CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Colt McCoy swears he's progressing in Pat Shurmur's offense on a weekly basis, though Sunday he looked more like the quarterback as game manager favored by Eric Mangini.
McCoy even trotted out a corporate-speak slogan to capture what's happening on his side of the ball: "Stepping forward into growth" was how he put it. That unofficially gives the 2011 Browns a second title that many outside of Berea no doubt find difficult to decipher, the first being "West Coast Offense." 
Eventually, the question needing to be answered is whether McCoy is a quarterback who needs every last piece in place to win consistently, let alone big, or whether he can lift the play of those surrounding him. The early exit polls suggest it's the former, but -- to be fair -- Sunday didn't sway the vote one way or the other. Not after tight end Ben Watson, wideout Mohamed Massaquoi and right guard Shawn Lauvao departed with injuries.
The Browns won a game in which McCoy handed off more than he threw, which was pretty much the favorite formula of the past regime. Montario Hardesty carried 33 times for 95 yards against a good run defense while McCoy started out scattershot, found some rhythm, threw a bad interception, converted 50 percent of his third downs and didn't get his team in the end zone.
"I thought he battled," Shurmur said. "He may be a little bit of a symbol of this victory. It wasn't pretty but he executed to get us where we needed to be to win this game."
That's the team-fan disconnect right there. As a first-year coach, Shurmur is reveling in the hard fight won by any means possible. You're tired of every inch gained on offense being so knockdown, dragout.
When does it get pretty? Pretty would be nice for a change.
The Browns' only scores Sunday came from 105 yards worth of Phil Dawson field goals. This was a throwback to the 2009 Buffalo game (Mangini's first win), only with less reason for frozen offense.
After the excitement died down, Shumur predicted bigger things to come. The safe presumption is he didn't mean someday soon winning a game in which the only scores come from 106 yards worth of Dawson field goals.
"I'd like to think at some point we're going to win some games by a bunch of points," Shurmur said.
What is he basing that on? Things he sees when breaking games down. A batted pass that could've been a big gainer. Details that change games in big ways and probably put you into full eye roll. He must realize he's not the first coach to tell you that. In fact, the only one who didn't was Chris Palmer, who couldn't. He recognized the light at the end of the tunnel as a "runaway train."
Shurmur has a more attentive audience in his locker room. He and McCoy had a chat during the week. Shurmur felt the need to remind McCoy the onus always falls on the coach and quarterback when the offense sags. The message?
"You gotta be able to take a punch," Shurmur said.
Unless he saw confidence sagging in his quarterback, that much we already know about McCoy. He can take a punch. Sunday proved he could clinch and counter, too. What we don't know is whether he's got any haymakers in him. There was one or two lonely throws downfield.
Not every game is going to pit him against Charlie Whitehurst and a Smurf running attack. The schedule gets tougher. McCoy's cadre of targets isn't talented enough or deep enough to withstand Watson and Massaquoi missing time.
There was a point early Sunday when Seneca Wallace would've been a reasonable option on any team other than one dedicating the season to finding out about McCoy, who needs every snap to not only tell the Browns if their quarterback search is over or ongoing but for -- shall we say – "stepping into growth."
In a way, Sunday's game called the bluff of those who want the Browns to run their way to glory. How'd you like them sour apples? Shurmur and McCoy will both tell you. Don't give up on the West Coast offense yet.
"We did a lot of nice things today," McCoy insisted.
"I don't know what fans should think," Shurmur said. "All I know is I see improvement for this team. ... I don't think we'll score 100 points in a game but..."
I know what you're thinking. No. He didn't mean for the season.
http://www.cleveland.com/budshaw/index.ssf/2011/10/colt_mccoy_and_the_cleveland_b.html
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