Pictured are Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter Karl Kimbrough (in maroon sweatsuit), and Cleveland Browns head football Coach Mike Pettine (in Black sweatsuit)
By Karl Kimbrough, Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter(kimbrough@clevelandurbannews.com).
Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Leaders In Black Digital News . Tel: 216-659-0473
(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio-Take your pick, there were several areas that gave Browns fans an excedrin headache while watching their team gift wrap a victory for the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 21, a home game where the Browns lost to the Ravens 23-21, and only after a last minute 32-yard field goal by Ravens placekicker Justin Tucker.
The Browns are now 2-1 for the 2014 regular season. Before last week's loss to the Ravens, they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season opener. But they beat the New Orleans Saints by two points two weeks ago.
Let' s take a minute to analyse the Ravens victory last week over the Browns.
If you are like a lot of fans who believe that most NFL games are won and loss in the fourth quarter, then we can point to the Browns two blown field goals that could have cemented a win last week, right? But wait, what about all of the penalties, like the 12 men on the field penalty in the red zone at a key moment of the quarter. How about the 31 yard interference call on cornerback Justin Gilbert that was a head smacker figuratively and literally? That foolishness gave the Ravens an easy 21 yard field goal.
We don't want to forget about the punt that punt returner Travis Benjamin allowed to sail over his head instead of fair catching it. That decision cost Cleveland at least 15 yards of field position and backed them up close to their goal line late in the game.
Of course the Brown's offense, which had been getting huge chunks of yardage, suddenly couldn't get a first down in their last two possessions. Everyone remembers Browns All Pro cornerback Joe Haden in that game in failing to defend the 32 yard pass to wide out Steve Smith. That is the mistake that provided Tucker his chip shot 32 yard game-winning field goal. This put a nice big bow on the gift wrapped victory for the Ravens to take home with them.
Basically, it was a fourth quarter collapse.
Everyone had a part in it, says Browns head coach Mike Pettine, who accepted blame for the heartbreaking lost .
“It was my fault” said Pettine when asked about the loss.
Before the fourth quarter this Browns team had looked the part of a ship which had righted itself after going through a heavy storm.
There are errors of omission that need focus and technique revision for the Browns to improve. Recognizing responsibility can eliminate or resolve, but the one area of major concern that could require a change in players or positions has been the thrashing and gashing we've witnessed the defense take in every game.
The Browns are ranked 31st in the NFL in total defense giving up 425.7 yards per game. Only the lowly Jacksonville Jaquars are allowing more yards per game. Stats, however, can be overrated at times, and those defensive stats would mean very little if the Browns were not allowing teams to score at a high rate. Unfortunately their points allowed coincides with yards given up with Cleveland yielding 25.7 points per game. Only seven other NFL teams have given up more.
Pettine, whose specialty is defense, was suppose to take a defense that was ranked 10th in the NFL after last season and make it one of the very best. He was hired to tweak it, and get it off the field after third downs. After three games, offenses are converting 40.54 percent of their third downs on the Browns. Pettine's defense has sacked the opposing teams quarterback five times, 15 other teams have more.
Pettine was also suppose to improve the pressure on quarterbacks. He was suppose to coach up former number one pick Barkevious Mingo and make him a quarterbacks worst nightmare, using his great speed off the edge. So far Mingo is still missing assignments, which lead to touchdowns that high schoolers understand
Coach Pettine's defense is going in the wrong direction at this point. And these performances come after an aggressive, physical training camp that saw the defense dominate their teammates on the offensive side of the ball. Who are now averaging 24.7 points a game, by the way. Competition was at a high level in the latter days of camp just one month ago as the defense out performed the offense everyday to receive the honor of wearing the prized orange jersey the next day. But I guess former NBA legend Allen Iverson was right when he said that “ it's only practice, not the real game.”
The two loses for the Browns in real games thus far have come against Cleveland's AFC North rivals who have a history of rushing the football at a high level. In fact, even though they are passing more this year the Pittsburgh Steelers are number one in the NFL in rushing after three games the Ravens are number seven and Cincinnati is 15th.
The Browns welcomed the Ravens fourth string rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro to the NFL last Sunday by being more charitable than the “ Little Sisters of the Poor.” They parted the field to yield 91 yards to Taliaferro in only 18 carries. In the second half the Cleveland run defense made Raven third string back Justin Forcett look like a Pro Bowler, giving him 63 yards on just 11 carries. Some may say that this is a new scheme that the defense is playing and will take a little while for everyone to adjust. There is some truth to that, but the bottom line is the Browns defensive line is getting beat in the trenches, at the point of attack. When the ball is snapped they are often late coming out of their stance. No matter what the scheme is if your slow at the snap of the ball the offensive lineman will win the one on one battle and take the defensive lineman wherever he wants.
In a three-four defensive alignment the nose tackle needs to engage two or at least one and a half offensive linemen if the three-four is to have success. If not, the nose tackles fellow linemen, to his left and right will be at a disadvantage. The linebackers behind them will have to take on offensive linemen at the second level of the defense and not be able to roam free to make tackles. Profootballfocus.com rates the Browns starting nose tackle Ahtyba Rudin, 71st out of 73 NFL linemen who have played that position this year. Fellow linemen Phil Taylor and Armonty Bryant are also in the low 90 percentile of the league, due to their poor performances so far this season.
Before training camp Coach Pettine decided to move Rubin from defensive end to the nose, replacing Taylor and moved Taylor from the nose tackle to the right end. Rubin is in his seventh season and has played the nose tackle well in the past, but he is obviously slowing down and his skill set is not as effective at this point in his career. Taylor can look good at times and not so good at others. He has been known to be consistently inconsistent throughout his career.
Young Armonty is much better as a pass rushing end than a run defender and Desmond Bryant would be Cleveland's best defensive linemen, but he is coming off a wrist injury and had a heart ailment last year that is said to be healed. So far Desmond's play has not been nearly as dominate as it was before his illness.
The defensive line and front seven were thought to be a strength of the team going into the season. They also have a better than average back ups in their rotation with Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Billy Winn and John Hughes. But being better than average is not good enough for a team that is relying on their defense. play makers are needed if you want to win more than you lose. Don't be surprised if the defensive line is the number one target in next years draft and not wide receivers. Not getting the job done up front not only negatively affects the linebackers, but the defensive backs as well. The inspired effort being given by the less talented offense could continue to be wasted if the defense doesn't show up soon.
Browns fans could start filing their nails rather than biting them in the final minutes of every game if the defense starts to live up to it's billing. Champions perform well under pressure, not just in pro football, but in life. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
