Written by Brian McPeek

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The Indians have their manager, the Browns have their 5th loss of the season (which would be okay if we weren't through just five weeks of the season) and the Buckeyes have announced to the college football world that their "Three yards and a cloud of dust" offensive philosophy is as dead as Woody Hayes himself. Only one of these things is surprising. 

It's The Weekend Wrap.

Let Them Eat Cake (Again)...Mmmm, Cake..

I don’t understand the Terry Francona hiring. It makes no sense to me as I sit here and think about it. Don’t take that to mean I thought hiring Sandy Alomar Jr. was any type of cure-all but it made more sense than hiring Francona, in my mind anyway.

Why?

Because Terry Francona managed huge salaries in Boston for eight years and did so deftly and well enough to win two World Series titles. I can respect and appreciate that like everyone else. There were a lot of egos in that clubhouse and a lot of high-priced veterans that Francona had to coax and massage to those championships and there’s a great deal of skill involved in managing people like that.

But again, you’re talking All-Star and MVP-caliber talent on the field, in the batting order and on the mound. You’re talking about going out and getting whatever you need at the trade deadline to supplement what your club may be missing. You’re talking about a front office that was able to pay over slot any picks they made so that agents and contract demands never got in the way of selecting the talented player they wanted as opposed to the less talented player they could sign.

This isn’t even about the joke that the Francona-led Boston clubhouse became nationally as well as on the boards of this very site.

It’s simply about whether or not Francona is the right guy for this Indians job at this time and I truly don’t think he is. I love the fact he wants the gig and I love and respect the fact that Francona is a baseball lifer who appears to look forward to turning around this moribund franchise.

But why do we think he can? Why do we ridicule the Indians front office for everything they do and don’t do in terms of talent acquisition and spending money to bring players here and assume they got this one right? Is it because we know Francona’s name? Is it because he won with what amounts to the Yankees payroll a couple times?

Based on all you know about Terry Francona, tell me when he was successful managing a small market team full of young and moderately talented players and leading them to wins, playoff games and years of prosperity.

It wasn’t in Boston. We’ve already discussed the hands Francona played there. And most people are fast to forget that Francona had a major league job prior to taking the Red Sox to titles when for four years he managed the Phillies to an average of 70 wins per year.

I guess I can understand the Indians interest in Francona more so than his interest in them. The Indians just made their ‘big’ signing of the season and it cost them less than a mid-level free agent to generate interest and grease the public relations gears. They can point to the two WS titles and their bringing Francona here as justification that they’re still looking to build a championship-caliber organization and a big part of that is having a manager who has won a couple.

The Indians PR machine is major league quality. It has to be to generate interest in such mediocre baseball teams year after year. So going with Francona over Alomar makes sense.

But I’m not sure I understand why Francona wanted this gig. He’s not in need of the money and he’s got a much easier, healthier job at ESPN so there’s got to be something driving him toward Cleveland. My thought is it’s a place where, without a great deal of pressure and with always the excuse of not enough talent, Francona can rebuild a reputation that took a hit in light of the ‘Beer & Chicken’ days in Boston. Yes, he knows Antonetti and Shapiro and was an advisor/consultant here before taking the Boston job years ago, and he probably remembers that working here, out of the pressure and limelight of a place where winning is actually the key focus, is a great way to get back in the game and rebuild one’s resume. It worked when he was here after failing in Philadelphia and it can work here now. And if he actually did win big here in Cleveland he’d be forever a hero and his HoF credentials as a manager would be assured.

But it doesn’t really matter whether, in the long run, the Indians selected Francona or Alomar. Neither has a chance to win if the only thing that changes in Cleveland is the manager. Connie Mack, Casey Stengel and Tony LaRussa couldn’t be on the staff here and coax blood from these turnips. Nothing is going to change until there is talent here and until there are people here who are good at actually acquiring it.

My main point of contention is that it sure smells like the Indians are back in developmental and rebuild mode and there is nothing in Terry Francona’s past that truly tells me that that is his forte. A firm hand that demonstrates complete control over guys like Carlos Santana and one that can ensure Asdrubal Cabrera gets out of Jhonny Peralta-mode in terms of attitude is needed.

Francona would be a wonderful hire in Texas or here in Cleveland back in ’07 when you had a team that was talented and on the brink and needed a steady managerial hand. These are not those times and this is not that team. One has to wonder just how much impact Francona will ultimately have given the cupboards are relatively bare and there’s limited money for groceries.

Only the Date Changes

After just five minutes of play Sunday the Browns were up on the defending Super Bowl champions, 14-0.

In many cities where legitimate NFL teams play, this would have been really good news, perhaps signaling an upset was in order and a win was likely.

Not here. Not with this team.

Most of us waited to see how Pat Shurmur’s team would gag away a lead and the game and wondered if it would be a gut-wrenching loss or if the Giants would get squared away and simply overcome the deficit en route to a comfortable win.

It was the latter.

As bad teams do, the Browns turned the ball over multiple times (two were of the critical variety) and the Giants remembered the Browns cannot stop the run so Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 200 yards and a TD (the Giants ran for 243 yards and two TDs on the day), Victor Cruz abused the woeful Browns secondary for three more TDs and the Giants crushed the Browns 41-27 to send Cleveland to 0-5 on the season.

The game really turned with just under three minutes left in the half and the Browns leading 17-10 and driving deep in Giants territory. That was the moment when Brandon Weeden decided to throw his weekly fatal interception, this one to Stevie Brown, which was returned into Cleveland territory and turned into a Bradshaw TD moments later. That tied the game at 17 each.

But only for a moment.

Because Josh Cribbs fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Giants recovered it and scored a minute later on a 7-yard TD from Eli Manning to Cruz to completely wipe out any good feelings the Browns might have had from earlier in the half. Well, ‘completely’ isn’t entirely correct. Because the Browns went three and out on the next series while the Giants used their timeouts to get the ball back and then Buster Skrine committed as dumb a pass interference penalty as one can commit to give Lawrence Tynes the opportunity to tack on three more points as the half ended.

17 unanswered Giants points in the final 2:52 of the first half. 27-17 New York. Ballgame effectively over.

Sure, league rules mandated that the two teams play out the second half but the Browns had again blown any semblance of a chance to win with the Weeden and Cribbs turnovers.

~ Weeden was typical rookie all day. He looked terrific at times, hitting Josh Gordon on two well-thrown TDs (the first of which traveled 58 yards in the air and went for a 62-yard TD) and he fit some balls into some tight spaces (like on the second Gordon TD in garbage time and on a couple throws to Jordan Norwood in traffic), but he’s throwing some back-breaking picks each game as well. The Brown interception when the Browns had the Giants on the ropes was as bad as the pick-6 Weeden threw against the Ravens that turned out to ultimately be the difference in that game ten days ago.

Weeden’s also still looking to check down an awful lot. If you had an issue with Colt McCoy doing that as often as he did it’s probably disingenuous to be okay with Weeden doing the same thing.

~ I will say those check downs are a lot more palatable when Trent Richardson is on the receiving end of them. Richardson continues to impress and continues to build a reputation as a guy who is going to be a force and a premier back for many years to come. The rookie ran the ball 17 times for 81 yards and a TD and also caught five balls for another 47 yards. And he probably gained the respect of every NY Giant defensive player on the field by refusing to be brought down by fewer than two or three defenders all day.

~ Josh Gordon gives you hope that the WR position may not be the desolate wasteland that Greg Little makes it look like. Gordon, who’s in his third offensive system in a couple years, caught two balls for 82 yards, each of them TDs. There were plenty of Browns fans who breathed a huge sigh of relief when Weeden’s 62-yard bomb was thrown toward #13 and not #15 and Gordon handled both chances easily.

~ Hard to say if I’m more disgusted with Buster Skrine or Joe Haden for the Browns pathetic play in the defensive secondary. Let’s just say it’s very close. Skrine was abused all day (again) and committed horrible pass interference late in the first half that sucked every last bit of breath out of the Browns. With the Giants out of timeouts and at midfield (out of FG range), Eli Manning threw a ball into the middle of the field toward Rueben Randle. All Skrine has to do is let Randle make the catch (which Skrine is excellent at) and the clock runs out. But instead he got all over the top of Randle, the flag was justifiably thrown, and Tynes had a 40-yard opportunity that he knocked down.

Skrine is overmatched. That’s plain to see. But if Joe Haden hadn’t treated Adderall like Skittles the Browns are probably not in that position where Skrine is getting so much time. In Skrine’s defense, it’s not like Dimitri Patterson, Usama Young and Trevin Wade were any better. But it’s getting old seeing the Browns give up passing yards and penalty yards in huge chunks and Skrine has been the victim on more than his fair share of those plays.

~ Haden returns next week against the Bengals and that’s a game I’m going out on the limb to call the Browns first win of the year. The Browns and Weeden are getting more comfortable in what they’re doing offensively, the Bengals simply aren’t as good as people thought they were coming into the season and all that lines up as enough for me to believe the Browns get their first win over the year and stop their current 11-game losing streak dating back to last year.

And if they don’t, well, that just means we’re one week closer to a new coach and a top five pick next April.

~ Greg Little is noticeable only his absence. He was targeted twice, caught neither ball and had one go through the greased toasters he calls hands. Way to show up, dude.

A Whole New Ball Game

Anyone remember the days when the Buckeyes and Cornhuskers would have featured OSU’s three yards and a cloud of dust against the wish-bone of Nebraska?

Yeah… times have changed. I turned on a Big 10 game Saturday night and a Big 12 game broke out. Ohio State hung 63 points on Nebraska Saturday night in their 63-38 win over the ‘Huskers. Woody would have been proud that OSU ran roughshod over Nebraska in piling up 371 yards on the ground and Jim Tressel would have smiled at the Buckeyes scoring on a punt return TD, but those guys wouldn’t recognize the offense that Urban Meyer is using or the speed of the guys he has running it.

And there might be a few eyebrows raised at the fact Meyer still had the foot on the gas pedal with the Buckeyes leading 56-38 with less than a minute to play. Meyer called Carlos Hyde’s number rather than just kneeling out the clock and Hyde went 16 yards for the final points. That’s not going to sit well in Big 10 coaching circles but I truly don’t think Meyer cares a bit by what others may think and it’s not like those coaches don’t despise him already.

Braxton Miller continues to build his Heisman resume and he ran for 186 yards and a TD on just 16 carries. He also took care of the football in the passing game hitting on just half of his 14 passes for 127 yards and a TD but not turning the ball over. The same can’t be said of Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez who threw three interceptions (two Bradley Roby who returned one of those for a touchdown to kick off the scoring).

All of a sudden it sure looks like the Buckeyes are the class of the conference and this is basically a full-blown rebuilding year. OSU can’t go to a bowl game but they are certainly serving notice that the changing of the guard from conservative style to wide open, attacking football is well underway. Couple that with the athletes Meyer will continue to recruit and you can’t be feeling too comfortable if you’re running the programs in Ann Arbor, East Lansing or Madison, WI.

I actually expect the Buckeyes will stumble and not run the table at 12-0 because they’re still an offense and defense(especially) in flux, but the only two teams that really give you pause are Wisconsin and Michigan. Although the Buckeyes do play at Purdue next Saturday and that place has often been a tough place for OSU to play.

But put a star next to this Nebraska game. This was the ballgame when the Buckeyes officially turned into what we thought they’d be when Meyer took over. It’s not close to a finished product and it’s only going to get better, but this was the game we’ll look back on in a few years as the one that signaled the new era of Buckeye football.

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