Box Score - 10.13.08
Team	1	2	3	4	Final
	0	14	0	0	14
	3	14	3	15	35

On September 28th, 2008, the Browns picked up their first victory over the season. That came against arguably the worst team in football, the 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals.

On October 13th, 2008, after a long bye week, the Browns picked up their second victory of the season. This time, it came against the undefeated and defending  Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.

I was extremely fortunate to have witnessed the game in person. Although the stadium was jam-packed, I can't help by chuckle at the fans who, before the game, stated that they would not be attending (in fear of seeing the Browns getting blown out). Who could've blamed them though? Since returning to the league in 1999, the Browns have rarely beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we have never defeated "the team to beat" during the regular season. We finally accomplished that.

This week, I'm going to do things a little different in reviewing the game. Because there were so many positives, I'm giving out more game balls than usual, and I'm cutting out the goats of the game altogether. Any negatives will be addressed in my general comments section.

Awarding Game Balls (Everyone Could've Gotten One)

DB Eric Wright's interception for a touchdown sealed the game.

1. Derek Anderson: It took five games, but Anderson is finally getting his first game ball of the season here on Dawgs By Nature. Despite beating the Bengals, he had to be under a lot of pressure. He hasn't played a solid football game dating back to part of last season and was going up against the line that knocked him out with a concussion back in the preseason. Anderson still had a few shaky throws, but that's Anderson -- he's not a 70% completion passer. What counted is that he was about to hit his throws down the seams, check off to several reads, and get rid of the ball before the Giants could even touch him.
2. Steve Heiden: I am so happy the Browns didn't place him on the injured reserve in the preseason. With a surplus of tight ends (and Martin Rucker healthy at the time), it could've been an "easy" way out to keeping an extra guy like Darnell Dinkins (who we kept anyway). Heiden proved exactly why we don't even really need Rucker to catch the ball -- he can do so just as well, and he can block very well too. The help he gave in taking on defensive end Justin Tuck was incredible.
3. Eric Wright: What was the stress point all of training camp and the preseason? "Our secondary is so thin." Well, it still is. If we need to start Terry Cousin or Travis Daniels, we're probably in trouble. With the starters we have now, even minus one starting safety, we are making things happen. Wright baited Eli Manning into a quick throw late in the game, when the Giants were marching to try and cut the lead to six. Wright picked off Manning's throw, and then just barely got by him for a clear path 94-yard touchdown return. Ballgame. Being at the game, this was by far the loudest the crowd had gotten all night -- first when Manning was picked off, and then quickly taken over by Wright passing up Manning on his way back.

  WR Braylon Edwards can celebrate now: he finally looked like the Pro Bowl receiver he was last season.

4. Rob Chudzinski: Here's one for the coach (offensive coordinator). The personnel packages he inserted reminded me of last season, begging the question -- why wasn't he calling these things for the first several weeks? I'm talking about using guys like Joshua Cribbs under center, Jerome Harrison having plays designed for him, and Syndric Steptoe in the slot. (see continuation of this discussion, as I answer my own question in the general notes section below)
5. Ryan Tucker: First game back? Domination. Before the game, I still favored having Kevin Shaffer at right tackle and Ryan Tucker at guard. Now, I want Tucker to stay at right tackle the rest of the year. What do we do with Shaffer then? He can spell Tucker and help in goal line situations, where we can use three tackles (instead of always shifting Joe Thomas to the right).
6. Braylon Edwards: 5 catches, 154 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 two-point conversion. The first thing I thought? Fantasy points! Seriously, it was the breakout game Edwards needed to get him back in the right direction. I think it was more critical that he had this type of a performance in front of a home crowd too.

General Thoughts (Random Tidbits on the Game)

1. The Underrated Stallworth: I asked earlier why Rob Chudzinski's playbook suddenly expanded, and I truly believe that it all points to having Donte Stallworth in the lineup for the first time this season. Without him in there, everybody else was "out of place". Steptoe was starting, when he's a barely a slot receiver. Kellen Winslow was kept in the game more often to try and make up for Stallworth's absence, taking away the thought of having the "hidden" elements of Steve Heiden or Darnell Dinkins in the game. Stallworth only had two catches, but he was targeted a lot more, and from the stands, you could definitely tell that the defense was giving him respect on any given down. When the defense treats the No. 2 receiver seriously, everything else just...opens up.
   
2. Just Wait...: ...until we get Joe Jurevicius back now.
3. Running Tough: He didn't have over 100 yards rushing, but that's not what defines success for Jamal Lewis. Anyone who watched the game against the Giants saw that he was just as significant of a contributor as everyone else was. Even at first contact, he was fighting for that extra inch every single time. He also had a sick cutback move on his second-quarter touchdown.
   

  RB Jamal Lewis knows how to make defenders miss, as he runs through DB Kenny Phillips.

4. Take a Seat: Brandon Jacobs is a beast -- the power he showed when plowing into Mike Adams for a 7-yard touchdown was impressive. There is a very ironic statistic though: remember how Corey Williams discussed how to stop Jacobs? Jacobs ran for 67 yards against the Packers last postseason. He ran for 67 yards against the Browns' defense Monday.
5. No Punts: I was bummed that I didn't get to see Dave Zastudil punt the ball in-person. Who am I kidding -- that was a tremendous feat for the offense, showing how well we controlled the clock and executed our gameplan.
   
6. Dawson Misses: Dawson missed a field goal attempt just over 51 yards. In pregame, from that side of the stadium, Dawson was having some problems. If the kick had been on the other side though, he would've had a crack at a 60-yarder. You could probably infer that on television by the fact that his kickoffs were going way out of the end zone on that side too.
7. The Bad: Besides the atrocious announcing by the Monday Night Football guys (we have to hear them two more times this year, ugh), the penalties were again a problem for the Browns. Sure, we ended up somehow going 117 yards for a touchdown on a second-half drive, but that type of execution following mistakes is a rarity. When we made mistakes on our first drive of the game, we were held to a field goal. Rex Hadnot deserves some of the blame, as I heard his number called a few times.
8. Annoying Lady: I just have to get this one off my chest -- some lady in a bright red leather jacket kept was sitting in the middle of our row of seats (I was on the end). I'm not joking here -- she got up and went by us literally 15-18 times during the game, with several of the occurrences happening as the Browns were running a play. Most of the time, she was on her cellular phone. Why the hell would you keep coming back to the middle of a row if you're just going to get up and leave again two minutes later? Had to vent a little there.
9. Bad Eli: I was very surprised by the performance of Eli Manning. Sure, he's human, but his interceptions, while great plays by our secondary, involved questionable decisions that I just didn't expect to see from him. After the two deep throws, I thought..."Really? That's happening to another team and not us? Sweet!" The Giants, towards the end of the game, would've been better off sticking with the draw plays down by the goal line, instead of having Manning throw a pass that Wright could jump.
   

QB Derek Anderson has silenced critics for another week.


10. Heiden Open: I'm not sure if it was seen on television or not, but in the second half, Anderson threw a route towards the sideline to Darnell Dinkins, but the pass was incomplete as Dinkins went to the ground to try to get it. On the play though, fans groaned a little as Anderson missed seeing a wide open Heiden down the field on a post route. Heiden's man was fooled, and he probably would've walked in for a long touchdown.
11. Love the Double Reverse I loved the double reverse to Jerome Harrison. The defense completely soled out on the first handoff and never saw the second one coming. I'm fairly convinced that Harrison got the maximum possible yardage on the play, but on replay, I do wonder if there was a chance he could've taken it the distance if he had just continued running straight as opposed to trying to fake out an oncoming defender.
12. Why Review the Play?: I'm still unclear as to why the referees were reviewing the play before the end of the first half where Eli Manning fumbled. Because illegal contact was called on the Browns and the Giants accepted the penalty, what was under review? Does anybody know? I know everyone in the stands around me sounded confused too.
    
13. Brownies: Again, major props to Brodney Pool and Brandon McDonald. Amani Toomer was held without a catch, and the "feared" Domenik Hixon only caught one pass...Phil Dawson's first kickoff attempt was perfectly executed -- we almost got there in time to recover the kick ourselves... chalk up another sack for Alex Hall -- and that was hilarious seeing Manning in the middle of that huge takedown pile...dating back to last season, we're 2-0 in impressive fashion when wearing our "throwback uniforms" at home...we need some more production out of LB Andra Davis.
    

Against the Bengals, I closed the recap by saying the following:

"A win is a win. The next step is looking good in victory. You can't expect that to happen against the New York Giants, but you can certainly prepare for it to happen. With several players slated to return from injury, if this Browns football team is in sync in all aspects of the game, there is no reason we can't be in the game until the final whistle."

We didn't expect it to happen, but based on what everyone across the country saw, we certainly prepared for it. It paid off.

Box Score - 9.28.08
Team	1	2	3	4	Final
	3	0	0	17	20
	0	6	0	6	12

Yippie...I finally get to do more of an upbeat review after a game. After failing to reach expectations over the first three weeks of the season, the Browns finally saw a glimpse of their offensive mojo from last season. It may have taken 15 quarters to see it, but it was certainly back in quarter number 16. We needed something positive heading into the bye week and before our Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants. Mission accomplished.

This week, I get to award some game balls first as opposed to starting off with the goats...

Awarding Game Balls (Contributors to Victory No. 1)

DB Mike Adams had an interception and a fumble recovery against the Bengals.

1. Eric Steinbach: Talk about a leader for this team. Originally reported by ESPN as having a separated shoulder with the potential to be out for 3-5 weeks, Steinbach went out there and played an entire football game. I don't want to make it sound like he was too much of a warrior since he said ESPN's report was erroneous, but you have to imagine he played through some pain as opposed to taking the easy route out -- sitting out and taking advantage of the bye week as well.
2. Mike Adams: I still don't understand why many fans have been so harsh on his performance at the safety position. We know that he is not a starter (or an elite backup). He was in good position any time Ryan Fitzpatrick went deep against the secondary, coming away with an interception in the first half. He also recovered a fumble on a strip by Kamerion Wimbley.

Goats of the Game (Troubling Performances Don't Pay Off)

  QB Derek Anderson played bad enough in the first half and early third quarter to be benched, but Romeo Crennel kept sending him back onto the field.

1. Louis Leonard / Corey Williams: Combined, the pair jumped offsides four times (two a piece). Not only does that give the other team an automatic five yards if they so choose to accept the penalty, it gives them four free plays. In a way, they are the most costly penalties of all for a defensive player. Penalties have been a huge issue for this team, and for someone like Leonard to have two of them when he didn't even record a single tackle is insane.
2. 3/4 of Derek Anderson: I think I would've driven everyone insane if I didn't list Anderson as a goat for this game. As a whole, it was definitely another poor outing for Anderson. More on Anderson down below in the general thoughts section.
   

General Thoughts (Random Tidbits on the Game)

1. Quinn - Not an Option?: After seeing how everything transpired against the Bengals, I think you have to believe that all of the team's "Brady Quinn" talk throughout the week was nothing but fluff. In the first half, Anderson was 4/10 for 27 yards. Since the score was only 6-3 and we got the ball first after halftime, Anderson got another shot. He started with a slick 17-yard completion, but then promptly threw an interception to Chinedum Ndukwe (who has become a nemesis of sorts for Anderson). If all of that wasn't enough to bring Quinn off the bench, then his only hope was an injury.
   
2. Faith Pays Off: My message before the game was to keep faith in Derek Anderson. Why? Without repeating myself from that post too much, I wanted the faith to try to establish some continuity on offense in a winning effort. As ridiculously long as it took to actually look decent, Anderson showed flashes of what he did last year in the fourth quarter of the game. I'm not proclaiming this as "Anderson is Back Day!", but if he comes back in two weeks and lights it up against the Giants, we'll know when and where he regained his fire.

  I never thought I'd be saying this: WR Braylon Edwards has his first touchdown reception of the season...in Week 4.

3. Edwards' Touchdown Catch: Again, it is absurd that we've had to take such babysteps to give a little bit of praise to either Derek Anderson or Braylon Edwards. No matter how much you may despise either player for their performances to date, I think every Browns fan had to be pumped up and jumping out of their chairs when they finally saw the duo hookup for a touchdown -- a one-hand stab no less. Kind of reminded me of their connection way back in Week 1 of the preseason. And, Edwards' celebration? Better than having Ocho Cinco on your back.
   
4. Jamal Hot, Jamal Slow: With the start Jamal Lewis had against the Bengals, he was on pace to run for over 200 yards against them. Instead, he finished with just 79 yards rushing, with under 4.0 yards a pop on average. Why? The incredible shakiness of Anderson through the first three quarters. The Bengals crowded the middle of the line -- case in point: on the Browns' fourth-down attempt, Steve Heiden was uncovered on a playaction fake. If Anderson had started completing passes sooner, Lewis would've torn the Bengals apart.
5. Still, Not His Best: Regarding Lewis, it still wasn't his "best" game. The Bengals are still one of the worst tackling teams in football, so I expected Lewis to fight through the extra defenders in the box on at least a few carries past the first quarter. Also, his mishandled exchange with Anderson down near the goal line in the fourth quarter could've cost us the game.
6. Pooch Punt: Before I forget, props to Phil Dawson for executing a pooch punt successfully. When you think about it, it's kind of funny that Dawson pooches a punt from 57 yards out, while the Raiders actually attempt a 76-yard field goal with Sebastian Janikowski.

LB Alex Hall has provided good reason for excitement over the past two weeks. Here, he forces a game-clinching fumble.

7. Kamerion Wimbley: Stat sheet! Stat sheet! Unfortunately, although "stat sheet" is a step forward on paper, it's not a step forward on the field. Wimbley recorded a sack and forced a fumble, but both seemed to come down to plays where it still took him 7-8 seconds to reach the quarterback (i.e. Ryan Fitzpatrick's inexperience).
8. Crennel True to Word: For once, head coach Romeo Crennel was true to his word when it came to giving a few more reps to RB Jerome Harrison. And, when Harrison dropped a pass early on, I was begging for Crennel not to use that as an excuse to sit him the remainder of the game. Clearly, Harrison was included in the Browns' playbook before the game for the first time since he was drafted by the team. Let's hope that trend continues -- and, Jason Wright also received just the right amount of reps as well.
9. Ugh: If you want a roller coaster of emotions on one play, take a look at Eric Wright. He makes the most athletic interception of the season, and then tries to return the ball. That is where the problems began. For whatever reason, and this goes back several years, it seems like Browns-bred players do not know how to follow blockers well enough to return a pick for a touchdown. Mike Adams, coming from a different system, did a better job on his return. Wright completely neglected the fact that offensive players try to punch the ball out of the interceptor's hands. After Wright lost it, the ball went right to Chad Johnson.
10. Sowells Sighting: Thankfully we were facing the Bengals the game where Isaac Sowells needed to come in. I didn't pay particular attention to him when he got in, but I still feared that his presence would cause a problem. We'll have Ryan Tucker healthy after the bye to provide better depth.
11. Cribbs' First Good Return: At the start of the second half, Joshua Cribbs had his first near-explosive return of the season (though you wouldn't have known it from the monotone reactions of Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon). We'll need all the explosive returns we can get against the Giants, because you get the feeling they'll be putting touchdowns or field goals on the board against us fairly often.
12. Crennel's Time Management: I still don't understand his rationale behind not calling a timeout before the end of the first half. He wasted about 30-40 seconds for us to possibly get the ball back. Instead, he uses the timeout to "ice the kicker". The Bengals tried a silly kickoff after their score, giving us a shot at the end zone. With more time, we could've worked in a long field goal for Dawson.
13. Brownies: On defense, Brodney Pool continues to make an impression...I can't wait to get Sean Jones back now...Syndric Steptoe had his best, albeit it a non-noteworthy, game of the season...we should work on lateraling the ball to Cribbs on short kickoffs returns...the Browns won only three road games all of last season.
    

A win is a win. The next step is looking good in victory. You can't expect that to happen against the New York Giants, but you can certainly prepare for it to happen. With several players slated to return from injury, if this Browns football team is in sync in all aspects of the game, there is no reason we can't be in the game until the final whistle.

Box Score - 9.21.08
Team	1	2	3	4	Final
	0	10	0	0	10
	0	7	21	0	28

Right now, we're one of the worst teams in football. Potential wise, we remain the "best" of the worst teams in football, but that's not going to offer us any comfort when we're on the outside-looking-in again come January.

So, where should I go with the breakdown of this game? The Derek Anderson / Romeo Crennel replacement storylines are so hot right now, perhaps I can offer a take on some of the other issues that happened with the game. So, for the majority of this review, I'll try to hold off "extensive" discussion on Anderson / Crennel (save that for Wednesday's post):

Goat of the Game (Why God, Why?)

Browns QB Derek Anderson had one of the worst second halves imaginable.

1. Derek Anderson: It was truly a story of two halves for Derek Anderson. In the first half, he actually wasn't too bad -- both statistically and in making decisions. He was 9-of-16 passing for 101 yards and 1 touchdown, aiding the team to a 10-7 lead at halftime.
2. ...(continued): Then, the second half was miserable. Anderson was 5-of-21 for 24 yards and 3 interceptions in the second half. What was the reason for the difference? If anything, you'd expect a poor first half to shake your confidence in the second half, and not vice-versa. Nonetheless, with a second half performance like that, Anderson's the only player you need to point the finger at to blame for this loss. Well, I could blame Donte Stallworth in a way too, but that's in more of a joking yet detailed manner I've yet to delve in to.
3. Dave Zastudil: People may not remember it, but when we were backed up to our own 12-yard line, he only got off a 31-yard boot. The Ravens promptly drove 43 yards to tie the game at seven.

Awarding Game Balls (More Meaningless With Each Loss)

RB Jerome Harrison scores the only touchdown of the game for Cleveland. Makes sense that it was his only play, though.

1. Jerome Harrison: Why deprive him of a gameball just because the coaches don't give him more than one play? He capitalized on that one play too -- a 19-yard screen pass for our only touchdown in two weeks. Overall though, Romeo Crennel actually gave Harrison less of a workload than he did against the Steelers. Liar. And idiotic.
2. Alex Hall: I didn't think he had an overpowering game, but the sole fact that he was recognized more than Kamerion Wimbley says a lot about how much Wimbley really is struggling. Hall had the Browns' only sack of the game on Joe Flacco as well.

General Thoughts (Random Tidbits on the Game)

1. We Should Have Won: Our defense wasn't great, but the unit played well enough to win (until the backups were inserted into the game). They were also opportunistic, picking off the rookie quarterback twice in the first half as I anticipated would happen. Anderson handicapped our defense 14 points.
2. Recognition on Trick Play: The Ravens tried to run a variation of the fleaflicker on a play that ended up being Flacco's second interception of the day. He pitched the ball to Willie McGahee, who slowly ran to the sideline without even coming close to selling a run, and then tossed the ball all the way back to Flacco, who then wound up and launched a rocket down into the end zone. Mike Adams came away with the ball, and although the Ravens executed the play poorly, I still credit our young / depleted secondary for being all over it.
3. Edwards Still Struggles: I don't recall him having a drop, but I still wouldn't call it a step forward for him. On his second reception, he bobbled the ball about four times before finally securing it against his chest. That's not what you want to do against a hard-hitting defense over the middle. Edwards may or may not have been partially at fault for Anderson's second and third picks, but either way he didn't do a good job at shielding the defender.
4. Not The Cribbs We Know: On kick returns, Joshua Cribbs isn't Joshua Cribbs right now, and I'm not just saying that because he's not busting 30-yard returns every time. He only averaged 17.3 yard a pop on 3 attempts against Baltimore, and wind wasn't a factor this week. He doesn't seem to be accelerating through a hole like he did last year. Instead, he's doing more shifting, which is easily allowing defenders to catch up with him. Now, that could be due to worse blocking on special teams than last year, but probably not.
5. Cribbs' Other Aspects: He still looks solid on covering kicks, and I don't understand why he's not playing receiver over Syndric Steptoe. He had a nice effort on the team's first catch of the game, and then made a terrific diving one-handed attempt on an overthrown Anderson pass in the second half. If he would've caught that, it would've been all over SportsCenter.
6. Stover's Miss: What? Matt Stover missed a kick against us? I'm shocked. Of course, it had no bearing on the outcome of the game, unfortunately.

The Browns are all over the Ravens' fleaflicker attempt, as DB Mike Adams comes away with the interception.

7. Lewis' Carries: Should we have given more carries to Jamal Lewis? That also seems to be a hot topic, though I think the reaction has been a little overboard. Any way you look at it, to control a game, we need a balanced passing and rushing attack. Even if we gave Lewis more touches to start the second half, we still would've needed Anderson in third-down situations, and he didn't appear capable of anything in the second half. On the same note, once we went down by three scores, running the ball against a defense that is still pretty good will only burn off time we can't afford to waste.
8. Vickers' Hot Start: I thought Lawrence Vickers had a hot start to the game. Like Harrison though, if it works, "let's not go to it". Instead, let's watch Anderson throw ten incomplete passes toward the direction of Kellen Winslow.
9. Speaking of Which: Who is to blame for Anderson's first interception? Although he took a shot, I do blame Kellen Winslow for not holding onto the ball. We're in need of playmakers right now, and tight plays like that are desperately needed. DBN reader "rufio" said it best in the gameday topic though, on why it didn't make sense on Anderson / Chudzinski's part: "Why was DA throwing at McAllister and R.Lewis when Rolle and Landry are out!"
10. Thomas Struggled: Maybe in the first half, we held things together. For the entire game though, I saw Joe Thomas struggle in recognizing where the rusher was coming from off the start (unless the play calls were just so bad that they told Thomas to stay there). Eric Steinbach was sorely missed, not only because his absence had adverse effects on Thomas, but because Seth McKinney looked awful. Rex Hadnot wasn't very good either, as the offensive line gave up a total of five sacks.
11. Brownies: I saw Shantee Orr burst through with a nice tackle at least once...though I gave Hall a game ball, Brodney Pool had a very nice performance in my book for the second straight week...Phil Dawson is going to have more points than the rest of our team combined pretty soon.

Hardly any teams have ever made the postseason after starting the season at 0-3. I don't look at those statistics though -- wins can still be strung together, and a record of 9-7 certainly isn't out of the question (which could win the division).

For every loss we put on the board though, we dig ourselves into a bigger hole. At some point, something has to chance to dig us out of that hole. Will that be Anderson getting back into a groove? Or, will it be Brady Quinn getting his crack at the job? That's what we'll find out over the next few weeks.

Box Score - 9.14.08
Team	1	2	3	4	Final
	0	7	3	0	10
	0	0	3	3	6

We're off to a worse start than last season at 0-2, and the only optimism you can really take out of the first two games now is that there is a chance we lost to the best teams in the NFC (Dallas) and AFC (Pittsburgh). There's no need to sugarcoat the situation though: as fans, we expected the Browns to live up to expectations against the league's upper-tier teams. Sure, we'll go to Baltimore next week and probably blow them out of the water. For the rest of the season now, we're going to have to fight our way back from being 2.5 games away from the division lead.

We didn't embarrass ourselves against Pittsburgh, and we probably should've come away with a victory had it not been for one thing, which will be what my entire "goat of the game" section will be dedicated to this week...

Goat of the Game (Feel the Fire)

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, cheering on his team as Romeo Crennel wastes timeouts.

1. Romeo Crennel: It's not the 0-2 record that has him under fire. Instead, it's the fact that the most remedial, yet most critical, aspect of the game -- time management -- is severely lacking for the second week in a row. This week, it was more of a problem because there was a high percentage chance of the Browns coming back.
   
   Before the first half came to a close, there was a good amount of time on the clock to run a two-minute drill. After moving the ball fairly well for the first time of the game, the timeouts were taken 7-8 seconds too late. Maybe if we had that extra time, Anderson would've run a fade route to Braylon Edwards before even trying to fire a pass over the middle to Syndric Steptoe. As not to overly crowd the goat of the game section here, I'll continue the discussion on Crennel in "general notes".
   

Awarding Game Balls (Tough in Defeat)

S Brodney Pool stops Willie Parker. The defense, especially DT Shaun Rogers, held Parker in check for once.

1. Shaun Rogers: For the second consecutive week, Rogers was the most dominant player on the defensive side of the ball. Rogers recorded 5 tackles and sacked Roethlisberger once. One of his tackles was especially nice, as he drove Willie Parker hard into the ground. I was a little iffy on the late hit to Roethislberger -- it should've been a flag based on the league rules, but I love the toughness.
2. Dave Zastudil: You know it wasn't a great game when you lose and your punter is given a game ball. Nonetheless, although both punters were getting off great punts considering the windy conditions, Zastudil was especially exceptional. On 5 attempts, he averaged 53 yards a boot, without any shanks to speak of. For all of our offensive shortcomings, he helped our defense out by giving them room to work with.
   

General Thoughts (Random Tidbits on the Game)

1. Crennel (Continued): Carrying over from my "goat of the game" section here: with only a little over three minutes left in the game and the Browns down by seven, Crennel sent the field goal unit onto the field. Again, the entire stadium erupted in boos, even as the kick went through the uprights. I don't care that our defense has stopped the Steelers most of the game -- Roethlisberger is an efficient quarterback with proven ability to close out games, and our defense has consistently shown the inability to give our offense the ball back at the end of a game with a three-and-out effort. If Crennel's strategy was to give us the opportunity to drive 74 yards in 26 seconds without any timeouts, then he succeeded, much to the dismay of the fans and probably every player in the locker room.
2. Crennel (Continued): This decision really emphasizes how flawed Crennel's time management is, and Al Michaels and John Madden also pointed this out during the live broadcast. We took a timeout with 2:42 left in the 4th quarter. Why take that timeout? The Steelers would've been forced to run a play anyway during that stretch, taking the clock to the two-minute mark while preserving a timeout still. Hell, you don't even need to play or coach football to know that strategy: a few games of Madden (video game), and you've got the concept down pat. To see Crennel just seem completely oblivious to the strategy makes me speechless.
3. Wind Hurts Cribbs: Damn the winds, because that really took Joshua Cribbs' abilities on kick returns out of the gameplan. Officially, he only had one kick return the entire game -- partially due to the Steelers not scoring much, but mostly due to the ball having to be taken for a touchback. We only saw one Flash Package play too, and it was a successful reverse on third down. 

QB Derek Anderson throws a pass against the Steelers in windy conditions.

4. Anderson Wasn't Good: Last week, I said that Derek Anderson wasn't bad. This week, I'm saying he wasn't good. Although his completion percentage was a little bit higher, he threw two interceptions that were all on him. On the first one, Anderson underthrew Edwards deep with the wind in his favor. Right before the second half, I just don't get the decision to throw the ball on a rocket slant pattern. It reminded me too much of the awful throws into zone coverage over the middle he made against the Oakland Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals last season.
5. Defensive Props: Overall, the defense deserves a round of applause for their effort against Pittsburgh. First, let's start with the run defense. For us always getting torched by Willie Parker, especially when he gets more carries, we held him to 105 yards on 28 carries, a 3.8 yards-per-carry average. The defensive line was plugged consistently, with a variety of players being able to come up and make the stop on Parker.
6. Solid Game for Pool: It's a real shame that Sean Jones is out, but at least we have Pool back. I thought he made his mark early on in the game, delivering a big hit on a deep incompletion during the Steelers' first series. It doesn't look "great" that the secondary gave up passing plays of 48 and 31 yards, but Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald played more like I had hoped they would against the Cowboys.
7. Pooch Kickoff Recovery: For whatever reason, Mewelde Moore and Rashard Mendenhall were completely clueless when it came to returning kicks and punts. They never judged the wind properly, with kicks often going over their heads. That led to a great call by Ted Dashier when a pooch kick down the field was called -- we HAD the clear shot at the ball first, but after failing to pick it up, a Steeler was able to bat it out of bounds. That would've tied the game right there had we recovered, and who knows what would've transpired from there.
   
8. Still Had Them Backed Up: After the failed pooch recovery, we still had the Steelers backed up at the two-yard line. After a rush for no gain on first down though, for whatever reason we didn't bring pressure on second down. Big Ben had too much time to throw from his end zone, and recorded a nice 35-yard completion to Hines Ward. This is where you can't like the inconsistencies of Mel Tucker's defensive schemes -- clearly a situation where a blitz would've been appropriate.
9. Run, Harrison...arg!: Take a look at this statistic from the San Diego Chargers game:
   
   LaDainian Tomlinson: 10 carries, 26 yards. 2 catches, 14 yards.
   Darren Sproles: 7 carries, 53 yards. 2 catches, 72 yards, 1 touchdown.
   
   My point here is not to say that Jerome Harrison should start over Jamal Lewis. I've compared Harrison to Sproles before, and when Sproles was given the chance, he lit it up -- maybe not as a pure running back, but as a "back out of the backfield". Harrison had the most exciting offensive play of the game for Cleveland, going across the entire width of the field for 23 yards, using his blockers appropriately. Had he not stepped our just barely, I think he would've gone the distance for a touchdown.
   
   With Stallworth out and Edwards struggling, Cribbs and Harrison can provide the "X-Factor" on offense. Shamefully, they were only given two meaningful snaps all game.
   
10. Edwards' Game: It's very discouraging to see Edwards struggle so much over the first two games, considering he was our best offensive player all of last season. Honestly, all of our offensive issues go back to this. The past few years, the Carolina Panthers have had an explosive offense if Steve Smith is healthy. Barring the past two games, when he's our or injured, everything goes downhill. That's the funk the Browns are in right now. Fix Edwards, and the offense will be in sync, with or without Donte Stallworth.
11. How to Fix Edwards: That's up for discussion. Extra reps? More passes his way? I don't know. He has no problem getting off to a great start in training camp, so it's hard to imagine how he'd be so off the past two weeks, with or without preparation. You don't lose the ability to catch the football with a foot injury.
12. Power Outage: With the power on my street going out at 5 PM, I waited for it to come back on until 8 PM. At that point, I rushed over to a friend's house to watch the game, hoping a tree didn't fall on top of me on the way.
13. Come Back Tucker: Not that Rex Hadnot did anything bad, but I want to see Ryan Tucker back in the starting lineup. The offensive line gave up two sacks late, but overall, the pass-protection against the Steelers' blitzes was top-notch.
14. Seeing a Shootout: Seeing the Browns' offense struggle against the Cowboys' defense last week, only to see the Philadelphia Eagles handle it with no problems on Monday Night Football, doesn't make us look any better.
15. Lewis' Key: The key in the offseason was for Jamal Lewis to deliver against one team: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though various other reasons contributed to him not having a great game, the fact still remains that performance-wise, he's basically "0-for-3" against Pittsburgh when it comes to high-quality play.
16. Brownies: Was that Nick Sorensen in on an early sack? Phil Dawson handled the winds fine, but darn Jeff Reed for handling them fine too. The Steelers have now won 10 straight against the Browns. Though we completed 46% of our third downs to only the 25% conversion rate for the Steelers, it didn't help out our offense.

I started off the review stating that there can't be much optimism after the first two games. While that's true, the optimism will start to grow again with every win we put on the board. Last season, we started the year off at 1-2, and one of those losses included a game against the Steelers. We'll be in the same position this year if we beat the Ravens in Baltimore. I considered the Ravens one of the league's worst teams heading into the season, and I still stand by that argument. If our offense gets in sync just a little bit, these next two games should be in the bag. If not, then the season is clearly a disappointment, and the only thing that can ensue the remainder of the season will be chaos.

Box Score - 9.7.08
Team	1	2	3	4	Final
	7	14	7	0	28
	0	7	0	3	10

For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Browns did not fair off too well in their season opener (which also happens to be at home). All offseason, we wanted the schedule makers to give us the same respect that other contenders in the league were being given. For the first game, we laid a big egg. Not that it provides a significant amount of comfort, but all things considered, we may have lost to the best team in the National Football League.

The Patriots are without Tom Brady the rest of the year. The other AFC favorites -- Indianapolis and San Diego -- each suffered home losses to teams expected to finish no better than .500. Disregarding Pittsburgh's dominant performance over the Houston Texans, the Cowboys looked great on all sides of the ball -- they were in near midseason form.

The bottom line? Getting beat was ok. Getting beat with dropped passes, no pass rush, and awkward coaching decisions was not ok. As I've done in the past, to go along with a loss, it's time to look at the goats of the game...

Goats of the Game (Better Redeem Next Week)

WR Braylon Edwards did not have a good game by any means, as he watches one of an eventual four passes go through his hands.
1. Braylon Edwards: I was wrong in assuming that several weeks off due to a cut on his foot would not deter him from having a big game. His quickness and route-running looked fine, but the simple fundamentals of catching the ball in traffic posed a significant problem, as many people credited him with having four drops. The games we won last year, Edwards made spectacular catches on good throws from Derek Anderson. Had Edwards caught those passes early on, maybe our offense would've stayed in a groove and participated in the shootout we thought we would've seen.
2. Kamerion Wimbley: I know that D'Qwell Jackson had a horrible game too, but I think it's more appropriate to mention Wimbley here. He demonstrated more than ever that he only has one move. His strategy seems to be "let me see how large of a circle I can make around the left tackle as Tony Romo steps up in the pocket. If Wimbley had an inside move, he would've used it. He didn't develop it over the offseason, and now we're going to have to deal with it all season long. You almost feel like starting Alex Hall over there in front of him.

Awarding Game Balls (Tough in Defeat)

DT Shaun Rogers was stopping the run all game until the fourth quarter, when the fatigue set in.
1. Shaun Rogers: The big man delivered with what we expected him to bring to the table. All things considered, after the first game, I'm extremely pleased that we got this guy for just a third-round pick and Leigh Bodden. He did wear down at the end of the game though, and that can be attributed to fantastic execution by the Cowboys' offense, keeping their unit on the field 15 minutes longer than the Browns. Rogers is solid, but he's not as good as Albert Haynesworth where he can go strong four quarters without a break.
2. Kellen Winsow: Why we didn't go his direction more in the second half is beyond me, but Winslow caught the ball well, being our only receiver to go over 2 catches and 20 yards receiving. I'm still a little puzzled by the lack of emotion he has appeared to show throughout the preseason and in Week 1. Maybe it's just me, but he seems a little too subdued (except for the bow he took on his touchdown reception).

General Thoughts (Random Tidbits on the Game)

1. We Miss Cribbs: Besides Edwards' drops, the absence of Joshua Cribbs was the biggest key of the game (even more so than the defensive shortcomings). When you see Syndric Steptoe and Gerard Lawson getting tackled around the 25-yard line for less-than-stellar returns, you can literally imagine on the field Cribbs taking it an extra 20-25 yards each time. The Cowboys did not have tremendous kick return coverage -- Steptoe and Lawson were just not very elite. Better field position again would've contributed to the offense, and the defense for when we did punt.
2. The Field Goal: Sweet, three extra fantasy points for Phil Dawson, right? Wrong. I never care how later it is in a game -- the opportunity to rally still exists. With 10:43 left in the fourth quarter, down by three possessions, you only kick a field goal if it'll make it a two-possession game. Instead, Crennel went for the field goal, which in that scenario was virtually the same thing as turning the ball over on downs or punting it away. Bad decision by Crennel, and the fans let him hear it by booing louder than I've heard fans boo on the television set in a long time.
3. Anderson Wasn't Bad: Statistically, completing only 45% of his passes did not look good. In terms of being prepared and how he played, I don't understand why so many people (on the OBR and from public speaking) are considering him such a major goat. The velocity on his balls was great, needling throws when appropriate. He had four drops from his top receiver, three of which should've definitely been caught. On top of that, he was basically working with two practice squad receivers with Donte Stallworth injured. The Cowboys' defense only had to blanket two receivers, because the Syndric Steptoe and Steve Sanders just weren't getting too open. When the coverage was too tight, Anderson did the right thing by running and picking up some yards with his feet.
4. Equivalence: Please don't tell me that Donte Stallworth is going to end up being nothing more than the offense-equivalent of Antwan Peek (injury-wise). Not having Stallworth did put our receiving position even thinner than our defensive backs position.
5. Third-Down Conversions: A lot of our offensive shortcomings came down to a lackluster 33% third-down conversion rate. When Dallas converts 72% of their third downs in comparison, you're doomed.
6. Third Downs, Part II: Digging deeper into the lack of offensive conversions on third downs, you see that several of the situations were short-yardage plays. On the first drive, there was a bad quarterback-center exchange between Anderson and Hank Fraley. Right after the second half started, we had two nice runs by Jamal Lewis to set up a 3rd-and-2. The pressure came quick, Anderson heaved one too deep to the outside, and we had to punt.
7. Third Downs, Part III: Finally, it's time to rip our defense for the lack of a pass rush generated on third downs. On Dallas' eight conversions, six of them were through the air, mostly because Romo had all day to throw. It didn't matter who we blitzed: it was picked up with ease.
Cowboys QB Tony Romo had all day to throw against our secondary, though CB Eric Wright did record an interception.
8. Defensive Backs Coverage: We didn't stop Terrell Owens. We didn't stop Patrick Crayton. And hell, we didn't even cover Jason Witten (though the linebackers were responsible for him at times). You can't fault the cornerbacks for giving up yardage when there is literally no pressure up front, but on the same note you still need better play. We needed to jam Owens better, but Brandon McDonald's idea of that was the "hands to the face" call. When McDonald jumped a route to Crayton (and just missed) and when Eric Wright recorded the Browns' only turnover of the game, I saw glimpses of what our defensive backs' will be relied upon once the pressure improves.
9. Turnover Ratio: Speaking of which, we were actually -1 in the turnover category.
10. Running Well: I was pleased with how Jamal Lewis ran the ball. Like last year though, it's unfortunate that when we get down in the game so quickly, we have no other choice but to abandoned the run. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any lingering effects from his hamstring injury.
11. Heiden All Out: When Steve Heiden laid all out to try and make a catch, I couldn't believe me eyes. Just seeing him try that was unusual (but encouraging) to see. You wonder how much a guy like Martin Rucker would've helped in a game like this -- suddenly that draft choice looks a lot better than it originally seemed.
12. Penalty Dinkins: I recall a special teams penalty on Darnell Dinkins. Want to know why it doesn't make sense to always say "he had a great camp and earned a roster spot"? Because he never plays in the offensive sets, and on special teams, he has too many penalties called against him.
13. Get Well Cribbs: Please be ready for Pittsburgh next week. Oh, did I already have a bullet point about Cribbs? Did I mention how important he is? I did? Good.
14. Presence: Did you feel the defensive presence by Corey Williams? Me neither. There is hope for next game, though, just like the offensive line didn't look great in last year's opener.
15. Need to Blitz: I'd rather be beat by sending all the blitzers we can send at Tony Romo than have him sit there for an infinity only to find the open receiver with ease. Just because the first few blitzes don't work doesn't mean you go to an even worse strategy.
16. Dawson 1-of-1: Seeing your kicker get their first one through the uprights is a good sign, no matter what the score is. At least he did get a kick in before next week's night cap against the Steelers.
17. Special Teams Coverage: Though poor on the return game, our kick coverage was very good. I noticed Shantee Orr recording a tackle or two. We survived the coverage units without specialist Kris Griffin available too.
18. I'll Stop: I kept bragging that we were 6-0 at home under Derek Anderson last season. If that annoyed you, fear not: I can no longer say it with relevance to this season.

It was not a very fun opener to watch, but there's no way I'm going to get discouraged heading into this Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A win against the Cowboys would've been great, but this is the critical portion of our schedule: three consecutive division games. If we don't go at least 2-1 during that stretch, we're down and out. With a clean sweep, no one's going to be talking about the Cowboys loss.

Go BROWNS.

CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-3)		GAME #3		DETROIT LIONS (3-0)
		VS.
6				26

Was that not one of the most boring games you've ever watched? I know that preseason games don't even deserve to be compared to regular season games in terms of excitement, but this was beyond boring. At least we didn't have to pay to watch Saturday's game -- that is, unless you purchased a ticket to Ford Field.

After the game was over, one thing kept racing through my mind: the regular season can't get here soon enough. The players with jobs clinched could care less, the coordinators call vanilla plays on offense, and the head coach pretty much knows who his 53-man roster will be already. Death to the preseason -- bring on more games that count.

GENERAL GAME THOUGHTS

1. Rogers Provided "It": If there was one thing I wanted to get out of this game as a fan, it was to see Shaun Rogers get on the field alongside Robaire Smith and Corey Williams. Rogers had the definite "it" factor on the defensive line, stuffing the run and creating havoc left and right. He will definitely make the players around him look better. I'm also awarding him this week's lone game ball.
2. Finishing the Pressure: A former defensive backs coach, it looks like a lot of Mel Tucker's defensive schemes in the preseason have involved blitzing the cornerbacks and safeties only. I love how often we're bringing those blitzes, but I hope he finds a fair balance between those and linebacker blitzes come the regular season.
   
   Browns DL Shaun Rogers had an impressive game.
   
3. Pressure on Kitna: Give credit to Jon Kitna: he's a veteran quarterback, and him escaping from pressure is not an uncommon occurrence. On the same note, he was sacked very often last season, so it was discouraging to see the Browns have the right play on, only to let Kitna get away and complete a pass downfield. You can't blame the secondary in those cases.
LB Kamerion Wimbley overpursues, resulting in a fairly easy 35-yard counter rushing touchdown for Lions RB Kevin Smith.
4. Wimbley on Kevin Smith: During the second quarter, Kamerion Wimbley made a bad decision on a rushing attempt by Lions rookie RB Kevin Smith that cost the Browns a touchdown. The defensive line did their job by bottling up the line, and there were at least two or three extra linebackers over their in case he broke through to the second unit. Wimbley, covering the backside, decides to try and become the third unit behind them in the 0.001% chance that Smith will become Jim Brown. The better decision would've been to stay home the entire time, to at a bare minimum force Smith to the outside, allow the safeties to catch up, and accept a 10-15 yard gain. Instead, it was a 35-yard touchdown. Major props to Lions backup QB Dan Orlovsky for taking out three of our defenders down at the goal line on the play though.
5. Not Too Hyped: Although Nick Sorensen had two notable defensive plays starting in place of Sean Jones, you just can't really get too excited about them. He just happened to be unblocked on his nifty-looking sack, and he was standing in center field on a play that Bernie deemed as a quarterback's nightmare.
6. Hall = Best Rookie: It should be official already, though there are far too few rookies to actually choose from at this point. Alex Hall showed a nice pass rush against a starting unit and should make this team ahead of David McMillan.
7. Corner Play: I didn't think the cornerback play for the starters was spectacular, but it wasn't as bad as the score would indicate. I believe we're going to have to live with a bend-but-don't-break pass defense this year, and a lot of Kitna's success involved both our missing safeties and our inability to sack Kitna when we had the chance.
QB Brady Quinn's first preseason start was an uneventful one to say the least. He finished 14-of-24 for 106 yards, with no touchdowns or picks.
8. Quinn...ugh...Mulligan: Yes, I'll take a mulligan. The whole offense in general was just so...boring. Quinn didn't have a sharp game throwing the football either -- many of his passes were low. Sure, that's fine in some cases, but his throws were either low or bouncing at the receivers' feet. The range should be chest-level to low. The offense failed to record a touchdown all game, and the third-down execution was pitiful.
9. Biggest Mistake Ever: Well, probably not the biggest mistake ever, but a mistake nonetheless: starting Travis Wilson. The kid has looked very good in camp as a third receiver. He looked very good in the Jets came as a third receiver. The past two weeks as a starter, he looks clueless. Now, fans are back to giving up on him and going as far as wanting to cut him. Mentally, he's not ready to handle a starting role. But, there's no reason he still can't be an effective third receiver unless the past two games have shot his confidence 100%.
10. Screen Worked: I'm still not overly enthused by our screen plays, but at least we had a successful one to Jerome Harrison. Speaking of Harrison, big mistake to catch the ball three yards downfield and then step out of bounds. Get those five extra yards and take the hit. Fortunately for Harrison, whenever Austin Scott or Travis Thomas get into the game, it looks as if their feet are in quicksand.
11. Leggett: Some people have probably jumped the gun (not here, but other Browns boards) by saying that Lance Leggett should make the final roster after having some success the past two preseason games. A pair of quarters against third-string defenses won't win you a sudden roster spot, but it does show you have some potential playmaking ability. That could call for him to be on the practice squad.
12. Kasper's Done: I can't imagine Kevin Kasper sticking around much longer. My anticipation level went from sky high to literally nothing in a matter of one play. A shame, too, considering he probably would've embraced the temporary starting receiver role a lot better than Wilson has.
13. Steptoe Average: Return-wise, it was only an average day for Syndric Steptoe. That's not a dig at Steptoe, but it reminds us that there is only one Joshua Cribbs.
14. Big Season: I probably sound crazy since I always diss Andra Davis big time, but I really like the awareness he's shown in third down situations this preseason. He's already broken up two passes at the line of scrimmage -- those plays will end drives, or better yet, result in an interception if he tips it high enough into the air.
15. Dawson's Strength: Keep it up Dawson -- those 50 yarders could be the difference against the top contenders this season. Credit to Dave Zastudil too, whose punt "for a touchback" probably actually went out around the one-yard line.
16. Rehashing, Rehashing: I can't really debate the running back battle between Jason Wright and Harrison, because week after week it's the same thing. Wright may not have the most moves, but when given a hole he can shoot through it. Harrison can make the play when it's not there, but is still undersized. I still prefer Harrison, but not by a whole lot. Get well soon, Jamal Lewis.
17. Sleeper: Earlier in camp, Gerard Lawson was called a sleeper by the Plain Dealer I believe. He had a nice pass breakup later in the game against Detroit that could've gone for six. Also, consider this: he has been fielding kickoffs. If the team chooses not to keep Steptoe, Lawson's ability to return kicks could give him a slight edge over an A.J. Davis.
18. Kosar Rules: Bernie Kosar was at his best again -- especially when he said something along the lines of "if they need someone after Ken [Dorsey] and you see I've left the booth, you'll know where I went," in regards to the Browns naming Steptoe their third-string quarterback.

That's pretty much it -- not really sure how I made 18 points out of a boring football game, but I did. Do I really want to say "bring on the Bears" now? Only if we get to see one series with Derek Anderson and Braylon Edwards back on the field. If healthy, do I want them to risk that one series? Absolutely. Even though it's just the preseason, we need some more fire as a team, and as fans.

CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-2)		GAME #2		NEW YORK GIANTS (1-1)
		VS.
34				37

The score doesn't really show it, but every single person who watched the game knows it: this is a game that you'll want to forget about...forever. I always say that what counts in preseason games is what the starters do, so I'm not going to be hypocritical and praise the team for only losing by three.

We lost this game 30-3. By Twenty-seven points. In just a quarter and a half of game clock. We wanted prime time, and we got it. If we want to hang with the big boys, it's going to take a whole hell of a lot more than our effort Monday Night to succeed. There is one saving grace though: a lot of what went wrong was a result of inexcusable penalties.

That's not an excuse, but rather a starting point of the first thing that needs to be addressed. Since so much went wrong, and we want to forget about this game forever, let me put a unique spin on this game review and just throw all of the bad stuff at you at once: just to get it out of the way.

WHAT WENT WRONG - THE BAD

1. Travis Wilson: I was really disappointed by Wilson's effort in a starting role, as he failed to even record a catch. On one particular play, an all-out blitz came toward Anderson on a 3rd-and-long. Anderson got rid of the ball at the last second, and the ball landed about two yards past the first down marker on an intended comeback route. Instead, Wilson seemed to over-run the route by several yards. The timing factor on a blitz is probably a little less important for an inside receiver, which is where I want Wilson during the regular season. If I'm not mistaken, Wilson also had a dropped pass (on a not-so-great pass) a little later.
2. Eric Wright: I was not too pleased with the coverage by Wright on Domenik Hixon. I mean, it's basically like their sixth receiver (think Paul Hubbard on our team, depth-wise) just dominating our starting cornerback. Sure, praise Hixon for making some nice catches. But fault Wright for balking on the first touchdown, and then tripping on the second (I think that was Wright on the second TD; couldn't get a look at the jersey number).
3. Dumb Penalties: Another dig on Wright -- an early 54-yard pass interference called on him. It's the preseason: I want to see how our defensive line and linebackers do; you can't do that when the Giants pick up chunks like this. Also, what in the world was with Mike Adams' interference on a punt, especially when the ball wasn't even close to coming down yet? He would've warranted his own subtitle had he not had some nice blitzes later on in the game. There were too many other holding penalties as well.
   
4. When You Practice, PRACTICE: Even though I didn't say it, when Crennel kept keeping everyone out of pads for a week after the first preseason game, I kept thinking: "isn't that a little too long?" Usually, I've heard of a day or two off from pads, but not a whole week.

   "Unbelievable," Crennel said. "Evidently we didn't do enough work. I told the team it's my fault for trying to save them in practice by not hitting. We're not very good right now."

   
   I'll say. The Browns were physically manhandled on the offensive and defensive lines while the starters were in. A lot of that has to do with the Giants' superiority, but I think a lot of it also has to do with Crennel giving his players a little too much respect during camp.
5. Jamal Lewis: After two nice runs to start off the game, Lewis was victimized by the offensive line getting pushed into the backfield. However, failing to lock in a handoff down at the goal line is something he should have down pat right now -- what have the past three-four weeks of training camp been for?
6. Kamerion Wimbley: We see the Giants with so many effective pass rushers against our tremendous offensive line. So then, why is it that Wimbley can't even record a footnote of a memorable play on gameday? It's instances like this where you start to wonder if Wimbley will inevitably be nothing more than average in this league, due to being one-dimensional.
DB A.J. Davis is beaten on a kick return touchdown by the Giants' Domenik Hixon.
7. Special Teams Coverage: I'm still very confident in the kick coverage ability of our starting unit. I'm not at all impressed by some of the youngsters in the second unit though, and that includes CB A.J. Davis. On Hixon's safety return for a touchdown, Davis was in prime position to stop him. Instead, Hixon blew by him with ease. Davis had a couple of nice hits later in the game, but that's not enough to hand him a roster spot. LB David McMillan was also in decent enough of position on the play.
   
8. Never Again: Appearance-wise, the brown pants only looked "ok" in my opinion. Then why use them? They already have bad voodoo on them after this loss, and I've already heard fans and media from across the country question why in the world we would choose such an ugly uniform color. Let's not add fashion to the list of areas our rivals can mock us with.
9. You Let Droughns Do It: I didn't want Reuben Droughns making some sort of impact against us (it's that former Browns rivalry thing), but he did. Travis Thomas was manhandled by a running back, and he blocked Dave Zastudil's punt in the end zone. Speaking of which, didn't Zastudil appear to take a little too much time before booting that one? Backed up, it has to be catch and hit; not catch, set, and hit.
10. No Screen Team: We finally started trying screen plays when Ken Dorsey came in, and our execution was even worst than last week on three attempts. Pitifully run.

For the positives, now, I'm going to start off by handing out a few game balls. Game balls always cheer people up, right?

WHAT WENT RIGHT - THE GOOD

1. Game Ball - Syndric Steptoe: I am literally in awe at how quickly Steptoe has improved from a year ago. He was the heart and soul of the final score looking respectable. Or, if you want to put it another way, he was our Domenik Hixon of the second-unit. He pulled in two touchdown grabs -- one of which had him saving Brady Quinn by not giving up on the football and not only wrestling it out of the defender's hands, but tipping it to himself and heading in for a touchdown.
   
   He was also outstanding on kickoff returns again, including one that went 90 yards. I'm convinced that Steptoe needs to be on our final roster now, because someone else will pick him up otherwise. We may need him right away if Joshua Cribbs' MRI comes back with bad news.
2. Game Ball - Charles Ali: I think I read somewhere on the OBR that Ali is by far the best second-string fullback in all of football, and I'd have to agree with that. Getting reps again with Lawrence Vickers out, Ali opened some nice holes for Lewis and Jerome Harrison. He also caught several passes in the flat and took them upfield for nice little gains.
3. Game Ball - Phil Dawson: Dawson's leg strength reached new highs against the Giants. His opening kickoff was deep enough to warrant a touchback, and on our first offensive drive, he connected on what would've been a career-high 56-yard field goal, had it been the regular season. He not only hit the kick straight down the middle, but he had several yards to spare. Those kicks will be critical against tough opponents like Dallas come Week 1.
4. Defensive Shoutouts: Nice job by Andra Davis on the first series, reading Eli Manning perfectly and batting his pass down at the line. If Shaun Rogers was available to get a greater push, Davis could do that type of thing more often. Also, D'Qwell Jackson had a beautiful helmet hit to jar the football loose from Brandon Jacobs. Unfortunately, the Giants recovered the fumble.
5. Corner Blitzes: Not sure why we waited for the second stringers to come in to start them, but our corner blitzes looked sharp when Anthony Wright and David Carr came in. In particular, Eric Wright and Mike Adams did a fine job. Adams' first blitz allowed Wright to return a pick for a touchdown. Wright later had the team's only sack of the game on a blitz.
6. Brady Quinn: Literally, Quinn had several seconds longer to throw than Anderson did when he got in. Still, it was good to see Quinn run the offense effectively in the off-chance that Anderson will be out Week 1. We even got to see Quinn fire a deep ball downfield to Steptoe for a touchdown. I won't praise Quinn's throw because it should've been picked -- but surely it's something he will hopefully start working on more during practice.
7. Darnell Dinkins: I still don't want him catching footballs often, but credit to him for making several nifty catches late in the game. He finished with 3 grabs for 50 yards.

QB Ken Dorsey was sharp with the third unit, making impressive throws down the field.

8. Ken Dorsey: Who woke him up? This was the best I've ever seen Dorsey play at the NFL level, as he was rocketing balls down the field to open receivers. He single-handedly made Paul Hubbard, Lance Leggett, Steve Sanders, and Efrem Hill look good late in the game (not taking credit away from the wideouts, but Dorsey threw some perfect balls).
9. Harrison's Toughness: More than the speed, I liked the toughness and moves I saw from Harrison on his 23-yard gain. We need to get Harrison about 3-4 touches per game on gameday, in the right situations.
10. Key and Hall: Late in the game, Giants RB Danny Ware broke free from an Alex Hall tackle attempt. Shortly thereafter though, when Ware tried to break free again, Travis Key charged at him and gave a nice hit. I didn't see much more of him besides that, but it's better than seeing Steve Cargile get burned in his only play against the Jets.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

1. Players Out: I missed two leaders: WR Braylon Edwards on offense and DT Shaun Rogers on defense. I know this probably sounds crazy, but if Edwards was healthy, maybe the Browns get him the football on our first drive, and we eventually go in for a touchdown rather than a field goal. Maybe Anderson knows to get him the football right away on the play he gets the concussion, therefore avoiding the hit altogether. Crazy talk, maybe. Reality, possibly.
2. I'm Not Depressed: Now, if this were a regular season game, I'd be depressed. We still have several weeks to collect our thoughts and correct the issues we had though.
3. I'm Upset: I'm upset at all of the injuries we suffered after staying relatively healthy in camp. We can't afford to lose those guys if we want to make a run at the division.
4. Bring Back Bernie: I hate prime time games during the preseason. When the second and third units are in, I care about what the hell is going on still. I don't want to hear announcers speculating "surely if you're Cleveland fans, you're thinking 'this, that, and this'". Can't wait to hear Donovan and Kosar next game again.

The game was one to forget...and now, the book on it is closed. Still feel free to post comments here though, of course.

NEW YORK JETS (1-0)		GAME #1		CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-1)
		VS.
24				20

After the craziness of a one-hour lightning / heavy thunderstorm delay in the first quarter, the Browns lost their first preseason game to the New York Jets by a final score of 24-20 Thursday night. I always like to look at what happened when the starters were in the game though, and from that perspective, the Browns won with a 7-0 advantage.

It didn't take long on Friday for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a hated rival that we'll be playing in a little over a month, to make a statement of their own. It took the Steelers eight plays to travel 80 yards down the field for a touchdown, as QB Ben Roethlisberger connected with Ohio State product Santonio Holmes. I think Roethlisberger still has his flaws as a top-level quarterback in the league, but he can make defensive backs pay on the deep ball by buying just a little bit of time.

Why did I bring up the Steelers in this review of the Browns / Jets contest? Because I'm stressing that if anything happens to our starting cornerbacks, it won't matter how improved our defensive line is: we're going to be ripped apart. Here are my bullet points from the first preseason game...

PRESEASON GAME 1 - JETS vs. BROWNS (GENERAL THOUGHTS)

1. Defensive Lackfield: Here is the line for second-year wide receiver David Clowney against the likes of A.J. Davis, Mil'von James, Steve Cargile, and Nick Sorenson: 4 catches for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns. On both of Clowney's touchdowns, all it took was a simple playaction fake for him to be as open as you can get on a deep pattern.
Jets WR David Clowney kept getting past the Browns' safeties on playaction fakes. Credit: Associated Press


2. To be Fair: On both of Clowney's touchdowns, it seemed like it was the safeties that dropped the ball by not staying home on the playaction fake. Sorenson isn't going to make this team as safety depth, so he'll have to rely on his special teams abilities again. As far as Cargile goes, he'll probably be an early roster casualty.
3. Back to the Beginning: I liked what I saw on our first defensive series. The run defense was getting an excellent push against the Jets' much-improved offensive line. Shaun Rogers was just fun to watch, and I can't wait to see the unit at full strength when Corey Williams receives his regular reps. We saw how much Kamerion Wimbley will be a beneficiary from the defensive line this year when he chase down Thomas Jones across the field after the line had clogged things up.
4. Wright and McDonald: I think the biggest difference between Wright and McDonald and the undrafted free agents is clear: Wright and McDonald understand our bend-but-don't break philosophy. Everything was kept in front of them, and although it allowed the Jets to pick up a good amount of yardage, when they needed to come up with a big play, McDonald made an outstanding man-to-man tackle to stop a receiver just shy of a first down.
5. Fullback Handoff? C'mon: What's why all of the complaining about the Browns not stopping the Jets' first-drive handoff to FB Tony Richardson? You can't expect the defensive line to crush everything; sometimes you give the opposing teams their props for executing.
6. Working in Stallworth: I was correct in my training camp battles preview that Derek Anderson would focus exclusively on throwing the ball to Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth on the first drive. I definitely liked what I saw early on from Stallworth, but the plays designed for him aren't the ones I was envisioning -- ones with a defender right on top of him.
7. Getting Cleveland Excited: If you weren't excited about this team's potential heading into the game, or were keeping a reserved attitude, then I don't see how you could've kept calm after seeing Braylon Edwards one-hand a two-yard touchdown pass from Anderson. The throw, the catch, the celebration, the fans...all of that combined resembles what Cleveland fans hope this season is all about.
8. Wilson Locking Up: I think Travis Wilson has pretty much taken the key for the third receiver role and thrown it away to a place where no one else can get to it. He looked very smooth on the three passes he caught, most of which were in tight coverage.
9. Mixed on Rucker: I was a little surprised at how well-received Martin Rucker's performance came off on message boards and such, because I thought he showed that he still needs to be a little more polished. Yes, I'm excited about the plays he made. However, I'm not excited about him letting a ball go through his hands in the end zone -- a play that most times would end up in an interception. He also dropped a fairly open pass earlier in the game with Ken Dorsey in at quarterback. Not a bad game overall for Rucker -- who had 5 catches for 70 yards -- but I think we need to watch his progression over the next three weeks before deciding on whether or not he can be a reliable gameday contributor by Week 1.
10. Negative on Hubbard: Mixed on Rucker, but negative on rookie receiver Paul Hubbard. I did mark out on his awesome-looking 44-yard reception in the fourth quarter, but I was very frustrated by his inability to haul in two would-be touchdowns on the last drive. He doesn't seem to know how to use his size to his advantage at all yet, though maybe I'm just too spoiled with what Edwards can do.
11. Screens From Hell: Another year, a lot of practice, and yet the same failure rate when it comes to screen plays still exist. On the first series, I'm not in favor of running a screen play to Jamal Lewis often. When Ken Dorsey was in the game, the offensive line didn't hold their own too well, but Dorsey didn't help matters by telegraphing the throws from a mile away.
QB Derek Anderson and WR Braylon Edwards celebrate after their two-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Credit: Associated Press

12. Bernie Rules: All hail Bernie Kosar again for his beautiful work in the announcer's booth Thursday night. His constant bashing of the Jets' plays, intelligence on plays that were/should be run, and all-around wit made the game worth watching until the final seconds. One thing though: his man-crush on Ken Dorsey remains, even though the guy went 0-for-12 in his last 12 attempts and was sacked numerous times in between.
13. Wright / Harrison: Another thing I was surprised with was people on other message boards saying they thought Jason Wright did better than Jerome Harrison did. I don't think either players did anything worthy of mentioning, but I'm still a fan of Harrison's ability to run to the outside. Travis Thomas didn't look very impressive to me though -- not enough burst on his touches, and he really blew a blocking assignment once that resulted in a sack I believe.
14. Ali a Keeper: With how much the Browns utilized Charles Ali in the first preseason game without putting another player (like Kolo Kapuni) back there, I think his roster odds just improved dramatically. We're not going to allow an in-season injury to Lawrence Vickers to deter a gameplan: having Ali available is a must.
15. Cousin Check: Early on in the game, Terry Cousin did a nice job breaking up a third-down pass to force a punt. If that's what he can do consistently for us, then I'll be a happy camper.
16. Leonard Making Bid: After having a relatively quiet camp thus far, Louis Leonard was in on a team-leading four tackles. Four defensive linemen already have roster spots locked up, and Leonard may have the early lead on being the fifth.
17. Quinn's Day: Overall, I thought it was an average day for Brady Quinn. He still shows a lot of timidness when it comes to throwing deep; I'd love for a reporter to get his reasoning for that. Some people are blaming Syndric Steptoe for his interception, but I place the bulk of the blame on Quinn. Rocketing a short pass right where it's crowded and ahead of the receiver is not ideal.
18. Dorsey was Dorsey: I wasn't surprised with what I saw from Ken Dorsey's play: he's not mobile and therefore gets brought down often with third stringers in front of him. However, I loved the fact that he was really trying to win the game. Sure, a lot of that had to do with the plays that Rob Chudzinski was calling in, but Dorsey did seem to have a reserved fire in his eyes as he led the team to two decent drives, one of which ended in an interception and the other being the incompletion that ended the game.
19. Favre on the Sidelines: I think this will be a much better Jets team with Brett Favre as their news starting quarterback. I initially stated that it would've been nice for our defensive backs to face Favre in the first preseason game, but I take that back now. I liked that the starters weren't forced with the burden of being almost in awe of the whole Favre situation.
20. Bad Containment: What happens on a punt return when the coverage gets down their in time, only to stop, believing that the runner will have no where to go? Well, the returner just runs right by all of those stationary players. I'm sure Ted Dashier has something to work on during the week now.

Now, bring on the New York Giants. The Browns don't play for awhile again -- until next Monday to be specific. Against the defending Super Bowl champions, it'll be a better test to see our starters get a quarter and a half to a full half of action.

In the coming days, I'm going to compile my first "projected 53-man roster" list, based partially on what I saw in the first preseason game. Of course, that list will go under weekly revisions if necessary, as I've done in the past.