Nov
18
Written by:
LarryMac
11/18/2009 9:45 AM
For fifty-five minutes or so in this game, the Browns almost looked like an NFL franchise - at least defensively. Baltimore looked sloppy throughout the first half, blowing through their timeouts halfway through the first quarter and committing bad penalties. With the already inept Browns offense looking that much worse against the tough Ravens defense, the Browns' defensive unit kept the game scoreless through the first half of play.
As has been the case for so much of the year, though, the team made one mistake and in that one play found a way to lose. Early in the third, following a Flacco strike to Derek Mason that took the Ravens to the Browns' 13 yard line, the Browns were caught trying to adjust their defensive personnel. Dragging their feet in trying to decide on a package the team found themselves with 10 men on the field and watched as Ray Rice ended the deadlock. On the first play of the ensuing possession, Brady Quinn would miss his target and instead find Dawan Landry, who returned the interception for the score. After shutting the Ravens out for the first 32 1/2 minutes, the Browns surrendered 13 points (Shawn Rodgers blocked the second extra point) in 17 seconds. The Ravens would tack on a field goal later in the period - all of the game's scoring coming in a span of 5:08.
The Good: The Browns defense got to Flacco for three sacks and disrupted the Ravens with six tackles for loss. They held Flacco to only 155 yards passing and surrendered only 274 yards in the game.
The Bad: The Browns were more competitive than some expected in this game but outsmarted themselves a lot, constantly changing formations offensively to try to account for the Ravens' pass rush and defensively to line up personnel. The game's first score was a case of the Browns staff trying to do too much and be too fine - caught in no man's land as they were, not calling a timeout was a costly mistake for a team that can't afford to make them.
The Ugly: Brady Quinn could not get the ball down the field, becoming (according to ESPN.com) only the fourth QB in the last twenty years to attempt 30 or more passes (31) for fewer than 100 yards (99) with no scores and multiple interceptions (2). Quinn spent the majority of the game throwing short screens, leaving the Browns in several vulnerable third-and-long situations. When the Browns did attempt to air out it later in the game, Quinn was badly off-target.
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