tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

Once again the Cleveland Browns figured out a way to lose a football game. A botched snap resulted in a missed field goal with just over 2 minutes left in the game gave the St.Louis Rams a 13-12 win over the Browns. What's really got me pissed off is that the Browns had it first and goal and refused to even attempt a pass in the end zone to score a touchdown. Contrast that with the New Orleans-Atlanta game. The Falcons trailed 23-20 with 16 seconds left in the game and had it first and goal from the 6 yard line. Matt Ryan made two passing attempts into the end zone, one that should have been caught by Roddy White and the other was just thrown away. It still left plenty of time on the clock for a Falcon field goal that sent the game into overtime.

Terry Pluto raised a great point in his article in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: if Pat Shurmur doesn't have the confidence in Colt McCoy to try to score a touchdown then maybe McCoy isn't the guy to lead the Browns to the promise land. I've stated here before that I believe that Pat Shurmur is in over his head. In my opinion, he played not to lose as opposed to playing to win. Maybe it's the fact that his team is struggling and he wanted to play it safe. But the fact remains that the Browns lost again and it marks the third time in the last two home games that they have had a field goal attempt blocked. It didn't cost them against Seattle but it did yesterday. Which leads me to the decision to let Brad Seely go as Special Teams Coordinator. Special teams was a strong point for the Browns under Seely. Not so much anymore.

I can't see the Browns winning another game this season. Next week they have the Jaguars with Maurice Jones-Drew and I don't see a win in the cards. It's looking like season ticket holders believe the same thing as there were plenty of empty seats throughout the stadium yesterday. Maybe that's what needs to happen. In fact, wouldn't it be something if there are more Steeler fans in the stadium when they come in to play the Browns. It's really sad as a proud fan base must endure such garbage. The best we can hope for is that the Browns lose every game finishing 3-13 and the Falcons lose as many games as possible giving the Browns two decent draft picks. Same old story for us Browns fans: wait until next year.