Carthon gone. The offensive performance against Denver makes this an absolute necessity. There's so much to say about the offensive problems, yet why bother? It still boils down to the same stuff:
- Run the ball. Yes, even if you don't gain yards. So you can't seem to gain yards rushing on first down? Fine. Throw on first, and run more often on second. Defense is keying on the run? So what, give them a reason to keep doing it.
- Move Frye around. He's just not a drop-back passer, particularly at this stage of his career. Give him some freedom to make some plays while moving around. Let him call a QB draw from time to time. Let him call a bootleg once in a while. Make it clear that if he picks up 3, 4, 5 yards while scrambling (and sliding) that the play is successful.
- Use our receivers the right way.
- Edwards: Deep routes. Slants.
- Winslow: All over. He should be a primary receiver or a decoy on most passing plays. Give him the ball early in every game, especially over the middle.
- Jurevicius: Across the middle and intermediate routes. Jump balls.
- Northcutt: Screens, quick outs, safety valves, the very occasional deep route.
- Droughns: Throw the guy a screen or let him release underneath once in a while. These types of plays would be much more effective/believable with Droughns.
- When in a doubt or a play breaks down, throw deep. This works, particularly when we have a lot of rushing attempts.
This might not be the recipe for a Super Bowl team. But it would be a big improvement, and it would utilize the weapons on the roster. In fact, there's just no excuse for not taking better advantage of Winslow and, to some extent, Edwards and Droughns. That's what really has sent Carthon packing.
Charlie Frye. I really like the guy. I think he's tough and he's got the right competitiveness. But he's not cutting it so far in 2006. He's coming up short as a leader when he fails to get the ball where it needs to go. You can tell that guys don't have enough confidence in him. I don't want to nitpick or get into the various details that maybe Frye hasn't mastered yet. Mostly it just comes down to throwing accuracy -- or, rather, the lack thereof. Frye just can't seem to get the ball to the spots it needs to go. Crossing routes, slants, and just about all other pass routes -- he's struggling. I'd say 3/4 of his passes are off the mark. Even the ones that are caught are often either tough catches or require the receiver to alter his body position so much that he can't effectively run with the ball before getting tackled. This is a very big problem. Maybe it's correctable. Frye clearly is no comfortable dropping back and standing there while running through his progressions. The pass protection has been a problem too, as Frye tries to hang in there but often finds himself getting hit or having balls batted down. Perhaps it's a matter of improving his footwork. I don't know what all the options are, but the obvious one to me is to call more plays there the pocket can move or Frye can roll out because Frye appears much more comfortable and (most importantly) accurate while on the move. But what if it's not fixable? There's a good chance that it's not, at least not quickly. We should all be prepared for that possibility.
We don't yet know who the next offensive coordinator will be. Hopefully things get better. But the new coordinator's job can be summed up in one sentence:
The next 10 games need to reveal whether Frye is worth betting the future on. That's it. Nothing else matters on the offensive side of the ball. Whatever the answer, the whole organization needs to make a decision this upcoming offseason. The worst case scenario is to go into '07 with Frye as the starter but without confidence in him.
I've seen and heard people make arguments that Frye is so young we can't expect too high a level of play. I agree. But we should expect the occasional series or quarter where he looks very good, with mistakes and struggles in between. Give me three or four series a game where Frye looks pretty good. Give me one game out of every three or four where Frye has the edge over a defense. That, or at least something close to it, is what I'm looking for, and I'm not seeing it.
The injury to Baxter would normally be the big news of the week. It's a devastating injury. I'll be suprised if he's able to play again, at least for the Browns. And what an amazing injury. How the hell do you do hurt the same ligament on both knees on the same play, seemingly in the same split second? What are the odds? That is freaking amazing. And so, so unlucky for Baxter, the Browns, and the city. My god.
We also get news that LeCharles Bentley is having a tough go rehabbing from his own knee surgery. A staph infection and the generally slow rehab does not give the impression he's on track for '07. I hate the "woe is me" attitude as much as anyone. But c'mon, it crosses the mind of even die-hard fans when bad news like this piles up. But I also remember hearing some similar stories about Winslow's rehab. He had an infection, and there was talk that the injuries were so bad he may never recover. It's early with Bentley. And sometimes you can't measure progress clearly while rehabbing, particularly early on. Let's let a few more months pass before worrying too much about it.
I'm not crazy that Crennel is rumored to have bowed to pressure from ownership to fire Carthon. I agree with the move, but the timing is poor and it suggests that the dynamic in the front office continues to be difficult.
Lost in a bad week is Kamerion Wimbley. This guy has looked very good. He made one play that was so impressive to me -- he got fooled on a run to the outside, was able to disengage from a blocker, change direction, and close on the runner before the guy could gain a first down only a couple yards away. An amazing play. The Browns have had some bad first round picks over recent years, but I think this one is legitimate. We just need 4-5 more defenders like him!
The verdict of this week, however, is staring us in the face: there's little to play for in 2006, at least on the face of it. We will all hope Crennel and circle the wagons and convince this team to invest in itself and still achieve something. Teams do it. And frankly, this squad and this organization needs to play with a fire over the second half of this season. The shape of next year is at stake. Frye, Shaffer, Droughns. Jackson, Bodden, Pool. Tucker, Wilson, Edwards. Jones, Harrison, and, yes, even Ralph Brown. All these players can be part of a successful future for this team. But they need to start doing it now if they want the chance to do great things later. So while it's true that 2006 is another lost season in terms of making the playoffs or at least battling to a .500 record, the battle for the future continues. One day it will come.