Browns Play to Lose...and then Lose

I’ve heard of “playing not to lose”…but thanks to last night’s awkward decision by head coach Romeo Crennel, I’ve also seen “playing not to win.” How else can you really explain his call to kick a field goal late in last night’s game versus the Steelers when his team trailed by seven? Fourth and seven or not, you have to go for the first down there, if not for the touchdown. What do you have to lose if you fail? The situations remain the same, regardless of turning the ball over or kicking the field goal. The Browns would have either turned the ball over on downs at the thirty or kicked off after a field goal which would’ve probably given the Steelers possession between the 20 and 30 yard lines. Either way, the Browns would still need a defensive three and out to regain possession and then they’d STILL need a touchdown!

If there had been six minutes left in the game, I’d agree with his decision. Pittsburgh had only scored ten points all night, so there was reason to believe that Cleveland’s defense could hold them to a relatively short drive and get the ball back. However, there was 3:21 left on the clock when Phil Dawson kicked the field goal. That’s not enough time to leave your team, since the Steelers’ offense is designed to run the ball and control the clock. The Browns ended up getting the ball with about twenty seconds left, needing to traverse eighty yards of turf.

Neither team was too impressive last night as Pittsburgh only converted three for twelve on third downs. Fortunately for Big Ben, he wasn’t involved in a shoot-out, only attempting 19 passes.  He completed twelve of them for 186 yards, making sure his quality passes also turned into quantity in terms of yardage. His separated shoulder held up enough to win. 

Cleveland has not looked like a team that can challenge for a wild-card spot, much less the division title. The Steelers are already two games up on them and hold a head-head win, which is really a three game lead. The Browns only rushed for a paltry 53 yards and were penalized ten times for 65 yards, effectively negating their awful running attack. Braylon Edwards has too many drops for an entire season, and he’s only played two games. They’ll need to make up a lot of ground if they intend to live up to their off-season hype.