Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A Brilliant Stragety by Ray Schennelheiser


Giving the Stealers a false sense of security is pretty smart. I guess when Zastudil wouldn't take a dive, they had him fake an injury and got this other guy to help the rest of the team blow it.
At first, I thought they were just making the Stealers overconfident so they could later crush them in this particular game, but obviously Romeo has a longer view in mind. Now, it will be even more psychologicly devastating when the Browns go smash them at home later this season!
I can't wait!
That was Ray Schennelheiser. Ray Schennelheis...oh JEEZ! You PEOPLE!!! HAHA...get it? Schennel...I give up.
Anyway, I think the best way for me to proceed is to paste a new column by our resident genius, Rich Passen:
If there is any stunning news that came out of Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season opener, it’s that Romeo Crennel still has a job as head coach of this team.
How many more pathetic, lethargic, unemotional, monumentally boring displays of professional football must Browns fans endure before the plug is mercifully pulled on what this man does for a living?
Recently, Browns General Manager Phil Savage declared there is no Romeo Crennel watch, insisting that Crennel was “the right man for the job.” Wonder if he feels that way today
He also blamed the media for creating the notion that Crennel is on the hot seat and declared that there is no such seat on which his coach sits.
Well, it's unwise to pick out particular buttheads, who shall remain nameless. Rich. Massive injuries and inexperience pretty much cover last year. Coulda been Belichick or Parcells, dumbass.

After Sunday’s disquieting collapse, perhaps it’s time to strike the match and light that fire, Phil, heat that seat and point the finger at the real culprits for putting Crennel there – yourself and the players. It sure looks like a hot seat Crennel occupies with the fans.
“If we get beat, 50-0, in the first six games, that’s a different story,” Savage said. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen.” They’re off to a pretty good start. “There’s no one else out there who could have won more that eight to 12 games with the roster we had” the last two seasons.
Oh yes there is, Phil. And he’s unemployed right now. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Name’s Marty Schottenheimer. Used to be the head coach here at one time back in the days when Cleveland Browns football was exciting and fun and respected.
I can absolutely guarantee you a Schottenheimer team would never, ever have come out as ill prepared as the Browns did against the Steelers Sunday. That team was in no way, shape or form ready to play their bitterest rival. And there is no excuse for it.
Correction: Steinbach and Shaffer hadn't practiced with their teammates, including rookie Joe Thomas. I told you to EXPECT miscommunication and mistakes several months ago, even before they drafted Thomas, as even then it was probable that at there'd be at least two new starters on the offensive line.
A finesse blocking scheme is complex, and takes awhile for any line to master.
I was fortunate enough to miss most of the game on the radio, but I believe there were also blown assignments in the secondary. Wright was burned fair and square (by Ward), but there's no way Santonio Holmes is supposed to be uncovered. This was a mental mistake, probably on the part of an inexperienced Brodney Pool.
Savage said before the season that the defensive line wasn't finished yet. The TEAM is not completely built yet.
The offense is likewise new and complex, and I told you months ago that this would likewise take some time to master.
The contrast between Anderson and Frye was no mistake. I told you a YEAR ago that Anderson gets rid of the ball and is decisive. THAT, you blame on Romeo (or Phil). And keeping Ted Washington while releasing Oshinowo.
Yeah, they sucked. It was murder. Marty might have simplified stuff and only lost by 21 or so points, but you need to get back on your medication.
It was just another litany of turnovers, missed tackles, penalties, botched assignments, dropped passes and lazy football in general by a team that is so poorly coached, it boggles the imagination.
Please don't use that word. Being devoid of imagination, you can't understand what it is. Hey somebody else tell me about the dropped passes--is he just tossing that in there? I do have to admit that I'm pretty concerned about screw-ups myself, but I comprehend that the offense is new and complicated, and several of the players are inexperienced.

The Steelers games can no longer be called a rivalry. The Browns don’t put up enough of a fight in order for it to be given that title. It’s just another two games on the schedule every year until the Browns can fight back.
I concur.

They need someone to kick them hard in the hind flanks. That someone is Schottenheimer.
You can’t outprepare his teams. He knows how to mold winning franchises. You don’t compile 200 career coaching victories by luck. That’s not a coincidence.
We have been told by Savage and his minions that this is a better football team than the one he took over 30-some months ago and has more talent. So if the talent is there, the victories should be close behind, right?
Right. Just as soon as the offrensive system has a chance to get out of it's freaking CRADLE and stumble around a little, along with all the raw, young players...and we have a better QB. How the hell do you think a team is built? He DRAFTED the core. They're still KIDS, nimrod!
OK, we’re waiting.
It’s just one game, some will say. Why the panic?
First of all, it’s not just one game. It’s two miserable seasons and one game. When is enough enough?
The fans are sick and tired of getting kicked in the teeth. This is pure torture if you’re a Browns fan. It soils the wonderful legacy of this team.
Schottenheimer would be the perfect choice to come in here and straighten out a team that has talent, but zero direction. He is a disciple of the 3-4 defensive scheme, had offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski on his staff in San Diego last season and would bring a fresh approach to how to play the game
Hmm...he's staring to convince me. Yeah, with Chud...he wouldn't fire Grantham, either.......
Continuity be damned. This team is headed for disaster with Crennel as the head coach. Keeping him for the sake of continuity is insane. And with Cincinnati and Baltimore lurking in the shadows of the schedule, this season can – and most likely will – get ugly in a hurry.
Schottenheimer critics complain that his teams have never made it to the Super Bowl. Hard to argue that point. But at least his teams play smart football, winning football, creative football. And isn’t that what Browns fans want?
Schottenheimer at least gets to the playoffs. Of course, the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal, but if you can’t get to the playoffs because of poor coaching, what difference does it makes what the ultimate goal is?
He is the kind of a coach who can come in and teach the Browns how to win, which is one more step toward respectability than they’re taking now. And respect is something the Browns haven’t received, justifiably so, since the return in 1999. This team has no clue how to win.
In his 21 seasons as a head coach in the National Football League, Schottenheimer has experienced just two losing campaigns. That’s no accident.
Right now, Cleveland’s Clueless Coach doesn’t know how to win. How else can one explain his 1-12 record against AFC North teams, his 10-23 overall mark and unfailing ability to put his team in a position to be humiliated way too many times?
The players like him. Wonderful. The players respect him. Great. Then why don’t they play for him?
Some will argue that Schottenheimer is too old? So what if he is nearly 64 years old? Age didn’t make a difference when Crennel was hired. Age has nothing to do with it. The guy can coach.
This team has to learn to walk before it runs. And right now, it is staggering around like an inebriated jackass. Four penalties on one play on a punt? Hard to keep from laughing on that one.
Browns fans want to have some fun, some enjoyment when they watch their team. As we speak, this club is just a few losses away from a fan backlash that might surprise the front office, whose inaction on Crennel is nothing short of puzzling.
Savage said recently the Browns were “going to be in good shape with Romeo . . . We’re looking for our offense to be efficient; we’re looking for our defense to be opportunistic and solid and we’re looking for our special teams to be sound.”
After Sunday’s little picnic, the offense is no more efficient than a Model-T Ford, the opportunistic defense got pushed around like a 98-pound weakling and the special teams were anything but sound.
Savage also said he and Crennel “are in the business to create cohesion and continuity.” If this is cohesion and continuity, I want no part of it.
To lust for an old coach to return is to deal with the stuff of which fairy tales are made. There’s only one problem. It’ll never happen.
Schottenheimer back in Cleveland? Not a chance. Savage would never hire him.
The suffering continues. Are you watching, Randy?
This was one game. It was a joke, for sure, and I'm getting sick of it myself. But Rich was saying this stuff last season, when the entire secodary had been wiped out by injuries, the offensive line was playing musical chairs, and Edwards was dropping a bunch of passes.
If you have a brain, you discard the two previous seasons, as (the one before moreso) there was a massive turnover--this team just now NEARING the completion of a total reconstruction.
Marty might indeed be a better option, and Romeo might indeed not be a head coach. But you don't fire the guy until he has a reasonably healthy team, with a stable offense--and a quarterback--and still loses.
Hopefully Cinci is all worn out from it's monday night fight with the Ravens. Don't expect the Browns to win, but...hell, I don't know.
No, I DO know: Last week was an abherration. They'll make a fight of it. Let Anderson work with the first team ALL WEEK every practice, for once, and he should be an improved version of the guy last season.
Now break it up, and go home.

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