Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel
Taking a look at this past weekends slew of football games, there are three teams that have something in common. Minnesota, Cleveland, and San Diego would all tell you they could have won and should have won. All three of these teams had very high expectations coming into this season and all three are now 0-2 after coming oh so close to being 1-1.
First let’s look at the team who legitimately should have won: San Diego (video highlights are posted below). With time running out Denver was down by 7. As they approached the end zone, quarterback Jay Cutler stepped back to throw a pass and the ball slipped out of his away from his body. There was no contact and it did not go toward the line of scrimmage, much less in front of it. The play was whistled dead after the ball hit the ground, being ruled an incomplete pass, despite the fact that it was undisputably a fumble; this is made doubly painful by the fact that San Diego had successfully recovered it, thus clinching the W. San Diego was unable to challenge the clearly incorrectly called play and Denver scored a touchdown followed by the game winning two-point conversion. This loss that should never have happened is especially troubling for a disappointing Chargers team. San Diego is now 0-2 and in last place in their division, a division that does not seem quite as securely theirs. The Denver Broncos are now 2-0 with both victories coming over division opponents. Pressure is mounting on San Diego and they will be hardpressed to overtake Denver unless they start winning soon.
Cleveland is another team on this list. Division opponent and hated rival Pittsburgh came to town on Sunday evening and pulled out with a 10-6 victory over the reeling Browns. This game very well could have (and from a Cleveland perspective, should have) gone the other way. As time expired in the first half the Browns drove the ball all the way down into the Pittsburgh ten yard line. With about 10 seconds left and 3rd and short coming up, Romeo Crennel, the Browns’ head coach, did not call a time out. Instead, confused, Derek Anderson ran a QB sneak for the first down (since he could not spike the ball to stop the clock). The problem was that took so much time that there was only 8 seconds left. Down by 7, the Browns did not want to settle for a field goal, but 8 seconds is barely enough time to run a play and kick a field goal if need be. They tried the play and in the rush Derek Anderson threw an interception as time ran out, leaving the Browns down 7-0 at halftime. This intermixed with many drops by Braylon Edwards, another inteception by Anderson, a lackluster run game, and a questionable 4th quarter field goal, the Browns practically handed the Steelers a win. The Browns are now 0-2 in the division and battle Baltimore this week followed by Cincinnati the following week; both games are road games, division games, and must-win games.
The Minnesota Vikings are another team that let a game slip away from them. On Minnesota’s first five possessions of the game they crossed midfield into Colts territory. All they had to show for that feat was five field goals, aka, all their points. Adrian Peterson was dominant, as usual, but the terrible passing game did them in. In fact, it was so bad that it was recently announced that Tavaris Jackson will no longer be the starting quarterback, instead, backup QB Gus Frerotte will. A quarterback controversy going into week three of the regular season is not something any team wants, but if the passing game does not improve do not expect Minnesota to win many games this season. Next weekend the Vikings take on the Panthers, a team that has beaten teams better than Minnesota this season, so it will not be easy pickings.
