The Weekend Wrap

On the day Weeden was 25/41 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He also didn’t toss the football once to the Colts and he actually rushed once for 13 yards and a first down. He was solid. He was good. He was equal to or better than Andrew Luck on the day and he continues to look more comfortable. It’s not his fault his receivers apparently wear clown shoes on their hands at various times during a game. win there would have deodorized the Shurmur stink, the Hodges smell and the Owen Marecic stench. Instead Browns fans still got to see Brandon Weeden stand tall and make more good throws and decisions than bad ones, they got to see the potential of Gordon continue to bubble to the surface and they got to see it all while the skids for this overwhelmed coach were further greased and another Top 5 draft pick was all but sewn up.

On the other hand, Trent Richardson was a non-factor due to his rib injury. The rookie RB had only eight carries for eight yards and two receptions for 11 yards before he left the game and didn’t return. The Browns might just want to consider the long term health of Richardson and let him recover for three weeks and return after their bye.

Of course, what’s right and what gets done are two different things with this team.

Some Quick Hits on Browns vs. Colts

~ I got a kick out of Colts interim Head Coach trying to out-Shurmur Pat Shurmur as the first half wound down. Instead of calling a timeout with 26 seconds left in the half to make ham-handed Reggie Hodges punt the ball and maybe return one for a chance to score, Arians called timeout with just one second left. So not only did that eliminate Hodges from the equation (no small consideration) but it also ensured only the Browns would have a chance for a Hail Mary to end the half. Shurmur was still willing to just kneel out the half until Arians’ defense took the field with 12 men on the field and gave the Browns another five yards. Weeden didn’t connect on the play but Arians’ moronic decisions there shouldn’t be ignored.

~ Why do commentators and analysts insist on telling viewers how good the Browns defense was last year when comparing it to this year’s defense? That’s not the case in any way other than raw numbers and stats simply lie in this case. The Browns were statistically a good overall defense last season only because they couldn’t stop the run at all, teams gashed them on the ground for huge leads without having to throw, and then those teams basically ran out the clock for the last quarter and a half. That was not a good defense last season. The Browns haven’t had an impactful defense since…since…since a long time ago.

~ I think the proof that Tom Heckert is making calls about jobs as opposed to calls about improving this roster is evident in Hodges still having a job. He’s been mediocre at best and, although he was hurt last year and has probably been healthy enough to kick for just a matter of months, he hasn’t been effective enough punting the ball. Not to mention that a holder has to be perfect on good snaps and damn near perfect on ones that aren’t perfect. That dropped PAT took the wind out of my sails and I can’t imagine it was well-received on the sideline. 

~ Great job catching the football with your hands on that TD Josh Gordon. But that second one? The one where Weeden took a big hit and dropped the perfectly onto your hands in the fourth quarter? The one that clanged off those hands like you were Reggie Hodges and would have given the team a lead? That was pathetic.

Loooong Way to Go

I’m one of those guys that doesn’t think a MLB manager makes a great deal of difference to a team’s record. That’s why I still don’t understand the Terry Francona hiring. And I may never understand why Francona wanted the job given the dearth of talent he inherits here.

Take a look at the lineup of position players objectively and tell me this team isn’t a long way off. Third base is a hole with either an ineffective veteran like Jack Hannahan or unproven young player Lonnie Chisenhall in line for most of the time there.

AT SS you have a solid MLB player in Cabrera.

At 2B you have a decent player in Jason Kipnis, but he’s a guy Tribe fans currently overvalue. I love Kipnis and his approach and believe he has a chance to elevate himself from ‘decent’ to ‘good’. But if you think he’s beyond that right now then take a look at the Tigers Omar Infante, a guy who personifies ‘decent’, and tell me Kipnis is the better player. He’s not. Infante out produces Kipnis pretty much everywhere other than in stolen bases.

First base is a hole that has no promise of being fulfilled by a Tribe prospect, your productive (but not elite) RF will likely be gone at the end of 2013 if not before, your CF is solid, your LF is non-existent and your catcher is an enigma who’s quickly running out of ‘prospect’ status. That doesn’t even include how erratic your top two pitchers in the rotation were this season and that you have no “can’t miss” pitching prospects on the farm ready to burst on the scene.

That’s a lot of mediocrity to overcome, which would be one thing if you could buy your way out of it, but the Indians can’t/won’t do that.  That’s why I can’t help but be bearish on the Indians chances heading into 2013. This team needs way too many breaks and once again you’re betting on the “if come” if you think they’ll contend next season.

IF Ubaldo and Masterson regroup and IF Chisenhall develops and IF Kipnis takes the next step and IF they find a 1B and IF they find a LF and IF Santana gets his head out of his rear end and IF, IF, IF….

We look derisively at the Red Sox and Yankees and Tigers for buying their way into the post season and we try and justify some of those moves by being ignorant to the ways of the game. We laughed at the thought of Miguel Cabrera mishandling ground balls at 3B while our ground ball pitchers had only to induce hitters to pound the ball at the defensive stalwart Hannahan. We thought this was an actual advantage. We laughed at Jhonny Peralta going through the motions at SS when we had a guy at SS that spends much of season doing the same thing.

There is one, simple key to the 2013 season and beyond and that is simply that the Indians organization has to spend more money and acquire more talent.

That’s it. More money, smartly spent, on major league and minor league talent is the ONLY answer. Anything short of that happening, of more spending from the front office and more production from the people buying groceries, and this will be an annual issue.

Much like it has been for the last decade or so.

Best News Possible

First of all, props to Kenny Guiton for pulling the Buckeye bacon out of the fire Saturday in a thrilling, come from behind, overtime win against Purdue. That was a valiant effort against stacked odds and Guiton got it done with the help of a great 2-point conversion call to tie the football game.

It was a terrific win.

But the injury to Braxton Miller that precipitated Guiton’s call to action was scary. Miller got hammered to the turf after a long run and it looked like there was something seriously wrong with him afterward. He was taken off the field and taken to the hospital for tests to see if he was suffering from a concussion, shoulder damage or a neck injury. Unbelievably it appears he suffered none of those serious injuries but likely had as bad a stinger as he’s ever experienced. The injury occurs when nerves are badly compressed and the pain is usually felt down the arm, followed my numbness and weakness in the arm. But they can occasionally be nastier and more severe when the head and neck are severely forced toward the shoulder and the symptoms can last for hours and feel like death itself until they subside.

With Miller being discharged from the hospital a few hours after entering, and reports indicating he was symptom free, that’s probably what you’re looking at. Even when the injury took place you could rule out shoulder and collar bone injuries because Miller put his arms around a couple Buckeyes and was helped off. He’s not doing that with a separated shoulder or collar bone. And a staff as good as the Buckeyes staff is isn’t picking Miller up and taking him off that field by foot if he has a neck or head injury.

That’s great news for Miller and for Ohio State because, while Guiton was great Saturday, he’s a backup for a reason. The Buckeyes need Miller because they have to outscore opponents rather than beat them with defense and they’re not putting up the necessary number of points against Penn State next Saturday if the Nittany Lions have a week to prepare for Guiton.

Guiton doesn’t throw the ball as well as Miller (and Miller doesn’t throw it all that well yet himself) and he certainly isn’t the dynamic player Miller is while running the ball, so while you tip your cap to Guiton and appreciate what he did to the Boilermakers Saturday, the Buckeyes need a healthy Miller to make the rest of the season interesting and competitive. 

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