First Energy Stadium was pumped. The fans were loud and the Cleveland Browns looked to improve their record to 4-2 on the season and move the winning streak to four games. What could possibly go wrong against the Matthew Stafford-led Detroit Lions?
After shell-shocking the Lions in the first half, the Browns laid a dud in the second half. Lions head coach, Jim Schwartz made all the right adjustments offensively and defensively. The Browns were out scored 24-0 in the final thirty minutes. This game was a tale of two halves.
Second year quarterback, Brandon Weeden continued to show why he won’t be wearing brown and orange in 2014. With over six minutes left in the game and an opportunity to tie the game, Weeden made quite possibly the worst decision of his career. Trying to avoid taking a sack, Weeden shoveled a pass 15 yards to the sideline where linebacker DeAndre Levy was graciously awaiting the floating errant pass. The interception led to seven points and put the Lions up two scores with two minutes left in the game. That unfortunate series of events could be quite possibly the worst blunder of the 2013 campaign.
But, why are Browns diehards’ surprised? All the signs were there. They had to of known that if the game came down to Weeden vs. Stafford, the Browns would lose. It’s this type of game that separates the men amongst the boys – and sadly to say, Weeden is a boy.
While much of the blame can go on the Browns temporary 30-year old signal caller, some of the miscues were also on the Browns’ pedestrian-like defense. The orange-and-brown defense spent 33 minutes and 29 seconds on the field and allowed 366 yards, including four passing touchdowns. It was clear after the second Weeden interception, they were deflated as Stafford marched down and put the game away. Third downs are also becoming a huge issue for this defense. The Lions were 8/14 (57%) on third down conversions.
While most Browns fans want Weeden’s head by noon today, there’s only one remaining important question – what choices do they have this deep in the season? Do the Browns ride with Weeden the rest of the way, turn the reigns over to Jason Campbell, or sign a free agent quarterback off the street that has zero chemistry with the offense or team? These are all questions that will be answered sometime near the future.
Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net.
Unlike most, I can;t put the blame on the defense.We all know Reggie Bush is a playmaker, and as MANY opportunities as he was going to get coming into this game, they weren’t going to completely shut him down. Especially when you take into account that Calvin Johnson was going to be on the field, whether he was healthy or not, on the field means he has to be accounted for.
I don’t know of anyone who didn’t think that if the Browns held Bush to 135 yards on 22 touches and 1 TD that the Browns wouldn’t win. What they managed to do to him is even more impressive when you break it down touch by touch. He had a long run of 39 yards, on his other 16 carries, he totaled 39 yards (2.44 YPC) and he caught the 18 yard TD pass (middle of the 3rd quarter). While Johnson did drop the TD pass, he caught only 3 passes for 25 yards (8 TRGTS).
While Durham picked up the slack in replacing Burleson, he had 8 catches for 83 yards (13 TRGTS) it was Fauria who did the most damage, he caught only 3 passes for 34 yards, but all 3 went for TDS. At 6’7″ he was a tough matchup for Ward, who was posted up in the end zone twice. This was a game I DEFINITELY thought the Browns would win, especially getting Detroit out in the elements. For a half it looked promising, and then Weeden was the carriage that turned back into a pumpkin.
I think the inability of the offense to get ANYTHING going, until its final 2 possessions of the game, eventually taxed the defense. The offensive game plan in the 2nd half, has to be more than ATTEMPTING preserve a 10 point first half lead. Up 10, starting the 2nd half with the ball, and an OPPORTUNITY to put the game away, to start the 2nd half with 4 straight 3 and outs was the key contributing factor to FATIGUE setting in on the defense. Weeden just has not gotten the job done. How about this, 10 of his 26 completions came on the Browns last 2 possessions of the game, along with 126 of his 269 passing yards. This all happened in less than 3:30 time of possession.
Final Thought: Brandon Weeden in 3 starts this season 0-3 (Miami, Baltimore, and Detroit), 13 SACKS -107 YARDS, 3 TDS 5 INTS, QBR of 16.2. 26.7, 41.2, 13-50 in CONVERSIONS, 0 4th QTR PTS What more needs to be seen? Brandon Weeden will NOT be here in 2014.