The Cleveland Browns have fired Eric Mangini. Despite winning games against the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints, Mangini never seemed to grasp what it took to win consistently in the NFL. He made the Browns a tougher team and he clearly improved the overall situation, but his game management skills were terrible. He was obsessed with the “process” of preparing and not making mistakes, but he couldn’t find a way to beat the bad or mediocre teams on a consistent basis.
His approach in the Buffalo game summed it all up. He was so obsessed with avoiding mistakes that he forgot the Browns were the better team. He played for the field goal in a game where he should have attacked and gone for the jugular.
His consistent use of Robert Royal is passing situations was baffling. How many dropped passes does one need to see before realizing that this guy should not be a target? I know Evan Moore got hurt, but there are other people on the roster. Also, despite having backs with good hands, he rarely used the screen pass, even in games when the pass rush was a problem.
Mangini is a solid football guy, but he really hurt himself with his approach on offense. He would have benefited from an experienced offensive coordinator.
The team is better after a very solid off-season that produced an excellent draft and other gems like Scott Fujita and Peyton Hillis. If the front office keeps that up the Browns should be fine.
