TEAM LOSS

[WPB Dawg Fan]

But with that said, let's pick on a few of the (and point out what they did well).

 

McDonald - played WAY to soft on Mason. Mason is a posession receiver who should be under tight coverage and McDonald was giving him 7 yds on a regular basis. I think he was too busy watching the QB trying for the INT on a Flacco instead of giving tight coverage. He bit on EVERY fake.

 

Defense as a whole - they played an excellent first half. They gave up only 3 points when Baltimore started on the opposite side of the 50...and although they got burned on a long pass, it came from a breakdown/bad read and not lack of effort/talent. The second half, however, they showed a TOTAL LACK OF DEPTH!!! They got tired and then ripped. I know we lost the battle of the clock and the O was sputtering after the 2nd drive in the 3rd Q....but NO defense should melt down that bad!!!

 

Offense - this was the story of our KEY players

 

Braylon Edwards

The Good - What a reception on the first TD. He literally INTERCEPTED DA's pass. It was thrown to the inside (BE was outside), it was thrown short (BE was long), and he still managed to get into position to catch the ball and turn a turnover into 7 points. FANTASTIC.

The Bad - That long pass down the middle was a gift wrapped TD. DA layed that pass right in his hands...in stride...with perfect touch. Probably one of the single BEST PASSES DA has had to date this year. That is a pass that NEVER should be dropped...and quite frankly was the beginning of the end for this game. He catches it and the game is over. Instead, he breathes new life into the Ravens with his drop and the rest is history.

 

Kellen Winslow

The Good - He had several nice catches...and his INTERFERENCE call (I question the call a bit, and it was a phenomenal catch) was again an INTERCEPTION if he had not put in the incredible effort. Even the announcers (decidedly Raven biased) stated that the penalty was a SMART move on his part for protecting his QB!!!

The Bad - He continues to make STUPID PENALTIES!!! He gets motion penalties on a MUCH to frequent basis. He also seemed to disappear near the goal line.

 

Jamal Lewis

The Good - When he hits the hole fast and hard he is guaranteed to get 3 yds or more.

The Bad - He doesn't hit the hole fast and hard nearly enough. He is too busy stutter stepping and allowing his shoulders to get turned parallel to the line.

 

Donte Stallworth

The ABSENT - when this guy plays he changes the entire look of the offense...but he just doesn't play nearly enough. Injured talent is NOT talent.

 

Derek Anderson

The Good - That pass that BE dropped was a thing of beauty. It reminded me why we were so high on him and why the coaches think he COULD be great. His short passes were accurate tonight as well for the most part and even with at least 2 more drops by BE...he still managed over 50% completions.

The Bad - DA threw 4 separate passes that SHOULD have been INT's. BE saved him (and gave him a TD) on one. K2 saved him (and got flagged for interference) on a second....and on the last drive...he threw 2 that should have been intercepted. The first he got away with (to Sanders)...but the second sealed the game. His bad decisions continue to crop up every game (even on his good games). On the whole I thought DA had a pretty good game and I was encouraged...but 4 passes out of 33 is a WAY to high percentage to be throwing where the defense can come away with it.

 

 

Overall this was a team loss, because everyone who is supposed to be a star on this team screwed up majorly at least once. It was ours to win...and we let it go. I will not blame it on one person...because the blame is too universal...but with that said, there are really only 2 changes that can be made at this point to TRY to turn this team around...HC and QB. And I really don't think changing the HC at this point is going to happen.

[Lumbergh]

this game blew your theory that the Browns always win when Anderson throws 2 TDs and 1 or less picks.

 

The loss boiled down to 3 things in my opinion.

 

1. The secondary played poorly all game, especially Sean Jones.

 

2. The running game was not productive.

 

3. Braylon dropped that ball.

[WPB Dawg Fan]

this game blew your theory that the Browns always win when Anderson throws 2 TDs and 1 or less picks.

 

The loss boiled down to 3 things in my opinion.

 

1. The secondary played poorly all game, especially Sean Jones.

 

2. The running game was not productive.

 

3. Braylon dropped that ball.

First of all, it wan't 2 TD's and 1 INT, it was less than 2 INT's and 50% completion...and yes, it did make it the FIRST TIME IN 13 GAMES that it did not hold true...so it is an EXCEPTION TO THE RULE!!!

 

So, you forget that DA threw an INT that BE turned into a TD? You forget that DA threw an INT that K2 caught (but got called for interference)? You forget that DA actually DID throw an INT for a TD?

 

Sure, the other things you stated are true....but DA had his fingers all over this loss as well.

[Riffer X]

Not to nitpick, but I keep hearing it said that Braylon's drop would have been six, and it wouldn't have. If he catches it he gets tackled and the Browns almost assuredly would have kicked the FG after another three plays. Bmore still would have had plenty of time for a FG or TD, so I'm not buying that the Edwards catch was a TD and the difference in the game.

 

That said, I think I've pretty much had my fill of Edwards.

[Holmes10_Ward_86]

this game blew your theory that the Browns always win when Anderson throws 2 TDs and 1 or less picks.

 

The loss boiled down to 3 things in my opinion.

 

1. The secondary played poorly all game, especially Sean Jones.

 

2. The running game was not productive.

 

3. Braylon dropped that ball.

First of all, it wan't 2 TD's and 1 INT, it was less than 2 INT's and 50% completion...and yes, it did make it the FIRST TIME IN 13 GAMES that it did not hold true...so it is an EXCEPTION TO THE RULE!!!

 

So, you forget that DA threw an INT that BE turned into a TD? You forget that DA threw an INT that K2 caught (but got called for interference)? You forget that DA actually DID throw an INT for a TD?

 

Sure, the other things you stated are true....but DA had his fingers all over this loss as well.

It's why I have been pointing out on here for weeks that until Derek Anderson can prove he can play consistent week in and week out which he still has not the Browns are not going anywhere. If you just look at the Browns team as a whole they still just do not know how to handle success and how to react when good things happen.

 

Two good examples yesterday are after Dawson hits the 54 yard FG to tie it halftime Anderson sprints to the locker room acting like he just won the game and talking shit as he is doing so, and Braylon Edwards after every catch he makes in particular the TD grab completely over celebrates everytime he scores. What does Edwards proceed to do after that he drops a sure TD mid-way through the 4th when the game is tied at 27-27 that would have given the Browns the lead and most likely the win. The point with these two things is a lot of these guys on the Browns still have a lot of maturing to do and just need to stop all this celebration shit mid-way through the games when something good happens and acting like they won the game because of it.

 

I think Romeo Crennell has a lot to do with this as well. This is his team and has been now for 4 years. He should be taking care of these sorts of things and they still keep happening every single week. Crennell needs to focus more on this and keeping his team together as opposed to going to the buffet table every single day since he looks to be getting fatter each time you see him. Maybe if the Browns start doing these things they will be a more mature and better football team because of it, and who knows maybe they will be able to win more games in the process.

[Greythan]

The loss boiled down to 3 things in my opinion.

 

1. The secondary played poorly all game, especially Sean Jones.

 

2. The running game was not productive.

 

3. Braylon dropped that ball.

Your "opinion"? That's rich. Your "bias" is the proper terminology.

 

Secondary did not play poorly all game. There were several spectacular pass breakups by our CB's. The TD pass that Wright was beat on, was a perfect play call against the safety blitz.

 

That said, the secondary allowed too many underneath passes and gave up too many big plays (Mason's long TD and the 3rd & 16 in the fourth).

 

The running game wasn't productive? Who's ever is against that defense? Stupid comment. Really shows your lack of any basic football knowledge. Remember, they were playing with a depleted secondary. That was their weakness yesterday, not their front seven. Moron.

 

Braylon dropped the ball. Agreed. That play was PIVOTAL.

 

However, where's your accountability for:

 

1) PLaycalling. Chud's inability to go pass heavy after watching our 14 point lead evaporate was nuts. Running while ahead in the second half into the teeth of that defense made sense. Running while tied (and then behind) in the second half into the teeth of that defense was nuts. Awful play calling.

 

2) Special teams. The short punt and porous return units hurt us.

 

As for our QB, he is down on the list of causes for me. He played pretty well.

 

However, it simply reinforces that the cockpit must be near perfect for him to perservere. I was at the game. DA's lack of athleticism really hurts him when he's forced to move in the pocket. He either gets sacked or if able to evade the first rusher he then rushes his mechanics on the throw and is wildly inaccurate. He's really a liability in those situations. Finally, throwing an interception on a screen pass in that situation (down 3 points, 2 minutes and change in the game) is inexcusable.

 

Yes, with a better defensive effort and/or a miraculous running attack or a WR who can catch, we wouldnt' have been in that situation.

 

However, we were and DA played at his worst.

 

So, we have to strongly consider:

 

a) Coaching changes. (How about the time out after burning 10 seconds off the clock in the 2 minute drill at the end of the first half?)

 

Counseling for BE. The lapses in concentration are unreal. He has to get that fixed or we'll simply have to relegate him to the #2 receiver. You can not have a number one, with his kind of ability to separate, drop passes like that. Really mystifying.

 

c) Monster ILB's. I've been done with 52/54. We need an absolute ball hawking animal at one (if not both) of our ILB slots.

 

d) See what Quinn's got. Season's done. We have to know what we have or don't have in Quinn. Time to play him and play him a lot. We need to have some idea on Quinn's ceiling before the offseason.

 

Tough game to sit through with my clan of 12 family members. Almost surreal how quickly the momentum shifted. Ouch.

[Greythan]

so I'm not buying that the Edwards catch was a TD

It wasn't. He would have been tackled.

 

Obviously, (and I know you weren't implying anything to the contrary) it would have been a momentum changing play.

[pl4tinum]

I think Romeo Crennell has a lot to do with this as well. This is his team and has been now for 4 years. He should be taking care of these sorts of things and they still keep happening every single week. Crennell needs to focus more on this and keeping his team together as opposed to going to the buffet table every single day since he looks to be getting fatter each time you see him.

 

It's beyond Romeo getting better at coaching or motivating his players.

 

You know what Romeo is? Romeo is the boss that lets his employees clock out early, he's the boss that gives them a second and third chance when they break a rule, he's the boss that lets them talk behind each other's back and the boss that lets them run the show themselves. Even when he cracks down he doesn't get his message across.

 

He's that friendly uncle that would never discipline his own kids. He's that guy the players aren't afraid of, not in the least. He's that slow-moving dude that has very little authority and wouldn't dare use it even if he did.

 

He's a fuking PUSSY.

[ohioborn]

so I'm not buying that the Edwards catch was a TD

It wasn't. He would have been tackled.

 

Obviously, (and I know you weren't implying anything to the contrary) it would have been a momentum changing play.

 

There is so much blame to go around in this game. But, Anderson is not a good QB. He throws a great ball that sometimes finds its target. We can not have that! Is Quinn the answer, I don't know I just know that Anderson is not. As far as Edwards goes his situation is a little different right now. He needs to be sat down also, but do not have another reciever on this team that could "maybe" make us a team right now we may have at the QB position. Even the Anderson supporters have toagree that we neen to see what we have in Quinn before we possibly get rid of him.

[Greythan]

That's the rub when examining the options around our Pro Bowl QB and WR. With DA there is a highly touted backup sitting on the bench. With BE its Steve Sanders. Hardly apples to apples.

 

That said, I'd be VERY close to taking some type of extreme measure with Edwards.

 

- Hire a psychological coach for him

- Make him carry a football everywhere he goes during the week

- Bench him

- Take away his exposure to the press

 

Something to get him focused. I still can't believe he didn't catch that pass.

[Riffer X]

That's the rub when examining the options around our Pro Bowl QB and WR. With DA there is a highly touted backup sitting on the bench. With BE its Steve Sanders. Hardly apples to apples.

 

That said, I'd be VERY close to taking some type of extreme measure with Edwards.

 

- Hire a psychological coach for him

- Make him carry a football everywhere he goes during the week

- Bench him

- Take away his exposure to the press

 

Something to get him focused. I still can't believe he didn't catch that pass.

 

Why. I thought all along he was going to drop it. I've been thinking on this, and I am almost of the opinion the Browns may be better off moving both Edwards and Winslow after the season. Both are up for contract extensions and at this point Edwards has helped us lose more games than he's helped us win. Drew Brees goes out and lights it up with scrap heap WR's. Really, just guys that run consistent routes and have reliable hands is what this team needs more than prima donnas.

[Lumbergh]

There were several spectacular pass breakups by our CB's.

 

I saw 2 pass breakups. One each by BMac and EWright.

[d531]

The turning point of this game was when the defense allowed 2 drives for TD' via the draw....If Edwards could have caught that, possibly it could have stopped the momentum change...not to be, the Ravens wanted it more...and who teaches you how to want it more? RAC...

 

They started play calling, and playing not to lose after the 2nd TD.....When they play like they have nothing to lose, they move the ball and score points. When they start trying to protect the lead, they fall apart, on both side of the ball.

[Greythan]

I saw 2 pass breakups. One each by BMac and EWright.

Are you serious? This is all you've got?

 

The two I think you reference were the truly spectacular. BMac also knocked down one other pass as I recall. I was at the game, so if my memory of it being 3 passes defensed is 1 over the actual, pardon my egregious stretching of the facts.