More about last week’s Patriots game:
I guess I was really hoping that the Browns would let it hang out a little more. Play like there’s nothing to lose. Gamble a little. Show a few new looks. They really didn’t. I don’t know what that goofy pitch to Cribbs was, but that’s the closest thing I saw to trickery. Part of it, I think, is Romeo’s basic conservatism. Another part is perceived and/or actual inexperience necessitating a focus on the basics rather than advanced gamesmanship. Still, to be a winning team, you need to get to the point where opponents fear that you may try just about anything, anytime.
Even Gregg (“too stupid to know he’s stupid“) Easterbrook is on to something here (though in a column that long, he ought to be right about something by sheer luck):
Buck-Buck-Brawckkkkkkk: Trailing 20-0 at New England, Cleveland faced fourth-and-4 on the Flying Elvii’s 24 in the third quarter. Romeo Crennel sent in the field goal unit, and TMQ wrote the words “game over” in his notebook.
And if he won’t go for it then, you can perish the thought a few moments later, when it’s fourth-and-seven from the Browns’ 49 with less than 20 minutes left to play and Cleveland behind by 17. Punt. Touchback.
At least one of those scenarios, and probably both, would have been good times to go for it, if your object is to win the game (and it is, right Herm?) rather than, as Romeo might put it, “be competitive,” “be in a position to win” or “have a chance.”
Do I even need to tell you what the Browns did on fourth down from midfield, down 17 points with under eight minutes to go? Cue Fu Manchu.
To my mind, respectability doesn’t come from a close score. It comes from leaving it all out on the field, both brains and brawn, and holding your head high no matter what the scoreboard or stat sheet says, because you competed with every possible thing you could.
My other beef with Romeo was the way the first half ended. The Browns got the ball and immediately gained 18 yards on an Edwards catch near the right hash at their own 42. The clock is ticking down under :50. Either a timeout (they had two left) or a spike would’ve been appropriate at that moment. Instead, the next hurried snap occurs at :32 and results in — what else? — a 10-yard sack. Time out. False start. Kneel down. Half over. 20-0.
