Cleveland Browns Lose Fifth Preseason Game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Preseason football is all about working out the kinks. Generally a game will consist of the starters playing for about a half, before making way for backups to come in and earn a spot on the team.

That is what happened Sunday afternoon. Although there is one BIG problem: it’s not preseason anymore.

The Browns came out of the gate looking strong. Jake Delhomme was crisp on a 41-yard touchdown connection to Mohamed Massaquoi.

Then two drives later Peyton Hillis looked like the steal of the off-season as he ran around the left end and bulled his way into the end-zone.

The defense got into the act too. Much-hyped “Cadillac” Williams was contained. Josh Freeman could not make any substantial completions and Kellen Winslow Jr. was non-existent.

Then it happened. Though the names stayed the same on the jerseys, it appeared as though the Cleveland Browns reserves came into the game.

In exactly one play, the entire game changed on one interception by Jake Delhomme. Up 14-3, driving with the ball in Tampa territory, Jake Delhomme was rushed and on his way down delivered an interception that everyone in Carolina saw coming.

Ronde Barber returned the interception to the 3 yard line, setting up the Buccaneer touchdown. Conservatively that was a 10 point swing that the Browns never recovered from. Instead of going up 17-3, the score was now 14-10 heading into the break.

All the promise and poise that was displayed in the first half was gone. On the first drive of the second half Peyton Hillis fumbled the ball away to Tampa Bay. The next four drives were all punts before Jake Delhomme tossed a long interception from his end-zone to all but put the game away.

With momentum squarely on the side of the home team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers jumped in their Cadillac and took a drive that burned more than four minutes off the game clock.

The defense managed to force a fumble, but it was inside their own 5 with a little over 2:00 to play.

The field position battle was won in a big way by the Buccaneers, which put extra stress on the Browns defense. All things considered the defense played well, but in the end they could not hold up in the Florida heat.

The seeming lack of effort in the second half is what made this game hard to stomach. The Browns committed penalties, turnovers and an overall lack of focus contributed to this loss.

Eric Mangini needs to figure out a way to get these guys up for the rest of the season. After all, this was Tampa Bay. Games don’t get much easier than this.

The talent level seems to be in place, but all the talent in the world is nothing if your head is not in the game.

Let’s see if they can get their act together for next week when old friend Romeo Crennel comes to town with his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs.