Why the Browns are not that far away from the Playoffs!

[jblackmon81]

http://brownscountry.com/2012/02/06/...-the-playoffs/

I know I will take some slack for this from a few for writing this, but let’s just put the past season in perspective. We had so many things working against us! Every year things like injuries will happen, but this year was just stunningly awful. Contract disputes with Peyton Hillis cut down his numbers BADLY. TJ Ward missed the end of the season. Eric Steinbach did not play all year due to back problems, so we had to replace him with a rookie late round draft pick. I could go on, but these were the main problems that really changed the season.

Summary from the article: The Browns should have won 6 games that they lost. You could count more than that too. But I know, they could have lost to the Phins and the Jags, but overall look at the whole spread. We could have drastically had a different records if we wouldnt have lost by so few points.

Now some common rebuttals you might throw back might be: A loss is a loss, and they had 12 of them. Well here is where I disagree. My perspective is that the Browns had one of the worst running games they have had since the expansion, they had an bad wide receiver crew, and they were missing the right side of the line. And how they could of gone 10-6 really astonishes me.

Now if you are losing by just a few points like the Browns are, when you bring in a big playmaker on offense and get a solid year from either Hillis or someone new, you can win most of those games you would have barely lost. I expect a complete overhaul coming in this draft, which should provide us with that “big playmaker”. Some might argue they do not have the intangibles to win close games, or just win at all. But did those people ever hear of the Detroit Lions? Is that the team that was 6-10 in 2010, but made the playoffs in 2011? There much more behind a team than their record on paper. I fully the Browns are just a few pieces away from sneaking into the playoffs. You betcha I believe the Browns could nab the wild card if they have one more successful offseason, which requires bringing in a few free agents.

You can also say that the Browns schedule in 2012 is much harder than the previous year. Well to that I respond, 4 out of the 6 games I think we could have won were teams out of the AFC North! I think the Bengals will continue to rise, but so will we. The steelers have begun their trek downwards.

Thanks and let me know what you guys think!

[brownsdownunder]

Good points mate.

We also forget how young the majority of the team is. If they can grow out of their faults the way i, and a lot of others think, then the Browns could be a disruptive team.

We didn't see many thrashings, our divisional games were closer than the score card shows and we did this with an entire team that was bound to under perform.

The timing of our scheme transition and the NFL lockout could not have possibly been any worse. I start to wonder how many of those games we could have won might have been won had the Browns had the time to really prepare for the season.

We have so much young talent, and through free agents and draft, room to grow. I wouldn't be at all surprised if next year we saw a team that nobody expected to see.

The bottom line is, we are going in the right direction. Finally.

[jblackmon81]

Originally Posted by brownsdownunder

Good points mate.

We also forget how young the majority of the team is. If they can grow out of their faults the way i, and a lot of others think, then the Browns could be a disruptive team.

We didn't see many thrashings, our divisional games were closer than the score card shows and we did this with an entire team that was bound to under perform.

The timing of our scheme transition and the NFL lockout could not have possibly been any worse. I start to wonder how many of those games we could have won might have been won had the Browns had the time to really prepare for the season.

We have so much young talent, and through free agents and draft, room to grow. I wouldn't be at all surprised if next year we saw a team that nobody expected to see.

The bottom line is, we are going in the right direction. Finally.

Indeed your right Mate'

The Browns are a few steps away from an elite defense, and there best players are rookies and sophmores which is a great sign.

They are going the right way, building a perennial team..

[hiwaygal]

Please...I don't think I can handle another offseason of palatial hopes only to be dashed away again.

Let us just think we suck forever, don't tell us anything good and if it does get good, we'll all feel great about the unexpected surprise.

Thanks!

(only half joking)

[civilwarfish]

I too feel we are further along than we appear.

We lack a few key spots...and we lack depth. We cant yet plug and play. That is at present our downfall, but this year offseason will go a ong ways towards correcting this.

Next year offseason we build layers and we become strong!

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by jblackmon81

http://brownscountry.com/2012/02/06/...-the-playoffs/

I know I will take some slack for this from a few for writing this, but let’s just put the past season in perspective. We had so many things working against us! Every year things like injuries will happen, but this year was just stunningly awful. Contract disputes with Peyton Hillis cut down his numbers BADLY. TJ Ward missed the end of the season. Eric Steinbach did not play all year due to back problems, so we had to replace him with a rookie late round draft pick. I could go on, but these were the main problems that really changed the season.

Summary from the article: The Browns should have won 6 games that they lost. You could count more than that too. But I know, they could have lost to the Phins and the Jags, but overall look at the whole spread. We could have drastically had a different records if we wouldnt have lost by so few points.

Now some common rebuttals you might throw back might be: A loss is a loss, and they had 12 of them. Well here is where I disagree. My perspective is that the Browns had one of the worst running games they have had since the expansion, they had an bad wide receiver crew, and they were missing the right side of the line. And how they could of gone 10-6 really astonishes me.

Now if you are losing by just a few points like the Browns are, when you bring in a big playmaker on offense and get a solid year from either Hillis or someone new, you can win most of those games you would have barely lost. I expect a complete overhaul coming in this draft, which should provide us with that “big playmaker”. Some might argue they do not have the intangibles to win close games, or just win at all. But did those people ever hear of the Detroit Lions? Is that the team that was 6-10 in 2010, but made the playoffs in 2011? There much more behind a team than their record on paper. I fully the Browns are just a few pieces away from sneaking into the playoffs. You betcha I believe the Browns could nab the wild card if they have one more successful offseason, which requires bringing in a few free agents.

You can also say that the Browns schedule in 2012 is much harder than the previous year. Well to that I respond, 4 out of the 6 games I think we could have won were teams out of the AFC North! I think the Bengals will continue to rise, but so will we. The steelers have begun their trek downwards.

Thanks and let me know what you guys think!

The part I disagree with is when you say we should have instead of could have won............................................We could have but we really didn't have the talent to pull out the tight ones.

Great to be optimistic but we aren't contenders. I do agree we are going in the right direction and that we have the right people running the team. This draft is very critical and could put some of those could haves into the win column.

[jblackmon81]

Well with all the things going wrong on offense, we on paper should of had no chance at all. But we managed to compete, and almost win many games.

One more draft, Steinbach coming back, TJ Ward coming back, Few Free agents, Solid year from Hillis/Whoever.. could put us in the wild card/ or battle for it.

We are definitely further along than the win column says... and teams tend to surprise people if you chose to only base your views of that.

Optimism is good, when used in good portions. <---- One reason why Tony Grossi is gone from the PD.

I don't think superbowl or anything crazy, but contenders in the AFC North. If you just look at our scores, we sure looked like contenders within the AFC North..

[jblackmon81]

Originally Posted by hiwaygal

Please...I don't think I can handle another offseason of palatial hopes only to be dashed away again.

Let us just think we suck forever, don't tell us anything good and if it does get good, we'll all feel great about the unexpected surprise.

Thanks!

(only half joking)

Last year after the draft, I did not have any hopes. I sure thought Hillis would do well, but in the draft we did nothing to fix the offense. In the long term drafting the strong defensive players we did in the 2011 will be great, but then it gave me no reason to think we could put up points on the board. But after one more good draft, I will have some hopes for 2012.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by jblackmon81

Well with all the things going wrong on offense, we on paper should of had no chance at all. But we managed to compete, and almost win many games.

One more draft, Steinbach coming back, TJ Ward coming back, Few Free agents, Solid year from Hillis/Whoever.. could put us in the wild card/ or battle for it.

We are definitely further along than the win column says... and teams tend to surprise people if you chose to only base your views of that.

Optimism is good, when used in good portions. <---- One reason why Tony Grossi is gone from the PD.

I don't think superbowl or anything crazy, but contenders in the AFC North. If you just look at our scores, we sure looked like contenders within the AFC North..

Coulda, woulda, shoulda if they all come back healthy and have good years and nobody else gets hurt and we don't lose some good defensive players in FA and our guards get better and we can get a RT and Watson comes back to being as productive as he was before his concussions and Cameron develops and Little finally "gets it" and we find another DE to help get pressure on the QB and Taylor stays fit during the offseason and Brown doesn't bow to his age and Skrine continues to develop and they pick up Meachum in FA and they find a replacement for Fujita and they hit on all the draft picks and on and on and on and that's the coulda, shoulda and woulda effect.

That said, I am optimistic. The team was competitive in most games but teams were able to run on us at will which kept some of the games closer then they actually were. But I do agree that we aren't far from being respectable but we have to have a lot of things fall into place and have a limited number of adverse actions.

The "only if" thing works both ways. Other teams had injuries too but the NFL is all about injuries and teams have to overcome them. There will always be players that get hurt and good teams, playoff teams, overcome that.

Let's just get our guys back healthy and have a good draft and pick up some pieces in free agency and go from there. We are moving in the right direction but I'm withholding predictions until I see the product on the field and who is under center.

[Sez.EJ]

Jblackmon81.. Put the pipe down..don't listen to the pipe.. just walk away from the pipe..

. .. (Jim Mora voice) Playoffs? did you say playoffs?... delusional or crack.. We are miles away from our division opponents in terms of overall talent.

[jblackmon81]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

Let's just get our guys back healthy and have a good draft and pick up some pieces in free agency and go from there. We are moving in the right direction but I'm withholding predictions until I see the product on the field and who is under center.

My prediction is that the browns can make the playoffs with another good offseason draft, so I am still pretty much withholding my predictions until after April anyway.

[jblackmon81]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

we don't lose some good defensive players in FA and our guards get better and we can get a RT and Watson comes back to being as productive as he was before his concussions and Cameron develops and Little finally "gets it" and we find another DE to help get pressure on the QB and Taylor stays fit during the offseason and Brown doesn't bow to his age and Skrine continues to develop and they pick up Meachum in FA and they find a replacement for Fujita and they hit on all the draft picks and on and on and on and that's the coulda, shoulda and woulda effect.

We might lose Pop Adams, noooo lol

Watson isnt expected to do much in my mind

We can get a right tackle in the second round

Cameron won't develop into the guy

Little is slowly getting better

New DE through draft or FA

Taylor will stay fit thru offseason. You have your prediction I have mine, but he shown he is a workhorse.

Sheldon Brown can't get any worse, replace him ASAP

Skrine probably will continue to develop, but ehh

Fujita replacement= Draft OLB #22