The Cleveland Browns went in to Green Bay, WI with an agenda yesterday. What that agenda was is beyond debatable as the Browns produced another flat performance against the Green Bay Packers. With a final score of 31-13, the orange-and-brown fall to 3-4 on the year and predicting their next win could be in December.
In another poor performance that further proves why Brandon Weeden will never be a starting quarterback in the NFL after 2013, the Browns failed to stop a high charged and injured Packers offense. The Browns’ 30-year-old signal caller was awful and averaged just 3.5 yards a completion. Weeden hit 17 of 42 passes, threw a touchdown, and added another interception to his resume. He was sacked three more times by Dom Capers‘ defense and posted a 48.6 QB rating. Not to mention, Weeden almost made “bone headed throw 2.0” on an ill-advised underhand flip that should have been picked off late in the game.
But, perhaps the most questionable call of the season came on a 4th & 15 call with over 11 minutes left in the game and the Browns trailing by 11 points. Instead of calling upon Billy Cundiff (already made 44 & 46 yard attempts) and grabbing three more points, Coach Rob Chudzinski decided to go for it. The odds of getting a first down were probably in the 10-17% range. Three points would have shaved the lead down to eight, making it a one possession game. Instead, Weeden’s floating pass to Josh Gordon (non-existent in the game) was broken up and the Packers took over on downs. Rodgers, using his “discount double check-down” instincts, proceeded to drive straight down the field and add seven more points. This was a monumental momentum swing.
Because of that poor decision, this begs a question that is on every Browns fans’ mind – Are they truly tanking the season? Only a team that didn’t care about winning would go for it on 4th & 15 and trust a quarterback that completed just 40% of his passes in the contest!
Like Chud said earlier in the season after quarterback, Brian Hoyer went down for the year, Weeden is their only option for now. There are nine more games left and then the once anticipated season, gets put to rest. Until the Browns get ahead in games comfortably by other means of the game (defense or special teams), Weeden will continue to struggle and fail to win football games.
Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net. Email Ryan at [email protected]
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