View From the Dawg Pound, Week 9

On a beautiful late fall day, in front of an enthusiastic crowd dressed in their best orange and brown, the Browns played like the Browns of old and defeated the Baltimore Ravens 24-18.

The Browns did what they hadn’t done all year, scoring first and holding the lead until the final whistle. On offense there were plenty of heroes, including quarterback Jason Campbell who went 23 out of 35 for 262 yards, for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions; Devon Bess making up for last week with 2 touchdown catches; and Greg Little having his best day as a pro with 7 catches for 122 yards.

Campbell made some great plays when they were needed on the Browns last drive. He scrambled and then ran for 12 yards and a first down on a third and 3 play, then later in the drive scrambled then threw a little flip pass to Chris Ogbonnaya for another first down. Both plays kept the drive going that lead to the Browns’ last field, but more importantly took time off the clock and kept the ball out of the Ravens’ hands.

Josh Gordon and Greg Little both continue to show how good they possibly could be. Little especially had a terrific game against the Ravens, but still showed his immature side that still hasn’t completely gone away. He was flagged for two personal fouls. The first was a bad call when he got shoved to the ground by a Raven defender. However, the second was all his fault as he taunted the same defender later in the game. The sky is the limit for this kid; let’s hope he makes it.

The defense was lead by defensive back Chris Owens with nine tackles, and linebackers D’Qwell Jackson, Craig Robinson, and Paul Krueger had solid games. The Browns pressured Joe Flacco all day, finishing with 5 sacks from 5 different players. The only real negatives on the defensive side of the ball were giving up a 46-yard pass completion that allowed a Ravens touchdown with :09 left in the half. The Browns looked confused on the play, as well as on the scoring play. And allowing a two-point conversion after the last Raven touchdown, that got the Ravens within a field goal in the fourth quarter.

The Browns special teams, especially their punt return team, miss Travis Benjamin. The field goal team had a major snafu when they decided to pooch punt instead of attempting a 51-yard field goal. The punt was a good one, but the team failed to down the ball before it rolled into the end zone for a touchback, resulting in a net 14-yard punt.

From our seats in the Dawg Pound we had great views of more than a few big plays, including several of Little catches and two of Campbell’s touchdown passes. What about Joe Haden’s interception? It was a total effort by the complete defensive backfield.

There is a saying that running backs and receivers use when they make a cut in open field to cause a defender to fall down, “breaking his ankles.” That is exactly what Davone Bess did to a Ravens defensive back on his second touchdown. To me, it was the best play of the game.

The worst play of the game was not by the Browns or the Ravens, but the fans in the stands. Brandon Weedon came in for several plays and the boo birds returned. I know he has been a disappointment as a starter, but he is still a Cleveland Brown and I was there a month ago when he came off the bench and took over the Bills game for a 37-24 victory, after being down 10 points in the first quarter. Grow up people.

Two other highlights of the afternoon for me had little to do with the Browns. After they did recover a muffed punt on the Ravens 11 yard line, it was great to see the often raved about Ravens defense go through a period of confusion that allowed the Browns to score a touchdown. They were clueless in the three plays it took the Browns to score. Gosh, was that good to see. That was only topped by catching the end of the Steelers game after the Browns game was over. The Patriots were scoring at will, Big Ben was running for his life, and the Steelers coaching staff didn’t have an answer for any of it.

Final Notes…Dave Sefchik is a life long Browns fan who hosts a great tailgate party every game day in one of the public lots in the Flats near the Flat Iron Café. His parties revolve around “The Vessell,” a converted delivery truck that he turned into a mini Browns museum. On November 24 before the Steelers game “The Vessell” will be hosting former Browns kicker Don Cockroft who will be selling and autographing copies of his book “The 1980 Kardiac Kids.” Dave says everyone is invited.

If you need a live football fix this week with the Browns bye, there is plenty of great football going on all around Ohio. In all corners of the state it will be the first round of the state high school football playoffs. In northern Ohio there are some great local college football games. This Saturday 6-2 Baldwin Wallace visits undefeated Mount Union, while undefeated John Carroll hosts 7-1 Heidelberg College. Next week JCU hosts Mount, while BW hosts the ‘Berg. Two of those four teams will make the National DIII Playoffs. If you check out any of these games you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy the bye week; see you in Cinci in two weeks.

Text by Greg Cielec

Photos by Dave Hostetler

Section 120, Row B, Seats 3 and 4.