Former Browns’ Pro Bowl special teams player Josh Cribbs said it famously a few years ago…the Browns almost always almost win.
Those words were never more true than today, as the New Orleans Saints came back to beat the Browns, 21-18, dropping Cleveland to 0-1-1 on the young season.
Today, it was a breakdown in the kicking game, as Zane Gonzalez, who really has been reliable since the middle of last season, missed two extra points and two field goals, including a makeable 51 yarder with :08 remaining in the fourth quarter which would have tied it up.
It’s a short week before Thursday night’s game with the Jets, but our guess is there will be a kicker tryout either tomorrow or Tuesday in Berea.
Midway in the third quarter, it looked like the Browns were going to win this one. They were controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and had a 12-3 lead.
With 14:46 left in the fourth quarter, Cleveland had the ball at the Saints’ 26, and Gonzalez missed a field goal which could have made it 15-3, but he missed, and New Orleans had renewed life.
It took a little over five minutes for the Saints to find the end zone, and make it just a two point lead.
Then it got weird, Todd Haley called a reverse on first down which lost 8 yards, and put the Browns in a tough situation, and that drive ended with a three and out.
The defense held, but on the next possession, Tyrod Taylor did something he normally doesn’t do, throw an interception, and the Saints were set up for a score that took the lead at 18-12.
The rest of the game was surreal.
On a 3rd and 12 from the Saints’ 46, after Taylor basically sacked himself on second down, the quarterback hit rookie Antonio Callaway for a touchdown, when he blew past the Saints’ safety.
That tied the game. Then, Gonzalez missed an extra point which would have given Cleveland a 19-18 lead.
With a little over a minute to go, the Saints moved right down the field, as the Browns allowed a 42 yard crossing pattern to native Clevelander Ted Ginn Jr., to set the Saints up for the go ahead field goal.
However, the Saints allowed the Browns to move 41 yards in two plays totaling 16 seconds, to set up a game tying redemption kick for Gonzalez.
Again, he missed it.
Watching the other results today in the NFL, Gonzalez isn’t the only kicker who might be on the unemployment line come tomorrow.
The Browns didn’t have a lot of success on the ground, but neither did the Saints. But Todd Haley kept trying, probably in an effort to shorten the game and keep Drew Brees off the field.
After not winning the turnover battle in every game a year ago (0-14-2), the Browns won that stat for the second straight week.
Yet, they still haven’t won a game.
The defensive star was Larry Ogunjobi, who had two sacks, while T. J. Carrie had eight tackles and a sack as well.
The offensive line did a much better job pass blocking this week, but it seemed like the offensive design was to get the ball out of Taylor’s hands quicker.
The Browns look like a team that doesn’t know how to win, which is understandable because they are now 1-32-1 since the beginning of the 2016 season.
The next chance will be Thursday night. Still, this one was tough to take.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 