Browns Drop the Ball, Lose 27-7

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Thursday, December 7. 2006

Browns Drop the Ball, Lose 27-7

A horrendous defensive "effort" and a slew of dropped passes cost the Cleveland Browns dearly in a miserably failed attempt to defeat the Steelers at Heinz field in Pittsburgh, as the Browns fell to 4 and 9, losing 27-7.

The Browns' defense gave Willie Parker an early Christmas gift, allowing him to run for a Steelers record 223 yards while averaging 7 yards per carry. The Pittsburgh offensive line truly stepped it up, and simply drove Cleveland defenders back play after play allowing Parker huge holes. Poor tackling was also rampant throughout the game.

On the offensive side, first-time starter Derek Anderson played well completing 21 of 37 passes for 276 yards and a passer rating of 78.18. He made very few mistakes - the most noticeable being an interception late in the game.

With some help from his receivers, however, he may have had a huge night.

Browns receivers dropped 7 passes, three of them by Dennis Northcutt alone. The only receiver who decided to consistently show up today for Cleveland was hometown receiver Joe Jurevicius, who caught 7 passes for 111 yards.

Braylon Edwards also came up with a couple big plays over the middle including a 45 yard touchdown catch in the fourth to avoid the shutout. Edwards ended the game with 4 catches for 86 yards, while Kellen Winslow remained quiet with the exception of a cheap shot on James Farrior.

With a comfortable lead throughout most of the second half, the Steelers were able to run at-will against a disheartening Browns defense. Aside from Willie Parker's astounding numbers, bruiser-back Najeh Davenport also got his punches in, running for 62 yards on 14 carries.

With the Cleveland Browns defense powerless to stop them, the Steelers - complete with backup QB Charlie Batch - ran down the clock to improve their record to 6-7, and keep their long-shot playoff hope alive for now.

The Browns head into another tough game Sunday, December 17 against the division-leading Ravens in Baltimore.

Technorati Tags:
Cleveland Browns, NFL, football, Pittsburgh Steelers, Willie Parker, Derek Anderson, Joe Jurevicius, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, James Farrior, Steelers, Browns, Cleveland, Pittsburgh

Posted by Ryan Hoover in Game Summaries at 22:29 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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My question is, how could Anderson get so much protection, but the line couldn't do a damn thing when it came time to run the ball?

#1 David (Homepage) on 2006-12-08 10:51 (Reply)

Well they're two completely different approaches. For pass protection, a lineman's first move is (often) to take a step back to help form the pocket.

On a run, the lineman have to get a push off the line of scrimmage, which we are obviously not well-suited to do at the moment.

#1.1 TopDawg (Homepage) on 2006-12-13 15:13 (Reply)

the "pumpkin -n- poop" is really sucking a big fat ass this season. and do u think joey porter was right calling winslow a f@ggot??

#2 5 time Superbowl Champs!! on 2006-12-10 10:29 (Reply)

Not saying the Browns are doing well at all, but um..weren't you guys the Super Bowl Chump - I mean Champs? What's your record now?

Anyway, while I don't agree with the hit Winslow put on Farrior, I don't think name-calling has any place in any "professional" atmosphere...but that's probably because I'm not a Steeler fan.

#2.1 TopDawg (Homepage) on 2006-12-13 15:11 (Reply)

yeah, the stillers are sucking, however, they aren't as dead as your team is.. plus, they do have 5 more rings than browns do, so stop your bitchin'.. looks like the "OLD" browns are gonna win the bowl this year, huh.. must really piss u off, huh..

#2.1.1 5 time Superbowl Champs!! on 2006-12-17 14:17 (Reply)

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