Browns lose to Bengals, 16-7
November 30th, 2009 at 12:43 am by Displaced Cleveland Fan
Another game. Another loss. This has gotten ridiculous.
The Browns lost again to fall to 1-10. The loss came against the Bengals who are now 8-3 and have a 2-game lead in the division.
Brady Quinn didn’t pass the ball exceptionally well - 15 for 34 (44%) for 100 yards. Then again, he didn’t really get a whole lot of time to throw the ball. Cincinnati’s defense was putting pressure on him at will, particularly from the right side of the line. Not many quarterbacks would put up good numbers under those conditions.
Cleveland’s one score came on a Brady Quinn 9-yard touchdown run. That drive included a trick play where Josh Cribbs took a direct snap, Quinn rolled out to the left, and Cribbs completed an 18-yard pass to the QB. I don’t know if that means they ought to run more trick plays with Quinn catching the ball, or if Cribbs should play more quarterback.
Other than that drive, the offense was basically ineffective. On the defensive side of the ball, they did give up just the one touchdown and hold the Bengals other scoring drives to field goals. But Cincinnati, even without their leading rusher, was able to run all over the Browns defense. They rushed for 210 yards, which helped them eat up the clock and win the time of possession battle (38:11 to 21:49).
There were two frustrating things about this game.
The first is the stark contrast between these two teams. Last year, Cincinnati finished at 4-11-1, a half game ahead of Cleveland at 4-12. This year, after supposedly upgrading at head coach, the Browns are 1-10. Meanwhile, the Bengals are 8-3 and in first place with a 6-0 record in the division. Why did the Browns take such a big step backwards? Blame that on the coaching staff and the draft (Mangini).
The second is the contrast between Brady Quinn and Pittsburgh Steelers backup Dennis Dixon. In tonight’s game, Dixon started in place of Ben Roethlisberger and nearly led his team to victory against a Ravens defense that held the Browns to a total of 3 points in two games this year. Is Dixon that much better than Quinn? Hardly. What’s the difference? Pittsburgh is able to give their QB time to throw the ball, and they have a good running game to take pressure off of the passing game.
If the Browns could use the next draft to build up their offensive line and find a good running back, that will go a long way in improving the offense.
5 more games. The Browns are still tied with the Buccaneers and Rams in the chase for the #1 draft pick.
-dcf
Tags: Ben Roethlisberger, Brady Quinn, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dennis Dixon, Eric Mangini, Josh Cribbs
December 1st, 2009 at 6:43 am
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