Mary Kay Cabot boldly wrote an article asserting that the Browns were the best team in the AFC North, and that Jason Campbell was an elite quarterback.
I scrupulously avoided the the comments part after the article, because I'm sick of masogonist cretins bashing her for relaying what a coach or GM told her, or saying anything positive whatsoever about any part of this team.
Really, she's right. It kind of snuck up on even me. I was selling them short myself. If you go position-by-position, as she did, it's hard to find anybody on the Bengals who is better than his Browns counterpart! And this includes A J Green vs Josh Gordon.
My own analysis was contaminated, as I've been swimming in this pool of pessimism surrounding the team, regardless of a whole new owner and staff. That's downright ignorant! I'm embarrassed by this. I've got to take a shower and get the cooties off me.
It was also social pressure. I'm the guy that lets everybody else do the bashing, because there's such an abundant supply of stupidity and absurdity in there for me to tear apart. It's more fun to defend something than it is to attack it, at least for me.
As a result, Permabasher Judge Mental calls he a shill and a homer. ( That's how it started, by the way: Judge Mental said something like Clay Matthews sucked, and it was on.)
So I've been paranoid of being a shill, so much so that Mary Kay beat me to this conclusion: The 2013 Cleveland Browns are indeed the best team in the AFC North.
And Mary Kay doesn't dare say this, since it's politically incorrect, but I will: Marvin Lewis is the most overrated Head Coach in the history of football. The Browns coaches are better than their Bengals counterparts too.
This goes further: The Bengals are one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and when Mary Kay and I say that the Browns are better than them...see where I'm going with this?
What Andy Reid has done with the Chiefs is simply amazing, and maybe unprecedented. But what Chud and company have done in their first year isn't far behind. In a way, it's more impressive, because for the Browns it's still an uphill fight.
If Andy and Chud had switched starting quarterbacks before the first game, guess what. But now the Browns have that missing piece--finally!
Campbell's QB rating will probably go down a little as defensive coordinators update and contextualize their books on him, but it's no mirage. The guy always had this ability, just like Alex Smith.
Mary Kay is right to blame his constant shifting from one coach and system to another, but there's more to it than that. He's never been surrounded by this much talent before, and has had limited opportunities in this specific system, which is the best one for him.
When the Browns signed him this offseason and everybody else was writing him off as a failed starter but a good backup, I was there to correct them. I said that for all we knew, he was another Rich Gannon.
That was optimistic at the time, but now...?
This is perfect. It would be even more perfect if the Ravens upset the Bengals today. This Browns team is more accustomed to it's systems, and deeper, than the one that beat the Bengals in game 3. The Bengals have had the same systems and personnel in place for years.
The Browns are still improving. The Bengals were already pretty much peaked in the first matchup.
It will be tough. I'm not sure. But the Browns should beat them.
Peter Smith of the Dawg Pound Daily wrote an article about third round pick Leon McFadden getting a bigger role, now that he's healthy and has had some time to acclimate to the NFL.
McFadden was a very good college cornerback, and there's no reason to doubt that he'll be at least a solid starter in the NFL. If this pans out, the Browns will have three starting calibre cornerbacks, and be better-equipped to handle spread offenses.
As Peter knows, that's more important than casual fans think. Against most quarterbacks, defenses can sort of mask or help out weak links. But against the best ones (including Alex Smith, by the way), the so-so cornerback will be in for a long day.
This is especially true of there's a Josh Gordon or AJ Green in there.
It's also especially true in the Ray Horton pressure defense. To send more than four guys after the quarterback, he must take somebody out of coverage, and the quarterback's best move is to get rid of the ball quickly to the hole this creates.
Ideally, Horton wants three cornerbacks who can press cover, or at least stay very close, for at least four seconds after the snap. If he doesn't have those people, and he has to use zone coverage, then at least one short reciever is always open.
He has to hope that the corner can break it up, or stop it cold, or that the quarterback has to move and make an inaccurate throw, or that he's Brandon Weeden.
When the Browns played the Bengals earlier, Joe Haden stayed ahead of Green, because if Green got by him, he couldn't catch him. Dalton took advantage of this, as Green stopped short and caught 5-7 yard passes. It worked out for the Browns, as it's just not possible to complete all of those, and because Haden could sometimes anticipate the throw and beat the ball to Green.
But with a third starting cornerback, it might be possible for the Haden to cover Green tighter, as the free safety, Gipson, could back him up against a footrace. As it is, Gipson has to keep an eye on the slot reciever.
I'm just guessing. I don't know. Ray might laugh at me for saying this stuff.
But I am sure that three cornerbacks are way better than two, ok?
Finally, a prediction: the Browns can't lose today.
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