this is the time we really need to run the ball . kill some clock grind out a few first downs . we miss Mack far more than I thought we would . the O Line gets no push anymore it seems
Anyone else wonder if our rushing game would look different if Tate hadn't returned from injury? West and Crow were chugging along nicely.. Hoyer had another nice throw.
Want some more good news? Come Monday morning, the Browns will once again NOT be in the basement in the AFC North!!
Ugly game, Beautiful W ! I believe that's 5 up and 3 down. Half a season, and above 500. Nice. We may need to play a little better Thursday Night. Perhaps
Mike Pettine said last week he?d gladly take 16 ugly wins. Well, the Browns? coach got his second in a row on Sunday. The Browns got past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 22-17, to set up a Thursday night division encounter in Cincinnati with a 5-3 record. Brian Hoyer passed for 300 yards and two touchdowns, but it was the Browns? defense that came up big to secure this difficult victory. The defense made three stops of Mike Glennon passes in Browns? territory after the two-minute warning to preserve their second win in a row and fourth in five games. The five overall wins exceeds last year?s total of four. The Browns' defense had two interceptions and the special teams blocked one field goal and deflected a punt. Hoyer?s second interception ? on a ball deflected out of Gary Barnidge?s hands and into the mitts of defensive tackle Clinton McDonald ? did not hurt because the Browns? defense held and forced a punt in three plays. The punt was deflected by Craig Robertson and covered by K?Waun Williams at the Tampa 35. Then on second down, Hoyer sidestepped from pressure, got a great cut block on linebacker Lavonte David from Terrance West, waited, looked, then found Taylor Gabriel breaking behind cornerback Alterraun Verner in the end zone. Gabriel?s first career TD catch put the Browns ahead, 22-17. A two-point try failed when fullback Kiero Small was blown up at the 3 after a Hoyer play-fake pass. The TD throw quieted boos from the home crowd. It turned on Hoyer during some rough sledding in the second half. Hoyer had stretches of good play and bad play. After failing on three possessions in the red zone in the first half, Hoyer finally converted a touchdown on his first series of the second half. The drive actually was stalled at the 7. But Gerald McCoy, who was a force in the first half, jumped offsides in field-goal formation, giving the Browns fourth-and-inches inside the 5. Mike Pettine sent his offense back on the field and Terrance West, who was getting more carries than Ben Tate, converted the first down and then scored the TD on a Hoyer play-fake pass from the 2. That was the Browns? first TD throw all year to back and completed an 11 of 11 passing spree for Hoyer over his last two possessions. But that streak ended on a three-and-out series and Mike Glennon responded quickly with a three-play scoring drive. Glennon threw over Buster Skrine to Mike Evans for the touchdown from 24 yards. The Browns blocked a field goal and intercepted Glennon two times in the first half. Further, Hoyer started out hot with completions of 20 yards to Andrew Hawkins and 31 to Travis Benjamin. And the Browns still trailed at halftime, 10-9. Whah? That was the collective expression at the end of the half when the Browns charged to the Bucs 34-yard line ? and then deliberately blew 30 seconds of game clock before calling time with :15 left. A 16-yard catch by Miles Austin to the 25 then set up Billy Cundiff?s third field goal as time expired. It was a weird half on offense for the Browns. Hoyer came out throwing sharply and confidently. But then Tampa defensive tackle McCoy slapped center Nick McDonald to the ground on the way to a sack. And everything changed. McCoy would sack Hoyer a second time and knock him down after a pass and end Jacquies Smith added a third sack. End Michael Johnson also creamed Hoyer after a bootleg pass. That play was another of those across-the-body throws by Hoyer that left an open receiver waiting. Tate caught and ran 16 yards to the Tampa 5. After a 4-yard Tate run took them to the 1, the Browns went backwards and had to kick a chip-shot field goal. McCoy also caused havoc in the running game. Tate and West pounded out 14 yards on nine attempts. On one play, right guard John Greco was blown up, causing a collision with Tate for a 4-yard loss. Hoyer was intercepted on a high throw for a slanting Hawkins, but it was erased two plays later when Tashaun Gipson intercepted Glennon in the end zone. It was Gipson?s third game in a row with an interception and his league-high sixth of the season. Glennon was fairly awful (8 of 18, 49.5 rating), but the Browns couldn?t stop running back Bobby Rainey. The former Brown had 80 yards on 15 carries and also scooted 34 yards when he was uncovered on a screen pass. Glennon, with his elongated delivery, made one good throw to beat an inexplicable blitz by the Browns? defense on third-and-11 from the Browns? 24. It was an easy throw in the end zone to Mike Evans, with nickel back K?Waun Williams? back to the ball. The Browns? other interception came on a Glennon deep ball for Evans that was tipped by cornerback Joe Haden right back to a trailing Donte Whitner. Whitner?s 54-yard return set up Cundiff?s second short field goal.
