Which Ryan is it?

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/11/10/rex-ryan-dresses-as-brother-rob-ryan-for-press-conference

Funny!

Browns, Hillis capitalize on terrible Broncos trade

Maybe the hooded sweatshirt was hanging over Josh McDaniels’ eyes the entire 2009 season. Or maybe he never took the time to watch all of the Denver Broncos’ game film from 2008. Or maybe Mike Holmgren and the Cleveland Browns’ new front office is a whole lot smarter than we realized.

Or maybe there’s no reasonable explanation for how Peyton Hillis(notes) ended up where he is – sparking the suddenly feisty Browns, and leaving Broncos fans writhing in agony over the worst trade of last offseason.

Where is Brady Quinn(notes) these days? You’ll find him scraping barnacles off the bottom of the depth chart, languishing behind Tim Tebow(notes). Yes, that’s the guy whom McDaniels traded Hillis for – he of the career 66.8 quarterback rating and 52 percent completion rate. And it wasn’t even a straight up player-for-player deal. Denver kicked in a sixth-round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012 to sweeten the pot. Nothing like a couple of bamboo shoots under the fingernails on draft day to remind fans of a team’s brain-searing roster machinations.

The Browns’ Peyton Hillis rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns vs. the Patriots.
(Tony Dejak/AP Photo)

Of course, you could give Hoodie Jr. a pass and say that there was no way McDaniels could have known Hillis would be a player who almost singlehandedly destroyed Hoodie Sr. (Bill Belichick) and the Patriots, en route to 220 yards from scrimmage (including 184 yards rushing) and two touchdowns – a guy who through eight games is on pace to rush for 1,288 yards and score 16 total touchdowns.

You could say McDaniels couldn’t have known, and you’d be right. He couldn’t, because McDaniels never took the time to try and know what Hillis was capable of accomplishing. Despite Hillis’ five yards per carry average and five TDs in a meager 68 rushing attempts in 2008, he didn’t get a sniff when McDaniels took over. Instead, the new regime, in its infinite wisdom, went out of its way to try almost anyone at running back other than Hillis. They drafted Knowshon Moreno(notes), signed J.J. Arrington(notes) (then cut him and signed him again), and scooped up injury-addled veterans Correll Buckhalter(notes) and LaMont Jordan(notes). And into the abyss Hillis went, never to be heard from again in 2009, save for 13 meaningless carries in 14 games.

The truth is, McDaniels never believed in Hillis, and the running back said as much when he joined Cleveland this offseason. Maybe only Hillis believed in himself, since nobody in the media (including me) was shooting a thumbs-up in Cleveland’s direction at the time of the deal. Just like nobody talked about Hillis when they lauded the sick talent in the University of Arkansas’ backfield in 2007, yammering non-stop about Darren McFadden(notes) and Felix Jones(notes), and almost never saying a word about Hillis.

Hindsight is cruel in the NFL, and Hillis’ success is downright merciless for a Broncos team that can’t run the football (last in the NFL heading into this weekend) and has watched Moreno struggle to stay on the field.

So Hillis delivers the two-pronged entry this week, making Denver’s shortsightedness a loser, and Cleveland’s sheer luck a winner. I have a feeling both cities will be talking about this trade for years to come.

Have the Browns found their identity?

The Cleveland Browns seem to be back to what they were once known for: smash-mouth football!

We remember what worked so well from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, establishing the ground game with Byner, Mack, Metcalf, etc., and setting up the big play passing game with Kosar to Slaughter, Langhorne, Newsome, Brennan and Weathers. The offense's success translated into success for the defense and the Cleveland defense was one of the most feared in the league.

Maybe this Browns team has begun to copy that blueprint?

On Sept. 27, after the Browns had started the season 0-3, I wrote "State of Browns? Ehhh, iffy" - and for good reason.

At that point the season didn't look promising. But then again, they'd only lost those first three games by a combined 12 points and could have just as easily been 3-0 at that point. At any rate, the Browns were finding ways to lose football games.

They were just about to enter a brutal stretch of their schedule with upcoming games against CIN, ATL, PIT, NO, NE and NYJ. Those six games looked like six more losses. But something happened and the Browns - now having just completed five of those six games - are 3-2 during the rough stretch.

Overall they are sitting at 3-5, yet could easily be 6-2 right now.

The Browns are actually playing good football. In their last 12 games dating back to last season, they are 7-5.

They closed out 2009 with 4-straight wins:

- 13-6 over Pittsburgh,

- 41-34 over Kansas City,

- 23-9 over Oakland,

- 23-17 over Jacksonville

Their three 2010 wins:

- 23-20 over Cincinnati,

- 30-17 over New Orleans,

- 34-14 over New England

Dating back to last season's bye week, the Browns have lost nine games by a combined 73 points. That's an average loss of just 8.1. They're in just about every game.

The one common trend with the Browns' winning ways this season has been the success of running back Peyton Hillis. In the Browns' five losses, he's averaging 12 carries for 58 yards. In their three wins, he's averaging 24 carries for 118 yards.

See the trend? Establish the ground game with Hillis and the Browns have been unstoppable. What Hillis did to the Patriots' run defense in Week 9 needs to be looked at further. For starters, he carried the ball 29 times for 184 yards and two scores.

He victimized several Patriots defenders and the Browns offensive line was easily winning the battle in the trenches. In the first quarter, Hillis had 9 carries for 63 yards. Second quarter he had 2 for 10 yards. Third quarter he had 9 for 41. Fourth quarter he had 9 for 70.

Hillis' 184 yards on the ground against the Patriots were the most rushing yards gained by a player against the Patriots since Ricky Williams rushed for 185 yards on Dec. 29, 2002. That's almost eight years people!

According to ESPN, of his 29 carries, Hillis ran the ball 21 times for 133 yards and a touchdown on attempts between the tackles (72.4 percent of his carries). Entering Week 9, only 49ers RB Frank Gore (69.5) had a higher percentage of his carries go up the middle than Hillis (65.4).

Hillis carried the ball six times for 59 yards (9.8 avg) and a touchdown when the Patriots had eight or more defenders in the box. Entering Week 9, the Patriots had allowed only 1.3 yards per carry with eight in the box, fourth-best in the NFL. Hillis also rushed for three first downs in those situations, half the total the Patriots had allowed in their first seven games this season (6).

On the season, Hillis has 133 carries for 644 yards (4.8 avg), 5 TDs rushing; and 30 receptions for 229 yards (7.6 avg), 1 TD receiving. Of the Top 10 running backs in the AFC, he ranks 7th in yards, but also 7th in total carries out of those 10 backs.

The Hillis surge has given the Browns' offense a jolt like no other. They've jumped up a bit to 25th in total offense (25th in passing, 13th in rushing). This has translated to having a better overall defense, because with the offense clicking they are starting to eat-up some time of possession battles. Coming into this season the Browns' defense was considered middle of the road at best. They started out slow because the team was getting killed in time of possession. Currently, the total team defense ranks 21st (24th in passing D, 15th in rushing D). They are 11th in points against and are now actually +2 in the turnover margin.

Through Week 6, the Browns were being outscored 125-81 (48-14 in the fourth quarter). The team record was 1-5. In the last two games (Saints-Patriots), the Browns are winning 64-31 (with a slight 21-20 fourth quarter scoring deficit). The team record: 2-0. In the Saints-Patriots games the Browns outscored both teams by a combined 44-10 in quarters 1 through 3.

What the Browns are doing is involving Hillis more, and playing games to win by coming out fast, putting points on the board, and limiting 4th quarter damage by killing the clock with the ground game. And they aren't making stupid mistakes.

The team is showing more discipline and looks like it has finally bought into Mangini's system (by the way, Mangini is now 4-1 coming off bye weeks).

Now, even if the Browns lose to the Jets next week and slip to 3-6, that four-game span against JAC, CAR, MIA and BUF looks quite promising. The Browns could easily take 3 of those 4 and be sitting at 6-7 with CIN, BAL and PIT to round out the season. And by that time, with the final two games in cold-weather Cleveland, anything can happen.

State of Browns? Ehhh, iffy

Like the late, great Hal Lebovitz used to stay at the start of his News-Herald columns, "A little bit of this, a little bit of that ... "

The Browns have had a fourth-quarter lead in all three games this season, but are 0-3 for the third straight season and the fourth time in five years.

At least we didn't grow up in Detroit.

There were some bright spots in Sunday's 24-17 loss in Baltimore. But I'm not so sure the Browns had a really good game as much as the Ravens defense played a really bad one.

TOUGH SCHEDULE

Whatever the case, the Browns are 0-3 and could just as easily be the shock of the league at 3-0 if they had the ability to play the second half the same way they play in the first half.

Sitting at 0-3 is a major cause for concern. Especially when you consider the Browns have two very difficult stretches in their schedule this season.

The first stretch already started with the loss at Baltimore. But the next six games are going to be brutal. We can only hope for some magic and for certain things to just start clicking defensively. Here's a list of who we face:

Game 4 - Bengals (in Cleveland)

Game 5 - Falcons (in Cleveland)

Game 6 - at Steelers

Game 7 - at Saints

Game 8 - Patriots (in Cleveland)

Game 9 - Jets (in Cleveland)

If the Browns don't upset the Bengals or Falcons, they could be entering their next four-game stretch at 0-9. This relatively easy four-game stretch includes:

Game 10 - at Jaguars

Game 11 - Panthers (in Cleveland, Thanksgiving weekend)

Game 12 - at Dolphins

Game 13 - at Bills

Then the season closes with three difficult divisional games. These games might be more difficult than the first time the Browns face these teams, as I am sure the Division and Wild Card spots will be on the line for these three:

Game 14 - at Bengals

Game 15 - Ravens (in Cleveland, day after Christmas)

Game 16 - Steelers (in Cleveland, day after New Year's)

Looking at that schedule, on paper the Browns are underdogs in all but one game: at Buffalo on Dec. 12. But that game, whether in Cleveland or Buffalo, has historically been a cold, slow-paced, fumble-fest in the snow that could go either way depending on which team gets the breaks that day. Remember Dec. 16, 2007, the Browns were hosting the Bills at Cleveland Browns Stadium, going into the game 9-5 against a 7-7 Bills team. Browns won 8-0. One safety and two field goals by Phil Dawson, one of which was booted 49 yards in blizzard conditions. Fun fact to remember heading into this game: Buffalo, NY has an average temp of 36 in December. Their average snowfall for December is 25.4 inches. The number of days it snows in December on average is 15. Keep your fingers crossed for a whiteout!

OUR QUARTERBACK SITUATION BLOWS

Jake Delhomme? Seneca Wallace? Riiiiiight. Both QBs suck. Sure, they are professional quarterbacks with jobs. But compared to all other QBs in the league, they suck. When I watch Browns highlights each week I ask myself, "When are the Browns going to put a QB1 onto the field that can single-handedly win some football games?" You know, if Colt McCoy doesn't get some experience this year, he will suck in 2011. He'll be making rookie mistakes like Tim Couch and Brady Quinn did. The only question is does McCoy have what it takes to learn from his mistakes? He's definitely a smart, NFL prototype quarterback with a strong, accurate arm, quick release and good pocket presence.

I think he'll be a good QB. The question is: Will he ever be a good QB in orange and brown - because, you know, the Browns are notorious for demoting and trading quarterbacks after a few bad passes and some tough losses.

O-LINE

Alex Mack (6'4", 311 lbs.) and Joe Thomas (6'6", 312 lbs.) have been lights out. Thomas was drafted 2007, 1st round, 3rd pick. Mack was drafted 2009, 1st round, 21st pick. Probably our two best draft picks since the 1999 return.

Something you may have not known. I once had the opportunity to meet and speak with Mack for about 5 minutes at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Mack was drafted on Saturday, April 25, 2009. The following day I had a flight from Cleveland to Norfolk. I was leaving the area and returning home after MANcation 2009 in Hocking Hills. As I walk toward security, I see this fairly large dude wearing a white polo and some khaki shorts with a Browns hat turned around backwards like Ken Griffey. I look at him standing in front of me in line and I'm thinking, "Dude's a Brown. His face looks familiar." Then it hit me! He was drafted the day before. I'd just seen him on TV at the MANcabin. So I say, "Excuse me sir, weren't you just drafted by the Browns?" He turns and replies, "Yeah, Alex Mack," sticks out his hand to shake, "how are ya." So I shake his hand and go on to explain how I'm a big Browns fan and how we were excited to have him because we needed some more stability on the offensive line. He tells me that he flew in as soon as he got the news and how he was pumped to be playing with Joe Thomas, etc. He spent that Saturday evening and Sunday morning meeting people, and was about to fly back out to California to make preparations to move to Cleveland.

HILLIS OVER HARRISON?

I say yes. Peyton Hillis has rushed for 220 yards and 3 TDs on a 5.6 yards per carry average. The 24-year-old is a battle-tested beast. He not only knows how to run- and pass-block, but he's that one guy opponents on the defense do everything in their power to avoid when someone else has the ball. At a rock-solid 6'2", 250 lbs., the guy pops chinstraps.

And the more (or less, actually) I see of Jerome Harrison this year, the more I think last season was a fluke. In the five games Harrison was the Browns' featured back in 2009, he topped 100 yards four times. In those five starts he had 151 carries for 734 yards (4.9 per carry) and 5 TDs. Now with his recent thigh injury (and injuries in previous seasons), you have to start questioning his durability. He's only had 19 touches this year (16 rushes and 3 receptions) and he's already broke. Hillis had more than that (22 rushes, 7 receptions) against the Ravens defense. Then again, Harrison is five inches shorter and 45 pounds lighter than Hillis, and probably hangs out in the Flats after hours more than he should.

CRIBBS HAVING ANOTHER ALL-PRO YEAR

In terms of returning kicks, we all knew what we were getting with Josh Cribbs - the best in the game and perhaps the best in NFL history.

But what we were looking for with that pay increase for the 2010 season was for Cribbs to play more of a major role in the offense. And so far he has.

Cribbs is currently the Browns' leading receiver with 10 receptions for 143 yards and 1 TD. That's like one game for an elite wideout. Ten receptions over three games surely aren't enough. Heck, he's only been targeted 15 times (an average of 5 per game). At any rate, this is a step in the right direction. In addition to his receiving yardage, Cribbs has amassed 9 passing yards, 32 rushing yards, 112 kick return yards and 34 yards on punt returns.

Check out this list of Cribbs' total yards since joining the league out of Kent State:

2005 - 14 games ... 1,106 yards (79.0 per game)

2006 - 16 games ... 1,647 yards (102.9 per game)

2007 - 16 games ... 2,312 yards (144.5 per game)

2008 - 15 games ... 1,531 yards (102.1 per game)

2009 - 16 games ... 2,528 yards (158.0 per game)

2010 - 3 games ... 330 yards (110.0 per game)

He's just heating up. Dude is consistent. Get him the rock!

DEFENSE

As far as the defense is concerned, the Browns are in the middle of the pack right now, which is good considering how shaky the offense has been. Typically teams with bad offenses and are prone to 3-and-outs have horrible defensive statistics because the defense is tired and always on the field.

The Browns overall defense is 16th. Rushing defense is 20th. Passing defense is 12th.

When it comes to pressuring the quarterback the Browns are 23rd in sacks with just 4. Guess which team is ranked 3rd? Packers, with 10. And wouldn't you know it, Clay Matthews Jr. is leading the league with 6.0 sacks. He had 10 sacks as a rookie last season. The Browns had an opportunity to draft Matthews in 2009, and that would have been off-the-charts crazy considering his father played as an All-Pro linebacker with the Browns during the glory years under Sam Rutigliano and Marty Schottenheimer. Now, the Browns did get Mack in the first round, ahead of Matthews in 2009, and you can't argue with that. The offensive line is important and the Browns needed some fixes in that area more so than they did at linebacker - at that point. But other than Mack, the Browns screwed up their 2009 draft.

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

When the Browns used to know how to draft players out of college, they were good. During the Rutigliano (1978-1984) and Schottenheimer (1984-1988) years - which spanned 11 seasons - the Browns were 91-77 (.542 win%), had four seasons of at least 10 wins, and made the playoffs six times.

In the 11 years since the Browns rejoined the NFL in 1999 (plus the three games from this season), the Browns are 59-120 (.329 win%), with one season of at least 10 wins, and made the playoffs one time.

There have been roughly 70 draft picks made by the Browns since 1999 and only a few of these players have amounted to anything in a Browns uniform.

Hopefully the Mike Holmgren years will be similar to the Rutigliano-Schottenheimer years, and the tiny snowball at the bottom of the hill can eventually build into a large snowball and make it all the way to the top, collecting all the pieces it needs along the way. I'm sick and tired of our snowball making it halfway before being squashed by the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers, then having to start all over again. And I'm sick of starting out 0-3.

Quarter 4 vs. Tampa Bay

Browns punt. Typical. C'mon man.

Mike Williams looking like Jerry Rice.

Cadillac runs for 4 yards.

Browns sack Freeman! TB will punt.

TB's defense is fired up. LET'S GO BROWNS!

3 and out.

TB third down, great play and huge first down. Shoot me man.

Browns 14 TB 10 8 minutes left

Freeman out throws a wide open TD.

TB scores. Flag down. Against us.

Typical Browns, welcome back.

"These are two very bad teams" - Shawn VanHuss

Delhomme throws another pick.

Cadillac running over us.

TAMPA BAY FUMBLES!!

Hillis gets the first!

Browns going for it on 4th and we get a false start. You must be kidding me.

4th and ballgame.

Way over thrown. Game over. I'm signing off, can't stand this shit.

Quarter 3 vs. Tampa Bay

Just saw a penalty flag thrown very close to a players helmet. Jeff Tripplett threw it. Didn't he learn his lesson?

Delhomme working the tight ends. Looking solid early in Q3.

Peyton Hillis is pure beast.

And Hillis fumbles again. Really making me eat my words. Unreal.

Browns D looking good, thankfully.

Cribbs with zero return.

Delhomme looks hurt.

NE is working the Bengals.

TB moving the ball slowly.

Cadillac looking explosive. Flag will bring that run back. Whew.

Matt Forte going off on the receiving end.

Hey look, Houston is beating Indy!

Cribbs fumbles the kick. TB saying they have it.

Blake Costanzo recovered it! HERO!

Delhomme another risky throw.

Fail to get a 1st. Again.

Detroit beating Chicago.

Cadillac dicing us up.

Kellen Winslow just almost made great catch. Dropped it. Memory lane, ha.

Seneca Wallace in the game.

Cribbs at QB though. Wildcat produces zero.

Delhomme throws to Cribbs.

Quarter 2 vs. Tampa Bay

Cribbs throws to Seneca Williams. Nice!

Delhomme throws a duck. Could've been a TD.

Browns D holds strong. NICE!


Cribbs with a nice return.

Hillis drops the ball. SON OF A BITCH.

Browns recover.

HARRISON WITH A HUGE RUN!!

Missed a few plays. Buffalo Chicken Dip and chicken nuggets were done. MMMMMM.

BROWNS INTERCEPT after a Cadillac run! YEAH BOY!

Delhomme throws a duck INT. Unreal.

TB scores. Shoot me.

Seriously, 20 seconds left in the half and we do that. Lost all momentum.