Browns-Bengals: Report Card

[BernietheKid]

Browns-Bengals: Report Card
		By The Sports Xchange Posted Dec 21, 2010 Two units get a failing grade in the latest marks. Here's the latest evaluation of the Browns via the Sports Xchange. 8 Comments
The Browns played another really bad game against a really bad team in losing to the Bengals in Cincinnati, and it can't help Eric Mangini's job security. In the 19-17 loss, the Browns were manhandled, as Bengals running back Cedric Benson ran 31 times for 150 yards. "We should be able to stop the run," Mangini said. "That's part of playing in this division." Except that the Browns didn't. In midseason, Cleveland beat New Orleans and New England to raise hopes and expectations. Since, they beat Carolina when the Panthers missed a last-play field goal, beat Miami on a tipped pass that fell into the Browns hands by happenstance and lost to Buffalo and Cincinnati, both teams that had two wins in the final month of the season. This hardly seems like a team on an upswing, as every week Mangini seems to gnash his teeth over some element of his team. Even the wins were of the "oh geez" kind, as the Browns did everything they could to give a game to Carolina and played poor offensively against Miami. Then came the Bengals, losers of 10 in a row. Until they play the Browns. Mangini now has won the same number of games as he won a year ago, when a four-game winning streak to end the season saved his job. But he is 5-9 with games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh remaining. The Ravens and Steelers are still playing for playoff position. The Browns are playing for nothing of consequence. Again. NOTES, QUOTES --QB Colt McCoy's numbers were impressive: 19-of-25 for 243 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. More than impressive. It is confusing, then, why the Browns did not score more than 17 points -- with one touchdown a gift from the Bengals pass defense, when CB Keiwan Ratliff foolishly went for the ball on a late throw and allowed Brian Robiskie an open path to the end zone for a score with just more than two minutes left. McCoy played very well and looked good, but he also was sacked four times. Other mistakes, especially penalties, doomed the offense. "I thought early on we lacked a little bit of energy, we lacked a little bit of intensity," McCoy said. "And that stems from me, that stems from the older guys on this team and it stems from all of us coming together and playing with a lot of energy and a lot of focus. It's hard to do late in the season. But if you want to be a successful football team and want to play great late in the stretch, that's what you've got to do." --RB Peyton Hillis is starting to show effects of being the only back on the team. The Browns ride Hillis, and at this point of the season the other team knows it. Hillis ran just 14 times and gained 59 yards against the Bengals. Part of his limited carries was the Bengals holding the ball, part was Colt McCoy's success throwing it. But Hillis never got into a flow, which he readily admitted. And on a key third down at the 1 in the second half, when a touchdown would've cut the Bengals lead to two points, Hillis ran up the middle and was stuffed. It's hard to second guess the call, given the way the offense relies on Hillis, but it sure was easy to predict. "It never felt like we got into the flow of things," Hillis said. "You don't establish yourself. The whole team has to be involved and motivated. We have to get to that point. We're so off and on through the whole game." PLAYER NOTES --WR Brian Robiskie finally scored a touchdown -- in the 14th game of the season -- in the fourth quarter on a 44-yard reception. Robiskie benefited from Bengals DB Keiwan Ratliff taking a foolish angle on the play, but Robiskie also caught five passes for 82 yards, which is a pretty productive day. --NT Ahtyba Rubin led the Browns with 10 tackles, but lamented giving up 188 yards rushing to the woeful Bengals. "It probably says we didn't prepare well enough," Rubin said. --TE Ben Watson continues his career year as he benefits from the Browns emphasis on the tight end. Watson had seven more catches, for 92 yards, giving him 58 for the season for 674 yards. --LB David Bowens summed up what happened to the Browns, as Cincinnati ran the ball down their throats. "It looks like we got bullied," Bowens said. --KR Josh Cribbs continues to be AWOL. He averaged 17.4 yards on his five kickoff returns, a number that is well below the league norm and far below Cribbs' own standard. Cribbs provided a lot of spark to a team that needed it. Without his spark -- no TDs this season on special teams -- the offense looks worse. REPORT CARD VS. BENGALS PASSING OFFENSE: B -- Colt McCoy gives every indication the Browns can rely on him for the long-term future. He made several nice throws, particularly a down-the-seam pass to tight end Ben Watson and a touchdown pass to Robert Royal thrown past defenders and put in a spot that either Royal would catch it or nobody possibly could. McCoy has moxie. He makes mistakes, but no quarterback is perfect. He plays smart and plays well, and is the main bright spot to come out of a 5-9 season. RUSHING OFFENSE: D-plus -- The fact to ponder following this game is not what Peyton Hillis did in the game, but what he's done this season compared to the rest of the team. Hillis has rushed for 1,129 yards. That leads the Browns. The team's second-best rusher? Rookie quarterback Colt McCoy, with 87 yards. That shows every team in the league that if they stop Hillis, they stop the Browns. And every team in the league is doing just that. Cincinnati is not a great rushing defense, but it loaded up to stop Hillis and was successful. Imagine what Baltimore and Pittsburgh's defense can do the final two games. PASS DEFENSE: C -- Carson Palmer threw for a very effective 209 yards. He made some bad throws -- which he's done all season -- but the Browns never really came close to an interception, and the Bengals problems were more their doing than anything the Browns did. Example: Palmer threw incomplete in the end zone on one third down, but he threw to the wrong guy. He chose to throw a fade when he had an underneath route wide open at the goal-line. RUSH DEFENSE: F -- Cedric Benson had 150 rushing yards. The Cincinnati Bengals totaled 188 yards on the ground. That game "improved" the Bengals to 95 yards per game rushing for the season, and put their season ranking at 27th. Translated, the Browns let one of the worst rushing teams in the league run all over them. If the team rallied around Eric Mangini last season to win four in a row at season's end it's anyone's guess what is happening this season. SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- It's a given that Reggie Hodges will punt well, that Phil Dawson will kick well and that the Browns will cover kicks well. But the absence of Josh Cribbs from the return game has been noticeable, and difficult. The Browns need Cribbs' best and he's not been his best this season. Against the Bengals he did not even average 20 yards on his kickoff returns. Perhaps Cribbs' is not recovered from the four dislocated toes that sidelined him earlier. It would not be the first time the Browns put a player on the field at less than 100 percent. If Cribbs is not, the Browns would be better served to adjust and find someone else to return kicks. COACHING: F -- A team trying to grow does not lose consecutive games to teams at the bottom of the NFL totem pole. The Browns did that, which puts them squarely near the bottom of the league. Ridiculous. The Browns talk tough and talk well, but the past two weeks have put the previous two wins in perspective. They were gifts from the other team. Those happen in the NFL, and you take them happily. But good teams follow those gifts by playing well and hard. The Browns have done neither. Now they get to finish against two of the league's better teams. Whatever is happening, things are have not worked the last two games. Scout.com: Browns-Bengals: Report Card

[BernietheKid]

Mangini may soon flunk out
Holmgren needs to decide if collapse warrants firing
By Nate Ulrich
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010

If Browns President Mike Holmgren threw his hands in the air Sunday evening and declared he had seen enough, who could blame him?

Even if you want Holmgren to keep coach Eric Mangini for next season, you must certainly understand his reasoning if he doesn't. Holmgren now has, without a doubt, all the justification he needs to make a coaching change.

Yes, Mangini guided the Browns (5-9) to wins over the New Orleans Saints (10-4) and the New England Patriots (12-2) earlier this season. But those upset victories have been negated by the past two losses — first to the Buffalo Bills (4-10), then to the Cincinnati Bengals (3-11).

Now the Browns are long shots to avoid a four-game losing streak to end the season, and Mangini should forever be known as Houdini if he can somehow escape a pink slip.

To fully appreciate the team's recent collapse, think about how pathetic the Bengals are. Before they beat the Browns 19-17 on Sunday, they had a 10-game losing streak.

They had not won since Sept. 26. The Cincinnati Reds, whose playoff run ended in early October, had prevailed more recently.

There is no excuse for losing to a team in such disarray. Several of the following grades reflect that sentiment:

OFFENSE: C+

Quarterback: B. Rookie Colt McCoy returned to the starting lineup and completed 19-of-25 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 132.6. He did not commit a turnover, though three of his passes were nearly intercepted. McCoy lamented the Browns' lack of energy and intensity and their dismal third-down efficiency (2-of-8). But as Mangini pointed out, the quarterback is responsible in many ways for controlling the offense's energy.

Running backs: C. Peyton Hillis had 14 carries for 59 yards (4.2 average) and two catches for 23 yards. For the second week in a row, he was stuffed for no gain on third-and-1 inside the opponent's 10-yard line and the Browns settled for a field goal when they needed more. To his credit, Hillis did not fumble after losing the ball three times against the Bills.

Wide receivers/tight ends: B-. Tight end Benjamin Watson returned to the forefront after being targeted only once against the Bills. He had seven catches for 92 yards, including a 24-yard reception. Wide receiver Brian Robiskie had five catches for 82 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown reception he snatched out of the air as Bengals defensive back Keiwan Ratliff tried to break it up. Tight end Robert Royal, who's not exactly known for his hands, dived to secure a 20-yard touchdown completion and added another catch for 9 yards. On the other hand, wide receivers Mohamed Massaquoi, Josh Cribbs and Chansi Stuckey had a total of three catches despite being targeted a combined seven times. In the first quarter, Massaquoi appeared to turn the wrong way and couldn't adjust in time as he dropped a pass inside the Bengals' 10.

Line: D. Hillis said there was no hole to run through on that crucial third-and-1 at the Bengals' 5. Instead of scoring a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter and trimming their deficit to two points, the Browns had to settle for a field goal and a six-point deficit. This group also allowed four sacks and six quarterback hits. Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap often lined up against Browns right tackle John St. Clair, and Dunlap finished with a game-high two sacks, including one that led to Cleveland's debacle at the end of the first half, which resulted in no points.

DEFENSE: D

Linebackers: D. These guys were dominated by Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who had 31 carries for 150 yards (4.8 average) and a touchdown. Backup running back Bernard Scott had eight carries for 40 yards (5.0 average). The defense couldn't get off the field, as evidenced by the Bengals' lopsided advantage in time of possession, 38:03-21:57. It also couldn't stop Benson from sealing the Bengals' win with a 4-yard run for a first down in the final two minutes. Matt Roth led the unit with nine tackles.

Line: D. Nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin had a game-high 10 tackles and end Kenyon Coleman had nine. But like the rest of the defense, this group gave away too much ground against the run. The Bengals' offensive line controlled the game, paving the way for Benson and protecting quarterback Carson Palmer, who completed 14-of-23 passes for 209 yards without throwing an interception or taking a sack.

Secondary: D. For the first time in a few weeks, rookie cornerback Joe Haden did not have a good game. He finished with seven tackles, but he also missed opportunities to make more. Safety Abram Elam was pancaked by left tackle Andrew Whitworth and cornerback Sheldon Brown was sealed off by tight end Jermaine Gresham. As a result, Bengals wide receiver Andre Caldwell turned a short screen pass into a 53-yard completion that set up the Bengals' final field goal with 9:58 left in the fourth quarter.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

The Bengals' average drive start was at their own 37, better than the Browns' average start at their 32. The Browns averaged only 15.3 yards per kickoff return. Cribbs, who is still hindered by the toes he dislocated on his right foot five weeks ago, had five kickoff returns for 87 yards (17.4 average). Meanwhile, they let Scott return three kickoffs for 73 yards (24.3 average, long of 31). Phil Dawson made a 23-yard field goal, his lone attempt. His counterpart, Clint Stitser, received many more opportunities and responded by converting all four of his kicks.

COACHING: F

The Browns were not the aggressors. Mangini takes pride in running the ball and stopping the run, but he didn't have his players ready to do either against the Bengals. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll must figure out answers for third down, because his men couldn't sustain drives for the majority of the game. Cincinnati's Terrell Owens suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the first quarter and fellow wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was hindered by a foot injury, though defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's men didn't capitalize. Instead of clamping down on the run, they seemed to be clueless as Benson ran all over them.

Ohio.com - Mangini may soon flunk out

[PlaygroundLegend]

If I were an unemployed coach, I'd be salivating over that Bengals Job, because the amount of talent they have on both sides of the ball is simply ridiculous. How they are not a perennial playoff team, is beyond me. Their D is stacked at almost EVERY position, their offense probably has the best WR set of any team in the league (their 4th WR is Anthony Fricken Caldwell, who would probably be our #1)

Their coaches must be REALLY bad