Your 2013 Cleveland Browns Offensive Survival Guide
By Peter Smith
Sep 15, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cleveland Browns place kicker Billy Cundiff (8) kicks a field goal against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half at M
With the state of the Browns offense this year and the fact that the team will be getting a new quarterback after the season to run this offense going into the future that will hopefully make it look like an NFL team, I have come up with a method for fans to get through the next fourteen weeks of the Browns season and come out feeling better the rest of their week.
Each Sunday or next Thursday, set the DVR to tape the Browns game. Wait for about an hour to an hour and a half if your goal is to end the game at about the same time as everyone else does or watch it at your leisure if you do not care about catching it live.
Fast forward through every single offensive possession. This is absolutely critical. There might be a temptation or even morbid curiosity to stop and watch the offense. Fight it. Avoid it. I know you are thinking that this is the week that… No! Stop! Do not fall into that trap. If you do, you will be that much more annoyed because when the Browns would get crushed by 40,it was easy to get through it because there was no investment and you knew what you were getting into. This year, the offense is terrible and they still have a chance to win because the defense has been so good. As a result, the frustrations and close losses are that much more painful and draining. You get angry and want to swear off the Browns each week because they could win and you believe they have a chance against your better judgment. This works to kill the rest of your day and week as you are forced to use all of your energy to refuel and rebuild just to get knocked back down the next week.
Just watch the defense. Forget the Browns even play offensive football for 2013. Just enjoy the defense. Watch the front seven operate. Take in every great moment from what is an impressive front seven unit. Take in Phil Taylor becoming a great player, watch Desmond Bryant continue to be a stud, have fun watching Jabaal Sheard, Paul Kruger and especially Barkevious Mingo as they get after opposing quarterbacks. Watch D’Qwell Jackson get to play in a good defense for the first time in his career and thrive. Have fun as players like Craig Robertson, Billy Winn and John Hughes develop into better players over the course of the year.
Use the extra time each week to spend time with the family, get a little work done around the house or run errands, go for a run, take a nap, watch what offensive football should look like and remind why you enjoy football. Anything that helps you avoid watching this Browns offense this year. Enjoy life for that extra hour and a half.
If you avoid the Browns offense each week, you will feel better about the Browns, yourself and your life. Instead of racking your brain trying to understand how in an NFL world that is slanting every rule to the offense’s benefit, that the team cannot score more than 10 points on offense. There will not be what amounts to a punt from the quarterback, or passes bouncing off of the hands of receivers right to the defenders. You will only be left with how fast Mingo is, how strong and effective Taylor and Bryant are or the great play Kruger made and thinking that if the Browns can get a good quarterback on offense paired with this defense, they can be really, really good.
Watch to see if the Indians can get into the post season and if they can, if they can catch fire and make a big run. Get excited about the Cavs season and what they could do this season. Enjoy what Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes are doing and see if they can make a run for a National Championship. Watch quarterbacks on Saturdays and imagine what they could do running the Browns offense. Just do not make the mistake of watching the Browns offense this year. They may win a game or few, but it will not be worth it in the long run. Try this and see if you just do not find yourself feeling remarkably better throughout the week this Fall and Winter. Here at Dawg Pound Daily, we are here for you; trying to help inform you about the Browns and make it more enjoyable. We will jump on that grenade that is watching the Browns offense for you and let you know what happened. Do not punish yourself. You simply do not deserve that type of abuse.