Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Error-plagued loss to Cardinals humbles Browns
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, Dec 04, 2007
BEREA: Browns players said the P-word had little to do with their 27-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
That word is ''playoffs.''
Because of the perceived ease of the team's schedule this month, fans and the media have used the word freely when talking about the Browns.
Guard Eric Steinbach said that subject is the furthest thing from his teammates' minds. ''No, not this team. Not this locker room. We know what our goal is; it's whoever we're playing that week,'' he said. ''We've got four games left, and we're going to come out each week. Then we're going to sit back and see what happens.''
Coach Romeo Crennel said the team's focus should remain on short-term goals.
''I don't know because I don't talk to them about playoffs. I just talk to them about the next game and doing what we need to do to try and win the next game,'' Crennel said at his weekly news conference Monday. ''I know that other people have been talking about playoffs and all of that stuff. Hopefully, they listen to me more than they listen to everybody else. But we didn't play well enough yesterday.''
To say it wasn't the Browns' best performance of the season might be generous. They had 10 penalties for 77 yards, including a few that showed a lack of discipline. They had four turnovers — two fumbles and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Such mistakes don't normally lead to victory.
''You can't spot a team 14 points in the game, especially on the road. It's tough to come back,'' Steinbach said. ''It's tougher to come back to get the lead when you're away versus when you're at your home stadium.''
For whatever reason, the Browns have started more than a few games slowly before making comebacks to win. The team can't put its finger on why that is happening.
''I don't know what the magical answer is for starting out fast,'' Steinbach said. ''But that's our goal every week and sometimes we do it, sometimes we don't.''
Linebacker Andra Davis said the team cannot allow the slow starts to continue.
''I put it in the same category as that Oakland game earlier in the year. We should have won that game also. We were prepared for this game,'' Davis said. ''We didn't take them lightly. They just made plays and we didn't.''
Running back Jamal Lewis implied that it's something that comes with maturity as a team.
''It's just a mentality. You have to go out and start fast. This season, we've came from behind a lot of times because we can score points and things of that nature, but we just have to have that mentality,'' he said.
''That's something we really have to get together because if we want to be the caliber of team that we want to be, we're going to have to start fast and finish.''
All three said the loss Sunday in Glendale, Ariz., was a wake-up call for an evolving team.
''Sometimes games like one of those deals that sneak up and bite you can be a good thing. It can be a good thing just to humble you and let you know that, look, we need to get better,'' Lewis said.
''We need to come out here and practice every week and get better and that's what championship teams do. That's what great teams do. . . . You can't get content.''
Glass half full?
Crennel took little solace in the fact that his team was still in a position to win at the end of the game.
''If you chose to, you could. But I chose to look at all of those other plays that we screwed up. If we get those right, it doesn't even come down to one play,'' Crennel said.
''I take a little satisfaction in that we kept fighting. Defensively, we had that goal-line stand, and offensively, we drove it down with two minutes and had a chance to win the game.''
Belichick moment
For one second Monday, Crennel sounded like New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick when asked about Leigh Bodden's delay-of-game penalty for kicking the ball Sunday.
''If (Bodden) didn't know kicking the ball was a penalty, then why don't a lot of people kick the balls? You can not kick the ball unless you're a kicker lining up to kick an extra point or on a kickoff,'' he said.
''You don't kick the ball. If he didn't know, then I did a poor job.''
Brownies...
Lewis said he was nursing sore ribs. . . . Wide receiver Braylon Edwards appeared to have his elbow wrapped in ice after practice.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
BEREA: Browns players said the P-word had little to do with their 27-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
