I'm not sure that really is because of Pettine though. This team is winning in spite of its defense. I give Shannahan, Hoyer, and the running game most of the credit.
Under Pettine, every part of the defense has gone backwards. I'm not saying I want to blow it up after one year, I absolutely don't. It is majorly concerning that our defensive minded head coach is leading one of the worst defenses in football. Especially considering that we do have some talent on that side of the ball.
I understand where you're coming from, but I kinda disagree. Last year the Browns had Norv Turner running the offense. That was supposed to be as good as it gets for offensive minds. Chud was an offensive guy, as well. Well, the offense stunk and the defense was good, BUT the Browns were still losing games and looking lethargic.
I think there are two areas that can't really be measured, so they're thrown out. Kinda like coaches "moxie", if you will. The one area is getting guys to buy in. I think the team is trying to buy into Pettine's way of doing things. I think this is evident in how the team has come out of halftimes. I also think it's evident in the team not giving up like last year.
Another area I think Pettine has done well in is clock management. For whatever reason, the sense of urgency of the poor coaches the Browns have had has been tied to waiting until the absolute last minute to speed things up and be cognizant of plays you run in relation to their use of the game clock. In both Pittsburgh and Tennessee, the Browns were able to mount a comeback and have an opportunity to win. In Baltimore, the team stalled, but the clock awareness was there by Pettine, for the most part. Against New Orleans, you can credit a solid 2 minute offense, but it was a team effort to set that up.
Again, I'm not saying at all that Harbaugh is not as good a coach as Pettine. I'm just looking at the team and seeing something brewing on the positive side of things. Blowing it up now would be a Randy Lerner move (who probably listened to Rizzo a bit too much). For once, I want to see what happens when you don't pull the rug out from under a team that was dancing in the locker-room on Sunday.
