The Cleveland Browns are on a mission to prove that the touchdown drought the team suffered through at the end of last year was no fluke. This team might be even more inept offensively than last season’s clowns, who went the final six games of the season without an offensive touchdown.
Where do you go with a team that has the fewest points (29) in the AFC, has given up the most (95) in the NFL and has a head coach who can’t figure out who his starting quarterback is 62 days after the start of training camp? Welcome to Eric Mangini’s world.
After refusing the divulge his decision who would start at QB until the day before the first game, Mangini stayed with Brady Quinn for all of 2.5 games before benching Quinn in favor of Derek Anderson. Mangini now says it will be mid-week before he settles on the starter for Sunday’s game at home against the Bengals (Cleveland +5.5). Seems like Mangini sees Quinn as the QB of the future, but unless he plays Anderson now, that future will have a new head coach.
Bloggers are vicious. One of the kinder things written was this: “If the Browns were horses, we’d have to shoot them.” “Why fire Mangini?” wrote another. “He should have to suffer like the rest of us.”
It would be a stunner for Mangini to be whacked less than a quarter of the way through his first season in Cleveland, but he has to be aware that there are a half-dozen coaches who’ve won Super Bowls on the outside looking in. Some fans are advocating for the return of Marty Schottenheimer, who actually went 44-27 leading the Browns in the 1980s and took them to the playoffs twice.
For now the Browns roam the wilderness. The 10-6 record under Romeo Crennel in 2007 seems centuries ago, and with no playmakers on either side of the ball, Cleveland games are drab and predictable. The Lions’ 0-16 record last season seems well within their reach. Ironically, the only speed bump on the road to a zip-for-the-season record may come Nov. 22, when the Browns are at Detroit. If the game were today, it’s a cinch that the Lions would be favored.
Zorn operating on borrowed time?
If Mangini’s newness on the job gives him temporary immunity from firing, second-year coach Jim Zorn may not be so lucky. It was his sucky luck that Detroit picked last Sunday to end its long losing streak, and against a Washington team off to a slow start that has its head coach walking on thin ice.
Normally Zorn would dispatch a fleet of limos to Florida to bring in a lousy Buccaneers team to FedExField, but it’s hard to see how the coach could survive two losses to winless teams in eight days. Had the Rams found a way to put 10 points on the board in Washington a few weeks ago, Zorn would be polishing his resume right now. Washington gives 7 to Tampa Bay.
Favre goes up against Packers
Someone smart once said this about Brett Farve: “He’ll throw two balls a game that can be intercepted. If you don’t intercept them, he’ll beat you. If you intercept them, you’ll beat him.”
That’s the assignment facing the Green Bay defense as it preps this week for Favre Bowl I, Sunday at Minnesota. The Vikings give 3 in this one, and based on the early goings-on, this one should go a long way toward defining the race in the NFC North.
Cincinnati, of all teams, took some of the juice out of this match with a victory over GB in Week 2, but with the Vikes at 3-0 and the Pack at 2-1, this one still has plenty of marquee value. St. Louis didn’t put up much of a fight last Sunday against GB, and Aaron Rodgers seems to finally have his feet under him after a couple of mediocre games. As for Favre, he’s about where he was expected to be – 23rd in the league in passing yardage but still enough of a threat to win a game with his arm.
Tom was not so terrific himself
Ever-cool Tom Brady went off on the sidelines during the Patriots’ victory over Atlanta on Sunday. Brady seemed particularly incensed at receivers Joey Galloway and Sam Aiken: Galloway for finding yet another way to drop a pass and Aiken for breaking off a route. (Aside to Galloway: The Pats do not have patience with receivers who do not match passes Brady throws to them. Ask for Pats Donald Hayes, Doug Gabriel and Rechee Caldwell.)
But Brady was far from perfect himself, overthrowing or underthrowing receivers several times. The Pats were saved by some tremendous catches by Randy Moss and a defense that has performed much better than expected.
NE is one of the few teams in the league without an interception, but has given up only 26 total points in the last two weeks, against the Jets and Falcons. Next up for NE is Baltimore, which may be the best team in the league. The Pats, playing at home, give 2.
Big boys are waiting for Broncos
The rubber now hits the road for the Broncos, this season’s feel-good story. Denver (3-0) has a couple of season-defining home games (Dallas this Sunday, then New England) before traveling to San Diego and Baltimore, then finishing up the 5-pack at home against Pittsburgh. If the Broncos can steal a couple of those games and make the turn at 5-3, maybe they can make things uncomfortable for the Chargers in the AFC West.