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By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 09:58 p.m. EDT, Oct 25, 2009
CLEVELAND: What does it say about the state of the Browns when a Green Bay Packers' scout team linebacker can get to the quarterback faster on a blitz than the Browns' starting safety?
That's what the Packers were laughing about Sunday after quarterback Aaron Rodgers' 71-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver with 7:01 left in the second quarter broke open the game in a 31-3 rout of the downtrodden Browns.
Safety Abram Elam blitzed out of the slot, and Rodgers flipped a short pass to Driver, right where Elam would have been. Safety Brodney Pool lunged and missed the first tackle, not touching Driver, an 11-year veteran receiver.
Cornerback Eric Wright caught Driver at the Browns' 22 and tried to strip the ball but ended up on his back near the 5 as Driver scored to make it 14-3.
Rodgers said the Browns called the same defense last weekend at Pittsburgh and it resulted in a sack of Ben Roethlisberger. The Packers called it ''two slide'' and spent plenty of time on it in practice.
''Actually [Desmond] Bishop played it better than [the Browns] played it today. He got there quicker,'' Rodgers said of Bishop, an unknown three-year veteran from Cal.
The play encapsulated the gap between the Browns (1-6) and Packers (4-2). Rodgers threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns and had a 155.4 passer rating, as Derek Anderson passed for 99 yards (44 after the first quarter) and a 36.4 rating. The Packers had a 460-139 edge in total yards and a 25-12 advantage in first downs. Five of the Browns' came by penalty.
''We aren't good right now. That's it. Period. Flat out,'' Anderson said. ''We haven't run the ball effectively, thrown it where we need to. We haven't protected up front like we need to and caught it when we need to. You can't win like that.''
Left tackle Joe Thomas was just as succinct.
''We didn't play nearly well enough, and the score showed it,'' Thomas said. ''It hurts to lose, when you lose bad like that, because you're not even close to being competitive.''
Browns coach Eric Mangini said that he never considered a switch to backup Brady Quinn, but that he would examine everything in the wake of the demoralizing loss. An announced crowd of 69,797 bailed early at Cleveland Browns Stadium, leaving the cavern so desolate that Rodgers said everyone on the field could hear him in the third quarter. A cheer of ''Let's Go Pack,'' also broke out.
''I don't think we played very well; I don't think we coached very well,'' a grim Mangini said. ''I thought we were making progress in a lot of areas. I don't think we showed that today at all.''
Mangini abandoned the Wildcat offensive formation, which the Browns ran 13 times against the Steelers with their most dangerous player, Joshua Cribbs, taking the direct snap. It was called once in the first quarter, a 1-yard run by Cribbs.
''Did we run the Wildcat today?'' Cribbs said, surprised it was mothballed. ''I guess we didn't want to run it today.''
Asked what it would take to revive an offense that has produced just four touchdowns in 81 series this season, Cribbs said, ''If I knew that, they'd need to make me the coordinator.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns.
CLEVELAND: What does it say about the state of the Browns when a Green Bay Packers' scout team linebacker can get to the quarterback faster on a blitz than the Browns' starting safety?
That's what the Packers were laughing about Sunday after quarterback Aaron Rodgers' 71-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver with 7:01 left in the second quarter broke open the game in a 31-3 rout of the downtrodden Browns.
Safety Abram Elam blitzed out of the slot, and Rodgers flipped a short pass to Driver, right where Elam would have been. Safety Brodney Pool lunged and missed the first tackle, not touching Driver, an 11-year veteran receiver.
Cornerback Eric Wright caught Driver at the Browns' 22 and tried to strip the ball but ended up on his back near the 5 as Driver scored to make it 14-3.
Rodgers said the Browns called the same defense last weekend at Pittsburgh and it resulted in a sack of Ben Roethlisberger. The Packers called it ''two slide'' and spent plenty of time on it in practice.
''Actually [Desmond] Bishop played it better than [the Browns] played it today. He got there quicker,'' Rodgers said of Bishop, an unknown three-year veteran from Cal.
The play encapsulated the gap between the Browns (1-6) and Packers (4-2). Rodgers threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns and had a 155.4 passer rating, as Derek Anderson passed for 99 yards (44 after the first quarter) and a 36.4 rating. The Packers had a 460-139 edge in total yards and a 25-12 advantage in first downs. Five of the Browns' came by penalty.
''We aren't good right now. That's it. Period. Flat out,'' Anderson said. ''We haven't run the ball effectively, thrown it where we need to. We haven't protected up front like we need to and caught it when we need to. You can't win like that.''
Left tackle Joe Thomas was just as succinct.
''We didn't play nearly well enough, and the score showed it,'' Thomas said. ''It hurts to lose, when you lose bad like that, because you're not even close to being competitive.''
Browns coach Eric Mangini said that he never considered a switch to backup Brady Quinn, but that he would examine everything in the wake of the demoralizing loss. An announced crowd of 69,797 bailed early at Cleveland Browns Stadium, leaving the cavern so desolate that Rodgers said everyone on the field could hear him in the third quarter. A cheer of ''Let's Go Pack,'' also broke out.
''I don't think we played very well; I don't think we coached very well,'' a grim Mangini said. ''I thought we were making progress in a lot of areas. I don't think we showed that today at all.''
Mangini abandoned the Wildcat offensive formation, which the Browns ran 13 times against the Steelers with their most dangerous player, Joshua Cribbs, taking the direct snap. It was called once in the first quarter, a 1-yard run by Cribbs.
''Did we run the Wildcat today?'' Cribbs said, surprised it was mothballed. ''I guess we didn't want to run it today.''
Asked what it would take to revive an offense that has produced just four touchdowns in 81 series this season, Cribbs said, ''If I knew that, they'd need to make me the coordinator.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns.
Comments
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Posted 11:32 PM, 10/25/2009
So nice to Mangini sticking to his plan, whatever it is.
