Cleveland Browns: Retaining, and Tagging Phil Dawson Is The Best Move Ever

Dawson doing what Dawson knows.

By Chris Mahl

February 22, 2011

2011 Has brought a new set of coaches, new set of standards and a whole new playbook to the shore of the Erie. There was all this speculation of who is going to be the new coach, will McCoy be the real QB (I so hope so) and what to do about our terrible wide receivers. I haven't written an article on here in awhile, I know I'm sorry you couldn't read my ramblings, but every day I have been wondering why the Browns went without resigning Phil Dawson. He is the Browns, he is a fellow dawg in the pound.

Phil, yes I feel I am on a first name basis with him, is the only Brown to stick with the team since its rebirth in 1999. 1999! This was before Saddam went down, before Brittany Spears' come back,or before anybody knew the name LeBron (you will lose!). Phil Dawson has been through coaching change after coaching change, he has been with the team since Cribbs was 16. Dawson is, I feel, the best kicker in the league right now. Here is why.

Lets be honest, we put him in the worst situations ever. Hey Phil, we are down by 24 and our offense can't score, can you hit a couple field goals and tie this thing up? The sad thing is, he will come damn close. He is the ninth most accurate kicker in the league and that is a gold medal in my book.

I cant hit a six-yard field goal with no wind, he his consistent 40+ yard field goals with hurricane winds off of Lake Erie. This past year he went 23 for 28 in field goals. That is 69 points, add that with his 28 point after makes and he has 97 points this year. The Browns themselves, with Dawson, scored 271, so crank my add machine and Dawson scored about 35 percent of the points in 2010-11 season. That is crazy that a kicker can be that kind of offensive machine, he is the most consistent part of the Cleveland Browns.

Many rookies and new comers to the teams need the wise man, the one that can sit there and tell you stories of the old times. The one that can help soothe the rookies into a team. It isn't just his on field accomplishments, but just his presence. If he was to kick in another uniform every die hard Browns fan would cringe every time our new kicker missed a field goal and say to themselves "WHERE'S DAWSON!"

Dawson is the image of the Browns, I want his fathead on my wall next to my Browns banners. He may not have the game winning points in the Super Bowl, but he is one of the most accomplished kickers in history and one of the most accurate in a place that can chew up and spit out kickers easily. The Browns should make it a point to keep Dawson until he retires. With this franchise tag, that wish is very likely coming true and I couldn't be happier.

2010 Ed Block Courage Award Winner: Aaron Kampman

February 21, 2011

The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation will celebrate the 33nd annual Ed Block Courage Awards March 8 at Martin's West. One player from every NFL team will be honored for his commitment to the principles of courage and sportsmanship while serving as an inspiration in the locker rooms and community. In anticipation of the big night, PressBox is profiling each award winner.


DE Aaron Kampman has been named the Jacksonville Jaguars' 2010 Ed Block Courage Award recipient.

Kampman exemplifies courage and honor. His outstanding dedication and sportsmanship to his team have provided him the prestigious honor as the Ed Block Courage Award Recipient. Kampman is an inspiration and role model whose goal is to help the positive atmosphere among his teammates. Aaron is an outstanding spokesman and leader to young NFL athletes, and dedicated himself to making those around him better. Kampman is a true team player and leader on and off the field.

Kampman is a dedicated husband and father who takes pride in daily success. Kampman suffered a significant football injury in November of 2009. He injured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. The ACL is a significant knee stabilizer and makes playing professional football very difficult, if not impossible, without it. Kampman chose to have his ACL reconstructed and continue his NFL career. As a seasoned veteran, Kampman knew many around him that had suffered the similar injury and results were varied. For Kampman, the only option was to continue football and succeed. Aaron spent his 2010 offseason rehabilitating his knee and accomplished his goal of returning for the 2010 season.

Kampman returned to his role as team leader and successful defensive player, before tearing the ACL in his right knee in Week Eight of the 2010 season.

The Dallas Clark Effect

AUTHOR: Tab

February 10, 2011

One of the nice storylines that developed during the Colts tough march to the playoffs in 2010 was the emergence of tight end Jacob Tamme. After barely smelling the field through six weeks, many fans felt he was a savior of the season’s second half.

Deeper digging into the numbers indicates, however, that Dallas Clark is still the most important player on the Colts offense (not-named-Manning).

A direct comparison of Tamme to Clark would provide a surface-level indication that Clark was fairly replaced by Tamme. In his six games, Clark averaged 6.2 receptions and 57.8 yards per game, while Tamme averaged 6.7 receptions and 63.1 yards per game through the final ten games.

It wasn’t the tight end position that was impacted.

Consider the number put up by Reggie Wayne while Clark was healthy, and after he went down:

* w/ Clark: 6 games, 45 receptions, 602 yards, 2 touchdowns
* avg w/ Clark: 7.5 receptions, 100.3 yards per game
* w/out Clark: 10 games, 66 receptions, 753 yards, 4 touchdowns
* avg w/out Clark: 6.6 receptions, 75.3 yards per game

That’s a 25 percent drop in yards per game from Wayne during Clark’s absence, a strong number.

It’s easy to assume that Batman losing Robin would impact his production, but the consideration that Tamme was putting up similar/better numbers than Clark makes the dropoff from Wayne more intriguing. Certainly the entire free world wasn’t ignoring Tamme to double Wayne for ten weeks… right?

The bigger question is how Peyton Manning managed to have the biggest yard-producing season of his incredible career. He has always been known for making no-name players (like Tamme) into household names in only a couple short weeks.

But the impact of Clark’s injury is noticeable on Manning’s numbers as well.

The Colts averaged almost the same number of pass attempts per game without Clark (42.5) as they did with him (42.3). However, Manning’s completion percentage dropped by nearly two percent and 0.5 completions per game.

OK… so what? Half a completion? Two percent? Really?

Try these numbers on for size:

* w/ Clark: 319.3 yards, 2 TDs, 0.3 INT per game
* w/out Clark: 278.4 yards, 2 TDs, 1.5 INT per game

So Manning’s attempts and completions were nearly identical whether Clark was on the field or not. But he averaged 41 fewer yards per game (or 13 percent) without Clark. He also saw a 450% increase in his interceptions per game. Four hundred fifty percent!

Manning had a passer rating over 100 in four of the Colts first six games. In the final 10, without Clark, he broke the century mark only three more times.

The catalyst for the Colts offense is clearly Clark. For the Colts to make another run at postseason glory, they’ll need him to be healthy for a full season in 2011.