Anthony Grupusso-US Presswire
Famous writer Heywood Hale Broun once said, “Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it.” So much for getting rid of their aggressions.
The Cleveland Browns went in to MetLife Stadium with pretty much nothing to lose yesterday. They took their moral 0-4 record in to Gotham City and tried to surprise the world. Despite having an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the 2011 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants were just too much for the Browns. Here is an explanation of why the Browns are now 0-5 on the 2012 campaign.
My biggest key to this game earlier in the week was time of possession. If the Browns could keep Eli Manning off the field as much as possible, this was a winnable game. They did not. The football Giants had the ball almost 11 more minutes than the Browns. The once respectable Browns defense was torched on the ground and through the air.
On the first G-Men possession, Ahmad Bradshaw hit his own linemen and coughed up the ball to Sheldon Brown of Cleveland. After that, Bradshaw played like a man possessed. It was clear he was upset about the early fumble. Bradshaw went on to rush for 200 yards and a touchdown. Bradshaw literally carried the workload with 30 carries.
Anthony Grupusso-US Presswire
Not having Joe Haden out there is completely destroying the Browns defense. Buster Skrine had the priviledge of covering the Giants’ speedy wideouts. Former LSU standout Rueben Randle owned Skrine. It was a rough day for the Browns sophomore to say the least. To end the first half, Skrine was penalized for a costly pass interference to give the Giants a chip shot field goal to end the half.
Josh Cribbs had a decent game despite not being installed at all in to the Cleveland offense. His decent game came from what he does best, returning kicks. Cribbs had over 200 yards in returns but had a crucial fumble that was a huge momentum turner. Trying to make a play, Cribbs cut back on a return and didn’t recognize the tacklers from behind and was stripped. This was a huge play that basically put the Giants in the red zone. The Giants never really looked back after this.
On third down and one, with Trent Richardson on the sidelines for God knows what reason, Brandon Weeden rolled to his right and air mailed a ball over the head of Josh Gordon. Giants defensive back Stevie Brown gladly picked off the pass and took it in to Cleveland territory. That was a huge swing in the game because Cleveland had easy field goal if they didn’t convert. The score would have been 20-10 Browns at that point. Again, poor play calling by Pat Shurmur by not leaving Richardson in on 3 & 1 doomed Cleveland.
The Browns are the second youngest team in the entire league and it showed on Sunday. In what looked like it may be a shoot out in New York, the Giants just ran away after a series of miscues by Browns. But seriously, did we really expect to win?
Ryan Ruiz – Cleveland Browns Writer
Please Follow Me on Twitter @ryanpruiz24
