The Browns’ regular-season opener against Dallas, unfortunately, played out as expected Sunday afternoon.
Tony Romo, Terrell Owens and the rest of the star-studded Cowboys outclassed Cleveland from start to finish in a 28-10 victory, showing a national television audience why they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
“You can talk about a lot of things, but it all comes down to they played their game and we didn’t play our game,” Browns running back Jamal Lewis said. “We didn’t play together, so this should be a wake-up call for us.”
Take nothing away from Dallas, but “America’s Team” did exactly what it should have against a Cleveland squad still learning how to beat quality opponents. Romo, Owens, Jason Witten and Marion Barber found numerous ways to exploit weaknesses in the secondary and on the defensive line.
The Cowboys’ blocking was superb and gave Romo plenty of time to pick apart defensive backs Brandon McDonald, Eric Wright, Mike Adams, Sean Jones and Terry Cousin. Fortunately for the Browns, all of the aforementioned DBs vowed to put on a better show next week against Pittsburgh.
“I promise you we will bounce back,” Adams said. “The only thing hurting is my pride because they executed and made the plays they were supposed to make. They did the little things we didn’t do.
“But remember, we did lose to a very good team. We didn’t lose to Baldwin-Wallace College.”
On offense, Cleveland was its own worst enemy — and Pro Bowl wide receiver Braylon Edwards was the biggest culprit, failing to come up with four catchable passes while being whistled for two penalties.
Quarterback Derek Anderson also played poorly after a decent start, fumbling twice and failing to gain a first down on five straight possessions in the pivotal second and third quarters.
His timing was off and so were his throws, which wasn’t surprising after he sat out the final two exhibition games with a concussion.
“You saw some plays we should have had and we shot ourselves in the foot a few times,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t like we could expect more than 10 points out of us (considering how we struggled).
“We just have to get better. I don’t think we’re far off, though.”
The good news for the Browns is the Cowboys are the best team they will play all season, so it will only get easier from here on out.
However, there is also bad news as Cleveland’s next opponent might be the second-best squad on its schedule. The Steelers obliterated the Houston Texans in their opener and haven’t lost to the Browns since 2003.
Add the pressure the home team will be under with NBC televising its first-ever game from Cleveland Browns Stadium, and there will be plenty of Nervous Nellies around town for the next six days.
Browns linebacker Andra Davis, though, says there is no reason for anyone to be concerned.
“Look, next week’s game is much bigger than today,” he said. “We have a chance to erase what happened against Dallas with a win. All the fans want us to win the game next week, so a game like today’s will get us more focused and more hungry.
“With a whupping like we just took, we’ll be even more ready to play Pittsburgh.”
Contact Brian Dulik at 330-721-4059 or brisports@hotmail.com.

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