Here's how we
assign the blame for the Browns' current 1-5 mess:
1. The players - 55 percent. Ousted offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon isn't around any more to use as a distraction from their overall ineptitude.
2. Owner Randy Lerner - 15 percent. Sorry, but we just can't shake the feeling that the last person who talks to Lerner is the one who has the most influence on him. That's hardly the definition of "decisive leadership."
3. General Manager Phil Savage - 14 percent. Still receives more free passes from fans and Cleveland's media than a spoiled kid at Cedar Point.
4. Carthon - 10 percent. We've said Carthon served as a handy public scapegoat for the Browns' poor season. And that's true. But it's also true that the guy wasn't a very good offensive coordinator.
5. Head coach Romeo Crennel - 6 percent. How anyone actually expected Crennel to coach this poorly constructed team to a 7-9 or 8-8 season is beyond us. He takes far too many critical arrows that should be whistling towards Savage.
Unfortunately, here is the order that folks in this city tend to use in handing out blame for the Browns' ugly season: Carthon, Crennel, the players, Savage and Lerner (in a last-place tie).