WaitingForNextYear

The Browns vs. Colts game could have been so much more this year.  I know that is obvious to all Browns fans, but I mean personally.  My wife grew up in Indy and is a die-hard Colts fan.  She doesn’t really care about the Pacers and she doesn’t gravitate toward any college program in any major way, but she is a Colts fan to be sure.  And really, how couldn’t you be?  Having Peyton Manning for them is like having LeBron for us.

Anyway, on with the bullets as they happen.

First Half

• The Browns D got off to a fast start forcing a Joseph Addai fumble, but I couldn’t help but sit on my couch and beg Eric (Easy-E) Wright to just drop down to a knee after recovering it.  As he ran cross-field with the ball, I couldn’t help thinking that he would commit a back-breaking error and give the Colts the ball back.  Ed Reed is about the only guy in the NFL who can justify running the ball back because of his track record.
• Phil Dawson is off to a fast start as the Browns’ offense stalls.  What kind of year is Phil Dawson having?  As of this typing his ESPN stats show him with 24 field goals through 11 games.  Last season, Dawson had 26.  Some of this has to do with the Browns’ inability to score touchdowns, but we can’t blame that on Phil.  He would rather be kicking XP’s too.
• Again, D’Qwell Jackson is playing very well.  Watching Andra Davis try to follow him out to the sidelines on tackles is a joke.  The speed just isn’t there on any of these guys other than Jackson.  I imagine that running a 3/4 defense with 1.5 middle linebackers is like trying to carry two buckets of water with one sprained ankle.
• End of the first quarter and the Colts have tied the Browns with a FG.  Nice play by the Browns in the endzone to break up a touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne that he could have caught.
• As I type the Browns have 3 passes for 11 yards and 12 rushes for 49 yards.  Jamal Lewis has 10 rushes for 41 yards with just under 14 minutes left in the 2nd quarter.  I will have to keep an eye on this stat as the game goes, because I don’t know if the Browns can keep this play selection mix going.  Also, if they have to pass, there is no telling whether Derek Anderson can do it.
• If Terry Pluto is right about DA’s worst quarter always being his first then the Browns are actually brilliant to let Jamal Lewis carry his way through the entire quarter.  Who knows, though?  It could be coincidence.  Nice to know that at least our columnists can figure this stuff out in Cleveland.
• 13 minutes left in the second quarter and we have our first Jerome Harrison sighting.
• Does anyone know anything about this Donte Stallworf character?  Or is it Stallworth?  Stillwell?  I don’t know who he is or what he is doing on this team.  Weird.
• Has any other Browns team seemed more content on scoring field goals?  The Browns’ red zone “efficiency” is complete and utter garbage.  I don’t have any stats to back this up in the game, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Browns are in the bottom 3 in the league.  (Googling)  OK, I was wrong.  The Browns are 4th worst at TD percentage, but they are really good at overall scoring percentage thanks to Phil Dawson.
• Speaking of which, Browns’ offense scores with time of possession on that last drive and Dawson kicks the Browns into the lead at 6-3.  Our boys have one hell of a killer instinct, huh?
• Do you think the Browns have watched any game tape of the Colts in prep for their defensive “gameplan?”  Rushing 4 and not putting pressure on Manning rarely does any good at all.  Between Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez the Colts have no problem waiting for someone to get open.
• Dallas Clark is good, but he just used a great pick on a back judge to catch a first down on 3rd and 6.  I don’t know if he did it on purpose or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised.  These are the wily moves you come to expect from the Colts.
• ESPN is reporting that Crennel needs a “miracle” finish to the season to keep his job.  If I could write articles with unnamed sources, I would be pretty cool.  I could have written this article and claimed to be an expert too.  Did we really need this confirmed by a real unnamed source?
• The Browns defense just made what could be the play of the year for them.  On a goal line stand they knocked the ball away from Peyton Manning.  I expected the previous review to reveal Joseph Addai breaking the plane, and my negativity is expecting this play to reveal that Manning extended the ball over the goal line before he fumbled.  Two plays in a row, and even if it works out for the Browns, I think it is time to have electronic sensors determining goal line plays.  In this day and age, fans shouldn’t have to watch those refs sprint in from the side guessing what those blind men are going to pretend they saw.
• The Browns good play stands and the Browns got the ball back.  Brodney Pool made a great play to knock it away from Manning.  The Browns still need to get a first down so they don’t give the Colts the ball back with enough time to try a field goal.
• Anyone who is booing the Browns for running the ball and making sure that they only give the Colts a few seconds at the 50 yard line is dumb.  The Browns had to do that.  Even if they give up a hail mary here, it was the right move.
• Sean Jones intercepts to end the half and the Browns lead 6-3 in a BARN BURNER.  I will post the second half after the final whistle has blown.

Second Half

• Brandon McDonald is fighting for his playing life just like Romeo is coaching for his coaching career too.  Today he is playing like the flashy guy who rose from obscurity last season as he intercepts a pass from Peyton Manning at the 50 yard line.  Now if only the Browns could make the Colts pay for a mistake.
• (Not talking about Braylon’s catch.  Not talking about Braylon’s catch.)
• Randy Cross just criticized the Browns’ gimmick play with Josh Cribbs in the shotgun formation because it didn’t work.  Putting the ball in Cribbs’ hands on a direct snap isn’t a bad idea even when it doesn’t work.  Maybe if the Browns ran that play 3 times in a row it would be stupid, but on 3rd and 2 while driving toward the red zone when the Browns are horrendous in the red zone?  I have no problem with that.
• Stallworth catches a pass, Zastudil hits a 50+ yard punt and Dawson misses a field goal.  What universe is this?
• I know Vince McMahon’s XFL busted, but what if he had done away with forward progress in addition to fair catches?  Wouldn’t it have been fun to watch that where defensive lines could hold a guy up so that his buddies could swarm to the ball and push him back?
• Even when the Browns get nailed by Manning for 15 yards, I am happy to see the DB’s press up their coverage.  It is frustrating to watch them get beat for 15, but it is worse to see them play loose and give up those six yards too easily.
• Amway advertises now?  And they will identify themselves as the company behind Quixtar?  I thought it was more of a cloak and dagger operation than that.  (cough pyramid cough) what?
• Just an observation, but it has been an awful long while since we have seen Jerome Harrison.
• They just showed a highlight of Antonio Bryant catching a TD pass for Tampa.  Does anyone else get nightmares of Braylon eventually catching lots and lots of touchdowns somewhere else after we finish booing him right out of the city?
• Speaking of booing, DA just got booed for floating a pass to Heiden on a third down.  I think the Browns fans have become immune to intelligence as fans because of all the poor play this year.  At this point, Derek Anderson would have a tough time winning the stadium back.  Especially considering it isn’t a warm weather game.  If we want the Browns to learn their lessons from games like the Bengals last year when DA threw way too much given the conditions, then we should be happy that he is managing the game and handing off a lot.  On top of that, he put the ball out there, made sure it wasn’t an interception.  Yes, it would be nice to convert on a long pass play and go up by more than a touchdown, but you can’t force it with a guy like DA.  (End 3rd Quarter)
• No sooner do I talk about managing the game than DA fumbles the ball and gives away 6 points.  I don’t even think there is a challenging opportunity to say his hand is going forward.  The Browns’ offense shows basically no ability to go down and score.  At one point this crew announced that the Browns hadn’t scored a TD in 7 quarters.  I don’t remember when that was, but it appears that this team won’t break that anytime soon.  Now that the Browns are all of a sudden losing, I am more annoyed that Harrison hasn’t been given the opportunity to run the ball to break a big play.
• The Browns go down by 4 points and come out and immediately start passing the ball.  Two plays, two passes and it brings up 3rd and 2.  Sure they convert to Martin Rucker, but this is exactly the problem with the play selection of the Browns so far this season.  When they go down even by a little bit, they get pass happy.  Hopefully the Browns continue to use their running game trailing by four.  I don’t have confidence in DA to carry the offense on his arm.
• This Browns defense might have trouble getting the ball back.  Peyton Manning and the Colts are masterful at using up the play clock, converting on 3rd downs and letting a game fizzle out without ever giving a team a chance to get back in the game.  Of course they hold and make me look dumb in the middle of typing that bullet.  This is the nature of instantaneous bullets, people.
• It is baffling to me that Romeo Crennel has this much freedom as coach.  Rucker got his first action today because Winslow got hurt.  Jerome Harrison can’t find the field.  Willie McGinest is playing a whole lot.  Where are the young guys who should be showing their stuff in preparation for next season?  How is it that we haven’t seen more of these players?
• If Vegas could pause time and you could bet on the outcome of the last Browns drive with DA at the helm, would you bet on INT, 4th down pass drop by Braylon, or Touchdown?
• Kevin Schaeffer couldn’t have been beaten worse on the play that got DA hurt.  Ken Dorsey is warming up in the bullpen.  Could he be the next Kelly Holcomb?  Could this season get any weirder?  I think I just heard Phil Savage’s phone speed dial Vinny Testaverde.
• Well, I Vegas never would have chosen Ken Dorsey as the one who would throw the final pick, but thar she blows, folks.  Another week, and another dreadful loss.  If you are anything like me, you are so emotionally detached at this point that it didn’t even hurt for a second.

To borrow from Bill Simmons… Ladies and gentleman, I give you the Romeo Crennel era.