Browns 27, Giants 41 – Browns Start Fast, Finish Last
October 7, 2012Brady Quinn replaces “booed,” injured QB in KC
October 7, 2012In no way do I have the means to defend Pat Shurmur considering the collapse that took place in the Browns game today after getting off to a huge lead. Still, people who want to criticize Pat Shurmur need to do better than hanging Brandon Weeden’s awful second quarter interception on the coach as they seemed to be doing on both sports talk radio stations this evening.1 Either way, fair is fair, and the way I see it, there is plenty of blame to go around – including with Pat Shurmur whose Browns are an abysmal 0-5 – without being off base. And if you want to say the game was lost on that play, I might even agree. Even though Shurmur called the play, he isn’t responsible for all the lack of execution.
So first things first, we need to start with the prior drive. The Browns had the ball after giving up a TD and still leading 14-7, but needing to answer. The Browns drove all the way to the Giants’ 12 yard-line and had a 3rd and 1. The call was a hand-off to Trent Richardson who couldn’t beat penetration by the Giants and lost two yards. Phil Dawson kicked the field goal and the Browns went up 17-7.
The Browns’ defense bent, but didn’t break and they gave up a Giants field goal. Browns 17 – Â Giants 10. And now for the third down that has Pat Shurmur under fire, at least amongst fans.
The Browns drove the ball to the Giants 25, in no small part to a 3rd and 7 conversion that saw Chris Ogbonnaya catch a pass and run for 38 yards. The next time the Browns saw third down, it was 3rd and 1 from the Giants 25.
So, they had run Richardson up the middle and failed, completed a long pass to Ogbonnaya on a 3rd and 7, and now had 3rd and 1. What’s the natural play-call?
I wouldn’t argue with any fans who would prefer Trent Richardson run the ball in that scenario. Preference is one thing. Still, to kill Pat Shurmur for calling a pass play that ended up giving the QB and his receivers plenty of time to complete for at least a yard is ludicrous. It’s a lack of execution plain and simple, and Pat Shurmur (you have to assume, even among his biggest detractors) does at least a little coaching with regard to ball security.
Brandon Weeden had plenty of time. He re-directed traffic sending Josh Gordon inside after the outside wasn’t there. Then he just threw a garbage ball over and behind Josh Gordon, which was subsequently picked off and returned to the Browns’ 40.
It may not have been your preferred play-call, but Pat Shurmur didn’t force it and throw an interception. There were two receivers on that side. I’m not sure what happened on the first routes and reads because I haven’t seen a replay yet, so I’ll let you know on that. Still, even if they were the worst routes in the history of receiving, Brandon Weeden can’t throw the INT there.
One more time. Blame Shurmur for anything you think he is responsible for, but keep it fair, at least. The Browns are 0-5 so there should be plenty of available targets. The overall team record will eventually be his blame, but I think we can raise the level of criticism inside the whistles and outside the box score.
- Mostly callers while I was driving so I’m not sure about the hosts. [↩]
85 Comments
But isn’t his job as head coach to make sure his team executes properly?
That’s why I made the last sentence of the post the way it is…
Pat better figure out something for next week although personally this game sealed whatever little fate he had left IMO. Stick a fork in him ‘cuz he’s done!
But you said, “Even though Shurmur called the play, he isnât responsible for all the lack of execution.” As head coach he IS responsible for that. Whether it’s his QB, OL, RB, or WRs who aren’t executing, then he needs to have his position coaches work on that. He’s the HEAD COACH. The buck stops with him.
When that interception happened, I told my wife the game was over – she thought I was crazy but I wasn’t. Instead of the browns being up 20-10 with 6 minutes left to go, they ended up being down 10 going into the half. The team simply imploded. Of course, you have to acknowlege all defensive injuries.
Are you gonna defend the 2 yard passes on 3rd and 9 too?
Craig, I’m being completely honest here: are you related to Pat? Is he your father-in-law? Neighbor? Life-coach?
Why do you keep doing it? Keep defending him? It’s so silly. You’re a better sports mind than this, but you persist in trying to make him out to be the victim of other unfortunate circumstances.
By the way, this sentence: “Even though Shurmur called the play, he isnât responsible for all the lack of execution.”
Superficially you’re right; but there are two problems with this idea. He is the head coach so, as it has been stated previously, the ‘buck stops there.’
Secondly, he is the final judge in practice; he expects his team to play as they practice. Now, I don’t go to practice and neither do you, but on every team I have ever been on, if we are lazy or dumb in practice, then during the game we reflect those moods. I can’t imagine its very different at every other level.
If the team made similar mistakes as the one Weeden made this week during practice, then Shurmur, as HC, should have noted that and kept running the play until it worked.
Richardson should have been out there, at least, being our most dangerous weapon on offense. It was a combination of bad playcalling and a a poor decision by Weeden that swung the mo’ today.
It didn’t help though…
Are you related to a broken drum?
or the bubble screen to Norwood on 3rd AND 15?!?!? I’m still throwing things in my house because of that call.
Craig, just accept it. You’ll never convince Browns fans to not blame Shurmur for everything. It’s a lost cause at this point.
Haha, it must feel bad to have doubted me when I said Shurmur was a fool after week 1 of the 2011 season and now it’s all coming true.
It’s ok, I forgive you.
Yes, this. You don’t have to run on every 3rd & 1, but at least make the defense think you might. I was expecting the worst as soon as I saw them line up without Richardson.
Disagree 100%. There is absolutely NO good reason to throw the ball in that situation. You’ve already got 3 points in your back pocket. You give the ball to your best playmaker and if he gets it, great…the drive continues. If he doesn’t, kick the FG and go up 20-10….and probably take a lead into the locker room. You DON’T ask your rookie QB to throw a pass to your rookie WR, in the rain to boot.
Sorry…I try to be reasonable and give the benefit of the doubt on a lot of things, but Shurmur lost what little support he had from me on this one. It defies football logic.
Generally not. There’s no “good” play call for 3rd and 15, but there are still some bad ones. I wasn’t a fan of that one either.
Excellent, well said. Craig’s going to soon find himself without a reason to prop Shurmur up anyway, so don’t fret.
In terms of football, you make absolute sense. Dawson is as good as gold; you have three points, give it to your best player by far and see if he can make it happen and extend the drive.
It’s foolishness but I’m not too upset about it anymore. The writing isn’t only on the wall, it’s on the internet, the sky, the television, the radio, on the Roman forum arches…everywhere.
It’s OVER for these guys.
No, it’s just annoying to constantly post the same rant.
Exactly. It’s the head coach’s job to ensure the calls being made play to the strengths of his team and don’t put them in a situation with a high chance of failure.
‘You DON’T ask your rookie QB to throw a pass to your rookie WR, in the rain to boot.’
Pretty sure that’s all they did in Cincinnnati last year. Turned out quite well…
Again, for Trent Richardson not to be on the field there speaks for itself as to the coaching. That was the stupidity of it all. It was a personnel gaffe more than anything else and that’s ALL on Shurmur. Once Richardson came off the field it completely tipped off what the Browns would do in that situation. That made it even more difficult for the ensuing pass play to succeed. Furthermore, by calling for a sprint-out to the right, the Giants only had to defend half the field. Compound that with the short routes and the options Weeden had on a 3rd and 1 became difficult to find.
And Craig, your passive-aggressive bullsh*t defending of Shurmur is growing tiresome. The man sucks as a head coach in this league. Give up the ghost already. You are right the 3rd and 1 mess-up didn’t lose the game, but in the bigger scheme of things he has given us NOTHING in the past fifteen games to make us think he is a viable answer as a head coach. This team is inventing ways to lose games as time goes by. Holmgren effed up. Admit it.
Week 1 of his 1st season and we should feel bad for you jumping to conclusions?
Nope, not at all. Here let me try, ‘Terry Francona is the worst manager in Indians history.’ See how that works? It looks foolish and stupid on my part.
Take the positives out of this one…
1. Weeden has gotten so much better on his deep ball. We have talked about this forever, and from Week 1 to now it is like a different QB. Will only get better. He had a bad game today and still had a 80+ rating. Finally we have a QB get 80+ and we can say it was a bad game…this shows our expectations with him have grown and rightfully so….that is progress.
2. T-Rich is getting very comfortable and more decisive running the football. Will only get better.
3. O-Line is improving.
4. Gordon and Norwood stepped up with no Benjamin and Mass – these four guys can be very good together….making whatever Little brings gravy at this point.
5. Haden comes back, and Skrine can go back to Nickel and Dime where WRs won’t kill him in size. Our d gets a lot better from here on out.
Our defensive line got man handled today after being such a bright spot the first four games of the year. We have seen every “position” do well in different games this year….just not all at once….and that is a sign of a young and developing team. I agree Shurmur needs to go – he is not the leader this team needs – but the overall course is still heading up.
On 3rd and 1 at the opponents 25? Doubt that happened often, if ever. I
am talking about this specific situation, not in general.
There are times to run and times to pass. This was not a time to pass.
If you feel you must, then at least have TRich in the game as a decoy,
for crying out loud.
You have thread hijackers. And then you have website hijackers. I don’t mind healthy criticism, but you’re going on a couple of weeks beaten that drum that Tots is referring to. We get it. Your point has been made.
I, for one, am not blaming Shurmur for “everything”. I am however blaming him for a piss poor situational play call and not having his best player on the field in a crucial situation that ended up being the turning point of the game. Are those things not his responsibility? If they aren’t, then what the hell does he actually DO?
It’s not all Shurmur there’s plenty of room alongside him for Heckert and Holmgren.
Didn’t prop him up. I KILLED him for not going for two earlier in the year. This time I find this criticism to be yawn-worthy. He should have thrown it away at worst. Period.
Can I hang this one on Joe Haden? Because I fully plan to.
I blame everyone…….this team is gunning for 0-16…..what a bunch of losers
Shurmur is a dead man walking
I wish I could like this comment 1000 times
Why is Richardson not on the field on 3rd downs…ever?!
Stop it.
You’re making a common writing mistake here (if A, then B). The 2 don’t are by no means mutually exclusive. It can be an awful throw and an awful playcall at the same time, for the record. And Mumbles Shurmer has a track record of doing crap like this. You have 1 real deal game changer in Trent Richardson, who was feasting on student body lefts. Use him.
Since the Browns should be playing the entire year as we have nothing to lose, Shurmer should have seen the situation as 2 plays to gain 1 yard.
Tell that to the Patriots
You must be new here…Ori not only does this on every Browns articles but will weave it into Cavs, Tribe, Buckeyes, Lake Erie Monsters, Captains, Aeros, Mudhens, Sabres, Red Wings, etc articles as well.
For some reason he thinks because he posts what everyone knew coming in (that Pat wouldn’t make it) he’s a genius.
It’s cute really.
You know, they actually called Shurmer out on that & he demanded that he was, in fact, on the field during the play in question. But he wasn’t. So Slappy Shurmer is also a liar.
Excuse me…everyone? I don’t think so.
History. You’re re-writing it.
I blame it on your migraines đ
How is it thread-hijacking to talk about the coach of the team…in an article about the coach of the team?
It does look foolish, because there is no EVIDENCE to support it, ding-dong.
When you base your judgements about a team on actual team performance, then you don’t sound so silly.
Amen brother/sister.
Yawn-worthy? How exciting!
How does it feel to be able to yawn through a sixteen game season? Is that the compelling and exciting football you expected Holmgren to bring to Cleveland?
But it’s not annoying for Craig to post the same weak/lame support of a dead-duck coach like Shurmur since his first football faux-pas of handing it off to Alex Smith?
“It’s different now.”
Hey, Craig said give him time. Why can’t you just do that?
Kenny, you get it. He is the head coach; he’s supposed to be in charge of the team when they play the game of football.
There aren’t?
Brother.
It’s just (no offense, Craig, as I know it was snap analysis prose) lazy writing to make it such a black & white thing. How racist of you đ
I agree Im not killing Shurmur for Weeden misfiring a pass over someones head. I still cant farhom why he took the 4th down and 4 over 3rd and 8 in the 2nd half. I also cant wrap my head around why he managed to give rhe ball back to NY at the end of the half for a FG. He absolutely has screwed up clock mangmnt at the end of every half/game this season.
Don’t change the subject. I’ve been critical of Shurmur and plenty of other things. My recap attacked Holmgren’s “big jump” prediction too. Stay on topic. This playcall criticism is nothing but second guessing from my viewpoint. That’s what I’m sticking with.
What is all analysis but second-guessing? The first guess, as it were, was the original decision. It’s all just opinion after that….unless….you have facts to support your view.
On-topic? I’m responding to what you wrote. I can’t be more on-topic. You said yawn-worthy. I responded to that.
Don’t write something and then get upset if someone addresses it.
I do give you kudos to addressing Holmgren’s nonsense though.