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From Pat McManamon's "First and 12: Somehow that seems appropriate, no?"
December 1, 2009
Good afternoon Pat,
It’s hard to disagree with your assessment about Brady Quinn’s incomplete. But there is something I’ve seen the last two weeks that bothers me, to the point I wonder if he’ll ever pan out. On about 75 percent of his passes, he looks completely out of sync, like a power pitcher trying to throw to first base after fielding a slow roller in front of the mound. His motion is not right. How many times is he going to fire the ball into the ground at the receiver’s feet? There is no rhythm to his delivery. His wrist is tight, not loose. On a couple throws he looked like he was trying to throw a sinker, his wrist snapped so hard downward at the release. And that’s where the ball went – straight down.
Browns played Bengals close both games – and that’s the team that dominated the Central Division this year. The glory of the ‘Tradition’ of the Cleveland Browns has just expanded. It now includes the opponent scoring on extra plays awarded at the end of halves/games by penalties on the defense. Rogers’ play cost us three points. At the end of the game, that could have made a difference. In any event, we played them pretty tough this year. Silver lining?
How bad is a franchise when, over a 10 year period, its best players, year in, year out, are the punter and place kicker. Phil Dawson has to be the unluckiest player in the NFL. I think he might be the best place kicker the team has ever had. We just don’t realize it because he hasn’t been there to win big games for us. He’s such a classy guy. Think what a huge star he would be had he played for Indianapolis or New England the last 10 years.
And our punters have been very good as well. Dave Zastudil is as good as we’ve ever had.
So when you assess the cloud hanging over the Browns, ask yourself how many teams in the history of the NFL have lost both their place kicker AND punter simultaneously for an extended period of time.
George Rosin,
Akron
