Zach’s Brown List

Welcome to Zach’s Brown List. Yes, clever title is it not? Browns being the team name, and the color that is associated with crappy football, this will be a weekly segment where I dish on our beloved Brows and the laundry list of crap that seems to follow them around. Every Tuesday I will post the weekly Browns “s”hit list. Since this is the first one of the year it will be a little more all encompassing then the following week. Let’s begin shall we?

McCoy and the Browns blew it again on Sunday, after what looked like a really good start

– the Browns blew it AGAIN! Seriously! How in the hell can they keep doing this? They played, for all intents and purposes, a very good first half and failed completely in the second half. In a fashion quite reminiscent of week 1’s blown game against the Bengals the Browns managed to blow a decent lead. Only the Browns can do this. The first half looked almost as if they seemed to click finally, but alas, the fact that they are the Browns caught up to them.

– Lost in the shuffle a little bit was the rather stellar, yet very unspectacular comeback of Peyton Hillis. If he has a shot at redemption and earning any portion of the contract he thinks he deserves, this is that chance. Maybe now that he is healthy again he can be that stabilizing force in the offense that helps breed some flow and consistency.

– Greg Little finally caught a td pass. It only took 45 catches but Little finally found the end zone. As did fellow rookie and potential big play maker Hordan Norwood who has looked pretty good the last few weeks.

One of the most consistent Browns, Ryan Pontbriand, was cut as a result of his poor play this year... The Long Snapper? Really?

– The Ryan Pontbriand era in Cleveland… Are you serious bro? The former Pro Bowl long snapper certainly has not been good this year, but was he really the teams biggest problem…? It says alot more about the state of the Cleveland Browns that they employed a guy who’s only function was to be the long snapper for so long, granted that he was at one point he was the best at that job. They sold his jersey…. Seriously? This is the guy you cut? Not one of the more important, yet equally disappointing members of the team? If they were doing it to make a point, why not go for a guy who might hit home a little more with the rest of the team. Mohammed Massaqoui for example? Or Tony Pashos? The long snapper? Really?

– Ranting aside, it has been an interesting year for young Colt McCoy. This week, for the majority of the game he looked like he belonged. He really hasn’t done too many great things this year, but he, as the rest of the team, has been good at not turning it over too much. There is hope for him yet, though the offense fizzled fast in the second half.

– As did the defense. The “bend but don’t break” style is certainly playing with fire. Sunday they broke. Somewhat shockingly the Browns ‘D’ has been a well above average unit all year long, but they really came up short Sunday. Injuries are certainly adding up, Scott Fujita found his way to the IR. It is time for D’Qwell Jackson to rally the defense behind his Pro Bowl level play and finish off the year strong against some daunting competition.

– Daunting might be an understatement. Both games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh remain. These are huge tests for this young team. If they finish strong it will be a tremendous building block for next year, if they roll over and play dead, many, including myself, might lose faith in the team, coaching staff and the power brain trust.

Does Shurmur have what it takes to remain a head coach in the NFL?

– Coaching, what a concept. First year head honcho Pat Shurmur may have bitten off more than he could chew as a first year guy. As the head coach and offensive coordinator he is responsible for so much more of the weekly prep, and it has really shown many times. I am not ready to close the book on him as a head coach, I am close, but I really think they need to find him a capable offensive coordinator. I am very satisfied with Dick Jauron as the defensive coordinator, he has squeezed so much goodness from the defense it is ridiculous. It does beg the question though… Why is the experienced head coach on staff running the defense and not the team?

Rants and raves finished. Let’s hope the team builds off of last weeks first half and learns from it’s mistakes as they run into very, very stiff competition on Sunday. That being said, as evidenced by Josh Cribbs very public frustrations, things are very unsettled in Cleveland and I would hate to see them get worse.