Top Ten Conclusions From Cleveland Browns' Preseason Game One

The dust has cleared from preseason game number one for the Cleveland Browns.

Packers 17 – Browns 0.

14-0 when the first-teamers were on the field.

I’m not one to put too much stock in exhibition games - win, lose or draw. Remember, last year’s 0-16 Detroit Lions went 4-0 in the preseason. 

But you can draw some conclusions from what can only politely be described as a very poor performance.

Conclusion number 1:

It’s going to take some time for Eric Mangini to get these Browns from continually shooting themselves in the foot with unnecessary and untimely penalties.

Hank Fraley’s holding call in the first quarter took points off the board in the first quarter. In that same quarter, a defensive holding call by cornerback Corey Ivey on fourth down kept a Green Bay touchdown drive alive.

Mangini has made it one of his biggest points to prevent those types of mistakes during practices. But those were pretty big penalties from the first team that cannot continue if this team wants to avoid last year’s disaster.

Conclusion number 2:

Braylon Edwards still looks fantastic running routes. On the other-hand, he still drops passes.

His drop of a sure touchdown on a perfect strike from Brady Quinn led to an interception on the very next play.

Braylon, it is not a requirement that you jump for every pass in order to make a highlight reel!

Conclusion number 3:

The Browns have not solved their run defense issues, nor can they rush the passer.

The team was gashed all night by the Green Bay rushing attack.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers spent the first quarter doing his taxes before having to look up-field to find a receiver.

It is understandable that the coaching staff does not want to show off all their defensive blitz packages. However, this was a scene that looked all too familiar.

Conclusion number 4

Josh Cribbs looks like he has turned the corner as a wide receiver. In addition to a 29-yard running play, he caught two passes for 30 yards in the limited time the first unit was on the field.

He ran crisp routes and was his usual exciting self when he touched the ball in the open field.

Conclusion number 5:

The second team defense looked pretty solid despite some issues with the running game.

I guess you have to have to put some positive spin on an overall bad day. In this case, the second unit did not surrender a touchdown.

Backup end C.J. Mosley looked particularly active, as did backup nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin.

Backup cornerback Coye Francis picked off a Brian Brohm pass in the fourth quarter.

A number of younger players are going to make it difficult when the final cuts have to be made.

Conclusion number 6:

Cornerback Eric Wright has shown some improvement.

Wright batted down a ball on a fourth down play when he made an excellent read of a quick slant.

Later, Wright put himself in perfect position to defend a go-route and knocked down another pass attempt.

Conclusion number 7:

The running game is not good right now.

Except for a trick end round play by Josh Cribbs in the first quarter, the Browns did very little on the ground.

The Packers played without several key players from their starting unit, yet the Browns were unable to get much of a push from their offensive line.

The team added a lot of bulk across the offensive line in the off-season which leads me to…

Conclusion number 8:

Jamal Lewis may be running out of gas.

He has suffered a number of minor bumps and bruises and had off-season ankle surgery. He looked slow and plodding on Saturday.

There is a possibility that he can still pick up his game. But he certainly isn’t getting younger and is about to reach the two magic numbers as far as running backs are concerned – 30 (age) and 2500 (carries).

Conclusion number 9:

Brady Quinn will be the starting quarterback.

Quinn moved the offense 66 yards on 10 plays in the first quarter, putting the team in field goal position.

Later, Quinn put together a well-executed two-minute drill which would have resulted in a touchdown had Edwards held on to the ball.

Granted, he made a big mistake on the next play by throwing an interception when a field goal would have sufficed.

But Derek Anderson looked terrible. He replaced Quinn for two forgetful series.

The first series resulted in a punt after three plays.

The second resulted in an under-thrown interception after two plays.

More alarming than the actual badly thrown pass was that he threw into double coverage on a poor read.

This is more of the same Anderson we saw last season.

Conclusion number 10:

The Cleveland Browns have a long way to go before they are a playoff team.

This is a big reclamation project for the new coaching staff and for management.

The coaching staff has a lot of work to do to instill a winning atmosphere in the clubhouse. This team needed a total makeover in attitude from last year.

The personnel is improving, but there are still holes to fill in a lot of areas.

It [this game] appeared to by a carbon copy of what Browns’ fans witnessed in 2008.

Putting a better product on the field is going to take some time.