On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns fell to the New York Giants, 41-27. In the game, they had a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but mistakes plagued them the rest of the way on and the Giants ended up building a comfortable lead in the second half. The following are things I took away from this game.
Brandon Weeden still makes rookie mistakes, but he also is capable of big-time throws. I think the bigger question now is he going to be one of those quarterbacks who dazzles you one minute, the kills the team's chances the next? Or will he erase the mistakes and become a good, maybe elite quarterback? It's hard to say at this point. With limited options in the receiving game, he's putting up big yardage numbers, but he's also been forced to throw the ball a lot and that usually spells disaster for rookies.
Will the Browns be patient with Weeden, or will they scrap it if he doesn't continue to show promise and keeps making bad throws? The TMQ on ESPN highlighted a very good point in today's NFL: rookies don't get time to develop. Drew Brees, who just set the record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, was very mediocre at best his first three years, yet now he's considered elite. Which quarterback in this year's class will get three years to grow? Will Weeden get that opportunity? I doubt it.
Why do the Browns continue to get away from Trent Richardson, even when he's piling up the yardage? He has scored a touchdown in four straight games, five overall. He can run, he can catch, and he's not a terrible blocker, yet he comes out at odd points. I get that the Browns don't want to overwork him, but let him stay in on third and one.
Speaking of third and one, what was that all about? I said it at the time that I felt the Browns were trying to get too cute with the playcalling. Richardson had been running over people, and while he had failed in one third and one situation, give him a chance to redeem himself in that situation. Instead, the Browns try to get cute, the Giants didn't bite, and Weeden made a horrible throw to compound the mistake.
Despite the large deficit, the Browns kept fighting and had a chance to make things interesting late. Then Weeden threw his second pick in Giants' territory, this time into the end zone, killing a drive that could've cut the game to 34-27. Instead, they turned it over, then the defense folded and gave up a long touchdown run. Ballgame.
The defense needs help, and it needs it badly. Joe Haden will be a sight for sore eyes, but Sheldon Brown is past his prime, Dmitri Patterson isn't a good option at number two, and Buster Skrine doesn't seem to have any ball awareness at all. He personally killed the defense a couple of times when they had stops on third down, giving the Giants new life. Also, there was no pressure on Eli manning all game long. Since the Browns only rushed four most of the time, the Giants double-teamed Jabaal Sheard and handled the rest of the line with ease.
Special teams would've been a win if Josh Cribbs doesn't fumble on the kickoff return following the Giants first conversion of a turnover to touchdown. Instead, the Giants were given a gift and made it 24-17 going into halftime. That 10 point swing can't be overstated. Instead of the Browns leading at least 20-14, the Giants took control of the game. Cribbs doesn't fumble a lot, but it seems when he does it's at the worst time.
Losing D'Qwell Jackson to a head injury was another blow, along with Patterson hurting his ankle and Ahtyba Rubin's leg injury, to a defense already depleted by injuries and suspension. Yes, Phil Taylor is eligible to come back in another week after Haden returns this week, but losing Jackson was large. The Giants, already gashing the Browns on the ground, continued to do so in the fourth quarter after the injuries piled up.
The coaching finally got to me this past weekend. Not only did Pat Shurmer make questionable calls during the game, he's become increasing hostile to the media when answering questions and doesn't seem to understand that they have a job to do. Yes, they sometimes ask him dumb questions that seem to be pointless and serve only to badger him, but this past weekend, he seemed to take the questions overall personally and that's not a good thing in a town that already has run a future hall of famer out of town for having a bad attitude.
I didn't think they'd win, but I didn't think they'd jump out to a 14-0 lead behind Richardson's legs and Weeden's beautiful pass to Josh Gordon (who showed us why the Browns selected him). Even at 17-7 I felt like it was a remarkable start. Then the interception occurred and reality hit the Browns. They couldn't get out of their own way, Manning found his bearings, and Ahmad Bradshaw took his first-possession fumble personally, rushing for 200 yards in the end. The collapse wasn't monumental (they did fight back after all), but it was still startling to see how quickly it unraveled on them.
What's next is a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, a team they hung close with, losing 34-27. As mentioned, Haden will be back to (hopefully) shore up the secondary, but the injuries continue to mount. This corner thinks they need to win this week or risk the train coming completely off the tracks just in time for Jimmy Haslam III to take over the ownership chair.
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