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Confusion and errors spoil game for Browns
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Monday, Nov 12, 2007
PITTSBURGH: It has gotten to this point for the Browns: No matter the circumstances, how they play, who is playing or whether they play in Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Davenport, Iowa, the Browns find a way to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So it went Sunday, as the Browns found a new way to blow a game against the Steelers: burning two timeouts challenging a play that was not overruled.
Figure that one.
There was much good ready to be said about the Browns this Sunday at the confluence, but in the end the mistakes led to a loss, and the mistakes overshadowed the good.
Whether it was a lack of poise, inexperience or just plain goofing up doesn't really matter. In the end, the Browns played a game that could have shown how far they've come since that blowout loss to the Steelers in the opener.
Instead they blew a big lead and lost again to this team in the most aggravating of ways.
The goof came after the Steelers' final
touchdown, which put them ahead by two points with 3:13 left.
Heath Miller's catch looked like a catch, but for some reason there was confusion on the field as the teams lined up for the extra point.
With players milling around, someone on the Browns' defense called timeout.
Mistake one.
During the timeout, Browns coach Romeo Crennel decided to challenge the touchdown.
Mistake two.
Because throwing the red challenge flag meant that if the play stood as called, the Browns would expend two timeouts on one play at a time when timeouts were precious.
Which is exactly what happened when Ron Winter ruled Miller did, indeed, catch the ball (a ruling that appeared correct).
That combination of gaffes is compounded by the fact the Steelers scored on second down. Had the Browns won the challenge, the Steelers still would have had another chance.
This all left the Browns with one timeout for an offense that had done nothing since a marvelous second-quarter touchdown catch by Braylon Edwards (a play Crennel properly challenged).
At that point, the Browns led 21-6 with 5:24 remaining in the first half.
Their next first down came with about 50 seconds left in the game.
Derek Anderson went from calm and poised in the first half to looking rattled and nervous in the second.
The offense clunked. Jamal Lewis lost a fumble that helped change the momentum. Yes, it appeared the fumble came after Lewis was stopped, but if he hangs on to the ball, there is no discussion.
Anderson's throws were short and errant, while Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ran from the confluence to the Cuyahoga.
Point is, those timeouts were vital.
The Browns had blown a lead and needed every second of clock time they could get — especially when they went three-and-out after the Steelers' touchdown.
That gave the Steelers the ball with 2:42 left. The Browns had one timeout and the two-minute warning to stop the clock. They did get the ball back, but with no timeouts and 1:04 remaining.
They did their best, but came up short — in part because they ran out of time.
Who called the timeout will be the greatest mystery this side of Dennis Kucinich's UFO sighting.
Crennel said the timeout was called on the field by a player.
Several players who were interviewed in the locker room said they did not know who called it. According to Crennel, the person who called timeout thought that the coaching staff wanted the clock stopped so the Browns could study the replay more carefully. This indicates confusion, lots of it.
During the timeout, Crennel decided to challenge, saying there was a ''possibility'' Miller did not catch the ball.
''Whether I was convinced or not,'' Crennel said, ''some people were convinced, and so I challenged it.''
Except in that situation the coach has to be sure because the timeouts mean so dadgum much.
A second timeout at that point of the game can't be burned on a ''possibility.'' That extra timeout wound up mattering in a huge way.
''Put it on me,'' Crennel said of the two timeouts.
This is noble.
Willie McGinest was also noble when he took the blame for the loss. So was Darnell Dinkins, who was called for holding on a Joshua Cribbs punt return that would have given the Browns great field position late in the game — a call the Browns thought was ridiculous. (It would have been nice for one of the Browns' receivers to comment after the loss in the same way they've been commenting after wins.)
A loss does not, of course, erase all that the Browns have accomplished thus far this season. Anderson is allowed to look human and nervous; it was a tough game and a tough crowd and a tough spot.
But when this kind of thing happens over and over and over with this team against the Steelers it's mind-numbing.
The Browns will not have arrived — this season or any other — until they get past this longtime nemesis.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.
PITTSBURGH: It has gotten to this point for the Browns: No matter the circumstances, how they play, who is playing or whether they play in Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Davenport, Iowa, the Browns find a way to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Get the full article here.
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