Cleveland, Ohio – Welcome to today’s edition of Starting Blocks TV, hosted by David Campbell, Associate Sports Editor at The Plain Dealer.

It’s Friday, which means Plain Dealer Browns reporter Tony Grossi is checking in to answer questions from his weekly Hey, Tony! feature.

This week Tony answers fan questions about whether the Browns might be able to trade for St. Louis QB Sam Bradford; where the Browns might try to find some quality wide receivers; whether the Browns’ QB situation would have been different if Mike Holmgren had been coach; and how active the Browns will be in free agency.

Tony also makes his pick for the Browns-Ravens game on Saturday, which is the question in today’s Starting Blocks poll.

SBTV will be on hiatus until after the first of the year. Happy Holidays!

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens: Who will win and by how much?

1. Expect the bizarre Strange things happen in Browns-Jaguars games. Just last year the Browns had six defensive takeaways — and lost. Remember Tim Couch’s Hail Mary pass to Quincy Morgan to win in 2002? How about Bottlegate in 2001? And a 48-0 Jacksonville win over the Spergon Wynn-led Browns in 2000? Simply the worst exhibition of quarterbacking in franchise history. What will today add to this storied “rivalry”?

2. MoJo’s mojo Maurice Jones-Drew put the finishing touches on the Jaguars’ win last year, taking a benign screen pass and slicing up the Browns’ defense for 75 yards to set up his 1-yard winning TD run. Like Steven Jackson posed with the Rams last week, Jones-Drew gives the Jaguars a weapon the Browns don’t have. He’s capable of controlling the day or winning the game on one play.

3. Red zone mythology Contrary to perception, the Browns and Jaguars are not the worst teams inside the red zone. But they are the worst at getting to the red zone. The Browns have made 18 trips, scoring eight touchdowns (44.4 percent). The Jaguars have made 15 trips, scoring seven TDs (46.7). Nine teams have worse TD percentages from the red zone, including — surprise, surprise — San Francisco and Dallas.

4. Young gun Blaine Gabbert is the third first- or second-year quarterback faced by the Browns this season. Let’s see how the Browns’ defense has fared: Cincinnati rookie Andy Dalton left the season opener after an injury in the first half. He threw for 81 yards and one touchdown, but departed with the Bengals behind, 14-13. St. Louis’ Sam Bradford didn’t light up the Browns, throwing for only 155 yards and one TD. But both those teams ultimately won. On the Browns’ home field, to boot.

Cleveland, Ohio – Welcome to today’s edition of Starting Blocks TV, hosted by Chuck Yarborough and Branson Wright, who are intent on keeping their voices down toward the end of today’s show.

Browns coach Pat Shurmur spent time at Monday’s press conference defending his late-game strategy in Sunday’s loss to the St. Louis Rams. Do you agree with Shurmur’s play-calling and strategy? That’s our question in today’s Starting Blocks poll.

Today’s guest on SBTV is Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff, who says he 75 percent agreed with the calls Shurmur made. Dman also talks about who had a better game, the Browns’ Colt McCoy or the Rams’ Sam Bradford; and he weighs in on whether he thinks there will be an NBA season.

SBTV will return Wednesday with Plain Dealer Ohio State reporter Doug Lesmerises checking in from Columbus with the latest on the Buckeyes and Saturday’s game against Penn State.

Also, don’t miss this week’s edition of the Browns Insider show, which streams live every Thursday at 10 a.m. and is archived each week.

The Cleveland Browns were hoping to end their two-game losing streak on Sunday, Nov. 13, with a victory over the 1-7 St. Louis Rams. Instead, the team sent its fans home empty-handed again after Phil Dawson(notes) missed a 22-yard field goal that would have put Cleveland in the lead at the two-minute warning. The Rams won 13-12.

The Browns actually made some plays against the Rams that many people in Northeast Ohio have been waiting for them to make. Much-maligned head coach Pat Shurmur was aggressive with his play-calling and often caught the Rams’ defense off-guard.

One play lined up backup quarterback Seneca Wallace(notes) as a receiver on the right side of the field with Colt McCoy(notes) as a receiver on the left side. Josh Cribbs was under center and took the snap. Cribbs handed the ball off to Wallace, who appeared to be running an end-around, but then he gave the ball to McCoy. Wallace streaked down the sideline, and McCoy passed him the ball for the 21-yard reception. It was one of the best plays I’ve seen drawn up this season, and the Browns deserve credit for pulling it off.

Cleveland remained aggressive throughout the game. Shurmur rushed Cribbs out of the wildcat formation three times, and also skillfully used Greg Little(notes) to open up the Rams’ secondary.

However, once the Browns would drive deep into St. Louis territory, Shurmur became conservative with the play-calling. I can only remember the Browns throwing into the endzone once in the game, which isn’t good enough considering how well the team moved the ball. Colt McCoy had a great game, and I think the Browns wasted his hot hand by not passing more when the team was deep in Rams’ territory.

Late in the fourth quarter, Cleveland was in the red zone again and had a chance to seriously hurt St. Louis. With the ball on the Rams’ seven-yard line and just under three minutes left in the game, Shurmur elected to run Chris Ogbonnaya(notes) on third down. I understand he was trying to drain the clock and position the team for the game-winning field goal, but Shurmur had the chance to bury the Rams.

I think he should have let McCoy take a shot at the end zone in hopes of getting the touchdown. If the Browns put six on the board there, it would have forced Rams quarterback Sam Bradford(notes) to take his team nearly the full length of the field for the winning score instead of getting into field goal range. Instead, the Browns ran the ball for a three-yard gain, and we all know what happened from there.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, the Browns did some good things on Sunday. But when a passionate fan base has had to go through such painful defeats, those positives get lost in translation. When I left the stadium on Sunday, there was an empty and hopeless mood in the air. Even on the train where people are usually talking about the game, it was quiet and rather depressing. When one fan tried to cheer people up, they could only respond briefly before lowering their heads again. One lady sitting nearby was nearly in tears.

“There’s always next year. That’s all we ever say,” she said. “I can’t do this any more.”

I felt awful as the lady expressed her heartache, but there was nothing I could say. I think Browns fans want to see the team go for it. They need to see the coaching staff take risks, and when that doesn’t happen, it’s almost worse than a blowout defeat. At least in those situations, you know there wasn’t a chance to win. But victory was there for the taking, and the Browns gave it away.

Cleveland’s passionate fans deserve more from their team. Browns’ management needs to know that. Watching the team lose games like this is getting old.

A native of Northeast Ohio, Derek Ciapala grew up in a family of Cleveland Browns’ fans. He has been following the Browns since 1987 and still hopes to see the team play in the Super Bowl one day. You can follow him on Twitter @dciapala.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Notes, observations and some facts on the third quarter …

• First-and-15 run by Steven Jackson for 17 yards.

• Rams left tackle Rodger Saffold of Bedford is hurt and helped off the field. Out with possible concussion.

• Sam Bradford aborts a shovel pass and keeps for a first down. Ahtyba Rubin falls on Bradford’s ankle. Bradford leaves for one play.

• Short pass to Austin Pettis. Sheldon Brown misses the tackle. Pettis bounces off for 12 yards.

• Big play by Chris Gocong. After catch by Jackson, Gocong puts a helmet on the ball and recovers the fumble at Browns’ 29. Rams decide not to challenge.

• Seneca Wallace shows up for the third time as a wideout. Just to keep the Rams on their toes.

• Screen pass to Chris Ogbonnaya nets 17 yards and a first down. But drive fizzles at 50 when Rams rush four and send McCoy scampering for a yard.

• Browns now having some success stopping Jackson’s runs. Browns force Rams punt from their goal-line. Great bounce on end-over-end punt rolls dead at Browns’ 23.

• Josh Cribbs scoots 22 yards on an end-around, but Greg Little’s holding penalty reduces it by seven.

• Ogbonnaya rips off an inside run for 32 yards. Longest Browns’ run of the season. Ben Watson follows with an acrobatic one-handed catch over two defenders at the Rams’ 15. Twenty-two yard play.

• Browns play for the field goal with three safe play-calls. Phil Dawson’s 27-yard field goal gives Browns 12-10 lead.