friends that I have, but unfortunately that's how I'm seeing it. Hopefully with the bye week, a healthy Tony Pashos and appendix-free Alex Mack can stabilize the line and get this offense going.
That said, the line is nowhere near the sole reason for the offensive struggles. Personnel at the WR is completely lacking. GM Tom Heckert knew that going into this season, but still opted to see what he had in Mohammad Massaquoi, Brian Robiskie and Josh Cribbs as his returning WRs. All are still very young and have not been in a system that flourished. We brought in Greg Little from the 2nd round of the draft to help provide yard-after-catch yards that are so crucial to the West Coast Offense. All I've seen is complete disappointment out of Robiskie as a starter. Massaquoi was injured throughout the abbreviated training camp. Cribbs has progressed as a WR, but not as a feature by any means. The lack of a veteran presence has hurt the implementation of the WCO. WRs are just not getting open, whether it be off of the line, or in the intermediate zones. This has put an extra emphasis on TEs Ben Watson and Evan Moore when they run their routes. If the defense doesn't have to roll coverage to a WR, they can better cover the TEs. Let's see the adjustments the coaches make with the group, whether it be with personnel or specific routes that are being run.
Colt McCoy has a fourth-quarter comeback to his credit thanks to his drive to defeat the Dolphins in Week 3. However, he had multiple opportunities in Week 1 against the Bengals after they pulled a fast on one the Browns D. Against the Titans, he completed 40 of 61 passes for 350 yards and a TD, but there was no rhythm to it. Whether it be the play-calling or the lack of open receivers, there was a lot of dump-offs and short crossing routes. What happened to two of the oldest routes in the game, the hitch and the slant? The hitch is a simple route where the WR drives off the line to 6 yards, plants and comes back to 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. Almost every DB will give you that to start a game. Take it. Slant routes are open as well. Throw a couple to get the defense thinking. From those two basic routes, you can set up many other routes, and open up the playbook. Give Colt other options than the drag route for 5 yards when we need 10 for a first down. Colt is not out of the woods here either though. At some point, he needs to press the ball down the field. He needs to let his WRs make plays for him. No one knows what kind of play-making ability these players have because they haven't been asked to do so on a consistent basis. We've seen flashes from Little, Massaquoi, Watson, and Moore. Take a few chances.
Defensively, there isn't nearly as much to look at. Until the Titans beat them up, they were a top ten defense. Given, they weren't playing against offensive juggernauts, but I'd rather see them play well than not. Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard are playing well on the DL as rookies. Ahtyba Rubin and Jayme Mitchell stablize the DL. LB D'Qwell Jackson earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month to start the season, thus proving his worth in the new 4-3 set the Browns run. The LB core is playing as well as they can with Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong. DB Joe Haden is off to a tremendous start, shutting down opposing receivers. S T.J. Ward is struggling a bit at the coverage half of the safety position. Sheldon Brown is showing age at the cornerback position, and FS Usama Young has a rough one against the Titans. We might need to see more Mike Adams at that spot to keep Young hungry and improve performance. With more offensively-charged teams coming up here, it's time for the defense to prove the first three weeks we're the rule and not the exception.
The Browns will be in the Black Hole at Oakland when they resume their 2011 campaign. It will be the first we see of the bye week adjustments. We'll see how the Browns respond to head coach Pat Shurmur's game plan. Another thing people forget is that the lockout took away months of installation and coaching for the players and the new offense and defense. The issues I pointed out can be fixable over time with coaching and health. Let's hope the Browns come out strong from the break and pick up some wins.
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