Insanity

Karma.It's a bitch.A twelve game Oakland losing streak.A Browns team that had not won 2 games in a row since the last game of 2003/first game of 2004.And then a mirror image instant replay of the Raider loss to the Denver Broncos - with the time out called just before the made field goal.And the Raiders block a makeable field goal to seal the win after a desparate Browns comeback.Damn.The Browns looked like crap to start the game. Going down 16-0. The offense was inept for most of the first half - with penalties, missed passes, and a general malaise.The defense played well in the red zone, but only in the red zone. And Eric Wright experienced the growing pains that come with a baptism by fire in the NFL - giving up an inexplicable TD to Curry where he not only allowed Curry to get behind him, but let Curry open up such a gap that Wright couldn't even see him because of the curvature of the earth.

It was a bleak start for the Browns, who looked like a young team that was playing its first away game in a hostile stadium.Then, Joshua Cribbs ignited the spark, taking a Sabastian Janikowski kickoff back 100 yards for the touchdown. That was followed by a Lamont Jordan fumble that looked like he was serving in volleyball. Simon Fraser recovered, and the Browns converted the Oakland error into a field goal.The Browns went into the locker room at half time down 16-10.At the time, they had numerous penalties - many of which may have been due to the Raiders calling out fake signals. Which the referees apparently did not realize is a penalty.

Correction: It is if you're not the Browns.

A tackle of Josh McKown by Robaire Smith and Orpheus Roye had hobbled the Oakland signal caller, and Daunte Cullpepper came out to lead the Raiders in the second half.The Browns forced a punt, on a good play by Holly, and after a touchback, took the ball on the 20. But, a couple of Jamal Lewis runs were followed by a Braylon Edwards drop, forcing a Browns punt.The Raiders came back and on 3rd and 10, Cullpepper hit Mike Williams - who had burned Eric Wright - for a first down pass. But, Williams was gang tackled by the Browns and the ball was ripped out, and recovered by Holly.A pass to JJ, a draw to Lewis against the blitz, was followed by an incomplete pass to Braylon Edwards. Then, Anderson looked right, came back to Braylon Edwards in the middle of the field and hit him for a touchdown, putting the Browns up 17-16. It would be the last time the Browns led in the contest.The Raiders came back and ran Jordan, who seemed able to take advantage of an overly eager Browns front 7 all day. Fraser, Peek and others were continually running up field out of position, allowing Jordan to run free in the area they should have been defending. Remember when we used to be so sick of the "gap integrity" speaches from Butch Davis and company? Well, today, the failure of gap integrity was a major factor that contributed to the Browns loss. That is a lack of discipline. I am beginning to wonder if that is an inherent problem for Peek, and the reason he was let go.Also a major factor was poor tackling. How many times did it appear that the Oakland RB was stopped for little or no gain, only to have him come out of the pile to gain more yardage.

This happened late in the game, when they were exhausted. They still should have done the job, but you need to blame the offense somewhate for this, as well.

It was also evident that the Browns DBs are banged up. Bodden is hobbled by his groin injury. Wright injured his arm. Pool played despite his concussion last week. But there were a number of penalties, and missed assignments, that gave the Raiders big chunks of yardage and key first downs.After the Browns went up 17-16, the Raiders went on a 9 minute drive that was kept alive by an Andra Davis pass interference penalty, and further aided by a Bodden holding penalty.The touchdown was scored on a third and goal where Jordan carried Andra Davis into the endzone. The Raiders went up 23-17, and never trailed again.The Browns went three and out - a pass by Anderson to Carter was somewhat behind him, but he got both hands on it but could nto catch the ball.The defense - after the 9 minute drive - was out on the field again with little rest. Starting from their own 15 yard line, the Silver and Black drove using the run, and even converted a third and 23 using a screen pass. The Browns held on a third down pass to Curry that was tipped away by Bodden, but Janikowski hit the field goal, putting the Browns down by 9. 26-17.Cribbs was largely taken out of the game by the deep kicks by Janikowski, taking the kickoff after the field goal 8 yards deep and taking a knee.The Browns started to drive with time becoming a factor. They Browns got a first down despite Anderson missing a wide open Joe Jurevicious. Carter caught a pass.

Carter? He WHAT?

Winslow caught a pass and appeared to go out of bounds - but the clock, somehow, continued to run. Then Derek Anderson scrambled for 10 and appeared to go out of bounds - and the clock, somehow, continued to run.

I dodn't know this. It doesn't surprise me, but I wasn't aware of it. The fix must have been "under", since the Browns covered the three point spread.

A pass to Jamal Lewis for 7 yards was followed by a great catch by Edwards at the 2 yard line. Lewis took the ball to the one, and then Anderson faked to Lewis and bootlegged it in for the touchdown. After the extra point, it was 26-24, Raiders, with time running out.After stopping the kickoff return at the 21, the Browns gave up a first down on a pass to Porter, between Holly and Bodden. But, the Browns, using their timeouts and the two minute warning, managed to stop the Raiders on 3rd and 8 - allowing Jordan only 7 yards and maintaining their stances as Cullpepper tried to draw the Browns offsides on fourth and 1.With 1:04 left, the Browns started on their 9 yard line. On third and 10, Anderson hit Winslow over the middle, who rambled to the 42 yard line. After a spike, DA passed to Winslow, who had Huff hanging all over him, but there was no flag.

Yep. Once the Browns can beat both the referees and the players, they'll be in good shape.

Another pass to Winslow over the middle moved the ball down to the 35, and the Browns quickly moved up for another spike. After a couple of misfires, Anderson hit JJ, who ran down the sidelines to the 23 for a 13 yard gain.Then it was a late timeout negating the field goal, and an up-the-middle block of Dawson's second attempt by Tommy Kelley won the game for the Raiders.A frustrating game for the Browns. Anderson was terrible early, and even though he moved the team much better in the second half, he was not able to consistently make the big plays he did against Cincinnati.

That is an unreasonable demand.

The defense, while only giving up 26 points (not 40+ like pervious weeks) still looks like a weakness for this team. Some bright spots - Wimbley was better on the pass rush. Chaun Thompson wasn't in much, but he made some big plays. Robaire Smith played pretty well. And at least Pool was able to play.

The defense had some problems, but let's not overdo it. There are experience and communication issues in the secondary, which time will resolve.

The offensive line was not as dominant as it was against Cincinnati. It also did not appeared that the Browns were as committed to the running game as against the Bengals.

CORRECTION: You can't run every time. You can run 2 out of three times, maybe. They ran a lot. They stuck with it. It paid off later, as Lewis started breaking to the second level, and the Raiders D was tired in the fourth--contributing to the two drives.

The receivers were also not as sharp - with Braylon Edwards dropping a pass between the numbers to end a drive, and Anderson throwing into coverage more, and not finding the open receivers for much of the game.

Edwards: One drop in three games. Get over it.

A hugely disappointing loss in terms of where we are for the rest of the season. And the game was oh so winnable. 1 and 2 going into the Ravens game puts all the doubts about this young team back in play. We will see which Browns team shows up to the CBS next Sunday.
Last edited 9/23/2007 8:06 PM by T-Dog

Ok we need some context here, in order to regain our rationality:

1: Cinci's D just held Seattle to 24 points. Prior to the Browns, they got five turnovers against the Ravens. It's not a very good defense, but much of what the Browns offense did to it was EARNED.

2: Pitt just racked up 37 points on San Fran. 30 of those were scored by a sunddenly diverse and explosive offense. They slaughtered the Browns in week one, when the Browns had obviously not prepared properly.

3: The Raiders scored 24 points against Denver.

4: The Raiders defense is at least a top-ten force.

5: The Raiders have been trampling everybody they've played on the ground, for well over 100 yards per game, including Denver.

6: Cincinnatti's offense is comparable to the Colts. It will AVERAGE over 33 points per game.

An offensive line needs to be together for YEARS, rather than games, in order to approach it's potential. To expect it to match well-established offensive lines after a couple games is assenine. Little by little, they'll get better, but meanwhile they'll continue to make mistakes.

Anderson has always been an inconsistant QB with huge potential. Even in college, he'd throw five TD's one week, and five picks the next. The idea is to get the more experienced, older version to cut down on the stinkers, as he already has the good stuff down pat...SOMETIMES.

He did, at least, rally the team late against a strong D in a hostile environment. (Well it was an away game, but that's still pretty hostile.) He missed a lot, and didn't adjust at all--

What we saw here was potential. I'm hoping that Anderson will get more consistant with a couple more starts, and turn into a really good BACKUP QB for Brady Quinn. And yes, he should continue to start, at least until the by-week. Let Quinn learn without getting his head torn off, and let the offensive line settle in.

But if Anderson steps up to his challenge and starts getting the job done, let Quinn sit the bench the whole season, just like Carson Palmer did.

See what happened in AZ? Leinart was benched.

I recently finally got to see some films on all the Browns picks. Quinn is pretty fast and very athletic, and can get yards with his legs. Nobody says that, but it's right there. He's got some good running-back-type moves. Thomas moves a lot like a TE--very, very fast and quick. In the films, he was running around in space flattening safeties and linebackers a lot. He was ON them like one second after the snap, before they could even move.

I might have even seen Quinn's mechanical issue: He was throwing his upper body into throws, rather than rotating it. He's end up all on his front foot. I haven't seen him since he's been coached up in-house, but it sure sounded like he was VERY accurate.

Man, after the break, or whenever this kid takes over, he should be protected and have a good running game. Just wait.