Cleveland Browns must be unconventional to win

The Cleveland Browns have tried conventional football and it does not work. They now need to become an unconventional team in order to win.

Everybody knows the Cleveland Browns have not won a game in almost a year, meaning the current staff has yet to record a victory as Browns coaches. The universally accepted diagnosis claims the Browns lack the talent to compete on a week-to-week basis.

Suddenly, with just three games remaining, Brian Billick’s preseason claim that the Browns lack a winnable game on their schedule looks more like reality than criticism.

The Browns currently lack the talent to compete in the NFL, and what talent there is on the roster is wrapped up in first- and second-year players. Joe Haden and Joe Thomas have played to their normal level at times this season, yet it has not led to victories.

Hue Jackson and the coaching staff keep coaching this team per conventional NFL strategy. They kick field goals when it makes sense to, they blitz.and play zone when it makes sense per conventional football wisdom.

However, this team does not have the developed talent to win a conventional football game. If they had that talent, or talent that could be developed into a conventional football team, it would have happened by now. Admittedly, the defense has improved over the season, and has given up  less than 25 points the past two games after allowing an average of more than 28 points a game for the season.

Improvement is there, but to win a game this season it will take a strong dose of unconventional thinking. Jackson must stop game planning with conventional approaches to the game. He must first admit the situation in front of him – namely that he lacks the talent to win – and then he needs to create a game plan for a talentless team.

Here are a few suggestions to get help Jackson get started.