Written by Jeff Rich

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The game of chess is an activity that I have come to enjoy, even with a very limited amount of success.  I’m talking about a level of limited success that compares to the Expansion Era Cleveland Browns, trying different approaches with the same undesired results.  Occasionally, I might make a big move, one that brings a smile to my face, but it’s often too little, too late.  The weakest pieces on the board, the pawns, are nothing more than a nuisance, as I cannot effectively use them in a strategic way and they prevent me from any beneficial utilization of my bishops and rooks.

In other words, I stink at chess.  My queen may be known to reak havoc near the end of the game, but she basically ends up being the piece that dies right before my opponent says, “check mate”.  Whatever I do, I don’t go on the offensive quick enough, and most of my game involves moving my king out of check.  It ceases to be fun because I find myself playing not to lose; in the end, my king is nothing more than a pawn.

There is a metaphorical connection between a bad chess player and a dysfunctional professional sports franchise, but I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions on that plane.  From my experiences, the only thing worse than losing is the absence of hope that winning will ever be on the horizon.  From all of our experiences as Browns fans since 1999, save some smoke and mirrors from Butch Davis or Derek Anderson, what have we had to believe in?  Wasn’t Sunday just the day that we watched our opponents obliterate our pawns for a few hours before capturing our king?

Whether it has been poor leadership, poor organization, or just a poor general attitude, our team has stunk.  They have shown an inability to rebound from mistakes, or to properly compensate when things go wrong.  Even my prodigal friends that beat me every time out admit to making a mistake, but do such a good job at damage control that I don’t even notice their error; also, I’m not very good at chess.  Whether it’s been personnel, play-calling, or clock-management, the Browns don’t seem to be able to recover from their own mistakes or capitalize on mistakes of the competition.  Also, the Browns haven’t been very good at the game of football.

Mostly, it’s been their inability to draft effectively.  Take a good look at any draft before Tom Heckert arrived, and look deeper than the blue chip talent at the top of the draft.  They’ve really forced themselves to hit a home run at the top of the draft because they generally left no margin for error with a late-pick; Ahytba Rubin would be the exception here.  When they’ve fired a blank, there’s just nothing in the chamber after that, and they’re defenseless.  When you don’t stand and fight in the NFL, it equals 4 or 5 wins over the course of the season; nothing more.

In a game that promotes parity, especially in the manner that the NFL does, the playing field is level.  Sure Miami and San Diego may allure a free agent or two, based solely on location; New England and Green Bay may draw some talent because coaching prestige, but the salary cap and draft really do give every team a chance.  But, just because you have 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, a queen, and a king, or the same 53-man roster, it doesn’t mean that all bets are not off once the game begins.

It seems as though the Browns are just lining up 16 pawns and hoping for the best.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m told that when used effectively, the pawn can be one of the most powerful pieces on the board.  If it survives the initial ambush and makes to the other end of the board, it can be given the functionality of the most powerful piece on the board.  Personally, it gets filed in the same drawer as Browns Super Bowl wins or Expansion Browns playoff victories, in that it has never happened.

Lately, the tide has changed for the Browns.  They seem to have drafted well, and we don’t score that on paper, but based on what we’ve seen on the field the past few Sundays.  Pieces like Greg Little and Montario Hardesty, let’s face it, pieces we’ve chalked up as busts, are real live contributors in the right roles.  We’ve seen how some particular units are more than the sum of their parts, that one spot can make a difference.

Sheldon Brown, when playing opposite Trevin Wade or Buster Skrine, can be an unmitigated dumpster fire, but the same player is portrayed as a well-oiled machine when playing opposite Joe Haden.  By upgrading the washed up Right Tackle of the Week (remember Oneil Cousins and Artis Hicks?) to rookie Mitchell Schwartz, the offensive line has survived the absence of Jason Pinkston at Left Guard.

Enough can’t be said about the rookie contributions and these Cleveland Browns, who have almost doubled the amount of rookie starts (72) to any other team (Colts have 44).  Trent Richardson, while his numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, has given the offense a spark that doesn’t allow defenses to force their will on a young passing game.  Along with Josh Gordon and Travis Benjamin, who have shown varying flashes of what they bring to the table, we’re seeing levels of improvement on the 2012 offense that were very apparent with the defensive rookies a year ago.

On the other side of the ball, the splash isn’t quite as significant as it was when Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard created tidal waves for a defense transitioning to the 4-3 in 2011, but the newbies have not gone unnoticed.  All of the draft experts thought John Hughes was a reach with the 87^th pick, but the reach has paid off, especially when you consider how long he and fellow rookie Billy Winn (selected 205^th overall) had to fill the void Taylor left when he missed half the 2012 season with a pectoral tear.  The two have combined for 32 tackles, 4 sacks, and 3 turnovers thru 13 games.

Filling the gaps became a priority at the linebacker position, with D’Qwell Jackson being the only 2011 starter that isn’t on Injured Reserve, and 4^th Round pick James-Michael Johnson was, unfortunately, also beaten and battered at the start of the year.  So, the Browns had to dig into the ranks of the undrafted rookie free agents to help out there.  Craig Robertson from North Texas and LJ Fort from Northern Iowa have both appeared in all 13 games for the Browns; Fort was a starter in Week 1, and both have come up big at big times for this defense that lacks a lot of star power.  Though mostly used on special teams like Robertson and Fort, undrafted defensive backs Tashaun Gipson and Johnson Bademosi have responded when called on by Dick Jauron.

Maybe Bademosi, Fort, and Benjamin (prior to his franchise-record punt return) don’t get the attention around the water-cooler of someone like Trent Richardson or Josh Gordon, who are both having outstanding rookie years, but whether it’s a little hustle on special teams to save a yard or being ready when one of the regulars is injured, every member of the 53-man roster matters.  The one player that gets the most attention on just about every roster, the quarterback, just happens to be a rookie on this Cleveland Browns roster, and thus, is the focal point of virtually every water-cooler conversation.

Brandon Weeden isn’t your typical rookie; it was clear that he was going to un-seed a guy that may have never gotten a fair shake without the charade of an open competition, and he’s a little older than your typical fifth year player.  It is what it is, for better or for worse, with the 29-year old from Oklahoma State.  He’s had three 300 yard games, which is nearly unheard of from a rookie, but also five multi-interception games, equal to his multi-touchdown games.

Weeden is 1-4 when he throws more than one interception, but just 2-3 when he doesn’t throw any.  His performances against Philadelphia and the Giants were awful, but he lost his best performance of the year in Cincinnati, so it is really tough to blame him for the 0-5 start, but he’s been crisp on the 3-game winning streak the Browns currently ride.  Sure, you might point to the +7 in the turnover department and the fact that the defense has held the opponent to under 18 in each of the victories, but the offense is doing their job.

Maybe you want more than 212 yards per game (spiked by his 353 yard effort in Oakland), but he’s only getting 128 yards per out of the running game over this nice stretch of victories.  Essentially, even though we don’t like to promote the notion of playing not to lose, we love that Weeden is staying out of the way.  While getting the most out of Gordon, Little, and even Mohamed Massaquoi, his numbers are a direct correlation between the wins and losses.

With the strength of this team still residing on the defensive side of the ball, most fans would have to agree that it’s better if the offense does just enough to let the defense win or lose the game.  They lost in Dallas and in Cincinnati, but they definitely won in Oakland and against the Steelers.  In a year or two, who knows?  Maybe we’ll have our pieces positioned to have the offense take all of the kill-shots, but now it’s up to the D to keep opposing offenses in check.

After so many years of futility and abandonment of hope, we are seeing improvements with each rookie class.  We can start thinking about playoffs, which is still an outside chance this December, and dreaming about Super Bowls.  With the right people pulling the strings and moving the pieces as necessary, it’s not silly to think about capturing titles.

Someday, it won’t be a dream.  Perhaps this very class of Rooks might someday be Kings.