Browns-Titans: Looking Back

Browns fans have something they haven’t had in a long time—hope.

In the dress rehearsal game before next week’s scrubfest, the Browns came out and took it to the Titans, beating them 23-17 in a game where the starters played well into the third quarter.

If there is anything the fan base can complain about this week, it was the Titans' ability to throw the ball against Cleveland virtually at will. I was surprised we didn’t see more long passes from Kerry Collins and Vince Young; the receivers certainly were open.

But that can be chalked up to preseason game planning and other minor things that differentiate this past week’s game from a regular season game.

In other words, had this been Week One, the Titans probably would’ve put more points on the board.

What will be intriguing to watch going into Week One is how the coaching staff addresses the inability of the defense to stop the passing game. After the Packers game, head coach Eric Mangini really went after the team for the sloppiness and lack of production.

We’ve seen the results of that effort the last two weeks as the Browns have come out looking much tighter on the field, actually scored some touchdowns, and generally “look” better.

There still were some stupid penalties Saturday night, none more ticky-tack than the unsportsmanlike conduct on Derek Anderson for not standing exactly where the rule book prescribed, but overall the play has improved.

Speaking of the phantom rule book penalty, do you think that penalty is called during the playoffs or the Super Bowl?

I don’t think so. The ref who called that should get a good talking to this week about knowing when to pull that flag.

You can quote the rule book all you want, but when you call a penalty like that, it better be because the violation was egregious and deliberate, not because Anderson happened to be standing a few feet from where he’s supposed to be.

If I were on that field, my next play would’ve resulted in an accidental takedown of the ref. Whoops!

The defense did do a great job of stopping the run, though, and that was very encouraging. Holes were closed and runs around the end were routinely cut off and stuffed.

Putting on my Captain Obvious hat, I’ll simply say the Browns need to keep doing this when opposing teams call running plays. It helps keep the opposing team from scoring more.

On the quarterback front, Brady Quinn didn’t do anything to hurt his chances of being named the starting quarterback. His 11-15 for 128 yards was a very good performance and included a touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards.

You read that correctly, Edwards caught a touchdown pass. But before anyone gets too excited, that’s the first touchdown pass Edwards has caught since the Bush Administration, and while encouraging, it needs to happen a few more times before we all can relax when the ball is thrown in his direction.

Speaking of pass distribution, I can’t help but wonder if Edwards is hoping Anderson is named the starter. While Quinn hooked up with Edwards for six last week, Quinn has been avoiding Edwards for the most part, with most of his passes going to Mike Furrey, Joshua Cribbs, or one of the rookies.

I don’t know if it’s coincidence due to Quinn’s check down pattern, or if it’s deliberate because Edwards hasn’t been able to hold onto the ball lately. Either way, Edwards isn’t the type of teammate to keep quiet about this sort of thing once the regular season starts.

Anderson didn’t score a touchdown on Saturday, but he didn’t throw an interception, which is saying something. It means, for once, Anderson wasn’t trying to force the ball into places it shouldn’t be going. That’s progress, but it’s too early to know if Anderson is going to be consistent about this sort of thing.

Then there’s James Davis. All Davis did on Saturday is look like one of the biggest steals in the draft, catching balls and hitting holes against Tennessee’s first team like he’s done it before.

Jamal Lewis continues to look slow and Jerome Harrison still is unavailable.

The offensive line showed a lot more strength this week, as both quarterbacks showed they had ample time to throw the ball and adjust to the defense. There still were problems, but once again, it’s preseason and the team showed improvement.

Mangini sounded happier after the game, but I’m sure he’ll be looking at the film and working to find out what happened to his defensive secondary on the passing plays this week.

As for the quarterback competition, I’m sure Mangini still thinks the aura mystery means something to somebody (It doesn’t), so expect a lot more non-answers from him on that point.

The biggest worry coming out of the Titans game is that we still haven’t seen Shaun Rogers or Harrison. Mangini also (mistakenly) believes the huge aura of mystery surrounding their status and possible injury/non-injury is a good thing.

Instead, all the opposing teams have seen is Davis take control of the running game and get a really good look at what this defense looks like without Rogers.

Ironically, showcasing Davis is doing the exact opposite of what Mangini wants since now the Vikings will prepare for him in Week One.

The defense can only be better with Rogers in the game, there’s plenty of tape on Rogers, so I still fail to understand how Mangini thinks being tightlipped about the situation gives him a competitive advantage.

The calendar now is turning to September, and the clock is ticking louder on the regular season. So far, the fans should be happy with what they see as it is much improved over last year.

One more week of preseason to go, and we’ll see if the Browns are as good as they looked against the Titans, or as bad as they looked against the Packers.