Cardinals vs. Browns: Cleveland Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Cleveland Browns surrendered 27 unanswered points and were shut out in the second half, losing 34-20 to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 at FirstEnergy Stadium. They fall to 2-6 in 2015 and will travel to Paul Brown Stadium to face the unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night.
Cleveland had its chances in the second half, though. Trailing 24-20 late in the third quarter, Browns pass-rusher Armonty Bryant stripped Chris Johnson and safety Johnson Bademosi fell on the loose ball, giving them the ball on Arizona’s 28-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Josh McCown forced a throw into double-coverage that was picked off by Cards safety Rashad Johnson.
Carson Palmer and the Cardinals turned that turnover into seven more points when the quarterback found future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald in the end zone. That put Arizona ahead 31-20, but the Browns still had time to mount a comeback. That was until their ensuing drive was stopped by Robert Turbin’s fumbled handoff with just 7:33 left to play.
Kicker Chandler Catanzaro added a 35-yard field goal to give the Cardinals an insurmountable 14-point lead with just over two minutes left to play.
McCown, who played well for much of the first half, was pulled in those final minutes in favor of Johnny Manziel after taking several big hits that left him cringing on the grass. Some of those big plays included three first-half touchdowns. All three were great throws: two to Brian Hartline with Tyrann Mathieu in coverage and one back-shoulder toss to Gary Barnidge.
Those first two touchdowns to Hartline were generated by a fumble recovery and 34-yard return by Bryant to Arizona’s nine-yard line. The second was set up by a fantastic 51-yard catch-and-run by Duke Johnson after the Cardinals sent a third-down blitz and he beat his man on a slant route, then making numerous defenders miss in the open field.
But the key for the first half was the Browns not surrendering after Palmer and the Cardinals took an early lead on their first drive of the game on Troy Niklas’ first touchdown catch of the season.
Just before the half, Palmer had his offense moving. He hit Fitzgerald inside the Browns 10-yard line, but cornerback K’Waun Williams stripped him as he was falling to the grass. Mike Pettine opted to run the ball three times and punt, allowing Palmer to set up Catanzaro to put three more points on the board, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 20-10 at halftime.
Arizona stayed committed to a running game that was surprisingly stagnant in the first half. It eclipsed 100 yards on the ground, totaling 118, but was more efficient through the air with Palmer throwing for 374 and four touchdowns.
The Browns finished with just 254 yards of total offense.
Position Grades for Browns
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | B |
| RB | C |
| WR | D+ |
| TE | B+ |
| OL | D |
| DL | C |
| LB | C |
| DB | F |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | F |
McCown played tough and was accurate for the most part all game. He played that way despite apparent injuries sustained before and during this week’s game. But he wasn’t good enough to overcome a poor second-half game plan that left him hanging out to dry. That’s unfortunate for a quarterback who has proved many people wrong with his competent level of play this season.
Offensively, it was the Barnidge and Duke Johnson show, despite Johnson only getting three touches—this is something the Browns need to answer for, because Johnson was not reported to have suffered an injury and did play after sitting out several series in the second half.
Hartline was up-and-down, same with Taylor Gabriel—who made a fantastic diving catch on third down that helped sustain an early drive—and Travis Benjamin was a ghost, receiving only three targets before Manziel tossed a couple in his direction during the meaningless final minutes of the game.
Barnidge's touchdown was beautiful; he high-pointed the ball on a back-shoulder fade and secured it while falling to the grass. It was his sixth touchdown of the season, putting him in third place in receiving touchdowns for a Browns tight end. Jordan Cameron had seven in 2013, and Ozzie Newsome's nine in 1979 are the most in franchise history, per Browns communication manager Dan Murphy.
Cleveland’s offensive line wasn’t able to generate any type of push up front again this week. The team finished with just 39 yards rushing on 20 attempts—McCown, a 36-year-old quarterback, was the team’s leading rusher with 15 yards. That’s the second time this season the Browns' quarterback has led the team in rushing.
Defensively it was a tale of two halves. Cleveland was swarming to the ball in the first half and causing turnovers. But that stopped once Palmer and the Cardinals started going down the field. Palmer’s throws were on target and his receivers were getting open.
Desmond and Armonty Bryant played well, both forcing fumbles and the latter returning one 34 yards into the red zone. Desmond also added a sack, the only time the team was able to get to Palmer all game. Pressure continues to be a weak point for the Browns, and the team hasn’t done much to change its approach.
Danny Shelton and Jamie Meder made a couple of big plays behind the line of scrimmage, but not enough of those happened in the second half when the Browns couldn’t find an answer to the Cardinals offense.
Haden has looked like a different player over the last few seasons, and it’s certain his injuries aren’t helping him build up any type of confidence. While being beat for two touchdowns and several other completions, he looked slow and lost on the field, like he wasn’t ready to play or wasn’t sure he was playing. His concussion was his second in the last month and could keep him out for a while. That’s best for the player and the team at this point, at least.
Bademosi got some time at cornerback this week with Haden out, and he was flagged for penalties and missed a tackle while launching at David Johnson’s legs. He didn’t wrap up, or even try to. He did recover a fumble.
It’s confusing why Pierre Desir didn’t see more snaps after Haden’s exit, but we’ll transition to coaching analysis on that note.
Playing the right personnel, at the right times, is one of the three biggest jobs a coaching staff has. The biggest is to prepare a team to play against its weekly opponent, which after two quarters it appeared Pettine’s staff passed that test. But the final check box for the staff is making in-game adjustments, specifically at halftime when a coaching staff gets a brief pause to reconvene and alter their approach for the final two quarters.
That isn’t happening, for whatever reason, and the Browns continue to be poor second-half performers despite showing the talent necessary to win football games.
The most egregious move by the Browns coaching staff was DeFilippo’s befuddling handling of the team’s running back rotation. Isaiah Crowell had just 14 yards on 10 carries, and Turbin was running hard but fumbled the ball twice on his three carries, losing one of them. Why was it that Johnson, his best playmaker by far, was left out of the game plan and received just three touches?
Someone needs to answer that question, but no one is asking it, and it doesn’t make any sense.
Special teams weren’t good or bad for the Browns. Travis Coons missed his first anything this season when his extra point was no good, and Patrick Peterson’s 38-yard punt return was an unsightly blemish.
Joe Haden, Donte Whitner Leave with Concussions
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Browns safety Donte Whitner and cornerback Joe Haden both left the game to be evaluated for head injuries, the Fox broadcast team announced. Cleveland had its full secondary healthy for the first time in recent memory, but they couldn't stay that way for a full four quarters.
The team confirmed both suffered concussions and would not return.
Haden's last play was Michael Floyd's 60-yard touchdown reception, where the cornerback fell to the ground while outstretched and trying to defend the pass. Floyd walked into the end zone from 20 yards out after Haden's fall.
Whitner exited after a hard fall knocked him out of the game.
Brian Hartline Has Career Day
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Ohio native Hartline had his first two-touchdown performance of his career against the Cardinals, according to Browns communications manager Dan Murphy.
He finished with those two touchdowns, but just four catches for 32 yards despite drawing 10 targets. He also appeared to have three drops, one of them on a third-down play in the fourth quarter.
It was an uneven performance to be sure, but Hartline contributed in the red zone, an area the Browns have been looking to improve all season. His drops were surprising, but not something the team can survive when its defense is being shredded like it was in the second half by the Cardinals.
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Pettine: McCown Wanted to Continue Playing
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McCown was a warrior, taking multiple big this, namely a few by linebacker Kevin Minter, and still continued until late in the game when the outcome was already decided in Arizona’s favor.
Pettine will likely take criticism for leaving his seemingly injured quarterback in the game too long, but it was McCown who had the desire to continue playing.
“We talked about it. We were going to take him out, and he [said he] could continue,” Pettine said during his postgame press conference. “We said if he couldn’t go, to go ahead and go down, and he stayed in there.”
McCown was put in obvious passing situations, and the Cardinals defense finally started winning their matchups because of that predictability. Pettine added that despite fighting through injuries, McCown’s play didn’t suffer much of a drop off.
“He clearly wasn’t 100 percent, but I think he bounced back and ended up throwing a completion or two,” the coach said. “We ended up having to punt on that drive. I think we dropped a ball on third-and-long that would have kept the drive going.”
It doesn’t really matter if the coach left in McCown or pulled him for Manziel, the Browns were a sinking ship in the second half. There are bigger problems in Cleveland than its coaching staff trusting its starting quarterback to know when to pull himself out of a game.
Pettine quotes are courtesy of team press release via e-mail from Browns communications manager Rob McBurnett.
Pettine: Hard to Explain What Went Wrong in Second Half
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“Frustrating day. I thought we did some good things in the first half, came away with the lead,” Pettine lamented during his postgame press conference. “Hard to explain all that went wrong in the second half.”
Maybe give it a try, coach.
A lot went wrong, but Pettine’s defense crumbled again and his staff’s confusing personnel decisions continued. Duke Johnson had only one touch after showing his explosiveness on two plays in the first half.
Hartline couldn’t hold onto the ball in the second half, costing the team multiple drives. But offensive coordinator John DeFilippo kept trotting out the veteran receiver. Confusing things happened, and Pettine stood back and watched.
He has shown he’s unwilling or unable to make key decisions, and his coaching staff has not proved to be able to make second-half adjustments in one game this season.
Let’s see how much longer this continues before changes are made to Pettine’s staff, or if he himself is replaced before the end of the season.
Pettine quotes are courtesy of team press release via e-mail from Browns communications manager Rob McBurnett.
Mike Hoag (@MikeHoagJr) is a Cleveland Browns Gameday Correspondent for Bleacher Report and the managing editor of Browns Beat.
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