Turnovers and Not Stopping Run = Recipes for Defeat

After the Cleveland Browns’ convincing victory last Thursday night in Cincinnati, many people started convincing themselves that Mike Pettine’s team was one of the better teams in the AFC.

The reality is that yes, the Browns are a good team, an up and coming squad, but they are like most NFL teams in that if they make a bunch of mistakes, they could lose to anybody as well.

That’s what happened against Jacksonville, and it happened today in a 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans at First Energy Stadium.

If there is a recipe for losing in the NFL, what happened today could be considered as the formula.

First, lose the turnover battle. Cleveland has been very stingy in turning the football over today, but the Browns lost this category today, 2 to 1, and the game probably turned on Isaiah Crowell’s fumble on the Texans’ 19-yard line with 3:11 left in the second quarter in a tie game.

Instead of taking a 10-7 or 14-7 lead late in the half with the Browns getting the ball to start the second half, the defense let Houston go 78 yards in ten plays for a TD and a 14-7 halftime advantage.

That was huge.

Second, you have to be able to stop the running game. Houston didn’t feel the effect of not having Arian Foster today, as his back up, rookie Alfred Blue gained 156 yards in 36 carries, and in total, the Texans ran for 213 yards for the game. It is doubtful many teams win in the NFL allowing 200 yards rushing.

This has been a problem all year, and with DL Phil Taylor done for the season with a knee injury, it isn’t going to get any better. GM Ray Farmer, Pettine, and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil have to fix this and they have to fix this before next Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

And lastly, you have to do well on third down. The Browns converted just 3 out of 15 third downs on the day. They simply couldn’t stay on the field.

These were the most glaring problems.

The Browns’ can’t have Brian Hoyer throwing the football 50 times a game and hope to win, and today’s game bears that out. Hoyer had his accuracy problems again, completing only 20 of those throws for 330 yards.

The special teams were bad too. Billy Cundiff shanked a 38-yard field goal. Christian Yount snapped a ball over Spencer Lanning’s head on a punt, Marlon Moore fumbled a kickoff return, but was ruled down, and there was a holding penalty on another kickoff return by Moore that he took to the house.

Defensively, besides not being able to stop the run, there was little to no pressure on Ryan Mallet, who was making his first NFL start. He wasn’t sacked at all, and there were few plays where he was forced to throw before he wanted to.

The coaching staff isn’t immune today either. One of our pet peeves is coaches trying to show off, and Kyle Shanahan was guilty of that today.

How? In the win against Cincinnati, Terrance West played very well, gaining 94 yards in 26 hard carries. Today, he toted the rock just five times for 12 yards as Crowell was the featured back.

We like Crowell, but we don’t understand the change from West, who has played well for most of the season.

Regardless, the Browns are now 6-4 for the season and still in the thick of the playoff race, although they aren’t the good position they were to start the day.

And they get All Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon back for next week’s game against the Falcons.

Still, the winning formula for this team is to play error free football. They didn’t today and they paid a stiff price.

Browns Performance Workmanlike, Dominant

Anybody else doubt that things are different for the Cleveland Browns under Mike Pettine?

The Browns broke their losing streak against divisional foes on the road with a dominating performance at Paul Brown Stadium, winning 24-3 over the Bengals to move into a first place tie with the Steelers at 6-3.

It’s the most wins for Cleveland since 2007 when they went 10-6.

Pettine likes to use the expression “play like a Brown”, and tonight his entire team did just that. They played tough defense, ran the ball effectively, and avoided mistakes.

First, the running game returned for Kyle Shanahan’s offense as the three-headed monster of Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell, and Ben Tate combined for 170 yards on the ground with each scoring a touchdown. West was the feature back, getting 94 yards on 26 carries. And Crowell reemerged to give the offense a boost in the second quarter.

Brian Hoyer was incredibly efficient, completing 15 of his 23 throws for 198 yards, with Miles Austin being the primary target. Austin caught five throws for 48 yards.

On a windy night, Shanahan obviously wanted to keep the ball on the ground, and his offensive line and backs didn’t let him down.

The offense played efficiently. The defense was dominant.

In fact, it was the kind of defense fans thought they were going to see from the opening game, as they held Cincinnati to just a measly 165 yards in total offense, and QB Andy Dalton was particularly dreadful, completing only 10 of 33 passes for just 86 yards. He compounded that by throwing three interceptions, including one on the Bengals’ first drive, which was picked off by Craig Robertson.

Joe Haden was criticized early in the season when he struggled a little bit, but tonight, he took All Pro wide receiver A.J. Green completely out of the game, as Green caught only three passes for 23 yards.

Another player who gets called out when beaten on big plays, Buster Skrine, picked off two passes. Truth be told, Skrine is a solid NFL cornerback and is excellent in the slot.

Besides the interceptions, Dalton was also sacked twice on successive plays by DE Desmond Bryant in the third quarter.

And the Cincinnati running game wasn’t a factor either, getting just 86 yards on 22 carries, an average of less than four yards per carry. It was by far the Browns best performance against the running game all season.

Cleveland dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 36 minutes, partially because of the success of the running game, but also because Jim O’Neil’s defense held Cincy to just three of 17 on third down conversions.

In short, the Browns has an answer for everything that Cincinnati threw at them.

Punter Kevin Huber was perhaps the busiest Bengal, having to kick the ball away to Cleveland eight times.

The win ensures that Cleveland will be playing meaningful football in November and should be in the mix for an extended period. That, of course, should end any thought of playing Johnny Manziel unless Hoyer is injured.

The Browns have won two divisional games in dominating fashion and the two games they lost were on field goals on the last play of the game. In order to be a playoff team, you have to be competitive within the AFC North.

Right now, the Cleveland Browns have shown the rest of the teams in the division they can no longer be taken lightly. And they showed the nation they are no longer the doormats of the NFL.

It Isn’t Easy to Dominate NFL Teams, Even the Bad Ones.

Cleveland Browns’ fans overestimated this team after they routed the Pittsburgh Steelers in week six. With Jacksonville, Oakland, and Tampa Bay coming up on the slate, most supporters figured three blowout wins would follow and the Browns would go to Cincinnati with a 6-2 mark.

However, that’s not how the NFL works.

Instead the Browns lost to the Jaguars, and then won two home games, both in workmanlike fashion, and head to the Queen City at 5-3, still very much in the playoff race as the calendar turned to November.

The truth is that the Browns are not an elite NFL team, they aren’t even a very good team. They are in the middle of the pack, and that is good enough to play meaningful football at this point in the season.

After years of hopelessness regarding this football team, we should all be excited about that.

Cleveland’s offense couldn’t get into the end zone in the first half, getting only three Billy Cundiff field goals (49, 29, and 43 yards) and trailed going into the locker room 10-9.

After a touchdown a little less than six minutes into the second half, Mike Pettine’s team took a 16-10 lead.

The lead was short-lived, as the Bucs’ went deep to Johnny Manziel’s former teammate at Texas A & M, Mike Evans, caught a 24-yard throw from Mike Glennon to give Tampa a one point lead.

But Brian Hoyer led the Browns back, hitting rookie WR Taylor Gabriel (with the aid of a crushing block by Terrance West) to give the home team a lead it would never surrender.

As we said before, it isn’t easy in the NFL.

Look at today’s results. Cincinnati didn’t blow up Jacksonville either, although they did beat them, and San Diego, thought to be one of the AFC’s best teams, were dominated by Miami, losing 37-0.

Earlier this year, this same Tampa Bay team went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers.

Style points do not matter, but wins do, and right now the Browns have collected five of them, one more than they had all of last season. In fact, the last time Cleveland won more than five games in a season was 2007, when they went 10-6.

That’s not to say the Browns are a team without problems.

The running game continues to sputter without Alex Mack, averaging less than two yards per carry again (50 yards in 28 attempts), and Mack’s replacement, Nick McDonald was dominated by Tampa Bay DT Gerald McCoy, who sacked Hoyer twice.

Another problem is the run defense, which to be fair, did improve in the second half, but still allowed 113 yards in total. Former Brown, Bobby Rainey, deemed unusable by Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi, picked up 87 yards on 19 carries.

Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil did make an adjustment in the second half, as Rainey gained just 17 yards on his last nine carries.

The special teams were also a huge factor in today’s win. Billy Winn blocked a field goal in the first quarter, and Craig Robertson blocked a punt that set up the winning touchdown. It was the second blocked punt of the season, and both were major factors in victories. We can’t remember the last time a Cleveland special teams unit blocked two punts in a season.

Donte Whitner had his best game as a Brown too, getting an interception off a pass batted away by Joe Haden, and he forced a fumble on a play that was called back because of a penalty. The former Glenville product is starting to make his presence felt.

And we have to mention Hoyer, who threw for 300 yards despite two interceptions, one a horrible throw, and the other off a deflection. He evened up the two picks by throwing two touchdown passes.

It’s a short week for both the Browns and Bengals as they play Thursday night. Because the AFC North is so good and so bunched up in the standings, any divisional game is huge.

Cleveland is 5-3, but they need to start playing better if they want to stay in the race for a playoff spot.

Playing Manziel Would Likely Mean Mistakes to Follow

It seems that even when the Cleveland Browns are playing good football, we still have a quarterback controversy.

For the first time in several seasons, the Browns are sitting at 4-3 and most definitely in the race for a playoff spot in a division where every team is currently over .500, the AFC North.

Yet, fans are still debating who should play quarterback, the incumbent, Brian Hoyer or the rookie, Johnny Manziel.

Whether there would be any debate at all stems from Hoyer’s and the entire team’s poor performance against a winless Jacksonville team on October 19th, because had Cleveland won that game, even in a squeaker, they would be sitting at 5-2 and there wouldn’t be a reason for a change.

And, of course, if the back up wasn’t Manziel, the people’s choice and former Heisman Trophy winner, there wouldn’t be a discussion either.

But Hoyer completed less than 40% of his throws that day and the offense couldn’t get into the end zone, and followed that up by not scoring a touchdown for the first three quarters of Sunday’s game against another opponent without a victory, the Oakland Raiders.

Therefore, the entire offensive unit is under scrutiny, including the guy taking the snaps.

There are Hoyer people who staunchly support the local kid and there are Manziel folks who believe he will have the same success he had in college immediately after taking the field in the NFL.

Our opinion is that Hoyer shouldn’t be in jeopardy of losing his job because he is performing decently and the team in winning.

Think about it, if another 4-3 team’s coach announced he was changing his starting quarterback in favor of playing a rookie, you would think he was crazy. But some people want Mike Pettine to do just that and the sooner the better.

Look, Brian Hoyer isn’t Tom Brady, he isn’t Peyton Manning, and he isn’t even Ben Roethlisburger. Those guys are all Super Bowl winners and most likely will be enshrined in Canton someday. Hoyer will never be in the upper echelon of passers in the NFL.

However, right now, he gives the Cleveland Browns the best chance to win games. Why? He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He’s thrown two interceptions on the season and fumbled once. He takes care of the football, and that’s what Pettine wants. He doesn’t want to put his defense in a jackpot and have to defend a short field.

And mistakes are what you get with a rookie quarterback. Last week, we documented that the three players drafted in May who are currently starting signal callers preside over among the worst offenses in the NFL in terms of both yardage and scoring. And while Oakland’s David Carr has been relatively interception free, his team doesn’t score a lot of points.

Now Hoyer has had a problem getting the Browns into the end zone the past two weeks, and he hasn’t exactly been a precision passer lately, but he doesn’t turn the ball over either. Yes, at times he’s the dreaded “game manager”. And right now, he’s in control of a team that, with a win at home against Tampa, could be 5-3 at the halfway point of the season.

The coaches see Manziel at practice everyday. If they deemed him a better fit right now for this football team, they would play him. To be sure, they have to be weary for the mistakes that come with being a rookie.

Fans only see the upside with playing Manziel, which is excitement and spectacular plays. Pettine and his staff see the warts and they don’t want to deal with them at this time.

No one, particularly us, is writing off Johnny Manziel. We believe he has a bright future. But it’s not his time right now.

Browns Formula For Winning Today Is What We Expected

The Cleveland Browns didn’t lose to another winless team this evening, defeating the Oakland Raiders, 23-13 to run their record to 4-3 on the season. This means they have already won as many games as they did all last year and they still have nine games remaining.

They also demonstrated that Alex Mack may just be the MVP of the AFC this morning, because since he went out, Cleveland has had all kinds of problems running the football. They gained just 39 yards on the ground in 25 attempts, a paltry 1.6 yards per carry.

If the Browns can’t correct this, they will have a huge problem on offense the rest of the season.

In reality, the last two games for the Cleveland Browns were what everyone thought they would be in the off-season, a strong defense and an offense that would put just enough points on the board for victory.

The Browns’ defense had three sacks and three turnovers and two of those turnovers set up the offense for scores on a day where the running games was once again non-existent.

Mike Pettine’s crew had a 9-0 lead as they couldn’t get in the end zone again, and with the Raiders getting two field goals late in the second quarter it looked shaky for the home team.

Three straight three and outs for the offense didn’t exactly inspire confidence, and following a punt, the Raiders started a drive on their own nine, and started moving down the field until the play of the game.

On a 2nd and 6 from the Browns’ 29, Darren McFadden was stripped by Donte Whitner and when the ball popped in the air, it landed in the arms of Joe Haden, who returned it to the CLE 47.

Four plays later, QB Brian Hoyer hit Andrew Hawkins with a 4 yard TD pass and that extended the advantage to 16-6. From then on, the Browns were in control of the game.

Raiders’ QB Derek Carr played up to his norm so far this season, that is to say, he put together a good statistical game, but didn’t put points on the scoreboard. Oakland came into the game one of the worst scoring teams in the NFL.

The Browns defense looked shaky against the run on the game’s first drive, allowing 23 yards on the first two Oakland runs, but after that, the Raiders gained just 48 yards on the next 20 attempts, so the opponents’ running game was not a factor.

Paul Kruger had three sacks and a forced fumble and Tashaun Gipson had another interception, his fifth of the year as he continues to make a case for a Pro Bowl berth.

And Haden was in on nine tackles and broke up several passes in his best game of the year, and first round pick Justin Gilbert also played the best contest of his young career.

Hoyer hit on 19 of 28 throws for 275 yards and the TD toss to Hawkins, but still made a couple of throws that should have been picked off by Oakland defenders, something his critics will no doubt bring up tomorrow.

Hawkins was his main target, grabbing seven catches for 88 yards, and TE Jordan Cameron was a factor early as well (3 receptions, 40 yards) before leaving with a concussion just before halftime.

However, whatever is ailing the running game has to be addressed before next Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Although Mack is an all pro, he cannot be that much of a difference in this area. There has to be other adjustments that have to be made to get the running game going once again.

Defenses are stacking men in the box to try to make Hoyer beat them, so it may have to start with short throws on first down to get the opponents on their heels just a bit.

And once again, something has to be done with the punt return unit. Travis Benjamin went back there after a few weeks off, but fumbled his second return.

With another home game next week, the Browns are 4-3 and just a half game out of first in the balanced AFC North. After several years in a losing abyss, that’s a nice thing to say as the schedule moves into November.

Jags Stuff the Run, Offense Couldn’t Handle It.

Cleveland Browns’ fans have a history of over reacting and it showed up again today.

After the Browns’ huge win over the Steelers last week, supporters of the team starting talking about how the team had turned the corner.

The Jacksonville Jaguars reminded everyone today that although the Browns have indeed improved, there is a long way to go, defeating the Browns 24-6.

We have sung the praises of Brian Hoyer after the first four games, but Jags’ coach Gus Bradley decided to see just how good Hoyer is, and put the game on his arm by playing nine men in the box on a regular basis, and stuffing the best things about the Cleveland offense after five games, the running attack.

Kyle Shanahan’s offense gained just 69 yards on 30 carries, an average of just over two yards a crack, and that put the entire onus on moving the ball on Hoyer’s right arm. And he had a bad day.

Meanwhile, the weakness on the Cleveland defense also killed them, the inability to stop the run. The Jaguars had one of the worst running games in the NFL coming into the game, but they ran for 174 yards today.

Once again, we will reiterate. If you can’t run the ball, and you can’t stop the run, it is difficult to win in the National Football League.

And add in three turnovers, two by Hoyer (fumble being hit while throwing, and an interception), and a horrible decision to try to catch a punt inside the five yard line by Jordan Poyer, and it became a recipe for defeat.

Also, to be sure, other teams will copy this formula to stop the Cleveland running game, and it is up to Shanahan to devise a counter for what Jacksonville did to his offense.

It certainly didn’t help that Hoyer was inaccurate either. He completed just 16 of 41 throws for 215 yards, and for the first time this year, he couldn’t guide the team into the end zone.

The best way to combat the Jags’ philosophy is to throw on first down with so many players near the line of scrimmage, but Hoyer couldn’t hit on some short throws early, and add in some drops by receivers as well, and they seemed to be in second and third and long all day, in direct contrast with the season’s first five contests.

Many will point to Mike Pettine’s gamble late in the first half with Cleveland leading 6-0, to go for it on fourth down from the Jacksonville 24-yard line with two minutes to go. They failed and the momentum switched. The Jaguars suddenly had hope.

The defense tried its best to keep the Browns in the game with three interceptions of rookie QB Blake Bortles, two by Tashaun Gipson and another by Buster Skrine in the red zone.

Bortles threw for just 159 yards on the day, but once again the defense couldn’t contain the ground game and that made it is easier for Bortles, who hurt the Browns in the second half with some read option plays.

Keep in mind, even with all of the problems Cleveland had today, this was very much a game until Poyer dropped the punt with a little over six minutes to go. It was a 10-6 game at that point.

Pettine and GM Ray Farmer simply have to shore up the punt returner spot, as it has been a problem all year.

With the next two games against losing teams and at home, here’s hoping today’s defeat was a wake up call that the Browns aren’t as good as they thought they were.

The coaching staff should be held accountable too, they seemed to coach like the Jaguars had no chance to win, and it came back to bite them.

Playoff teams would have found a way to win this game, it just shows the Browns aren’t there quite yet.

Titans Gave It Away, But Give Browns Credit for Taking It

At halftime, it appeared the Cleveland Browns inability to stop the running game was going to cost them another game they should’ve been able to win.

The Browns did score right before the half on a Brian Hoyer 1 yard pass to TE Jim Dray, to cut Tennessee’s lead to 28-10, but based on how the Titans moved the ball on the ground, it looked bleak for the brown and orange.

Then, two things happened. Titans’ QB Jake Locker was ruled out for the rest of the contest, and apparently, so did the home team’s willingness to keep running the football.

It got so odd, that in the middle of the fourth quarter, we were wondering about Tennessee’s refusal to continue to exploit the Cleveland defense’s obvious weakness, stopping the ground game.

The Titans ran the ball 30 times on the day, gaining an average of 5 yards per carry. Let us repeat, 5 yards per carry! If you are a Tennessee fan, you have to be seriously second guessing your coach, particularly with your starting quarterback out of the game.

After reserve passer Charlie Whitehurst completed his first two passes for 86 yards and two TDs, he went 11 of 19 the rest of the game for a paltry 108 yards.

Yes, the Titans gained 38 of their 149 yards on the ground on a reverse to WR Kendall Wright, and Locker picked up 34 more yards on scrambles, but to basically ignore the running game in the second half is puzzling.

All that said, the Browns still had to put up the points to overcome the 25 point deficit, the largest comeback in the team’s illustrious history, in order to come away with the 29-28 win to square the season record at 2-2.

Some of them were the usual, such as the running game, which gained 175 yards during the game, including 123 in 22 carries from Ben Tate, who returned to the lineup after a knee injury in the opener at Pittsburgh.

Hoyer was solid as well, completing 21 of 37 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner to Travis Benjamin, who overcame a muffed punt earlier in the game to garner two TD receptions.

Taylor Gabriel caught four passes for 95 yards and Miles Austin had two big catches on scoring drives. And TE Jordan Cameron returned to be part of the offense after getting a little healthier during the bye week, grabbing three Hoyer throws for 33 yards.

The special teams chipped in with a huge blocked punt by Tank Carder that resulted in a safety, making the score 28-15. It took all conversation about when to go for a two-point conversion out the window.

Defensively, the Browns needed to pitch a shutout in the second half and they did. K’waun Williams played a big role in the game with first round pick Justin Gilbert out of the mix, making six tackles and getting a sack. Armonty Bryant and Jabaal Sheard also sacked the Tennessee passer during the game.

We also have to mention the horrible officiating crew, which clearly lost control of the game after Locker early in the second quarter to give the Titans a 14-0 lead.

First, they set up the first Tennessee TD with a pass interference penalty on the struggling Joe Haden which gave the Titans a 29-yard penalty. The pass just at least five yards out-of-bounds.

Second, the personal foul call on the Locker touchdown against Chris Kirksey could be because the Cleveland player was blocked into the sliding Locker. He did hit the quarterback with a forearm, but to us, we thought it was at least questionable that he aimed for his head.

So, the Browns now sit at 2-2 just a half game behind the Ravens and Steelers in the AFC North, with Pittsburgh visiting next week.

Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil have to figure out the run defense because you know the Steelers will come in trying to run the ball right down the Browns’ collective throats.

If that isn’t solved and solved soon, it will be a long year for the Cleveland defense. Unbelievably, the offense has carried Cleveland thus far.

Who thought that before the season began?

Is Optimism on Browns Warranted?

After the Cleveland Browns actually won their home opener for the first time since 2004, fans of the team went crazy, and as usual most of them got carried away.

A week earlier, particularly after the first half of the game against the Steelers, there was a feeling of “here we go again”, and many people felt once again like they were duped by Jimmy Haslam’s team.

That’s the way it is in Cleveland concerning the Browns.

Is the optimism from the victory over the Saints merited, or are fans simply setting themselves up for another season of disappointment?

We will certainly find out on Sunday afternoon when the Ravens visit First Energy Stadium.

There are definitely things to be excited about. For one, their seems to be a connection between the front office and the coaching staff. Over the past few seasons, it has appeared that the head coach has been on a different page than the front office.

For example, dealing the team’s best running back and leaving the ground game in the hands of Willis McGahee, or basically punting an entire draft and then firing the coach because he didn’t win.

This year, it looks like Mike Pettine has a direction for this team and GM Ray Farmer agrees with that vision and gets players who fit what the head coach wants to do.

That’s a reason to be encouraged.

On the field, it is basic football to say you need to be able to run the ball and be able to stop the run defensively.

For the first time in a long time, it appears the Cleveland Browns have a legitimate ground game. Yes, they’ve had success here and there throughout the years, like when Jamal Lewis had his big season in 2007 and Peyton Hillis’ 2010 campaign in which he gained over 1,000 yards.

For some reason, this season feels differently with Ben Tate, now injured, Terrence West, and Isaiah Crowell. Perhaps it is because of reputation which preceded Kyle Shanahan’s offense, which has had a history of running successfully with the zone blocking scheme.

After two games, it looks like opponents playing the Browns need to realize it will be a long day if they can’t stop the ground game.

Conversely, the defense has struggled stopping the run in both games. The Steelers gashed the defense for big gains, and the Saints, normally a passing team, did a very good job running the football.

That may have been because New Orleans realized the Cleveland defense was geared to stopping the aerial attack and was looking for an alternative way to move the ball. A better test will be this Sunday, because we know the Ravens want to run, and the question will be can the Browns’ stop it and make Baltimore one-dimensional.

We will also see if Brian Hoyer can continue his winning ways. Hoyer is now 3-1 or 4-1, depending on how you count last year’s Buffalo game, as a starter. True, that’s not great, but for a team that usually wins four or five games per season, it is reason for hope.

A win on Sunday has to make you think that no matter what the statistics say, Hoyer can put numbers in the victory column.

If the Browns win against the Ravens and start the season 2-1, the hope for the rest of the year will be off the chart. Let us remind you of one thing.

Pat Shurmur started his tenure with the same record. And we all know how that turned out.

No Almost Win Today for Browns, They Get It Done

So many times in recent seasons, there are times the Cleveland Browns had a valiant effort on the field only to fall just short on the scoreboard.

It happened so much, former Brown Josh Cribbs once said the team almost always almost wins.

Today was different for Mike Pettine and his team as he picked up his first win as an NFL head coach with a 26 -24 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Billy Cundiff’s 29-yard field goal with :03 left on the clock.

To win the game, Brian Hoyer took his team 85 yards on 14 plays to set up the kicker, including a 28-yard pass to Andrew Hawkins to set up the final kick with 13 seconds left.

The game started with the Browns on fire, forcing a three and out on the Saints’ first series and basically shutting down New Orleans throughout the first quarter allowing Cleveland to take a 10-0 lead.

But Drew Brees figured with the amount of emphasis the Browns were putting on the passing game, it might be time to start running, and the Saints did that successfully all day, gaining 174 yards on the ground, getting 6.4 yards per carry.

After the success Pittsburgh had in week one on the ground, the defense better get this under control or they will see a steady diet of opponents just beating them with the run.

John Hughes missed today’s game once again and he plays the run very well, but it is doubtful one player makes that much of a difference.

After the opening stanza, the Saints moved the ball seemingly at will with the only hiccups being a Brees’ interception being returned for a touchdown by Tashaun Gipson, which gave Cleveland a 16-3 lead because the extra point was botched. It looked for a long time like that might come back to haunt the Browns as well.

The main reason for that was the inability to stop Saints’ TE Jimmy Graham, who 10 throws for 118 yards and a TD. The Browns simply had no answer for him.

In the fourth quarter, with Cleveland needing a stop on their own 31 yard line, Karlos Dansby made the key play of the game defensively as he sacked Brees, forcing the Saints out of field goal range.

The ensuing punt was the last snap made by New Orleans for the rest of the game.

Cleveland used a balanced attack throughout the game and the rookie running backs continue to shine as Terrance West gained 68 yards and Isaiah Crowell picked up 54 more with West getting a touchdown.

Hawkins was once again Hoyer’s favorite target, grabbing six throws for 70 yards including the decisive offensive play of the game. And TE Gary Barnidge took up the slack for Jordan Cameron, catching 4 balls for 41 yards.

And also kudos to Hoyer, who is quieting any calls for Johnny Manziel thus far, completing 24 of 40 for 204 yards and leading the winning drive, which again started from his own four.

He may not be pretty, but he’s also 4-1 as the Browns’ starting quarterback. And there shouldn’t any more talk about Manziel being the starter when the Browns come back from their bye week.

Defensively, Dansby is showing more and more how vital his leadership is with eight tackles including the huge sack on the Saints’ last offensive play. And Paul Kruger had another sack, his second straight game with one after struggling last year.

Whatever happened at halftime at Heinz Field, the Cleveland Browns look like a different football team. Not just different from the first half of the Steelers’ game, but different from the last five years.

Next week’s game against the Ravens is another chance to show the progress this football team has made.

Unlike Other Browns’ Teams, This One Didn’t Quit After Early Deficit.

At halftime, it looked very much like the same ol’ Cleveland Browns.

They were dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers especially defensively and trailed 27-3 after 30 minutes.

Brian Hoyer didn’t play well in the first half, but the chief culprit for the deficit was a defense appeared to be butter compared to the Pittsburgh hot knife.

But whatever happened during the intermission may have turned around the entire season, and gave Browns’ fans everywhere hope that this season may be indeed different.

This football team didn’t lay down, and didn’t say woe is us. They came out of the locker room determined to get back in the game and that’s exactly what they did.

They scored 24 unanswered points to tie the game before giving up a last second field goal by Shaun Suisham from 41 yards away to drop yet another season opener, 30-27.

They did it by going to a hurry up offense and by running the football to set up the pass, exactly the way the Browns need to play to be successful in 2014.

The Browns rolled up 183 yards rushing despite losing Ben Tate to an injury in the first half, as rookie Terrence West showed he was worth a higt pick by gaining 100 yards on 16 carries, and another rookie Isaiah Crowell showed his performance in the last pre-season game was no fluke, getting 32 yards in five attempts, scoring two touchdowns.

Hoyer wasn’t spectacular, but he was efficient, completing 19 of 31 throws for 230 yards with a touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin.

The running game was so solid in the second half, we would have run it one more time in the fourth quarter.

The Browns had a first down on the Pittsburgh 35 with 5:20 remaining and the Steelers clearly back on their heels. Unfortunately, Cleveland tried three passes, one completed to Miles Austin for three yards, and never gave the ball to West and/or Crowell.

They were forced to punt, and after an exchange of defensive stops, the Steelers got the ball back on their own 43, and moved the ball enough for the winning field goal after a pass to Markus Wheaton when CB Justin Gilbert, who had a rough debut, fell down.

The biggest problem for the offense all day was converting third downs, making just two first downs in 11 opportunities. The Cleveland defense did much better than last year in the opener, stopping Pittsburgh eight times in 12 tries.

Defensively, newcomers Donte Whitner had 12 tackles and Karlos Dansby had the Browns only turnover, a second quarter interception of Ben Roethlisberger, that the offense, struggling at the time, could do nothing with.

After halftime, the defense improved and wound up sacking Roethlisberger four times, with Paul Kruger doing the honors twice.

However, they had problems all day dealing with screen passes, and as we said before, Gilbert struggled in the NFL debut, which is understandable.

The unit got better when it appeared they put veteran Buster Skrine on the outside.

That’s another thing that is encouraging about this game regardless of the result. How many times lately has a Browns’ team failed to make any adjustments to what the opposition was doing.

That didn’t happen today.

One thing that was painfully evident on offense though, is the team really misses Josh Gordon, because they have no one on the outside that can make plays. Andrew Hawkins was the leading receiver with 8 catches for 87 yards, but he plays mostly in the slot.

One of the other receivers simply has to step up to make it easier for Hoyer to throw downfield and to keep the running game effective.

Whatever happened in the second half has to continue next week against New Orleans, because starting 0-2 is something the Browns have to avoid.

As former coach Pat Shurmur once said, progress with victories isn’t progress.