Game Review
The Browns pulled out their first win versus what many consider to be the
worst team in the NFL, and had to come back from a 21-3 deficit to do it. You
have to do a lot of good things to come back from that kind of hole, and the
Browns did a lot of good things. It also takes a lot of bad things to get into
that kind of hole, and the Browns did a lot of bad things. Let’s break down what
happened and see what this victory means to the future of the team.
Offense
This offense is maddening. It shows flashes of talent, but it also totally
ineffective at times. I’ll get into that more below, but despite its
inconsistency, the offense managed 24 points and should have had as much as 10
more. On the other hand, a lot of points came when the special teams got the
offense on a short field, too.
Let’s start with the performance of Rueben Droughns. I said last week that
had Droughns played, the Browns would have won. In this game, despite problems
on the offensive line, Droughns manages to run for 100 tough yards. He left the
game several times with his ailing shoulder, including once when he drove the
ball to the three-yard line and then a defender fell on him. Droughns also
caught some key underneath passes, especially when the Browns were trying to
control the ball and run out the clock. As usual, Droughns showed a lot of
toughness. I know he had a very costly fumble that handed the Raiders an early
touchdown, but in some ways, this is what you get when a guy is playing hurt.
Droughns made up for it. Jason Wright had once nice run in traffic spelling
Droughns late. Jerome Harrison did a nice job on a screen pass, but did not do
much running from scrimmage.
While I overstated the performance of the offensive line last week, this was
once again their best performance of the season. Each week has gotten better.
Now, that’s not saying this line is even an average NFL line at this point, but
the fact that Frye usually had time to throw and that the Browns managed to
usually get positive yards on running plays is a step forward. The line still
has a problem controlling the line of scrimmage, though the Browns do better
running behind the right side. When the Browns used screen passes late in the
game, the line did a nice job of pulling out into space. Once place where the
line took a step back was penalties.
Charlie Frye overall had a good game. He made a handful of bad plays. Of
course, the obvious one was a horrible decision to throw the ball all the way
across the field which was intercepted in the end zone. You could see this play
coming when he did this last week on third and 13 and it was successful, but
that was in the middle of the field. He also made a bad throw on an out route on
the second series that should have been intercepted. He ate the ball at least
once more when he should have thrown it away rather than do the Fran Tarkenton
imitation. Despite all this, though, Frye continues to make plays. I’d love to
see what he could do behind a better line.
It was nice to see Joe Jurevicius back in action and he had two big catches.
One was a great touchdown catch and the other resulted in a first down. Braylon Edwards also had several good catches. On the other hand, Dennis Northcutt is
becoming a liability on offense. He’s dropped too many balls, and this week, he
was getting yelled at by Romeo Crennel, so one must assume he was having
route-running problems. On a deep pass that was intercepted, most people assume
it was intended for Edwards, but Northcutt was trailing the play down the
sidelines and I wondered if he was really the culprit. Northcutt has been an
effective slot receiver in the past. With JJ, Edwards, and Winslow drawing the
coverage away, Northcutt should have chances to make plays. So far this season,
he has not been able to do it.
The Browns did a nice job of using their tight ends – to an extent. I thought
the Browns made effective use of Steve Heiden and Darnell Dinkins as the
auxiliary tight ends, but once again, Kellen Winslow seemed to be missing at
critical times. Once again, more on that later.
Defense
After a problematic first half, the Browns made some adjustments and shut
down the Raiders in the second. There were some major problems against the run,
including two big plays that set up the only touchdowns scored by the Raider
offense this year. Against the pass, the Browns were allowing way too many
underneath plays. While some kept the chains moving, fortunately for the Browns,
open receivers didn’t catch the ball several times.
Last week the Browns did a good job holding the point of attack on the line.
That allowed the defense to stop the run and pressure the quarterback. This
week, that didn’t happen in the first half and at times in the second. That
meant the Browns were allowing too many yards rushing and seldom got pressure on
a young, inexperienced quarterback. A veteran quarterback would have done a lot
more damage.
To be honest, I’m not sure exactly where the problems were up front. It might
be that Orpheus Roye was playing hurt, though he came up with a couple of big
plays. It may be that Alvin McKinley was not having near the game he had a week
ago. His missed tackle at the line allowed the long touchdown run, though people
were out of position in the secondary and the Browns got burned by sending a
linebacker up the middle on the play, opening the middle of the field. I wonder
if the Browns might be better off to get Simon Fraser more playing time even if
the veterans are healthy. There is no question, though, that when Ted Washington
was not in the game, Ethan Kelley was getting pushed around. Kudos to Roye for a
great stop on fourth down, but it was Washington taking out two Raiders that
allowed Roye to come free to make the play.
Another sure sign of problems at the point of attack is that very few plays
were being made by the linebackers. Other than Kamerion Wimbley, who had two
sacks and chased down the other long running play from behind, the linebackers
didn’t do much. The Raiders had the right idea to dump the ball underneath to
their tight ends and other receivers, but all too often, the play failed. I see
this as a very effective strategy against inexperienced players like D’Qwell
Jackson who struggles against the pass. And by the way, the personal foul face
mask call on Wimbley was a joke. There was no twisting of the face mask at all.
That call gave the Raiders a first and goal at the six.
Finally, injuries have decimated the secondary, yet the Raiders did little to
capitalize on it. Leigh Bodden twisted his ankle. He left and tried to return,
he even played effectively, but evidently just taping it or wrapping it wasn’t
enough to allow him to continue. This left the corners to second year man Daven Holly, veteran cast off Ralph Brown, and bust draft choice Antonio Perkins.
Surprisingly, other than a fade where Randy Moss had six inches on Holly, the
secondary held Moss to just that one catch for only five yards. That’s not to
say their weren’t problems. Brown was totally ineffective against the run, for
example, but it was surprising to see Brown and Perkins make decent plays. Once
again, Holly has potential, but he isn’t ready for the big time just yet. The
Browns need to hope he can grow up fast. He covers well but just doesn’t close
out the play when the ball arrives. Admittedly, that’s no small problem.
At safety, after a lost year due to injury and another lost year where he
simply couldn’t cut it, Sean Jones has really come on. He always seems to be
around the ball. Once again, he dropped an interception, but he is very
effective. Surprisingly, the Browns went far more with Brian Russell in this game
that Brodney Pool. Russell had a stupid penalty, and just looks slow. He took a
terrible angle on the long touchdown run and was the last hope to stop it. To
me, it is clear that Pool, despite some holes in his game, is a better option
than Russell at this point.
Special Teams
I’ll say this flat out – special teams won this game for the Browns. Three
big kick returns, two kickoffs and one punt, put the Browns on short fields and
allowed them to come back. I think having both a kickoff and punt return be
thwarted by the kickers in the same game has to be a record of some kind.
Without those two “tackles” and Josh Cribbs being ruled out of bounds on the
other, all three should have gone for scores. Beyond the great kick returns, you
had Northcutt being leveled while trying to field a punt that dug the offense
out of a hole, solid punting by Dave Zastudil, good coverage on all the Raider
returns but one including a great tackle by Mason Unck, and more deep kickoffs
by Phil Dawson. Dawson did miss a field goal from 48 yards, and despite all the
people who say how great Dawson is, I think he is very unreliable outside 45
yards.
Coaching
Last week, the Browns lost, yet I felt a lot better about their performance.
This week, if the Browns had played any decent NFL team, they lose this game.
I’m trying to decide how much of this is lack of talent (some due to injuries)
and how much is coaching. Unfortunately, I must a fair amount of this is
coaching.
Let’s start with everyone’s favorite target, Maurice Carthon. Let me start by
saying that I liked some things he did in this game. Despite the interception,
the deep pass stretches the field and the Raiders took over at their own five,
so I can live with that. Also, despite the criticism of his decision to throw
some underneath stuff when the Browns were running out the clock with a tenuous
lead, I like the fact he didn’t go conservative.
I have two main beefs with Carthon, and they aren’t unique to this game.
Worst, he is not getting the ball into the hand of playmakers. Why are we
putting the ball in the hands of Terelle Smith, for example, other than perhaps
one token “keep them honest” play per game. If one thing has become clear in the
time Smith has been in Cleveland, he can do some effective things, but he is not
someone who should be handling the ball except in special situations. Meanwhile,
Kellen Winslow wasn’t used at all in the first half and was off the field on
third down again. Winslow not only ended up with a touchdown, but he had a
critical fourth down conversion.
Secondly, his use of ineffective formations and personnel groupings. My
biggest gripe in this game is the empty backfield look. Frye was getting
hammered on those plays, and Carthon might want to consider who is on the bench
if Charlie is injured. It screams to the defense that you are going to throw,
and I’d rather see Droughns, Harrison, or Vickers on the field as opposed to
Cribbs as a receiver. The empty backfield is what led to the interception that
might well have lost the game against a better opponent.
Finally, there were strange play calls. The worst was the “give up” call on
third and 15 to run which led to no gain. Perhaps Carthon’s logic was that if
they could fool the Raiders, they could pick up a few yards to make it an easier
field goal attempt. The play failed and Dawson missed from 48. Even an
underneath throw that might gain 5 to 10 yards is a better option. If you miss
that throw, you are in the same boat as running for no gain. Once again, Carthon
only manages to fool himself.
On defense, the game plan in the first half seemed odd. I would have thought
the book on playing a young quarterback would be to aggressively rush him,
especially after the success the Browns had doing that last week. Instead, the
Browns played a lot of soft coverage, sometimes just rushing three. With the
problems in the secondary, this seemed odd. Where Todd Grantham is better than,
Carthon, though, was he adjusted at halftime. The Browns began to blitz more and
disrupt things up front. With little or no pressure on the quarterback in the
first half, the defense was eaten alive. It was more effective in the second
half, allowing just one sustained drive that was blown up by the stop on fourth
down.
Once again, the Browns came out with poor game plans and though they
adjusted, the net result is another game where the team did not play effectively
for four quarters. This is becoming the norm. Add to that mismanagement on the
sidelines including the strange red flag on the Droughns fumble and taking a
time out to decide whether to go on fourth down, and I can only lay all of this
at the feet of Crennel. While Grantham may have had problems, he has a track
record of being effective in the past. Carthon, meanwhile, continues to repeat
the same mistakes and put our players in a position to fail. Carthon may or may
not be able to do better, but allowing him to continue down this path comes from
the top. These are not good signs.
I said last week we’d learn a lot about the character of team, and I think we
did. This was a tough, gritty effort to overcome a big deficit on the road,
which is always tough even if the opponent is not that good. I am proud of the
players for hanging in there. I think we also learned that despite some
encouraging signs in the Ravens game, there are still big problems in the game
day management of the team.
Looking Ahead
Despite the optimism from this win, when you look at the upcoming schedule,
things look bleak. The Browns will face Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson this
week, probably with Brown and Holly covering them. The Panthers also ran
effectively against the Saints and their defense is solid. Following a bye, even
if the Browns get some players back healthy again, as I look down the upcoming
schedule, it is hard to imagine the Browns being favored in a single game
until their Christmas Eve game with Tampa Bay, and that assumes Chris Simms is
not back at quarterback. At best they might be a toss up with the Jets because
it is at home, but the Jets are playing inspired football right now. Are the
Browns? Yes, it is possible this team will upset one or two teams along the way,
and in fact, I think they will, but they are not playing at level that opponents
like Denver, Atlanta, and San Diego are right now.
Granted, maybe some of these opponents will have injuries along the way.
Maybe the Browns will make changes that allow them to use their players
effectively. Perhaps things will suddenly come together for the offense. All I
can go by is where things are right now. Unless better use is made of the talent
already on this team, my preseason prediction of six wins looks like it is out
of reach. The sad part is, this team could easily be 3-1 right now. Yes, the
young players have made mistakes, but I think the bigger issue is that the
leadership of the team is where the problem lies.
I can’t see the Browns firing Carthon in the middle of the season, though
stranger things have happened. However, Carthon could be given less freedom to
call plays and/or design the game plan, or someone else could call the plays.
And though I think Crennel is the ultimate culprit, I like him and hope he can
learn from his mistakes and turn things around.
Next Up
The Browns travel to Carolina to face the Panthers, a preseason favorite of
many to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The season is short. Bark hard!