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Turnovers and penalties ruin another Browns opener

By Mark Riley

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Sep 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell (34) runs with the ball during the first half of their game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns 31-10 loss to the New York Jets demonstrated that our beloved Browns still have a long way to go to be a playoff team. I know, I know, its only one game, right? I shouldn’t be so negative, right? Things will be better against Tennessee and certainly against Oakland, right?

Wrong.

The Browns started the game against the Jets with some stout defensive stands, and a varied and impressive 90-yard, 17-play matriculation down field on offense. That is, until Josh McCown was helicopter tackled nearing the end zone, resulting in a fumble and, worse, a concussion.

Now, if you are a long-suffering Browns fan, like me (and I know you are), didn’t you just know down deep in your heart that McCown was going to get hurt in this game? He has never played an entire season at quarterback. Then, almost as if on cue, there is instantly a quarterback controversy.

“Every Monday you come in watch the tape and try and look at the mistakes and say we know how this happened and we aren’t going to let this happen again.” – Joe Thomas

Can McCown come back healthy? Is Johnny Manziel ready to run the show? What about his sore arm? Is this the reason Austin Davis was acquired? If there is any “Fail for Cardale” thoughts in the devious minds of the Browns think tank, one could certainly see this game initiating that process.

Manziel’s first drive was a thing of beauty and his 54-yard pass to a streaking Travis Benjamin, catching the Jets’ Antonio Cromartie in his wake, resulted in the Browns first touchdown of the season and Manziel’s first career touchdown pass. Manziel did not seem rattled by the situation at all – at least early on – which is a good indicator of what may be in the future for this youngster. But as the game got out of hand, Manziel reverted to a habit of trying to do too much given the situation.

Against the Jets, the Browns lost four fumbles (two by Manziel to go along with an interception), resulting in 21 points for the New Yorkers. That’s the ball game, kids. The five turnovers where the most by the Browns in one game since 1999.

As mentioned, the Browns started well enough, but as the game droned on, the Browns quickly wore down and the mistakes began to pile up. This is an indication of any combination of the following reasons:

  • One, this is a team that is woefully lacking in toughness, getting pushed around on both sides of the ball.
  • Second, a profound lack of strength/endurance, resulting in tackling getting worse and worse as the game goes on.
  • Thirdly, a genuine lack of focus on the task at hand.

These are not new problems for the Browns, as we’ve seen this movie over and over since 1999. The blame for this combination of problems lay both with coaching and the players themselves. The preseason was chock full of “mystery” injuries that lingered on and on, and while I believe McCown’s concussion was legit, the number of potential starters held out for injury and those held out as “coaching decisions” is ridiculous.

Also of terrifying concern is that the Browns top two rushers were McCown and Manziel (eight attempts for 58 yards between them). The game was well into the fourth quarter before Manziel passed McCown as the rushing leader. That is scary because it means that Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson were completely ineffective, with Crowell averaging 1.7 yards per carry and Johnson averaging little better at 3.1 yards per carry.

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Riddle me this: if you are attempting to be a running team, why would you continually run directly into the teeth of the Jets’ defense (i.e. the middle of the interior line)? Didn’t you draft Johnson to get outside, spread the defense, catch passes in the flat and then run to daylight? That is his skill set.

So why did the coaching staff insist on running him up the middle Eric Metcalf-style? Call me skeptical, but that is silly at best.

Meanwhile, the Jets, using their brains, ran inside only when Danny Shelton was off the field, taking advantage of a matchup tha clearly was in their favor. To his credit, Shelton played well, his pursuit ability is awesome for such a mammoth man.

The Browns face the Marcus Mariotta-led Tennessee Titans in the home opener on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. For anyone who didn’t catch Mariotta’s performance yesterday, he looks pretty good people.

The Browns better shore up the pass defense, the run defense, the running game and the passing game and, oh heck, they need all kinds of work.

Just the same as always.

Next: Browns lose to Jets: 5 Takeaways

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