An honest survey of Cleveland Browns fans probably wouldn't yield many, if any, self-proclaimed Pat Shurmur fans, but we are just seventeen games into the process. This is simply his second first year, so give it time. (Relax, I'm kidding.) All jokes aside, the Browns second year Head Coach probably doesn't have too many friends in the pubs and gin joints of Northeast Ohio, with his 4-13 record in his one season plus a game. Beyond the tally of wins and losses, Shurmur just doesn't pass the eyeball test of what these fans want in their leader on the sideline.
"Fire Shurmur."
That's not a plan. It's a statement made out of blind frustration, one that provides no more direction for the future than the unheard pleas to retain or extend the former St. Louis Rams Offensive Coordinator. It's okay to believe that something different will automatically be better. It isn't true; the Browns have been throwing darts at random ideas for the ideal Head Coach for over a decade now. Chris Palmer, a successful offensive assistant, was the perfect candidate because he was willing to take the job. Butch Davis was a winner that deserved autonomy because knew how to build a football program from the ground up; he did it at the college level. Romeo Crennel was perfect because he was a Belichick disciple, then Eric Mangini was perfect because you couldn't possibly whiff on two consecutive branches from the mighty Belichick Coaching Tree.
Brandon Weeden was Gawd-awful, Trent Richardson had no daylight to run to and Pat Shurmur was…well… he was Pat Shurmur in not going for the two-point conversion when all circumstances and all common sense dictated that he go for two, and the Browns lost their opener to the Eagles 17-16 on Sunday in a game they could have won.
The final result was one that many (most?) Cleveland Browns fans expected.
It’s a time-honored tradition here at TCF (when we have the time and feel like continuing the tradition) to gather our esteemed writers and ask them for their thoughts on the Browns as another season kicks off. With the 2012 season right there on the doorstep it’s time to share their responses in what might be a pivotal year in the history of the franchise
As the NFL season kicks off, this week 1 matchup is a rematch of week 3 of the preseason. In that game the Eagles came to Cleveland and won a 27-10 game but I am pretty sure neither team is putting much stock in the contest.