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| T. Rich had 51 total yards & a rushing TD vs. the Bills. |
Ugh! Another 0-3 start to the season. You look forward to the Browns season all spring/summer, then its over before it even gets started. I know they are young and won't expected to do much, but it's getting old losing. Yesterday's game another classic example, going down 14 to 0, and having to battle back all day long. Would it be to much to ask, to come out that 1st quarter and take a lead, instead of falling behind early and constantly having to play from behind. I would love to sit in on a Coach Shurmur pre-game speech, I bet it really gets the juices flowing (#fireshurmur). The best way to end a bad streak, case in point, the Bills had not won a road game since Week 1 LAST season, is to play the Browns. That skid came to an end in the Bills 24 to 14 win vs. Browns yesterday in Cleveland. Thanks to Time-Warner finally agreeing to carry the NFL Network, I'm forced to watch the Browns on TNF this week, when they travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens. If you looked up the word loser in Webster's Dictionary, I'm pretty sure this picture would be beside it.
Offense:
Inconsistent. Again, another slow-start with a number of three & outs and lack of plays down the field. Brandon Weeden unlike the rest of the leagues rookie QB starters is still in search of his 1st NFL victory. After the slow-start, the Browns had a couple nice plays, notability the two scores (T. Rich rush, Weeden to Benjamin pass/catch), but they continue to struggle to put anything together on a consistent basic. Just 240 yards of offense. Terrible. Weeden & Richardson, haven't really been the offensive explosion we as fans were all expecting after drafting them this past spring in the NFL draft. Weeden threw 63% (27 for 43) for 237 passing yards, but threw two costly INT's down the stretch, and still holds the ball way to long in the pocket. Despite, the lack of playmakers out-wide (along with a number of dropped balls too), Weeden has looked like a regular rookie QB, instead of the mature 28-year old rookie that he is. The running game was non-exist vs. the Bills front seven, with T-Rich rushing for just 27 yards on 12 carries. The offensive line has been terrible in opening up holds for T-Rich to run though. Overall, scoring 14 points in a NFL game is not going to get the job done.
Defense:
Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me. Twice in yesterday's game the Browns defense was beaten on the same play. Twice the Bills scored on the same play. On the Bills, 1st and 3rd touchdowns, it was a simple post-route ran by the wide receiver that, again had the Browns DB scrambling right behind out of position of the play. The Browns playing without Joe Haden for the second-straight week (4-game suspension), have shown how pathetic the depth of the Browns defensive backfield is. Allowing the Bills to go up 14-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game, put the Browns behind the 8-ball for the rest of the day. Thankfully, C.J. Spiller went out with a shoulder injury, or things might have really got out of hand. For the way they played against the Eagles and Michael Vick in Week 1 (we've seen how explosive that offense really is, HAHA!), the defense has really been a disappointment the past two weeks. Two games now the Browns have allowed the opposing QB to throw for three scores. Not getting off the field on 3rd down is an issue as well. I really thought after Week 1, I could rely on the Browns defense, but now it looks like they are just as inconsistent as the offense at this point. Great! Now, if things couldn't get any worse, they have to go up against (on a short week) Flacco & Co. on TNF, then Eli & the Giants (Oct. 7th). The Browns are not good enough on offense to allow the number of points they are giving up, come on D, STEP UP!
Next Week:
The Browns (0-3) on a short-week, play their division-rivals Baltimore Ravens (2-1) this week on the NFL networks Thursday Night Football. I'll have a preview for this game in this weeks edition of the Boomer Report later this week.
