You may be like me, disappointed on the Browns season start.  Playing 4 pretty mediocre teams and going 2-2 is not where they thought they'd be right now.  I wrote a lot in the preseason that this team had a ton of question marks and I was mocked at times by fans saying that we were going 13-4 and the like. They won't  - and they still have questions.

I don't think they are underachieving.  I think this is who they are.  They have a few remarkable players on this roster who perform as touted.  But many thought to be remarkable are not.  Just because the names are familiar from college or a cast off from other teams doesn't mean they are great.  It means they are known.  This team has invested a ton of money on players that other teams would not.  And to me, that is very telling, as pretty much every other team has won more games than us since 1999.   Maybe some of these guys just aren't that great.  

The head coach is a major problem.  I think he's a creative offensive coordinator, sometimes too creative. But he is not a motivator of men, he is too laid back and does not seem in charge.  This team plays with no heart or emotion, and that is a death sentence for an NFL team. It's easy to blame the defensive coordinator for the ridiculous 4th quarter issues.  Too easy.  Players make or don't make plays.  Maybe they just aren't as good as fans think.  Firing him makes people feel better, but you still have the same players, in the same uniforms.

The leaders are not leading as usual.  Continued embarrassing off field problems are turning into on field problems.  Character matters, and some players that are committed to winning is the issue.  I wish some were as committed to winning as they are to the lifestyle and possible awards that youth and big money bring.  I also feel the owner is probably involved in the wrong things with the team and absent in areas that are more in his wheelhouse.  But knowing that history, I'm not sure at all what that is.  A questionable past can do that.

Many point to when the new QB enters the scene, things will be better, and that is possibly true.  More than likely more of a factor next season after missing almost two years. Again, with embarrassing off field problems this owner and coaching staff decided to invest a quarter of a BILLION dollars in.  I am not down on the Browns, I'm a fan too that just looks at them honestly.  Pretending there are not large problems top to bottom is simply not being honest.

Can they fix all this? Sure, but there will have to be major changes in thinking and general good football sense. This absolute nonsense of letting computer analytics decide in game decisions that matter is silly.  It's not only costing the Browns games, but other teams too.  How about using them as a valuable tool to prepare you during the week and make good football decisions on Sunday from your own brain.

Any kind of win against the Chargers at home this week would be welcome and could turn some fortunes as they are a tough opponent. But we better cover people as they can score points by the truckload and have a great QB.  Sunday the Browns were beaten by a QB that has been a bust in the NFL and completed ONLY 7 passes against us all afternoon.  Simply embarrassing in today's NFL.  Then they simply out-manned us and ran it down our throat in humiliating fashion.  Their coach figured out at halftime, that his own mediocre QB was not the answer on that day, and challenged the Browns manhood to stop the run.  They could not, and looked weak and over matched. 

All these "easy fixes" are turning out not to be so easy.  It's time to stop the fans and local media Browns fanny smooching and realize that we are who we are right now. And right now, today, this week -  this 2-2 team, who is a miracle field goal away from being 1-3, just isn't as good as many think.

Time to face the facts.