Scott Ramage's Cleveland Browns fan blog

There's a reason I didn't post a blog after the Browns-Eagles game.  That reason carried over to why I didn't post after the Bengals-Browns game, and it partially explains why I'm posting this one (technically two) day(s) later while everyone else is asleep.  I didn't come to terms with it until just a couple hours ago, but here we go:

The Browns have the players to compete and win, but not the staff.

There, I said it.  This isn't a new thought by any stretch of the imagination, though.  I began thinking this around Week 5 or 6 while watching the Browns try to rush the passer.  It was then that I thought 'Hey, is it me or do the guys in the Brown jerseys just try to move in a straight line toward the quarterback for every pass?'  This continued to carry over into Week 7 and 8, when I thought the same thing, but amended it to 'Do the guys in the Brown jerseys just try to move in a straight line toward the quarterback for every pass

Continue reading "Love Punch, Baby!"

Just when I thought I wouldn't have anything to work off of until just before game time, in comes a report that Kellen Winslow did something no one would have expected him to do.  I don't mean that he sat down at his locker and started dealing Tarot cards to the coaching staff, I mean that he said he hopes to come back and play for the Browns next season.

What?!  That can't be!  Wasn't he the guy that called out the ownership for not checking in on him during that bout with a staph infection?  That was supposed to be the nail in the free agent coffin!  But wait, this was the same guy who last season broke down in tears of joy after a Browns victory, not because it was a rarity like this season, but because it helped the team reach beyond the mediocrity line of one game above five hundred, a sign that maybe the team could do some good for its city.

Continue reading "Psychological Hope: The Winslow-Patrick Conundrum"

I've been putting off writing this particular entry for awhile.  I was with my parents as my mother's birthday was yesterday.  I had on my Joe Jurevicius jersey, casually flipping a mini Browns football back and forth with my dad, and breaking down with both of them what was going on in the game.  Usually it was me trying to explain the Browns' play calls with logic, which became more and more challenging as the game went on.

 Where do I begin?  I could understand that the old NFL adage is that when you are putting in a new quarterback, you lean on the running game, but not when the running game is trying to lean into the Titans' run defense.  I understood trying to get the short pass working to avoid getting a ton of pressure on Ken Dorsey, but not only did the pressure get to him anyway, the short passing game doesn't work if you never take a shot downfield.  If I had a mutated third hand growing out of my shoulder, I still wouldn't have enough fingers to count how many times Dorsey threw it to the safety valve, especially on third down, at which point the receiver was almost immediately tackled.  Everyone talked about how no one knew the Browns offense better than Ken Dorsey, but that doesn't help when the play-calling comes down to "hand it off and pray."  Besides, Ken is not mobile.  At all.  Peyton Manning's running game is like Jim Brown to Dorsey's Cedric Benson.  Thinking he could stand back there and wait for routes to develop was a horrible idea.

Continue reading "Browns Staff and Quarterbacks: Scramble! SCRAMBLE!"

Well, it's done. Brady Quinn, in what could be called an "I-learned-my-lesson" move, is having surgery on his broken finger and will be off of it for about ten weeks.  On the plus side, he should be good again to sign autographs when the next auto show rolls through the I-X Center.

Now on to the real news, because something this insignificant has really gotten me thinking for some reason.  To have more than one and a half quarterbacks ready for the Titans game, the Browns signed Bruce Gradkowski.  The moment I heard that, the name hit me like a bolt of lightning.  I knew who Bruce was... I just couldn't remember him, so I did some searching.  Remember when Chris Simms was the Bucaneers quarterback and he somehow busted open his spleen during a game,

Continue reading "From Buc to Brown. Hello, Bruce!"

Don't worry, I'll take the fall for Week 13.  All of it.  The lack of Browns touchdowns, the fumble for a Colts touchdown, Derek Anderson's knee touching down in such a way that his MCL resembles a biological kaleidoscope of pain, Ken Dorsey not completing a pass, Kevin Shaffer getting forced to eat his own pancakes, all of it.

Things are bad in Browns Town.  Real bad.  Derek Anderson,  who wasn't that awful, but wasn't that good (16/26, 110 yard, no touchdowns and no picks) is done.  His knee is more unstable than Romeo's job status.  With that Ken Dorsey has to start with--dare I say---Joshua Cribbs possibly backing him up?  Hey, at least if Cribbs plays and throws a pick, we know he'll chase down whoever has the ball and make him pay for it.

Continue reading "Hatred, Chaos, and the Lack of a Panic Button"

I realize that for some Browns fans this may be considered sacrilege, but as much as I enjoy being a pessimistic, sarcastic know-it-all (read: a Browns fan) I'm going to try and think positive before the next game.  It may very well give me an aneurysm, but I'll do it.  Here are some reasons the Browns may not embarrass themselves this Sunday: 

The quarterback is healthy.  It's slightly easier to throw the ball when there's significantly less chance of one's index finger ending up in an "S" shape from throwing the ball too hard. 

Kellen Winslow is listed as Questionable.  Even if he does play it could be on limited time and, with Darnell Dinkins out, that leaves room for Steve Heiden to play more.  Imagine that, a tight end that can catch passes AND block for the run.

Continue reading "Week 13 Hope in a Handbasket"

Man, I'm posting on Thanksgiving?  I'm more anti-social than even I realized. 

So apparently Brady Quinn is already the starter for next season.  Don't look at me like that, Romeo said it first.  Nevermind that Derek Anderson is starting again after Brady aggravated his finger injury (gee, who saw that coming?) and could use some vote of confidence from... well, anybody.  The closest thing he's gotten to that is when Romeo was asked about if DA got on a hot streak, to which the giant hamster remarked that the press hated him when he was starting and was now asking about if he performed well.

 Make note, because it's one of the few defendable things Romeo said during that press conference.  The reason?  It's absolutely true.  Sure, some people cut him some slack, but coming off a Pro Bowl year people haven't exactly been hesitant about jumping down his orange-and-brown throat for every incomplete pass and/or interception, despite his not having the same protection or wide receiver efficiency that he did last season.  Don't get me wrong, Derek did make some pretty bad decisions, but I think there's one specific reason people didn't take to DA.

Continue reading "Roster Management, Romeo Style"

Even hearing about it this long after it happened, I can't believe it was actually a story.  I'm referring of course to Phil Savage's e-mail to a fan that contained a profanity.  Note the word "a" so you can begin to realize just how stupid this story actually is.

Even better, what most reporters (coughESPNcough) are ignoring is that the fan Savage e-mailed was badgering him through the entire game against the Buffalo Bills.  You know you're hard up as a fan when you're insulting your team's general manager during a victory.  Afterward both the fan and Phil said they were embarrassed by what had happened, though honestly I think they're just embarrassed that deadspin.com put them on the spot.

Both apologized to each other afterward, and everyone has been sure to note that the NFL isn't going to sanction Savage over it.  Why would they?  If a GM can drive drunk, naked, through a fast food drive through and not get fired (until this season.  Hallelujah Detroit!), why should the NFL care about what was a private fan-to-staff conversation?   And besides, I hear stuff ten times worse than calling Phil "the worst GM in the NFL" just sitting in the stands at a Browns game, though I chalk that up to both beer and stupidity, neither of which hinder a fan's aim with a beer bottle.

Continue reading "Everyone Should Apologize to Phil Savage"

I'm not going to say I saw the end result of the Texans-Browns game coming.  I'm not going to say that I saw Sage Rosenfels cutting up the secondary coming.  Sure he threw two picks, but he also racked up 275 yards and a touchdown while completing 3 out of every 4 passes he threw.  On a related note, has Brandon McDonald regressed somehow?  He looked nothing like the cornerback that was all over Andre Johnson last season to the point where Andre couldn't use an ATM for fear that Brandon might be behind him watching for his PIN number.

 All I'm going to say is this.  If you're hurt, don't play.  That's all.  Specifically, I'm talking about Brady Quinn.  I doubt anyone didn't know about the injury, but here's the gist of it:

Brady Quinn broke his index finger on his throwing hand.

Continue reading "Attention Brady Quinn: Play through the Pain... on the Bench"