Written by Brian McPeek

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I’m honestly not sure if there’s a better wide receiver in all of football than Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald. The guy’s been an All-Pro numerous times, has made a half dozen Pro Bowls and accumulates yards and scores regardless of who’s throwing the football for the Cardinals.

He’s a guy you might want to account for at all times. Especially on 3^rd and 6 in overtime when you have the Cardinals looking at what would have been a 50+ yard field goal to try and win the game.

But somehow the Browns defense forgot all about Fitzgerald. And despite the fact that Jay Feely kicked a 20 yard field goal to win the game, the Browns lost the game on the play before when Fitzgerald was left all alone to haul in a 33-yard pass from John Skelton.

This is the kind of thing bad teams have happen to them. They play hard and they play okay at times, but they wet the bed at some point every damn game.

Seneca Wallace was okay, Peyton Hillis was okay and the Browns defense, despite numerous dropped interceptions and that last brain cramp with Fitzgerald, was okay. They’re just not good enough. And they’re certainly not good enough to survive any fatal mistakes they may make.

Some thoughts:

~ Seneca Wallace looks a lot Colt McCoy when he’s running for his life. Wallace moved the team better than McCoy has a against a good defense, but when Tony Pashos inevitably starts taking on water and getting beaten like a drum, Wallace’s effectiveness is as diminished as McCoy’s. And Wallace has been around too long to not make some better decisions with the football. Specifically, with the Cardinals using timeouts to stop the clock at the end of regulation and with the Browns facing a 3^rd and long, Wallace’s read wasn’t open. Instead of going to ground and forcing the Cardinals to use their last timeout, Wallace threw the ball out of bounds. That stopped the clock and kept the Cardinals with their last timeout. That’s a dumb play. Not as dumb as losing Larry Fitzgerald with the game on the line, but still…

~ Here’s hoping Tony Pashos finds a nice jar of Bubonic Plague under his Christmas tree next Sunday. What a horrible disaster that guy has been at RT.

~ I hope Pashos is the giving sort and shares his jar with Sheldon Brown.

~ Why do you go the entire game without giving Patrick Peterson any punt return opportunities and then kick him the football in overtime? Who’s idea was that? Was it a conscious decision or did Brad Maynard finally make a mistake on an otherwise good day?

~ God, I’d really like to see Greg Little get the ball into the end zone before preening and posing. I had visions of him dropping that football on the 10-yard line and me blowing out an aorta right afterward.

~ The Browns might want to add a play to the book for those 3^rd and longs that isn’t a screen to Peyton Hillis. I know they got crazy-innovative and tried to switch sides with the call once, but both those plays were obvious to the Cardinals and both were blown up.

~ It’s time to permanently replace Josh Cribbs on kickoff returns. He’s lost his explosiveness either through natural aging, injury or a combination of both. Buster Skrine has no strength but he’s got a burst and at this point he’s a better option than Cribbs.

All Over But the Pouting

You’re reading it here first: the Colt McCoy ‘era’ in Cleveland is over. I’m wagering that the second year quarterback from Texas will not play another game this season, will not start for this team in 2012 and will not, in all likelihood, be with the team at all after the April draft.

I think that’s all anyone who’s listening can truly take away from the events of the past 10 days or so after McCoy suffered a concussion against the Steelers regardless of whether there are reports out there that McCoy will be cleared to return perhaps as early as Monday . In fact, the concussion will go down as the Fort Sumter of McCoy’s demise with the Browns and it was Brad McCoy, Colts father, who ended up firing the first shot.

Brad McCoy was pissed about the way his son’s injury was handled, as many fathers would be. But when he went to Mary Kay Cabot instead of the Browns directly he put his kid in the crosshairs. That’s not all it took in order for Colt to be cast aside. Let’s face it; he’s not tearing it up this season.

But look at the following and see if you can come up with any other way this situation ends aside from Colt getting dealt on draft day:

1. 1.Colt gets hit by James Harrison and the concussion is fubar-ed by the Browns entire organization.

 

1. 2.Brad McCoy goes public and pisses off the Browns.

 

1. 3.Mike Holmgren admitted last Wednesday that he has not called or talked to his young quarterback.

 

1. 4.Tom Heckert stated Thursday in his own press conference that the Browns would like to have D’Qwell Jackson back next season.

 

1. 5.Heckert also unequivocally said the Browns want Phil Dawson back next season.

 

1. 6.When asked about McCoy being back and under center, Heckert stated that the Browns would evaluate McCoy after the season.

 

1. 7.When asked if they could actually evaluate McCoy even without the OL and WRs being competent and capable, Heckert said they had enough information to evaluate McCoy.

 

Clearly the Browns have evaluated D’Qwell Jackson and Phil Dawson and determined they want them back next season. And they apparently are fine with making that public. But McCoy was not given the same vote of confidence, or any vote of confidence really, despite the fact Heckert says they have enough information to evaluate McCoy.

So they have enough information and they aren’t shy about stating they want some other guys back, but they will not commit to McCoy? And the president of the team has not even called the kid to see if he’s okay?

So long, Colt.

He’s done here.

I’m saying to you now that he won’t play the rest of the season. Maybe it’s being careful with his health or maybe it will be at the direction of a spiteful Holmgren who will keep McCoy chained to the bench, but I’ll be shocked if he plays (short of an injury to Seneca Wallace). This will be Holmgren’s little ‘Eff You” to Brad and to Colt and that’s how the McCoy run here will end. The Browns will either draft their QB in the flow of the draft next April or, if their guy is already gone, will look for a free agent place holder for another season.

I can’t in any way see them packaging picks for a chance to move up. Not when they have so many needs everywhere and they have a chance to fill them with Heckert calling the shots.

As for McCoy? He needs the entire house to be in order for him to have success. Clearly that’s not the situation here. His OL blows, his receivers blow, the offensive game plans blow and he’s not elite enough to make plays in the face of all of that. Not many guys are but those elite guys would show you glimpses of that ability and McCoy hasn’t.

In watching McCoy, he also doesn’t have enough ‘gamble’ or ‘cowboy’ to him. What I mean is that he won’t take enough chances to make throws or to diverge from a play to make a bigger play happen. Maybe that’s because he’s been chastened by the Browns coaches for doing it or maybe it’s because he’s lacking confidence in his arm getting the job done, but he plays the game and directs the offense very conservatively and there are simply times when the elite guys make something out of nothing or at least take that chance.

I think the kid will be fine if he’s in a system that has talent in it as well as stability throughout the organization. McCoy is smart, he’s tougher than hell and he can make enough throws to be successful if everything around him is in order. Depending where he goes I think he sticks around the league for a while. He won’t go anywhere and start but he’ll ascend to a starting role via injury or a starter’s ineffectiveness and he’ll have a few years where we all wonder what the hell the Browns were thinking getting rid of him. He’s going to have to get more aggressive with his throws and demeanor to do any of that, but I think he has it in him.

All I know is in reading the tea leaves of the last ten days, we’re about to find out.

Still at the Kiddie Table

The Indians came up empty on Josh Willingham and then didn’t even bother with Michael Cuddyer in the last week or so. The Tribe will tell you their reluctance on Willingham was based on his defensive shortcomings.

Please.

Their reluctance on Willingham (and remember this a team that ran Shelly Duncan out to LF regularly and was forced to play Luis Valbuena out there a couple times too) had far less to do with defense and far more to do with money. That means ‘business as usual’ down at Progressive Field.

The Tribe, despite selling the future in the Ubaldo Jiminez trade, just doesn’t have the jack to make sure Jiminez and their pitchers are surrounded by legitimate offensive left fielder. It’s that simple. Willingham, after a career year power-wise, was always going to get a 3-year deal for about $8-$9million per year. The Indians somehow tried to stay in the Willingham discussions despite not having the ability to do a 3-year deal.

They simply won’t go three years at that kind of salary. Not after being burned in the past and not in an economy that favors the conservative approach.

What’s interesting is to note Forbe’s financial review of all MLB teams showed the Tribe making $10million last year. And before people wonder why the Indians don’t pour all of that back into their payroll, well, the idea in business is to make money.

Note that I said the ‘idea in business’ is to make money. The idea in baseball is to win the World Series. The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive but they aren’t anywhere close to the same either. I don’t blame the Tribe for making money. We’re all better off the Indians are financially healthy.

But I’d appreciate if they didn’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining in terms of Josh Willingham’s defense being what scared them off. He’s a shitty defender at $3million and he’ll be a shitty defender at $9million per year. The fact you’d pay him less doesn’t make it any easier for Jiminez or Masterson or Tomlin to watch him butcher a play. He’s not coming here because the Indians aren’t comfortable with the combination of years and dollars.

That’s the bottom line to that story regardless of how the spin doctors try to sell it. Now they just better pray that Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis improve, that Asdrubal Cabrera doesn’t regress, that Carlos Santana takes the next step and that Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore stay healthy enough to be the 2006 versions of those guys and not what they’ve been the last two or three years.

Then, if all that happens and they incur no major injuries to their pitching staff, they should be just fine.

If only a guy like Mike Cameron was available…

The Cavs Are Back!!!!

Your starting five the other night in Detroit for the pre-season opener: Antawn Jamison, Ramon Sessions, Alonzo Gee, Anthony Parker and Anderson Varejao!!!!!

Yes!! A 6^th man, a 7^th man and three guys who would struggle to make an eight or nine man rotation for a decent team. I can’t wait for the real games to begin and I am very happy that pre-season wins don’t mess up the draft order.

Better things may be coming when Kyrie Irving develops and if Tristan Thompson develops, but, wow, this season is going to be hysterically and maybe historically bad.

Oh… and here is my 2011-2012 NBA Preview:

When in doubt, always wager on the team closest to an ocean-sized body of salt water (see how I eliminated Utah there…). And if two teams are playing who are both near large, ocean-sized bodies of saltwater, the next determining factor is average median temperature of the cities, the higher of which is your best bet.

The big market teams will dominate and any team not on a coast or huge media market, other than Oklahoma City, will blow. One or two may make the playoffs as an 8-seed and be cannon fodder for the big market teams, but for the most part, you can safely wager on the above.

This is a 6-team league. And it’s a matter of time before OKC isn’t part of that anymore so those fans should enjoy this while it lasts or consider a move to either coast.

 

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