Browns fans love to hate their offensive coordinators.
This isn’t a recent phenomenon, but Brian Daboll is the latest to feel the wrath. Talk radio and chat rooms were filled with criticism after the offense failed to capitalize on six turnovers Sunday in a 24­ 20 loss to Jacksonville.
Daboll’s conservative play calling was the primary target of the venom.
The offense got the ball after five of the turnovers — safety Abram Elam returned a fumble for a touchdown — and scored just three points. There were no first downs, no completions and a net of minus-9 yards.
On the first play after the turnovers, Daboll called four Peyton Hills runs and a pass play.
Hills gained a total of 7 yards, and Colt McCoy was sacked for a loss of 7.
Zero net yards in five first-and-10 plays where any call is an option and the defense shouldn’t know what’s coming.
A reader referred to Daboll as “arrogant.”
Stubborn is more accurate.
Despite Hillis averaging just 2.3 yards on 21 rushes, he kept getting the ball. He’s the clearcut team MVP through 10 games, and Daboll trusted him to finish off the victory.
The coaches and players take pride in being an in-yourface running team. They talk about being tougher and more physical than the opponent, and imposing their will.
They ran over the vaunted Ravens defense (173 yards) and had some success against the great Jets unit (107). They certainly could push around the Jaguars’ 21st-ranked run defense.
It didn’t happen.
“I really believed that we were going to be able to turn the corner in the running game,” coach Eric Mangini said.
Normally when a team can’t run the ball, it falls behind and is forced to throw. But the Browns were ahead for most of the game, and the pile of turnovers allowed Daboll to keep calling run plays from in front. He was convinced they’d wear down the defense and start picking up chunks on the ground.
It never happened.
Daboll was a first-time coordinator in 2009 and has never been embraced by Browns fans. That’s normal.
Lindy Infante, in the halcyon days of the Bernie Kosar era, was the last play caller to have the high approval rating usually associated with a politician who’s yet to take office.
Rob Chudzinski had a year of rave reviews in the mirage of 2007, but was on his way out of town a year later. He was owed millions by owner Randy Lerner but had lost the affection of the fan base.
Marty Schottenheimer’s Metcalf up the Middle offense still enrages longtime fans, and the ridicule Marc Trestman received in 1989 resonates from my teenage years.
Daboll’s offense ranked 31st in the league last year and is 28th in 2010. He might be in a tougher spot than any of his predecessors.
His confidence has made a significant jump this year, but how comfortable can he be with president Mike Holmgren and adviser Gil Haskell watching every move? Both are former offensive coordinators who disagree with many of Daboll’s core principles. They believe in the pass-first West Coast offense, while the Browns won the final four games of 2009 without the threat of throwing.
Daboll has also been saddled with five starting quarterbacks in a season and a half and almost no talent at receiver. He talks glowingly about McCoy and his ability to take what he learns on film and apply it to the field.
Daboll didn’t name names, but he must’ve been referring to Derek Anderson and/or Brady Quinn and their inability to carry out his wishes.
Depending on McCoy’s ankle, Daboll may have to oversee another change at the most crucial position. He has six games remaining to impress Holmgren enough to keep him around for 2011. If that doesn’t happen, the Jacksonville game could be his undoing.
I understand why Daboll stuck with the run, and even think the logic was sound. But he’s in a bottom-line business, and the result was unsatisfactory.
In hindsight, he should’ve used play-action passes on first down to soften the defense. All he needed was a big play or two to bury the Jaguars.
Instead, Daboll is the one stuck under the avalanche of criticism and doubt.
It comes with the territory.