Think The Browns Finally Got Their Div Opponents' Attention?

calfoxwc

I wonder how the ratbirds, squeelers, and bengals and fans see the Browns improvements this year.

They won't be able to count on a lack of pass protection and run blocking anymore with playing the Browns.

No more weaker armed qb starter (now or soon), no more lack of power running/injured/pouting rb. No more free sailing at the Browns offense

off right tackle. No more pedestrian speed wr's outside of Little...

Wonderin if they know that the Browns will be a different deal now, for the first time.

Wonderin if they know they will finally get their asses kicked.

Wonderin if they know why it will take far longer, for Browns' fans, for the season to start than the previous years' customary long wait.

Wonderin how they will see the Browns new attitude, new confidence. New buttkicking ability on offense.

Feel free to add your own wanderin wonderins. But I think those three other teams will be stunned when they

go up against the Browns this season. No more free, easy ways to get by the Browns. It's Browns will kick their asses time.

Gafreleets

i can assure you that no one on the bungles, ratbirds, or Steelers staff is losing even a wink of sleep on the browns or their "improvements".

Hunt Daddy

Garfleets sucks and so do the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals.

Get the hell of our board punk bitch.

Dste Ace

Until we start winning games we will get no one's attention or respect.

Unsympathetic

I cannot remember a single season like this offseason ever. At no point since Belichick was coach did we actually address all of the issues on any side of the ball.

WR? QB? RB? RT? Check, check, check, and check. True, Lauvao and Pinkston would barely start for Ohio State, so I guess there's still room for improvement there.

DL? Half a check. DT? Check-plus. We might not be "better" but we're much deeper. LB? Check.

The only place on the entire team we didn't definitively improve is the defensive secondary, and that's really not surprising since we spent last year's first round on that area.

We're a better team, but we still need to produce before anyone actually cares. I'm of the cautious opinion that the Browns will be a significantly better team on both O and D but that won't reflect in the W-L record until midseason.

calfoxwc

I was watching Trent Richardson on the news. He was working with kids at a football camp. Damn, I respect this guy.. and all the Browns - character matters.

Richardson was saying that the Browns are going to win, play hard... these guys have a GREAT attitude.

I think the Browns will be impressing other teams right out of the gate, in the regular season. I think the first regular season game folks are going to be

stunned at the difference a viable, complete offense will make. No, they won't win all their games. But they are going to be winning some great games,

and I don't think a winning season is ridiculous. I expect it. For the first time, the weaknesses have been seen by the BROWNS, and they really

went after fixing those. Should be a hell of a lot of fun. Can't freakin wait.

WRREBEL

Well I Hope teams look past us....

Im cautiously optimistic, but with that said I will take the wait and see approach.

It took monthd for me to unwind and get rid of all the bitterness from all the losing seasons..

I look forward to seeing how we play this year

miktoxic

i can't wait for the season to start either, but not as optimistic. sure we addressed some area of needs but also missed on some areas. LB for sure. way too many big name LBs available in the draft to whiff and draft some guy who'll be lucky to make the special teams. even with the additions in key areas and have to remember that they are rookies.

like someone else posted winning is the only thing that will get the attention of our opponents.

nickers

Until we actually start winning...no one gives a damn about us...thats just the way it is...

USFBrown

Its all about the wins and consistently doing it. At this point in the offseason every fan of their team thinks their team has greatly improved and can make the playoffs.

I love the enthusiasm and optimism but I'm not all on board until these guys start to play. They're rookies and we have no idea how this will pan out. Hope for the best...

Zombo

You don't get anybody's attention until you punch them in the mouth.

Zombo

SirLuck

I agree that the improvements are massive! But....we have a much tougher schedule too and that makes it difficult to guage how we will perform. Sheez, the time between mini-camp and full camp is fa-ever!!

PoeticG

I thought that we tied for the toughest schedule last year?

HowieDawg

I dare say that our divisional rivals have been taking more time to think about what our off season moves mean to them this season - but I also dare say they are not crapping their pants just yet.

On defense they will be aiming to unsettle our new WRs, I'd be shouting in Greg Little's ear all game about how many drops he's going to make this game, I'd be pressing Gordon / benjamin (if they start) on every route, piling on the pressure around the right side of the line testing Schwartz out

However, they will have to give respect to Richardson so some of that coverage pressure on the Wideouts will suffer

On offense I'd be developing schemes that stack plays behind DL to open up our LB softness and safety play.

however, heart is what they will underestimate - and long may that continue because i think we come out foaming at the mouth from September 9th.

Our divisional rivals will need to adjust once we smack Phillie in the gut on September 9th - but if was preparing t=for the opener I'd do the above.

The Gipper

@gafreleets said:

i can assure you that no one on the bungles, ratbirds, or Steelers staff is losing even a wink of sleep on the browns or their "improvements".

Perhaps, but, they may end up getting some extra sleep when the Browns go lights out on them James Harrison style.

The Gipper

@unsympathetic said:

I cannot remember a single season like this offseason ever. At no point since Belichick was coach did we actually address all of the issues on any side of the ball.

WR? QB? RB? RT? Check, check, check, and check. True, Lauvao and Pinkston would barely start for Ohio State, so I guess there's still room for improvement there.

Actually, I think Pinkston and Lauvao will turn out better than Ohio State's top OL in this last draft: Mike Adams.

DL? Half a check. DT? Check-plus. We might not be "better" but we're much deeper. LB? Check.

The only place on the entire team we didn't definitively improve is the defensive secondary, and that's really not surprising since we spent last year's first round on that area.

We're a better team, but we still need to produce before anyone actually cares. I'm of the cautious opinion that the Browns will be a significantly better team on both O and D but that won't reflect in the W-L record until midseason.

The Browns lost like 5-6 games by less than a TD last year. I am hoping that the infusion of offensive talent will make up that gap. But, of course, as you say, it remains to be seen.

htownbrown

We have some pretty good talent in key positions coming from the draft this year. Thats cool in one way, in the respect that they haven't learned how to lose yet. Maybe the added enthusiasm (if it exists in them) will help tighten a locker room that hasn't had an on the field leader in quite some time. But I can assure that not one team in the league gives a shit about us.

The Gipper

Week Date Kickoff (ET) Opponent Results Game site TV NFL.com

recap

Final score Team record

1 September 11 1:00 p.m. Cincinnati Bengals L 17–27 0–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

2 September 18 1:00 p.m. at Indianapolis Colts W 27–19 1–1 Lucas Oil Stadium CBS Recap

3 September 25 1:00 p.m. Miami Dolphins W 17–16 2–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

4 October 2 1:00 p.m. Tennessee Titans L 13–31 2–2 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

5 Bye

6 October 16 4:05 p.m. at Oakland Raiders L 17–24 2–3 O.co Coliseum CBS Recap

7 October 23 1:00 p.m. Seattle Seahawks W 6–3 3–3 Cleveland Browns Stadium Fox Recap

8 October 30 4:15 p.m. at San Francisco 49ers L 10–20 3–4 Candlestick Park CBS Recap

9 November 6 1:00 p.m. at Houston Texans L 12–30 3–5 Reliant Stadium CBS Recap

10 November 13 1:00 p.m. St. Louis Rams L 12–13 3–6 Cleveland Browns Stadium Fox Recap

11 November 20 1:00 p.m. Jacksonville Jaguars W 14–10 4–6 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

12 November 27 1:00 p.m. at Cincinnati Bengals L 20–23 4–7 Paul Brown Stadium CBS Recap

13 December 4 4:05 p.m.[45] Baltimore Ravens L 10–24 4–8 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

14 December 8 8:20 p.m. at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–14 4–9 Heinz Field NFLN Recap

15 December 18 4:15 p.m. at Arizona Cardinals L 17–20 (OT) 4–10 University of Phoenix Stadium CBS Recap

16 December 24 1:00 p.m. at Baltimore Ravens L 14–20 4–11 M&T Bank Stadium CBS Recap

17 January 1 4:15 p.m.[46] Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–13 4–12 Cleveland Browns Stadium CBS Recap

LEGEND:

Notice the games the Browns lost by less than a TD, highlighted. Will the additions to the offense now allow them to make up those differences? Note that many of those were against division opponents. Can the gap be closing?

(yes, I also know they won games by narrow margins as well.)

BendMeOver

@the-gipper said:

Notice the games the Browns lost by less than a TD, highlighted. Will the additions to the offense now allow them to make up those differences? Note that many of those were against division opponents. Can the gap be closing?

(yes, I also know they won games by narrow margins as well.)

Short answer, NO. In answer to the original question (thread title), NO. The Browns are projected to be last in the division, and barring a miracle (for Cleveland) that's where the Browns will end up. All your skill positions on offense are GREEN. They will make mistakes, lots of mistakes. Those mistakes will cost you games.

The hope for the Browns in 2012 is not a play-off run, the hope is that your skill players will not be GREEN in 2013. Weeden doesn't have a long NFL career projection, he needs to go from rookie to grizzled veteran by 2013. He doesn't have an all-star cast around him, he has rookies and second year players. He doesn't have a coach with an established offensive system in place.

Your defense should be able to keep your team in games, I'm not sure your offense can. Once a team gets a lead, your opponents will run the ball and drain the clock. A more telling stat based on last years performance is the points opposing teams put up. You'll probably need to score more than 14-17 points to win games and there aren't that many teams you've held to under 14 points. The Steelers were held in check by the Browns last year mainly because of the injury they applied to Ben Roethlisberger.

Zombo

Endymion said:

Short answer, BLAH. Blah blah blahblah blah (blah blahblah), BLAH. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah, BLAH. Blah blah blahblah blah blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah.

Blah blah blahblah blahBlah blah blahblah blahBlah blah blahblah blah BLAH blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah.

Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah. Blah blah blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah, blah blahblalblahblah blah blahblahty blah blah Ben Roethlisberger.

Thanks for your input. It was sorely needed.

Zombo