All the fans wanted was a win. It seemed like forever since
the team had one, and the loss to Pittsburgh last week really sucked. It isn’t
too much to ask, this wasn’t Denver or New England or even the Steelers. This
was Jacksonville.
The day started out so well. After last week’s bitter cold
and strong winds, the temps in the 40s and no breeze seemed almost tropical.
And although the numbers were down, those tailgating were quite festive. We
joined the Becka Brothers in their usual Thanksgiving weekend feast which
included deep fried turkeys, roast beef, homemade potato dumplings (not as good
as when Mrs. Becka makes them, but still marvelous), pumpkin pie and all sorts
of other gooodies.
When it was all finished and the scoreboard said 32-28 there
was a lot of blame to go around….after the Browns score quickly to open the
game, the defense lets the Jaguars score on the very next drive…After the
Browns go up 14-7 and get an interception from Joe Haden and great field
position the offense goes 3 and out
and punts….then with under three minutes left in the half Brandon Weeden
has a meltdown, resulting in 10 points before the half for the Jags…the Browns
open the second half with a nice drive that puts them back in the lead, but
then miss a field goal and take a 21-20 lead into the fourth quarter…the Browns
lose the lead in the fourth quarter and it is a total team effort. Alex Mack
hikes a snap over Weeden’s head into the end zone. Weeden rightly kicks the
ball out of the end zone before one of the Jags lands on it for a TD, but it
still coasts the team a safety and the lead 22-21…The kick after the safety is
a dud, and so is the coverage, and the Jags take over on the Browns 43 and
march down the field for a field goal and stretch the lead to 25-21. The Browns
have a penalty on the kickoff and have to start their drive on the five yard
line, where Weldon hits Gordon on a slant that goes on forever in the most
exciting play this year at First Energy Field and the Browns go up 28-25 with
just under 4:00 minutes to go. The place is going berserk, Gordon is having the
greatest game of any Browns receiver in history, and even Brandon Weldon is
looking good.
Then, of course, it was all over before you knew it. An
incomplete pass on first down had the Jags at second and ten, but the Browns
were offside, the Jags hit the next pass for 25 yards, and then seven plays
later score a touchdown with forty seconds left. Boy did it hurt.
Shame on the defense when the offense gave them enough big
plays to win they couldn’t get the job done. Shame on the offense for not
putting the Jaguars away by giving them at least 13 points…Shame on the special
teams for not doing anything special when needed.
Another winnable game. The season starts with the Browns
beating Miami 7-6 at half, only to lose 23-10. The next week they are beating
Baltimore in Baltimore 6-0 at half, only to lose 14-6. Then after three wins
and things look so optimistic, they are beating Detroit 17-7 at half and go on
to lose 31-17. They then go to Arrowhead against the red hot Chiefs and take a
20-10 halftime lead only to lose again 23-17. They then travel to Cincinnati and take a 13-0 first quarter
lead, only to lose 41-20. Of their eight losses only the Green Bay and
Pittsburgh games were losses from beginning to end, the other six games they
blew a lead in very winnable games.
Is it ever going to end?
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