Wednesday, December 08, 1999
No rest for achin' Browns
BY TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
BEREA, Ohio — As if rookie quarterback Tim Couch hasn't taken enough hard shots the past few weeks, now he and his Cleveland Browns teammates may have hit the wall.
The Browns awoke Monday morning feeling a little more tired and sore than usual. The normal bumps and bruises following Sunday's 23-10 loss to the San Diego Chargers were worsened by jet lag from the five-hour trip home from the West Coast.
Cleveland's players are dragging their cleats, and it's not hard to figure out why.
Expansion may have brought the franchise a few extra draft picks, but it also gave Cleveland an extra exhibition game and no bye until Week 17, making the Browns the first NFL team in the 1990s to play a game in 21 consecutive weeks.
Has the grind of 18 straight weeks without a break hurt?
“Oh, man. Ain't no doubt about that,” said safety Corey Fuller. “We played five preseason games. Playing 21 straight games is unheard of. I'm physically tired. But even the teams that are winning now are tired.”
The Browns (2-11) aren't one of those winners.
Sunday's loss to San Diego was a lot like many for Cleveland this season. Once again, the Browns were unable to mount any kind of rushing offense; Couch got thrown around like a rag doll; and after playing a solid first half, Cleveland was dominated after halftime.
This time, though there was a new culprit — penalties. The Browns were whistled for a season-high 13 infractions, including three that prolonged San Diego's 15-play drive to open the third quarter.
“You have to get in the flow of the game and you can't do that and have penalties,” said Browns coach Chris Palmer. “We had 94 yards in penalties, that's nine first downs.”
Cleveland entered the game as the AFC's least penalized team.
Browns linebacker Jamir Miller wasn't sure what led to the breakdowns.
“I'm not going to make any comment on the penalties, but we made some mistakes that we couldn't afford to because they really cost us the game,” he said.
Contributing to Cleveland's troubles Sunday was that its defense couldn't get off the field in the second half.
The Browns had closed the first half on a positive note with Couch engineering a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive capped by a 19-yard TD pass to Kevin Johnson.
San Diego took the second-half kickoff and chewed 7:19 off the clock, taking a 16-10 lead on John Carney's third field goal. The Chargers added a pair of 11-play drives in the half, holding the ball for 22:57 to Cleveland's 6:53 after halftime.
Miller and the rest of the Browns' defense never got a chance to take a deep breath.
“We've been playing for a long time all season,” he said. “We had a little stint for about three or four games there where we played the normal amount of snaps. But for the most part of this season we've been on the field a lot.”
That especially hurts the Browns, who have little or no depth at many positions. And because they're starting four first-year players on defense.
“Right now they're struggling just trying to make it through,” Miller said. “There are probably a lot of guys around here feeling that way. But the thing is we're not going anywhere for three weeks, so we don't have a choice. We have to make the best of it.”
Cleveland will visit Cincinnati this Sunday before closing the season with home games against Jacksonville and Indianapolis.
Then the Browns can get some well-deserved rest. Finally.
“My body is hurting,” Fuller said. “My shoulder is hurt, my ribs are partially cracked. But at this point in the season, everybody is worn out, even on the winning teams. But it seems like it hurts more when you lose.”
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