Aug
19
Written by:
LarryMac
8/19/2009 1:26 PM
The final score is just about the least important thing in preseason
games. What we're looking for is improvement on the things that hurt
the Browns last year - signs that new coach Eric Mangini is putting his
stamp on this team and that he's gotten through and convinced everybody
that the country club that was Camp Crennel is over.
Bad Penalties: The Browns mastered the art of shooting themselves in
the foot last year with bad penalties. Seven penalties for 50 yards is
nothing to write home about, but for a preseason game it's worth noting
that they did better than the Packers (9 for 52). One of those
penalties did cost the Browns a field goal that would have been their
only points in the game, though.
Braylon Edwards: The story of last year was Edwards who, coming off of
a Pro-Bowl caliber season in 2007, led the NFL with dropped passes. He
promptly dropped a pass in the endzone in this game.
The QB Battle: Mangini has been tight-lipped about who will be taking
snaps when the season starts. The competition between Derek Anderson
and Brady Quinn is apparently neck and neck and Mangini has stated
repeatedly that both will see a good deal of the playing time
throughout the preseason. Each threw an interception in the game and
Anderson attempted only two passes. The yardage leader was actually
Brett Ratliff, with 84 yards (to go with two interceptions of his own).
Defense: The hallmarks of last year's Browns defense was poor tackling
and an inability to pressure the quarterback. The Browns managed two
sacks, neither meaningful or against starter Aaron Rodgers and showed
more awful tackling. Newcomers Coye Francies and David Veikune did
each get an interception, but both were off of third stringer Brian
Brohm.
Highlight: There wasn't one. The Packers, themselves only 6-10 last
season, more than doubled the Browns offensive totals (392-191). The
Browns turned the ball over four times and lost their only real scoring
chances to a dropped pass in the end zone by edwards and a penalty on
what was a successful field goal attempt.
Preseason 2009 has started out in much the same way that Regular Season
2008 ended. The Browns defense only managed to stop the Packers at all
during garbage time (Rodgers has staked the team to a 14-0 lead by the
end of the first quarter and then left). All of the things that
Cleveland fans were hearing about and seeing in practice didn't
translate to this game at all. Coach Mangini summed it up best after
the game: "What I wanted to see was smart football, I want to see
toughness and I
want to see us be able to outhustle our opponent," Mangini said. "I
don't really think we achieved any of those objectives."
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