Cleveland Browns: In Holmgren we trust

I made a New Year's resolution this year that I would stop watching bad football.

I'm sure I will break that resolution August 11, 2012 - around the time the Cleveland Browns play their first exhibition season.

I can't ever remember being so invested in a football team and received so little. What's there to like about this football team:

• A team owner Randy Lerner who appears not to care
• A team President "the Big Show" Mike Holmgren who appears arrogant and out of touch to Browns fans

Drafting QBs in Round 1

I was curious at QB successes and failures in top 20 picks of the NFL Draft. In the 10 year period, ten quarterbacks became solid starters for their respective teams while 12 did not work out.

2008: Hits: 2 (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco); Misses: 0

2007: Hits: 0; Misses: 1 (JaMarcus Russell)
Note: Brady Quinn drafted 22

2006: Hits: 1 (Jay Cutler); Misses: 2 (Vince Young, Matt Leinart)

No RG3, what's next

After weeks of speculating whether the Cleveland Browns will move up in the NFL Draft in order to select Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, we have our answer.

The Washington Redskins will acquire the #2 pick in April's draft from the St. Louis Rams in exchange for picks #6 and #39 in 2012 plus 2013 & 2014 1st Round selections. Cleveland's best trade proposal was #4, #22 and 2013 1st rounder.

Cleveland still has nine picks in the upcoming draft including #4, #22, #37. The Browns still have plenty of options at quarterback.

Cleveland Browns Shopping List

Today the NFL starts free agency. The Cleveland Browns said they won't be active but that doesn't mean we can't speculate. Here are the positions of need and who could fill them.

QB:

Chad Henne, Miami – Only 26 but seems like he has been around forever. Picking up a veteran will (1) provide competition for Colt McCoy in training camp and (2) remove the pressure of having to get a QB in the NFL Draft. I'm not sold on Green Bay's Matt Flynn he's the same age as Henne but will command way too much money this off-season. He has only started two games in his career. He can't play against Detroit's secondary every week.

NFL Draft Thoughts - Day 1

The Browns traded down in the first round too far and did not receive enough in return.

Let's look at this. Moved from #6 (WR Julio Jones) to #21 (DT Phil Taylor) in exchange for:

• moving from #70 to #59,
• pick #124,
• 2012 first and fourth round draft picks approximately #27 and #120.

To compare, New England's Bill Belichick traded down from #28 to #56 in exchange for a 2012 first round draft pick.

Everyone on TV says history (Mike Ditka / Ricky Williams, Herschel Walker) will be on Cleveland's side in this trade. I point to two years ago when all the Browns have left from the Mark Sanchez deal is C Alex Mack.

I never heard of Phil Taylor and at least he fills a huge need. Colt McCoy still needs help offensively (WR, RT, RB). While we're at it, the Browns still need to plug holes on defense (DE, CB, S) as well.

Obviously, the Browns have plenty of holes so the extra picks will come in handy too bad only one of the extra three picks is in 2011's draft.

SuperBowl Trivia

1. The Oakland Raiders won the 1981 SuperBowl and became the wild card team to host the Lombardi Trophy. How many times has it happened since?
2. NFC won 13 straight Super Bowls from 1985-1997. How many have they won since?
3. The winning share for the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I was how much?
4. In SBXXIX, Steve Young's first touchdown pass of the game went to which teammate?
5. In SB IX, how were the first points of the game scored?
6. USC was (a) the college SBXXVIII MVP  Marcus Allen attended or (b) the college where Raiders owner Al Davis was an assistant coach
7. Which New York Jets player had 2 interceptions in SBIII?
8. Name the defensive teammates who were co-MVPs of SBXII?
9. Name the Cincinnati Bengals TE who had 11 receptions in SB XVI
10. Which starting DB for the Kansas City Chiefs, who played in SBI, went on to have a career in movies and TV?
11. Name the two Willies who started in the secondary in SBII?
12. Who coached the Colts in SBIII?
13. Which former Heisman Trophy winner started at running back for the Chiefs in SBIV?
14. Which DB was SBVII MVP
15. Which LB was SBV MVP?

NFL needs to stop postponing games

Another week and another NFL game involving the Minnesota Vikings is changed. The blizzard that has hammered the United States East Coast has postponed the Vikings / Eagles game from Sunday night to Tuesday. The blizzard is expected to dump more than a foot of snow on Philadelphia.

Let me take you back to another famous game played in Philly: the 1948 NFL Championship game.

Philadelphia was already well in the midst of an actual blizzard. The Eagles played the Chicago Cardinals in for the championship game in an era where men were treated like men.

Steve Van Buren, Philly's star halfback who was in the fifth season of his Hall of Fame career, had to walk down 12 blocks down Broad Street after having ridden three trolleys from his home to the Eagles stadium. He then set a then-NFL record by running for 196 yards and scored the only touchdown of the game to help Philadelphia win their first championship.

Van Buren celebrated with his teammates, then walked up Broad Street 12 blocks and rode three trolleys home.

I understand most of NFL history prior to 1967 doesn't count but there was a time when NFL players were real men.

KIA Soul hamster commercial has grown on me

I guess I watch too much football. I used to hate this commercial and now I can't get enough of it ... weird.



Who's the Black Sheep, what's the Black Sheep?
Don't know who I am, or when I'm coming so you sleep
Wasn't in my room, wasn't in my sphere
Knew not who I was, but listen here

Then of course, the choice is yours

You can get with this, or you can get with that
I think you'll get with this, for this is where it's at

Where's the Black Sheep, here's the Black Sheep
Even if we wanted to the flock could not be weak
Watch me swing like this, why should I swing it like that,
Because in fact, on me it might not attract

You can get with this, or you can get with that
I think you'll get with this yes, for this is kinda fat

It’s over for the Browns

Time to get real Cleveland fan: the Browns will not make the NFL play-offs. Bottom line: they're 3-5. Teams with five losses at the halfway point usually means picking in the top ten in the NFL draft. A two-game winning streak against New Orleans and New England does not mean it's time to make plans in January.

Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh have six wins (that's double Cleveland's win total) and have won a head-to-head meeting already. That means three games back and losing the first NFL tie-breaker.

Cleveland had a 10-6 record in 2007 that was not enough to make the play-offs which means 11-5 will assure a wild-card berth. To finish 11-5 would require ending the year on a 10-game winning streak. It isn't going to happen.

So enjoy the two-game winning streak, enjoy the fact that Cleveland defeated their ex-head coach Bill Belichick and enjoy watching the development of QB Colt McCoy and RB Peyton Hillis. Given Cleveland's 2nd half schedule, I would not be surprised to see the Browns go 6-2. They is still a lot of good football this year.

Just don't book any plane reservations for Dallas in February.

PrimeTime Sports: Browns vs Jets is not JUST a game

PrimeTime Sports: Browns vs Jets is not JUST a game
Interesting facts from my friend Rob Trrautman about Sunday's game.

NY Jets = overrated

Ravens 10, Jets 9

Monday night's NFL game at the new Meadowlands Stadium was billed as an AFC Championship game between two teams expected to have strong seasons and ready to break into the New England-Indy-Pittsburgh stranglehold on the AFC.

The Baltimore Ravens look ready to join that group. However, someone forgot to tell the NY Jets.

The Jets have made headlines all summer.

• Big-name acquisitions like LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie
• HBO and NFL Films featured the Jets for the TV show "Hard Knocks"
• The head coach Rex Ryan making Super Bowl guarantees and feuding with fans and media, including former coach Tony Dungy, for excessive use of expletives.
• Now the NFL is investigating the Jets for inappropriate actions when visited by a female reporter during practice last Saturday.
• Opening of a new stadium and playing their first regular-season game on Monday night.

All of this makes the Jets a sexy pick for the Super Bowl – not any more.

The Jets' offense was shockingly bad: 6 first downs, 1-11 on third down, 60 yards passing - against the Ravens defense missing two starters in the secondary. The Jets almost had more penalty yards than total yards on offense.

Cleveland Browns fans will see Jake Delhomme's struggles at QB and wish they had Mark Sanchez. Let's look at the Jets QB: he has a pro-bowl left tackle (D’Brickashaw Ferguson), pro-bowl center (Nick Mangold), pro-bowl receiver (Braylon Edwards), and a hall of fame running back (Tomlinson). It's time Sanchez starts getting it done.

The Jets are good at drawing people's attention. Now let's see how they play football with a target on their chest.

Cleveland Browns and NFL reactions

Bucs 17, Browns 14
The Browns let one get away yesterday. They played horrible and lost to a bad team with a 2nd year quarterback who has a broken thumb. I'm sure this season Cleveland will win a game that it has no business winning but the Tampa Bay game stings a bit.

I wonder how bad Jake Delhomme was injured. Looks like his ankle or foot was hurting him on his throws. His decision-making was still very questionable.

Given that the Browns should have ran the ball more often. I know Peyton Hillis fumbled twice but given the rain, the Delhomme injury, and Tampa couldn't stop it, Cleveland should have been running the ball.

I'm happy with the defense overall, both Tampa TDs came on a short field. However, the lack of pass rush is still alarming. Yes, the Browns recorded three sacks but it seemed the only way Cleveland could pressure Bucs QB Josh Freeman is by blitzing. They got caught in a blitz on the game winning TD. Hopefully when Shaun Rogers is on the field more often, the pocket will collapse more often. Let's hope.

Steelers 15, Falcons 9 - big win for Pittsburgh. Today's game shows that it's Troy Polamalu who is the team MVP and not Ben Roethlisberger. Just a total lost weekend for Atlanta. They catch a break with the schedule when Big Ben sits in their game but will be available when Pittsburgh plays New Orleans. The Falcons don't have to play Minnesota. Instead the Saints win and the Falcons lost to the Steelers minus Roethlisberger. Not to mention this is a big confidence boost for Dennis Dixon.

Bears 19, Lions 14 - the officials made the wrong call on Calvin Johnson's touchdown catch in the final minute of the Bears-Lions game. Once again, a lack of common sense ruins the end of the game.

Patriots 38, Bengals 24 - I'm curious to see in the coming weeks whether New England is going to be very good or Cincinnati is very over-rated. Chad Ochocinco had a huge day - I'll have to check out his reality show to see if he's a hit with the ladies now. Neither Ochocinco or Terrell Owens were on the field for a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half because they had left early for the locker room - OOPS.

Texans 34, Colts 24 - hard to believe it's the first win for Houston against Indianapolis. How long have they been in the league?

Golf take: Congratulations to Myrtle Beach's Dustin Johnson for winning this week's BMW tournament at Cog Hill. After blowing up in the final at the US Open and taking a tough penalty at PGA to miss the play-off, the golf gods needed to make good with Johnson. He may have a shot to win the Fed Ex Cup next week.

Cleveland Browns: so far so good

I usually don't watch pre-season game because it's mostly garbage football (Hall of Fame game comes to mind). However, I was pleasantly surprised with the Browns and Green Bay Packers - a good game to watch for 60 minutes. I was unable to watch the game live so I DVR'd it and then watched it later. I know who records NFL preseason games?

Props to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace for strong games. I think we're going to like Brian Robiskie and Ben Watson. The passing game has to be better in 2009. It can't be any worse. For the first time in a couple of years, the Browns looked like an offense and more importantly an NFL-competent offense. I was especially impressed with Wallace's arm – looks better than Delhomme's who I hope is recovered from surgery.

Green Bay has a great offense but I'm still concerned about the defense. Packers didn't attempt to run the ball and the secondary got carved up. It was almost too easy for QB Aaron Rodgers. I like the fact that Joe Haden and TJ Ward both played a lot and made some nice plays and some bad plays.

Unsung heroes we take for granted: Phil Dawson and Blake Constanzo. The Browns special teams have been very solid these last few years.

Stallworth getting a second chance

Donte’ Stallworth was recently profiled in yahoo sports as he makes a comeback with the Baltimore Ravens.

I was one of those who felt 24 days in prison for killing a man was way too lenient and thought this was another case of an athlete with a lot of money. After reading the article from Les Carpenter, you find out there is more to Stallworth than spiking fellow Braylon Edwards and running over a man partying after his roster bonus was picked up by the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL these days is full of these types of stories. Add Stallworth to the list that includes Michael Vick, Ricky Williams, Leonard Little, Vince Young and Cedric Benson.

I'm glad Stallworth is no longer with Cleveland but also glad he appears to be picking up the pieces of his life.