There goes the pre-season division championship for the Cleveland Browns. The dream of an undefeated exhibition season went out the window Saturday night in a 19-17 loss in the rain to the St. Louis Rams.
At this time of year, whether you win or lose doesn’t matter. However, the inability to hang on to the ball Saturday night was troubling, as it appeared the Browns never played in the rain before, particularly in the first quarter when it looked like the ball was a bar of soap.
Still, there were some good things happening for this football team.
First, outside of the first couple of snaps that Jake Delhomme mishandled, he and Seneca Wallace played well. There is no question that this year’s Browns will have better quarterback play than last season, although that is not setting the bar particularly high.
The two signal callers combined for 17 completions in 25 attempts for 194 yards, two touchdowns and one interception (by Wallace). Wallace also had a 16-yard run for a first down. The offense looked efficient and moved the ball well, although keep in mind the Rams won one game last season.
Peyton Hillis was impressive running and catching the ball. He runs hard, through tacklers instead of around them. He provides a physical, punishing runner. Jerome Harrison made a nice run after a catch late in the first half for 32 yards.
Josh Cribbs played one of his better games at receiver, catching six balls, including a nice grab for a touchdown from Wallace. Chansi Stuckey caught three passes on crossing routes, something missing from the attack last season. Benjamin Watson made a tremendous catch on his touchdown from Delhomme, and even Robert Royal caught a pass from Wallace for 25 yards.
The offensive line struggled a bit, but keep in mind, the team was without Tony Pashos, Shaun Lauvao, and Pork Chop Womack. This gave Scott Kooistra and Billy Yates, two experienced players, more time than they normally would have received.
Defensively, CB Eric Wright was tremendous in the first half, breaking up passes and making tackles. LB Chris Gocong had six tackles, one QB hit, and one pass defended. And first round pick Joe Haden showed his quickness closing on receivers.
However, while Stephen Jackson was in the game, he rushed for 20 yards on four carries, and starting QB A.J. Feeley completed five of six passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. The Rams marched right down the field early against the Cleveland first team defense. That’s disconcerting since this unit is supposed to be improved.
It is tough to gauge the performance of the defense because once Feeley injured his thumb in the first quarter and rookie Sam Bradford came in; the St. Louis offense reverted to the Stone Age in terms of creativity. It’s likely a good high school defense could have stopped what the Rams were trying to do.
The Rams gained just 172 total yards for the contest.
On offense, neither Colt McCoy nor Brett Ratliff looked good. McCoy was 0 of 2 passing, although he didn’t get a great deal of time to throw. Ratliff hit just one of four passes for 10 yards, and threw the game clinching interception trying to fit one in to tight coverage.
Up next is the critical third pre-season game against the Lions on Saturday. This is generally regarded as the dress rehearsal, with the starters likely playing at least three quarters. It will ease Eric Mangini’s mind if his team doesn’t turn it over five times this weekend.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 