Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur caught a lot of heat last season from sports writers and armchair quarterbacks. Aside from the typical criticism that any coach would receive for his teams lack-luster performance in a 4-12 season he was also criticized for what could be considered questionable play-calling.

Stepping away from the constant chatter about the up-coming draft, Nfl.com has done their annual rating of Nfl coaches and it comes as no surprise that Shurmur is--well--near the bottom, sitting at #29 (Thats 29 of 32--truly in the cellar).

A Quote from Nfl.com:

"It's been a tough go for the Browns' Shurmur. A man hired for his offensive acumen seemed to be lost in space in the play-calling department on occasion last season. Team president Mike Holmgren seemed so eager to push Eric Mangini out the door following a 5-11 season. It's a good thing too, because Browns fans were rewarded with a 4-12 gem last year."

Many fans were upset with the hiring of Shurmur, many believing that Browns president Mike Holmgren should have grabbed an elite head coach, one with a track record of placing numbers in the "Win" column. At times it is hard to defend Shurmur, seriously--how can you defend a former offensive coordinator and now head coach who calls a play to hand the ball off to a running-back who is not in the game, instead handing the ball to a tight-end who has never taken a hand-off and in a critical situation to boot!

But, we are all human and everyone makes mistakes, even the elite coaches. Although I have been a tad harsh on Shurmur in the past and taking into consideration the tools (Players) at his disposal along with him being rather "New at this sorta thing"--is this poor rating justified?

We now have Nfl.coms' opinion, what is yours--is Shurmur really that bad, is he truly "Lost in Space"?