Colt McCoy did toss two touchdowns,but much of his 215 yards passing came in garbage time.
The Browns fall to 2-3 on the season and host Seattle on Sunday before another trip to the Bay Area against the suddenly strong 49ers the following week.
Brownie Bits
1) I was critical of Eric Mangini at times,but one thing that even the most devoted Mangini dissenter could not say was that Mangini teams did not prepare on special teams.
I can even give the Jacoby Ford return somewhat of a pass.
Big returns with fast returners can happen to any team,no matter the preparation,but the fake field goal was wide open and you could see the play being open from the couch.
2) Watching the play develop,you could clearly see that Kevin Boss ( a tight end,not a tackle or linebacker that you could easily ignore) was not even covered on the end.
Now assume that the field goal attempt is tried,no rush off the end?
That was the alignment as Boss did not even have anyone to BLOCK!
Poor job by all involved.
3) The Browns hit on Jason Campbell that ended the Oakland quarterbacks season could be one that affects the Browns for seasons to come.
Because Campbell was knocked out and Kyle Boller was so bad in his place,the Raiders pulled the trigger on a deal for Carson Palmer and that sent either 2 first rounders or at worst a first and second to the Browns division rivals-the Bengals.
Time will tell what Cincinnati does with those picks,but the Browns have set the Bengals up to have an excellent chance to improve through the draft in the next two seasons...
4) The Raiders allowed the Browns to have a prayer of a comeback after passing on a short field goal try to go for it from the Cleveland five,which the Browns stopped.
Always take the chance to go up by three scores,Hue Jackson did not and kept the Browns alive.
What was it with coaches and dumb decisions this weekend?
First Ron Zook and then Hue Jackson.
At least,Jackson's team won.
5) Montario Hardesty shows promise,but he needs major work on his blocking and picking up his assignments.
Hardesty was so poor at this late in the game that Peyton Hillis,who was out of the game with hamstring issues,had to enter the game just to block the blitzers to give Colt McCoy a chance to get rid of the ball!!
6) Oakland entered the game with one of the league worst run defenses,but you could not know that from watching this game-the Raiders front seven stuffed and controlled both Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty throughout the game and held Cleveland to 65 yards on the ground.
7) Greg Little continues to develop with six catches (of 12 targets) and came within a half yard of a touchdown before losing his balance.
Little looks better every week after missing last year at North Carolina and I believe could be a elite player if the Browns could ever add a deep threat to the other side...
8) Alex Mack played less than two weeks after an appendectomy and gets full credit for that,but the line still is not protecting Colt McCoy as well as they should.
The right side of the line (Shawn Lauvao and Tony Pashos) are simply not getting the job done.
I'll give Lauvao a small pass because he is basically a rookie (Injured last year) and playing beside a below average tackle,but Pashos has been a major disappointment.
9) Josh Cribbs says he wants to be on special teams full time since he is a "Very Insignificant" part of the offense.
If that makes him more effective there,fine,but to me,this combined with the Peyton Hillis saga is concerning to me.
Five games into the season and already locker room issues?
10) The Browns added running back Chris Ogbonnaya off the Texans practice squad and released Armond Smith.
Smith carried the ball just three times for the Browns this season,but will be remembered most for the fourth and one pitch play in the loss to Tennessee.
Ogbonnaya is a former Texas Longhorn and draft pick of the Rams,so there are connections with Colt McCoy and Pat Shurmur.
Photo Credit-Thearon Henderson-Getty Images
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