All of the pundants who thought the Cleveland Browns needed a new coach after getting hammered by Cincinnati a week ago, please raise your hand. You were wrong! Any doubt about whether or not Romeo Crennel lost his team was removed after the Browns’ come from behind, overtime 31-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at home yesterday afternoon. The brown and orange played hard, played with passion, and didn’t make many mistakes in the victory, which raised their record to 4-8 on the season.
Derek Anderson came off the bench for an injured Charlie Frye and did a great job of moving the team on offense. However, the Browns moved the ball all day long, even before Frye was hurt. Frye hit on 11 of his 13 passes and moved the team for two touchdowns in the first half. Reuben Droughns ran well, and Jeff Davidson opened up the attack with a couple of flea flickers and even had Josh Cribbs take a snap at QB from which he ran for nine yards. Joe Jurevicius had a big game, catching six passes, and Braylon Edwards made an excellent catch for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Kellen Winslow was taken out of the game by the KC defense, but the emphasis on him allowed Jurevicius and Steve Heiden to have big days. The tight end’s growing maturity showed as he didn’t rant or rave after the game. That’s what makes him different from Braylon Edwards.
One disturbing trend is struggles of the defense. Over the last ten quarters, the defenders have not stopped anyone. Granted, the Chiefs have some great weapons in Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzales, as well as quarterback Trent Green, but Kansas City moved the ball up and down the field with relative ease. Even getting Leigh Bodden back didn’t help the secondary, as Green didn’t have problems finding receivers. The Browns have done a decent job against the run the past two games. Johnson didn’t run wild yesterday and Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson averaged less than 3 yards a carry last week.
Cleveland is getting killed by the pass. The reason for this is their inability to get any pressure on the opposing quarterback. Any QB can find receivers when they are getting five or six seconds to throw. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham must find a way to get to the passer or else this will continue. What happened to blitzing? Do the injuries in the secondary preclude sending extra guys to rush? If the Browns can’t find a way to get after the passer, Ben Roethlisberger will have a big night Thursday.
Here’s hoping fans also don’t expect Anderson to play the same way against the Steelers. For one, the Chiefs defense is not very good. Secondly, Pittsburgh will now have some film to look at on the new starter. Being prepared is half the battle for defensive coordinators. Here’s hoping the Oregon State product plays well again, but the team has to be prepared if he doesn’t.
Is it my imagination or does the team run the ball better with Kelly Butler at tackle rather than Ryan Tucker? The Browns ran well against Atlanta in the former Lion’s first start, and ran well yesterday.
Thursday night, it’s the Steelers again. Remember they were also crushed last weekend by the Ravens, and rebounded to win yesterday against Tampa Bay. Also, remember they are only 5-7. They are not a playoff team. Hopefully after the game here a few weeks ago, the Browns are not intimidated. The Browns play better away from home. Maybe they can win two straight for the first time in 3-1/2 years by beating Pittsburgh. Now that would be a sweet victory.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 