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Missing key starters, first team plays well
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Friday, Aug 29, 2008
CLEVELAND: Trying to avoid the Browns' first winless preseason since 1972 forced offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski to resort to his bag of tricks Thursday night.
Quarterback Brady Quinn faked a handoff up the middle and pitched to running back Jerome Harrison, who had a wide-open path to the left side of the end zone. The 1-yard touchdown late in the first quarter of the preseason finale against the Chicago Bears was the first touchdown for the Browns' first-team offense since Game Two.
It would have been a nice play to save for the regular season. As it was, it was the Browns' highlight of the evening. It wasn't enough.
The Bears don't have an elite quarterback, with Kyle Orton winning the job over Rex Grossman. But they still sent the Browns home winless this August, prevailing 16-10 before an announced crowd of 70,880 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The thorn in the Browns' side was receiver Brandon Rideau, who spent 2005 on the Browns' active roster but did not play in a game. Rideau caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Grossman for the Bears' first touchdown and his 38-yard reception set up a 29-yard field goal by Robbie Gould in the third quarter that gave them a 13-10 lead.
The Browns' best chance to rally came midway through the fourth quarter. They faced fourth-and-1 at the Bears' 13 and fullback Charles Ali ran up the middle for 4 yards and a first down. Ali fumbled and Bears safety Leonard Peters recovered, but Browns coach Romeo Crennel challenged and the fumble was overruled.
On first-and-goal, quarterback Ken Dorsey hit rookie Paul Hubbard for a 5-yard gain, then running back Travis Thomas gained 2 yards. But Dorsey's third-down pass was dropped by Hubbard and on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Dorsey's pass for Thomas was broken up by Bears safety Craig Steltz with 5:24 to go.
Bears cornerback Trey Brown intercepted Dorsey's pass intended for receiver Steve Sanders with 2:27 left to set up another Gould field goal, this from 46 yards, and preserved the victory.
It was supposed to be the most meaningless of the preseason games, but the wounded Browns lost five more players — right guard Rex Hadnot (right knee), receiver/returner Syndric Steptoe (shoulder, on the opening kickoff), defensive end Chase Pittman (foot), tight end Darnell Dinkins (hip) and special teams linebacker Kris Griffin (elbow). All five were expected to make the team in Saturday's final cuts.
The stars came out, but they were all on the Browns' sideline. Watching in various forms of Browns' attire were many of those sidelined with injuries, including quarterback Derek Anderson, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, right guard Ryan Tucker, outside linebacker Antwan Peek, receiver Joe Jurevicius and rookie tight end Martin Rucker.
Still nowhere to be found were strong safety Sean Jones (swollen knee), running back Jamal Lewis (hamstring), free safety Brodney Pool (concussion), receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs (high ankle sprain) and rookie linebacker Beau Bell (knee surgery).
A Pro Bowler in his first year as a starter in 2007, Anderson was hurt on a sack Aug. 18 against the New York Giants and has not practiced since. Crennel expects him back Monday when the Browns begin preparation for the Sept. 7 opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
Quinn played only two series against the Bears and led the Browns to 10 points. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 65 yards. For the preseason, the 2007 first-round pick from Notre Dame completed 41-of-62 for 441 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a rating of 84.6.
Crennel had to be encouraged by the performance of the starters, especially after a lackluster effort in a 26-6 loss at the Detroit Lions on Saturday. The Browns seemingly ripped off 11 yards a pop on the opening drive, with running back Jason Wright rushing three times for 25 yards and catching an 11-yard pass and Quinn finding Travis Wilson twice for 20 yards. The Browns faced first-and-10 at the Bears 14 and stalled at the 8 after incompletions to Wilson and Kellen Winslow and a 6-yarder to Steve Sanders. Phil Dawson converted a 26-yard field goal with 10:03 left in the first quarter.
On the Browns' next possession, they marched 72 yards in 11 plays, capped by Harrison's run. Quinn's biggest gainer of the night was a 17-yarder to Sanders, setting up first-and-goal at the 5.
Safety Travis Key, a rookie free agent from Michigan State signed on Aug. 10, made a bid for at least the practice squad with a third-quarter interception of a Caleb Hanie pass and a 22-yard return. The Bears were flagged for a personal foul on the tackle of Key. But the Browns went backward with two penalties on offensive lineman Isaac Sowells and rookie kicker Jason Reda's 47-yard field-goal attempt was wide right. Key later had a sack that was nullified by penalty.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
CLEVELAND: Trying to avoid the Browns' first winless preseason since 1972 forced offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski to resort to his bag of tricks Thursday night.
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