So many times, we tend to pass judgment too harshly and too quickly. Each week, after we have had a chance to digest the game, here at DawgBones.com we will break down the Cleveland Browns game from the week before. Let us look at the top 5 good things, the top 5 bad things and the top 5 things that failed to impress us in this week’s game. The segment is called 20/20 Browns Hindsight we hope you enjoy it.



Top 5 Good Things: Jets Game

1. Browns RB Jamal Lewis continued his strong 2nd half play in 2007 by posting 118 yards rushing and 2 TD's. Lewis scored the 1st Browns TD by catching a 7-yard TD pass in the 2nd quarter and then finished the Browns scoring with a 31-yard run to seal the win with 1:22 to play. Over the past 4 games Lewis has 5 total TD's and is averaging 4.6 yards per carry.

2. WR Braylon Edwards again showed his poise and confidence in the Browns win over the Jets. In the 2nd quarter on 4th and 4 from the Jets 40 Edwards had his number called again. Edwards made a great play on a ball under thrown by QB Derek Anderson and proceeded to get both his feet in bounds. Just 2 plays later the Browns capped the drive with Lewis' Td taking a 7-0 lead. He also was instrumental on the Browns second TD drive by catching a 45-yard pass and then capping that drive himself by hauling in a 4-yard fade pass from Anderson for the teams 2nd TD.

3. The Browns offensive line was once again stellar. They opened holes for the Browns running game, amassing 152 yards on the ground and again kept Derek Anderson from being sacked. The Jets had 7 sacks against the Pittsburgh Steelers just 3 weeks earlier, but could only muster 1 QB hurry on Sunday.

4. LB Leon Williams appears to be playing his best football of the season and it showed itself Sunday in New York. Williams gathered 9 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hurries and broke up a Jets 2-point conversion attempt in the end zone. Williams seems to be finding the form he showed late in his rookie campaign of 2006.

5. We are going to give the Browns defense the nod here. There were some real nice individual performances from Williams, Sean Jones, Brandon McDonald and so on, but it was team defense that gave the Browns a chance to win the game. After a turnover the gave the Jets a 1st down at their 12 yard line, the Browns defense stiffened. The Jets got the ball to the 1-yard line, but on 2 straight runs were denied. On 3rd down QB Kellen Clemens tried to hit WR Jericho Cotchery in the end zone, Sean Jones stepped in front of the pass for the interception ending the drive. It was a turning point in the game and ultimately led the Browns to victory. The Browns also held the Jets to 2-12(17%) on 3rd down conversions and a mere 6 points until they went into a prevent defense late in the game.



Top 5 Bad Things: Jets Game

1. The prevent or sub-defense as the coaches like to call it is atrocious. By running their normal defense the Browns were able to sack Clemens 4 times, hurry him 7 more times and intercept him twice. When they went into their sub-defense up 17-6 with 5:27 to play they gave up 12 points and 149 yards. We know they want to prevent the big play over their head, but dying a slow death is much more painful to fans and prevents them from making a potential game clinching defensive play as well.

2. We have to put Jets head coach Eric Mangini in here after the way he coached the last few minutes of the game. The Jets had pulled within 17-12 and recovered an onside kick with just 2:59 to play and all 3 timeouts. The offense drove to the Browns 20 yard line, but stalled there. On 4th and 10, instead of going for it, Mangini called for the field goal and the Jets cut the lead to 17-15. Instead of kicking deep to the Browns and using their timeouts to get the ball back, they went for another onside kick. The Browns recovered it at the Jets 37 and proceeded to make the Jets use their timeouts in route to Lewis' game clinching TD run. Odd sequence of coaching indeed.

3. The Browns have had a stellar year from offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, but Sunday in the Meadowlands was not his best day. The first thing that sticks out is the fact the Browns ran the ball just 9 total times, 7 for Lewis, in the 1st half. It's December and with poor weather a threat every game the team needs to run more. Chudzinski also opted to have Derek Anderson throw the football on consecutive possession late in the 4th quarter rather then run the ball and eat clock. The Browns could have forced the Jets to use their time outs or eaten nearly 4 more minutes off the clock with out even getting a 1st down. Instead Anderson failed to complete even 1 of 4 passes in the rain and the Browns kept the Jets in a game they had no business being in.

4. It is obvious that KR Joshua Cribbs is not going to get very many more opportunities to hurt teams returning kickoffs. Sunday he only got 2 chances and averaged nearly 9 yards less then his season average per return. Cribbs has been instrumental in giving the Browns offense great field position all season, but it appears that opponents aren't going to let him beat them anymore.

5. The Browns punt coverage unit has had some injuries, losing one of their best players in Kris Griffin for the year, and it showed Sunday. The Jets Leon Washington was able to field 2 punts and averaged 26.5 yards per return. It is a huge concern going forward for the Browns as the games they will be playing over the next month will be hugely determined by filed position and hidden yardage.



Top 5 things that failed to impress: Jets Game

1. We have to put Browns QB Derek Anderson in here. Sure he had 2 TD passes, but he was highly inaccurate again going just 16-29(55%) and throwing another interception deep in his own zone. The Browns defense got him off the hook with their great goal line stand, but it's beginning to be a trend with Anderson. In 3 of his last 4 games he has thrown interceptions, deep in his own end and 2 of them were returned for TD's. The Browns can not afford to have Anderson make mistakes that directly or indirectly are leading to easy points for the opponent. Anderson is also struggling with slow starts and the prime field position he enjoyed earlier in the year is gone, cause for concern?

2. We continue to question why WR Tim Carter is seeing playing time on Sunday's. He did not catch a pass on Sunday in New York, in fact he hasn't caught one since November 18th in Baltimore. It's time to see some more of Joshua Cribbs and Travis Wilson because Carter is adding nothing at this time.

3. The Browns special teams recovered 2 of 3 onside kick's, but barely. The last onside kick that was recovered by Joe Jurevicius hit him in the chest and bounced forward. For a moment it was anything, but certain that the Browns would recover the ball. If the Browns are going to find themselves leading late, they may want to spend some more time on their onside kick coverage.

4. The game was in New York, but it must have felt like an away game for the Jets. There were probably more Browns fans in the stands then Jets fans and Browns fans were the only one's left at the end of the game. Jets fans don't have a lot to be happy about right now, but in 3 more weeks you won't have any games to go to for another 8 months!

5. How does WR Joe Jurevicius catch just 1 pass? Sure he dropped a ball late in the game, but he's one of the best possession receivers in football and needs to see more balls. Whether it's Anderson of Chudzinski we don't know, but we do know it's time to get #84 more involved with teams taking Edwards or Winslow out of the game plan each week.

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