I guess it could be worse. Just think if you one of the Browns’ zealots who predicted a 10-6 or 11-5 record for this season. You would have to be sick to your stomach this morning. Your football team wiped out an off season of optimism in less than one half of the first regular season game, as the Steelers stomped the Browns at home once again, 34-7, yesterday afternoon. I don’t want to hear any more about the so called rivalry between the two teams because it certainly doesn’t exist.
This was brought home to me in the fourth quarter when the Steelers ran an end around ahead by 27 points, yet the Browns’ defense just accepted it. To me, it was an outrage. They were already killing us, and then they put in and run a gagdet play? Do you think Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield or the players on the "Dawg Defense" would have done nothing about this? The next play there would have been a personal foul on one the members of that defense. This team just accepts that they are the nail to the Steelers’ hammer.
I have supported Romeo Crennel as head coach, but what is frightening is the number of times this football appears to be not ready to play the game. Again yesterday, the Browns did not look prepared for what the Steelers were throwing at them. This is a situation that doesn’t bode well for the staff.
I was concerned about the defense’s ability to stop the run, and it was well founded angst. Pittsburgh ran for over 200 yards, including a couple of plays where Willie Parker wasn’t even touched until he was 10 to 15 yards downfield. If you can’t stop the run, it doesn’t matter how good your pass defense is, there is no reason to throw. As a result, Ben Roethlisberger fired four touchdown passes, the last one because Sean Jones completely whiffed on a tackle attempt.
On offense, Charlie Frye was picked off once and sacked five times IN THE FIRST 25 MINUTES! I can’t think of any situation where a coach pulled his starting quarterback in the first half of the first game! But, Frye was bad enough to warrant the move. After the interception, he seemed hesitant to throw more picks, so he took sacks. I would bet the coaching staff has told Frye he simply cannot hold the ball and take sacks. Remember, the sacks decreased last year when Derek Anderson became the starter. So, Romeo Crennel did what he had to do and removed the former Akron QB because he was not accepting the advise the coaches provided.
I would guess that next week, Derek Anderson will be the starter. Crennel’s trust level with Frye has to be at zero. There will be calls to start Brady Quinn, but the way the entire team performed yesterday, that wouldn’t be best for the development of the rookie, although he could hardly do worse than Anderson and Frye.
One more thing about the discipline of this team. Lawrence Vickers scored his first pro touchdown with the Browns trailing 24-0 and promptly did a celebration dance. How inappropriate was that. Thankfully, Kellen Winslow appeared to tell Vickers to stop acting foolish. There’s no need for that behavior when the score is 24-0. That’s not on the coach, that show’s the type of player being brought in. More interested in himself than the team. Think of how many players on the Cleveland Browns have that same attitude. I know it’s old school thinking, but…
JD