Browns beat Bills, 29-27
November 18th, 2008 at 1:19 am by Displaced Cleveland Fan
Romeo will survive at least one more week.
Honestly, after Phil Dawson kicked the go-ahead FG, I thought the Bills were going to come back and win. I figured we were looking at a third consecutive loss where this team blew a double-digit lead (and hopefully as a result, would bring about a head coaching change). But the defense forced a long FG attempt for Buffalo. Rian Lindell put it wide right. Cleveland is 2-0 on Monday night.
The Browns very easily could have lost this game. The defense could not stop the run. Fortunately, Buffalo turned the ball over 4 times. Cleveland had zero turnovers, and yet still just barely won.
Brady Quinn finally got his first win as a starter in the NFL. But his numbers weren’t all that great. (No, I don’t think Anderson would be any better. Brady kept us in the game at the end.) He only completed 39% of his passes (14/36). Give some credit the Bills’ pass rush though. They put pressure on Brady all night. Despite the subpar numbers and getting knocked to the ground several times, Brady looked comfortable in the game. From just these two starts, he does look like he’s got the potential to be a very good QB for years to come.
Looking forward to next week, the Browns defense has to improve, particulary against the run. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 119 yards at 5.2 yards per carry. Both those numbers are season highs for him. The defense needs to step up. They were dangerously close to blowing a third straight game.
Another thing I’d like to see happen is for Jerome Harrison to get the ball more. He touched the ball just 4 times (3 rushing, 1 receiving). But those 4 plays totaled 101 yards. Included in those numbers was a 72 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. The team needs to find a way to get this guy the ball more often than just 4 times per game. So far this year, Harrison has 17 rushes for 127 yards (7.5 average) and 6 receptions for 82 yards (13.7 average). Combine those numbers and he has 23 touches for 209 yards (9.1 average). He has gotten the ball an average of 2.3 times per game (so tonight’s 4 was actually an improvement). Now I realize that the more he gets the ball, his average yards per play will go down. But still, it doesn’t seem that difficult to figure out. Get the ball to #35.
So next week the Browns are back at home to face 3-7 Houston. Let’s see if the defense can get its act together, if the receivers can hang onto some passes, and maybe see some more out of Jerome Harrison. We’ll find out on Sunday.
Tags: Brady Quinn, Buffalo Bills, football, Jerome Harrison, Phil Dawson, Romeo Crennel, scores
