It doesn't get any easier for Browns

There are a lot of teams the Cleveland Browns would be better off facing today.
Oh-and-two clubs that have been as woeful as the Browns don't need to be traveling across the country to face a ball club that has its sights set, at the least, on making the playoffs, and have legitimate hopes for the Super Bowl.
But, that's the quandary Coach Butch Davis and his really bad football team face today at 3Com Park in San Francisco.
We refer to the Browns as "really bad" because that's the way they've played in the first two weeks of the season.
Cleveland has been awful on both sides of the ball. The Browns are 31st in the NFL in total offense -- that's next to last. They're absolute last in rushing defense.
Their 29.6 percentage on third down is fourth from the worst in the AFC. By contrast, opponents are converting almost 41 percent on third down, the fifth-highest in the conference.
They deserve their record
The bottom line, there's nothing deceiving about the Browns record. They really have played that poorly.
(All of you who campaigned for Kelly Holcomb, stand up. Do you suppose, just maybe, it's not the quarterback as much as it is the system? Perhaps the changes Butch Davis should have made was on the sideline, with the guy calling the plays -- offensive coordinator Bruce Arians -- and quarterback coach Carl Smith.)
Things don't get any easier today. San Francisco features a very balanced and high-scoring offense. If the Browns commit to stopping the 49ers' rushing attack it will mean leaving the secondary in man-to-man coverage against San Francisco's top-flight receivers, Terrell Owens and Tai Streets.
If the Browns double-up on the corners, it leaves the middle of the defense vulnerable to the running of Kevan Barlow and Garrison Hearst, and the scrambling of quarterback Jeff Garcia.
It's the NFL version of pick your poison.
After two weeks of the season, one could look at the remainder of the Browns schedule and predict only four wins, assuming their level of play doesn't improve -- both games against the Bengals and home dates with the Arizona Cardinals and San Diego Chargers.
(Too bad the Bears aren't on the schedule.)
And I wouldn't be too quick to chalk up those Bengals games as wins either, considering the average margin of victory in the last eight games between the intrastate rivals has been less than three points.
Changes needed
The Browns need to make the following changes on offense, in our opinion:
USign a legitimate NFL fullback and abandon the "H" back concept with Aaron Shea and Steve Heiden.
UDevelop a mid-range passing game (12-to-15 yards downfield). The quarterbacks -- both Tim Couch and Holcomb -- are too reliant on dumping the ball off to the running backs for little or no yardage, or going deep.
Defensively, a game plan would be nice. Give credit to Jamal Lewis, but when the Ravens started a rookie quarterback last week, was I the only person wondering why the Browns didn't commit eight men in the box?
And I'm still trying to figure out the reasoning behind the purge Davis made in the off-season. I understand it was because of the salary cap, but I wonder if there were players other than Dwayne Rudd and Earl Holmes, for example, that were more expendable.
This Browns team appeared to be on the verge of greatness after a playoff season in 2002. One month from now, they could be on the brink of collapse.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.