Written by Dave Kolonich

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A long time ago, I was a hopeless media scavenger of all things Browns-related.  And then a few years ago, this site happened. 

In between, the boundless negativity from the swirling P.R. machine known as the Cleveland sports media has led to a moment where it deliberately takes me a few days to read through the PD’s Sunday and Monday game coverage – merely in an attempt to form an unbiased opinion regarding the Browns.

Having said all that, the following – written minutes after the end of Sunday’s game – is news to me. 

Pluto’s Postgame Scribbles

I asked Eric Mangini about switching from Eric Wright to someone else on Anquan Boldin, who caught three touchdown passes. He said Wright was playing “star” in their defense. That means he covers the opposing star, and the defense is set up to help him with double teams. But we didn’t see much of that. Mangini said, “The integrity of the defense gets harder when you switch those guys around.” That may be true, but given what Boldin did, it could not have been any worse.

Beyond the too easy “star” jokes that could be made about Wright, let’s instead focus on something far more sinister involving the Browns’ coaching staff….namely, the unflinching inflexibility found among the defensive schemes.

For Mangini to make a statement regarding the “integrity” of the defense – as in such a thing would be lost by switching Wright’s assignment – is beyond impractical and truly reeks not of the arrogance that many suspect our head coach of, but rather the complete inflexibility found within a given gameplan of his doing.

If any of the above is logical, then the following questions have to be asked:

1.  In other words, are gameplans completely unalterable?

2.  Does the “integrity” of something that isn’t working have to be preserved at all costs?

3.  Or, how about this?  If something is broken on gameday, do we have the right set of coaches to fix it?

4.  And if so, are these coaches willing to make the necessary adjustments?

5.  If not, I hope the coaches are right the first time.

While I’ve alluded to The Process as some grand scale of overall improvement, it’s worth pointing to these kinds of specific, “in-game” moments that could prove to be the ultimate definition of Mangini’s tenure in Cleveland. 

As for the “integrity” of a gameplan, what does such a statement even mean?

If the “integrity” of a gameplan is ruined by making some sort of change, then the creators of such a plan have to achieve 100% accuracy on a weekly basis.  Otherwise, adjustments would have to be made.

The case in point here occurred last week when Eric Wright couldn’t slow down Anquan Boldin – despite being the “star” corner in a plan designed to bring double teams.  Regardless of why the overall plan didn’t work – either because the double team options were slow in recognition, or because Wright couldn’t handle his receiver off the line – the bottom line is that again….”the plan didn’t work.”

Are we to assume that based on Mangini’s comments the “integrity” of the plan was more important than the results generated by the plan?  If so, then two assumptions have to be made:

1.  Mangini is completely unflexible in some aspects of his coaching.

2.  The coaching staff needs to come up with some better plans. 

Or, how about these instead?

3.  The coaching staff is projecting gameplans onto some idealistic defense – one that doesn’t currently exist in Cleveland.

4.  Evidence of this can be found by the burden of responsibility Wright carried last Sunday.

5.  We either need some new coaches or some new players.

Speaking of which….back with much more tomorrow – specifically, my best reasons for hating the 3-4 defense.