Browns play not to lose,do so anyway in 13-12 loss to Rams

The Cleveland Browns and head coach Pat Shurmur played not to lose in the Browns final drive and as happens all too often when that is your strategy-lose in what you do and lose is what the Browns did 13-12 to the St.Louis Rams in Cleveland.
Phil Dawson kicked four field goals in the loss,but the most important attempt of all was shanked wide left after a poor snap by Ryan Pontbriand and the Rams held on for the win.
Not much offense to note other than Dawson's four field goals,although Colt McCoy completed 20 of 27 passes for over 200 yards,six of those to Greg Little for 84 yards and Chris Ogbonnaya rushed for a quiet 90 yards.
The Browns fall to 3-6 on the season and are hosting Jacksonville next week.


Brownie Bits

1) Not a lot of positives to take from this one,but one is Colt McCoy's long pass with Greg Little.
The weather was warm for this time of year (around 65 degrees),but there were winds blowing strongly and McCoy's throw cut through it for the big gainer.
The main question on Colt McCoy was did he have the type of arm strength to make those type of throws when the weather was not perfect.
Yesterday,McCoy showed that he could make that throw,the question now becomes can he do it with consistency.....

2) Analyzing the final drive is painful enough,but the glaring issue with me is the lack of confidence that Pat Shurmur showed in Colt McCoy once the ball was moved deep into Rams territory.
First and Goal on the Rams 8.
Yes,I know a field goal gives you the lead,but a touchdown makes a bad team have to score a touchdown to beat with limited time remaining.
Plays called-Ogbonnaya to the right for a one yard loss,a handoff to Alex Smith,that Smith fumbles (More on that soon) for a fortunate recovery by Josh Cribbs and then Ogbonnaya  for three yards.
Look,I am not saying that the Browns should have thrown three times,but maybe once?
Maybe a play action on second down that McCoy could have thrown into the seats or maybe even rolled into the end zone on a run,if all receivers are covered?
Just awful play calling by Pat Shurmur and he was supposed to be an offensive guru?

3) What on earth are you handing off to a tight end for with the game on the line?
If Josh Cribbs does not recover the Alex Smith fumble and the game is lost that way instead of the botched field goal attempt,this play is what all Browns fans are screaming about!
SO,you do not trust your QB to throw a pass,but you do trust your third string tight end on a handoff???

4) The Browns did try some different things in the game- a little Josh Cribbs in the wildcat that ended how most plays from the formation do-little yardage gained and an end around or two.
That is a nice start,but I still cannot stand the play calling.
All of these West Coast guys all have the opinion that they are smarter than everyone else and it usually backfires.
Lord knows I saw enough Mike Holmgren calls like that in Seattle to last me a lifetime and Pat Shurmur is far from a Mike Holmgren...

5) Nice game from Phil Taylor in the middle of the defensive line.
Taylor had been quiet over the last few games,but he dominated the line of scrimmage against the Rams.
Taylor collected a sack and was very strong against a weakened Ram offensive line....

6) The Rams game winning field goal was set up by a St.Louis strip of Josh Cribbs on a punt return.
On that play,I give more credit to the Rams on the strip than blame on Cribbs,who looked to me to have the ball tucked and pretty secure.

7) Joe Haden was strong as usual with three passes knocked down and a few tackles.
Haden gets better every week even in subtle ways that do not always show up on the stat sheet....

8) Everyone screams about Pat Shurmur not having an offensive coordinator,but if Shurmur continues to call the plays then is one really needed?
If a coordinator is not calling plays,then he has a title and little responsibility.
That does not appear to me to much of a change...

9) I also hold no blame on Ryan Pontbriand on the poor snap at the game's end.
It looks to me that Alex Mack false starts and his ankle as a result moves inside and it is Mack's ankle that the ball bounces off and causes things to go awry....

10) This game was a big loss and should have been one in the win column.
Considering the Browns remaining schedule,I see maybe two possibilities for wins-next week at home against Jacksonville and maybe at Arizona later in the season.
Other than that-five division games with three on the road=Uh oh

Photo Credit-AP Photo