The Common Man
Maybe mediocrity isn’t so bad. I look at myself. I have always had a good head on my shoulders, but I’m not Harvard (pronounced Hahvahd with a snooty accent) material. I have done well in my career, but I’m no where near independently wealthy. I have always been pretty good at sports, but rather limited due to my body type (Think skinny extremities with a tire around the waist). Like Joe Walsh (from Cleveland by the way) "I'm just an ordinary average guy." And still, I like who I am. So maybe mediocrity is OK. The way I see it, it could be worse. I could be a high school dropout, unemployed, and always the kid picked last in gym class. So, maybe having the Cleveland Browns, (who blew a chance to establish themselves as one of the NFL’s ‘good teams” yesterday), arrive at mediocrity in the league is good enough. Lets be honest, the alternative, (last years pathetic 4-12 record) just sucks. To be able to be Phil Dawson’s lame 49 yard capacity leg away from beating a very good Steelers team in a finally meaningful game is a huge step for me and the city of Cleveland. We finally found a way to win a close game against a good team last week. Recently, in this rivalry against the Steelers, we have taken it on the chin worse than any late night cinemax starlet, and here we were again with a chance to do something special for the city of Clevelend. I had nightmares about this week. The Browns have come into games like this in recent years, with the city behind them, and serious momentum, and took a collective dump on us by laying an egg. They fought real hard yesterday, and for that, I applaud them. We have a real shot at being in the wild card hunt, and after last year’s pathetic season, that’s a huge step. So, I am proud of my mediocrity and of the Cleveland Browns. And the Tribe, and the Cavs, and my job, and my men's league hockey talent. All good but not great.
Let’s talk about the game now. I watched the game on the speed replay on the NFL ticket so I didn’t hear any commentating and didn’t see any replays. I think this allowed me to see the game in a new light without any outside opinions. Here are my thoughts.
After all of these years of drafting and developing special team’s players, it has finally paid off. We have had a team full of special team caliber players for the past few seasons. Now, we have a more complete bunch, and these kids can play. Mike Adams is making great tackles. And Josh Cribbs had probably one of the finest plays in the Browns history yesterday turning a disaster into a beautiful run. Watching him smoke those first two defenders at the ten, and then watching the entourage direct traffic and escort the man to the end zone was a thing of beauty.
Eric Wright is a fine player. Great play in the end zone in the first half. Some of the finest tackling on the team. He doesn’t go for the big hit, but tackles smartly and confidently. His tackle on Rothlisberger was just awesome. Unfortunately, stopping Heath Miller on 3rd and 18 wasn’t such a nice play for anyone involved.
The Jamal Lewis fumble should have been whistled for forward progress.
Sean Jones needs to start leading. Too many times during defensive breakdowns, he is yelling and bitching at other players. That has to stop. On the other hand, I love his intensity at the end of the game on the kneel down to leave a tough taste in the mouth of the players for next week.
The Browns defense played tough in many spots today. They were flying into the line of scrimmage, and generally attacking. Brodney Pool's int was evidence of that. However, too many mistakes and big plays on 3rd down. That 3rd and 18 was disgusting. Willie McGinest was atrocious. We also got caught on play fakes like crazy as a result of our aggressiveness. I would rather keep up the attacking nature though. Sitting back and watching our DB’s try to cover for 7 seconds is unbearable.
I don’t know about the hold on Dinkins, but the refs really let the Steelers get away with a lot. On that 3rd and 18, Peek was tackled as he was about the get to Big Ben. I saw Wimbley get absolutely dragged down on a few plays. Don’t know how obvious that was on replays, but could have used a few of those calls.
Finally, welcome to reality DA. He didn’t throw one good pass today. Even the easy ones across the middle were low, behind, or in the dirt. He just sucked. Plain and simple. He had more time than any Cleveland QB has had against the Steelers that I can remember, and he was shaking in his size 17’s.
Next week is another chance to prove ourselves. Maybe this mediocre bunch can do something that resembles greatness.
Maybe mediocrity isn’t so bad. I look at myself. I have always had a good head on my shoulders, but I’m not Harvard (pronounced Hahvahd with a snooty accent) material. I have done well in my career, but I’m no where near independently wealthy. I have always been pretty good at sports, but rather limited due to my body type (Think skinny extremities with a tire around the waist). Like Joe Walsh (from Cleveland by the way) "I'm just an ordinary average guy." And still, I like who I am. So maybe mediocrity is OK. The way I see it, it could be worse. I could be a high school dropout, unemployed, and always the kid picked last in gym class. So, maybe having the Cleveland Browns, (who blew a chance to establish themselves as one of the NFL’s ‘good teams” yesterday), arrive at mediocrity in the league is good enough. Lets be honest, the alternative, (last years pathetic 4-12 record) just sucks. To be able to be Phil Dawson’s lame 49 yard capacity leg away from beating a very good Steelers team in a finally meaningful game is a huge step for me and the city of Cleveland. We finally found a way to win a close game against a good team last week. Recently, in this rivalry against the Steelers, we have taken it on the chin worse than any late night cinemax starlet, and here we were again with a chance to do something special for the city of Clevelend. I had nightmares about this week. The Browns have come into games like this in recent years, with the city behind them, and serious momentum, and took a collective dump on us by laying an egg. They fought real hard yesterday, and for that, I applaud them. We have a real shot at being in the wild card hunt, and after last year’s pathetic season, that’s a huge step. So, I am proud of my mediocrity and of the Cleveland Browns. And the Tribe, and the Cavs, and my job, and my men's league hockey talent. All good but not great.
Let’s talk about the game now. I watched the game on the speed replay on the NFL ticket so I didn’t hear any commentating and didn’t see any replays. I think this allowed me to see the game in a new light without any outside opinions. Here are my thoughts.
After all of these years of drafting and developing special team’s players, it has finally paid off. We have had a team full of special team caliber players for the past few seasons. Now, we have a more complete bunch, and these kids can play. Mike Adams is making great tackles. And Josh Cribbs had probably one of the finest plays in the Browns history yesterday turning a disaster into a beautiful run. Watching him smoke those first two defenders at the ten, and then watching the entourage direct traffic and escort the man to the end zone was a thing of beauty.
Eric Wright is a fine player. Great play in the end zone in the first half. Some of the finest tackling on the team. He doesn’t go for the big hit, but tackles smartly and confidently. His tackle on Rothlisberger was just awesome. Unfortunately, stopping Heath Miller on 3rd and 18 wasn’t such a nice play for anyone involved.
The Jamal Lewis fumble should have been whistled for forward progress.
Sean Jones needs to start leading. Too many times during defensive breakdowns, he is yelling and bitching at other players. That has to stop. On the other hand, I love his intensity at the end of the game on the kneel down to leave a tough taste in the mouth of the players for next week.
The Browns defense played tough in many spots today. They were flying into the line of scrimmage, and generally attacking. Brodney Pool's int was evidence of that. However, too many mistakes and big plays on 3rd down. That 3rd and 18 was disgusting. Willie McGinest was atrocious. We also got caught on play fakes like crazy as a result of our aggressiveness. I would rather keep up the attacking nature though. Sitting back and watching our DB’s try to cover for 7 seconds is unbearable.
I don’t know about the hold on Dinkins, but the refs really let the Steelers get away with a lot. On that 3rd and 18, Peek was tackled as he was about the get to Big Ben. I saw Wimbley get absolutely dragged down on a few plays. Don’t know how obvious that was on replays, but could have used a few of those calls.
Finally, welcome to reality DA. He didn’t throw one good pass today. Even the easy ones across the middle were low, behind, or in the dirt. He just sucked. Plain and simple. He had more time than any Cleveland QB has had against the Steelers that I can remember, and he was shaking in his size 17’s.
Next week is another chance to prove ourselves. Maybe this mediocre bunch can do something that resembles greatness.
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