Hope and despair represent Browns' start to '04 season

It's difficult to gauge how good the Browns truly are.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- There is no middle ground for the Cleveland Browns. From Sunday to Sunday, the Browns swing from one NFL extreme to the other.
Right now, they have hope, but it's mixed with the usual doses of despair. It's difficult to gauge how good the Browns (3-4), in their fourth season under coach Butch Davis, truly are.
They've had the good: the William Green-Lee Suggs backfield tandem; an improved run defense; kicker Phil Dawson's perfection; quarterback Jeff Garcia's playmaking; and a 3-1 record at home.
And there's been the bad: damaging injuries; a leaky secondary prone to giving up big plays; the lack of an offensive identity; not nearly enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks; and Davis' continual roster shuffling.
Expectations
In his fourth season with Cleveland, Davis still doesn't have the Browns where he wants them.
"From a won-loss standpoint, I don't feel very good at all," Davis said a day after the Browns were beaten 34-31 in overtime by the Philadelphia Eagles.
But all is not lost. The Browns, who won just five games last season, were also 3-4 in 2002 when they finished 9-7 and made the AFC playoffs.
Despite their troubles, offensive tackle Ryan Tucker believes these Browns can get back to the postseason.
"Two years ago, we were 2-4 and everybody was writing us off and we ended up making the playoffs," he said. "It's not over until you're out. That's the bottom line."
Tucker's positive outlook is due in part to Cleveland's improvement on offense the past few weeks.
Against the Eagles, the Browns posted season highs in first downs (27), yards rushing (165) and third-down efficiency (9-for-16). The performance came on the heels of a 34-point, 449-yard outing in a win over Cincinnati.
Adjustment period
Garcia finally seems comfortable in first-year coordinator Terry Robiskie's system, which needed to be reworked when rookie tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. broke his leg in Week 2 and was lost for the season.
Garcia passed for 236 yards and ran 4 yards on a broken play for a game-tying TD in the final minute as the Browns forced the unbeaten Eagles into OT. Slowly, but surely, the three-time Pro Bowler is playing the way the Browns hoped when they signed him as a free agent.
"He really started clicking in the second half of the New York Giants game," Davis said. "He really started feeling comfortable and since then has made strides and improvement."
Perhaps more significant than Garcia's progression -- 37-of-54 for 546 yards and five TDs in his past two games -- is that the Browns may have figured out how to best use Green and Suggs. Their varying styles -- Green pounds, Suggs slashes -- gives Cleveland a two-headed attack tough to defend.
If the Browns needed something to hang their helmet on over the remaining nine games, the Green-Suggs duo could be it.
"They'll definitely get better," Davis said. "They're young. People forget that William missed almost a year because of personal issues and stuff [an NFL suspension for violating the substance-abuse policy]. Lee didn't play but a smattering of plays last year.
"The upside for both these guys: They're going to continue to get better as blockers, as route runners and as pass catchers. They'll do nothing but improve."
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