Solitude.  That is the best way of expressing my state of mind before Sunday’s game.  No, this feeling had nothing to do with the fact that my mom was out the majority of the morning running errands or that my father went down to the boat to finish up winterizing it or that Emily was studying for the entire morning.  This feeling had a lot to do with one thing – the Browns.

I didn’t read the paper yesterday morning (Sorry Tony, Terrie, Mary, & everyone else over at the PD).  I didn’t need to.  I already knew the question and no one could possibly know the answer to it until the game started: which DA would we get today?

!:00 approached quickly and Emily came by.  It was about this time that we both realized that the game was at 4:15, not 1:00.  Great – now we get to watch Pittsburgh face off against Cincinnati.  Cincinnati hung in there for a little, but Pittsburgh won definitively…like they always do.

The Browns game started just like it did on Monday – the Browns won the toss and decided they wanted the ball.  I loved the confidence that they showed…unfortunately, that is where the comparison between Monday night and yesterday stopped.  The offense came out as flat as the stretch on 71 from Cleveland to Columbus.  It was obvious to me, Emily & my parents after the FIRST play which DA was out there today.  If that is all it took for us…why can’t the Browns’ coaching have the same vision?  The defense did would they could and played respectable – they did let up almost 200 rushing yards, but only 14 points…yet we still lost.

On offense we have DA, Lewis, Cribbs, Edwards, Stallworth, Winslow, Heiden, Harrison, Wright…the list goes on.  Look at that list.  Think about each of those players (on their good days).  We all know they are capable of putting up more than 14 points to win a game – heck, we have seen it done before.  Instead, we saw them do…nothing.  They barely managed to get 11 points on the board (it took 8 plays to get into the end zone from the 1 yard line).

I don’t even know what to think anymore.  Over the past few weeks I have exhausted every possible reason/excuse for the Browns not winning.  Without any excuses left in my back pocket I must come to the conclusion that we simply do not have the right people on the team (players, coaches, GM, owner…whoever).

I could go into my theories about how it is the players’ fault or the coaching staff’s fault, etc., but I won’t – you already know all the arguments.  I think the blame lies with all of them – there seems to be a civil war going on.  The funny thing is though – the civil war exists within each individual’s mind.

Right before the game there is a battle going on inside everyone’s mind:

DA: I want to be the good DA, but being the bad DA is so much easier.

Edwards: I want to catch passes, but no one is watching.

Defense: We can stop the run, but what is the point if the offense won’t score.

Crennel: Should I look at my watch this game or not?

Savage: Force Quinn to play or not?

…the list goes on.

The Browns will get nowhere while their minds remain divided.  Each one of them must decide for themselves if they want to operate as champions.  They won’t be able to win while they are divided.

Much like anything else, fans have little control over how these civil wars will play out.  All we can do is the usual: keep hope and pray the fighting ends soon.

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