Written by Thomas Moore

---

Taking a look at the Cleveland Browns 3-4 record today we realized that, as bad as things are right now, it is very likely that they are going to get a lot worse before we reach the end of the season.

Worse, as in, is there a game left on the schedule that the Browns can actually win?

Worse, as in, it’s not even Halloween yet and the season, like so many before it, already feels like it is over.

Worse, as in, the Browns may have already won too many games this season to have a realistic chance at improving the most important position on the team in next spring’s NFL Draft.

Looking at the upcoming schedule it is hard to see the Browns having a realistic chance at a win until the month of December.

This Sunday brings Kansas City and the 7-0 Chiefs. Kansas City is bound for a bad game or two, after all they are not going to finish the season at 16-0, but even if they stumble a bit on Sunday, the way the Browns are playing right now it may not matter.

After that come three consecutive divisional games. But the Browns are just 6-26 against AFC North teams over the past five seasons, so that’s no walk in the park.

The Browns finally get what could be a winnable game when (currently) winless Jacksonville comes to town on Dec. 1. Cleveland then closes out the year with three of its final four games on the road.

So let’s give the Browns a win against Jacksonville and then, maybe, one more win on the season to once again finish at 5-11.

But, this being the Browns, it won’t be your typical 5-11 season.

This season was never about winning, but rather the front office went into the year planning to evaluate the roster with an eye toward getting serious in 2014. (At least we hope that is the plan; if it is really 2016 or later that is going to be a tough one to take.)

That plan hinged on the Browns finally selecting a franchise quarterback, with the team improving its options by trading starting running back Trent Richardson for a second No. 1 draft pick in the 2014 draft.

The plan has hit a major speed bump, however, because Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are even more inept than the Browns.

The Jaguars are going to finish the season with one or two wins, tops, and the Buccaneers, currently wondering why the entrusted the franchise to a college coach from a nondescript program, will likely follow suit. That puts both teams in front of the Browns when it comes to draft order in 2014.

An unlike the 2012 draft, when the Rams had absolutely no intention of selecting a quarterback because they were locked into a $50 million guarantee with Sam Bradford, both the Jaguars and Buccaneers desperately need a quarterback and will have zero incentive to make a trade that allows the Browns to move to the top of the draft.

That doesn’t mean that the Browns won’t draft a quarterback (or quarterbacks) in next spring’s draft.

It does mean that Browns fans should start warming up to the very real idea that we will be talking ourselves into the fourth- or fifth-best quarterback in the draft finally being the guy to solve the team’s quarterback problems.

No Easy Solutions at Quarterback

Browns coach Rob Chudzinski still hasn’t decided if he will stick with Brandon Weeden as the starting quarterback or turn to Jason Campbell.

Update: Wednesday morning Chudzinksi announced that Campbell will start on Sunday against Kansas City.

“I believe this is in the best interest of the team, ultimately, and gives us the best chance to win,” Chudzinski said. “I’m excited to see what Jason will do with this opportunity. I’m committed to doing what I feel is best and gives us the best chance to win in all cases and all decisions that I make, and this is how I feel about this particular situation.

“We’re going to evaluate it on a week-to-week basis. The whole goal is to put the guy out there that gives us the best opportunity to win. Going back and forth isn’t ideal, but, ultimately, finding the production and consistency that we need is the goal.”

In his career, Campbell has started 71 games, completed 1,328 passes for 14,682 yards and 76 touchdowns against 52 interceptions.

So hurry up Browns fans and get those playoff tickets ordered while there is still time.

In the long run it probably doesn’t really matter who starts at quarterback the rest of the season as it is unlikely that Weeden and Campbell will be on the roster next season.

Short-term it doesn’t really matter, either. The Browns are not winning anything with Weeden running the offense, but they are not going to win anything with Campbell, either.

The coaching staff had the entire off-season, all of training camp, the preseason and every practice so far this season to evaluate Campbell and they obviously decided that he was not the answer. Somehow that has changed in the past 24 hours.

It’s also time to stop the talk about the Browns signing a free agent for this season. We’re seven weeks into the NFL season and if someone is available (Tim Tebow) there is a reason why (they aren’t any good). Or they are too, old (sorry Jeff Garcia.)

There were calls a few weeks ago for the Browns to sign Josh Freeman after he was released by Tampa Bay.

Freeman signed with Minnesota and made his debut with the Vikings on Monday Night against the Giants. Here’s how Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune described Freeman’s effort:

On a night when Josh Freeman produced the worst Vikings quarterback debut since Spergon Wynn, his teammates played so poorly that the team will have no reason not to use the rest of the season as a glorified tryout camp for quarterbacks, and a campaign to secure the first pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

Freeman proved stunningly inaccurate, a Wild Thing in football pants, and he fit right in, in a game where the Vikings forced the Giants to accept their first victory of the season. Neither is guaranteed to win again this year.

Freeman’s greatest weakness during even his good years in Tampa Bay was his lack of accuracy, and he might have missed more receivers by a wider margin on Monday than any quarterback since the ill-fated, one-game temp known as Spergon Wynn.

Yep, taking a gamble on a free agent quarterback mid-season sure sounds like a stellar idea. 

The Browns are better off just riding out the season with Weeden and Campbell. They’ll be gone once the season is finished (the one silver lining is Weeden’s contract came under the new CBA, so he doesn’t carry an onerous price tag like Bradford) and the Browns will continue their never-ending search for a quarterback.

Until then, get ready for more days like Sunday, Browns fans.

Ray Horton must be tired of Aaron Rodgers

Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton is probably happy that the Browns won’t be facing the Packers for another four years.

In two career games against a Horton-led defense, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has won twice while throwing for 478 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception.

Running on Empty

Willis McGahee is currently the Browns “leading rusher” with 203 yards and a 2.9 yards per carry average.

McGahee is averaging 40.6 rushing yards a game. If he keeps up that pace, he will “lead” the Browns with 568 rushing yards – the lowest total for a Browns leading rusher since William Green led the squad with 559 rushing yards in 2003.

As a team, the Browns are 22nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game (86.3), are averaging less than four yards per carry (even with inflated numbers from their wide receivers) and are 30th in rushing touchdowns with one (or as many as Peyton Hillis has in just one game with the Giants).

But, yeah, quarterback is the only problem with this team.

Until next time.

(Photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer)