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'I wouldn't change.' Robaire Smith hurt
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008
BEREA: Browns fans are in an uproar over kicking or not kicking field goals, clock management, stupid penalties, the disappearance of the offense and coach Romeo Crennel's apparent inability to get a handle on it all.
Meanwhile, another starter was presumably lost for the season.
Crennel announced that defensive end Robaire Smith suffered an injury to his left Achilles tendon in Sunday night's 10-6 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
Crennel did not know whether Smith, a nine-year veteran, would need surgery or give an estimate of how long he would be out. But Crennel did acknowledge: ''For a big man an Achilles is a tough thing to deal with. We'll see how severe it is and make some decisions from there.''
In the court of public opinion, Crennel was getting roasted Monday for the way the Browns handled the end of the first half and the game's final 3:21.
At the end of the second quarter, Crennel skipped a field-goal try from the Steelers' 11 with eight seconds remaining, and quarterback Derek Anderson failed to throw the ball into the end zone. His pass for receiver Syndric Steptoe was intercepted by strong safety Troy Polamalu at the 3.
''We had eight seconds left, we had a first down,'' Crennel said. ''That's time
enough to throw the ball into the end zone, get a touchdown, or if it's incomplete, put your field-goal team out there and kick a field goal. I wouldn't change that sequence.
''Kellen was open on that play. Kellen was not in the end zone. Polamalu was in the end zone and he was breaking up on Kellen. Everybody else was in the end zone or right at the goal line. Derek threw to the guy who flashed in front of him who was right at the end zone. He threw it low to give him a chance to catch it, but Polamalu made a good play on it.''
Anderson said he was trying to get the ball to Winslow on a post route behind the linebackers and in front of Polamalu, then went to Steptoe and tried to throw it low. Steptoe said the play was designed to go in the end zone, ''but I didn't get across the safety's face in time to help D.A. out with the throw.''
Anderson said, ''A poor read; I probably should have just thrown it out of the end zone and taken three points and lived to fight.''
Asked if there would have been time for a field goal, he said: ''There was eight seconds. As soon as I saw the safety there, even if I throw it at his feet, if it hits the ground with two or three (seconds), we have a chance to kick it.''
With 3:21 left and fourth-and-7 at the Steelers' 20, most were surprised when Crennel sent Phil Dawson to kick a 38-yard field goal. The Browns had marched from their own 20, and most thought Crennel would go for the first down and a potential game-tying touchdown.
''Thinking about the way the defense played all game, if we get points on the board, we can stop them, then our offense will have enough time to drive the ball down the field and give us a chance to win. That's why I decided to do what I did,'' Crennel said.
But what about playing for overtime?
''You can look at it like 'We can score a touchdown and get it to overtime' or you can look at it like 'We've been almost four quarters and we've scored three points.' What are you going to do?'' Crennel said.
Crennel's plan was foiled when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger scrambled on a bootleg and threw a 19-yard strike over the middle to tight end Heath Miller. That put the ball at the 50 with 2:57 left and enabled the Steelers to hold it for all but the final 26 seconds.
''We overran him, which gave him more time to throw,'' Crennel said of the pass to Miller. ''The linebackers got sucked up on the run; we could have stayed back more.''
But more than one Browns player went home wondering about the finish.
Asked about the final field goal, Winslow said: ''If you don't get points on the board, it's 3-10. That's what our leader wants and that's what we're going to do.''
Anderson said: ''We had a chance at the end of the game and that's all we can ask for the way we played in the first half. So we're kicking a field goal to give us points. Even 30 seconds is a chance. But I thought we did have some momentum going. I had a good little drive going.''
More on Robaire
If Smith is placed on injured reserve, he would join cornerback Daven Holly (torn ACL) and outside linebacker Antwan Peek (torn patella tendon), two expected starters who were lost for the season. Shaun Smith figures he will now see more time at end, and Louis Leonard, signed in October, and Ahtyba Rubin, a sixth-round draft choice from Iowa State, will also be called upon.
''That's tough. You can't replace Robaire Smith,'' Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said. ''He's an animal inside. He doesn't take a lot of crap from anybody on that field, whether it's practice or in the game.''
Brownies
In wind gusts of up to 60 mph, Dave Zastudil punted five times for 265 yards for a single-game, career-best 53-yard average and a single-game, career-best 52.8-yard net, a team record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. . . . Crennel said Pro Bowl returner Joshua Cribbs suffered a hamstring injury in a fourth-quarter pileup after his 8-yard punt return, but that he could have gone back in. . . . Shaun Smith had his left hand encased in ice, but jokingly said: ''I'm moving my hand; I still could jack you up if I had to.'' . . . Crennel downplayed the possibility of signing a veteran receiver like Joe Horn, because Donte' Stallworth's strained quadriceps is not considered a major injury. Stallworth missed his second game after getting hurt in pregame warmups before the game against the Dallas Cowboys. . . . Crennel's reaction to Braylon Edwards' speeding ticket for driving 120 mph on I-90: ''I told him he didn't need to drive that fast.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
BEREA: Browns fans are in an uproar over kicking or not kicking field goals, clock management, stupid penalties, the disappearance of the offense and coach Romeo Crennel's apparent inability to get a handle on it all.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Naples, FL
Posted 06:37 AM, 09/16/2008
Crennels FG decision makes no sense. Even if the Browns don't get the TD the same senario that they had after the FG comes into play, sepecially since they tried neither an onside kick or a deep kick after the FG but a stupid "Pooch" kick. IF you can win the game by getting a 3rd FG his decision works, otherwise it was whimpy and wrong.
Posted 08:45 AM, 09/16/2008
Crennel needs to go along with Anderson!!!!! Come on Savage wake up and realize that Anderson is not the quarterback for Cleveland - last year was nothing more than a FLUKE>......I don't want to rebuild for another 5 years but apparentley Crennel is not a head coach these guys have no respect for him whatsoever - you can tell by the way they play.
Scottsdale, AZ
Posted 11:14 AM, 09/16/2008
The coach is a jerk. Period!
Posted 12:08 PM, 09/16/2008
Lynda said 5 years. I doubt RC will be here after 5 games. I still predict 0-5. You will see just how bad he really is when the Browns lose to Cincinnati. He was outcoached last year and continues to be outcoached this year. And the real DA is now emerging.
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 10:35 PM, 09/16/2008
we need to get rid of the lack of imagination and our fervor of play has diminished where nonfootball fans can see it there wasn't a single second of that game where it seemed we were taking charge and control of our own destiny; everything came down to luck and a good bounce... ...even the last drive was allowed by the steelers because anderson was eating up the precious time on the clock and they knew it and they let him roll with it SOMETHING needs to change to stop another losing season
Posted 11:12 AM, 09/17/2008
Ofcourse,he got beat.Didn't he ?
