Written by Jeff Rich

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Sometimes, you just need to go off the grid, and do something crazy.  You don’t quite need to go streaking through the quad and into the gymnasium with Frank the Tank, but if you’re in a rut, don’t keep doing the same things you’ve always done.  Ignoring conventional wisdom is sometimes the answer, even if you stop short of re-living your glory years with your delinquent friends, and just change things up a little.

Is it fair to say that the Browns are in a rut?  If the Browns were something else in our lives that we cared about, wouldn’t we just demand better things?  It’s been painful since for a while, even before whatever knock-off version of the Browns came to be in 1999, but it hasn’t been this bad.  Look, I’m not trying to beat a dead horse, just establishing that whatever the Browns have tried to do has not worked.

Some of us might claim to know what’s wrong, but there is no one answer to that.  It could be management, coaching, lack of talent, bad luck, or all of the above, but most likely “all of the above”.  It’s been easy to see that the Browns haven’t had a Brady or Manning type throwing the ball, nor a Lombardi-ish icon leading the team on to the field every week.  We can keep hoping things will get better for the Browns with status quo methods, or we could embrace a unique approach to the game with a little help from the “Old School”.

Bernard “Beanie” Campbell was an innovator, having built Speaker City from the ground up, despite the fact that he could barely read.  He had the wife, the 2.3 kids, and the picket fence, but that didn’t make him happy.  Living vicariously through his fellow 30-somethings, as they lived vicariously through college students was Beanie’s comfort zone.  By creating a non-conventional fraternity, he took something that really didn’t make any sense, and made it into something great.  The things uttered by Vince Vaughn's character certainly weren't awe-inspiring, but can be applied to the different type of approach we can expect from Pat Shurmur's Browns in the near future.

“You’re focused on the wrong sort of details.”

Forgetting the futility of what the Browns have been, with our eyes on the road and out of the rear view mirror, we see the same problems that lie ahead.  Most of us don’t think Colt McCoy can get us over the hump, and many don’t trust Brandon Weeden to get it done either.  As much as everyone loves Joshua Cribbs, and as optimistic as everyone wants to be about Greg Little, the only certainty that exists with the Browns receiving corps is that there are question marks.  Defenses have figured out how to neutralize Evan Moore by going into a nickel package when he comes in, and forgive me if don’t believe that year #4 is the magical time that Mohamed Massaquoi evolves into something bona fide.  You’ve probably heard all of this before, and the bottom line is that the Browns are a bad passing team in a passing league.

Philosophies change in the NFL; what worked yesterday will not work tomorrow, so trying to emulate the trends of the team that wins this year’s Super Bowl may be an exhaustive and ultimately pointless venture.  You have to set your own trends, and win your own way.  Mike Holmgren should know that better than anyone, and I’ll cite that what worked for him, as a coach, in Green Bay isn’t what brought him success in Seattle.  When he had Brett Favre, he was able to do Brett Favre types of things, but his strengths in Seattle weighed heavily on having an offensive line that included Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones.  All he had to, in order to succeed in the NFC West, was add an outstanding running back from Alabama.  Lo and behold, one Trent Richardson from, you guessed it, Alabama.

Now, I know you never want to put all of your eggs in one basket, especially given the shelf life of the NFL running back in the 21^st century, but we’ve seen this Cleveland Browns organization reboot so often in the last fourteen years.  As fans, we are part of a third world country that fears first world problems, if we concern ourselves with the wrong sort of details.  We are talking about a team that last earned a sixth win on November 18, 2007; that was the game where Phil Dawson’s bizarre game-tying field goal in Baltimore sent the game to Overtime, and the Browns defeated the Ravens to secure a season sweep of their division rivals.  That was the last time they were victorious against Baltimore, and also the last time they swept a team in the AFC North.

That 2007 was built around its strengths, highlighted by an outstanding offensive line that relied on playmakers and a balanced attack.  In a rare note of good news, five years later, it looks like the bodies protecting those playmakers might be an even better group this time around.  The Browns did not run the ball for a lot of yardage a season ago, and you could argue that they weren’t looking to pad that statistical category when playing from behind.  You could also tell me that they were #28 in the league, but it doesn’t matter because the Super Bowl Champion Giants were dead last.  However, those Champions were sixth in touchdowns on the ground; no one had fewer than the Browns, who had four.

"You're on the rebound. You're like an injured young fawn who's been nursed back to health and is finally going to be released back into the wilderness."

With the passing game being as bad as it was with Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace, you could argue that the Browns had no strength on the offensive side of the ball, and you’d most certainly be right.  That might be because the Browns hadn’t focused on upgrading the offense the same way they’ve worked on defensive personnel upgrades the last few off-seasons.  The numbers don’t really support it in many ways, but the Browns defense was actually a bright spot when evaluated by the eyeball test.

On paper, they weren’t the worst team defending the pass.  Those honors go to the Giants, Saints, Patriots, and Packers.  The Steelers, Ravens, Texans, and 49ers were the only team to allow fewer points than the 307 surrendered by the Browns, the only Top 5 Scoring Defense not to make the playoffs in 2011.  In baseball terms, it’s the same type of mitigating circumstance that we afford pitchers who don’t get the run support.  Ray Lewis once said something along the lines of, ‘You give me 21 points, and I’ll give you the ’72 Dolphins.’  That’s what the Browns need to be moving forward.

 

"Well, Columbus wasn't looking for America, my man, but that turned out to be pretty okay for everyone."

 

Really, no one plays this style any more.  There have been just two teams in the last two decades to win Super Bowls without marquee (I shy away from the term “Canton-bound”) quarterbacks, and they have applied this strategy, the one where you run the ball, control the clock, and play hard-nosed defense.  It goes completely against the grain, but this is what wins the AFC North.

That’s not to say that you can completely abandon an offensive attack, the goal needs to be six on every possession.  Settling for three has almost become a habit, and I can spell it out by pointing out Phil Dawson’s 29 field goal attempts to his 20 extra points.  Now, maybe the addition of Brandon Weeden and Travis Benjamin does more for the passing game than I can allow myself to believe, but common sense dictates that this offense is best served by a passing game that keeps defense honest to open things up for Richardson on any given play.  All I can say it that it's best to circumvent the conventional wisdom that the Fantasy geeks are going to try to sell you.

I will be the first to admit that I didn’t love the idea of the back from Alabama to improve an offense that actually put up numbers with Peyton Hillis and Chris Ogbonnaya on the field, but the idea has grown on me, especially when I sell myself on the Adrian Peterson hype that accompanies Richardson.  Joe Thomas and Alex Mack are already proven commodities, while Jason Pinkston was an absolute pleasant surprise even if Thomas carried him in his rookie season.  There’s certainly some youth to look forward to on this offensive line, and even without naming them, you can rest assured that they are all upgrades from the Tony Pashos and Oneil Cousins type that we have seen occupy critical starting spots the last few seasons.

 

"Because this is a very big idea, my friends. We're talking about a non-exclusive egalitarian brotherhood where community status and, more importantly, age have bearing whatsoever."

 

There are a lot of reasons to think the days of winning football games without a dynamic passing attack have gone the way of the dodo, but if it’s going to happen in Cleveland, it has to happen another way.  By drafting a “rookie” that’s damn near 30, and not surrounding him with extraordinary talent says two things; the Browns want to win soon, and that they aren’t trying replicate what Mike McCarthy is doing with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. 

One hates to offer any credit, especially from this desk, to the Baltimore Ravens of any era, so I only intend to use the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a benchmark for the “Old School” approach to winning.  That Tampa Bay team won by having the best team defense, and a lot of luck with a running-back-by-commitee and a quarterback that was just good enough not to screw things up.  Jon Gruden coached that team, and he's now an analyst because he's better at that than coaching NFL talent.  If that doesn’t satisfy you, how about the 1964 Browns ability to run the football and win championships with Frank Ryan at quarterback?  Hell, I might be convinced that focus on the running game might be more than just an option, but the only way the Browns can and ever will win a Championship.

Never lose focus of the ultimate goal, Browns fans.  Please remain unsatisfied with every bit of progress that does not equal a Super Bowl victory.