Is someone in Berea finally paying attention? Maybe. Maybe not.
A few weeks ago (or maybe just a few columns ago, hard to remember when it comes to Team Drama and its plucky head coach Eric “Sue Sylvester” Mangini--and if you don’t get that reference then you haven’t been tuning into Fox’s show Glee but you should) I wrote that owner Randy Lerner was doing a perfectly miserable job at managing the Cleveland Browns’ brand because of a depleted and overworked public relations staff. Maybe the tide is starting to turn.
On Wednesday, Mangini threw himself on a cross of sorts by essentially admitting that he was wrong for suggesting that the Detroit Lions were deliberately faking injuries to slow down the machine that is these Browns. He didn’t say it that neatly or cleanly, of course. He’s Mangini after all. Everything comes with a qualifier and this time it supposedly was the frustration of losing coming through. And in case you’re wondering, no his original statement didn’t come in the heated moments just after the game ended and yes they came a full day later.
Still, it represented the high water mark for the beleaguered public relations staff of the Browns. When you have a “client” like Mangini a control freak with an alarming commitment to his own instincts and a simultaneous disdain for those of others, getting him to admit anything at all that signifies weakness or wrongness more or less constitutes one of the few victories of the season.
Just don’t believe it. Don’t believe it for a minute. The comments directed toward what is certainly a former friend in Lions head coach Jim Schwartz were the product of calculation not frustration. Mangini holds himself accountable to no one or nothing. If he were a company, his mission statement would read “I’m right, you’re wrong, get out of my face.”
There are at least two theories as to why Mangini reversed course on his public throw-down on the Lions. First, it could be that someone from the public relations staff grew a paid and clued him into the notion that he sounded like a whiner. An alpha male like Mangini can’t afford to let anyone see him sweat, the theory goes, and thus anything that made him look less manly had to be corrected, quickly. If that’s the case, kudos to the miserable wretch in the public relations department that drew that short straw. I hope your resume is up to date.
The second theory, and the one I subscribe to, is that Lerner put him up to it. It’s really the same thing Lerner did to Phil Savage last year after dropping an F-bomb to an emailer after the Buffalo game. You could almost see the gun being pointed at Savage’s head as he made his mea culpa, like a hostage being forced by his captors to film a propaganda statement. The same is true for Mangini. But given his acting experience on The Sopranos, which consisted of him eating pasta and smiling like a loon, he pulled it off much better. At least he didn’t look like he was being forced to go to church, like Savage did.
But maybe there really is a third theory, the one in which Mangini has a rare moment of self-awareness and accountability. It would be nice to think that this was the case. Nice, but this isn’t Fantasy Island. See, the problem with Mangini’s complaining about the Lions has nothing to do with the fact that it made him look like an ass. It had everything to do with the fact that his players picked up on it and carried forward with it.
Pretty soon, the common theme among any player interviewed was that “geez, it sure as heck looked like a lot of injuries were happening at just the right time, just as we were really starting to find our groove” or something like that. From a player’s perspective, then, the loss had little to do with them and far more to do with the dirty, low down, underhanded tricks foisted on them by those wascally wabbits in Detroit.
The first thing that a professional athlete wants and the last thing he needs is someone else to blame for his shortcomings. Watch a professional golfer miss a two foot putt and then walk toward the cup and tap down a make believe spike mark. It’s far easier to blame the miss on a spike mark then nerves.
Athletes like to talk about accountability as if it is the highest order of existence but shy away from it like a teenager avoiding a kiss from his grandmother on the holidays. When Mangini put the notion out there publicly that the Browns didn’t lose the game because of dropped touchdown passes or an inability to stop a rookie quarterback for one of the league’s worst teams from moving 88 yards in less than two minutes with no time outs, it gave the players all the cover they needed to avoid what really should have been a teaching moment. And this team needs all the teaching moments it can get.
It speaks, really, to the larger issues plaguing this franchise, issues that go well beyond Mangini.
For too long under the combined Lerner ownership this franchise has suffered from an abject lack of accountability. Sure, things are tried, statements are made, and processes are developed. When it doesn’t work out, there’s no apology. Fans are told that the next bullet in the barrel is the real thing. It never is.
No one associated with this franchise ever stands up for anything. Lerner can’t bring himself to stand in front of a camera. He claims he’s camera shy, which is fine, but until he gives a reason for anyone to believe any differently, all he’s really saying is that he’s a coward.
From there it flows. Every general manager or coach he’s hired to be his proxy as the face and voice of this franchise ends up explaining the latest mess not in terms of flawed plans but in terms of external factors gone awry. Lines in the sand never get drawn.
Mangini is just the latest paper tiger. He talks about patience and a process but offers nothing concrete that would make a fan think there is any substance to what he says or that he has any inclination to be personally held accountable should he fail. As things crumble around him, it has nothing to do with anything he’s done wrong. It’s all just part of the grand scheme of failing upward toward success. It’s a mindset that ultimately seeps into the psyche of the players.
It’s why the culture in Cleveland never changes. No matter which players float in and out of Berea like driftwood on Lake Erie, whatever fine talk they are given about accountability when they arrive is undercut by a far more lasting impression they are presented of an owner and a coach who shirk accountability themselves.
Showing posts with label Detroit Lions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit Lions. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
A Pecking Order Established
Well, at least neither team played down to their competition. That would have been impossible.
With the NFL’s bottom rung clearly at stake in the bizarro NFL’s version of the anti-Super Bowl, the Cleveland Browns demonstrated that they can be entertaining when the competition is perfunctory. They also demonstrated that they can lose in the most disappointing and heartbreaking fashion after dropping two certain touchdown passes, blowing an early 21-point lead, then a 3-point lead and finally a 6-point lead with no time remaining. Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford tied the game when he hit back up tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a 1-yard touchdown on an untimed play set up by a Hank Poteat interference penalty in the end zone as the time expired. Jason Stafford’s extra point gave the Lions the 38-37 victory.
It was Stafford’s 5th touchdown pass in one of the NFL’s wildest games of the season. Unfortunately it probably had the NFL’s smallest audience of the season as the game was blacked out in Detroit and a perfect weather day probably had most Clevelanders outside doing anything but watching football.
The Lions’ final touchdown came on a furious rally that began with just under two minutes remaining in the game and the Lions out of time outs after burning them during the Browns’ previous series. With the ball on their own 12-yard line following a Reggie Hodges punt, the Browns were protecting the sidelines at the expense of the middle and the Lions moved quickly into Browns territory. But with 8 second remaining and the ball on the Cleveland 32-yard line, the Lions and Stafford had only a Hail Mary pass remaining.
Scrambling furiously Stafford was able to unleash a pass to the end zone that initially was intercepted by Brodney Pool as the clock expired. But Poteat was flagged for the interference penalty giving the Lions that final, untimed play. Though Stafford was hurt on the throw and with back up Daunte Culpepper seemingly entering the game, the Browns called two time outs. It gave Stafford enough time to recover for that final, fateful heart stab of a pass to Pettigrew.
Until then, it looked to be a game that the Browns were poised to win. Now, of course, the NFL’s pecking order is firmly established. Ten games into a meaningless season it’s the Browns in a walk, definitively settling a carry over argument from last season that posited whether the Lions reverse perfect season have happened had they played the Browns. No.
Although the game was certainly a coming out party for Stafford, who hit 26 of his 43 passes for 422 yards and those 5 touchdown passes, it was a coming out party of sorts for Brady Quinn as well. He nearly matched Stafford with 4 touchdown passes of his own and 304 yards passing on a 21-34 day with no interceptions. But in the end it was the two dropped touchdown passes, one by running back Chris Jennings and another by Mohamed Massaquoi, and Quinn and the Browns’ inability to get a key first down with two minutes remaining in the game that allowed the Lions to rally for the victory.
For awhile though, it looked to the Browns’ day, finally. The Browns’ offense, with just 5 touchdowns all season, took on the look of the New England Patriots circa 2007 and Quinn looking every bit like Tom Brady, at least until the end. Sure, it was the Lions defense and if it had been Tom Brady playing the Patriots probably would have had a dozen touchdowns and that final first down, but Quinn at least demonstrated that he can play well against inferior competition.
In what was a magical first quarter for the Browns, Quinn had 3 touchdown passes, a 59 yarder to Mohamed Massaquoi, a 40 yarder Chansi Stuckey and a 6 yarder to Josh Cribbs. Tack on a 44-yard Phil Dawson on the first possession and the Browns had an early 24-3 lead and nearly as many points in the first quarter as they’ve had in the first half of the previous 9 games.
But the Lions and Stafford were also playing against inferior competition and Stafford, like Quinn, showed he can play well in such circumstances. If there was any doubt in that regard it ended on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage when Stafford dumped the ball off to running back Kevin Smith, who turned it into a 63-yard gain that ultimately turned into a 31-yard Jason Hanson field goal. It also put to rest any notion that Browns’ defensive coordinator had somehow performed witchcraft by turning a rag-tag, injured Browns defense into a force. Giving up 38 points and 473 net yards to the Lions, a team with but one victory before Sunday, should put that talk to rest.
After the Browns built their huge first quarter lead, Stafford and the Lions decided it was time to punch in for the day. A dump pass to running back Aaron Brown turned into a 26-yard touchdown. Stafford then hit Smith for a 25-yard touchdown and for good measure hit receiver Calvin Johnson on a 75-yard touchdown that helped tie the score. That pass was the culmination of a 6-play 94-yard drive that took just 2:34 to complete.
As entertaining as that all was, it didn’t compare to the Browns’ final drive of the first half, which was an adventure to say the least. Taking over with just 5 minutes remaining in the half, Quinn moved the team from the Browns’ 20 to Detroit 11. It led to a 29-yard Dawson field goal that gave the Browns a 27-24 lead at half, but that is hardly the whole story.
The drive featured the Browns eschewing a long field goal and going for a first down on 4th and 4 from the Detroit 29. But then the Browns strangely wasted nothing but time thereafter. On third down, Quinn looked to have another touchdown pass as he threw perfectly to Jennings streaking down the right sideline. Jennings let it go right through his hands. Then on 4th and 9 from the Detroit 21, the Browns lined up for a field goal only to have Dawson take the snap directly and pass to Mike Furrey for an 11 yard gain. But with only 6 seconds remaining, the Browns then kicked the field goal. A successful fake field goal followed by an actual field goal. I doubt you’ll see that again.
After the teams traded possessions to open the third quarter, the Lions took a 31-27 lead on a 1-yard pass from Stafford to tight end Will Heller. It was the culmination of a 10 play, 84-yard methodical drive, the key play of which was a Stafford 30-yard pass to Johnson that got the ball to the Browns’ 1-yard line.
The Browns couldn’t respond on their next series though in fairness to Quinn, Massaquoi dropped what looked to be a touchdown on a long pass down the middle. It was the second dropped touchdown pass of the game, the first coming by Jennings on that last drive before the half.
But at least the Browns found another way to score. With Hodge’s punt landing inside the 5-yard line and a Detroit holding penalty on the return, the Lions were pushed back to their own 2-yard line. A false start pushed it back to the Detroit 1. After a first down on a pass interference, the Browns defense swarmed Stafford in the end zone. He was called for intentional grounding giving the Browns a safety and making the score 31-29. Importantly, it also gave the Browns the ball back as the third quarter ended. But Quinn and the Browns couldn’t respond.
That would have to wait until their next possession. Starting at their own 34 yard line, the Browns got what looked to be the go-ahead touchdown with Quinn engineering a plodding but impressive 15 play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 2-yard pass to tight end Michael Gaines for the touchdown. The Browns then successfully converted for two points on a direct snap to running back Jamal Lewis that pushed the lead to 37-31 with under 6 minutes to play.
Dawson then made things interesting by kicking the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff. It gave Detroit the ball at its own 40-yard line. With the ball just shy of the 50-yard line and Detroit facing a 4th and 1, head coach Jim Schwartz had Stafford sneak the ball up the middle. Stafford made it just by the nose of the ball. But two plays later Stafford threw deep into triple coverage to Johnson and Pool jumped high in the end zone to pick off the pass.
Unfortunately for the Browns there was still 3:40 left to play. A team that’s had trouble moving the ball all season, it was almost like a worst case scenario. The Browns were able to get one first down but needed another to avoid what turned into the game winning rally by the Lions. They came up short and with it lost the game.
But say this for both the Browns and the Lions. Given a chance to be boring and ineffective, the teams used each other’s ineptitude to great advantage in giving fans of both teams the most entertaining game of the season. One team was always going to come up short and it really matters very little in this instance that it was the Browns. Both teams are at the bottom of the heap anyway and a victory by either isn’t going to change that fact.
What will change, though, are the fortunes of the Lions, if not now then soon anyway. Stafford has grown considerably over the season and Johnson is the kind of receiver Braylon Edwards always wanted to be. They need a credible defense. Sound familiar?
The Browns are a little further behind. They don’t have anyone on the roster the caliber of Johnson and though Quinn played well and showed great leadership and an ability to throw down field, there probably aren’t too many head coaches that would choose him over Stafford at the moment. The Lions, too, seem better situated at running back with Smith while Lewis is playing out the string and Jennings has quite a ways to go.
The Browns next head to Cincinnati and then are home against San Diego and then Pittsburgh. It looks to be a long three weeks.
With the NFL’s bottom rung clearly at stake in the bizarro NFL’s version of the anti-Super Bowl, the Cleveland Browns demonstrated that they can be entertaining when the competition is perfunctory. They also demonstrated that they can lose in the most disappointing and heartbreaking fashion after dropping two certain touchdown passes, blowing an early 21-point lead, then a 3-point lead and finally a 6-point lead with no time remaining. Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford tied the game when he hit back up tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a 1-yard touchdown on an untimed play set up by a Hank Poteat interference penalty in the end zone as the time expired. Jason Stafford’s extra point gave the Lions the 38-37 victory.
It was Stafford’s 5th touchdown pass in one of the NFL’s wildest games of the season. Unfortunately it probably had the NFL’s smallest audience of the season as the game was blacked out in Detroit and a perfect weather day probably had most Clevelanders outside doing anything but watching football.
The Lions’ final touchdown came on a furious rally that began with just under two minutes remaining in the game and the Lions out of time outs after burning them during the Browns’ previous series. With the ball on their own 12-yard line following a Reggie Hodges punt, the Browns were protecting the sidelines at the expense of the middle and the Lions moved quickly into Browns territory. But with 8 second remaining and the ball on the Cleveland 32-yard line, the Lions and Stafford had only a Hail Mary pass remaining.
Scrambling furiously Stafford was able to unleash a pass to the end zone that initially was intercepted by Brodney Pool as the clock expired. But Poteat was flagged for the interference penalty giving the Lions that final, untimed play. Though Stafford was hurt on the throw and with back up Daunte Culpepper seemingly entering the game, the Browns called two time outs. It gave Stafford enough time to recover for that final, fateful heart stab of a pass to Pettigrew.
Until then, it looked to be a game that the Browns were poised to win. Now, of course, the NFL’s pecking order is firmly established. Ten games into a meaningless season it’s the Browns in a walk, definitively settling a carry over argument from last season that posited whether the Lions reverse perfect season have happened had they played the Browns. No.
Although the game was certainly a coming out party for Stafford, who hit 26 of his 43 passes for 422 yards and those 5 touchdown passes, it was a coming out party of sorts for Brady Quinn as well. He nearly matched Stafford with 4 touchdown passes of his own and 304 yards passing on a 21-34 day with no interceptions. But in the end it was the two dropped touchdown passes, one by running back Chris Jennings and another by Mohamed Massaquoi, and Quinn and the Browns’ inability to get a key first down with two minutes remaining in the game that allowed the Lions to rally for the victory.
For awhile though, it looked to the Browns’ day, finally. The Browns’ offense, with just 5 touchdowns all season, took on the look of the New England Patriots circa 2007 and Quinn looking every bit like Tom Brady, at least until the end. Sure, it was the Lions defense and if it had been Tom Brady playing the Patriots probably would have had a dozen touchdowns and that final first down, but Quinn at least demonstrated that he can play well against inferior competition.
In what was a magical first quarter for the Browns, Quinn had 3 touchdown passes, a 59 yarder to Mohamed Massaquoi, a 40 yarder Chansi Stuckey and a 6 yarder to Josh Cribbs. Tack on a 44-yard Phil Dawson on the first possession and the Browns had an early 24-3 lead and nearly as many points in the first quarter as they’ve had in the first half of the previous 9 games.
But the Lions and Stafford were also playing against inferior competition and Stafford, like Quinn, showed he can play well in such circumstances. If there was any doubt in that regard it ended on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage when Stafford dumped the ball off to running back Kevin Smith, who turned it into a 63-yard gain that ultimately turned into a 31-yard Jason Hanson field goal. It also put to rest any notion that Browns’ defensive coordinator had somehow performed witchcraft by turning a rag-tag, injured Browns defense into a force. Giving up 38 points and 473 net yards to the Lions, a team with but one victory before Sunday, should put that talk to rest.
After the Browns built their huge first quarter lead, Stafford and the Lions decided it was time to punch in for the day. A dump pass to running back Aaron Brown turned into a 26-yard touchdown. Stafford then hit Smith for a 25-yard touchdown and for good measure hit receiver Calvin Johnson on a 75-yard touchdown that helped tie the score. That pass was the culmination of a 6-play 94-yard drive that took just 2:34 to complete.
As entertaining as that all was, it didn’t compare to the Browns’ final drive of the first half, which was an adventure to say the least. Taking over with just 5 minutes remaining in the half, Quinn moved the team from the Browns’ 20 to Detroit 11. It led to a 29-yard Dawson field goal that gave the Browns a 27-24 lead at half, but that is hardly the whole story.
The drive featured the Browns eschewing a long field goal and going for a first down on 4th and 4 from the Detroit 29. But then the Browns strangely wasted nothing but time thereafter. On third down, Quinn looked to have another touchdown pass as he threw perfectly to Jennings streaking down the right sideline. Jennings let it go right through his hands. Then on 4th and 9 from the Detroit 21, the Browns lined up for a field goal only to have Dawson take the snap directly and pass to Mike Furrey for an 11 yard gain. But with only 6 seconds remaining, the Browns then kicked the field goal. A successful fake field goal followed by an actual field goal. I doubt you’ll see that again.
After the teams traded possessions to open the third quarter, the Lions took a 31-27 lead on a 1-yard pass from Stafford to tight end Will Heller. It was the culmination of a 10 play, 84-yard methodical drive, the key play of which was a Stafford 30-yard pass to Johnson that got the ball to the Browns’ 1-yard line.
The Browns couldn’t respond on their next series though in fairness to Quinn, Massaquoi dropped what looked to be a touchdown on a long pass down the middle. It was the second dropped touchdown pass of the game, the first coming by Jennings on that last drive before the half.
But at least the Browns found another way to score. With Hodge’s punt landing inside the 5-yard line and a Detroit holding penalty on the return, the Lions were pushed back to their own 2-yard line. A false start pushed it back to the Detroit 1. After a first down on a pass interference, the Browns defense swarmed Stafford in the end zone. He was called for intentional grounding giving the Browns a safety and making the score 31-29. Importantly, it also gave the Browns the ball back as the third quarter ended. But Quinn and the Browns couldn’t respond.
That would have to wait until their next possession. Starting at their own 34 yard line, the Browns got what looked to be the go-ahead touchdown with Quinn engineering a plodding but impressive 15 play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 2-yard pass to tight end Michael Gaines for the touchdown. The Browns then successfully converted for two points on a direct snap to running back Jamal Lewis that pushed the lead to 37-31 with under 6 minutes to play.
Dawson then made things interesting by kicking the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff. It gave Detroit the ball at its own 40-yard line. With the ball just shy of the 50-yard line and Detroit facing a 4th and 1, head coach Jim Schwartz had Stafford sneak the ball up the middle. Stafford made it just by the nose of the ball. But two plays later Stafford threw deep into triple coverage to Johnson and Pool jumped high in the end zone to pick off the pass.
Unfortunately for the Browns there was still 3:40 left to play. A team that’s had trouble moving the ball all season, it was almost like a worst case scenario. The Browns were able to get one first down but needed another to avoid what turned into the game winning rally by the Lions. They came up short and with it lost the game.
But say this for both the Browns and the Lions. Given a chance to be boring and ineffective, the teams used each other’s ineptitude to great advantage in giving fans of both teams the most entertaining game of the season. One team was always going to come up short and it really matters very little in this instance that it was the Browns. Both teams are at the bottom of the heap anyway and a victory by either isn’t going to change that fact.
What will change, though, are the fortunes of the Lions, if not now then soon anyway. Stafford has grown considerably over the season and Johnson is the kind of receiver Braylon Edwards always wanted to be. They need a credible defense. Sound familiar?
The Browns are a little further behind. They don’t have anyone on the roster the caliber of Johnson and though Quinn played well and showed great leadership and an ability to throw down field, there probably aren’t too many head coaches that would choose him over Stafford at the moment. The Lions, too, seem better situated at running back with Smith while Lewis is playing out the string and Jennings has quite a ways to go.
The Browns next head to Cincinnati and then are home against San Diego and then Pittsburgh. It looks to be a long three weeks.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Grabbing the Wheel
When you’re a team that’s been down as long as the Cleveland Browns have, almost any small victory is welcome. On Saturday night against as woeful of a team as exists in professional football, the Detroit Lions, the Browns finally gave their fans something more than just a measly small victory; they went out and won the game. In doing so the Browns proved that as bad as things are, this isn’t Detroit, and that’s not just a statement on the economy.
Surely this wasn’t a classic in any sense of the work. But on the pecking order that is the NFL, the Browns did more than enough to demonstrate that they may be near the bottom but it’s still a long drop down from there to the Lions. Dominating the Lions in about every way you can dominate a bad team, the Browns gave their fans and the Browns’ front office enough hope to think that at least they won’t struggle to sell out next week’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
To most observers, Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson has played himself back into a quarterback competition that he was supposedly losing to Brady Quinn. While Anderson was mostly sharp, his play all but confirmed why it’s nearly impossible to commit to him full time.
Looking sharp initially, as he tends to when he plays at home, Anderson came out and led the team to its first touchdown in 9 months. Both Anderson and the drive he led were so efficient and effortless it almost made you forget how much this team has struggled just to get first downs. Anderson hit on his first pass, a 24-yarder to Mohamed Massequoi. Three plays later he hit Josh Cribbs for another 20 yards followed up by 14-yard pass to Michael Furrey. In between and to finish it off, Jamal Lewis ran for 15 yards, the last four for the touchdown.
If Anderson’s game would have ended there, the so-called quarterback competition would have had a new front runner. But at the end of the first half, the dark side of Anderson was on full display. Following a Detroit fumble with about 50 seconds remaining, Anderson and the Browns took over at their own 28 yard line. With three time outs remaining it was more than enough time to get the team into field goal range.
But all that ended very quickly as Anderson floated a 10-yard pass over the head of running back James Davis that was easily intercepted. It lead to a last second field goal for the Lions and was their only bright spot of the half.
For as well as Anderson played otherwise, he looked flummoxed running the hurry-up offense. In fairness, he had been removed earlier in the quarter in favor of Quinn, but it also wasn’t as if he had been sitting around for hours. Still, it wasn’t rustiness that caused the interception; it was Anderson’s puzzling lack of touch on short passes. Earlier in the quarter he had missed receiver Braylon Edwards on a simple out, firing the ball from just a few yards away when the situation called for a less aggressive pass.
It is this kind of unevenness in Anderson’s game that makes it difficult to commit to him. Arguably a player like Brett Favre has the same kind of inconsistency, especially late in his career. But he is Brett Favre. Anderson, on the other hand, doesn’t have the resume to constantly get away with the same kind of bad passes and bad decisions.
This is probably Quinn’s single-biggest selling point.
A coach like Eric Mangini is never going to be considered a gambler. Philosophically he is about managing the game and the circumstances. He’s far more comfortable playing ball control and shortening a game than taking unnecessary chances that can help a game spiral out of control. In that sense, he’s not unlike Jim Tressel at Ohio State.
That’s Mangini on his best days. Given what is obvious about this year’s team, if it is going to have even a modicum of success it will need to play nearly perfect every game. The team doesn’t have enough talent to overcome its own missteps. This is where Quinn better fits the Mangini profile. He takes far less risks with the ball and he can consistently hit the intermediate passes that Anderson cannot.
The long pass may be what fans like to see, but the bread and butter play for any quarterback, including Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, to name just a few, is the shorter routes. Football, particularly the NFL brand, places a premium on field position. Coaches know that they aren’t going to be successful having to constantly go 80 yards to score. If a drive is going to sputter, better it be done at your own 42 yard line than your own 26. A punt pins the opposing team back and if your defense can hold, your next drive will be shorter and hence its chance of resulting in points enhanced.
That’s why Anderson is going to struggle, under Mangini or nearly any other coach. His personal bread and butter is the long pass. His touch on short passes is as suspect as any quarterback you’re likely to see. Too many times he kills drives with interceptions and incompletions simply because he cannot hit that little pass. As good as Anderson looked overall on Saturday, he did nothing to alleviate the concerns about this part of his game.
At the halfway point of the preseason, there’s simply no way of knowing who this team’s starting quarterback will be on September 13th against the Minnesota Vikings. It’s understandable even if detrimental.
Anderson is a tease of major proportions. He’s like a rogue husband. You never know if he’s on his way home from the office or is about to call and say he’s running late, again. There goes another dinner ruined. Quinn, on the other hand, is the reliable steady. He is where he says he’ll be, home for dinner and not out carousing.
The problem with this team is that it needs both kinds of personalities at the moment. There is very little swagger to it, understandably, but a little wouldn’t hurt. There also isn’t enough consistency and reliability. It really is that box of chocolates.
Heading into the Vikings game, the focus is going to be on a quarterback, but it won’t be either Anderson or Quinn. It will be on Favre, facing his first real test since his latest grandstanding, it’s all about me un-retirement. All that does is present the perfect time for either Quinn or Anderson to step forward and steal the spotlight and with it, the starting job on this team. Locked in a battle that neither is clearly leading, eventually someone has to grab the steering wheel and drive.
Surely this wasn’t a classic in any sense of the work. But on the pecking order that is the NFL, the Browns did more than enough to demonstrate that they may be near the bottom but it’s still a long drop down from there to the Lions. Dominating the Lions in about every way you can dominate a bad team, the Browns gave their fans and the Browns’ front office enough hope to think that at least they won’t struggle to sell out next week’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
To most observers, Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson has played himself back into a quarterback competition that he was supposedly losing to Brady Quinn. While Anderson was mostly sharp, his play all but confirmed why it’s nearly impossible to commit to him full time.
Looking sharp initially, as he tends to when he plays at home, Anderson came out and led the team to its first touchdown in 9 months. Both Anderson and the drive he led were so efficient and effortless it almost made you forget how much this team has struggled just to get first downs. Anderson hit on his first pass, a 24-yarder to Mohamed Massequoi. Three plays later he hit Josh Cribbs for another 20 yards followed up by 14-yard pass to Michael Furrey. In between and to finish it off, Jamal Lewis ran for 15 yards, the last four for the touchdown.
If Anderson’s game would have ended there, the so-called quarterback competition would have had a new front runner. But at the end of the first half, the dark side of Anderson was on full display. Following a Detroit fumble with about 50 seconds remaining, Anderson and the Browns took over at their own 28 yard line. With three time outs remaining it was more than enough time to get the team into field goal range.
But all that ended very quickly as Anderson floated a 10-yard pass over the head of running back James Davis that was easily intercepted. It lead to a last second field goal for the Lions and was their only bright spot of the half.
For as well as Anderson played otherwise, he looked flummoxed running the hurry-up offense. In fairness, he had been removed earlier in the quarter in favor of Quinn, but it also wasn’t as if he had been sitting around for hours. Still, it wasn’t rustiness that caused the interception; it was Anderson’s puzzling lack of touch on short passes. Earlier in the quarter he had missed receiver Braylon Edwards on a simple out, firing the ball from just a few yards away when the situation called for a less aggressive pass.
It is this kind of unevenness in Anderson’s game that makes it difficult to commit to him. Arguably a player like Brett Favre has the same kind of inconsistency, especially late in his career. But he is Brett Favre. Anderson, on the other hand, doesn’t have the resume to constantly get away with the same kind of bad passes and bad decisions.
This is probably Quinn’s single-biggest selling point.
A coach like Eric Mangini is never going to be considered a gambler. Philosophically he is about managing the game and the circumstances. He’s far more comfortable playing ball control and shortening a game than taking unnecessary chances that can help a game spiral out of control. In that sense, he’s not unlike Jim Tressel at Ohio State.
That’s Mangini on his best days. Given what is obvious about this year’s team, if it is going to have even a modicum of success it will need to play nearly perfect every game. The team doesn’t have enough talent to overcome its own missteps. This is where Quinn better fits the Mangini profile. He takes far less risks with the ball and he can consistently hit the intermediate passes that Anderson cannot.
The long pass may be what fans like to see, but the bread and butter play for any quarterback, including Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, to name just a few, is the shorter routes. Football, particularly the NFL brand, places a premium on field position. Coaches know that they aren’t going to be successful having to constantly go 80 yards to score. If a drive is going to sputter, better it be done at your own 42 yard line than your own 26. A punt pins the opposing team back and if your defense can hold, your next drive will be shorter and hence its chance of resulting in points enhanced.
That’s why Anderson is going to struggle, under Mangini or nearly any other coach. His personal bread and butter is the long pass. His touch on short passes is as suspect as any quarterback you’re likely to see. Too many times he kills drives with interceptions and incompletions simply because he cannot hit that little pass. As good as Anderson looked overall on Saturday, he did nothing to alleviate the concerns about this part of his game.
At the halfway point of the preseason, there’s simply no way of knowing who this team’s starting quarterback will be on September 13th against the Minnesota Vikings. It’s understandable even if detrimental.
Anderson is a tease of major proportions. He’s like a rogue husband. You never know if he’s on his way home from the office or is about to call and say he’s running late, again. There goes another dinner ruined. Quinn, on the other hand, is the reliable steady. He is where he says he’ll be, home for dinner and not out carousing.
The problem with this team is that it needs both kinds of personalities at the moment. There is very little swagger to it, understandably, but a little wouldn’t hurt. There also isn’t enough consistency and reliability. It really is that box of chocolates.
Heading into the Vikings game, the focus is going to be on a quarterback, but it won’t be either Anderson or Quinn. It will be on Favre, facing his first real test since his latest grandstanding, it’s all about me un-retirement. All that does is present the perfect time for either Quinn or Anderson to step forward and steal the spotlight and with it, the starting job on this team. Locked in a battle that neither is clearly leading, eventually someone has to grab the steering wheel and drive.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Struggling in Detroit
If the third preseason game is supposed to be a dress rehearsal for all that’s to come in the regular season then this much is certain: the Cleveland Browns aren’t ready. They are really, really not ready. Struggling on offense and being over accommodating on third down on defense, the Browns’ were again outplayed on both sides of the ball on their way to losing their third preseason game, this time a 26-6 hobbling at the hands of the Detroit Lions. Aesthetically, the only significant difference between this game and the disaster five days earlier against the New York Giants is that the Lions aren’t a Super Bowl caliber team. Not even close.
The game was the much hyped debut of Browns’ backup quarterback Brady Quinn. If there ends up being a quarterback controversy on this team, it won’t be as a result of this game. Quinn struggled in the same way that Derek Anderson usually struggles on the road. At least Quinn showed some poise. Most of the rest of the team couldn’t even make that claim, outside of perhaps defensive lineman Shaun Rogers who was making his first trip back to Detroit since being acquired by the Browns in the off season and kicker Phil Dawson.
To a certain extent the struggles were hardly unexpected. The Browns were playing their second game in five days and were missing not only Anderson, but also starting running back Jamal Lewis, starting receiver Braylon Edwards and kick returner Josh Cribbs and that was just on offense. Brodney Pool, Sean Jones and Antwan Peek (who has missed all of preseason) weren’t available to the defense either.
Given all that was missing, and given the whooping the starters took earlier in the week, it seemed that all the elements would coalesce to create something much closer to a controlled scrimmage than an actual game. It wasn’t even that entertaining. Pity the poor Lions fans that decided to waste their Saturday afternoon inside Ford Field.
If Lions’ quarterback Jon Kitna had watched any film on the Browns first two preseason games, he had to be drooling at the prospect of padding his own stats against a porous Browns defensive secondary. And that was before Pool and Jones were declared out for the game. Maybe that’s why Kitna and the Lions came out throwing, eschewing a huddle and forcing the Browns to play them straight up.
Though the defense was essentially up to its old trick of bending far into the other team’s territory, it was doing it in a mostly atypical way, at least in contrast to previous years. The defensive line, anchored by Shaun Rogers, played as advertised. Unfortunately, though, so did the defensive backfield, at least for as long as the Lions kept in their key offensive starters, which was all of two series. But that was plenty for the Lions, who were able to run up two quick Dave Rayner field goals.
The Lions’ defense was hardly as accommodating to Quinn. In three straight series, the Browns were three and out. In all, they gained 19 yards in nine plays covering just over one quarter of play. You did have to admire the moxie of Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski though. He unleashed Quinn on his very first play as a starter, calling for a long pass at former Browns’ defensive back Leigh Bodden. The pass to Donte Stallworth was incomplete, due mostly to a defensive holding penalty on former Akron Zips player Dwight Smith. Still, the thought was good. The execution was lacking, which was really the predominant theme throughout.
Quinn’s third possession was particularly frustrating because the Browns started inside Lions territory. He hit tight end Kellen Winslow on a quick hitter on first down, but a Jerome Harrison run went nowhere. On third down Quinn was under pressure and couldn’t connect. All told, in slightly more than one quarter of play, the Browns ran nine offensive plays for 19 yards.
The Lions had no such struggles. Not only did Kitna have his way, mostly, with the Browns’ starters, so did backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky. All he did in his second possession was move the Lions 80 yards in five plays. For good measure, Orlovsky made the key block on the final play of that drive, a 35-yard run by Kevin Smith, taking out three Browns’ players in the process.
By the time the score stood 13-0, Browns’ starters were once again in the now familiar position of hanging their heads. Fortunately, the fact that the Lions aren’t the Giants is what kept the game relatively close. Quinn eventually was able to find some semblance of rhythm just not enough. After finding their way to first and goal at the Lions’ eight-yard line, the offense just as suddenly found itself third and goal from the Lions’ 21 as a result of a Winslow holding penalty on a pass to Stallworth, and two incomplete passes. It led to a Phil Dawson 39-yard field goal.
On their next possession, the Browns moved the score to within a touchdown thanks to a 53-yard field goal by Dawson. The problem was that settling for a 53-yard field goal when you start the drive inside the other team’s territory isn’t much of an accomplishment. The Lions meanwhile ran a mostly effective two-minute drill to close out the half and pushed the score back to 10 on another Rayner field goal.
Quinn’s only possession of the second half was essentially a rerun of the two possessions that preceded it—a little promise a little frustration. Quinn looked sharp initially but couldn’t connect on two short passes, one to Stalloworth and the other to Harrison on fourth and two that ultimately doomed the opening drive of the half. The Browns were forced to punt.
The Lions, again, didn’t feel so constrained. Orlovsky, again moving the ball mostly at will, had the chance to effectively put the game out of reach had Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto felt so inclined. Instead, with the ball resting at the Browns’ 17-yard line, Colletto called for three straight run plays. The Lions had to settle for Rayner’s fourth field goal and a 13-point lead. It effectively put the game out of reach anyway. For good measure, Orlovsky made sure it was the case by following that up with a five-play 69-yard touchdown drive for the Lions’ final score.
When Quinn’s game ended, the box score will show that he went 14-24 for 106 yards and no interceptions, though the Lions were close on at least two occasions. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t sponge-worthy either. He also didn’t have any touchdowns and never really came close on that either. If nothing else Quinn’s performance demonstrated the underlying importance of both Lewis and Edwards to the offense. Without those two key playmakers, the Browns were forced to rely far too much on the inexperienced Quinn. It showed.
As for the defense, it was hard to say that it suffered as much the impact of losing two of its starters. With or without Pool and Jones, the defensive backfield proved quite capable of giving up huge chunks of yardage to quarterbacks, both good and mediocre. This week’s perpetrator was Orlovsky, a career backup playing not so much for his job but because the Lions are so thin at the position. In all, the Lions had 257 yards through the air and, with their starters in, seemed to complete every third down they really needed. Certain trends, apparently, are harder to break than others.
The Browns now find themselves winless in the preseason, which, frankly, is the least of the problems. Success in the preseason is as overrated as failure. The larger issue is what this preseason has revealed thus far about the defense and how far it needs to go to be credible. As expected, defensive coordinator Mel Tucker tried a variety of blitzes early on to disrupt both Kitna’s and Orlovsky’s rhythm. It didn’t work often enough to be effective. It’s downright scary to think how it might fare against Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys. Heck, it’s scary to think how they might fare against Jessica Simpson and the Dallas Cowboys.
Thankfully the preseason ends this Thursday at home against Chicago. It will give the Browns the nine days they’ll need to both heal and figure out exactly how to stop anyone on third down. They better use the time effectively.
The game was the much hyped debut of Browns’ backup quarterback Brady Quinn. If there ends up being a quarterback controversy on this team, it won’t be as a result of this game. Quinn struggled in the same way that Derek Anderson usually struggles on the road. At least Quinn showed some poise. Most of the rest of the team couldn’t even make that claim, outside of perhaps defensive lineman Shaun Rogers who was making his first trip back to Detroit since being acquired by the Browns in the off season and kicker Phil Dawson.
To a certain extent the struggles were hardly unexpected. The Browns were playing their second game in five days and were missing not only Anderson, but also starting running back Jamal Lewis, starting receiver Braylon Edwards and kick returner Josh Cribbs and that was just on offense. Brodney Pool, Sean Jones and Antwan Peek (who has missed all of preseason) weren’t available to the defense either.
Given all that was missing, and given the whooping the starters took earlier in the week, it seemed that all the elements would coalesce to create something much closer to a controlled scrimmage than an actual game. It wasn’t even that entertaining. Pity the poor Lions fans that decided to waste their Saturday afternoon inside Ford Field.
If Lions’ quarterback Jon Kitna had watched any film on the Browns first two preseason games, he had to be drooling at the prospect of padding his own stats against a porous Browns defensive secondary. And that was before Pool and Jones were declared out for the game. Maybe that’s why Kitna and the Lions came out throwing, eschewing a huddle and forcing the Browns to play them straight up.
Though the defense was essentially up to its old trick of bending far into the other team’s territory, it was doing it in a mostly atypical way, at least in contrast to previous years. The defensive line, anchored by Shaun Rogers, played as advertised. Unfortunately, though, so did the defensive backfield, at least for as long as the Lions kept in their key offensive starters, which was all of two series. But that was plenty for the Lions, who were able to run up two quick Dave Rayner field goals.
The Lions’ defense was hardly as accommodating to Quinn. In three straight series, the Browns were three and out. In all, they gained 19 yards in nine plays covering just over one quarter of play. You did have to admire the moxie of Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski though. He unleashed Quinn on his very first play as a starter, calling for a long pass at former Browns’ defensive back Leigh Bodden. The pass to Donte Stallworth was incomplete, due mostly to a defensive holding penalty on former Akron Zips player Dwight Smith. Still, the thought was good. The execution was lacking, which was really the predominant theme throughout.
Quinn’s third possession was particularly frustrating because the Browns started inside Lions territory. He hit tight end Kellen Winslow on a quick hitter on first down, but a Jerome Harrison run went nowhere. On third down Quinn was under pressure and couldn’t connect. All told, in slightly more than one quarter of play, the Browns ran nine offensive plays for 19 yards.
The Lions had no such struggles. Not only did Kitna have his way, mostly, with the Browns’ starters, so did backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky. All he did in his second possession was move the Lions 80 yards in five plays. For good measure, Orlovsky made the key block on the final play of that drive, a 35-yard run by Kevin Smith, taking out three Browns’ players in the process.
By the time the score stood 13-0, Browns’ starters were once again in the now familiar position of hanging their heads. Fortunately, the fact that the Lions aren’t the Giants is what kept the game relatively close. Quinn eventually was able to find some semblance of rhythm just not enough. After finding their way to first and goal at the Lions’ eight-yard line, the offense just as suddenly found itself third and goal from the Lions’ 21 as a result of a Winslow holding penalty on a pass to Stallworth, and two incomplete passes. It led to a Phil Dawson 39-yard field goal.
On their next possession, the Browns moved the score to within a touchdown thanks to a 53-yard field goal by Dawson. The problem was that settling for a 53-yard field goal when you start the drive inside the other team’s territory isn’t much of an accomplishment. The Lions meanwhile ran a mostly effective two-minute drill to close out the half and pushed the score back to 10 on another Rayner field goal.
Quinn’s only possession of the second half was essentially a rerun of the two possessions that preceded it—a little promise a little frustration. Quinn looked sharp initially but couldn’t connect on two short passes, one to Stalloworth and the other to Harrison on fourth and two that ultimately doomed the opening drive of the half. The Browns were forced to punt.
The Lions, again, didn’t feel so constrained. Orlovsky, again moving the ball mostly at will, had the chance to effectively put the game out of reach had Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto felt so inclined. Instead, with the ball resting at the Browns’ 17-yard line, Colletto called for three straight run plays. The Lions had to settle for Rayner’s fourth field goal and a 13-point lead. It effectively put the game out of reach anyway. For good measure, Orlovsky made sure it was the case by following that up with a five-play 69-yard touchdown drive for the Lions’ final score.
When Quinn’s game ended, the box score will show that he went 14-24 for 106 yards and no interceptions, though the Lions were close on at least two occasions. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t sponge-worthy either. He also didn’t have any touchdowns and never really came close on that either. If nothing else Quinn’s performance demonstrated the underlying importance of both Lewis and Edwards to the offense. Without those two key playmakers, the Browns were forced to rely far too much on the inexperienced Quinn. It showed.
As for the defense, it was hard to say that it suffered as much the impact of losing two of its starters. With or without Pool and Jones, the defensive backfield proved quite capable of giving up huge chunks of yardage to quarterbacks, both good and mediocre. This week’s perpetrator was Orlovsky, a career backup playing not so much for his job but because the Lions are so thin at the position. In all, the Lions had 257 yards through the air and, with their starters in, seemed to complete every third down they really needed. Certain trends, apparently, are harder to break than others.
The Browns now find themselves winless in the preseason, which, frankly, is the least of the problems. Success in the preseason is as overrated as failure. The larger issue is what this preseason has revealed thus far about the defense and how far it needs to go to be credible. As expected, defensive coordinator Mel Tucker tried a variety of blitzes early on to disrupt both Kitna’s and Orlovsky’s rhythm. It didn’t work often enough to be effective. It’s downright scary to think how it might fare against Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys. Heck, it’s scary to think how they might fare against Jessica Simpson and the Dallas Cowboys.
Thankfully the preseason ends this Thursday at home against Chicago. It will give the Browns the nine days they’ll need to both heal and figure out exactly how to stop anyone on third down. They better use the time effectively.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)