Brownie Bits: Week 3

Written by Jonathan Knight

Useless nuggets of information from Sunday’s Browns game that you can certainly live without…

THE SKID CONTINUES: The Browns have now lost nine straight games and 12 of their last 13. The losing streak is their longest since dropping 10 in a row in 2008/2009.

AWFUL O-LINE: The Browns’ primary weakness on offense on Sunday was its offensive line, which permitted four sacks and only allowed Cleveland to tally 33 rushing yards, 2.5 yards per carry. Tack on three holding penalties by the line (one of which was declined) and it goes down as one of its worst performances in recent memory.

AGAIN WITH THE HOME WHITES: This was the 10th straight home game in which the Browns wore their white jerseys. This is their longest home/white string since going with the whites for 36 straight home games between 1985 and 1989.

DISPARITY: The Browns’ defense is permitting an average of 392 total yards per game. Meanwhile, the offense is averaging nearly 100 less yards per contest at 296.

OUTSCORED BY THE TRIBE: Sunday marked the first time the Indians outscored the Browns in the same day since Sept. 27, 2009, when the Tribe trounced Orioles 9-0 while the Browns were throttled by the Ravens, 34-3. 

NO DAWSON: This was only the third game in Pat Shurmur’s tenure as Browns’ head coach in which the Browns did not kick a field goal.

OH-AND-THREE REDUX: This marks the fifth time in the last seven years the Browns have started 0-3, the eighth time overall. The best record they’ve finished with after starting 0-3 is 5-11 (1984, 2009, 2010), and - since this topic is obviously on fans’ minds - their head coach was replaced either during or immediately after three of those eight seasons.

POINTS AT A PREMIUM: The Browns have been held to 17 points or less in seven of their last eight games. They’ve also failed to score more than 17 points in their last 12 home games.

WELL-PLACED: Reggie Hodges and the Browns’ punting team only averaged 35.8 net yards on eight punts, but placed three of them inside the Buffalo 20.

WINNING TRIP ALONG THE LAKE: The Bills hadn’t won in Cleveland since 1995, though this was only the second time they’ve played here since the Browns’ return. The previous three meetings had all been in Buffalo (2008, 2009, and 2010).

OFFENSIVE MISTAKES: The Browns’ offense was penalized for false starts twice on Sunday, making it four times in their last two games. They were also flagged for holding twice against the Bills (a third was declined) - pushing their total to five in the last two weeks.

WEEDEN WATCH: After his infamous 5.1 in Week 1, Brandon Weeden has pushed his season passer rating up to 60.7.

TOOTHLESS: The Browns' defense managed only one sack, one tackle for a loss, and one quarterback hit. Both the tackle for loss and quarterback hit were delivered by Jabaal Sheard.

ANOTHER OMINOUS STREAK CONTINUES: This was the 25th straight home game in which the Browns failed to draw 70,000 fans. It's their longest string since going 29 straight home games from 1953 to 1958.

CASHING IN: The Browns’ initial touchdown on Sunday marked the first time this season they’d scored a touchdown after penetrating their opponents’ 20-yard-line. They’d crossed the 20 three times in their first two games without reaching the end zone. 

SEPTEMBER SLUMP: Over the past five years, the Browns have lost 13 of their 16 September games.

NOWHERE FAST: The Browns' offense sputtered to four three-and-outs on Sunday, bringing their season total to 11. Combined with their seven turnovers, more than a third of their possessions have ended either in a turnover or a three-and-out.

TRENT’S TOUCHES: Trent Richardson had 18 touches in Sunday’s game, down from his 20 and 23 in the first two games, respectively. His 2.2 yards per carry average was essentially identical to his clip in the opener against the Eagles.

BUFFALO BLOCKADE, PART 1: Before Trent Richardson’s touchdown scamper just before the half, the Browns hadn’t scored a touchdown in their previous nine quarters against the Bills. In their last eight meetings with Buffalo, the Browns have scored only six touchdowns while kicking 15 field goals.

IMPROVEMENT: After his miserable debut in which he threw an interception every nine attempts, Brandon Weeden tossed 70 consecutive passes without an interception until throwing two in the final five minutes of Sunday’s game. (A Buffalo pick in the second quarter was wiped out on a penalty.)

SEPTEMBER SURPRISE: This marked the first time in their 40-year rivalry that the Browns and Bills had ever played in the month of September.

BALL CONTROL WHEN IT COUNTS: The Browns' opponents have held the football for more than 31 minutes in the fourth quarter of their three games. The Browns have controlled the ball for not quite 14 minutes in the fourth quarter.

PAR FOR THE COURSE AT THE FACTORY OF SADNESS: The Browns have now lost nine of their last 12 home games.

BUFFALO BLOCKADE, PART 2: The Browns had been held under 10 points in four of their previous five games with the Bills. And the Cleveland offense had failed to score a touchdown in five of the previous seven meetings.

ALL-TIME: The Browns still lead all-time series with the Bills, 11-7.

DON’T SEE IT THIS YEAR, EITHER: The Browns have never posted a winning record in a season in which they lost to the Bills. Conversely, in all three of the previous seasons in which the Bills won a game in Cleveland, they made the playoffs.

http://www.theclevelandfan.com/cleveland-browns/1-browns-archive/10206-brownie-bits-week-3

Browns Recycle Tired Script, Lose to Bills

Written by Thomas Moore

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

The Cleveland Browns fall into an early hole, the defense regroups while the offense does just enough to make the game close, the defense can’t get the one stop they absolutely must have, and the offense can’t sustain any kind of success.

Add it all up and you get the Browns ninth consecutive loss, this time by the score of 24-14 to a Bills team that really isn’t that good.

The loss drops the Browns to 0-3 for the third time in the past four seasons and, with road trips to Baltimore (to take on the Ravens) and New Jersey (to face the Giants), the prospect of an 0-5 start lingers in the room like a stale fart.

“You can’t spot a good team 14 points early the game, which we did,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “We talk frequently about a fast start and a strong finish and we didn’t have the fast start. We just didn’t get it done.

“There are no magical answers. We just didn’t get it done.”

The Browns had three offensive possessions in the first quarter and went three-and-out on each, gaining a total of 13 yards. Meanwhile, the Bills went 58 yards on their first possession for a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick pass, and 49 yards on their second, scoring a touchdown on a 32-yard reception by C.J. Spiller where Spiller may not have been touched by anyone in an orange helmet.

Ten minutes into the game the Browns were down by two touchdowns. Game over? Not so fast my friends.

Once the defense settled down, it started making the Bills look like a team that hadn’t won a road game since Week 1 of the 2011 season. After falling behind 14-0, in the next seven drives the Browns forced four punts, recovered a fumble and held the Bills to just three points.

The loss of Spiller to a shoulder injury in the first quarter contributed to the Bills offensive struggles, certainly, but the Browns defense played a role, too.

While that was going on, the offense struggled to find itself. The Browns did not convert a third down until there were five minutes left in the third quarter, but went into halftime trailing just 14-7 after a Trent Richardson six-yard run with 2:12 left in the first half.

The Browns had a chance to get the ball back before the half, but after stopping Graham for six yards on a third-and-10 play, D’Qwell Jackson was called for a dubious roughing penalty that let the Bills keep the ball (questionable calls by the referees would be a theme in the second half).

The defense would eventually force the Bills to punt and, because the Browns used their timeouts wisely, had a chance to get into field goal position before the end of the half.

But with no timeouts left, the Browns oddly called a draw play on first down that chewed up valuable time. Then, on third down, quarterback Brandon Weeden hit Greg Little in the worst possible spot – his hands – on a crossing pattern where Little had enough room and set up Phil Dawson for a field goal attempt.

Need we say Little dropped the ball? If the answer is yes, then you must be new around here.

The Bills opened the scoring in the second half with a field goal to pus their lead to 17-7 and the Browns looked like they would answer back after Richardson ripped off a 13-yard run on first down. But a completely bogus holding call on Joe Thomas – didn’t anyone tell the replacement refs that All Pros don’t hold? – brought the run back and the Browns ended up punting after a six-play, three-yard “drive”.

The Browns would force the Bills to go three-and-out and Weeden would put together a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, hitting Travis Benjamin with a pretty 22-yard touchdown pass. Suddenly, the Browns were back in the game, trailing 17-14.

After trading punts with the Bills, the Browns needed the defense to come up with one more stop to give the offense a chance to pull the game out. But Fitzpatrick took the Bills 68 yards for a touchdown, hitting a wide open Stevie Johnson with a nine-yard pass to but the Bills back up by 10.

With nine minutes to play the Browns tried to make a game of it, but a 17-yard pass to Little on third and 11 was wiped out by another horrible holding call by the refs on Alex Mack (again, Pro Bowlers don’t hold). The Browns were eventually punt with six minutes remaining, effectively ending any hope of a comeback.

Richardson had a bad day, rushing 12 times for just 27 yards. On the day, the Browns only rushed 13 times against a Buffalo defense that came into the game giving up an average of 4.5 yards per carry.

“We’re pros and we should be able to build drives and build success each week,” Richardson said. “We have to make sure we prepare right and come out blazing. It gets you upset at times but you have to get back up and go on to the next play.

“We have to look at it that we can’t do anything about these past three games. But we can do something about Baltimore and we can do something about the Giants.”

Weeden took the punishment for the odd play calling decisions, throwing two interceptions and being sacked four times while finishing 27-of-43 for 237 yards.

“Our offensive line gave me time to throw, but I think overall the offensive line did great,” Weeden said. “We started too slow and after the week we had last week it was disappointing. You can’t be 0-for-5 or 0-for-6 on third downs and win many games.

“I felt like it was a solid day. I felt comfortable in the pocket and that I threw the ball accurate. The most important thing is we didn’t win this game so I didn’t do enough.”

We’re not really sure where the Browns go from here. The Bills are an average team with an average quarterback, at best, and a head coach who is over-matched on most Sundays. If the Browns can’t beat – or even really stay competitive – with a team like that, what will happen when they play, you know, real teams?

The defense plays well enough to keep the team on the fringe of the game but eventually wears down at the end of the game. The offense can’t consistently put together drives or find any kind of rhythm.

“The next one is the game we have to win,” Shurmur said. “They are all must wins (because) who goes into a game thinking they are going to lose?”

We don’t know coach, you tell us.

http://www.theclevelandfan.com/cleveland-browns/1-browns-archive/10208-browns-recycle-tired-script-lose-to-bills

Browns RB Trent Richardson to Have Non-Awkward Meeting with Jim Brown This Weekend

While the situation was blown out of proportion (when doesn’t that happen?), Browns legend Jim Brown did say that new Browns running back Trent Richardson was “ordinary” when the team drafted him back in April.

Richardson essentially let it go (though he no doubt used the slight as motivation), and now that Brown has decided to return to Cleveland to honor his former teammate Ernie Green, the two will finally meet. Don’t expect that rocky start to have any impact on their meeting, though.

“Just to meet [Brown] is an honor,” said Richardson. “He’s always been an icon. He’s always been somebody that you want to have a season like, a career like. To meet him and be on the same field means a lot.” (Source: Cleveland.com)

And with Jim Brown watching, Trent Richardson has every opportunity on Sunday to make the Hall of Famer describe him as even more than “impressive.”

http://dawgpounddaily.com/2012/09/20/browns-rb-trent-richardson-to-have-non-awkward-meeting-with-jim-brown-this-weekend/

Cleveland Browns desperate to avoid 0-3 start to season

By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer

BEREA, Ohio -- Pat Shurmur dreaded his statistics class as a business major at Michigan State, trudged clear across the blustery campus to get there, and didn't really get it.

But there's at least one statistic the Browns head coach can wrap his head around this week -- if the Browns lose to the Bills (1-1) on Sunday and fall to 0-3, they can pretty much kiss their playoff chances goodbye.

Since 1990, only three teams have started 0-3 and made the playoffs. The most recent team to achieve the feat was the Bills (1998).

"We've got to win this game," Shurmur said.

As it is, the Browns are already facing long odds. Since 1990, only 12 percent of teams starting 0-2 (22-of-184) -- have made the postseason.

"We need to do what we can to win this football game against a team that's coming off a big victory [35-17 over Kansas City]," he said. "I've got a lot of respect for Buffalo, because in my opinion they've done a lot of things to upgrade their roster in the last couple of years."

The Browns were encouraged by the performances of Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson during Sunday's 34-27 loss to the Bengals, but the harsh reality is that they're 0-2 and hitting a rough patch in their schedule.

Over the next three games -- all played without suspended cornerback Joe Haden -- they'll host the Bills and then visit the Ravens and defending Super Bowl champion Giants. If they lose Sunday, the season could slip away in a hurry.

"Right now, it's easy to just lay down your hat and be like, 'You know what? The season's over with. We don't have it,'" said linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, who has two interceptions and three sacks through the first two games. "But we have a long season to go and if you can stay upbeat, things may turn around. Things may not turn around, but that's something that's out of my control."

As the defensive captain, Jackson knows its incumbent on him to help keep the young guys focused.

"I have to be the same guy every day, so young guys know -- it's tough to win in this league, and it's easy to lose in this league if you allow it," said Jackson. "My message is, 'Keep fighting, keep pushing forward, because things could change in one week.'"

Despite the dire outlook, Jackson remains hopeful.

"It's not over. We have a ton of football to play," he said. "Two games, we were in it. The next time we get in those situations we have to be able to close out."

In his six seasons with the team, the Browns have failed to make the playoffs. The Browns have made the playoffs once since 1999, losing in a wild-card game in 2002.

"To play this game, you've got to be mentally tough," he said. "Whether we win or lose, you have to be critical of yourself."

The Browns are finding life without Haden can mean big plays and wide-eyed defensive backs coming up short. The Browns on Sunday were also without starting cornerback Sheldon Brown, who sat out all but one play with a neck stinger. Shurmur inserted Brown just to keep his 162-game streak intact.

In their absence, Buster Skrine and Dimitri Patterson started, and rookie Trevin Wade played nickel back. But with Skrine surrendering passes, missing tackles and drawing a 31-yard pass interference penalty, Shurmur might tinker with the lineup.

"With Joe out, we're going to look at all options to make sure we play the right combination of guys," Shurmur said.

He attributed some of Skrine's struggles not to his size (5-9, 185), but to bad footing a few times. "I don't care how big you are you can't slip," Shurmur said. "But he's quick and he challenges."

Jackson said the loss of Brown, an 11-year pro, is underrated. Fortunately for the Browns, he should be back this week.

"There's not too many receivers that can fool him," Jackson said. "He's seen it all. He encourages younger guys on what to expect. His knowledge of the game is what we're missing the most."

Being back home to avoid the dreaded 0-3 kiss of death is key, Jackson said.

"We've just got to get over that hump," said Jackson. "And once we [do], it's like a snowball effect. We'll continue to string some wins together."

Now that would be a stat Shurmur could embrace.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/09/cleveland_browns_desperate_to.html

To rekindle NFL rivalries, Cleveland Browns need to become relevant

By Tom Reed, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jimmy Haslam has sat in the Dawg Pound with Browns fans, stood on the field with coaches and met with team executives in their offices to gain a better understanding of the organization and what ails it.

But before setting foot in a Browns facility, he had first-hand knowledge of the team's sorry history against its chief rivals. He helped contribute to it as a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So when Haslam was asked recently if he knew how badly the Browns had been dominated by his former club, the truck stop magnate leaned across a boardroom table and quoted a statistic from his memory bank.

"Twenty-two [wins] out of the last 24 games," he said.

A captain of industry who does his own homework, Haslam is aware of the Browns' epic struggles within the AFC North Division. Cleveland has the worst record (22-68) of any NFL team since 1999 in intra-division play, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Browns ride a 10-game losing streak against AFC North opponents as they travel to Cincinnati on Sunday to face the Bengals. They are 3-21 in the division since 2008.

The reasons for futility are many and include poor drafting, organizational instability, the failure to adapt to the playing styles of the top teams, and the misfortune of rejoining the division just as Pittsburgh and Baltimore were rising to the status of conference elite.

How tough has it been for the Browns and Bengals? According to a Columbus Dispatch report two years ago, Cleveland and Cincinnati each had won a game on the same day just 13 times since 1999.

Two years later, that stat remains unchanged.

Haslam doesn't need to talk to fans and media personalities in Pittsburgh and Baltimore to appreciate the state of the rivalries with the Browns. As a minority owner of the Steelers, he said that franchise's focus was the Ravens and the New England Patriots.

Among the divisional lowlights since the Browns' 1999 return:

• The offensively-challenged Browns scored 48 points in a 2004 game against the Bengals and lost by 10;

• Former Browns quarterback Tim Couch fought back tears as he spoke of hearing cheers from Cleveland fans as he was replaced by Kelly Holcomb after sustaining a concussion at the hands of the Ravens in a 2002 game; and

• The Browns were hammered so badly by the Steelers in a 2005 game on Christmas Eve -- one that featured James Harrison body-slamming a drunk Cleveland fan -- it prompted the Akron Beacon Journal to run the headline: "Season's Beatings."

While several players in the Browns' locker room say they don't put much stock into division rivalries, it's clear the new owner does. Haslam understands how playing well against the teams they meet twice a season translates. In the past 13 years, the teams with the top five intra-division records -- Indianapolis, Green Bay, New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore -- have combined to win eight Super Bowls and 12 conference titles.

"If we can compete in our division we can win the Super Bowl," Haslam said. "That's the way we felt in Pittsburgh. If we can win the division, which means beating the Ravens and Steelers, then we are probably as good as any team in the AFC or NFC."

Lofty goals for a franchise that's never had a winning record within the AFC North.

Browns defensive end Frostee Rucker, who played his previous five seasons in Cincinnati, marveled at the change he witnessed in the Ravens during their 44-13 win over his former team Monday night.

The sight of quarterback Joe Flacco running a no-huddle offense surprised him. It was David Letterman doing the Late Show without a Top-10 List; the cast of Jersey Shore appearing in public bereft of spray-on tans.

"It's the first time I can remember them changing something up a bit," Rucker said. "We need to get something, run with it and perfect it. Both the Ravens and the Steelers have been doing it for years."

Since Flacco took the first snap of the 2008 season, the Browns have had five opening-day starting quarterbacks. If it always seems like the Browns are slow to react to what the Ravens and Steelers have been doing for a decade, it's because the organization is forever turning over rosters and coaching staffs.

Offensive tackle Joe Thomas stood in the locker room Thursday and recalled the 2009 arrival of coach Eric Mangini, who added about a half-dozen former New York Jets to the roster. They're all gone, including Mangini.

While the Browns unearth foundations and tear down walls, the Steelers and Ravens simply replace loose mortar. Running back Jamaal Lewis leaves Baltimore after the 2006 season and Ray Rice emerges two seasons later. Pittsburgh waves goodbye to outside linebacker Joey Porter in 2007 and plugs in Harrison.

"With new coaches and front office come new ideas and new players, which is fine," Thomas said. "But if you do that every couple years pretty soon you don't have any guys left that you really want."

Ravens safety Bernard Pollard is more succinct: "Cleveland hasn't been able to develop an identity." The Browns enter Sunday's game with the youngest roster in the AFC (25.55 years).

The Bengals' approach is somewhere between the Browns and the divisional powers. Marvin Lewis became the first coach in NFL history to enter his 10th season with the same franchise despite having a losing record (69-74-1). And yet, the Bengals have won two division titles and last year qualified as a wild card, giving the division three playoff teams.

In a league where patience has gone the way of the straight-ahead kicker, the Browns have been unable to fuse coach with talent and success. Perhaps the Browns are onto something defensively with professorial coordinator Dick Jauron and a unit that is young, aggressive and quicker than in seasons past.

But if Haslam makes substantial changes in the off-season, will Jauron be around to build on his progress?

"Continuity helps, but you have to be on an upward track and be steady with it," linebacker Scott Fujita said. "When you start to get players and coaching staffs on an upward trajectory that's when you start to get your continuity."

View from afar

Longtime Pittsburgh sportscaster Stan Savran grew up in Cleveland and was introduced to alcohol at old Muncipal Stadium in the form of two inebriated Steelers fans wobbling in the seats next to him.

Savran remembers when Browns-Steelers was among the NFL's fiercest rivals. He still sees Joe "Turkey" Jones planting Terry Bradshaw in the turf like a lawn dart. He recalls Jack Lambert saying "quarterbacks should wear dresses" after hitting Brian Sipe out of bounds.

As the Browns returned in 1999, fans on both sides assumed the rivalry would come back with them. Instead, the Steelers whipped the Browns, 43-0, in the opener and have been beating Cleveland lopsided ever since.

"It's like when Art Modell took the Browns to Baltimore the rivalry went with him," Pittsburgh sports radio personality Mark Madden said. "The Ravens got good and that became the team Steelers fans anticipated playing."

Savran said an entire generation of Steelers fans know the Browns as nothing but a rebuilding franchise. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisbeger is 14-1 against Cleveland.

"It's a walk-over win in their eyes," Savran said. "They don't see the Browns as a threat."

The view from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay is similar. Cleveland got to keep the colors but not Ozzie Newsome, the former Browns tight end who, as Ravens general manager, turned them into a perennial contender.

"Ravens-Browns had all the makings of a great rivalry, but you have to be competitive," Baltimore sports talk host Vinny Cerrato said. "When the schedule comes out Ravens fans want to know, 'When do we play the Steelers?' They just don't care about Cleveland."

Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson knows there's only one way to change opinion.

"We haven't earned that respect," Jackson said. "In order to get that respect we have to go out and play great football against these teams."

Kicker Phil Dawson, an original member of the expansion Browns, correctly observes that the losing hasn't been limited to the AFC North. But their winning percentage outside the division (.361) is 117 points higher.

Seven times, the Browns have won only one or zero divisional games in a season since their return.

"The passion isn't the same," Madden said. "I can't remember the last time I went to Heinz Field and heard a Steelers fan yell: 'Browns suck.'"

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/09/to_rekindle_nfl_rivalries_clev.html#incart_river_default

Art Modell was offered a stadium for the Cleveland Browns and passed

By Mark Naymik, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- What you think you know about Art Modell's decision to take the Browns out of Cleveland for a shiny new stadium in Baltimore is legend.

Today, the consciences of a couple of old-guard Cleveland politicians give us a long-hidden fact about Modell's departure. Specifically, when Modell claimed he would have stayed if city leaders had offered to build him a stadium, he was lying.

He was offered a new stadium.

At the Gateway sports complex.

He rejected the offer, years before leaving.

Since the former Browns and Ravens team owner died last week, we have rehashed the famous narrative that Modell left town out of frustration with political leaders who stuck him with the dumpy, history-rich Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which lacked the revenue-generating luxury suites and other amenities of newer stadiums.

Modell was particularly upset that leaders here bent over backward for Dick Jacobs and Gordon Gund, the former owners of the Indians and the Cavaliers, respectively, who were getting new homes -- courtesy of the taxpayers, at the Gateway sports complex completed in 1994 just north of the Inner Belt downtown.

The story of the stadium snub for years has left us asking: Why didn't city leaders just offer to build Modell a new stadium along with the others?

After leaving town in 1996, Modell reinforced the snub story in interviews with news outlets, though he was not speaking at the time to The Plain Dealer, which he saw as part of the conspiracy against him.

"My major regret is that I should not have acceded to their request to stay on the side on Gateway," Modell told Cleveland Magazine in August 1996. He told the magazine he should have forced a football stadium into the Gateway conversation.

"I should have made my demands known at that time. Then we wouldn't be here now. . . . Had they even mumbled the word 'new stadium' I would have said, 'Let's talk.' "

It turns out that officials at the time tried to talk with him. Modell wouldn't listen.

George Forbes, who was Cleveland's council president during the late 1980s and a key player in negotiations with team owners during planning for Gateway, said he and others asked Modell to be a part of the project.

Forbes said leaders proposed building a third Gateway sports facility for the Browns, just south of the Inner Belt a couple of blocks from what is now Progressive Field.

Forbes' memory for detail is hazy. But he said then-Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan, Jacobs and lawyers familiar with the financing options were present with Modell at a meeting when the offer was made.

"Tim and I were saying, 'While we are doing this, we might as well clear up the whole damn thing and build all three stadiums,' " Forbes told me. "This way we don't have to go back, and future councilmen and commissioners won't have to deal with the issue. Let's clear it up once and for all, was our thinking."

Jacobs died in 2009.

Forbes said he remained quiet for decades out of respect for Modell, whom he considered a friend.

"Art was my friend and a good man, and I didn't want to get into it," Forbes said. "I didn't want to pour hot water on a scalding dog."

But Forbes said he's long been bothered by the narrative that government failed Modell.

"I have thought about this meeting every time it was written or televised that no one made an offer to build a stadium," he said. "My words are to set the record straight about the governmental institutions and our involvement."

I called Hagan, who championed the Gateway complex and suffered great criticism about its costs to taxpayers. He confirmed Forbes' account. He described the offer as informal but honest.

"There is no question we made an effort," Hagan said.

Exactly why Modell didn't pursue the discussion remains a mystery.

Forbes recalled that Modell said he just wanted to stay in Municipal Stadium. Hagan couldn't add much more detail, nor would he speculate on why Modell didn't look harder at Gateway.

The timing of the Forbes and Hagan offer is critical to sorting out the legend. When Gateway planning was just starting, Modell was told to stay away. City leaders were concerned about appeasing Jacobs, who did not want to share a stadium with the football team and was threatening to move the Indians to a new city.

David Hopcraft, a longtime spokesman for Modell, said leaders planning Gateway were adamant that the Browns owner wait.

"They told him they would take care of him later," Hopcraft told me. Hopcraft also noted that Modell was one of the biggest contributors to the public campaign to persuade taxpayers to support the tax on alcohol and tobacco that paid for Gateway.

But Forbes said that after Jacobs was satisfied with plans for the new baseball stadium, the time was ripe to bring Modell into Gateway. So Forbes and Hagan made their offer.

Years later, politicians had cooled to the idea to asking taxpayers for more money for a football stadium. Modell no doubt became frustrated by his failure to win political backing for refurbishing Municipal Stadium.

Hagan famously quipped in 1995 about a proposed tax for Municipal Stadium: "We all wish Mother Teresa owned the Browns. It'd be an easier sell."

But timing is everything. And there was a time, long before Modell abandoned Cleveland, when he was offered a new stadium.

Whether or not a Gateway deal could have been struck with Modell -- and ultimately sold to voters -- is immaterial. That leaders offered Modell his own stadium at Gateway changes the storyline that has been central to his excuse for leaving. This fundamentally changes our view of one of the biggest moments in the history of this town.

Maybe Forbes and Hagan were wise to keep the Gateway offer quiet all these years. Modell already was viewed by many as the worst villain Cleveland ever saw. And knowing that Modell was offered a stadium deal and still left would have only further damaged our psyche at the very time the city's football fans needed to move on.

I know the latest revelation may revive some fans' anger toward Modell, but I'm glad the record is clear, so we can move on.

We need to focus on the team's history on the field, not off.

Hopefully, this history won't be as painful.

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2012/09/art_modell_gateway_stadium.html

Brandon Weeden on his struggling debut: 'I know I played bad'

By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer

BEREA, Ohio -- Brandon Weeden hasn't glanced at Twitter, even with one eye shut, read the papers, listened to sports talk radio or watched SportsCenter highlights since his four-interception NFL debut.

"I know I played bad, so I'm not going to sit here and listen to anybody," said Weeden. "These guys in this locker room, they've got my back and that's really all I care about. I don't need the nation to tell me how bad I played."

Just to be certain that it was as bad as he thought, Weeden came in early Monday morning and watched the film of the 17-16 loss to the Eagles three times. "Two times too many," he said.

But after the non-charming third viewing, he deep-sixed the tape.

"I'll never watch that film again," he said. "It's over and done with. If you dwell on it, it will affect you the rest of the week and you can't do that. I learned from it, and I've got to play better."

The one silver lining is that he can only go up from here. Weeden and his 5.1 rating are dead-last in the NFL, one notch below fellow rookie Ryan Tannehill (39.0) and a few spots behind No. 1 pick Andrew Luck, who's 28th with a 52.9.

"It can't be any worse than it was the first week," Weeden said of his restored confidence heading into Cincinnati this week. "I mean that jokingly. We're all going to have rough stretches. Obviously, mine was the first week. I look at the mistakes I made, and you guys saw 'em. Guys were wide open and I missed 'em. That's not my character, not the way I usually throw the football."

Weeden, who said he never played that poorly for an entire game before, sought refuge in the company of family and friends.

"I didn't go home and watch football, I can promise you that," he said. "I had a bunch of people in town. My parents are supportive. They were like, 'Brandon, it's going to get better.' It's nice having those people around -- even though I am a little bit older (28) and I should be able to handle it."

Weeden arose early Monday, ready to face the music. When he got to the team facility, coach Pat Shurmur assured him he was still his guy, and General Manager Tom Heckert echoed it.

"It's one bad game," Weeden said. "If I continue to do bad things, that's on me. I think they have a lot of confidence in me and my abilities and they wouldn't have named me the starter if they didn't.

"I've just got to prove to them that I'm the guy. When it's all said and done and you drop the helmet, you've got to play better."

Weeden also spent a large chunk of Monday apologizing to his defense, which supplied him with five takeaways – 25 percent of last year's total.

"I've told the defense over and over until I'm blue in the face -- they should've won us that football game," he said. "That made me feel worse than anything. They played so well, I've got to help them out, make a play here and there to give us a win. Everybody's talking about [the Eagles] going to the Super Bowl and we were a couple of plays away and that was all our defense."

Weeden still can't believe he was so erratic, missing Mohamed Massaquoi and Alex Smith by a mile in the end zone and Massaquoi down the sideline.

"That [first] one was just adrenaline," he said. "A couple of them were my feet. I got pressure, I had to slide up on one and got hit, kinda high-lowed, kinda saw the guy dive at my feet, so it just caused me to throw it. The other one, [I just wasn't] sound in my footwork. Just not getting my feet underneath me and being able to step into throws and throw them accurately.

"It's not something I'm happy about. Hopefully we can fix it moving forward."

He acknowledged his chemistry with Greg Little is a work in progress. Weeden hit Little in the hands near the goal-line and it glanced off for an eventual interception.

"We're not where we need to be yet," said Weeden. "Fortunately there's a lot of football left to fix those mistakes."

Little and rookie Travis Benjamin, who had two passes for him intercepted by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, acknowledged they have to help more.

"I should've caught that pass," said Little.

Said Benjamin, "I learned I have to help Brandon out. I've got to fight for the ball and knock it down."

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis cautioned his defense that Weeden is better than his stats indicate.

"I didn't think he played nearly as bad as I guess the criticism he's getting," said Lewis. "Sometimes the ball just goes the other way."

But the gunslinger isn't about to let the debacle deter him.

"Oh yeah, I'm taking shots," he said. "Don't worry about that."

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/09/brandon_weeden_on_his_struggli.html

What The Browns Have Now Is A Real Q.B. Controversy & A Moron For A Head Coach

Posted by LG on September 11, 2012 at 10:15 pm.

The Cleveland Browns the team that has the best fans in the world are now faced with a good old fashion quarterback controversy and the head coach has no idea how to handle it. The fans that attended the Browns home opener were already booing the Browns 28-year-old rookie Brandon Weeden and they wanted to see Colt McCoy and get the Browns an opening day win, something that hasn’t been done in the past 7 years. Can you blame the fans for being a little irate? Why not, the Browns were close, they were in a game that many picked for them to be out of by halftime.

The Cleveland Browns defense all but gift wrapped the game for head coach Pat Shurmur, by now the people who know football in the town have already pegged Shurmur as a moron that has no business coaching football in the NFL and  Shumur himself placed the exclamation point on his moron-ness by not going for the 2 point conversion when the Browns defense scored their only touchdown. Amazingly the Browns would end up losing the game by the one point Shurmur denied the Browns from putting on the scoreboard.  What did that tell us Browns fans? Pat Shurmur doesn’t even have enough faith in his rookie Q.B. Weeden to let him go for 2 points.

Here’s a thought for you Shurmur, Josh Cribbs could have tossed a touchdown pass for a 2 point conversion if you didn’t want to put Colt McCoy in the game. Yes that is right Shurmur, Cribbs can throw the football, you pulled off a trick play with Benjamin, why not pull one off with the guy the Browns had listed as their 3rd string Q.B. before your sorry butt got to Cleveland?

No that we have that out-of-the-way let’s get down to the real problem the Browns fans are facing. Sure the Browns have a new Q.B., sure this guy is a rookie and sure we can’t hurt the guy who is making millions of dollars to go out and win football games feelings, or he might want to run back to Oklahoma just like he did we he couldn’t cut the mustard in major league baseball. Yes folks Brandon Weeden comes from a failed baseball career and he is now working on a failed football career.

Needless to say it has been a rough couple of months for us here at CS-360. We happen to tell it like it is and we use facts to back up our articles.  One fact I would like to point out to you is, Brandon Weeden playing for 4 quarters in a football game and finishing the day with a 5.1 Q.B. rating is terrible. It down right sucks. For those of you who think this can improve, let me point out the obvious.  If Weeden goes to Cincinnati to play the Bengals and comes out with a 10.2 rating he would be twice as good as he was lest week. If he comes out with a 15.3 he would be three times better than he was last week, but guess what people, you aren’t going to win in the NFL with that kind of rating, trust me.

Now by this time a lot of you fans are thinking this guy really hates Brandon Weeden. Believe me when I tell you this, I don’t hate anyone especially Brandon Weeden. The reason I am writing this article is because this is the kind of quarterback the Cleveland Browns hierarchy picked to stick us Browns fans with. Then Mike Holmgren, not Tom Heckert talked his hand  picked moron Pat Shurmur into keeping his mouth shut and naming Weeden the Browns starter before they ever saw the Weeden panic,yes panic that forces him to  drop the football. Yes sir, even though the Cleveland Browns front office had privilege to the same information on Brandon Weeden as everyone else in the free world, they made the choice to ignore it and just go with a self-made failure as their starting quarterback.

There are people who make a living scouting guys in College who play football, these are professional scouts, they know who can get the job done and who won’t be able to perform in the NFL. It is hysterical how most of these scouts said Brandon Weeden can’t take the pressure of a pass rush.  It is even more hysterical how these same scouts said if Weeden faces any pressure, he is prone to make mistakes that will lead to turn overs. It is even more hysterical how the guys running the Browns with the exception of Tom Heckert chose to ignore everything the professional football scouts had to say about Brandon Weeden.  For those of you who are thinking I’m nuts, just google everything you can find on Brandon Weeden. You’ll find the information these scouts reported, I did. Go ahead have a look.

Now that we are smack in the middle of it, the good people running the team Cleveland Loves the most, aren’t going to say they made a mistake. They are stuck with Brandon Weeden as the Browns starting quarterback. The question is for how long do the fans who buy the tickets and support this team have to put up with this garbage Shumur is putting on the field? When you are 28 going on 29 you are pretty much set in your ways. You have heard the saying a million times “you can’t teach an old dog a new trick”. That is what we the fans of the Cleveland Browns have here folks. We have an old dog that can’t learn new tricks.

To make maters worse, we have a new head coach that has no business being in this position, he doesn’t possess the experience to know how to correct the situation. When you put these 2 problems together, you end up with a losing football team. When you have a guy playing Q.B. for your team that is afraid to take a hit in your backfield you have a problem. You either are born with the courage to get the job done or you are going to be squeamish and make a ton of mistakes. I believe we have the later with Brandon Weeden.

People were down on CS-360 in the preseason when I pointed out the obvious, now that others are seeing it in the regular season they don’t think I was to far off.  Yet you have the fans who think there is some kind of magic pill they have in the locker room and by this Sunday Brandon Weeden is going to come out transformed into the next Joe Montana. It isn’t going to happen people. Brandon Weeden is not going to turn the Browns into a winner. The head coach who has refused to admit he was wrong is going to subject us to more of the same. Shumur is the same guy who told us before the Browns final preseason game how ready Brandon Weeden was, he is the same guy that told us before the Eagles game how ready Weeden was, he is the same guy who has no answers as to how correct the situation. Shurmur said Weeden needs to throw the ball better.

If Shurmur was telling the truth when he told the fans how ready Weeden was, then the Browns have a coach running the team that doesn’t know what ready is. Now that’s a problem…. A lot of people tell me I am not a football coach and I wouldn’t know what to do in this situation. I can tell you this, I have a lot of common sense something the people who are presently running the Browns lack.  I would have waited to see how Brandon Weeden performed in a couple of preseason games before naming him the starting Q.B.  Especially after ready the scouting reports on Brandon Weeden. Better yet I would not have drafted Brandon Weeden in the first place, I would have taken players who would have improved the Browns as a team….

http://clevelandsports360.com/wordpress/what-the-browns-have-now-is-a-real-q-b-controversy-a-moron-for-a-head-coach/

Cleveland running back Trent Richardson runs fluidly in practice: Browns insider

By Tom Reed, The Plain Dealer

BEREA, Ohio -- After showing enough progress to satisfy Browns medical staff and coaches, running back Trent Richardson trotted onto the practices fields Monday and passed the eye test administered by curious teammates.

The rookie participated in team drills, earned reps with the first-team offense and ran fluidly, exhibiting no sign of a limp, in practicing for the first time since undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee Aug. 9.

"Trent looked like he did when he first got here," linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said.

Added defensive end Jabaal Sheard: "He looks right where he was when he left off. . . . I can't wait to see him in pads."

If Richardson can make it through the week without any setbacks -- the team will be hitting in pads Thursday -- he's likely to play in the season opener against Philadelphia on Sunday.

It's hard to imagine a player who didn't appear in one exhibition game would be at full strength even as he engaged in light contact work behind the scenes. His conditioning level figures to be a factor, especially in a game in which he'd be making his NFL debut.

But coach Pat Shurmur said if Richardson is fit to play, he will start against the Eagles. The No. 3 overall draft pick, wearing a protective rubber sleeve over the knee, split first-team reps Monday with Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jackson.

"I knew he'd be out here today, and he did a good job," Shurmur said. "It was his first day back in practice, so we did what we could do. Trent looked healthy running around."

Richardson did not speak to reporters. He's expected to address the media Wednesday.

Shurmur said Richardson's progression will be monitored daily. The running back had a small "flap" of loose cartilage removed from the knee by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama. He had the same knee scoped Feb. 3 to repair a torn meniscus suffered in Alabama's national championship win over LSU.

Team President Mike Holmgren acknowledged Monday the Browns were unaware at the draft Richardson would require a second procedure.

"The first we knew about it was in camp," Holmgren said. "He's a hard-working guy. He started saying, 'It hurts. There's a little ache there.' It was swelling up a little bit. It's a good thing we caught it. It was obviously the right decision. Everything is on track."

Holmgren doesn't expect the Browns to overload the running back in the season's first few weeks.

On a humid holiday morning, Richardson bypassed the stationary bikes on which he rode Saturday and rejoined his teammates on the practice field. Running backs coach Gary Brown went over blocking assignments with him and, at one point, Shurmur conferred with the 22-year-old individually.

A healthy Richardson could take tremendous pressure off quarterback and fellow rookie Brandon Weeden. Browns cornerback Joe Haden recalls from his college days what it's like to confront the 5-9, 230-pound back in the open field.

"Oh, man. I'm not a fan of trying to tackle him," Haden said. "I played against him with Florida, and he gave me a stiff-arm one time, and I was good after that.

". . . He can be as good as he wants to be. He definitely can be an All-Pro. He has everything you want in a running back."

Haden watch: Haden said he still has "no idea" whether he will play in the opener because of a possible suspension for reportedly failing a drug test. The third-year pro said he couldn't discuss the matter.

Shurmur and Holmgren said they still have not heard a word about a potential four-game ban. It's unclear why the NFL has yet to rule on his eligibility. It's possible officials are weighing an appeal.

Holmgren believes it would be unfair for the league to wait until Friday to announce a suspension. Haden doesn't believe the issue has become a locker-room distraction.

"Everyone is cool," he said. "That's what I like about my teammates. It's like nothing's going on. Just keep practicing. We're like family basically."

Getting healty: Cornerback Dimitri Patterson (knee, ankle) and tight end Ben Watson (leg) said they expect to play Sunday. Watson missed the entire preseason, and Patterson was injured in the first game against Detroit as safety Ray Ventrone rolled onto his leg.

Quotebook: Watson, on a 53-man roster that features 15 rookies: "In this locker room, my 3-year-old is old."

Numerology: Four players changed their numbers. Receiver Josh Gordon switched to 13 from 86. It's the closest he could get to No. 12, Gordon said, which he wore in high school and college. Other changes are defensive end Billy Winn (90) and linebackers Craig Robertson (53) and L.J. Fort (58).

Brownies: Ventrone (hamstring) returned to practice. . . . Starting safety Eric Hagg was excused from practice due to illness. . . . Defensive end Brian Sanford rejoined the Browns after being signed to the eight-man practice squad. . . . The team cut linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who was waived by Minnesota.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/09/cleveland_running_back_trent_r.html

Browns GM still doesn’t plan on trading Colt McCoy

According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Browns general manager Tom Heckert said that he’s not thinking about trading back up quarterback Colt McCoy.

#Browns Heckert said he’s pretty set with McCoy as backup quarterback, not thinking of trading him at some point.

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 1, 2012

McCoy is still a good quarterback that I believe he never got a fair shot with the Browns, since he was never surrounded with the talent needed to succeed.  If anything he’ll be a good NFL back up for years to come.