Cleveland Browns 2013 preview: Franchise's new aggressive mentality has these dawgs ready to attack | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2013/09/attack_dawgs_cleveland_browns.htmlBEREA, Ohio – The pained expression on Jimmy Haslam’s face, captured by CBS cameras, told the world what the Browns owner thought of coach Pat Shurmur’s decision.
The Browns trailed the Indianapolis Colts by four points with less than seven minutes left in an Oct. 21, 2012 game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The visitors were sitting on a 1-5 record and facing a fourth-and-1 on the Indy 41 after Josh Gordon had dropped a potential touchdown pass.
Shurmur planned to go for it, but was forced to burn a timeout because of confusion and an evaporating play clock. He changed his mind, ceding possession on a bad punt, in the Browns’ 17-13 loss.
The embattled coach defended his decision, noting his team did get the ball back. Asked for his take, quarterback Brandon Weeden was diplomatic: “I gave my input. I’m a player. I’m too aggressive. They’ve got the final say. ... We got another chance and just didn't capitalize.”
No single game or play led to the sweeping off-season changes in staff, personnel and philosophy – all of which debuts Sunday as the Browns host the Miami Dolphins in the opener at FirstEnergy Stadium. But that moment of indecisiveness followed by a punt epitomized the old regime: Live for another play; minimize the risk. Dink and dunk on offense. Read and react on defense.
When Browns CEO Joe Banner began remaking the organization, he was out to change more than a coach. He wanted a bolder mindset.
“We were looking for someone who had a fearlessness about the way they played on both sides of the ball,” Banner told cleveland.com. “Whether it’s creating aggressive ways to run the ball, or throwing the ball downfield, or not being afraid to take a risk in a down-and-distance situation or doing something that’s maybe viewed as non-traditional ...
“Do everything fearlessly. Occasionally, it won’t work, but most of the time it will make you better and it creates a mindset among the players and the coaches and the entire organization.”
The Browns begin a new era amid skepticism surrounding their second-year quarterback, a lack of depth at key positions and a history of failed reboots since 1999. Too often the "new Browns" have resembled the old Browns, a team that can’t win an opener, beat a divisional opponent with regularity or establish continuity.
But seldom in the last 14 years has the franchise’s connective tissue coursed with such a singular thread: Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Whether it’s placing a deejay on the field before kickoff to goose the game-day experience, employing a high-risk defense with an inexperienced secondary or letting the meter run out on the contract of a beloved Pro Bowl kicker, the Browns are eschewing convention.
Will any of it work? That will be revealed over the next 17 weeks.
But Banner set an ambitious agenda, one that started with an extensive coaching search. The former Philadelphia team president, who angered Eagles fans with a willingness to make unpopular decisions, laid out his ideology to candidates in the interview process.
He reportedly had interest in Alabama’s Nick Saban. He made a hard pitch for Oregon’s Chip Kelly, who chose the Eagles. He eventually hired Rob Chudzinski, whose approach to the game seems to mirror that of Browns management.
“That’s always been my philosophy going back from the time I played,” said Chudzinski, a former Browns assistant who turned Derek Anderson into a Pro Bowler for one season in 2007. “I’ve always been around that. Football players are generally aggressive. They want to be on the attack. They don’t want to sit back on their heels and wait for bad things to happen.”
The 45-year-old Chudzinski selected two seasoned, attack-minded coordinators in Norv Turner (offense) and Ray Horton (defense). What wasn’t apparent at the time of the hirings is that all three men have ties to a coach who won titles at the collegiate and NFL levels with a swagger and attitude embraced by his players.
That coach is Jimmy Johnson.
'How 'bout them Cowboys?'
Chudzinski won his first of two NCAA championships as a tight end at the University of Miami in 1987 on a team coached by Johnson. The brash Texan with the unshakable confidence and immovable hair became Tom Landry’s successor in Dallas two years later.
Johnson won one game with Dallas in the 1989 season with a rookie quarterback who completed 52 percent of his passes and threw 18 interceptions and nine touchdowns. But Troy Aikman would show dramatic improvement in his third season under a new offensive coordinator – Turner.
The 61-year-old Turner learned the pro game under Los Angeles Rams coaches John Robinson and Ernie Zampese, but found a kindred spirit in Johnson, who wasn’t adverse to risk-taking or placing trust in youngsters such as Aikman and receiver Michael Irvin. The Cowboys ranked fourth in total offense during their back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1992-93.
“I think we were all impacted by Jimmy Johnson and his mindset,” Turner told cleveland.com. “Jimmy and I hit it off so well because right away we had a shared philosophy. Yeah, we wanted to run the ball, but we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of having a Michael Irvin, an Alvin Harper, a Jay Novacek and a quarterback like Troy.”
The Cowboys thrived despite their young roster. One veteran was Horton, a free safety who capped his 10-year playing career with a Super Bowl title in 1992. Horton borrows heavily from the teachings of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, but he doesn’t discount the influence of Johnson.
“I think players are a reflection of their coaches,” Horton said. “Jimmy had a psychology degree if you will -- if not on paper on the wall, he did in mentality. And yeah, I did take some of that. How you push players to the limit and how you pull back and know when to pull back. Jimmy could push you to the brink and then pull you back.”
The Cowboys embodied Johnson’s persona. Can Chudzinski, Turner and Horton have the same effect with the Browns?
Offensive challenges
A week ago, ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden was praising the Browns’ hiring of Turner, fired late in 2012 after seven seasons as San Diego Chargers coach. Gruden is akin to the Facebook friend who checks “Like” to everything. But in saying how any team would be “lucky” to have Turner as its coordinator, the analyst offered specifics.
“He’s gotten it done wherever he’s been, he’s developed quarterbacks,” Gruden said in reference to Aikman and San Diego's Philip Rivers. “He just has a very good temperament, a vast amount of knowledge, creativity and the guts to call plays in certain situations that most people don’t.”
Weeden labels Turner the offense’s biggest asset. The coordinator clearly was the most significant offensive signing during an off-season that saw most of the team’s remodeling done on defense. A unit that wants to attack the field vertically added a possession receiver in Davone Bess and little more.
Turner was asked Thursday how the 25th-ranked offense from a season ago is expected to improve with virtually the same cast.
“Yeah, so it’s got to come from somewhere else,” he said. “You hope that guys get better, everyone’s getting better, not just the quarterback.”
Weeden has been freed from the shackles of a West Coast scheme that didn’t suit his talents. The big-armed quarterback looks more comfortable in Turner’s system and played well in the first two exhibition games, throwing the ball downfield with accuracy. But his poor performance against the Colts in the third preseason dress-rehearsal game, one reminiscent of so many a season ago, reminds everyone why Weeden is on a one-year leash.
A healthy Trent Richardson – the muscular halfback played most of last season with broken ribs – should benefit Turner’s play calling. But the lack of quality depth at running back and receiver is troubling. Numerous changes at the bottom of the roster over the past week did not likely engender confidence from the fan base in General Manager Mike Lombardi.
The Browns will be forced to attack downfield more if only to compensate for the loss of Pro Bowl kicker Phil Dawson, who has converted 24 of 34 attempts of 50-plus yards. By contrast, his replacement, Billy Cundiff, has made five of 23 such attempts.
“I think the goal of this offense definitely is to play fast, play with great tempo, put pressure on the defense with shifts and motions and multiple formations and different plays coming at them,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “It will be exciting to see what we look like in a real game.”
Feeling of synergy
Turner acknowledged that his desire to play up-tempo could be delayed by the injuries and roster turnover in recent days. That won’t be the case defensively. Horton wants to pressure opposing quarterbacks, create turnovers and get off the field on third downs.
Much has been made of the fact Horton’s defense in Arizona registered the same number of sacks (38) as the Browns did a season ago. The Cardinals, however, ranked fourth in the league in defensive third-down efficiency, while the Browns were 24th.
The pressure edge rusher Paul Kruger applied on the Colts’ Andrew Luck in the dress- rehearsal game did not produce a sack, but it forced the quarterback into a hurried throw intercepted by free safety Tashaun Gipson.
“I can’t control if the quarterback throws the ball in three steps, five steps or seven – that’s not my decision,” said Horton, whose Cardinals defense ranked second in blitzes a season ago. “What I can do hopefully is (place) enough pressure where those are big plays, where you get off on third down. ... There is a lot of hidden yardage, hidden statistics in a game ... and there is a lot of ways to affect the quarterback without hitting the quarterback.”
The Browns invested heavily in defense, acquiring big-ticket free agents Kruger and defensive end Desmond Bryant and drafting edge rusher Barkevious Mingo (bruised lung) with their first-round pick. The plan is to play a multifront defense with lots of deception and snarl. Browns defenders have raved about playing in Horton’s scheme, but the dearth of established cornerbacks in a high-risk defense is unnerving to some fans. Third-round draft pick Leon McFadden doesn’t appear ready, and Buster Skrine is nursing a shoulder injury.
The defense figures to be one of the league’s most entertaining for its potential of making or surrendering big plays on any given snap. Asked how he was his feeling in advance of the opener, Horton said: “Anxious, nervous, excited all rolled into one.”
Banner is the latest management-type hoping to turn around the Browns. He’s changed coaches, coordinators and players, all with designs on altering the mindset. Until the club starts generating more wins, however, many fans will remain cynical.
Wanting to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the opponents’ 41 is nice, but do the Browns have the players and plays to execute it?
Linebacker D’Qwell Jackson knows the team must wait until Sunday to start getting such answers. The co-captain is nonetheless impressed by the synergy he sees.
“Since I have been here, the two (units) have never mirrored each other – attack offense and attack defense,” he said.
“I’ve never been a part of a defense that’s going to be as aggressive, that’s going to blitz like crazy and play attack football. ... And bringing Norv Turner in (to work) with Brandon, and Chud being the brains behind it all, you are going to see a different brand of football, something that’s going to attract fans and catch a lot of teams off guard."
