Terry Pluto's scribbles

[Masters]

1. Their longest kickoff return this season is 36 yards. The longest punt return is 17 yards. Once upon a time, way back in 2009, the Browns had three kickoffs returned for touchdowns, one punt return. Joshua Cribbs has returned at least one kickoff for a touchdown every season since arriving from Kent State in 2005. He hasn't come close this year, and in games such as these, the Browns need Cribbs or someone else to deliver a big play on special teams.
2. This is not to put the entire burden on Cribbs, who dislocated four toes against the Jets on Nov. 14. In many games, teams refuse to kick the ball deep. Nonetheless, there has been so little when it comes to returns this season, from Cribbs or anyone else.
3. That reverse play to Cribbs which led to an 11-yard loss and a fumble (which Cribbs recovered) was so slow in developing, it seemed the players involved didn't seem to understand or believe it would work. Twice, they brought Seneca Wallace into the game at quarterback, and all they did was hand to ball to Peyton Hillis. What was the point of that?
4. I try not to criticize the offensive coordinator most weeks because he's such an easy target, but Brian Daboll deserves to be asked some tough questions about his approach to this game. Namely, besides Hillis, was there anything else in the game plan?
5. Earlier in the season, Hillis was a very effective receiver. He entered the game averaging 8.2 yards on a team-leading 53 catches. But in the last two games, he has caught 11 passes for a grand total of 32 yards. That's 2.9 yards per catch, worse than his rushing average. Someone needs to tell the coaches and quarterback Jake Delhomme, "They are covering Hillis, look to someone else as a safety valve receiver."
6. This game was so disappointing on so many levels. The offense was an embarrassment against one of the NFL's worst defenses: Nine first downs, five fumbles (two lost) and only two passes completed for more than eight yards. But the defense allowed Buffalo to control the tempo -- running 21 more plays than the Browns. They allowed the Bills to run out the clock with 3:51 left. Buffalo ran the ball nine times in a row, picking up 51 yards. How about stopping the Bills on three plays, forcing a punt and getting the ball back for the offense?
7. Watching Ryan Fitzpatrick move the ball for the Bills with his arm (14-of-23, 1 TD) and his legs (four carries, 43 yards and only two sacks) made me wonder if Colt McCoy could develop into this type of quarterback. A seventh-round pick from Harvard, Fitzpatrick can "manage the game," but he also can make some plays. The longer he plays, the better he looks. Which is why it's important for McCoy to come back at some point this season.
8. Chris Gocong had a terrific game with 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. He has been solid all year, playing 88 percent of the defensive snaps at inside linebacker. Marcus Benard batted down a pass, had a tackle for a loss and a sack -- he has 11 sacks in 18 NFL games.
9. The Browns are 5-8 with three games left. This was one of the few games this season when it seems they were out-hit and out-hustled, and it happened against a team that was 2-10. No excuse for that.



Defense, special teams can't evade share of blame in Buffalo: Terry Pluto's scribbles | cleveland.com

[Masters]

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- This was a game where the Browns needed someone ... anyone ... to make a big play. Especially quarterback Jake Delhomme.





Instead, the 13-6 loss at Buffalo Sunday shows what happens when you have an aging, turnover-prone quarterback and a cautious coaching staff playing not to lose.


You get beat by a team that came into the soggy Sunday with a 2-10 record.
On their very first drive, the Browns gave the ball to Peyton Hills on eight of nine plays. They bulled their way to a second down on the Buffalo 2. They ran Hillis into the gut of the line, twice. No touchdown, settle for a field goal.


Why not fake a handoff to Hillis, and throw a pass into the end zone -- perhaps to the tight end? The fact is the Browns are afraid to allow Delhomme to throw it. They felt safer with Hillis. That was the theme for the entire game. Don't let Delhomme lose it. Hope the defense or Hillis can win it.


It worked last Sunday in Miami, where the Browns prevailed, 13-10, thanks to a batted pass that landed in the hands of Mike Adams to set up a game-winning field goal.
But this time, the Browns needed more. Delhomme had to connect on some significant throws. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll had to try something a little different. Whatever happened to Ben Watson, the tight end who had 10 catches last week at Miami? He had one catch for eight yards, the only pass thrown in his direction.



Did the Buffalo defense put all its attention on Hillis and Watson? After the game, Eric Mangini admitted that was the case. He said the Browns had to do something else on offense, but Hillis ran it 21 times (for 108 yards) and was targeted with five of Delhomme's 20 passes. That means Hillis was at the heart of 26 of 45 plays called by the Browns.



Are the Browns so inept on offense (2 of 10 on third down) that they had no counter plan to a Buffalo team ranked 32nd against the run, 29th in points scored and 10th against the pass?


While Mangini talked about the "self-inflicted wounds" of five fumbles (two lost), he should ask himself why this happened. Hillis has 238 carries this season, the most since he was in high school. He has been taking an fierce physical pounding.Is that behind the fumbles? Isn't it time to try something else?



When team president Mike Holmgren signed Delhomme, the hope was the 36-year-old quarterback would supply leadership and stabilize the quarterback position. After throwing 18 interceptions in 11 games for Carolina last season, it was obvious the Browns coaching staff wanted to find ways for Delhomme not to torpedo his own offense.


Which brings up another question -- if that's the case, why so much patience with Delhomme on this day? Seneca Wallace is a capable backup quarterback who performed reasonably well when Delhomme was injured early in the season. He certainly has performed better than Delhomme, who has two touchdown passes, seven interceptions and two lost fumbles this season.


Wallace is known as a quarterback who stays away from turnovers. Obviously, the Browns needed to vary their offense. Just as obviously, Delhomme was no help, losing a fumble and throwing an interception in the fourth quarter. He was 12-of-20 passing for a mere 86 yards. His age showed as he had very little mobility when facing a rush.
Since Colt McCoy sprained his ankle in the Jacksonville game, Delhomme has made three starts. He has thrown one touchdown pass, three interceptions and lost a fumble. Isn't it revealing that there is no fear of turnovers when young Colt McCoy plays, but there is with Delhomme?



Delhomme may believe that the coaching staff have put him into a playmaking straitjacket. Opposing defenses are stacking up on the line of scrimmage to stop the run. But it's hard to imagine Delhomme delivering if he's allowed to throw with abandon.



All of which should tell the Browns that next week when they travel to Cincinnati, someone else should be the quarterback -- be it McCoy (if healthy) or Wallace if the rookie from Texas needs another week to rest his sprained ankle.



If the Cleveland Browns can't trust Jake Delhomme, why keep playing him? Terry Pluto | cleveland.com

[Sez.EJ]

"....But the defense allowed Buffalo to control the tempo -- running 21 more plays than the Browns. They allowed the Bills to run out the clock with 3:51 left. Buffalo ran the ball nine times in a row, picking up 51 yards. How about stopping the Bills on three plays, forcing a punt and getting the ball back for the offense? "

This quote from Pluto's article is the most telling to me. Our Defense..especially the run defense sucked. We had the ball only 23+ minutes of the game.. Buffalo had is 36+ minutes.. we were DOMINATED by the buffalo offense...

Buffalo ran NINE STRAIGHT RUN PLAYS???? WOW!!!.. that's some crappy defense. We got owned.

[Vegasdogg]

Offense = embarrassment.

Daboll = suck-age

[Masters]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

"....But the defense allowed Buffalo to control the tempo -- running 21 more plays than the Browns. They allowed the Bills to run out the clock with 3:51 left. Buffalo ran the ball nine times in a row, picking up 51 yards. How about stopping the Bills on three plays, forcing a punt and getting the ball back for the offense? "

This quote from Pluto's article is the most telling to me. Our Defense..especially the run defense sucked. We had the ball only 23+ minutes of the game.. Buffalo had is 36+ minutes.. we were DOMINATED by the buffalo offense...

Buffalo ran NINE STRAIGHT RUN PLAYS???? WOW!!!.. that's some crappy defense. We got owned.

Very true. But again Pluto pointed to a key part that pads that rushing stat for BUF, those last 4 minutes. Close to 50 yards and 9 of those 21 plays came on that drive. When you add in the rest of the 4th QTR for BUF it starts coming to half of BUF rushing numbers and all but evens the number of plays. CLE's D was gassed by the 4th due to the lack of O for the better part of 3 QTRs. So basically CLE's D was dominated by BUF O for a quarter.

Now sure, I believe the D needed to step up. They did for a second in the 4th by forcing a 3 and out, which the O promptly did nothing with.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Thing was, whenever our D did make the stops our offense promptly did nothing, exactly like Masters mentioned. I don't think it's a case that Jake's 'playbook is handcuffed' as Jake was pressured hard during the game and really wasn't able to do much. Hillis' fumbles really killed the confidence and momentum usually associated with our running game.

Jake's play as a starter has not warranted any confidence at all. As much as I hate to say it, I think we ought to give Seneca a start unless he's earned a seat in Mangini's patented shit house... then we're stuck with Jake til Colt's 100%