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Former KSU star gets fourth career kickoff return for a touchdown
By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Nov 12, 2007
PITTSBURGH: In Saturday night's team meeting, Joshua Cribbs felt like he was sitting in church and the pastor was preaching directly to him.
When Browns coach Romeo Crennel said, ''Return game, we need a big return,'' Cribbs said his reaction was, ''I'm the returner, so he's talking to me.''
So Cribbs wrote ''Visualize the reality'' on his notepad and thought about the challenge the rest of the evening.
The powers of visualization of Cribbs, a former Kent State quarterback, must be strong. In the Browns' 31-28 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field, Cribbs returned kickoffs 100 and 90 yards to score a touchdown and set up another.
His fourth career kickoff return for a touchdown set a Browns' record, surpassing Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell's three. Cribbs' second touchdown of the season tied a team record set by Eric Metcalf in 1990. Cribbs returned four kickoffs for 204 yards, just shy of the Browns' single-game record of 212 yards by Richard Alston in 2004.
''Cribbs is amazing,'' Browns tight end Darnell Dinkins said. ''I've been on a lot of teams with a lot of good returners and what he did today is phenomenal. I love blocking for the guy.''
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had a different perspective.
''One thing is for certain: we stink as a kickoff-coverage unit,'' he said. ''Not to take anything away from Josh Cribbs, he is a great return man. His reputation is well-deserved, but we have to grow in that area.''
Cribbs' 100-yard touchdown with 11:14 to play probably surpassed any dashing returns by the amazing Metcalf. Cribbs muffed the ball at about the 10 and picked it up at the goal line.
''It was a squib kick and I did mess with the momentum,'' Cribbs said. ''I'm taught if I don't mess with the momentum and it goes in the end zone, take a knee. It was about an inch short of the end zone and I'm like, 'Oh, man, decision, decision.' I have to make a choice and live with it.''
Steelers linebacker Andre Frazier had a chance to knock Cribbs out of bounds at the Browns' 16-yard line, but Cribbs managed to tightrope the sideline. Browns linebacker Chaun Thompson took out kicker Jeff Reed and tight end Steve Heiden raced down field to clear out the final Steelers defender.
''A lot of guys were like, 'What are you doing?' and trying to find somebody to block,'' Cribbs said. ''Guys were coming at me like slow bullets, 'Vroom, vroom.' I dodged here, jumping left and right. It was like a video game.
''Toward the end I was losing a lot of wind, 'Where's the end zone?' We had a convoy of white jerseys blocking for me, hustling, busting their tails.''
Tomlin challenged whether Cribbs had stepped out of bounds, but the touchdown was upheld.
''Guys are saying, 'Don't worry about it, sit down and chill, you were in. I saw it,''' Cribbs said.
Cribbs also gashed the Steelers last November with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 24-20 Browns' loss. This time, the Browns' offense was in a second-half rut when Cribbs scored to put them ahead 28-24. He said he tried to pick up his teammates.
''I went to everybody and said, 'Let's keep fighting,''' he said. ''We were down 21-6 (to the Seattle Seahawks) last week in our home. The tables were turned. We were up 21-6 in their home. I was trying to get guys motivated, like, 'C'mon let's go. It's not over yet.'''
Cribbs' 90-yard return in the first quarter was nearly as dramatic. He stiff-armed Steelers return specialist Allen Rossum twice before cornerback Anthony Madison brought him down at the Steelers' 3. That set up Derek Anderson's 2-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Vickers to give the Browns a 14-3 lead.
''He was pretty fast. I'd stiff-arm him, he'd run pretty fast, try to catch up, stiff-arm him again,'' Cribbs said of Rossum. ''He was allowing his other teammates to come up. This guy dove at my legs. He made a good form tackle. I was trying to stiff-arm, high step, whatever I could to get in the end zone. I hate being stopped on the 3-yard line, putting our offense in a bind. We want to score every time we have an opportunity.''
Almost there
Browns kicker Phil Dawson said there was little he could have done differently on his 52-yard field-goal try, which fell a few feet short with six seconds left. The wind was in his face and the footing at Heinz Field was not very secure, which also affected his kickoffs.
''That's about as good as I can hit a football,'' Dawson said of the field goal. ''It doesn't make me feel any better. We still lost the game. Sometimes in those situations you can be a little more aggressive, but not on this field. If you try to be aggressive you'll fall on your rear end. I was just trying to get it on line, which we executed.
''You've got to see how the ball reacts. I heard the crowd roar as it was in the air, so it must have slowed down considerably.''
Last weekend at home against the Seahawks, Dawson kicked a 25-yard game-winner in the 33-30 overtime victory. This time he said he had a comfortable distance in mind and 52 yards was ''on the fringes.''
Costly fumble
Browns running back Jamal Lewis fumbled twice and lost one, a costly bobble with 8:18 left in the third quarter. Kent State product James Harrison forced it (one of two by Harrison) and cornerback Ike Taylor recovered at the Browns' 38. That set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Hines Ward that cut the Browns' lead to 21-16.
Lewis thought his forward progress was stopped.
''I know it was,'' he said. ''When I can't go any more I let up. When I let up, someone got a hand in and pulled it out. I was like, 'Wow.' You can't let a game like this fall into the hands of the referees.''
Just wondering
To those figuring the Browns will pick up Simeon Rice to bolster their anemic pass rush, don't hold your breath. Released last week by the Denver Broncos, Rice is considered a 4-3 defensive end and would be only a situational player.
Right guard Seth McKinney's shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve Saturday is not related to his neck problem that required surgery last year when he was with the Miami Dolphins. McKinney's shoulder popped out of the socket last weekend against the Seahawks.
Brownies
Eric Steinbach, who missed two days of practice with a back injury, started at left guard. . . . Anderson spiked the ball on third-and-7 from the Steelers' 35 on the Browns' final possession because receiver Joe Jurevicius had been injured on a 3-yard catch during the previous play. ''I was trying to call a play, but Joe couldn't run,'' Anderson said. ''He was sitting there yelling, 'I can't go.''' . . . The Browns went 5-of-6 on third down in the first half and 0-of-6 in the second half. The Browns picked up their first first down of the second half with 41 seconds to play. . . . Crennel is now 2 of 20 on replay challenges in his career. . . . The Browns allowed a 100-yard rusher for the seventh time this season. Willie Parker gained 105 yards on 25 carries. . . . The Browns' first drive went 16 plays and consumed 8:55, the longest in terms of plays since a 19-play march against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 25, 2005, and the longest in terms of time since one of 9:59 against the Colts on Sept. 7, 2003.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
PITTSBURGH: In Saturday night's team meeting, Joshua Cribbs felt like he was sitting in church and the pastor was preaching directly to him.
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