It was a battle of who was worse: The Browns’ defense against the Ravens’ offense. And that battle was split. In the first half, the Baltimore offense couldn’t even manage a first down. They were that inept. In the second half, the Cleveland defense collapsed and made Kyle Boller look like an All-Pro quarterback. In the end, it was the Browns’ special teams that made the difference in yesterday’s 33-30 overtime win against the Ravens, which basically eliminates Baltimore from playoff contention.
It was Ravens’ Coach Brian Billick’s stubbornness that gave the Browns the win. He kept kicking the ball to Joshua Cribbs for no apparent reason. After taking a 30-27 with 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Cribbs took the ensuing kickoff back to around the Cleveland 40 yard line. Therefore, the brown and orange only had to move 23 yards to get into position for Phil Dawson’s bank shot field goal to tie the game. If that wasn’t bad enough, he repeated the mistake in overtime, and Cribbs again delivered the ball to the offense at the Browns’ 41. Baltimore never saw the ball, and Dawson’s fourth field goal was the game winner.
The controversial call on the game tying field goal is one more reason to question NFL officials. There was a zebra under each goal post, and they still get it wrong the first time? What were they looking at? If they were watching the ball, they could see it clearly went over the crossbar. It’s exactly why the league needs replay. CBS commentator Solomon Wilcotts also pointed out a call in the first quarter when Jamal Lewis was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, that he spiked the ball out of bounds, which is not against the rules. I know the NBA guys take a lot of heat, but the NFL’s officials are the worst in sports overall.
And if a call like that is not reviewable under the current replay rules, why have the system? Isn’t the purpose of the rules to get calls correct? Unbelievable.
The offense sputtered a little bit yesterday, but they still put up 26 points against one of the league’s better defenses. Braylon Edwards channeled his 2006 version by dropping several balls, and penalties kept Derek Anderson and his crew from sustaining anything early on. Lewis ran with inspiration hurdling, straight arming, and running through defenders. The Browns stayed with the running game, and talk of Lewis not having anything left in the tank appears to be premature. Jason Wright was a nice change of pace, and Joe Jurevicius got the attack in gear with a 50-yard catch and run in the first quarter. Even Tim Carter got into the flow with a key third down grab.
The defense is starting to put pressure on the quarterback and registered five sacks yesterday to give them nine in the last two contests after getting just seven in the first eight games. The pressure caused Brodney Pool’s 100-yard interception return, which gave the brown and orange a seemingly safe 27-17 lead. However, Willis McGahee ran for 100 yards, which means nine backs have reached the century mark in the ten games played. Let’s face it; if you give up 23 points to an offense like Baltimore’s, you have problems. Losing Eric Wright doesn’t help either. Whether or not this team can get to the playoffs will depend if the offense can outscore its opponents.
Next week, the Texans come to Cleveland Browns Stadium in a game where the Browns can put a nail in another wild card contender’s coffin. This team has played well at home and if they continue to do so, they will stay in the hunt for a spot in the post-season. They have to cut down on the penalties, though. I’m also going to bet that the game will be another shootout, since the defense cannot stop anyone. The Kardiac Kids: The Next Generation is the nickname for this squad. It’s going to be a wild ride until the first weekend of January.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 