At around 6:30 pm Sunday night I saw the all too familiar Cleveland mobs beginning to rally once again. “You light the torches! I’ll round up some pitch forks! McCoy must fall for this!” Fans have seen enough after 13 games to know Colt cannot be the one to right the ship in Cleveland. Because the end result has to fall on the QB, win or lose, in 2011. A 55% completion percentage is unacceptable. Suck for Luck! Never mind the fact that through 5 games this season McCoy has already attempted 217 passes when he had 222 in 8 games in 2010. Learning his 2nd offense, in his 2nd season, which was supposed to be his first had it not been for injuries and ineffectiveness from Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace one prior. And what happened to the lack of playmakers defense for the 25 year old Longhorn? After only 5 games the collective argument from the Dawg Pound has gone from “Get Colt some weapons!” to “Get Mohamed Massoquoi a new QB!” While I am certainly not blind to the passes thrown short and behind targets, I find it embarrassing the way Browns fans have pinned the blame squarely on the quarterback when there is plenty to go around.How has the defense got a free pass this far into the season? The absent minded mistakes that often accompany the growth of a young team have been swept under the QB rug. What if the defense had lined up against the Bengals in the 4th quarter of week 1? What if one player had turned their head and called time out? A coach? How the hell did that play happen? What if T.J. Ward or any of the DBs could tackle that massive Tight End on Titans? At the very least he could have been pushed out of bounds. A kick return and a fake field goal for TDs were the difference yesterday. 4 plays. Drives totaling 4 minutes and 47 seconds. Are these not the game changing plays from each loss? A time out. A more emphatic lunge. One player not going for a blocked FG and a kick 2 yards deeper into the end zone completely change the atmosphere surrounding this team. As Dan LeBatard would say, have some perspective.
Who knows how much these plays have affected the offensive game plan? We’ve only seen one game where the Browns have had the lead for the majority of the 2nd half (Week 2 at Indy). Of McCoy’s 217 passes, 134 of them have come in the 2nd half. Does that have more to do with a new offense, a coach and RB conflicting off the field, or a team playing from behind week after week? Through 5 games I have to view it as the latter. If those plays were made, and the Browns were winning low scoring games, McCoy would be getting the rookie Roethlisberger treatment. “He doesn’t try to do too much!” “Game manager!” “Winner!”
What we’re watching is a young team, with a first year coach, and a first full year quarterback who from the beginning of the season we know had a best case scenario for 8 wins. The 2011 Browns have 10 games remaining on their schedule. Colt McCoy has earned enough respect from me to at least merit 20 games under his belt before my torch is lit.
