10.) Discipline and Division
The only place that we might see more yellow flags then on the field when the Browns play is in Pittsburgh. The team has truly lacked discipline. That comes from all the guys on the team. There have been games where youngsters like Danny Shelton has picked up multiple personal fouls or Armonty Bryant being called for leverage leading to a Steelers touchdown instead of a field goal. It has also come from veterans like Randy Starks jumping offsides to give up a fourth down stop and picking up a personal foul. Dansby had an offsides call effect a game. Tramon Williams was offsides on the final play from San Diego. Joe Thomas has had a lot of false start penalties this year. Erving has gotten destroyed on plays and picking up holding calls that wiped out a touchdown. Even this week we saw the defense give up 77 yards of penalties on back to back plays.
Stupid penalties are one of the reasons why you lose games especially the close ones. The Browns also seem to have division in the clubhouse. There was the TMZ report from early in the year with unnamed players saying how Manziel should play over McCown and going against their coach. The Browns former offensive line coach Andy Moeller had his problems with domestic violence and DUIs. Head Coach Mike Pettine has seemed to come up with whatever possible logical explanation he can fathom to start McCown over Manziel despite the season being over. Travis Benjamin has also been quoted recently saying that they can win with the right coaching staff in place. It’s clear that there is disconnect within the Browns on all levels. There was also the famous incident last year with Farmer getting suspended for texting coaches what to do.
When your players and coaches are on two different levels and your managers can’t get along with the front office you can’t be surprised when things aren’t working. This team won’t play hard to keep its staff and it’s a shame for everyone involved. There is also the immaturity with some of the players. Terrance West was let go because of his poor attitude and self-image. Josh Gordon has struggled to keep himself out of trouble and not be suspended. Manziel’s drama can go on for days on end. Crowell has had off the field problems in the past along with Armonty and Desmond Bryant. Justin Gilbert needs to learn what a flawless performance is. The Browns can really use a culture change and let some of these attitudes and drama out the door and bring in high quality individuals that can be leaders and bring that presence the locker room needs.
11.) Adjustments Need Not Apply
If there’s one huge thing we learned, it’s that the Browns cannot make adjustments. They have been pummeled in the second half of games recently because the other team is making the right adjustments and we’re making none. You know it’s not good when Pettine is saying he wants Manziel to settle down and make throws from the pocket and Marvin Lewis said the Bengals want to keep Manziel in the pocket. When do you ever hear two opposing coaches with the same strategy and adjustments? You just don’t and guess who won that game? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t the Browns. It goes beyond that into strategies too. In these games where we are losing big why is Crowell in the game. Crowell isn’t a pass catcher.
He’s not a small shifty guy to get out there and make people miss in the open. He’s a hard nosed runner. In the Bengals and Cardinals games Johnson was wide open multiple times and we just stayed away from him in the second half. Why not put your pass catching back out there when you are going to throw the ball 75% of the time. The same goes for our defense. Why am I seeing defensive lineman covering wide outs on the other team? Why is our top sack guy from last year not rushing the passer and covering TEs? That’s not his strength and it hurts both our pass rush and ability to cover the other team. Why are we playing a special teams gunner at CB over guys who play corner? It is simple adjustments like these that get avoided and frustrate me. We could include the inactives too. I know Bowe has been a bust but if you’re going to pay him nine million why not see what he can do? Why sit Gilbert to look at a sixth round pick? Why try and force Manziel to throw from the pocket? The Browns can’t adjust and when you can’t adjust you lose.
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