Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

[osugrad21]

Canton

Cribbs? returns burn Pittsburgh
Monday, November 12, 2007
By Steve Doerschuk
Repository sports writer

PITTSBURGH On the eve of the Pittsburgh game, Romeo Crennel gave a team speech Joshua Cribbs took very personally.

?He said, ?Return game, we need a big return,? ? Cribbs said. ?I?m the returner, so ... ?

One of these years, Cribbs will kick Steeler butt and have a win to show for it.

On Nov. 19, 2006, he returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown providing a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead on the Steelers. Pittsburgh won 24-20.

Less than a year later, he set up an early 14-3 lead with a 90-yard return. Later Sunday, he provided a 28-24 lead on a 100-yard kick return.

The Steelers won 31-28.

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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Crennel challenge draws queries Browns coach on spot over costly replay move
By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
BEREA: Browns coach Romeo Crennel gave his players an extra day off Monday to ''rest them both physically and mentally,'' a perk usually extended after a victory.
Crennel, however, might have wished there had been someone else to talk about Sunday's 31-28 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was peppered with questions about his decision to challenge Steelers tight end Heath Miller's touchdown catch with 3:13 remaining, even though the challenge cost the Browns their second timeout of the half when the call was upheld.
At least one of those timeouts might have helped shorten Phil Dawson's 52-yard game-tying field goal attempt that fell at least two yards short with six seconds to go.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel defends decision to challenge Steelers' TD

Browns coach defends decision that winds up costing team timeout
Tuesday, November 13, 2007Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
Browns coach Romeo Crennel defended his decision to challenge Heath Miller's 2-yard game-winning touchdown pass in Sunday's 31-28 loss to Pittsburgh even though he risked losing a second timeout on the same play.
The first one had been called inadvertently by a player on the field while the extra-point team was lining up. Losing the challenge cost them the second. The third was burned by the defense with 2:38 remaining to preserve some time on the clock for the team's final offensive drive.
The timeouts were sorely needed on the final drive when the Browns were trying to get Phil Dawson close enough for a game-tying field goal. Instead, Anderson was forced to spike the ball three times, and Dawson was about 2 yards short on a 52-yard attempt.




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Browns look to rebound against Baltimore Ravens


Tuesday, November 13, 2007Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
Coach Romeo Crennel said it's vital the Browns get back on the winning track Sunday in Baltimore to avoid going in the tank.
"We have to get ready for next week because we still have ourselves in a position that we can get something done with the rest of this season if we play," Crennel said. "If we don't play, if we go down the tubes or in the tank, then it will be back to the same old thing. We're not going to let that happen. We worked this hard to get where we are, so we're going to keep working and try to win a game next week."
At 5-4, the Browns are two games - plus a tiebreaker - behind the 7-2 Steelers and a game ahead of the 4-5 Ravens. If the Browns win, they can separate a little from the Ravens and remain in contention with the Steelers, who visit the 1-8 New York Jets. Currently, the Browns are a game out of a wild-card spot.




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis' performances raise questions about future, Bud Shaw says

Jamal Lewis appears to be running down, raising questions about how the Browns should address the position's future
Tuesday, November 13, 2007Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
CHUCK CROWPLAIN DEALER FILE PHOTOGRAPH
What's left in the tank?



Jamal Lewis appears to be running down, raising questions about how the Browns should address the position's future



The score, the time, the place and the weather recom mended Jamal Lewis on Sunday. Every factor with the possible exception of biorhythms seemed right for him.


This was his reason for being in Browns colors, in other words, even more so than the bat tering- ram op portunities against Seattle at the goal line. Given the in gredients any way - big back, sloppy field, 12-point halftime lead, a division nemesis perhaps one more long drive and score by the Browns from serious dissuasion - that's the way it seemed.




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[osugrad21]

Canton

Coach says playoffs in future for Browns
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
By Steve Doerschuk
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

Pittsburgh again is the lion king in the AFC North.

Bruce Arians, 55, smiles sagely about the circle of life.

The Browns have fielded two decent offenses in the expansion era, 2002 and 2007.

Arians was Cleveland?s offensive coordinator in ?02. In Sunday?s 31-28 Pittsburgh win, he ran Pittsburgh?s attack.

Cleveland?s expansion era peaked Jan. 5, 2003, when Arians pushed all the right buttons with Kelly Holcomb en route to a 24-7 third-quarter lead in a playoff game at Pittsburgh. The Steelers won, 36-33.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

BROWNS REPORT
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
STEVE DOERSCHUK

Final countdown

A last-second pass to Joe Jurevicius blew up on two levels.

First, the Browns were out of timeouts when Jurevicius was tackled in the middle of the field after a 3-yard gain that wasn?t worth the precious seconds it cost.

Second, the combination of safety Troy Polamalu?s hit and the angle of Jurevicius? fall left Jurevicius temporarily crippled.

Quarterback Derek Anderson had a play call ready to go but opted to spike the ball, stopping the clock at 0:11, with the Browns at the Pittsburgh 35-yard line on fourth-and-7.

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[osugrad21]

DDN

Time out: Defense is what's hindering Browns the most

​

By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It doesn't help the Browns that they fumble away time-outs, but this commotion about Sunday's clock management fiasco only serves to obscure the real problem:
Their defense is horrible.


If anything keeps the Browns out of the playoffs ? they are a game behind the AFC wild-card pace ? it will be their inability to stop anyone on a consistent basis.
Head coach Romeo Crennel is 2-for-21 on replay challenges in his three years on the job. Embarrassing as that is, he should be more embarrassed by his team's dead-last ranking in overall defense, especially considering this is the area in which he made his reputation.



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[osugrad21]

CPD

Situations reversed this year



Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sunday in Baltimore spotlights the only team in the AFC North not to win a game in the division this year.
Its offense is putrid, and its fans boo loudly.
A year ago, we would be describ ing the Browns. This year, it's the Baltimore Ravens under fire from media and fans.




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[osugrad21]

Canton

Ravens unable to settle on QB
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Will it be McNair or Boller?[/FONT]
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
By Steve Doerschuk
Repository sports writer

Kyle Boller is warming up in the Baltimore bullpen.

Steve McNair looks like a worn-out pitcher.

The 13-year pro had an awful day in a 21-7 loss to Cincinnati. Six days earlier, the 34-year-old quarterback was equally powerless in the Ravens? 38-7 loss at Pittsburgh.

Head Coach Brian Billick might disclose today whether McNair?s performance and injury issues will result in Boller starting against Cleveland on Sunday.

The Browns can?t assume a change will work to their advantage ? maybe it?s the reverse.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Trial date for Browns? Bodden set after Super Bowl
UPDATE: 12:48 PM, Tuesday, November 13, 2007


CLEVELAND (AP) ? Browns cornerback Leigh Bodden will go on trial the day after the Super Bowl on charges accusing him of being verbally abusive with police at an airport.

Cleveland Municipal Judge Anita Laster Mays on Tuesday set Bodden?s trial for Feb. 4. Bodden is charged with misdemeanor aggravated disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and three traffic charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Bodden also could face discipline from the league under commissioner Roger Goodell?s crackdown on player misconduct.

Bodden, 26, was picking up his girlfriend and their two children Sept. 5 at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the city?s main airport, when police say he drove in reverse down a one-way street, became verbally abusive and began to resist officers trying to place handcuffs on him.

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[osugrad21]

MJ

Cribbs continues to prove he's worth his long-term contract
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
11/14/2007




BEREA -- Josh Cribbs must never have read the memo that says once a player signs a huge contract extension, he is permitted to be in cruise control for a year before getting back to business.


Cribbs, an undrafted rookie from Kent State in 2005, signed a six-year contract during the 2006 season that ties him to the Browns through 2012. Contracts are not guaranteed in football as they are in Major League Baseball or the NBA, but still, giving a special teams player who isn't a kicker, punter or long snapper such a long-term deal is not ordinary.

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[muffler dragon]

CPD

Situations reversed this year



Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sunday in Baltimore spotlights the only team in the AFC North not to win a game in the division this year.
Its offense is putrid, and its fans boo loudly.
A year ago, we would be describ ing the Browns. This year, it's the Baltimore Ravens under fire from media and fans.




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These are the things that make me smile.

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Browns report
Cribbs' returns foster fear for foes Browns' specialist having Pro Bowl season, expects to get fewer opportunities
By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Thursday, Nov 15, 2007
BEREA: Browns tight end Darnell Dinkins said the choice is obvious.
Kick the ball to the NFL's second-ranked return man or to an upback with a cast on his right hand?
''If I were a coach . . . I would kick it to me,'' Dinkins said.
That option is looking more likely after Joshua Cribbs returned kickoffs 100 yards for a touchdown and 90 yards to set up another touchdown in the loss Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season and the fourth of the former Kent State quarterback's career, breaking Bobby Mitchell's team record of three.
Cribbs' performance might not have been the best in the AFC, because Darren Sproles of the San Diego Chargers brought back a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts. But Cribbs looks likely to break the Browns' Pro Bowl drought that dates to linebacker Jamir Miller in 2002.



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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Browns' kick returner Cribbs taking it to the house


Thursday, November 15, 2007Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
The secret to Josh Cribbs' success in returning kicks?
"He's fearless. He wants to score every time he gets the ball. It's no secret," linebacker Chaun Thompson said.
"The thing about Cribbs, he's such a hard runner. He doesn't really go laterally. He goes north and south and he goes hard. He's impressive," guard Lennie Friedman said.




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