For 3 quarters Sunday the Cleveland Browns went toe-to-toe with the San Diego Chargers. Too many field goals and not enough touchdowns though caught up with them and led to a 32-25 defeat. The loss puts the Browns at 2-6 and all, but kills any shot at the playoffs in 2006 for the Cleveland Browns.

Now not many thought the Browns would make it to the playoffs in 2006 anyway, but they have had chances to win games and keep inventing ways to lose them. Six times Sunday the Browns had to settle for Phil Dawson field goals. This from a team that was committed to improving their red-zone offense in the off-season. Well they were 1-7 in the red-zone Sunday. Not the type of results you are looking for when you are out throwing big dollars around in free agency and using high draft picks now is it?

Head coach Romeo Crennel said in his post-game press conference that maybe the game would have been different if they would have scored TD's instead of kicked field goals. Really? You think so? Then why did you not even attempt to score a TD or take a shot in the end-zone until the 6th field goal drive?

So what happened to the red-zone offense then on Sunday? First you can blame the ineffectiveness on conservative play calling. On 5 drives inside the red-zone the play calling was geared to get the sure 3 points instead of going for a touchdown. Those calls to run, run and then try a pass on 3rd and long come from offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson, but head coach Romeo Crennel is the one to blame for the conservative red-zone calls. He has stated more than once in the past that he wants the points and if 3 are all, but guaranteed he wants them and won't risk losing them. What does that say to his offense, to his QB Charlie Frye? It says I don't trust you can do the job and I'm not going to let you mess it up either.

As for Frye, he must have done something to make the football God's happy. He was saved multiple times by penalties to the Chargers and dropped interceptions that would have been TD's on 2 different occasions. Frye's numbers look comparable to Chargers QB Philip Rivers, but he played much worse. When the opponent says they can't wait to play you, because you stare down receivers, you know there is a major problem. While many will try and blame the o-line for Frye's short comings the truth is they are not too blame. Frye does do dumb things and then will sprinkle in a fantastic play here and there. Too bad the dumb plays are out numbering the fantastic ones four-fold. Frye should be progressing as an NFL QB, but through 8 games in 2006 he has clearly taken a step back. The whole offense has because of it. Teams are daring the Browns QB to beat them, but the Browns don't have enough faith in Frye to let him try. So teams are focusing on stopping the Browns running game and are having great success doing so.

As for the running game, RB Reuben Droughns got what he wanted in the off-season, a new contract with guaranteed money and a nice signing bonus. Since then he has rushed for only two 100-yard games and looks more like a fullback playing running back than ever. He is not the answer, but the Browns paid him like he was and will now have to live with that decision. It is obvious that team defenses are not scared of Droughns and adjust very well to his pace of play. Maybe the new offensive coordinator should mix in a change of pace back, maybe a little more Jerome Harrison? Maybe that's too damn obvious and that's why they aren't doing it! One thing is sure, the Browns can't run the ball now and it isn't going to get better with the current o-line and Reuben Droughns running behind it.

The defense played great for 3 quarters before succumbing to the powerful Chargers running game and running back Ladanian Tomlinson. It appeared that the Chargers found a weakness in Cleveland's run defense and continued to exploit throughout the 4th quarter. It was no coincidence that the Chargers running game was having most of it's success late in the game, once it had secured a lead. It is exactly what the Browns should have been able to do if indeed they could have converted some field goal drives into touchdown drives.

The Browns now must prepare to go and face the NFL's #1 rushing offense in the Atlanta Falcons. Not good news for a 2-6 Browns team that is ranked 29th in defending the run.

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