With a bit of luck today,I'll get to either or both of the Devils rally over Edmonton and Ohio State's huge second half in their win over Penn State.The Cleveland Browns could have won their game yesterday over the powerhouse New York Jets and some would argue that with a play or two at the right time,they should have won.
Unfortunately,coulds and shoulds are not the same as did and the Browns lost with seconds to go in overtime to the Jets 26-20.
Cleveland travels to Jacksonville next week and I am interested to see how they bounce back from such a heartbreaking defeat.
Brownie Bits
1) First off,I understand Eric Wright hasn't earned a ton of goodwill from us this year and his Mr.Softee act on the game winning pass to Santonio Holmes was painful to watch,but before we blame everything on Wright on the play,T.J. Ward missed a tackle as well.
One must be fair,so I blame both players for whiffing on the play.
2) The play that I am furious at Wright about was the pass to a injured Jerricho Cotchery,who looked like he could not move and found a way to avoid Wright and make a catch for a big Jets first down.
There is no reason at all for Wright not to make that play and keep an obviously injured player from making a play.
Laziness or poor play-you make the call.
3) Three huge injuries in this one as Scott Fujita,Sheldon Brown and Josh Cribbs all left the game with injuries and did not return.
All are big losses,but Brown might be the biggest,even though he isn't the best player of the three.
Cleveland was forced to use Mike Adams at corner after Brown left and Adams is more of a safety.
Why the Browns are carrying so few corners is a puzzle that I still cannot see the logic in..
4) Some are questioning the long pass from the end zone in OT when three run plays would have likely ended the game with a tie.
I am not one of them as I give the team credit for playing to win and if the pass hits,the Browns would have likely won the game.
5) It is still early,but I have a feeling that the Browns have indeed found their QB.
Colt McCoy driving the team down the field late in the game to force overtime answered a huge question for me and McCoy can do nothing but learn from the experience of playing in late game pressure situations and overtime.
I am getting pretty close to sold....
6) The Chansi Stuckey fumble in overtime was a huge dagger to the hopes for a win,but Stuckey was fighting for extra yards and one cannot hassle the effort,even though the more prudent course might have been to get out of bounds.The issue for me on the play was Brian Robiskie not recovering the ball.
Robiskie looked to me to be trying a dive on the side for the recovery instead of just falling on the ball.I blame Robiskie far more than Stuckey on the play.
7) The Browns still have many needs for next year,someone to rush the passer would be nice and another corner is a must,but to me the obvious first rounder should be a wide receiver.
These guys are so bad that Darrelle Revis is the elite cover corner in the game and the Jets used him to cover a tight end.
Cleveland needs at two new pass catchers and maybe three.
Colt McCoy will not continue to develop without them...
8) The defensive line missed a few chances to sack Mark Sanchez and could have changed the game,but I cannot be too harsh on them considering the amount of time that the defense was on the field in second half play.
The miracle was that this game went to overtime at all..
9) Liked the onside kick call in the first quarter.
Everything was done right and the ball just skittered out of bounds.
The Jets were fooled,the ball just bounced away.Things happen.
10) Anyone wish that Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll had tried some gambles in those losses to Tampa,Kansas City or even Baltimore?
Some of the things tried recently might have won one of those games....
Photo Credits-Scott Shaw-Cleveland Plain Dealer
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