With speculation that losses to the lowly Bills and Bengals will cost Eric Mangini his job, he remains confident the future is bright for the Browns.
View full sizeBrowns coach Eric Mangini's team has beaten two Super Bowl contenders this season, but is coming off back-to-back losses to two-win teams.BEREA, Ohio — Despite speculation that back-to-back losses to two-win teams will cost Browns coach Eric Mangini his job, he remains confident his 5-9 team is poised for long-term success.
"I feel confident in the direction the team and the organization are heading," Mangini said. "I think it's apparent in the type of people that we brought in and the way we play. There's going to be some hiccups and growing pains along the road. But I'm confident in the coaches, and I believe in what we stand for and teach. I think that we've got a very bright future for this team and this organization."
Question is, will Mangini be a part of it? Heading into the game against the 2-11 Bengals -- a team that had lost 10 straight -- reports circulated, including on the NFL Network, that Mangini would need a strong finish to survive. Now it remains to be seen if solid games against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in the final two weeks will be enough to convince team President Mike Holmgren to keep him.
The organization wanted Mangini to beat the dysfunctional Bengals and then come home and finish strong against the two other division foes. Has he already sealed his fate with the double-whammy against the 2-10 Bills and then the Bengals?
"Two weeks ago, we had won two games in a row, so at different points in the season different things have happened," Mangini said. "When you look at something in its entirety, you don't just look at the most recent past. I assume [Holmgren] will look at it that way. That's how I expect to be evaluated."
Mangini, who saved his job with a four-game winning streak at the end of last season, says he'll worry only about the next game and not what Holmgren will decide after the season.
View full sizeCornerback Sheldon Brown, left, defending Sunday against the Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco, says Browns players need to worry about their own jobs."What's important to me is that the guys continue to improve and that we play well as a team," Mangini said. "That's what I want for this group of guys, and everything else will handle itself."
If the Browns can pull it back together and beat the 10-4 Ravens and 10-4 Steelers, the body of work will consist of victories over some of the top teams in the NFL, including the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots, who've gone a combined 12-1 since the Browns beat them.
But the Ravens and Steelers will have plenty to play for in their games here. If they finish in a tie, the Steelers would win the AFC North by virtue of their better division record. The Ravens can win it outright by beating the Browns and Bengals and relying on the Steelers to lose to either the Panthers or Browns.
"We have a good group of guys and I expect that when we come back on Wednesday and put the plan in that they'll be ready to work," Mangini said. "We've got a great opportunity in the next two weeks, against the best two teams in the division, to go out and play them and play them well."
Most Browns, including cornerback Sheldon Brown and team captain David Bowens, are stressing that players should be playing for their own jobs and not Mangini's future.
"In these last games, you better have some good footage of yourself on tape because that's what they'll be looking at," Brown said. "You're better off pointing at yourself before you start worrying about what somebody else is doing."
Bowens said it's a misconception that he's strictly a Mangini supporter. "I'm a loyal player to whoever I play for," he said. "We'll all be judged on how we finish up in the face of not making the playoffs."
Brown, who's been a mentor to the younger players, said the front office will do what's best for the team, period.
"I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to be a GM or president and forget they're just players," he said. "I've seen Eric Mangini win in this league, I've seen Mike Holmgren win and I've won with [general manager] Tom Heckert. I believe in the plan here."
Brown said he believes it's evident from the team's draft and free-agent acquisitions that the plan is working.
"With all of these great moves, why would I think that those guys up there don't know what they're doing?" Brown said.
He said it's crucial the Browns are still giving it their all.
"As a [nine-year vet] I've seen teams quit," he said. "We're still playing hard. It's easy to start pointing fingers, but this is a tremendous locker room. It's unreal, to be honest with you. I'm on my way out of the league, but I don't think there's another locker room that would be that way."
He said the Browns are on the verge of becoming an elite NFL team.
"The games we've lost are the ones where we've killed ourselves," he said. "But you are what your record says you are and there's no turning back. The only thing we can do is push forward and try to end on a good note."
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