Beat the Steelers? Here's a novel idea, how about the Browns keep from beating themselves?

by Bud Shaw
Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/
Monday September 15, 2008, 12:33 AM


Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu intercepts a pass in the end zone at the end of the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, in Cleveland.(AP)

For this alleged rivalry to favor the Browns one of these years/decades/centuries (pick the most likely time frame) they might have to play smarter than the Steelers or at least more disciplined.

There's always a catch, I know, but they really should give it a try just once since the dwindling alternatives have dwindled to voodoo dolls of Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu.

Ten snafus in a row -- if you are still counting and aren't lying on a leather couch this morning blubbering to a shrink.

This night of prime-time football at the lakefront was among the most agonizing of the lot and not only because it carried the hope of identifying the Browns to a national audience as the new sheriff in the AFC North.

Sure it did. Say hello to Sheriff Fife.

"This was maybe one of the best games we played against Pittsburgh in a while," Romeo Crennel reasoned. "But we still shot ourselves in the foot."

Crennel fired the one bullet he carries in his pocket late in the game when he went for a field goal to make it 10-6 with 3:21 remaining at the Steelers' 20. His decision not to try to convert a fourth-and-7 there trailing 10-3 wasn't as confounding as last week's field goal that shaved a 28-7 deficit to 28-10 in the fourth quarter.


Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is sacked by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith (91) in the last seconds of a 10-6 Pittsburgh win in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, in Cleveland.(AP)

But the Browns needed a touchdown to at least send the game into overtime before Dawson's kick, and they still needed a touchdown to win after Dawson's kick. Roethlisberger was honest enough to say the decision was "surprising" while Derek Anderson claimed to be "with the boss every time."

Shocking. Also shocking -- that is, if this was the only Browns' game you'd ever seen -- they didn't immediately get the ball back. Or even in a little while.

When the Browns took over on downs, still trailing 10-6, they were on their 26 with 26 seconds remaining and no timeouts. From there, a Benny Hill chase scene featuring the Steelers pass rush in pursuit of Anderson followed.

It's one thing if Crennel were still relying on Bill Belichick's defense to turn possession over to the offense. Since it's his defense, the expected happened. The secondary lost tight end Heath Miller at the worst possible time. Willie Parker protected the ball and swallowed time.

The Steelers elected to run on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal, presumably out of respect for Shaun Rogers' reputation as the Marvin "The Human Eraser" Webster of blocked field goals.

The clock for the Browns remains a distorted timepiece, a Salvadore Dali creation. There were a number of examples for why this team always finds a way to lose to Pittsburgh. The Browns managed to commit even more penalties (10) than the reckless Steelers.

But limiting the conversation to those wouldn't do the happenings of Sunday night true justice.


CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers throws a fourth quarter pass while avoiding the rush of Alex Hall #96 and D'Qwell Jackson #52 of the Cleveland Browns on September 14, 2008 at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Pittsburgh won the game 10-6. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Crennel trusted his defense at the end of the game and the offense at the end of the first half. Both let him down, Anderson most spectacularly of all with a red zone interception. A field goal at least makes it 7-3.

Hanging Crennel for the field goal at the end takes too much of the glare off Braylon Edwards' awful start to 2008 and the fact the Browns rushed for all of 53 yards.

In the last three "rivalry" games, the Steelers have outrushed the Browns, 482-139. That's the most telling proof that things still aren't close, no matter how a late field goal made it seem.