The Cleveland Browns lost a heart
breaking game on Sunday, 9-6 to the Seattle Seahawks. The Browns offense
did not look all that impressive. Tim Couch seemed be off a little bit. He
had several passes that were very poorly thrown. And ended the day going
17 for 33 with 150 yards passing and one INT. Kevin Johnson looked like he
did in 1999 and led all receivers with 51 yards on 4 catches
The defense again looked to be much
improved and held the Seahawks to 260 total yards of offense. Jamir Miller
tied a career high with two sacks. Rookie Gerard Warren, Keith McKenzie
and Percy Ellsworth all had sacks as well. Butch Davis looked to have the
team playing inspired ball and it was exciting to say the least.
The
Browns had the ball first and goal in the 4th quarter and
couldn’t stick the ball in the end zone. Phil Dawson hit a 22-yard field
goal that tied the game at 6-6. On the kickoff that followed Seattle’s
Charlie Rogers had a 47-yard returned and kicker Rian Lindell hit a
52-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to finish the Browns off.
Browns came close and you have like what you saw...
Opening day at Browns stadium, was a
much more pleasant experience this year then it has in the last few
previous years. The Browns came out a much more inspired fired up team
under new coach Butch Davis. I don’t know about the rest of the fans,
but I was tired of looking on the sidelines seeing Chris Palmer with his
headset on showing absolutely no emotion. Davis had his emotions running
high, yelling, cheering and getting the troops fired up. It is positive
that we can at least now begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel;
we just haven’t reached it yet.
The offense is leaving much to be
desired. Tim Couch finished with only 92 yards and a not so great
completion percentage of 47%. I saw a lot of positive things coming from
the crew of young receivers. Kevin Johnson led the team with 45 yards, and
had some nice catches as well as a couple of drops that need to be
eliminated. Jujuan Dawson, and Quincy Morgan showed some glimpses of
flashy play and looked to be some bright young receivers. The crew of
running backs Jamel White, and James Jackson showed to be having some good
speed as well as using some power running. Personally I was a little
disappointed with not being able to see rookie Ben Gay, but I realize that
this is no longer pre-season. The bottom line is that 6 points against a
defense with an injury-riddled secondary is not going to cut it
Chris
Gardocki once again had a great game in my opinion, but he did let a
couple of punts go off the side of his foot. Let me admit that I am not a
very big Phil Dawson fan at all. He showed inconsistency in pre-season by
shanking field goals repeatedly, and he opens up this year with butchering
his first attempt. Those three points would have allowed the Browns to
have the lead at the end of the game and that last second field goal
wouldn’t have ended it. He even had us on our seats by nearly missing
the 22-yard attempt at the end of the game. He is going to have to start
nailing those attempts in before he gains my confidence.
The
defense playing without Courtney Brown did very well. Showing and
intensity and swarming to the football, they held the ‘Hawks down to a
measly three field goals. Corners Cory Fuller, and Dayleon McCutcheon did
a great job of covering the secondary well. Gerard Warren showed some
reasons why I think he should have been our number one pick. With Brown
out he got double teamed a lot through out the game, but he had some big
plays including a sack and 5.0 tackles. Jamir Miller had a big game too.
Usually 9 points should be enough for a W but the Browns O just couldn’t
produce. When Brown returns that should draw attention away from Warren
and maybe get him more chances to make some plays.
Bottom
Line: The Browns looked to be a new team on the field today. They were
fired up, and played a very intense game. Once the Offense starts to come
around I can see them start to chalk up some wins.
A Bad Taste Already
Browns came close and you have like what you saw...
