1/01/2008
By Tony Grossi Cleveland Plain Dealer
It had the makings of a perfect day for the Browns. In fact, the day was pretty close to perfect. But it was spoiled by a bad night. After the Browns completed a 10-6 season with a 20-7 win over San Francisco, they retreated to their homes hopeful of an Indianapolis win over Tennessee. It didn't happen. About seven hours later, the Titans knocked the Browns out of the AFC playoff field with a 16-10 win over the Colts.
The Titans and Browns tied with 10-6 records overall and 7-5 marks in AFC games. But Tennessee will move on to play 11-5 San Diego in a wild-card game Sunday because they were 4-1 in games between common opponents and the Browns were 3-2. The Browns became the third team since 1992 to feel the pain of going 10-6 and not making the playoffs. The others were Miami in 2003 and Kansas City in 2005. "We are disappointed that we didn't reach the playoffs," said Browns coach Romeo Crennel. "However, we had a good year. We've learned a lot, grown a lot and look forward to continuing to build on what we've accomplished this season."
Running back Jamal Lewis said before the Tennessee game kicked off: "We overcame so much adversity. I can't see it finishing like this." The Browns caught numerous long-deserved breaks in this breakthrough season. But they did not get the break they needed at the end. "We had the chance to close the door, but we forfeited that right," receiver Braylon Edwards said. "In hindsight, we could've taken care of our own business." A win in Cincinnati in Game 15 would have put the Browns in the playoffs. It also would have attached greater meaning to the San Francisco game. As things turned out, an 11-5 record would have earned the Browns the AFC North title and a home playoff game because Pittsburgh lost in Baltimore to finish at 10-6.
"Obviously, there's disappointment about the way things turned out last week," said Browns quarterback Derek Anderson. "But 10-6 is a great record for moving forward." Lewis, who rushed for 128 yards to finish with 1,304 -- more than any Browns back except Jim Brown -- said it "will be hard" to sit out the playoffs. "At the same time, it will give us more drive in the off-season to know what to do next year," he said.
The prevailing emotions as the players departed Cleveland Browns Stadium were helplessness, naturally, but also great satisfaction. They insisted a win would be meaningful, even if it didn't secure a playoff spot. They wanted to reward their loyal fans with one last home win, and they did. Plus, circumstances enabled the home fans to see rookie quarterback Brady Quinn perform for the first time in a regular-season game. It made for a fun time. Quinn relieved Derek Anderson with 3:11 to play in the first half after Anderson left for X-rays on his right pinkie finger when he hit the helmet of San Francisco safety Michael Lewis. Cheered wildly, Quinn led the Browns to a field goal after his final two passes were dropped in the end zone by Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Quinn was 3 of 8 for 45 yards on the 57-yard drive. "The young kid," Crennel said, poking fun at his salutation during training camp, "I told him a long time ago he was one play away. Today was that time. He went in and represented himself well."
Crennel then added, "There's no quarterback controversy." Anderson was intercepted on his first pass of the game and had another interception dropped by Shaker Heights native Nate Clements. But on his best play of the day, Anderson delivered a ball to Edwards just before he was creamed in the chest by San Francisco tackle Bryant Young. Edwards caught the ball and sauntered in for a 45-yard touchdown, extending his Browns season record to 16. Edwards also broke Webster Slaughter's record with 1,289 yards receiving.
Other than those moments, the game belonged to Cribbs. Cribbs had a 53-yard return on the 49ers' first punt and a 76-yard return for a touchdown on their third one. In the first quarter alone, Cribbs accounted for the second-highest punt return yardage total ever in a Browns game. After that, the 49ers kicked their punts away from Cribbs, leading to a 24.6-yard net average for NFC Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee -- a whopping 18 yards less than his average.
Then Cribbs fell back on his specialty and took the San Francisco kickoff to open the second half 94 yards for a touchdown. It was erased on a phantom holding penalty on Lennie Friedman.
Still, the jolt of energy on that play was lasting. In the second half, the Browns' defense limited the 49ers to 41 yards and turned in four of its five total sacks of fourth-string quarterback Chris Weinke. Cribbs also was a demon on the coverage teams. He was credited with four tackles, securing the team title in that category. "I can't say enough about the guy," Crennel said. "He's a returning machine as well as a tackling machine. They couldn't block him."
Crennel was resolute after the game that the season should be considered a smashing success no matter the outcome of the Tennessee game. The Browns improved by six wins over their record of 4-12 the year before. They also set a franchise mark with seven home wins -- all coming after that humiliating loss to Pittsburgh in the season opener. "Ten wins is a tremendous turnaround for the Browns," Crennel said. "Those guys [in the locker room] have come a long way. We have changed the attitude of this team. However it turns out, we've had a really good year. I think we'll be able to build on this year."
In the sanctity of their locker room immediately after the game, the Browns huddled in an emotional celebration of their day and season. Linebacker Willie McGinest formally presented the game ball to Crennel. "Nobody believed in us but you," McGinest said to the coach. "You're our leader, and we played for you." Sources said that Crennel was visibly moved by the presentation. But he pulled himself together. At that point, it looked like there would be another game to play.
Who had the edge
Offense: Browns - Jamal Lewis capped off a stellar season with 128 yards rushing. Derek Anderson survived a shaky start. Brady Quinn looked good in his one series in relief of Anderson. Although there were some drops, overall the offense knocked off some rust accumulated in three straight bad-weather games.
Defense: Browns - Chris Weinke's quarterbacking made the 49ers one-dimensional. Still, holding Frank Gore to 94 yards was an uplift for Browns. They also sacked Weinke five times. Leigh Bodden should have had three interceptions - but had two pried away and trapped another.
Special teams: Browns - Just a phenomenal day for Josh Cribbs. Against the No. 1-ranked special teams in the NFL, Cribbs had four punt returns for 135 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown. He also had a 94-yard kickoff return erased by a phantom holding call against Lennie Friedman. Plus, he made four tackles.
Coaching: Browns -A great day for Romeo Crennel and his staff to finish the regular season with a 7-1 home record and 10-6 overall.
By the numbers
It had the makings of a perfect day for the Browns. In fact, the day was pretty close to perfect. But it was spoiled by a bad night. After the Browns completed a 10-6 season with a 20-7 win over San Francisco, they retreated to their homes hopeful of an Indianapolis win over Tennessee. It didn't happen. About seven hours later, the Titans knocked the Browns out of the AFC playoff field with a 16-10 win over the Colts.
The Titans and Browns tied with 10-6 records overall and 7-5 marks in AFC games. But Tennessee will move on to play 11-5 San Diego in a wild-card game Sunday because they were 4-1 in games between common opponents and the Browns were 3-2. The Browns became the third team since 1992 to feel the pain of going 10-6 and not making the playoffs. The others were Miami in 2003 and Kansas City in 2005. "We are disappointed that we didn't reach the playoffs," said Browns coach Romeo Crennel. "However, we had a good year. We've learned a lot, grown a lot and look forward to continuing to build on what we've accomplished this season."
Running back Jamal Lewis said before the Tennessee game kicked off: "We overcame so much adversity. I can't see it finishing like this." The Browns caught numerous long-deserved breaks in this breakthrough season. But they did not get the break they needed at the end. "We had the chance to close the door, but we forfeited that right," receiver Braylon Edwards said. "In hindsight, we could've taken care of our own business." A win in Cincinnati in Game 15 would have put the Browns in the playoffs. It also would have attached greater meaning to the San Francisco game. As things turned out, an 11-5 record would have earned the Browns the AFC North title and a home playoff game because Pittsburgh lost in Baltimore to finish at 10-6.
"Obviously, there's disappointment about the way things turned out last week," said Browns quarterback Derek Anderson. "But 10-6 is a great record for moving forward." Lewis, who rushed for 128 yards to finish with 1,304 -- more than any Browns back except Jim Brown -- said it "will be hard" to sit out the playoffs. "At the same time, it will give us more drive in the off-season to know what to do next year," he said.
The prevailing emotions as the players departed Cleveland Browns Stadium were helplessness, naturally, but also great satisfaction. They insisted a win would be meaningful, even if it didn't secure a playoff spot. They wanted to reward their loyal fans with one last home win, and they did. Plus, circumstances enabled the home fans to see rookie quarterback Brady Quinn perform for the first time in a regular-season game. It made for a fun time. Quinn relieved Derek Anderson with 3:11 to play in the first half after Anderson left for X-rays on his right pinkie finger when he hit the helmet of San Francisco safety Michael Lewis. Cheered wildly, Quinn led the Browns to a field goal after his final two passes were dropped in the end zone by Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Quinn was 3 of 8 for 45 yards on the 57-yard drive. "The young kid," Crennel said, poking fun at his salutation during training camp, "I told him a long time ago he was one play away. Today was that time. He went in and represented himself well."
Crennel then added, "There's no quarterback controversy." Anderson was intercepted on his first pass of the game and had another interception dropped by Shaker Heights native Nate Clements. But on his best play of the day, Anderson delivered a ball to Edwards just before he was creamed in the chest by San Francisco tackle Bryant Young. Edwards caught the ball and sauntered in for a 45-yard touchdown, extending his Browns season record to 16. Edwards also broke Webster Slaughter's record with 1,289 yards receiving.
Other than those moments, the game belonged to Cribbs. Cribbs had a 53-yard return on the 49ers' first punt and a 76-yard return for a touchdown on their third one. In the first quarter alone, Cribbs accounted for the second-highest punt return yardage total ever in a Browns game. After that, the 49ers kicked their punts away from Cribbs, leading to a 24.6-yard net average for NFC Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee -- a whopping 18 yards less than his average.
Then Cribbs fell back on his specialty and took the San Francisco kickoff to open the second half 94 yards for a touchdown. It was erased on a phantom holding penalty on Lennie Friedman.
Still, the jolt of energy on that play was lasting. In the second half, the Browns' defense limited the 49ers to 41 yards and turned in four of its five total sacks of fourth-string quarterback Chris Weinke. Cribbs also was a demon on the coverage teams. He was credited with four tackles, securing the team title in that category. "I can't say enough about the guy," Crennel said. "He's a returning machine as well as a tackling machine. They couldn't block him."
Crennel was resolute after the game that the season should be considered a smashing success no matter the outcome of the Tennessee game. The Browns improved by six wins over their record of 4-12 the year before. They also set a franchise mark with seven home wins -- all coming after that humiliating loss to Pittsburgh in the season opener. "Ten wins is a tremendous turnaround for the Browns," Crennel said. "Those guys [in the locker room] have come a long way. We have changed the attitude of this team. However it turns out, we've had a really good year. I think we'll be able to build on this year."
In the sanctity of their locker room immediately after the game, the Browns huddled in an emotional celebration of their day and season. Linebacker Willie McGinest formally presented the game ball to Crennel. "Nobody believed in us but you," McGinest said to the coach. "You're our leader, and we played for you." Sources said that Crennel was visibly moved by the presentation. But he pulled himself together. At that point, it looked like there would be another game to play.
Who had the edge
Offense: Browns - Jamal Lewis capped off a stellar season with 128 yards rushing. Derek Anderson survived a shaky start. Brady Quinn looked good in his one series in relief of Anderson. Although there were some drops, overall the offense knocked off some rust accumulated in three straight bad-weather games.
Defense: Browns - Chris Weinke's quarterbacking made the 49ers one-dimensional. Still, holding Frank Gore to 94 yards was an uplift for Browns. They also sacked Weinke five times. Leigh Bodden should have had three interceptions - but had two pried away and trapped another.
Special teams: Browns - Just a phenomenal day for Josh Cribbs. Against the No. 1-ranked special teams in the NFL, Cribbs had four punt returns for 135 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown. He also had a 94-yard kickoff return erased by a phantom holding call against Lennie Friedman. Plus, he made four tackles.
Coaching: Browns -A great day for Romeo Crennel and his staff to finish the regular season with a 7-1 home record and 10-6 overall.
By the numbers
-185: Total net yards for 49ers.
-135: Punt return yards for Josh Cribbs (second most in franchise history for one game).
-128: Rushing yards for Jamal Lewis (fifth 100-yard rushing day of 2007).
-76: Punt return, in yards, for Cribbs for first-quarter TD.
-10: Victories (first double-digit total since 11 in 1994).
-7: Consecutive home victories (first time in franchise history).
-5: Sacks by Browns.
-3: Completions for Brady Quinn in Browns debut.
(Dennis Manoloff contributed the numbers)
posted by Tim at
1/01/2008
<< Home