It's Better Than a Sharp Stick in the Eye

It’s a win.  No matter how you slice it, the Cleveland Browns won a football game yesterday, defeating the Buffalo Bills 6-3.  I wouldn’t recommend using this formula to win any other games this season, but it worked yesterday.  It’s a win.  Keep repeating, it’s a win.

The Browns won on a day where their quarterback completed just two passes on the afternoon.  Derek Anderson completed 2 of 17 throws for 23 yards.  Yikes!  Still, Eric Mangini got his first victory as coach of the Browns, and the team is now 1-4 for the season. 

The brown and orange’s best player on the day was their punter, Dave Zastudil, who pinned the Bills inside their own 5-yard line three times, and kicked the ball on the game’s deciding play, a fumble by returner Roscoe Parrish, who tried to pick up a rolling ball with less than three minutes to go.  The ensuing recovering by Blake Costanzo gave Cleveland the ball on Buffalo’s 15-yard line, and soon Billy Cundiff’s 18-yard field goal won the game.

The Browns had an effective running game for the second straight week gaining 171 yards on the ground, led by Jamal Lewis’ 117 yards on 31 carries.  If the running game wasn’t working, Cleveland may never have picked up a first down.   However, they struggled against the run once again, allowing 145 yards rushing by the Bills, although 40 of those were quarterback scrambles by Trent Edwards. 

Offensively, the third down conversion rate was terrible once again at 4 of 16 for 25%.  This is due to the total ineptness of the passing game, although to be fair, the Browns’ receivers dropped a number of catchable balls, most notably Robert Royal’s drop of a perfect Anderson pass in the third quarter which would have been a 30-yard gain.

The defense did hold Buffalo to just 6 of 17 third down conversions, had two more sacks, and won the turnover battle forcing three Bills’ mistakes compared to just one interception by Anderson. 

Completing just two passes is awful, but the offensive game plan was out of the Stone Age.  In the first half, the Browns attempted passes on first down just twice.  Granted, the running game was working, but after awhile, the Buffalo defense was stacking the middle of the line, and still offensive coordinator Brian Daboll kept jamming it in the middle.

Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler would have been proud of this offensive strategy.

At first, you figured the conservatism came from the wind conditions.  The Browns were going into the wind in the first quarter, and the philosophy would get more aggressive when the team had the wind to their backs.  But, it didn’t.  It was run the ball on first down, second down, and if the down and distance were favorable, run it again on third down.

Whether Anderson is calling signals, or it is Brady Quinn, this kind of attack isn’t going to make the quarterback look good.

Defensively, Rob Ryan’s crew was aggressive and put pressure on the Edwards all day.  Kamerion Wimbley continued his rebirth with a sack, his fourth of the season, equally his total from all last year, and just one off of his 2007 total of five.  Moving him around on defense has changed him back into the player he was in his rookie year, when he had 11 sacks.

Yesterday, the Cleveland Browns won with defense and special teams, a defensive coach’s dream.  However, you can’t win that way consistently in the NFL.  Still, a win is a win, and the Browns have their first one of the year.  More importantly, they have had two straight games where they have run the ball effectively, which is a must in the AFC North. 

If this team wants to have more success, their offensive philosophy has to get in line with the way the game is played today.  Yes, they have inexperienced receivers, but they have to develop a passing attack to be competitive week to week in the NFL.

JD