I was going to write an angry rant about the Browns ridiculous collapse today, until I read a series of tweets from Cleveland Frowns:

“If you lose a lead that nobody expected you to have, how can you be said to have “blown” anything? Lions more talented.”

And:

“Love how it’s so painful now for #Browns fans to be 1-9 instead of 2-8. They covered the spread, anyway. Nobody was giving em a chance 2day.”

Oh wait, one more:

“Have fun with the witch-hunting, Verucas. I’m signing off. #NFL #Browns #Goodgame #Rebuildingmeansrebuilding #Letthecoachdohisjob.”

A lot of good points there. Allow me to address them individually:

First, Frown’s right. The Browns, 3.5-point underdogs (on the road), had virtually NO CHANCE to compete with the mighty Detroit Lions, who are ranked 24th in offense and 31st in defense.

Secondly, as Frown so eloquently put it, let the coach do his job. You hear that, you rabble-rousing Browns fans? Let Coach Mangenius do his job. Let him allow the Detroit Lions to go 88 yards with no time-outs in 1:46!

Finally, Frown hits the nail on the head: rebuilding means rebuilding. Here is how I think Eric Mangini would rebuild a house:

1. Completely destroy its foundation.
2. Piss on the rubble.

Browns fans need to lower their expectations. Imagine a Pop-Warner football team. Keep in mind, most of these kids have never played football before. The coach has two jobs and is a borderline alcoholic. Maybe the back-up linebacker is a blind kid.

Now, imagine the lowest possible expectations you could have for that Pop-Warner team.

Got it?

Now, lower those expectations by 400%. That’s where Browns fans need to set the bar.

And, with this in mind, here are some positives we can take away from Sunday’s game:

• The bus made it to the game on time.
• Everybody wore the right uniforms.
• We fielded a full team.
• We scored as many points as the other team.*
• Nobody died.

See? It’s just the way you look at it. This game wasn’t a collapse. It was a collopportunity!

*Almost!