Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns sink with drop, drop, drop



Friday, December 08, 2006 Mary Kay Cabot

Plain Dealer Reporter
Pittsburgh- Browns quarterback Derek Anderson had a decent starting debut against the Steelers, but he could've used a little help from his friends.
Anderson, known for his cannon arm, did everything the Browns could've hoped for and more - but his receivers dropped at least seven passes and let two others glance off their hands.
"There's a different velocity on Derek's ball than Charlie [Frye's]," said Braylon Edwards, who had one drop but caught the only touchdown pass. "We're not trying to make excuses, but Derek throws the ball very hard, so when you turn around, the ball is humming. It's there. You don't have time to play around. You have to be ready. The weather didn't affect the ball at all because Derek throws such a tight spiral."
The biggest offender was Dennis Northcutt, who dropped three passes and couldn't reach one that went off his fingertips near the sideline. After his third drop in the third quarter, Northcutt got a lecture on the sidelines from coach Romeo Crennel.
"It was a bad night," Northcutt said. "What more can I say? Y'all saw it. It was just one of those nights. I have nothing more to say. I played a bad game."
But Northcutt certainly wasn't alone. Also participating in the dropfest were Edwards, Jason Wright, Darnell Dinkins and Terrelle Smith. Another pass went off the fingertips of Joe Jurevicius near the sideline, but it was just out of his reach.
In fact, Jurevicius was about the only receiver that could catch Anderson's passes consistently. He finished with seven receptions for 111 yards, with a long gain of 27. Edwards caught a 45-yard touchdown to avert the shutout late in the fourth quarter.
"He played well and did some good things, but we did some things that maybe hurt him," Jurevicius said. "It's not that he's a new quarterback. The conditions weren't prime, but that's not an excuse. We did some things that hurt us.
"The only thing to do when you drop a ball is go back and get to work. I can't answer for everybody. Dropped balls happen and sometimes they happen a little more, especially when it's cold outside."
Said Wright: "Nobody plans to drop the ball. I'm sure [the change in velocity] is as good a reason as any. But at the same time, a pass is a pass and you've got to catch it. That's what we get paid to do. I touched the ball, so I'll count it."
Despite the drops, Anderson finished with 21 completions on 37 attempts for 276 yards with the touchdown and an interception.
"The ball I dropped was thrown behind me a little bit, but I make those catches in practice all the time," Dinkins said. "At the end of the day, we're all professionals. We have to catch the ball."
All the receivers said they wish they could've done more to help Anderson.
"Derek made good reads, got the ball out of his hands and put it in catchable scenarios," Edwards said. "The line gave him great protection and he played outstanding."

[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns can't shake chill of futile season


Friday, December 08, 2006Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Pittsburgh -- The wind whipped snow across the sky, and the streamers atop the Heinz Field uprights stiffened like the resolve of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On a night only Donder and Blitzen could love, the Browns auditioned another quarterback, Derek Anderson, and went home with their usual coal lump for Christmas. Pittsburgh won easily, 27-7.
The night felt mean as Joe Greene, although he might think these Steelers and their 6-and-7 record are a blot on the achievements of their illustrious ancestors.
For the 4-and-9 Browns, the trip to the stadium between the rivers has seldom been a happy one. Since the team was reborn in 1999, only Tim Couch (twice) has directed the Browns to victory here.
The blitz-happy Steelers and thousands of fans in parkas snapping Terrible Towels make this no place to break in a young quarterback. Still, that was the case for Anderson. Charlie Frye, the designated flinger for the season, who also had never played a game here, was flung to the ground once too often last week and sidelined with a wrist injury.
"The rivalry continues . . ." the replay board read before the opening kickoff.
So does the futility.
So does the seventh lost season in the eight since the Browns returned.
So does a quarterback search that, really, has been going on since Bernie Kosar got busted up.
Anderson played better than the score indicated, especially since Frye's appeal was becoming limited to that of a bop-bag that pops up to absorb more punishment. Frye is likable, tough, can play in spots, and in no way has proven he is a starter in the NFL.
During his 17 games as a starter, Frye had to play behind a patchwork line whose shortcomings became shorter because he holds the ball too long and makes decisions too slowly to goose the passing game along. Much of his appeal has been that he is a local from the University of Akron. If he were from the University of Idaho, fewer eyes would be on him than a potato.
Anderson took over for Frye on Sunday and led the comeback from 14 points behind Kansas City in the fourth quarter to an overtime victory. But the Steelers, even with ferocious safety Troy Polamalu sidelined, are not the Chiefs. They are not going to sit back. They are going to come after you. They are going to be the bump in the night.
Anderson threw for 276 yards, completing 21 of 37 passes with one touchdown and one interception. He also lost a fumble. The statistics are even more impressive because he was not sacked, even though guard Joe Andruzzi was lost with a knee injury during the game, even though the Browns rushed the ball from scrimmage only 11 times.

Anderson was not helped by seven drops. Seven. Three of them could have resulted in first downs.
Dennis Northcutt dropped three of them. Hey, it's Pittsburgh. Stuff like this happens to him here. Butch Davis has taken a lot of deserved flak for his talent misjudgments when he ran the Browns. But the former coach was right about Northcutt. He is a third-down receiver and kick returner. He is not a featured receiver.
Braylon Edwards, who also snagged a pass that he ran in for the Cleveland touchdown in garbage time, dropped one. Jason Wright dropped one. Darnell Dinkins dropped one. Terrelle Smith dropped one.
Counting Northcutt, that's two wide receivers, a tight end, a halfback, a fullback, and a partridge dropping out of a pear tree. In a hostile environment, on a one-dimensional team, without a lot of help from his friends, Anderson was impressive. He should start next week in Baltimore against his old team.
The answer to the Browns' ongoing quarterback question might be blowing in the wind. But Anderson sure wasn't the problem here.

[osugrad21]

Canton


Steelers embarrass Browns, again
Friday, December 8, 2006
By STEVE DOERSCHUK

PITTSBURGH It would be unfair to say Willie Parker ran like LaDainian Tomlinson in Pittsburgh?s 27-7 head-slapping of the Browns on Thursday. It would be unfair to Parker.
In a 32-25 loss Nov. 5 at San Diego, the Browns didn?t let Tomlinson loose until late ? he finished with 18 carries for 172 yards.
Parker had 106 of his 223 yards with five minutes left in the first half.
Maybe new North Carolina Head Coach Butch Davis, who didn?t draft Tomlinson while in Cleveland, would have had the presence to use Parker as a starter for the Tar Heels.
Parker barely played at North Carolina. On Thursday, he broke Frenchy Fuqua?s 36-year-old Steelers single-game rushing record of 218 yards.
This French fist didn?t figure. Parker had rushed 46 yards Nov. 19 at Cleveland.
Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, replacing injured Charlie Frye, didn?t quite have that kind of support from his running game. Four backs totaled 14 yards.
Combine that with a rash of dropped passes, and you have a recipe for the kind of disaster that had Browns fans talking about the next head coach following a 30-0 loss to Cincinnati.
?We got our (drawers) kicked,? said disgusted veteran wideout Joe Jurevicius. ?We keep talking about taking steps forward. This was a step backward. This is very frustrating.?
Braylon Edwards, who caught a touchdown pass but made key drops, hinted at something deep and dark.
?There are a lot of other things bothering us that I won?t comment on,? he said.
The Steelers (5-6) have a faint pulse in the wild-card race, with games left against Carolina, Baltimore and Cincinnati.
The Browns (4-9) have a chance to draft real high.
This was nothing like the Nov. 19 game in which the Browns led the Steelers, 20-10, in the fourth quarter.
?I wanted a shutout, because they talk so much,? Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter said. ?That?s OK. It was on TV, so everybody could see we beat ?em bad.?
Cleveland blundered through the first half, dropping passes, letting Willie Parker run wild, losing a fumble and getting outgained 256-160.
Yet, they had a chance to trail just 10-3 at halftime. That was erased when Phil Dawson missed a field goal for the third time in four games.
The first two series of the second half wrecked Cleveland?s chances. A Browns drive stalled on Dennis Northcutt?s third dropped pass of the night.
A Steelers drive got legs on a 20-yard Roethlisberger strike to Santonio Holmes, a third-down scramble that ended with Roethlisberger finding tight end Jerame Tuman, and a bootleg run for a touchdown by Roethlisberger.
It was 17-0 with 5:32 left in the third quarter.
What was supposed to be Leigh Bodden?s breakthrough year as a starter has been nightmarish. He missed five of seven games with ankle problems. Last Sunday, he got picked on by veteran quarterback Trent Green.
On Thursday, playing near his college stomping gropunds of Duquesne, Bodden bit hard on a pump fake and gave up a 49-yard touchdown. Roethlisberger basically relaxed his body and lobbed a deep throw to a wide-open Nate Washington. Adding to Bodden?s embarrassment is that Washington is Pittsburgh?s No. 4 receiver in his second year out of Tiffin.
Playing without his No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts, injured Hines Ward and Cedrick Wilson, Roethlisberger completed a key pass to No. 5 wideout Walter Young ? his first NFL catch ? to set up a field goal that made it 10-0 midway through the second quarter.
Bodden saved some face by stripping the ball from Willie Parker at the end of a long run. That gave the Browns? stalled offense a chance in good field position.
Anderson ruined the chance when he fumbled after making a first down on a third-down quarterback draw.
It was the kind of night Browns fans snug in their living rooms could leave faster than Steelers fans sitting in a 25-degree chill.
Die-hards saw Braylon Edwards catch a 45-yard touchdown pass.
Then, for the second time in three games, they saw an AFC North opponent close the game with some garbage-time work for its No. 2 quarterback.
?They want to be on our level,? Porter said. ?I don?t see it.?

[osugrad21]

Canton

Farrior, Porter have problem with Winslow
Friday, December 8, 2006
By STEVE DOERSCHUK

PITTSBURGH The Steelers flattened the Browns, 27-7, on Thursday, then linebackers Joey Porter and James Farrior piled on.
To be specific, they verbally teed off on Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., who had a four-catch, 19-yard night, but has become a focal point for Pittsburgh in the rivalry.
Porter is sure to get some heat for his response to what he and Winslow were jawing at each other about. Assuming, of course, Porter was challenging Winslow?s manhood and not referring to an old English bundle of wood.
?Aw, he?s a (expletive),? Porter said. ?He tried to jack me up before the game, and ... he?s soft, though. I don?t pay any attention to him.?
With 61⁄2 minutes left and the Steelers leading 27-0, Winslow was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul for hitting Farrior.
?It was late,? Porter said. ?That?s what (expletive)s do. You know, he?s soft. He wanna be tough, but he?s really soft.
?It was a cheap shot. He?s weak. He?s real weak. He?s soft. He might want to play receiver, ?cause he don?t want to play tight end.
?He tried to give me a handshake before the game. He?s not my friend. You don?t know me. What are you tryin? to shake my hand for??
Farrior echoed Porter.
?Yeah, he?s soft. He?s a punk. And he does a lot of talking for a guy who?s in his second year and hasn?t really done anything. He needs to take a page out of his father?s book or something.?
Farrior?s take on the late hit:
?It was weak. I mean, it didn?t hurt. I tried to take his head off on the next play, but I couldn?t get to him.
?It?s all in football. ... If a guy wants to do a cheap shot, you know, he?ll get his.?
Winslow declined to be interviewed after the game. He did spend several post-game moments huddled with 70-year-old Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

Reach Repository sports writer
Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com.
A little color
No one in the crowd pouring across the bridge wore a dress.
What a night to be in kilts, as were members of a bagpipe troupe playing outside Heinz Field.
Downtown Pittsburgh was frozen solid as bundled fans emptied toward Heinz Field. Most walk upwards of a mile or more, sometimes finding Steelers owner Dan Rooney shuffling among them.
Some of the fans, but not many, wore Browns colors. One woman wore a Northcutt 86 over a heavy coat. It made one observer think of the pass Dennis Northcutt dropped near the end of a 2002 playoff game ? Northcutt would drop four passes in this game.

Fast Willie
Willie Parker broke out of his recent slump, giving the Steelers? 223 rushing yards. The Browns countered weakly, getting 13 as a team in the first half, then lapsing into passing mode.
The Steelers came out picking on right defensive end Simon Fraser, starting in place of injured Orpheus Roye. Parker ran Fraser?s way on the first two plays, and it wasn?t the last time.
Parker had 105 rushing yards with five minutes left in the first half. That was stunning, considering Parker had totaled 129 rushing yards 92.7 per-carry average over his previous three games.
Parker had been slumping, and the Browns? run defense had been mostly respectable.
Feature-back performances against the Browns between LaDainian Tomlinson?s and Parker?s were by Warrick Dunn (21 carries for 73 yards), Parker himself (14 for 46) and Larry Johnson (28 for 110).

Extra points
n NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth on Braylon Edwards: ?I would like to have a little more speed if I?m going to spend that high a pick (No. 3 overall, 2005).?
n Left guard Joe Andruzzi left the game with a knee problem in the second quarter and was replaced by Lennie Friedman.