Well that was fun now wasn't it?

Yep, only instant classics when the Brownies and Bills wage war.  Let's break down what we need to know about another rotten egg laid by the browns "offense."

FIVE BIG THINGS

1) Remember the goals - Win now, or work to win later. So, how'd we do on the win now front?  Well, On a crappy day in a cold weather city, you gotta commit to the run.  For one drive we did that.  Then - we wimped out fourth and goal, fumbled away a big chance, and sucked good and hard for the next 50 minutes.  So, plan 1 - run Hillis till he passes out - that went away after the fumble (although in retrospect, watching Hillis cough up ball after ball, I don't know that would have ended up well) and in came plan 2 - let Jake Delhomme do whatever he wants!!!!

Obviously with that strategy, we did not win now.

2) So what about the other goal?  Will what we learned today help us win later? Uh, no.  There was little player development that I saw that happened today.  One thing that has been happening since Delhomme is back behind center is some usage of the wideouts.  I'm not saying they are good, but it's clear to me that with Wallace and McCoy, part of their lack of production is the quarterback not looking for them.

3) So nothing at all good happened? Not really.  If this game means that Hillis will work on holding onto the ball, that's good I suppose.  My issue is this - if McCoy is not starting, and it's between Wallace and Delhomme - I don't think it helps the development of our wide receivers if Wallace starts - unless he throws to them.  Winning is nice, but 6-10 vs 7-9 isn't as important as finding out if massaquoi is any good.  Being 7-9 this year won't help us be any better next year than being 6-10 would.  Massaquoi being even 2% better at his position than he is now, definitely helps us next year.  If the quarterback is not McCoy - than the focus needs to be there.

4) Weenie. Come on.  4th and goal from the 4 foot line? Against a below average team?  When you have nothing to play for?  Come on.

5) More big picture questions. Do we may only have 3 games left before the lockout?  Will Mangini survive the lockout if next year is canceled and Gruden is available?  Mangini kind of has to make the playoffs next year to survive, but what if there is no next year?  When will Mangini toss Daboll under the bus?  Can you believe he hasn't already?  Can we stop the nonsense about Rob Ryan getting a head coaching opportunity next year - especially with his brother's group imploding?  IF WE PLAY AGAINST CINCINNATI LIKE WE DID AGAINST BUFFALO CAN WE LOSE BY LESS THAN 20?

Probably not.  You know, I still remain pleasantly surprised with this year.  Until we actually won game 4, I was still convinced we would go 3-13.  They're not awful to watch (save for last week) and the games are all competitive, whi ch is more than I could say in the past.  There's hope for the future for the first time in a while.  But you need to take advantage of that - to build on it every play, every game, every day of practice.  And Sunday, they did not.  And this team, after this 15 year stretch, can't afford to waste games.