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Photo: Tracy Boulian/Cleveland.com
Browns fans watched yet another miserable game in this Sunday's loss to the Chicago Bears. The Bears used turnovers and field goals to build a 16-0 first half lead and never looked back. Cleveland's defense showed that they have not given up on this team; however, you must score to win, and the Browns are flat out bad at doing that. The end of the game brought another change at quarterback as Derek Anderson continued to struggle, and Brady Quinn was reinserted at QB for the last series of the game.
3 and Out - Five possessions into this game, I wondered if there would be any 1st downs come the end of the first quarter. The first five drives between the Browns and the Bears all resulted in 3 plays and a punt. The Bears finally broke that streak when they took their 3rd possession down to the Browns' 19 yard line and successfully kicked a 37-yard field goal. The Browns were not satisfied with ending their offensive woes, however, as their first six drives ended in 4 plays or less. The first 3 drives were 3 and out; the next drive was a 1st play interception from Derek Anderson, and the 5th drive was a 4th play fumble between Anderson and Lewis. The fumbled possession was then followed by another 3 and out.
Rob Ryan Packed the Defense a Sack Lunch - Rob Ryan had the defense ready to go today, and if Cleveland had anything close to a capable offense, they would have been in this game. Ryan was scheming all game; Cleveland used blitz packages vigorously and had Jay Cutler and the Bears offense scratching their heads for most of the first three quarters. The Browns' D was bringing constant pressure on Jay Cutler and were forcing him to make quick decisions. Cleveland finished with 4 sacks, 7 QB hits, 4 tackles for a loss, and 4 pass deflections. If the defense can use this game as a stepping stone and actually show some progress after the bye week, that could be the first progression I see out of this new regime. Do not let the 30-6 score fool you; the defense played well and the score could have been much worse if the Browns D did not hold the Bears to three early feild goals. Plus, the defense was on the field 15 more minutes than the Bears D.
First Half Stats and Thoughts - Looking at the numbers does not make this half of football any prettier. The Browns offense had just 61 total yards in the first half and were also 1 for 6 on 3rd down conversions (not the typical recipe for victory). Anderson was a scorching 2 for 9 on his passing attempts for 13 yards. Josh Cribbs did get four first half touches in the offense for a total of 24 yards, which might have been the only positive for the Browns' offense in the first half.
Shanked - The Browns best starting field position all game came off the foot of Bears punter Brad Maynard. After the Browns held the Bears to a 3 and out to start the 3rd quarter, the Bears were forced to punt. Originally, Maynard logged a 45 yard punt, but that was called back on a penalty, and it cost the Bears dearly. The make-up punt sailed just 12 yards off the side of Maynards foot, and the Browns started the drive on the Bears' 30-yard line. Maynard also mis-hit another punt out of bounds for just 25 yards.
Lewis Runs Hard - On the first drive of the 2nd half, Jamal Lewis got the ball 4 times in a row. Lewis gained 29 yards and got the Browns to the goal line. Anderson then called his own number and took a QB keeper in for six. Six points is all the Browns would get because Phil Dawson's extra-point attempt was blocked. Despite Jamal's inspiring drive to start the 2nd half, the Browns only gave him the ball 4 more times for a total of 10 yards.
Turnovers - The Browns were given many opportunities to get back into this game; however, Cleveland forgot to value the football. The Browns committed five turnovers. Three were fumbles, and two were interceptions courtesy of our 'starting today maybe not tomorrow quarterback', Derek Anderson. It is hard to win any game when you do not value the football, but when you turn it over five times you are going to lose 99% of the time.
Anderson's Curtain Call - Hopefully, we have seen Derek Anderson's final act with the Browns, but I have a feeling that is just wishful thinking. Anderson was 6 for 17 on his passing attempts for 67 yards; he also threw 2 interceptions and finished with a 10.5 passer rating. Anderson was then benched for the final possession in favor of Brady Quinn. With Anderson's struggles in the short yardage passing game, and our current offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's infatuation with the dink and dunk passing attack, this change should be permanent. I have seen enough of Derek Anderson to tell you that he is not going to get better in this system.
Back to Quinn - Will Eric Mangini's game of musical quarterbacks go back to Quinn for the start after the bye week? I really can not tell you because I have no clue what this regime is trying to do. I would like to see Quinn play out the rest of the season. He may not give us the best chance to score, but he has only started a handful of games in the NFL. We will never know what he is capable of if we do not give him a fair chance. Now that 70% of the snaps is not a possibility for Quinn and his incentives cannot be reached, I would like to see Quinn. We are 1 and 7...the quarterback is not our only problem, but if I have to watch Derek Anderson for the rest of this season, I might not make it.
Gameball goes to: Rob Ryan. Not only is Ryan the only part of this new regime that I respect, but he is the only one that seems like he is doing anything for the progression of this team. Ryan wants to win as bad as anyone and he knows how bad Clevelanders want it. Ryan had his defense ready to play today and you can expect to see that every Sunday even though the defense knows they can not expect to see much help from the offense.
The Browns won't lose next week... because they are on their bye. They'll look to extend their losing streak in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football when the Baltimore Ravens invade Cleveland.
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