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Browns blow big lead, players share blame for loss to Steelers
By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Nov 12, 2007
PITTSBURGH: Darnell Dinkins took the blame. So did Willie McGinest.
There was plenty to go around after the Browns blew a 15-point second-quarter lead and fell 31-28 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field.
After the battle for the lead in the AFC North came down to Phil Dawson's game-tying 52-yard field-goal try that fell short with six seconds left, return man Joshua Cribbs said the Browns would not let one person shoulder the burden.
In the postgame locker room, Cribbs said receiver Braylon Edwards stood up and said, ''It was my fault,'' sparking a chorus of ''Blame me'' that echoed around the room.
''It's never one guy's fault, never. It's a team,'' Cribbs said. ''One play does not make or break a whole game.
''A lot of guys spoke. Willie McGinest said, 'If you want somebody to blame, blame me. I'm strong enough.' At that point the team came together and said, 'Blame me.' It shows how united we are. We stand together.''
What the Browns got out of that scene of solidarity will not be evident until they visit the Baltimore Ravens next weekend. But it had to be a tough bus ride home. The Browns had a three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-4, two games behind the Steelers (7-2), despite kickoff returns of 100 and 90 yards by Cribbs that led to 14 points.
Dinkins chastised himself for being called for holding on Cribbs' final punt return to the the Steelers' 38 with 1:04 left. The penalty set the Browns back 29 yards.
''At a vital time of the game I blow a guy off the ball and he falls and the referee decides to say I was holding him, and it cost us the game today,'' Dinkins said. ''It took us out of field-goal position. This was a game of inches and Phil missed a field goal by a couple inches. We would have been already up there if it wasn't for my penalty.
''I put us out of field-goal position and that's the game. I cost us the game by being too aggressive on the play.''
McGinest agonized over his missed tackle on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. On third-and-9 from the Browns' 12-
yard line, McGinest whiffed in the backfield and Roethlisberger scrambled for 10 yards. Two plays later, Roethlisberger found tight end Heath Miller on a 2-yard touchdown pass, the game-winner that held up to a questionable replay challenge by Browns coach Romeo Crennel that cost his team two timeouts.
''If I make that tackle on third down, they've got to kick a field goal and it's a whole different game,'' McGinest said. ''It's my worst game as a Cleveland Brown. I told the guys, 'I'm strong; put it on me.'''
There were several painful plays in the second-half collapse.
Browns running back Jamal Lewis said he relaxed thinking his forward progress was stopped, and he fumbled, setting up the Steelers' first touchdown in the third quarter. The Browns' defense gave up a 30-yard Roethlisberger touchdown run on third-and-10 with 11:32 remaining.
''I think this team has come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,'' Crennel said.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
PITTSBURGH: Darnell Dinkins took the blame. So did Willie McGinest.
Get the full article here.
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