Cleveland Browns: Familiar storylines emerge in loss

Sep 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper (89) stiff arms Cleveland Browns inside linebacker Tank Carder (59) during the second half at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Raiders won 27-20. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns attempted to come back from a deep hole on Sunday, but the effort proved to be too little too late and the Browns lost to the Oakland Raiders, 27-20.

The Browns dug that hole quickly and predictably by, once again, not being able to run the ball and not being able to defend the run. This is a familiar theme for the Browns, as the rushing offense totaled a paltry 39 yards on just 14 attempts (a 2.8 yard average), while the Raiders countered with 155 yards on 30 attempts for a stellar 5.2 yards average per carry.

“I think it was just our tackling, being able to get the ball down,” defensive lineman John Hughes said of the struggles to stop the run. “It’s very frustrating. It’s something that we’ve got to work on in practice and get it corrected.”

Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

“Everybody just didn’t come to play right away. Then once we started to get it going, it was too late.” – Tight end Gary Barnidge

During the preseason we were told that the defense would be the strength of this team but, once again, the yardage piled up, and the Browns assured themselves that their rush defense would remain squarely at the bottom of the NFL. By contrast, the rush defense for the Raiders, ranked 28th in the NFL going into Sunday’s game, shut the Browns down completely.

Because of the 14-point hole the Browns found themselves in after the first half, they were forced to completely abandon the run and throw the ball almost exclusively in the second half.

Josh McCown‘s statistics in the second half were impressive with 200-plus passing yards passing and two touchdowns compared to the first half, when many of his passes were either behind receivers, way in front of them or at their feet. However, with just 43 seconds to go, McCown saw a window in the Cover 2 look that the Raiders provided and attempted the dagger throw, a shot to a streaking Travis Benjamin. But the ageless wonder, Charles Woodson, grabbed the pass near the end zone, snuffing out the Browns valiant come back.

McCown said that he simply “didn’t get enough air under the ball,” allowing Woodson to make the interception. To add insult to injury, McCown was sacked five times over the course of the game.

“It is kind of frustrating when you start slow and you know you are supposed to start fast.” – Wide receiver Travis Benjamin

“We started slow and that wasn’t good,” McCown said. “Especially the way that they started, we needed to answer and respond, and offensively, we didn’t do that. That’s what we’ve got to do better.”

Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

McCown also claimed he heard none of the “Johnny, Johnny” chants from the home crowd, which I find hard to believe, considering that the chants thundered all over the stadium for much of the second half.

Head coach Mike Pettine re-emphasized after the game that he “would not have a quick hook” with McCown, but also divulged to his staff that “we looked like a scout team out there.”

Sitting in the stands with my brother, Mike, a founding member of the Central Oklahoma Browns Backers, he stated that very thing, so apparently, my big brother is either pretty smart, observes the obvious well, or both.

“We have to tackle better. We have to get off the field on third downs,” Joe Haden said. “Myself included, everybody, we just have to be way more consistent on defense. We have flashes where we do really good. Then, we have flashes when we don’t play like ourselves. We just have to do it full force.”

“We need to play better before we talk about potentially how good we can be.” – Head coach Mike Pettine

Haden, who suffered a rib injury in the first half, has not been anywhere near himself through the first three games. On Sunday, Oakland’s Amari Cooper smoked Haden and the Browns for 134 yards on eight catches, making for a very un-Haden like day.

We talk about having the best secondary, talk about having the best offensive line, and when it’s time to prove it on Sundays it’s not happening, so we just have to do better,” Haden added.

Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

Through the season’s first three games, Pettine’s call for putting words into action is apparently unheeded by the Browns as a team.

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On some positive notes:

Left tackle Joe Thomas extended his consecutive snaps streak to 8,095, the longest such mark in the league. Thomas has started 131 games in a row and has not missed a snap since being drafted No. 3 overall in 2007.
Tight end Gary Barnidge set personal records with 105 yards on six catches, including a 28-yard touchdown. Barnidge is developing into a reliable and productive tight end as Sunday marked his first 100-plus-yard game as a pro.
Benjamin concluded the game with four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. He leads the team in touchdown receptions with four.

Pettine’s post-game press conference was not a pretty sight. Clearly Pettine was upset, not just by the team’s performance, but by the entire coaching staff and, ultimately, himself.

“(We were) not good enough in all three phases. You can’t fall behind in the NFL and expect to play well late and then win. You leave yourself zero margin for error, and that is what happened to us,” Pettine said. “I told the guys afterward that was a wasted opportunity – great day at home, in front of our crowd begging for something to cheer about, and we had them sitting on their hands for a good part of the game.

“We have to play better on all phases. That is clear. I told them – I am not saying anything different that I said to the team – our theme for the year is words into action. We need to play better before we talk about potentially how good we can be.”

Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

Next: Browns go down fighting to the Raiders

Home/Browns News

Familiar storylines emerge as Browns fall to the Raiders

By Mark Riley | Sep 28, 2015

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