By Terry Pluto Cleveland Plain Dealer
If you're a Browns fan, how are you supposed to feel about this?
Your team actually had a 13-10 lead over Minnesota -- at the half. And Jamal Lewis really did have more yards on the ground (32) than Adrian Peterson (25).
The Browns had sacked Brett Favre twice, and they were called for only two penalties.
Now consider the final score: Minnesota 34, Browns 20. Consider it wasn't even that close, and Minnesota had a 34-13 lead. Consider how the Browns just fell apart in the second half of this home opener.
At the half, I thought it would be different.
I didn't think the Browns would win, but I didn't imagine the Browns suddenly becoming utterly helpless against Minnesota's running game, totally stifled by the Vikings defense and alarmingly sloppy in areas that coach Eric Mangini has been stressing since the first voluntary minicamp.
"We have a choice," Mangini said after the game. "We can be the team in the first half, or we can be the team in the second half."
The Browns chose to give up 24 points and 220 yards in the second half.
Yes, the offense finally did score a touchdown, a nice 26-yard pass from Brady Quinn to tight end Robert Royal. But that was with 26 seconds left and the verdict long since delivered. At least the Browns won't have to hear about the offense not having scored a touchdown in seven games dating back to Nov. 17, 2008.
Otherwise, this day turned into a real downer.
The first half, the Browns defense tackled as well as it has in the last few years. Coordinator Rob Ryan showed some creativity. Safeties Brodney Pool and Abe Elam each had sacks. In all of 2008, Browns safeties had only a single sack.
But in the third quarter, all the ghosts of lousy Browns' football returned: The weak tackling. The confusion on offense. Knowing that Adrian Peterson was going to run the ball, but being totally incapable of doing anything about it.
I just didn't expect it to go that bad, that fast.
Here's a list of names: Joe Thomas, John St. Clair, James Davis and Braylon Edwards. All of them were flagged for false starts.
Quinn threw a very poor interception on a pass long over the head of Edwards. Former Baltimore coach and NFL analyst Brian Billick said Edwards broke the wrong way on the pass, turning a terrible situation into a disaster. Forget being on the same page, Quinn and Edwards weren't even in the same dictionary on this sunny Sunday.
Five passes were thrown to Edwards, and he caught one for 12 yards. Most of the balls were not on target.
It was a tough day for Quinn, who was sacked five times. He fumbled. He had that interception. When the game was on the line in the third quarter, the Browns didn't manage a first down. Granted, they only had two possessions, but the offense was helpless until the Vikings owned the game.
Even more distressing were the special teams breakdowns -- other than the 67-yard punt return for a touchdown by Joshua Cribbs. The Browns gave up a 41-yard kickoff return and a 36-yard punt return. Both set up Minnesota touchdowns.
Cribbs fumbled a kickoff in the end zone, and rather than just kneel down and bring the ball out to the 20, he ran the ball out and was tackled at the 14. Rookie Kaluka Maiava was flagged for an illegal block on a kickoff.
The reason I dwelled on the offside penalties and the special teams is because Mangini stressed those areas in training camp, but there was no carryover into this game.
It's only one game, and it's a loss to a team expected to be a Super Bowl contender by a Browns team that has been 4-12 in three of the last five years. But it just seemed that the Browns could have come up with something better than this, especially in the second half when they are at home with the crowd behind them.
Scribbles in my notebook as the Browns lose, 34-20, to Minnesota...
1. Just because the Browns lost their home opener ... again ... making them 1-10 in these games, I'm not ready to say this season will be another 4-12 rerun. But I will say if the Browns have more games like this with four false starts and sloppy special teams play, they will be lucky to win four games.
2. Why did the Browns have a 13-10 lead at the half? Yes, it was because the defense kept Vikings' back Adrian Peterson (25 yards in nine carries) under control. But it also was because they had only two penalties. They had no turnovers. Their special teams created a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown by Joshua Cribbs.
3. The first half shows the kind of team the Browns can be when they pay attention to details, play with discipline and commit to the game plan. The second half reveals how bad they can be when they revert to the form of 2008. It's going to be a long week of practice with more than a few guys running laps in Berea.
4. Here's a list of names: John St. Clair, James Davis, Braylon Edwards and Joe Thomas. All were flagged for false starts. Those are exactly the kind of penalties coach Eric Mangini has vowed to clean up. All four came on offense, which is even worse than an offside penalty on defense. The offensive players are supposed to know the snap count, the defense is guessing. Edwards also was flagged for an illegal block. In the fourth quarter, the stat sheet stated the Browns were called for holding -- but no player was named. It was believed to be St. Clair. The Browns' only defensive penalty was a costly pass interference on Brandon McDonald, which set up a touchdown.
5. In the first quarter, safety Abe Elam blitzed and recorded a sack. Then Brodney Pool sacked Brett Favre in the second quarter. The Browns actually sacked Favre four times. Shaun Rogers had one where Vikings' center John Sullivan was flagged for holding for the Browns' nose tackle. Rogers still got to the QB. The fourth sack was by Kamerion Wimbley.
6. Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan did use different looks on the line and a variety of blitzes. They produced four sacks, compared to only 17 for all of 2008. But in the second half, they could do nothing against Peterson, who bolted for 155 yards in 16 carries. It was Minnesota's ground game (225 yards), not Favre's passing (110 yards) that rolled over the Browns.
7. Never thought the Browns would average a respectable 4.5 yards per carry (89 yards in 20 attempts), or that Jamal Lewis would pick up 57 yards in only 11 tries. He looked strong against the defense that has been the best against the run in the last three years. No other defense since 1970 has been so strong in that category for three years in a row. Rookie James Davis (five yards in four carries) can you tell how hard the Vikings hit.
8. If the two consecutive wildcat running plays to Cribbs in the second quarter from inside the 3-yard line had produced a touchdown, then offensive coordinator Brian Daboll would have looked very shrewd. But it didn't, and Daboll now can be second-guessed. One try seemed like a good idea, but two in a row? How about Cribbs on a rollout, where he could pass or run? He was a quarterback at Kent State.
9. Not sure this is a good thing, but nine of Brady Quinn's 35 pass attempts went to tight end Robert Royal. He caught four, including the 26-yarder for a touchdown. But Royal will never be known as a top pass receiver. As for his wide receivers, Quinn was 1-of-5 to Edwards, 2-of-3 to Cribbs and 1-of-1 to Mohammed Massaquoi. Slot man Mike Furrey caught 4-of-7, all in the second half. Quinn and the Browns coaches will have to find a way to get the ball downfield enough to keep the defense not expecting the run.
10. As for Quinn's performance, he looked frazzled at times. Of course, the Vikings do that to a lot of quarterbacks. Next week against a softer defense in Denver will reveal more. But he needs to develop some chemistry with a couple of receivers very soon.
0 comments:
Post a Comment