BEREA — Several hours of sleep did nothing to make Browns coach Romeo Crennel feel any better about the way his defense played down the stretch in a 34-30 loss to Denver on Thursday night.
For the second game in a row — and the second time in five days — Cleveland blew a double-digit lead in the second half at home. Only this time, the defensive disaster came in front of a nationwide television audience on NFL Network and spoiled quarterback Brady Quinn’s first professional start.
“It’s always disappointing to lose, but the way we lost is more disappointing,’’ a still unhappy Crennel said Friday. “We have to figure out what to do to become a better team defensively in the second half.
“When we get one side of the ball going, for whatever reason, the other side of the ball drops down. We need to get both sides of the ball going at the same time.’’
That may be easier said than done, considering the state of the secondary, which was savaged for 447 yards by Denver quarterback Jay Cutler — the second-most yards allowed in Browns history. All told, the Broncos amassed 564 yards of total offense, which was Cleveland’s third-worst all-time performance.
Considering the franchise joined the NFL in 1950 and has played 803 regular-season games in the interim, there is no way to cast those numbers in a positive light. Nor did Crennel attempt to.
“When you let teams throw the ball over your head, it’s never good,’’ he said. “We had a problem with that early in the year, but it seemed to get better for a while. We also missed some tackles yesterday and we’re going to have to improve on that. And when we get our hands on the ball, we’ve got to hang onto it.
“The defense can’t play like that and expect us to have a chance to win.’’
While there were plenty of players responsible for allowing Denver to rally from a 13-point deficit with 21 points in the fourth quarter, Brandon McDonald was the primary culprit.
The second-year cornerback was burned for a pair of long touchdown passes, including a 93-yarder to rookie Eddie Royal, who was untouched on his sprint to the end zone after McDonald made an ill-advised interception attempt.
“It was a slant and go, and Royal gave a slant move and Brandon bit on it, then he’s running to pick up on the go,’’ Crennel said. “He misjudged the ball and went for the (interception), which is why we have to talk to him about choices.
“If he makes that tackle, it’s not a touchdown, which is the goal of football, to prevent your opponent from scoring touchdowns. Probably, it wasn’t his best game.’’
It also wasn’t the best game played by fellow cornerbacks Eric Wright and Mike Adams or by the entire defensive line, which gave Cutler a ridiculous amount of time to pick his best target. Their collective performance was so poor, the coach plans on using this long weekend to re-evaluate his personnel.
Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will be grading his charges, as will offensive counterpart Rob Chudzinski and their assistants.
“That’s one of the things that both sides of the ball will be looking at,’’ Crennel said. “We have to look at everybody to see who is not carrying their load. We’ve gone through nine games with them, so it might not be wise to look elsewhere (for free agents). The best thing to do is try to get our guys more consistent.’’
In a negative manner, the Browns were very consistent in their performance Sunday against Baltimore and Thursday against Denver. They allowed the Ravens to score 24 points in the final 17 minutes and rally for a 37-27 victory, then permitted the Broncos to dig out of a 23-10 hole in the last 1 1/2 quarters. It marked the first time Cleveland has ever blown back-to-back leads of that size.
“It’s been a heck of a week and we had the lead in both games, but couldn’t hold it,’’ Crennel said. “We talked about that last week and at halftime yesterday. We tried to emphasize that we need to finish. Obviously, we have to emphasize it some more in order to turn this around.’’

Injury update

Nose tackle Shaun Rogers (stinger) and tight end Darnell Dinkins (rib muscle) were the only players added to the Browns’ injury list after the loss to Denver. Safety Sean Jones (swollen right knee) played through his ongoing pain, as did defensive tackle Corey Williams (left shoulder). Guard Eric Steinbach (ribs) and fullback Lawrence Vickers (ankle) sat out and will have their conditions updated Monday.

Romeo boosts Brady

Crennel again praised the performance of Quinn, who was 23-for-35 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns in his initial NFL start.
“I think he handled himself well, represented himself well and represented the Browns well,’’ he said.
• The coach also was effusive in his praise for Joshua Cribbs, who had 188 all-purpose yards and came within a heartbeat of breaking two kickoff returns for scores.
“I just can’t say enough about him and what he brings to the table,’’ Crennel said.

Jamal raps big egos

Running back Jamal Lewis launched into a postgame diatribe about the out-of-control egos of several of his teammates, who he refused to name. Crennel said he did not share those concerns and believes all of the Browns are working to win games.
“These guys are football players and I think they try to do their jobs the best they can,’’ he said.
• Cleveland is 0-4 this season when Lewis carries the ball exactly 19 times, as he did against Denver.

Extra points

The Browns’ players are off until Monday and won’t return to the practice field until Wednesday. Their next game is Nov. 17 at Buffalo.
• Kellen Winslow Jr.’s 10-reception game was the fifth double-digit performance of his career. Ozzie Newsome is the only other Cleveland player with more than one. The Hall of Famer has three.
• Royal’s 93-yard TD reception was the second-longest pass ever completed against the Browns.

Quote of the day

“This is a hot seat. When you win, it’s not so hot. If you lose, it gets warm.’’ — Crennel on his job status.
Contact Brian Dulik at (330) 721-4059 or brisports@hotmail.com.
 

 

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