Discovering a silver lining in the Buffalo Bills 2009 season thus far is about as effortless as convincing the American public George W. Bush was the most popular president since JFK. The Bills were within a play of pulling a monumental opening night upset at New England and handled an atrocious Tampa Bay at home the following week. With this year’s campaign seemingly on the hot trail the Bills promptly went out and laid consecutive eggs against New Orleans and Miami.

Now the Bills sit at 1-3 and going nowhere faster than (metaphor). The team now looks utterly lifeless and their head coach’s approval rating has plunged further than any Dow Jones stock ever could.

There are few franchises in the league right now in bigger disarray. The Cleveland Browns are one of them. The Browns are winless (0-4) after going 4-12 in 2008. With Baltimore and Pittsburgh residing in the AFC North, the Browns don’t even appear eager to wait for the golf clubs to collect dust.

The fans already hate their head coach. Their top offensive player was traded to the New York Browns Jets. The quarterback they traded for in the first round appears headed towards a one-way ticket straight to “Bust City”.  Their only real strength is special teams.

Does this reek of familiarity?

However, Bills fans shouldn’t be wagering their mortgage on a victory Sunday. Buffalo has faced the Browns twice over the past two years and twice the Bills came up on the short end of the stick. Last year Buffalo’s season was unofficially on the line entering a Monday night contest with a 5-5 record. Trent Edwards threw three first half interceptions and the team never recovered. They left the stadium 29-27 losers and their playoff hopes were essentially dashed.

To find out more about the Browns, I turned to occasional scribe, life-long fan and connoisseur of all that is Cleveland football, Tom Fritz.

I asked him about the state of the Browns, what their strengths are and for a couple of players to look for that the casual Bills fan may not know.

Why or how did Eric Mangini become so unpopular in Cleveland so quickly?

“Mangini became unpopular for three reasons. One, the Shaun Rogers situation. Shaun was/is the only player on the defense who actually shows up on Sundays. He and Mangini didn’t hit it off right away and there was obvious tension between the two. That didn’t set well with the fan base from the start.

Second, his handling of the QB situation, which has been laughable at best. Name a guy the starter and go with him, sink or swim on the merits of that guy, whichever guy it may be.

Lastly, he hasn’t won a game with his primadonna, pompous attitude. He thinks he’s the mini-Belichick. Cleveland already had Belichick, before Belichick became Belichick.

Cleveland is a town that yearns for a winner and demands it based on the franchises’ history. There really isn’t a lot of leeway given to anyone coming in and getting time to “right the ship.” That being said I think that Randy Lerner has drawn the ire of fans more than Mangini.”

 

What’s going on in Cleveland with the quarterbacks?

“I briefly touched on this one above. It’s obvious neither QB is good enough to get you to that next level. (Brady)Quinn has the same disease Trent (Edwards) has—won’t throw the ball downfield and doesn’t believe in his wide receivers. (Derek) Anderson has the right mindset for the position but not the physical ability. He thinks he can make every throw and forces a lot of bad passes. Just look at his abysmal completion percentage throughout his career, 54.6%, that right there doesn’t get it done at this level.

But even though neither is the answer, you still need to stick to one and go with it. To be fair Quinn didn’t get a fair shot in playing stronger defenses and getting benched when the team played two weaker defenses in Cinci and Buffalo. Anderson with another decent performance will likely wrestle the job away for the year and should spell the exodus of Quinn from Cleveland. Either at the trade deadline or off-season. I fully expect Cleveland to draft a quarterback in Round one next year.”

 

How do you feel about the Braylon Edwards trade?

“I could not care any less.

Braylon Edwards has all the talent in the world to go out and be a bonafide superstar in this league. As evidenced by his 2007 campaign, 80 catches and 16 TDs. The problem is he doesn’t have the heart or mind to stay in the game. He takes plays off. He drops easy catchable passes. He pouts on the sideline.

There’s a reason Cleveland drafted two receivers in round two of this past draft. Mohamed Massaquoi had a breakout game last week with 8 catches and 148 yards. If he can repeat that type of performance six or so games a year, Braylon won’t be missed. The jury is still out on Brian Robiskie as he’s pretty much been a non-factor so far this year.

In conclusion, Braylon deciding to punch LeBron’s (James) buddy in the face was the last straw against a guy with a me-first attitude, who thought the fans hated him because he came from Michigan. Apparently he didn’t realize the people didn’t like the fact that it was obvious we never got 100% out of him on Sundays. If he had such an issue with Cleveland fans and Cleveland media, I can’t wait to see what happens to him when he deals with New York fans and media.”

 

At 0-4 the Browns seem to be reeling. How much will the overtime loss to Cincinnati last week linger for them?

“They’re professionals, it shouldn’t linger. That being said, it’s a tough loss to take. Two turnovers by the Browns in scoring range during the game hurt their chances of winning. One being a fumble returned for a Bengal TD, the other an interception on the goal line.

Either one of those don’t happen, the end result is different.”

 

Jerome Harrison seems to be the primary running back now in Cleveland. Is Jamal Lewis finished?

“Jamal has been hampered by a hamstring injury. He participated minimally in practice this week. Harrison is a nice change of pace type of back but shouldn’t be the guy pounding the rock play after play. I would be shocked to see that if Jamal is back to 100% he’s not the guy.

That being said one has to wonder how much tread he has left on the tires. He’s at that point where running backs start to go downhill and Baltimore abused him with a ton of carries early in his career. He is coming off back to back 1000-yard seasons in Cleveland though.”

 

What do you think is the biggest strength of the Browns?

“Easy. Special Teams. Josh Cribbs without a doubt is the best player in the league on special teams. He is a threat to take any kick or punt back to the house. He’s the gunner on punt coverage and he’s out there on kick coverage. Everything the guy is asked to do, he does. (Dave) Zastudil is a steady but not spectacular punter and Phil Dawson is money within 40 yards. However Dawson is hurt and Billy Cundiff has taken the kicking duties without missing a beat, thus far.”

 

Kamerion Wimbley (3 sacks) seems to be off to a good start. How has he looked?

“He’s back to looking like the player they drafted. A disruptive force and a guy who can make a difference on Sundays. It’s a good sign too after he pretty much disappeared last season. People were starting to wonder if he was the guy they drafted in 2006 or the one they saw in 07-08.

The jury is still out however, because as we all know consistency is key. It’s a good start but he has to be able to sustain it throughout the course of the season. If he doesn’t, he’ll just join a long list of players the Browns have drafted that never realized their full potential.”

 

Who are a couple of players to watch out for on Sunday that a lot of Bills fans might now know of?

“Robert Royal and Blake Costanzo!

All kidding aside, Massaquoi on offense. D’Qwell Jackson on defense. ‘MoMass’ will likely turn into the number one option at wide receiver with the trade of Braylon. If Anderson can develop the chemistry he showed with MoMass last week and build upon it, he’ll likely become a force in this league and make Cleveland fans say Braylon who?

D’Qwell Jackson is a guy no one gives any credit. He only quietly went out and led the league in tackles last season with 154. He’s on pace for a similar type season this year, 39 tackles in 4 games.”

 

What’s the key in your opinion to the Browns upsetting the Bills? If that’s what we’d call it. It’s not often a team “upsets” the Bills.

“Protecting the football. Sustaining drives. Scoring points.

All of the above are things the Browns have not done well this year nor since the Buffalo Monday night game last year. Cleveland has three offensive touchdowns since that game, in total.

They did move the ball pretty well against a weaker Bengals defense which is on par with the Bills defense being minus a few key contributors. So, they should be able to put some drives together, it all comes down to winning the turnover battle. If they can win the turnover battle, big if, they can score the “upset” as you so sarcastically call it.”