Listening to Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon broadcast last week’s Cleveland Browns-Cincinnati Bengals game, you would have thought that the story of the Browns dismal season is wrapped up in merely a series of unfortunate injuries. If only that were the case.
The Browns do have 11 players on injured reserve at the moment, which is plenty. But on closer look, it’s hard for anyone to conclude that this is the reason the team regressed so dramatically from the year before.
There are 3 quarterbacks on injured reserve, but the season was long gone before the first one, Derek Anderson, found his way there. When Brady Quinn ended up there all it did was cut short the time he had to demonstrate that he should have been the starter all along. Ken Dorsey was placed on injured reserve just a few days ago.
Similar stories abound with the rest of the players. Indeed, of all the players on the list, the one that stands out as having the most impact is Ryan Tucker. Tucker, for all practical purposes, missed the entire season. He was out early, came back for a few quarters and was gone again. His absence disrupted the chemistry of a line that played nearly as well as any team’s line in 2007. This season, without Tucker, the offensive line is struggling to be average.
With Tucker out, the Browns were forced to play Rex Hadnot. All he did was underscore that the Browns have a new area of need—right guard. Hadnot is far more suited as a back up, nothing more. Tucker is a 12-year veteran and while he has vowed to return, counting on him doing so and then playing at a high level would be foolish. Age and injuries take their toll on everyone, no more so than linemen. If the Browns end up going into next season with Hadnot as the starter, don’t look for any significant improvement on the offensive line.
Some may argue that losing defensive lineman Robaire Smith early in the season hurt the team as well, particularly the running game. That could be, but Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams, the two players counted on to stop the run, played most of the season. Each suffered his share of bumps and bruises that at time limited their playing time and effectiveness. Having Smith around would have helped the depth.
But Smith’s injury wasn’t the reason the run defense fell apart. Simply, it was the fact that the Browns don’t have a credible complement of linebackers and that was before Antwan Peek landed on injured reserve. If the point of the 3-4 is to give the linebackers more freedom to make plays, then the counterpoint is that without linebackers plays won’t get made until opposing runners make it to the defensive backfield. It’s no coincidence that 5 of the top 8 players with the most tackles on this team are in the defensive backfield.
The overall point, though, is that injuries happen to every team. Teams built with some depth find a way to overcome them. Teams without depth underscore the injuries as a way of diverting attention from the far broader problems.
**
Speaking of a lack of depth, it’s hard to fault a team for not being three deep at quarterback, but it’s still worth asking how Ken Dorsey has remained in the league since 2003.
Dorsey is the perfect example of why the position of general manager can be so trying at times.
On paper, Dorsey would seem to have everything it takes to be a star quarterback in the league. He had the pedigree of a major college program and nearly unparalleled success at that level. As every announcer has told us since Dorsey took over for an injured Brady Quinn, Dorsey compiled a 38-2 record as a starter with the Hurricanes. In short, he would seem to be a general manager’s dream pick, or at least the dream pick of every fan playing general manager in his own mind.
The real general managers in the league had Dorsey pegged as a late round choice, which is what he was. The San Francisco 49ers may have thought they had lucked into a gem in Dorsey when they picked him in the 7th round in 2003 but as it turns out, whoever had Dorsey being drafted at all was being overly optimistic.
Despite possessing a good football mind and the physical skills to compete at the NFL level, Dorsey lacks the one attribute that is absolutely critical, arm strength. He can’t throw very far down field and he can’t throw very hard across it either. More than anything else over the last three weeks, Dorsey proved that he doesn’t belong in the league, unless it’s on the sidelines in dress pants and wearing a head set.
It’s still rather stunning when you think about it that Dorsey was completely unable to lead this team to a touchdown while serving as its starter. In fact, he never really came all that close to getting the ball in the end zone. Had Dorsey been able to suit up this week, there’s little doubt that another shut out was inevitable. There simply is nothing about his game that an opposing defense needs to respect.
**
Speaking of respect, it’s possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers and their head coach, Mike Tomlin, will take it easy on the Browns this week, but don’t count on it. With nothing to play for, it would be hard to believe that the Steelers would still take the Browns lightly, for at least two reasons.
First, the chance to add on to a 10-game winning streak against the Browns is awful enticing, even for professional athletes. Second, even without that motivation the Steelers still well remember how they were the afterthought in the preseason while the Browns were the sexy choice to win the AFC North. The Steelers didn’t take well to that talk then and while they have more than answered the critics since there’s nothing wrong with rubbing it in, either.
The real problem with the Browns’ losing streak against the Steelers is that it has basically eviscerated a once great rivalry. Browns fans may still hate the Steelers but it has nothing to do with anything that’s happened recently. It’s simply tradition at this point with its genesis fading into distant memories.
Indeed, outside of maybe Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger, most Browns fans don’t even bother to get to know the names of their former rival anymore. My guess is that hard core Browns fans can name more Steelers from the 1970s than they can on this year’s team. At this point the Steelers are just another team that regularly uses the Browns to pad their own stats twice a year.
In many ways, what’s happened with the Cleveland-Pittsburgh rivalry is the same thing that’s happened with the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. At any point in which one team becomes dominant in the series, it ceases to be a rivalry until the other team is able to mount a credible comeback.
The Browns-Steelers rivalry is not going to be resurrected by a Browns win every couple of years. It’s only going to be resurrected once the Browns become a credible franchise and the games between the two teams take on some legitimate meaning.
When the schedule makers put together this season’s slate they probably thought that a season ending Browns-Steelers game could very well be for the AFC North crown. As it turns out, it’s just another chance to remind Browns’ fans how long it’s been since the match up meant anything.
**
Given that the Browns’ offense is plumbing the depths of history at this point with their scoreless streak, this week’s question to ponder was going to be some variation of how badly do you think the Browns would lose to the winless Detroit Lions? But that question already is getting a healthy debate on the various message boards and, personally, I think the score would be at least 21-0 in favor of the Lions.
Thus, we’ll turn our attention to all the holes that have been revealed on this team and simply ask: If you were the Browns’ new general manager, what would be your first priority?
Showing posts with label Ken Dorsey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ken Dorsey. Show all posts
Friday, December 26, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Wake Us When It's Over
Ohio is one of the most talent rich spots in the nation for football talent and this is all they have to show for it on the professional level? The Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals entered Sunday’s game with a combined win total of six and an assurance that about the only two things that would be certain once it ended was that the combined win total would be seven and it would still be lower than that of the Miami Dolphins. Both are now officially true.
For the record, the Bengals beat the Browns 14-0 in front of a small, windy, cold Cleveland crowd that can now take to their graves the fact that they if they were able to stay awake throughout they saw Romeo Crennel’s last appearance in Cleveland as a head coach. It was the Browns 5th straight loss and 7th loss in their last 9 games against the Bengals, as much a reason as any that Crennel won’t get to continue his head coaching career in Cleveland next year.
If the game was about pride, it was hard to tell. From this vantage point it looked more like one of those early season baseball games when both teams are swinging at the first pitch just hoping to get it over in two hours or less. Though not even the final score would matter, there was the little issue to resolve as to whether the Browns’ offense could find the end zone for the first time since Saturday Night Live used to be funny. They didn’t. It’s now been nearly 21 quarters and counting.
Ken Dorsey started for the third straight game for the Browns, subbing for an injured Brady Quinn. Dorsey was hoping to improve on that 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 44% completion, 34.rating body of work he’s put together to date. He didn’t. He was 10-17 for 68 yards and three interceptions.
Meanwhile, for the Bengals Ryan Fitzpartick was starting his 11th straight game for the injured Carson Palmer. In that time Fitzpatrick’s compiled a comparatively impressive 69 rating on the strength of a mere 3 touchdown passes against only 4 interceptions. It’s the kind of stats that scream “we’re afraid to put him in a position to make a play.” If only the Browns were that cautious with Dorsey.
For all practical purposes this game was over early, very early. On the Browns’ first possession, and after moving the ball effectively on the ground, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski once again thought being a contrarian would catch a team off guard. It didn’t. He sent Dorsey back for an ill-advised pass, ill-advised not only because it was windy, but ill-advised because it was Dorsey. And of course in a season where everything is bound to go wrong, cornerback Leon Hall stepped right in front of the pass and took it back 50 yards to help give the Bengals a quick 7-0 lead.
It would be hard to call a one touchdown lead by the Bengals with less than half the first quarter gone insurmountable but it sure seemed like it. When Braylon Edwards put the Browns in an all but impossible third and long with another interference penalty on the very next drive, the point seemed even more obvious.
As a measure of how truly awful the Browns’ rushing defense really is, the Bengals had no intention of throwing the ball unless absolutely necessary, and that was before Chad Johnson was put on the inactive list for the game because of a hamstring injury and even before that 7-0 lead. Yet the Browns’ defense was essentially helpless to stop a Bengals’ ground game that was 29th in the league coming into the game. In the first half alone, Benson had well over 100 yards rushing.
Benson was running mostly unmolested from the Bengals’ first series on. But that steady diet ended up yielding only 7 points for a Bengals’ offense that is nearly as pitiful as the Browns at this point.
The Bengals’ second series was a measure of futility in its own right. Benson was 46 yards into a run and seemingly on his way to the end zone when cornerback Eric Wright knocked the ball loose. Wright returned it 15 yards before eventually fumbling himself. However, on a challenge Wright was ruled down by contact, giving the Browns the ball at their own 26-yard line. It was the Browns 30th takeaway on the season, a league high.
But taking advantage of turnovers is not a core competency of this team and so it wasn’t on this day either, so it shouldn’t have much worried even the Bengals. After a couple of first downs, Dave Zastudil, bum knee and all, was able to pin the Bengals deep in their own territory. It didn’t last. As opportunistic as the Browns’ defense has been all season, their downfall too often has been the combined inability to stop the run and to hold a team on third down. The Bengals’ ensuing drive, their only decent drive of the day, featured both and ended up putting the game well out of reach.
Even as Benson was chewing up yardage, the Browns’ defense still was able to put the Bengals in third-and-long five different times. Each time though the Bengals were able to convert, including a run by Fitzpatrick after he dropped the snap while in the shotgun. The final blow came on a 3rd and 7 from the Browns’ 20 yard line. Fitzpatrick found Chris Henry sprinting down the right side and past Wright for an easy touchdown that helped push the Bengals lead to 14-0.
It was at this point that it was worth asking why Crennel kept marching Dorsey back out on the field. When it’s impossible for things to get worse, why not take a chance, however slight, that things might get better? Put in Bruce Gradkowski. Line Josh Cribbs up behind center every play. Anything. Give the fans a reason, any reason, to keep watching.
But Crennel is stubborn if nothing else and the fans don’t get a vote so Dorsey was still in the game, handing the ball off to Jamal Lewis and displaying all the body language of someone who himself knew he had no more business being in the game than owner Randy Lerner. Which is pretty much how Dorsey then played, throwing one ball deliberately, apparently, at the feet of Jerome Harrison on a screen pass and causing a delay of game on another. Three plays later Zastudil was back in punting. A perfunctory challenge by Crennel as to whether returner T.J. Houshmandzadeh touched the ball before Cleveland recovered was unsuccessful. If you’re looking for metaphors, that’s as good as any other.
The Bengals were not necessarily doing anything special and weren’t playing substantially better, which is why the game had all the excitement of your kid’s Christmas concert. It’s just that the Browns couldn’t stop Benson as he ran through tackle after tackle. But on the Bengals’ last drive before the half, the Browns’ defense were eventually able to hold Benson long enough to force a field goal attempt, which missed spectacularly. Taking over with just over a minute left, the Browns were at least able to do something they hadn’t done all game, run a play in Cincinnati territory. But it too was for naught when Dorsey was sacked and time ran out.
Starting the second half, the Browns decided that maybe they ought to try using Lewis like the Bengals were using Benson. As a strategy it was more successful than anything else the Browns had tried to that point. But unlike the Bengals, when the Browns were forced into 3rd and long, they couldn’t convert. Fortunately and for reasons only defensive tackle Jonathan Fanene’s agent can answer for other teams in the offseason, his client roughed Dorsey giving the Browns a first down at the Bengals’ 28-yard line. But it was a mistake forgotten one play later when Dorsey threw his second interception to Hall killing their best drive of the game.
It’s not that the interception ultimately cost the Browns anything other than a decent chance to get a touchdown on offense for the first time in almost 20 quarters. But it was notable for two reasons—the poor decision Dorsey made that was set up by the poor route Edwards ran. Edwards couldn’t be more wrong. He is completely appreciated. Ask Dorsey.
The Browns did cross the 50-yard line on their next series as well but to much the same effect. A few plays forward, a penalty and a sack back and next thing you know it was 3rd and 25 from the Bengals (!) 48-yard line. You would have thought with nothing to lose and even less to play for the Browns might try something on 4th and 16. They did, a Zastudil punt that he kicked into the end zone.
As if it really matters at this point, halfway through the fourth quarter Chudzinski played the contrarian card again and to the same effect as earlier. Dorsey, summoning all of his arm strength, heaved the ball well downfield and sort of in the direction of Edwards. We now know that Edwards can run faster than Dorsey can throw it.
Hall, who else, stepped in front of the dying duck of a pass for his third interception of the game. Either Chudzinski was calling the play out of some sort of cruel joke on the Browns’ front office on his way out of town or he’s just nuts. Hall returned it 27 yards to the Cleveland 40-yard line. But finally the Browns caught on that the Bengals would be giving the ball to Benson and stacked the box accordingly. The Bengals were forced to punt. It mattered little. The fourth quarter was half over, the Browns had the ball on their 18-yard line and were down two touchdowns and hadn’t scored in a month.
And of course it didn’t matter, except that Chudzinski kept having Dorsey pass and eventually it cost the team its third quarterback when Dorsey went down with an injury. Gradkowski came in with 3:38 left in the game and overshot Edwards on his first pass. He hit Donte Stallworth on his second and then Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers with his next. As auditions go, it was as auspicious as anything else this season. The Bengals then tried to do everyone a favor and ran out the clock, but Crennel, fighting to the end, kept calling time outs. Apparently he wanted to see more of Gradkowski, which he could have if he had simply put him in earlier, say after Dorsey’s first interception. Eventually, though, and without much fanfare a game that didn’t matter much when it started mattered even less when it finally finished.
With the loss the Browns closed out the home piece of their schedule at 1-7, a complete reversal from last season. It was well deserved, accomplished through an admixture of bad coaching, bad playing, enough penalties to last two seasons and four different quarterbacks. The Browns now close out the away part of their schedule next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who already have secured a playoff game at home, despite their loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Even with a Steelers’ team playing for nothing more than to avoid injury it doesn’t look to be a good day for the Browns. If this offense couldn’t score against the Bengals’ defense, it’s hard to imagine that even Vegas would give odds on the Browns’ offense scoring against the Steelers.
For the record, the Bengals beat the Browns 14-0 in front of a small, windy, cold Cleveland crowd that can now take to their graves the fact that they if they were able to stay awake throughout they saw Romeo Crennel’s last appearance in Cleveland as a head coach. It was the Browns 5th straight loss and 7th loss in their last 9 games against the Bengals, as much a reason as any that Crennel won’t get to continue his head coaching career in Cleveland next year.
If the game was about pride, it was hard to tell. From this vantage point it looked more like one of those early season baseball games when both teams are swinging at the first pitch just hoping to get it over in two hours or less. Though not even the final score would matter, there was the little issue to resolve as to whether the Browns’ offense could find the end zone for the first time since Saturday Night Live used to be funny. They didn’t. It’s now been nearly 21 quarters and counting.
Ken Dorsey started for the third straight game for the Browns, subbing for an injured Brady Quinn. Dorsey was hoping to improve on that 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 44% completion, 34.rating body of work he’s put together to date. He didn’t. He was 10-17 for 68 yards and three interceptions.
Meanwhile, for the Bengals Ryan Fitzpartick was starting his 11th straight game for the injured Carson Palmer. In that time Fitzpatrick’s compiled a comparatively impressive 69 rating on the strength of a mere 3 touchdown passes against only 4 interceptions. It’s the kind of stats that scream “we’re afraid to put him in a position to make a play.” If only the Browns were that cautious with Dorsey.
For all practical purposes this game was over early, very early. On the Browns’ first possession, and after moving the ball effectively on the ground, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski once again thought being a contrarian would catch a team off guard. It didn’t. He sent Dorsey back for an ill-advised pass, ill-advised not only because it was windy, but ill-advised because it was Dorsey. And of course in a season where everything is bound to go wrong, cornerback Leon Hall stepped right in front of the pass and took it back 50 yards to help give the Bengals a quick 7-0 lead.
It would be hard to call a one touchdown lead by the Bengals with less than half the first quarter gone insurmountable but it sure seemed like it. When Braylon Edwards put the Browns in an all but impossible third and long with another interference penalty on the very next drive, the point seemed even more obvious.
As a measure of how truly awful the Browns’ rushing defense really is, the Bengals had no intention of throwing the ball unless absolutely necessary, and that was before Chad Johnson was put on the inactive list for the game because of a hamstring injury and even before that 7-0 lead. Yet the Browns’ defense was essentially helpless to stop a Bengals’ ground game that was 29th in the league coming into the game. In the first half alone, Benson had well over 100 yards rushing.
Benson was running mostly unmolested from the Bengals’ first series on. But that steady diet ended up yielding only 7 points for a Bengals’ offense that is nearly as pitiful as the Browns at this point.
The Bengals’ second series was a measure of futility in its own right. Benson was 46 yards into a run and seemingly on his way to the end zone when cornerback Eric Wright knocked the ball loose. Wright returned it 15 yards before eventually fumbling himself. However, on a challenge Wright was ruled down by contact, giving the Browns the ball at their own 26-yard line. It was the Browns 30th takeaway on the season, a league high.
But taking advantage of turnovers is not a core competency of this team and so it wasn’t on this day either, so it shouldn’t have much worried even the Bengals. After a couple of first downs, Dave Zastudil, bum knee and all, was able to pin the Bengals deep in their own territory. It didn’t last. As opportunistic as the Browns’ defense has been all season, their downfall too often has been the combined inability to stop the run and to hold a team on third down. The Bengals’ ensuing drive, their only decent drive of the day, featured both and ended up putting the game well out of reach.
Even as Benson was chewing up yardage, the Browns’ defense still was able to put the Bengals in third-and-long five different times. Each time though the Bengals were able to convert, including a run by Fitzpatrick after he dropped the snap while in the shotgun. The final blow came on a 3rd and 7 from the Browns’ 20 yard line. Fitzpatrick found Chris Henry sprinting down the right side and past Wright for an easy touchdown that helped push the Bengals lead to 14-0.
It was at this point that it was worth asking why Crennel kept marching Dorsey back out on the field. When it’s impossible for things to get worse, why not take a chance, however slight, that things might get better? Put in Bruce Gradkowski. Line Josh Cribbs up behind center every play. Anything. Give the fans a reason, any reason, to keep watching.
But Crennel is stubborn if nothing else and the fans don’t get a vote so Dorsey was still in the game, handing the ball off to Jamal Lewis and displaying all the body language of someone who himself knew he had no more business being in the game than owner Randy Lerner. Which is pretty much how Dorsey then played, throwing one ball deliberately, apparently, at the feet of Jerome Harrison on a screen pass and causing a delay of game on another. Three plays later Zastudil was back in punting. A perfunctory challenge by Crennel as to whether returner T.J. Houshmandzadeh touched the ball before Cleveland recovered was unsuccessful. If you’re looking for metaphors, that’s as good as any other.
The Bengals were not necessarily doing anything special and weren’t playing substantially better, which is why the game had all the excitement of your kid’s Christmas concert. It’s just that the Browns couldn’t stop Benson as he ran through tackle after tackle. But on the Bengals’ last drive before the half, the Browns’ defense were eventually able to hold Benson long enough to force a field goal attempt, which missed spectacularly. Taking over with just over a minute left, the Browns were at least able to do something they hadn’t done all game, run a play in Cincinnati territory. But it too was for naught when Dorsey was sacked and time ran out.
Starting the second half, the Browns decided that maybe they ought to try using Lewis like the Bengals were using Benson. As a strategy it was more successful than anything else the Browns had tried to that point. But unlike the Bengals, when the Browns were forced into 3rd and long, they couldn’t convert. Fortunately and for reasons only defensive tackle Jonathan Fanene’s agent can answer for other teams in the offseason, his client roughed Dorsey giving the Browns a first down at the Bengals’ 28-yard line. But it was a mistake forgotten one play later when Dorsey threw his second interception to Hall killing their best drive of the game.
It’s not that the interception ultimately cost the Browns anything other than a decent chance to get a touchdown on offense for the first time in almost 20 quarters. But it was notable for two reasons—the poor decision Dorsey made that was set up by the poor route Edwards ran. Edwards couldn’t be more wrong. He is completely appreciated. Ask Dorsey.
The Browns did cross the 50-yard line on their next series as well but to much the same effect. A few plays forward, a penalty and a sack back and next thing you know it was 3rd and 25 from the Bengals (!) 48-yard line. You would have thought with nothing to lose and even less to play for the Browns might try something on 4th and 16. They did, a Zastudil punt that he kicked into the end zone.
As if it really matters at this point, halfway through the fourth quarter Chudzinski played the contrarian card again and to the same effect as earlier. Dorsey, summoning all of his arm strength, heaved the ball well downfield and sort of in the direction of Edwards. We now know that Edwards can run faster than Dorsey can throw it.
Hall, who else, stepped in front of the dying duck of a pass for his third interception of the game. Either Chudzinski was calling the play out of some sort of cruel joke on the Browns’ front office on his way out of town or he’s just nuts. Hall returned it 27 yards to the Cleveland 40-yard line. But finally the Browns caught on that the Bengals would be giving the ball to Benson and stacked the box accordingly. The Bengals were forced to punt. It mattered little. The fourth quarter was half over, the Browns had the ball on their 18-yard line and were down two touchdowns and hadn’t scored in a month.
And of course it didn’t matter, except that Chudzinski kept having Dorsey pass and eventually it cost the team its third quarterback when Dorsey went down with an injury. Gradkowski came in with 3:38 left in the game and overshot Edwards on his first pass. He hit Donte Stallworth on his second and then Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers with his next. As auditions go, it was as auspicious as anything else this season. The Bengals then tried to do everyone a favor and ran out the clock, but Crennel, fighting to the end, kept calling time outs. Apparently he wanted to see more of Gradkowski, which he could have if he had simply put him in earlier, say after Dorsey’s first interception. Eventually, though, and without much fanfare a game that didn’t matter much when it started mattered even less when it finally finished.
With the loss the Browns closed out the home piece of their schedule at 1-7, a complete reversal from last season. It was well deserved, accomplished through an admixture of bad coaching, bad playing, enough penalties to last two seasons and four different quarterbacks. The Browns now close out the away part of their schedule next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who already have secured a playoff game at home, despite their loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Even with a Steelers’ team playing for nothing more than to avoid injury it doesn’t look to be a good day for the Browns. If this offense couldn’t score against the Bengals’ defense, it’s hard to imagine that even Vegas would give odds on the Browns’ offense scoring against the Steelers.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Keeping the Streaks Alive
Sure, there were streaks to consider. Could the Cleveland Browns be the first team to win three times on Monday night in one season? No. Would the Browns go another game without a touchdown? No, but only technically. Might head coach Romeo Crennel have double digit losses for the third time in four seasons? Yes. But for most of the nation about the only intrigue Monday night’s Browns game against the Philadelphia Eagles held was whether or not Eagles fans would boo Santa Claus. They didn’t.
As it turns out, Santa was a no show. His time obviously was better spent elsewhere. For those whose wasn’t, they saw the Browns lose for the sixth time in seven games, this time 30-10, to an Eagles team that made enough mistakes that a decent team would have exploited. But this Browns team is not all that or much else and thus could get no closer than the 20-point margin. It easily could have been far worse.
As games go, it wasn’t much of one. Sure, the Browns broke their touchdown-less streak with 9:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. That shot hear ‘round the world ended a 245 minutes and 48 seconds drought without any sort of touchdown, a franchise record. Of course the streak wasn’t broken by the offense. That dubious achievement is nearly 17 quarters strong. This touchdown came courtesy of Brandon McDonald, who returned a Kevin Kolb pass 24 yards for the score. Kolb was only in the game because Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid didn’t have the good sense to keep him on the bench where he belonged. Somewhere some gamblers are still complaining.
It was a rather interesting night for McDonald, actually. He almost had the Browns’ first touchdown in four games at the end of the first half. With just 9 seconds remaining and the ball sitting on the Cleveland 1-yard line, McNabb attempted a fade pass to receiver Hank Baskett. McDonald, however, got a great break on the pass and intercepted it four yards in the end zone. With virtually no one in front of him, McDonald sprinted down the sideline but was tracked down by Brian Westbrook. McDonald was able to escape Westbrook but was eventually hauled down by Baskett at the Eagles 7-yard line as time expired. Officially it was a 97-yard interception return with no happy ending. If you were thinking it had to be some sort of record, it is, at least for the regular season. And for the moment, given the abject futility of that moment, things looked like they couldn’t possibly get worse.
Those fireworks aside, no one expected the game to be competitive and it wasn’t at any particular point except early and that was only because it was, well, early. But that, too, ended soon enough. And despite the relatively close score, relatively being a relative word, it was only that close due to several Eagles missteps inside the Browns’ 10-yard line. As a result, a game that should have been a laugher was merely a huge guffaw instead.
Predictably, the Eagles scored a touchdown on their opening drive. They passed, they ran and 8 plays and 64 yards later they had a quick 7-0 lead thanks to a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Donovan McNabb to receiver Kevin Curtis.
Predictably, the Browns didn’t score a touchdown on their opening drive. After all, doing so would have resulted in simultaneously breaking two of their more dubious streaks—20+ games without a first-drive touchdown and three+ games without a touchdown. As it turned out, when the drive died at the Eagles 19-yard line, the only time the offense penetrated inside the Eagles’ 20-yard line, and they settled for a 26-yard Phil Dawson field goal, they kept in tact a trifecta of sorts of futility, adding to it another red zone failure. Using that as a measure of success, the Browns were off to a good start.
Things got slightly better for the Browns on the Eagles’ second drive, but saying that is an acknowledgement that progress is measured in the least exactly standards possible. McNabb moved the Eagles down the field rather easily, again, but was stifled when his pass on third down from the Cleveland 6-yard line sailed over the head of tight end L.J. Smith, forcing the Eagles to settle for a 24-yard field goal from David Akers near the end of the first quarter. If the rout wasn’t quite yet on, it was undeniably germinating.
It would have been in full bloom on the Eagles next drive but for an ill-advised call by someone wearing an Eagles head set, likely Reid. After again methodically moving downfield and facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Browns’ 7-yard line, the Eagles decided a wrinkle was necessary because the other stuff was working too well apparently. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson lined up as the quarterback in the shotgun formation. With the option to pass apparently his, Jackson did just that, poorly, in the direction of Baskett. Safety Sean Jones made a nice grab in the end zone instead to end that drive.
As it turned out, the interception was only a minor bump in the road. Six plays later, Browns quarterback Ken Dorsey tossed his own interception, to cornerback Asante Samuel, at the 50-yard line. Samuel then proceeded to take it back for a touchdown. For good measure, an unidentified Eagles player blasted left tackle Joe Thomas during the run back sending him about five yards forward and to the ground. Now it was 17-3 order was restored and dignity officially stripped.
Just when it looked like the Eagles were going to put the game completely out of reach (although it already was, technically speaking) at the end of the first half, McDonald had his remarkable end zone interception and run back. But like everything else this season, it fell short.
Here’s what’s hard to figure, as if there wasn’t enough already. On the Browns’ opening drive in the second half, Dorsey had the Browns sitting at the Eagles’ 35-yard line. It was 3rd-and-9. As the play clock was ticking down, Dorsey called time out to avoid a delay penalty. Then when the third down pass fell short of its intended target by a good 5 yards or so as expected, the Browns were forced to punt. That left punter Dave Zastudil less room to place a punt inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line. Thinking quickly, the Browns tried to correct that error by deliberately taking a delay on 4th down. Of course, the Eagles declined the penalty. Zastudil’s punt, naturally, sailed in the end zone.
The Eagles then took over and for the fifth straight time took the ball deep into Cleveland territory. While the Eagles avoided a turnover this time, they couldn’t avoid their own brand of red zone futility and had to settle for a 34-yard field goal and a 20-3 lead. For the sake of everyone, the Eagles were at least gobbling up huge chunks of the game clock in the process thereby shortening the game considerably as a grateful nation applauded.
It was about at this point that Crennel took off his head set. What exactly was he going to hear that he couldn’t see? The Browns defense was offering token resistance to the Eagles offense and his own offense had just set a franchise record for not scoring a touchdown of any sort. Given how things looked at the moment, it was a total that looked to continue into next week’s game.
Before going on, stop and consider the enormity of that record, even just in recent terms. Since their return in 1999 the Browns have had some of the worst teams imaginable with some of the worst offensive coordinators and quarterbacks imaginable. And yet, it took this team this year to grab that record. No matter what comes next, it’s official. Things could get worse than the McDonald 97-yard interception return. This is worse.
Meanwhile, the Eagles looked to be running some sort of 7-on-7 drill and having fun doing it. They again drove deep into the Browns territory with virtually no resistance but again had to settle for a 34-yard Akers’ field goal that pushed the scored to a deceivingly respectable 23-3. Respectability, though, was thrown out the window shortly thereafter. Following Dorsey’s second interception of the game, this time to linebacker Stewart Bradley, McNabb found Greg Lewis in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown two plays later and just as quickly the score was now 30-3. McDonald finished the scoring with his touchdown a few minutes later as the teams thereafter simply gave up playing and collectively watched the clock countdown to 0:0.
With no sarcasm intended, there actually was one bright spot for the Browns. Receiver Braylon Edwards had 5 catches for 102 yards and absolutely no drops. He is Mr. Monday Night. Unfortunately, given the Browns’ season Edwards isn’t likely to see any Monday night games for awhile, absent a trade. Other than Edwards, there was virtually nothing else of note. The Browns, averaging just over 200 yards offense more or less kept that streak in tact as well, endng the game with 196 total yards. Dorsey was 11-28 for 156 yards and 2 interceptions. That was good for a quarterback rating of 28.27. McNabb, meanwhile, had his way except in the red zone. Facing virtually no pass rush and only an occasional token blitz, he was 26-35 for 290 yards, two touchdowns and the McDonald interception. The Eagles had 136 yards rushing, with Correll Buckhalter getting 55 yards and Brian Westbrook adding 53.
As much as you’d like to think it’s over, the Browns do have two more games. Next week against Cincinnati, that promises to attract CBS’ 8th string announcing crew, and the finale against the Steelers. Even if the Steelers are resting their starters in that game, it still appears as though the Browns’ last best chance to score a touchdown on offense is next week. If not, then the Browns may truly own the football equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s unbreakable 56-game hitting streak.
As it turns out, Santa was a no show. His time obviously was better spent elsewhere. For those whose wasn’t, they saw the Browns lose for the sixth time in seven games, this time 30-10, to an Eagles team that made enough mistakes that a decent team would have exploited. But this Browns team is not all that or much else and thus could get no closer than the 20-point margin. It easily could have been far worse.
As games go, it wasn’t much of one. Sure, the Browns broke their touchdown-less streak with 9:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. That shot hear ‘round the world ended a 245 minutes and 48 seconds drought without any sort of touchdown, a franchise record. Of course the streak wasn’t broken by the offense. That dubious achievement is nearly 17 quarters strong. This touchdown came courtesy of Brandon McDonald, who returned a Kevin Kolb pass 24 yards for the score. Kolb was only in the game because Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid didn’t have the good sense to keep him on the bench where he belonged. Somewhere some gamblers are still complaining.
It was a rather interesting night for McDonald, actually. He almost had the Browns’ first touchdown in four games at the end of the first half. With just 9 seconds remaining and the ball sitting on the Cleveland 1-yard line, McNabb attempted a fade pass to receiver Hank Baskett. McDonald, however, got a great break on the pass and intercepted it four yards in the end zone. With virtually no one in front of him, McDonald sprinted down the sideline but was tracked down by Brian Westbrook. McDonald was able to escape Westbrook but was eventually hauled down by Baskett at the Eagles 7-yard line as time expired. Officially it was a 97-yard interception return with no happy ending. If you were thinking it had to be some sort of record, it is, at least for the regular season. And for the moment, given the abject futility of that moment, things looked like they couldn’t possibly get worse.
Those fireworks aside, no one expected the game to be competitive and it wasn’t at any particular point except early and that was only because it was, well, early. But that, too, ended soon enough. And despite the relatively close score, relatively being a relative word, it was only that close due to several Eagles missteps inside the Browns’ 10-yard line. As a result, a game that should have been a laugher was merely a huge guffaw instead.
Predictably, the Eagles scored a touchdown on their opening drive. They passed, they ran and 8 plays and 64 yards later they had a quick 7-0 lead thanks to a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Donovan McNabb to receiver Kevin Curtis.
Predictably, the Browns didn’t score a touchdown on their opening drive. After all, doing so would have resulted in simultaneously breaking two of their more dubious streaks—20+ games without a first-drive touchdown and three+ games without a touchdown. As it turned out, when the drive died at the Eagles 19-yard line, the only time the offense penetrated inside the Eagles’ 20-yard line, and they settled for a 26-yard Phil Dawson field goal, they kept in tact a trifecta of sorts of futility, adding to it another red zone failure. Using that as a measure of success, the Browns were off to a good start.
Things got slightly better for the Browns on the Eagles’ second drive, but saying that is an acknowledgement that progress is measured in the least exactly standards possible. McNabb moved the Eagles down the field rather easily, again, but was stifled when his pass on third down from the Cleveland 6-yard line sailed over the head of tight end L.J. Smith, forcing the Eagles to settle for a 24-yard field goal from David Akers near the end of the first quarter. If the rout wasn’t quite yet on, it was undeniably germinating.
It would have been in full bloom on the Eagles next drive but for an ill-advised call by someone wearing an Eagles head set, likely Reid. After again methodically moving downfield and facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Browns’ 7-yard line, the Eagles decided a wrinkle was necessary because the other stuff was working too well apparently. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson lined up as the quarterback in the shotgun formation. With the option to pass apparently his, Jackson did just that, poorly, in the direction of Baskett. Safety Sean Jones made a nice grab in the end zone instead to end that drive.
As it turned out, the interception was only a minor bump in the road. Six plays later, Browns quarterback Ken Dorsey tossed his own interception, to cornerback Asante Samuel, at the 50-yard line. Samuel then proceeded to take it back for a touchdown. For good measure, an unidentified Eagles player blasted left tackle Joe Thomas during the run back sending him about five yards forward and to the ground. Now it was 17-3 order was restored and dignity officially stripped.
Just when it looked like the Eagles were going to put the game completely out of reach (although it already was, technically speaking) at the end of the first half, McDonald had his remarkable end zone interception and run back. But like everything else this season, it fell short.
Here’s what’s hard to figure, as if there wasn’t enough already. On the Browns’ opening drive in the second half, Dorsey had the Browns sitting at the Eagles’ 35-yard line. It was 3rd-and-9. As the play clock was ticking down, Dorsey called time out to avoid a delay penalty. Then when the third down pass fell short of its intended target by a good 5 yards or so as expected, the Browns were forced to punt. That left punter Dave Zastudil less room to place a punt inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line. Thinking quickly, the Browns tried to correct that error by deliberately taking a delay on 4th down. Of course, the Eagles declined the penalty. Zastudil’s punt, naturally, sailed in the end zone.
The Eagles then took over and for the fifth straight time took the ball deep into Cleveland territory. While the Eagles avoided a turnover this time, they couldn’t avoid their own brand of red zone futility and had to settle for a 34-yard field goal and a 20-3 lead. For the sake of everyone, the Eagles were at least gobbling up huge chunks of the game clock in the process thereby shortening the game considerably as a grateful nation applauded.
It was about at this point that Crennel took off his head set. What exactly was he going to hear that he couldn’t see? The Browns defense was offering token resistance to the Eagles offense and his own offense had just set a franchise record for not scoring a touchdown of any sort. Given how things looked at the moment, it was a total that looked to continue into next week’s game.
Before going on, stop and consider the enormity of that record, even just in recent terms. Since their return in 1999 the Browns have had some of the worst teams imaginable with some of the worst offensive coordinators and quarterbacks imaginable. And yet, it took this team this year to grab that record. No matter what comes next, it’s official. Things could get worse than the McDonald 97-yard interception return. This is worse.
Meanwhile, the Eagles looked to be running some sort of 7-on-7 drill and having fun doing it. They again drove deep into the Browns territory with virtually no resistance but again had to settle for a 34-yard Akers’ field goal that pushed the scored to a deceivingly respectable 23-3. Respectability, though, was thrown out the window shortly thereafter. Following Dorsey’s second interception of the game, this time to linebacker Stewart Bradley, McNabb found Greg Lewis in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown two plays later and just as quickly the score was now 30-3. McDonald finished the scoring with his touchdown a few minutes later as the teams thereafter simply gave up playing and collectively watched the clock countdown to 0:0.
With no sarcasm intended, there actually was one bright spot for the Browns. Receiver Braylon Edwards had 5 catches for 102 yards and absolutely no drops. He is Mr. Monday Night. Unfortunately, given the Browns’ season Edwards isn’t likely to see any Monday night games for awhile, absent a trade. Other than Edwards, there was virtually nothing else of note. The Browns, averaging just over 200 yards offense more or less kept that streak in tact as well, endng the game with 196 total yards. Dorsey was 11-28 for 156 yards and 2 interceptions. That was good for a quarterback rating of 28.27. McNabb, meanwhile, had his way except in the red zone. Facing virtually no pass rush and only an occasional token blitz, he was 26-35 for 290 yards, two touchdowns and the McDonald interception. The Eagles had 136 yards rushing, with Correll Buckhalter getting 55 yards and Brian Westbrook adding 53.
As much as you’d like to think it’s over, the Browns do have two more games. Next week against Cincinnati, that promises to attract CBS’ 8th string announcing crew, and the finale against the Steelers. Even if the Steelers are resting their starters in that game, it still appears as though the Browns’ last best chance to score a touchdown on offense is next week. If not, then the Browns may truly own the football equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s unbreakable 56-game hitting streak.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Going Through the Motions
It was a game that had all the look, appeal and luster as the last game of the preseason. The Cleveland Browns started their third string quarterback and the Tennessee Titans took the opportunity to hone their running game and situational downfield passing. But whereas the preseason is meaningless, this game was not and the Titans ended up clinching their division and home field advantage in the playoffs thanks to their 28-9 victory over the Browns.
In losing for the fifth time in six games, the Browns continued a number of trends, none of them positive. They didn’t score a touchdown on their opening drive for the 13th straight game. In fact, they didn’t score a touchdown on offense for the third straight game and fourth time this season. But at least no one was seriously hurt, at least from the looks of things, which is the goal, isn’t it, of most preseason games?
As games go, there wasn’t much to distinguish this loss from any number of other defeats the Browns have suffered all season. It wasn’t a case of things going horribly wrong at any one point. Instead it was just the case of a superior team imposing their will on an inferior team. That the Browns didn’t cover the 14-point spread the oddsmakers established doesn’t even qualify as a surprise.
The Browns, behind Ken Dorsey weren’t expected to have much of a shot anyway. Dorsey hadn’t started a game in over three years and had thrown only four passes since, three of which were incomplete and the fourth an interception. Thus it figured that if the Browns were going to have any chance to keep the game close, they’d have to try and control the ball for as long as possible and shorten the game and hope that their relatively opportunistic defense could muster a few turnovers from the mistake-adverse Titans.
At least that should have been the game plan. Instead, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, seemingly so intent on demonstrating the genius of his schemes, had Dorsey instead slinging the ball down field early while mixing in Josh Cribbs generously as if Cribbs were Florida’s Tim Tebow. .Maybe it was to try and catch the Titans off-guard. But as was clear from the Browns’ second drive, whatever novelty factor it had was lost quickly. Meanwhile, the game went interminably long.
In that context, the Browns opening drive went nothing like expected, assuming you expected the Browns to run the ball. Instead, Dorsey threw on four of the Browns first five plays, completing two including a nice pass under pressure to Braylon Edwards that went for 26 yards. But things returned to normal a short time later thanks to Donte Stallworth letting a pass go through his hands on third down. That left it again to Phil Dawson to finish the drive, which he did with a 47-yard field goal.
The Browns then got another field goal from Dawson a few minutes later after D’Qwell Jackson intercepted a Kerry Collins pass intended for no one in particular. Jackson brought the ball back to the Titans’ 25-yard line. But Dorsey proved no more adept at getting this team in the end zone than either of his predecessors and the Browns were forced to settle for the Dawson 41-yarder.
What ultimately was keeping the game close, at least early, was a Titans team that seemed flat. After drilling the Detroit Lions the previous week, the Titans could almost be forgiven if they were taking another doormat opponent lightly. Maybe that’s why Titans’ head coach Jeff Fisher decided to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Browns’ 28-yard line just as the second quarter started, just to wake his team up. It worked. Faking a dive to running back LenDale White, Collins found fullback Ahmard Hall on a swing pass that Hall took all the way for a touchdown that helped give the Titans 7-6 lead.
From there the natural order of things was more or less restored, in that the Browns resumed their inevitable death march toward defeat while the Titans resumed their march toward the playoffs.
The only thing that made the Browns’ next possessions, indeed the rest of the game, even mildly interesting was the use of Cribbs, sometimes as a quarterback, sometimes as a running back and sometimes even as a wide receiver. Cribbs responded by showing some adeptness at running back, probably making many wonder if that’s his most natural position. But a gimmick ceases to be one when it’s used all the time and except for a few times in the second half, that strategy was mostly abandoned thereafter.
Thus having exhausted the various Cribbs/Flash formation plays, the rest of the drives, such as they were, had to rely on a more traditional running attack and Dorsey, neither of which had much of a chance of succeeding against the Titans’ defense. It didn’t help that Dorsey, both rusty and overwhelmed, seemed to have the arm strength of your average junior varsity quarterback and the composure of a teenager on his first car date. As a result, the drives ultimately went nowhere.
The Titans, even after their first touchdown, still seemed to lack much fire, showing about as much wattage as the scoreboard that had gone blank just as the game got underway. As it turned out, though, they were just trying to establish a run as if to make a point, in the way that Sam McDowell used to use his curve ball to strike out batters. After firmly establishing that the run was indeed there on their next drive, Collins was able to go back to a downfield passing game at key points. In all, it spelled a 10-play, 93-yard drive, capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by White that helped give the Titans a 14-6 lead with just over a minute left in the half. The Browns’ final drive of the half on the other hand would have been only slightly less productive if Dorsey had simply taken a knee three times.
The rout was officially on early in the third quarter. After the Titans were forced to punt on their opening drive, the Browns took over at their own 40 yard line. But with virtually no running attack, Dorsey was forced to throw downfield and soon had his second interception in less than one full game at quarterback. This one, to Michael Griffin, was returned all the way back to the Browns’ 22-yard line. Stallworth was then flagged for a personal foul that put the ball at the Browns’ 11-yard line. Two plays later, Collins found Justin Gage in the back of the end zone and the Titans had a 21-6 lead and didn’t look back, though in fairness they really weren’t doing much looking back even before the Gage touchdown.
The Browns second best chance to get their first touchdown in three games (the first was following the Jackson interception) came halfway through the fourth quarter when White fumbled at the Browns’ 26- yard line. But Dorsey and company fared no better than they did after the Jackson fumble, failing to even get a first down. This time, though, Dawson missed a 44-yard field goal
The Titans then took over and had a drive that lasted about as long as the Bush administration and made about as much progress. It was a drive that lasted for 11 plays and nearly 6 minutes and covered exactly 10 yards. It ended, mercifully, with Jackson’s second interception that he brought back to the Titans’ 46-yard line. This led to the Browns third and final best chance to score a touchdown. They did manage to get the ball down to the Titans’ 22-yard line but could get no closer and settled for a 40-yard field goal by Dawson, bringing the score to 21-9.
It’s at this point you might ask why the Browns opted for the field goal, given the context of both the game and the season. Good question, actually, and one in which would likely get answered (assuming anyone even cares enough to ask) with “we were trying to win the ball game” kind of answer. And if that’s the answer, it will be the correct one for the only way the Browns were ever going to win was if they somehow managed 6 more field goals with one quarter to play while keeping the Titans stuck on 21 points. Outside of a fluke or a defensive back falling down, there was no chance the Browns would actually have scored a touchdown, even if they had managed to get a first down on that 4th down. There will be no questioning of Crennel’s strategy on that play.
But of course the Browns didn’t kick 6 more field goals nor did they hold the Titans to 21 points. After Chris Carr took a short Dave Zastudil punt back 44 yards to the Browns’ 25 yard line, Chris Johnson took a Collins hand off around left end and all the way to the end zone, taunting Browns’ defensive back Brandon McDonald on the way. No flag. It helped give the Titans the final margin of victory.
With the game now long out of reach, Chudzinski decided to see if Cribbs could still throw the ball. He had done virtually everything else all day so it seemed like a logical move. On Cribbs’ only attempt he threw long to Edwards who made an acrobatic catch nearly 50 yards down field but was ruled out of bounds. Replays showed that it was a far closer call than it originally appeared but Crennel didn’t challenge. If he had, he may very well have been successful. Still, there will be no questioning of that strategy, either. The Browns had a plane to catch and there was still over 8 minutes left.
To the Titans’ credit, they tried to do all they could to accommodate the Browns. But by this point the Browns had pretty much given up and were allowing the Titans’ White and Johnson to run through them nearly unmolested to pad their stats.
The Titans most assuredly would have scored again if they had had the notion. It seemed like they just lost interest. What made this all very strange, though, was that the Browns seemed intent on prolonging the agony, as if this week’s version of a root canal wasn’t enough. Crennel called time out on 4th down and the ball at the Browns’ 4-yard line with 1:53 remaining in the game. It was the kind of time out a coach calls because he needs to see another possession to make some evaluations before final cut down. Now that strategy will be questioned as it almost caused the Browns to lose their third quarterback in three weeks when Dorsey was sacked hard with 6 seconds remaining in the game. Given a chance to think about their 4th down play, the Titans put as much thought into it as Crennel had put into the overall game play. White was tackled for a 1 yard loss that cost him a 100-yard game. That left the Browns 95 yards of field to move in slightly more than a minute. They got less than a quarter of the way.
Statistically, the game was as one-sided as the final score. The Titans had 398 total yards, the Browns 178. Dorsey threw an astounding 32 times, completing 22 for 150 yards and one interception. Cribbs had 24 yards rushing on 6 carries. Look for another Jamal Lewis outburst this week. He had only 7 carries for 7 yards. By the way, Jerome Harrison got his obligatory 2 carries.
Collins was 14-23 for 155 yards, two touchdowns and the two Jackson interceptions. Johnson had 135 yards on 19 carries and White added 99 more on 24 carries. Look for White’s yardage to creep up to the century mark later in the week when the Titans’ staff gets through pouring over the stat sheet.
The Browns now take on the Philadelphia Eagles next Monday night, which should give Tony Kornheiser ample time to re-load his arsenal of Cleveland jokes that he already had exhausted earlier in the season. Meanwhile, in a season with no remaining goals, except maybe to score one final touchdown for old time’s sake, the Browns will have to go back to Berea and go through the motions for another week on their way to hopefully becoming, to paraphrase Cribbs earlier this week, the best 4-9 team in the league.
In losing for the fifth time in six games, the Browns continued a number of trends, none of them positive. They didn’t score a touchdown on their opening drive for the 13th straight game. In fact, they didn’t score a touchdown on offense for the third straight game and fourth time this season. But at least no one was seriously hurt, at least from the looks of things, which is the goal, isn’t it, of most preseason games?
As games go, there wasn’t much to distinguish this loss from any number of other defeats the Browns have suffered all season. It wasn’t a case of things going horribly wrong at any one point. Instead it was just the case of a superior team imposing their will on an inferior team. That the Browns didn’t cover the 14-point spread the oddsmakers established doesn’t even qualify as a surprise.
The Browns, behind Ken Dorsey weren’t expected to have much of a shot anyway. Dorsey hadn’t started a game in over three years and had thrown only four passes since, three of which were incomplete and the fourth an interception. Thus it figured that if the Browns were going to have any chance to keep the game close, they’d have to try and control the ball for as long as possible and shorten the game and hope that their relatively opportunistic defense could muster a few turnovers from the mistake-adverse Titans.
At least that should have been the game plan. Instead, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, seemingly so intent on demonstrating the genius of his schemes, had Dorsey instead slinging the ball down field early while mixing in Josh Cribbs generously as if Cribbs were Florida’s Tim Tebow. .Maybe it was to try and catch the Titans off-guard. But as was clear from the Browns’ second drive, whatever novelty factor it had was lost quickly. Meanwhile, the game went interminably long.
In that context, the Browns opening drive went nothing like expected, assuming you expected the Browns to run the ball. Instead, Dorsey threw on four of the Browns first five plays, completing two including a nice pass under pressure to Braylon Edwards that went for 26 yards. But things returned to normal a short time later thanks to Donte Stallworth letting a pass go through his hands on third down. That left it again to Phil Dawson to finish the drive, which he did with a 47-yard field goal.
The Browns then got another field goal from Dawson a few minutes later after D’Qwell Jackson intercepted a Kerry Collins pass intended for no one in particular. Jackson brought the ball back to the Titans’ 25-yard line. But Dorsey proved no more adept at getting this team in the end zone than either of his predecessors and the Browns were forced to settle for the Dawson 41-yarder.
What ultimately was keeping the game close, at least early, was a Titans team that seemed flat. After drilling the Detroit Lions the previous week, the Titans could almost be forgiven if they were taking another doormat opponent lightly. Maybe that’s why Titans’ head coach Jeff Fisher decided to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Browns’ 28-yard line just as the second quarter started, just to wake his team up. It worked. Faking a dive to running back LenDale White, Collins found fullback Ahmard Hall on a swing pass that Hall took all the way for a touchdown that helped give the Titans 7-6 lead.
From there the natural order of things was more or less restored, in that the Browns resumed their inevitable death march toward defeat while the Titans resumed their march toward the playoffs.
The only thing that made the Browns’ next possessions, indeed the rest of the game, even mildly interesting was the use of Cribbs, sometimes as a quarterback, sometimes as a running back and sometimes even as a wide receiver. Cribbs responded by showing some adeptness at running back, probably making many wonder if that’s his most natural position. But a gimmick ceases to be one when it’s used all the time and except for a few times in the second half, that strategy was mostly abandoned thereafter.
Thus having exhausted the various Cribbs/Flash formation plays, the rest of the drives, such as they were, had to rely on a more traditional running attack and Dorsey, neither of which had much of a chance of succeeding against the Titans’ defense. It didn’t help that Dorsey, both rusty and overwhelmed, seemed to have the arm strength of your average junior varsity quarterback and the composure of a teenager on his first car date. As a result, the drives ultimately went nowhere.
The Titans, even after their first touchdown, still seemed to lack much fire, showing about as much wattage as the scoreboard that had gone blank just as the game got underway. As it turned out, though, they were just trying to establish a run as if to make a point, in the way that Sam McDowell used to use his curve ball to strike out batters. After firmly establishing that the run was indeed there on their next drive, Collins was able to go back to a downfield passing game at key points. In all, it spelled a 10-play, 93-yard drive, capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by White that helped give the Titans a 14-6 lead with just over a minute left in the half. The Browns’ final drive of the half on the other hand would have been only slightly less productive if Dorsey had simply taken a knee three times.
The rout was officially on early in the third quarter. After the Titans were forced to punt on their opening drive, the Browns took over at their own 40 yard line. But with virtually no running attack, Dorsey was forced to throw downfield and soon had his second interception in less than one full game at quarterback. This one, to Michael Griffin, was returned all the way back to the Browns’ 22-yard line. Stallworth was then flagged for a personal foul that put the ball at the Browns’ 11-yard line. Two plays later, Collins found Justin Gage in the back of the end zone and the Titans had a 21-6 lead and didn’t look back, though in fairness they really weren’t doing much looking back even before the Gage touchdown.
The Browns second best chance to get their first touchdown in three games (the first was following the Jackson interception) came halfway through the fourth quarter when White fumbled at the Browns’ 26- yard line. But Dorsey and company fared no better than they did after the Jackson fumble, failing to even get a first down. This time, though, Dawson missed a 44-yard field goal
The Titans then took over and had a drive that lasted about as long as the Bush administration and made about as much progress. It was a drive that lasted for 11 plays and nearly 6 minutes and covered exactly 10 yards. It ended, mercifully, with Jackson’s second interception that he brought back to the Titans’ 46-yard line. This led to the Browns third and final best chance to score a touchdown. They did manage to get the ball down to the Titans’ 22-yard line but could get no closer and settled for a 40-yard field goal by Dawson, bringing the score to 21-9.
It’s at this point you might ask why the Browns opted for the field goal, given the context of both the game and the season. Good question, actually, and one in which would likely get answered (assuming anyone even cares enough to ask) with “we were trying to win the ball game” kind of answer. And if that’s the answer, it will be the correct one for the only way the Browns were ever going to win was if they somehow managed 6 more field goals with one quarter to play while keeping the Titans stuck on 21 points. Outside of a fluke or a defensive back falling down, there was no chance the Browns would actually have scored a touchdown, even if they had managed to get a first down on that 4th down. There will be no questioning of Crennel’s strategy on that play.
But of course the Browns didn’t kick 6 more field goals nor did they hold the Titans to 21 points. After Chris Carr took a short Dave Zastudil punt back 44 yards to the Browns’ 25 yard line, Chris Johnson took a Collins hand off around left end and all the way to the end zone, taunting Browns’ defensive back Brandon McDonald on the way. No flag. It helped give the Titans the final margin of victory.
With the game now long out of reach, Chudzinski decided to see if Cribbs could still throw the ball. He had done virtually everything else all day so it seemed like a logical move. On Cribbs’ only attempt he threw long to Edwards who made an acrobatic catch nearly 50 yards down field but was ruled out of bounds. Replays showed that it was a far closer call than it originally appeared but Crennel didn’t challenge. If he had, he may very well have been successful. Still, there will be no questioning of that strategy, either. The Browns had a plane to catch and there was still over 8 minutes left.
To the Titans’ credit, they tried to do all they could to accommodate the Browns. But by this point the Browns had pretty much given up and were allowing the Titans’ White and Johnson to run through them nearly unmolested to pad their stats.
The Titans most assuredly would have scored again if they had had the notion. It seemed like they just lost interest. What made this all very strange, though, was that the Browns seemed intent on prolonging the agony, as if this week’s version of a root canal wasn’t enough. Crennel called time out on 4th down and the ball at the Browns’ 4-yard line with 1:53 remaining in the game. It was the kind of time out a coach calls because he needs to see another possession to make some evaluations before final cut down. Now that strategy will be questioned as it almost caused the Browns to lose their third quarterback in three weeks when Dorsey was sacked hard with 6 seconds remaining in the game. Given a chance to think about their 4th down play, the Titans put as much thought into it as Crennel had put into the overall game play. White was tackled for a 1 yard loss that cost him a 100-yard game. That left the Browns 95 yards of field to move in slightly more than a minute. They got less than a quarter of the way.
Statistically, the game was as one-sided as the final score. The Titans had 398 total yards, the Browns 178. Dorsey threw an astounding 32 times, completing 22 for 150 yards and one interception. Cribbs had 24 yards rushing on 6 carries. Look for another Jamal Lewis outburst this week. He had only 7 carries for 7 yards. By the way, Jerome Harrison got his obligatory 2 carries.
Collins was 14-23 for 155 yards, two touchdowns and the two Jackson interceptions. Johnson had 135 yards on 19 carries and White added 99 more on 24 carries. Look for White’s yardage to creep up to the century mark later in the week when the Titans’ staff gets through pouring over the stat sheet.
The Browns now take on the Philadelphia Eagles next Monday night, which should give Tony Kornheiser ample time to re-load his arsenal of Cleveland jokes that he already had exhausted earlier in the season. Meanwhile, in a season with no remaining goals, except maybe to score one final touchdown for old time’s sake, the Browns will have to go back to Berea and go through the motions for another week on their way to hopefully becoming, to paraphrase Cribbs earlier this week, the best 4-9 team in the league.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The End of the Beginning
The Cleveland Browns, in need of a good showing at a minimum, looked to take advantage Thursday night of the fact that the Chicago Bears are not the New York Giants or even the Detroit Lions but couldn’t and ended a bizarre and disappointing preseason with a 16-10 loss. It’s now back to the think tank to ponder what happened and prepare for the opener against Dallas in what is now 10 increasingly shorter days away.
The loss resulted in only the third winless preseason in Browns history, the last coming sometime around the Truman administration. Actually, the last time the Browns finished winless in the preseason was 1972. Proving the ultimate point that the preseason is meaningless, the 1972 team finished 10-4 and nearly spoiled the Miami Dolphins perfect season in the playoffs. Still, when you consider that the ensuring 36 years between those winless preseasons covered an awful lot of bad football, including every team since the Browns returned in 1999, it does give pause to consider the ramifications for this season in which so much is otherwise expected.
But just because the Browns on Thursday ended up losing one of the most boring games in the history of organized sports doesn’t mean it’s immediately time to turn your attention to the Cavs. Quarterback Brady Quinn, subbing for starter Derek Anderson, led a mostly crisp attack on the opening drive but couldn’t finish it off, missing a wide open Kellen Winslow in the end zone on third down from the Bears’ eight-yard line. It was a theme. All totaled, it was one of three certain but missed touchdowns that turned what should have been a win into a loss.
Defensively, a Brandon McDonald interception on the Bears’ opening drive saved what was otherwise turning into a typical Browns defensive stand, meaning bend, bend, bend and hopefully hold to at least a field goal. After one quick first down, the Bears stalled on the strength of their own incompetence, committing two straight false start penalties and leaving themselves in a 3rd-17 hole. Indeed, they seemed to concede the punt by running a simple screen that the defense immediately turned into another first down.
The McDonald interception thereafter was thus timely and put the ball at the Browns 28-yard line. Based mostly on a strong running attack anchored by Jason Wright, Quinn marched the team 72 yards in 10 plays for the 10-0 lead just before the first quarter ended. The drive was capped on a nifty fake to fullback Lawrence Vickers at the 1-yard line and a lateral to Wright who went into the end zone mostly untouched. Quinn and the starters’ work was through. The Browns wouldn’t score again.
After quickly falling behind 10-0, the Bears’ starters seemed to lose whatever slight interest they brought to town and were looking for the safety of the bench. Bears quarterback Kyle Orton lived up to the burden of being Kyle Orton, missing receivers with the kind of frequency that suggested he’d have trouble beating out Ken Dorsey for the third string job in Cleveland. He was unable to move the Bears to a score against a defense that’s been accommodating to virtually everyone else. That had to thrill Bears fans, but that’s their problem. Cleveland has its own set of issues.
After seeing enough of Quinn in two series head coach Romeo Crennel sent in Dorsey to manage the rest of the game with nearly three quarters left to play. Surely the instruction was to manage the game to a quick and efficient end and Dorsey mostly complied, eschewing the spectacular for the average. But to be fair, Dorsey had two near certain touchdown passes dropped, one by Travis Wilson, the other by rookie Paul Hubbard.
Orton, who really could use the playing time, nonetheless gave way to Rex Grossman, last year’s starter, at the same time as Quinn. It was hard to tell the difference, save for that throwback ‘70s porn-star moustache Orton sported. Grossman handed off a lot and found enough open receivers to put together a 13-play 95-yard drive to close the gap to 10-7 with about three minutes left in the first half.
The drive itself wasn’t as noteworthy or interesting as the fact that Grossman was quickly yanked right after in favor of Caleb Hanie, a rookie from Colarado State. Either head coach Lovie Smith was deliberately sabotaging Grossman’s chance to be the starter or he had already concluded that Grossman and Orton were interchangeable and thus didn’t want to risk an injury to either.
For his part Hanie showed the kind of poise that seems to have eluded both Grossman and Orton throughout their careers. Indeed, he looked like Brady Quinn during last year’s preseason. He did enough to lead the Bears to three field goals, the last coming soon after a Dorsey interception late in the fourth quarter, that was the margin of difference.
Hanie, too, was victimized. In the midst of putting together what looked to be an 80-yard touchdown drive with less than two minutes left in the half, Hanie was done in by two Bears penalties, the most crucial of which was an iffy but fortuitous holding call on former Buckeye Kirk Barton on a Hanie-to-Mark Bradley touchdown pass.
It’s actually hard to figure out why the second half was played other than out of contractual obligations. With injuries piling up, it likely wouldn’t have taken much to convince either Crennel or Smith to head into the locker room early and catch the rest of the Democratic National Convention. But play on they did and Hanie took the most advantage of the opportunity and in the process gave Bears fans enough reason to think that their quarterback situation isn’t nearly as desperate as, say, the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile Dorsey solidified his status as an active roster mentor to Anderson and Quinn.
Still, to the extent that it’s either necessary or desirable to glean any information from teams clearly trying to hurry through to the post-game meal, it’s this: the Browns’ second string defensive line looks and plays a lot like last season’s starting defensive line. Huge running lanes seemed to open at will. Receivers ran unmolested throughout the secondary. Tackles were missed Third downs were converted. The drives were long. It was a stark and painful reminder of the lack of depth this team possesses. It’s a problem that will linger.
Speaking of problems that will linger, much angst and worry has rightly been directed at the defensive backfield. But another problem area quickly emerging is at wide receiver. Braylon Edwards was out again but that seemed to be purely precautionary. Donte Stallworth, too, was a similar no-show. Winslow played, but sparingly. It gave Crennel and offensive coordinator Rod Chudzinski the chance to evaluate the rest of the contenders for that third and fourth receiver spots. Charitably, it was a mixed bag.
Syndric Steptoe, who has had some good moments this preseason, went out early with a shoulder injury suffered while making a tackle on special teams. Travis Wilson demonstrated why he’s the Andy Marte of the Browns. He seems to have skills, he just doesn’t make a habit of displaying them often enough. Unless he does something spectacular and soon, the most lasting image of Wilson will be of his dropping a perfect pass in stride from Dorsey that at a minimum would have been a long gain to keep a drive alive and likely would have been a touchdown. It was the kind of drop that all but assured that if he’s thrown to again, it will only be because there isn’t another option.
Hubbard, like Wilson fighting for a roster spot, might not be so lucky. He dropped a critical third and two pass from the Chicago two-yard line that could have won the game. The best he can probably hope for at this point is a spot on the practice squad.
As for the defensive secondary, its bright spot was the two interceptions, the one by McDonald and another by the newly acquired Travis Key, who also had a sack on a blitz. The only problem is that each of those plays came against the Bears’ reserves. It was hardly enough to give anyone any real comfort that Crennel and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker were any closer to finding a way to adequately paper over a definite lack of talent.
With a whimper, the 2008 preseason has ended. The Browns now have 10 days before the regular season opener against Dallas to find the consistency that has been missing all preseason. It’s not an impossible task, certainly. It’s just that there are enough injuries and question marks lingering to make one think that it’s going to take far longer than 10 days before this team will click.
The loss resulted in only the third winless preseason in Browns history, the last coming sometime around the Truman administration. Actually, the last time the Browns finished winless in the preseason was 1972. Proving the ultimate point that the preseason is meaningless, the 1972 team finished 10-4 and nearly spoiled the Miami Dolphins perfect season in the playoffs. Still, when you consider that the ensuring 36 years between those winless preseasons covered an awful lot of bad football, including every team since the Browns returned in 1999, it does give pause to consider the ramifications for this season in which so much is otherwise expected.
But just because the Browns on Thursday ended up losing one of the most boring games in the history of organized sports doesn’t mean it’s immediately time to turn your attention to the Cavs. Quarterback Brady Quinn, subbing for starter Derek Anderson, led a mostly crisp attack on the opening drive but couldn’t finish it off, missing a wide open Kellen Winslow in the end zone on third down from the Bears’ eight-yard line. It was a theme. All totaled, it was one of three certain but missed touchdowns that turned what should have been a win into a loss.
Defensively, a Brandon McDonald interception on the Bears’ opening drive saved what was otherwise turning into a typical Browns defensive stand, meaning bend, bend, bend and hopefully hold to at least a field goal. After one quick first down, the Bears stalled on the strength of their own incompetence, committing two straight false start penalties and leaving themselves in a 3rd-17 hole. Indeed, they seemed to concede the punt by running a simple screen that the defense immediately turned into another first down.
The McDonald interception thereafter was thus timely and put the ball at the Browns 28-yard line. Based mostly on a strong running attack anchored by Jason Wright, Quinn marched the team 72 yards in 10 plays for the 10-0 lead just before the first quarter ended. The drive was capped on a nifty fake to fullback Lawrence Vickers at the 1-yard line and a lateral to Wright who went into the end zone mostly untouched. Quinn and the starters’ work was through. The Browns wouldn’t score again.
After quickly falling behind 10-0, the Bears’ starters seemed to lose whatever slight interest they brought to town and were looking for the safety of the bench. Bears quarterback Kyle Orton lived up to the burden of being Kyle Orton, missing receivers with the kind of frequency that suggested he’d have trouble beating out Ken Dorsey for the third string job in Cleveland. He was unable to move the Bears to a score against a defense that’s been accommodating to virtually everyone else. That had to thrill Bears fans, but that’s their problem. Cleveland has its own set of issues.
After seeing enough of Quinn in two series head coach Romeo Crennel sent in Dorsey to manage the rest of the game with nearly three quarters left to play. Surely the instruction was to manage the game to a quick and efficient end and Dorsey mostly complied, eschewing the spectacular for the average. But to be fair, Dorsey had two near certain touchdown passes dropped, one by Travis Wilson, the other by rookie Paul Hubbard.
Orton, who really could use the playing time, nonetheless gave way to Rex Grossman, last year’s starter, at the same time as Quinn. It was hard to tell the difference, save for that throwback ‘70s porn-star moustache Orton sported. Grossman handed off a lot and found enough open receivers to put together a 13-play 95-yard drive to close the gap to 10-7 with about three minutes left in the first half.
The drive itself wasn’t as noteworthy or interesting as the fact that Grossman was quickly yanked right after in favor of Caleb Hanie, a rookie from Colarado State. Either head coach Lovie Smith was deliberately sabotaging Grossman’s chance to be the starter or he had already concluded that Grossman and Orton were interchangeable and thus didn’t want to risk an injury to either.
For his part Hanie showed the kind of poise that seems to have eluded both Grossman and Orton throughout their careers. Indeed, he looked like Brady Quinn during last year’s preseason. He did enough to lead the Bears to three field goals, the last coming soon after a Dorsey interception late in the fourth quarter, that was the margin of difference.
Hanie, too, was victimized. In the midst of putting together what looked to be an 80-yard touchdown drive with less than two minutes left in the half, Hanie was done in by two Bears penalties, the most crucial of which was an iffy but fortuitous holding call on former Buckeye Kirk Barton on a Hanie-to-Mark Bradley touchdown pass.
It’s actually hard to figure out why the second half was played other than out of contractual obligations. With injuries piling up, it likely wouldn’t have taken much to convince either Crennel or Smith to head into the locker room early and catch the rest of the Democratic National Convention. But play on they did and Hanie took the most advantage of the opportunity and in the process gave Bears fans enough reason to think that their quarterback situation isn’t nearly as desperate as, say, the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile Dorsey solidified his status as an active roster mentor to Anderson and Quinn.
Still, to the extent that it’s either necessary or desirable to glean any information from teams clearly trying to hurry through to the post-game meal, it’s this: the Browns’ second string defensive line looks and plays a lot like last season’s starting defensive line. Huge running lanes seemed to open at will. Receivers ran unmolested throughout the secondary. Tackles were missed Third downs were converted. The drives were long. It was a stark and painful reminder of the lack of depth this team possesses. It’s a problem that will linger.
Speaking of problems that will linger, much angst and worry has rightly been directed at the defensive backfield. But another problem area quickly emerging is at wide receiver. Braylon Edwards was out again but that seemed to be purely precautionary. Donte Stallworth, too, was a similar no-show. Winslow played, but sparingly. It gave Crennel and offensive coordinator Rod Chudzinski the chance to evaluate the rest of the contenders for that third and fourth receiver spots. Charitably, it was a mixed bag.
Syndric Steptoe, who has had some good moments this preseason, went out early with a shoulder injury suffered while making a tackle on special teams. Travis Wilson demonstrated why he’s the Andy Marte of the Browns. He seems to have skills, he just doesn’t make a habit of displaying them often enough. Unless he does something spectacular and soon, the most lasting image of Wilson will be of his dropping a perfect pass in stride from Dorsey that at a minimum would have been a long gain to keep a drive alive and likely would have been a touchdown. It was the kind of drop that all but assured that if he’s thrown to again, it will only be because there isn’t another option.
Hubbard, like Wilson fighting for a roster spot, might not be so lucky. He dropped a critical third and two pass from the Chicago two-yard line that could have won the game. The best he can probably hope for at this point is a spot on the practice squad.
As for the defensive secondary, its bright spot was the two interceptions, the one by McDonald and another by the newly acquired Travis Key, who also had a sack on a blitz. The only problem is that each of those plays came against the Bears’ reserves. It was hardly enough to give anyone any real comfort that Crennel and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker were any closer to finding a way to adequately paper over a definite lack of talent.
With a whimper, the 2008 preseason has ended. The Browns now have 10 days before the regular season opener against Dallas to find the consistency that has been missing all preseason. It’s not an impossible task, certainly. It’s just that there are enough injuries and question marks lingering to make one think that it’s going to take far longer than 10 days before this team will click.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The First Impression
Quibble about the circumstances if you must, but give the kid his due, he makes a heck of an entrance.
On a night that featured its share of ironic moments including the release of former franchise savior Tim Couch earlier in the day by the Jacksonville Jaguars, future franchise savior Browns quarterback Brady Quinn did something Saturday night that neither fellow quarterbacks Charlie Frye nor Derek Anderson have been able to accomplish: seize the moment. When former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, providing color commentary, uttered what even he called an overused cliché—“you never get a second chance to make a first impression”—it all seemed set up for such failure. Would Quinn stand behind the right tackle instead of the center on his first snap? Would he forget the play and call time out? Would he pull back from center too quickly and fumble the snap?
But for once, just once, it all went right. The first impressions in this case will be forever etched. Quinn dropped back for a short, confidence-building dump-off to last week’s hero, Chris Barkley, who proceeded merely to scamper 30 yards. Virtually everything thereafter continued to go well for Quinn as he drove the Browns down and then did something neither Frye nor Anderson have been able to accomplish to this point in the preseason—punch the ball in for a touchdown.
The contrast between Quinn’s first appearance and
Frye, was, well, Frye. He completed his share of passes, as usual. And he made his share of mental mistakes, as usual. The fourth-and-2 play from the 35-yard line was the most instructive. It was a situation in which a team does one of two things. It either tries the old “see-if-we-can-pull-the-other-team-offsides-with-a-hard-count” which worked once about 38 years ago, or a quick quarterback sneak which requires the element of surprise. Generally, teams expect the former, which is why, if you want to pull off the latter, you need to get the team set in a way that looks like instead you’re just trying to pull the other team offside. Frye, showing all the composure of a high school boy on prom night, had the ball snapped before even half the team was set. The inevitable penalty would have been fine had Frye gained the two yards. Unfortunately, he failed in that, too, and 20 seconds later
While not as obviously abysmal as
In evaluating Quinn, the post game comments of Crennel were as predictable as the befuddled looks he shows on the sidelines every time something bad happens on the offensive side of the ball. Crennel made sure everyone put Quinn’s performance in perspective. It was late. It was against (and with) players who won’t be playing pro football in a few weeks and the playbook was understandably limited. All true, of course. But what couldn’t be hidden was the poise Quinn showed during that final two-minute drive. It was textbook in every facet. It started at the Browns 8-yard line with no timeouts remaining. One minute, 52 seconds later, the 13th play of the drive, Quinn threw a six-yard pass to Jerome Harrison for a touchdown. In between, Quinn made all the right reads, all the right moves and left everyone scratching their head trying to remember the last time they saw that happen.
It’s both easy and proper to keep the night in perspective, as Crennel cautioned. But if you don’t think that Quinn’s performance made a deep impression on Frye, for example, just watch a replay of what happened following the end of the game. As Quinn was accepting congratulations from teammates and several Lions players as well, Frye was walking around, baseball cap backward, with an expression that that seemed to say, to paraphrase Jon Landau, “I saw
This doesn’t mean, of course, that Quinn should be the anointed starter. There is still much work to do. The performance of Quinn and, to a lesser extent, Ken Dorsey, who came on in the third quarter and led the Browns to their first touchdown of the preseason, were surely not enough to cause GM Phil Savage to dump either Frye or Anderson. At least not yet. But if, as conventional wisdom holds, the third preseason game is the most important of the four, then both Quinn and Dorsey deserve the bulk of the primetime reps. The books on Frye and Anderson and, perhaps even Dorsey, may not be complete, but there are certainly enough chapters written in each at this point for most to have a pretty good idea how the stories come out. Maybe there is a surprise or two still left, but the question facing Savage and Crennel is how much more time they want to invest finding out. And as they ponder that question, hopefully they’ll come to the conclusion that no one ever got rich investing in the past.
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