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Offense fails to take advantage of turnovers committed by Colts
By Marla Ridenour
and Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writers
Published on Monday, Dec 01, 2008
CLEVELAND: Moments after Ken Dorsey's final pass of the afternoon landed in the hands of Indianapolis Colts defensive back Antoine Bethea to seal the Browns' 10-6 loss Sunday, an orange helmet went flying across midfield.
The public act of frustration appeared to come from one of the Browns' defensive players, whose unit had held the high-powered Colts without an offensive touchdown and to just 215 total yards — the second-lowest average by an opponent this season.
Yet somehow, the Browns once again found a way to lose.
''We only gave up three points,'' Browns defensive back Sean Jones said, ''[and] they have a very prolific scoring offense.''
That offense is led by a certain future hall of fame quarterback in Peyton Manning, whose 8-4 team hadn't been held without an offensive touchdown since 2003 in another Colts win in Cleveland, 9-6 in the season opener.
''That is how they played us the last time in Indianapolis,'' Colts coach Tony Dungy said. ''It was a 13-6 game — very similar to this. They do a good job of making you be patient.''
The Browns' defense went the extra mile by giving its anemic offense three extra chances to score by forcing three turnovers. On the first play of the game, defensive lineman Shaun Smith forced a fumble that defensive back Eric Wright pounced on.
In the second quarter, defensive back Sean Jones made his second interception of the season and 12th of his career. Defensive back Brandon McDonald picked off a Manning pass in the third quarter for his third interception of the season.
''We disguised well on the back end and gave [Manning] some problems,'' McDonald said. ''We did what we were supposed to do, but we didn't get the win.''
The defense did all it could to make that happen, including coming up with a key goal-line stand just before halftime.
''I think our defense played a hell of a football game today,'' said quarterback Derek Anderson, who left the game late in the fourth quarter with a potential season-ending knee injury.
Bulled over
Bull-rushes by two relatively light Colts defensive ends resulted in the game-winning touchdown, a 37-yard fumble return by Robert Mathis, and the injury to Anderson.
Dwight Freeney, 6-foot-1 and 268 pounds, overpowered left tackle Joe Thomas and sacked Anderson, forcing the fumble that six-year veteran Mathis returned for his first career score with 9:45 remaining.
Mathis, 6-2 and 245 pounds, got the better of right tackle Kevin Shaffer and sacked Anderson, knocking him out with 1:07 to go. Anderson said he sprained his left MCL, but there could be further damage.
''I think the [line] played great,'' Anderson said. ''Those ends are fast, they're great players, they've got a lot of speed. They got around the edge the first four plays of two-minute drill; I was stepping up inside.''
Browns coach Romeo Crennel said the Colts had to switch to the bull-rush, because ''we were doing some things to try to help the tackles and give them a different look.''
''They understand what we're trying to do and they know their outside rush was taken away, so they ended up turning it into the bull-rush,'' Crennel said.
Mathis said when he saw the ball on the ground ''it looked like a pile of gold.''
''This was the first time I have ever run with the football,''' Mathis said. ''I just remember thinking, 'Don't get caught.' ''
Shaffer did not know what happened on the play when Anderson was hurt.
''I got bull-rushed, I got pushed back and I saw it was a sack,'' Shaffer said. ''I saw him laying there and I knew something was up.''
Left guard Eric Steinbach thought the line was ''fighting all game.''
''It's a tough deal,'' Steinbach said. ''In the two-minute drill, they're going to pin their ears back and rush as hard as they can. It's a shame it had to come down to that. We could have had control of that game earlier.''
No challenge necessary
Anderson told Crennel not to use a challenge on his fumble, which would have risked the loss of a timeout. Anderson said he was confident his arm was not going forward.
''It was a fumble. I told [Crennel] it came out the back,'' Anderson said. ''No reason to waste it. It was pretty clear.''
Crennel said, ''We talked about it and we were able to see it upstairs and his arm never got up to go forward.''
Winslow hurt
Tight end Kellen Winslow sprained his left ankle on the first play of the second half and did not return. He declined to talk afterward. Crennel gave no details about the severity of the injury, but Winslow departed wearing a boot. . . . Defensive end Corey Williams went to the locker room in the first half with a cut on his arm, but played in the second half.
Scoring drought
The Browns haven't scored a touchdown in the last eight quarters. Their last TD came on Jerome Harrison's 72-yard run with 14:47 left in the fourth quarter at Buffalo on Nov. 17.
Three trips inside the 20 against the Colts resulted in two Phil Dawson field goals. His third attempt, a 34-yarder, was wide right.
Asked about the red-zone woes, Anderson said: ''I don't know. Teams kind of figure out a little bit what we're doing. We've had chances, we've missed throws, we've missed balls. I thought the line did a good job that first drive, we ran the ball the first seven or eight plays. That kind of sets the tone for us. We're the team we need to be when we can run the ball like that.''
Jamal Lewis picked up 77 yards on 24 carries, giving him 793 yards for the season, but declined to talk after the game.
Brownies
The Colts were without two-time Pro Bowl strong safety Bob Sanders, inactive with a knee injury. . . . Anderson is 13-14 as a starter over the past three seasons. . . . Rookie tight end Martin Rucker caught his first career pass, a 9-yarder for a first down. . . . Interceptions by Sean Jones and Brandon McDonald gave the Browns 17 for the season, matching last year's total. The team record is 33 set in 2001.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at
mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at
sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: Moments after Ken Dorsey's final pass of the afternoon landed in the hands of Indianapolis Colts defensive back Antoine Bethea to seal the Browns' 10-6 loss Sunday, an orange helmet went flying across midfield.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 11:24 AM, 12/01/2008
How many times has Harrison Carried the ball since His 72 yard TD....DOES IT MAKE SENSE THAT HE HAS NOT CARRIED especially in the Colts game....Lewis had no chance up the middle without someone to threaten the outside so he could have a little room...THEY JUST STACKED THE MIDDLE AND CUT JAMAL DOWN
But Roy he has a bad Hamstring....Hog wash he played on special teams in the Colts game
