May 19, 2013

Browns Weren’t Ready – Lose to Bengals 27-17

September 11, 2011 by 80 Comments

Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green got his first touchdown today to give the Bengals a 20-17 lead. It couldn’t have been a more embarrassing play for the Browns. The Browns’ defense was still getting set and ready to line up with Joe Haden inside near the hashes as Green was lined up outside. Bruce Gradkowski – in for injured rookie Andy Dalton – had the easiest touchdown connection of his career as Joe Haden looked stunned and sad after such a solid game full of break ups and blanketing defense went for nothing.

Gone was the streak of 17 unanswered Browns points. Gone was the miniscule four-point lead that the Browns seemed to sit on for much of the second half. The Browns never were able to get that score to put them up by more than a touchdown and the Bengals made them pay for it with about four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Bengals would later add the final nail in the coffin, a long running touchdown by Cedric Benson.

The faces in Cleveland change, but the acts in this scripted play seem to stay largely the same for a bruised and battered Cleveland fan base that came into the game believing in this team.

The Browns would punt the ball to the Bengals after an ensuing three and out, but it was yet another horrible punt by Richmond McGee. McGee had an average of 36 yards per punt for the game. Not good and there were some real stinkers that set up each of the Bengals’ scoring chances.

The Browns would get the ball back with three minutes left as the rain poured down in Cleveland Browns Stadium, but the Browns would turn it over on downs as Colt McCoy desperately (and illegally) attempted to throw the ball to Alex Mack.

The Browns just weren’t ready on Sunday. They weren’t ready as they committed seven penalties for 48 yards in the first quarter. They weren’t ready to capitalize and put the Bengals away after the momentum they built in the second quarter and in scoring 17 unanswered points. The Browns certainly weren’t ready as the defense got embarrassed by a Bruce Gradkowski quick snap that led to the Bengals’ go-ahead score.

It isn’t a time for excuses. Nobody cares how long training camp was anymore. It isn’t a time to hang their heads either. The Browns have a chance to play Indianapolis next Sunday, who got crushed 34-7 by the Houston Texans. The Browns responded to adversity in the game, now they need to respond to it between games. Despite the one completely unacceptable play, the Browns’ defense did have some film to hang their hats on. The NFL season is long, but it seems a whole lot longer when the team lays an absolute egg in the opening contest.

Pat Shurmur’s reign as head football coach is off to a rocky start.  How rocky will be decided next week in Indianapolis where the Super Bowl is scheduled to be played later this year.  It might as well be the Super Bowl for this Browns team that had such high hopes with such an “easy” schedule to start the year.

———–

Also see, Bengals vs. Browns – First Half Report

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , ,
← Older Comments
  • Stevo

    Correct, they also have Steve Smith and proven RB’s against a questionable defense. ARI had to account for more weapons than the Browns have right now. CIN could load the box to stop Hillis and pressure McCoy.

    I’m just saying I’m not sure what everyone was expecting. Yes, it sucks being a Browns fan today (like most Mondays), but I vowed to give this Front Office time to get it turned around. It is not going to be a quick fix, this team is YOUNG(!), and they are at least 2 yrs away. Most of what happened on Sunday is fixable, without the penalties I think we’re seeing a different outcome.

  • mgbode

    @8 – Ezzie – bravo. sums it up beautifully. Under Mangini, at least we were prepared (perhaps overly so leading to tightness at times). we needed to still have most of that and add in the mentoring that Shurmur’s staff stresses.

    or, we could completely tear out the foundation and start anew. Why does it seem we always pick optionB? i’m not giving up on the team because of 1 loss, but it is a game that we really needed to have positive vibes this season.

    why do we find some of the most ridiculous ways to lose week1 games (helmet toss, 7INT game, etc)?

  • stin4u

    @Stevo – I couldn’t agree with you more. People that were coming here commenting about tempering expectations and saying we aren’t a playoff football team are now the ones outraged that we lost. Look, the number one culprit here is the preseason. Everyone got excited about how this team looked before they played A REGULAR SEASON GAME. People need to discount everything they see before the first snap of the first game, because that is the true barometer of the team. Also, a few other things:

    1. There are zero freebies in the NFL. This was exhibit A.

    2. Cinci has a MORE veteran team, they aren’t breaking in new schemes and systems and first and second year players.

    3. Minus the penalties this team looked light years better than it did under Mangini and Dabol, with LIMITED talent.

    4. The most glaring and frightening thing to take away from yesterday’s game is that we don’t have a receiver worth his weight in grass clippings to throw to. Cinci recognized not to let the TE’s burn them on that last drive like they did all game so they blanketed that middle and left the receivers 1v1 and no one could get open.

    You folks need to give everyone in this situation more time. I don’t get this fire Shurmur crap, they are dealing with rookies on limited learning time in a totally new offense and you all already have your pitch forks out? C’mon. Good teams build and then RELOAD through the draft. That takes more than a couple drafts and six weeks learning a new offense and defense.

  • -bobby-

    I dont think we need to fire Shurmer by any means, and I think theres positives to take on the O side, but we need our guys to look like they care more. Cribbs looked like he cared. I believe Hillis and McCoy care, but outside that? Little was too psyched about laying out a freaking PUNTER (-yes he is a rookie, but sonner rather then later we need him to act like he’s a pro). I like our TEs a lot, but C’Mon Moore, lay out or try to get 2 hands on that ball and its a TD!! I didnt expect the D to play so well, esp after the first few drives- granted they were in no-win situations. With the exception of the last 2 TDs they over-performed from what I thought we’d see. Someone needs to take the TO to prevent the 11-0 play though. Fujita is a veteran leader out there, Jauron and Shurmer have both been around… no reason to save the TOs when your up still.

  • -bobby-

    Also, can we get the RBs running behind JT some more? actually, we did decent going over the tackle on the right side too. Not that we shouldnt run up the middle ever, but sealing the outside, ill take my chances with Hillis against some DBs.

  • stin4u

    @54 – I get the Little thing but that is a double edged sword. If he doesn’t go for that block and the punter shoe-strings Cribbs we’re in the same position today talking about what could have been if only Greg Little had done his job.

    People will call me crazy but I saw enough progress in the first game with such mitigating circumstances that I am encouraged. Of course they made mistakes but for the most part they outplayed their opponent and if not for one crucial mistake made by the defense they probably win that game.

  • jimkanicki

    excuses i’ve heard and why they’re unacceptable:
    * poor o-line (ravens and pats signed FA o-linemen after we learned steinbach was out)
    * offense rusty (shurmur took the last week of pre-season off by sitting 22 starters)
    * bad playcalling (you get what you pay for– shurmur as OC had league lowest YPC)

    what can you say? this was see-able from a mile away.

    holmgren needs to start earning his enormous check because heckert and shurmur are not getting it done right now.

  • jimkanicki

    ^^signed pro-bowl o-lineman

  • B-bo

    Sorry, Stevo, but regardless of one’s expectations of this team going in to 2011 (I’ve been saying 5-11, and that might be generous), fans have every right to be disgusted by the display they were treated to yesterday. Cincinnati is one of the few professional sports franchises that is a bigger mess than the Browns. They started a rookie QB (who gave way to a journeyman) while leaning on a RB who spent the better part of the last week in a jail cell. On the road. If you can’t win that game, then who can you reasonably expect to beat in this league? Carolina is a great example of a team going through all the transitions as well, and they managed to look competitive and competent. I don’t care if it’s week one or week seventeen, there is nothing wrong with fans demanding basic competence from their team of choice. I came into this season knowing patience would be necessary, and willing to have it. But there is no acceptable excuse for the pathetic display put on yesterday.

  • stin4u

    @57 – You can legitimately say that after one game? I think we can all agree Heckert has done better than any other GM thus far since ’99 and Shurmur has coached one game in the NFL has a HC.

  • B-bo

    Yes, the fire Shurmer crowd is absolutely ridiculous after all of one game. And while I miss the disciplined play, I have no issue with Holmgren going out and getting a guy more his style. But this team looked awful in some of the most fundamental areas, and that blame should fall on the coaching staff. No, we weren’t going 16-0 regardless, but you cannot play that poorly against that level of opposition–it’s just not acceptable.

  • Vengeful Pat

    I am okay with the learning process involved here… I’m still pretty upset about losing to the Bengals, who should really be one of the worst teams in the league, but I think you’ve got to allow time for this team to grow. The one thing that I can’t be positive about is our punter. Cut Richmond McGee immediately and give his job to someone else. You have one freaking job as a punter and you have to be able to do that job in all conditions… rain, sleet, snow, hail, gargoyle-attack, it doesn’t f’ing matter, you just have to be able to kick a ball more than 30 yards!! I realize it’s a specialized skill that isn’t easy to do, but at the same time there are at least 50 punters out there who showed in college that they could kick 50-60 yards on a regular basis. Let’s try another one.

  • dood

    Instead of taking the plane to play Indy
    take the bus to a camp for retards
    maybe they’ll learn SOMETHING!

  • stin4u

    @59 – It depends on how you are looking at this situation. That rookie QB gave way to a journeyman because our defensive line blew him up, something we couldn’t do at all the last few years. Benson is one of the better runners in the league and five days in jail isn’t the 18 months or whatever that Vick spent locked up, it’s not like he cant bring a playbook in there and look at it. And, Carolina started the #1 overall pick in the draft behind a healed offensive line, a pro-bowl caliber running back and wide out. Are you seeing many similarities here?

    I don’t disagree that it is acceptable to expect your team to do the fundamentals well, and they did at times. But, teams have games like this, especially with new coaching, schemes, and players.

  • mgbode

    biggest disappointment – adding another ridiculous way to blow a week1 game

    2nd biggest disappointment – Colt having several opportunities before and after “The Defense Brainfart” to take the game by the reigns and not being able to do it.

    3rd biggest disappointment – Hillis and Hardesty both looked to be our best weapons yesterday. So, of course, they were the most underutilized ones as well.

    ————————-

    Really, it’s week1, so in typical Browns fashion we cannot expect much more than chaos and ineptitude. Kudos to the Bengals for taking advantage of the mistakes that the Browns made as we could not take full advantage of their mistakes. Also, their DL was moving the pocket and not allowing passing lanes for Colt to throw through. And, Benson was running like he did in his first season in Cinci. Even when he was struggling to get the YPC in the first 3 quarters, he was putting his shoulders down and driving for what he could (and it eventually broke through late).

    It is hard not to overreact to one game because of the immense buildup to it, but we have to hope that the ridiculous mistakes that were made get corrected and that the brainfarts, penalties, and ineptitude at keeping drives going can be corrected moving forward.

    The good news is that the Colts were one of the worst run defenses in the NFL last year and in week1 the Texans were able to run all over them (without Arian Foster though Ben Tate is no slouch).

    I sincerely hope that Hillis and Hardesty are bigger parts of the gameplan this week as they are our ticket to winning this week and helping us forget week1 a little bit.

  • jimkanicki

    @60 —
    why are we 23M below the cap currently, given the known holes in the lineup?
    what has he done to address the chronic RT problem, now in its 5th year (pashos)?
    why did he burn a draft pick on a FB who is half of vickers?
    why did he burn a draft pick at another position of strength, TE?
    why did he give up three draft picks for a RB who had two knee surgeries in COLLEGE?

    and why does heckert get a free pass in all this?

  • stin4u

    FWIW I do completely agree with everyone calling for the punter’s job. I don’t think there is any excuse for that performance.

  • B-bo

    I see more than enough similarities on the preparation side (new coaches (including Chud!), new schemes, inexperienced QB–and theirs was totally new to the system the run) to justify my core point: this team looked woefully unprepared in some of the most basic aspects. The talent difference means nothing to me, as we all knew this team is, top to bottom, one of the least talented in the league. Had we come out and looked competent but lost, I could be more willing to accept the “growing pains” excuses. But the fact is we didn’t even look NFL-caliber in the fundamentals, and that is why I find this all so disappointing.

  • christopher

    @Stin
    “Cinci has a MORE veteran team, they aren’t breaking in new schemes and systems and first and second year players.”

    uhm, actually they have a new offensive coordinator who also is installing a WCO, a rookie QB and rookie WR….sounds new to me.

    i get where you are coming from with the rest of the core in Benson, Shipley and Simpson being veteran but they are really as new as the Browns.

  • stin4u

    -They’re under the cap because they’re trying to lock up pieces like Thomas, Rubin, and Hillis long-term.
    -He drafted O-linemen in each of his two drafts and added guys recently like Cousins etc.
    -The Marecic pick is still a head scratcher to me but if they say Vickers did not fit into the system I am willing to believe them.
    -Cameron is a guy like Aaron Hernandez who really can work as either a receiver or TE. Plus, this team has enough holes that they literally needed talent everywhere and Ben Watson isn’t exactly a youngster anymore.
    -I couldn’t comment on Hardesty if I wanted to. We haven’t seen him no the field enough, but I feel like that goes both ways, he’s a wildcard in this situation.

    I’m not saying Heckert gets a pass but he’s had two drafts and one SHORTENED offseason….he’s gotten us some obvious impact players and he’s got the track record to inspire at least a little confidence. I think today is all about perspective. Maybe it’s because my expectations for this staff and team weren’t as high as everyone else but I think some of the reaction to that game has been just over the top ridiculous.

  • christopher

    now my big question…what’s more pitiful: the Cleveland Browns home opener loss or the fact that the stadium will be sold out again for the next home game.

    the blind faith the city has in the Browns outrages me in comparison to the Tribe.

    Not to mention the “in game experience” at a Browns game is a joke as compared to that of the Cavs, Tribe, Monsters, Captains, Crushers and Aeros.

    if fans really wanted to send a message about their dissapointment of the team they would simply stop showing up versus blowing up blog message boards and cleveland.com posts.

    ownership and front office could care less what any of us say here as long as they get their tickets and merchandise sold for game day.

  • stin4u

    @Christopher – That is fair enough. I wasn’t aware of that but I guess there is something to be said for retaining the same HC at least, having some of the same philosophy moving forward.

    I guess what I am trying to express is that everything about this team is essentially new, and I just didn’t expect them to come out firing on all cylinders right away. This is a bottom to top rebuild in every sense so my expectations were not exactly high for this season.

  • C-Bus Kevin

    You can’t chalk up all 10 penalties in the first quarter to new coaches and schemes. Really, when you get down to it, the penalties and the no-defense touchdown are the only factors that made Sunday’s performance embarrassing.

    That just looked unprofessional. Imagine if you went to a restaurant, and your food came out raw because the chef failed so fundamentally in the process of cooking your food that he couldn’t figure out how to turn on the oven.

    After a good nights sleep, I am feeling a little better about the defense overall and the offense showed some flashes, but the loss is still disappointing. I know they are trying to save some money under the cap for next year, but the wide receiver issue needs to be adressed. Robo is still starting, and Colt never targets him. If he can’t get open, they need to cut him and move on. Isn’t there anyone available on the free agent market?

  • -bobby-

    @66- I agree with a lot of your points, but to be fair the Browns were at 18 mil the last report I read and I think that was right after the JT extension. So its probably closer to 15 or so. They also know playoffs are not in the picture now, so its smart to be cap flexible until we need some extra money to get a guy to put us over the top. Now why we didnt try to get a guy for a year or 2.. Maybe they didnt want to be a stop-gap?- I dont know.

    I like that we are trying to get the young guys in and find out with they have it or not. In a perfect world, Pinkston makes everyone forget about Steinbach by week 10, and Cousins locks down the RT position by remember what made him a 3rd(?) round pick. Personally, I thought Itd be smart to make PInkston RT after being a T in college, and Cousins has been said to have a future at G… but what do I know.

    I too am perplexed by dumping Vickers, he was one of the most underrated guys here.

    Jordan was picked to take over for Watson in 2 years. He reminds me have a Jimmy Graham whos doing well in NO. I dont mind that because its an attempt to find more playmakers on O.

  • Matt

    I agree with @C-Bus Kevin #73

    Penalties are the same regardless of offensive/defesive scheme. Sloppy play needs to be corrected. Otherwise I thought the team looked better than last year, in general.

  • stin4u

    @71- I fully agree with that statement. I can support the team as much as I want from my couch or a local bar that could use my business more than the Cleveland Browns organization does.

    @72 – I agree, there were a lot of hiccups but there were also positives to be seen as well. And, their receiving corps(e)? is just deplorable. I’m not sure Colt could tell you what number Brian Robiskie wears at this point.

  • christopher

    @Stin

    i totally agree with you in that the Browns are a complete rebuild.

    during preseason and training camps my jaw would hit the table when i heard fans predicting 8-8 or 7-9.

    on what basis were they predicting this on? we have a new coach, new offensive system, new defensive coordinator with an entirely new defensive system, semi-rookie QB, no true WR threat, gaping holes on the right side of the offensive line, our #1 FA acquisition out for the season…i mean the list goes on and on.

    but still, maybe that is just “browns fan” and their complete lack of reality when it comes to the team.

    i sound way too negative for a monday morning. :(

  • C-Bus Kevin

    Also, my family brought up an interesting point after the game. Consider this..

    For as much as we laugh at the Bengals organization, and we wonder why they keep bringing Marvin Lewis back, the team comparison during Lewis’ tenure can be sobering.

    Marvin Lewis Division Titles: 2
    Browns Division Titles: 0

    Don’t forget too…Marvin Lewis and company were one unfortunate knee injury from possibly knocking off the Steelers in the playoffs in 05. The Steelers Won the Super Bowl that year.

    The draft is an equalizer for everyone…so what is under the control of management?

    Answer: coaching changes

    Would the team be better off if they just stuck with one coach for at least 6 to 8 years no matter what?

  • stin4u

    @ Chris – Haha I don’t think it’s necessarily negative, I think it’s just realistic. I would rather have them tear the team apart and put it back together the right way and endure a couple more bad seasons, as opposed to being on this treadmill of a new regime every two years and trying to win by putting a team together piecemeal.

    I think you could make a case for ending up somewhere near .500 this year considering the schedule got much easier than last year, but I heard some people calling for 10-6 and second in the division type records. That just isn’t realistic. I know everyone wants to win now esp after the coaching and QB turnstile this place has been but they need time to build that.

  • mgbode

    i’m confused on Vickers. on one hand, I remember how he opened up some of those holes for Hillis last year and the blocking he did for Cribbs on KR.

    on the other hand, I note how he’s the backup FB in Houston and only played STs from what I can find.

← Older Comments