Awakesydaisies!

[Flugel]

Last year, I told my wife (who answers to Anita Beer on Sundays) - I just want Cleveland to play good today. It's all I want. Am I asking too much?

 

She said no you don't. Who's kidding who? You want them to win and that's why we pay for DirecTV. You get excited every Sunday morning and it's not because you just want them to play good. It's because deep down you think they can win. Why are you ashamed of that? Clearly, something is showing you or telling you that whoever owns this team today - has the resolve to make you feel this way. You know what? She's right.

 

Haslam never owned UT but guess who's plane intercepted the Manning family tradition at Ole Miss? Sound like passionate football fan/alumnus that likes to lose? Today, that same guy OWNS our team so I know the will to win is there with a lot more at stake than UT.

 

Are the humbled beginnings of Jimmy Haslam any different than Eddie DeBartolo Jr's turbulent start in SF? DeBartolo was firing guys right and left early on until his path led him to the right leadership and Head Coach. Jimmy also learned the hard way, felt the growing pains and acknowledged he's made mistakes that need to be corrected sooner than later.

 

This is just my opinion but I don't think it's ever been guys that just need to learn how to win as much as it's been we just need enough play makers to win. Take 2014 for instance. We play an Indy team destined for an AFC Championship Game appearance and we freakin swarm Andrew Luck for about 2-3 quarters while our offense couldn't find 1 single play maker to extend drives longer than 3 downs. All they had to do was key on the running game and we didn't have the personnel to beat them in the air heavily slanting the time of possession favor to Indy giving them fresher legs and better replenished oxygen, Before long, both of our corners felt like they had a half marathon on their legs and the big plays started coming to Indy's passing game that were MIA earlier on. We had a good chance to beat Baltimore the first time but playing for FGs all day with Billy Cundiff could only mean we were going to miss a doable FG or get one blocked to explain our margin of defeat. What we didn't have were offensive game breakers above and beyond the respectable, blue collar game day efforts refusing to excuse injury volumes of a team coming off 4-12 football. I was never ashamed of the effort. My question always remained, who could score from anywhere on the field to help us suck out a close game or break a close game wide open in our favor?

 

Remember 2007? It sure seemed like the planets and stars aligned for us. A blind side of QB that was once Kevin Shaffer and Joe Andruzzi was now Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach. The LeCharles Bentley that was supposed to be our John Deere Tractor on the apex was a career ending tragedy with a pleasant problem solve nobody saw coming. A 33 year old Hank Fraley that already written off and replaced 2 years ago in Philly. Fraley showed up to Cleveland with an ability to lead a power sweep pulling from his Center position and a football intellect that could make a lot of the line calls. Meanwhile, RG Ryan Tucker and RT Kevin Shaffer packed such respectable run game blocking skills that it made us realize the Baltimore pronounced dead legs of Jamal Lewis were contributing 1300 yards rushing and 10 TDs. This was a year Braylon Edwards was now 2 years post major recon surgery on his knee with a lot of hard work rehabbing it as well as us adding Joe Jurevicius to be a huge help on third downs. Those 2 guys also helped steal defensive attention away from KWII. And the beneficiary at QB with 29 TD passes was a guy that's been a back up for most of his career (Derek Anderson). That WR size in the red zone didn't leave every opponent thinking all we gotta do is stop the running game. And just for good measure, Phil Dawson gave us a reliable foot up to about 55-58 yards or so. Some will say it was only a weak schedule; but I say it was a year we had enough play makers outside to reward our blue collar running game with the balance of a passing game zinging in 29 TD passes. Play makers score TDs and that's what went on in 2007. More specifically, we weren't playing gridiron chess exclusively with pawns. I don't have any answers as to why it all dissolved so quickly as much as I can summarize what went right. It was just nice to see more ways to win on offense available to us than so many other seasons where blue collar efforts came up short on the scoreboard.

 

Today, we don't have a FO that deems the WR position/corps as unimportant and irrelevant. Looks to me like the FO thinks WR essential to competing and the facilitation of a balanced attack. I don't know exactly how immediate it'll all be but the best chance for a balanced attack is to add the players that can bring us one. I feel like we did that to the extent I don't have to sit here and feel apologetic about being optimistic about this team.

[calfoxwc]

Awakesydaisies!

 

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HI, I'm Calfox and I approve of this message.

[wargograw]

Jimmuh is definitely a winner.

[Comeonman]

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