1980 Cleveland Browns Week 2

Oilers at Browns

Monday Night Drama

Man, oh man, this was a close game. This was just about as close as they get.

We started this game out strong, with a 63-yard opening drive that took us the length of the field in 10 plays, eating up over 6 minutes on the clock. I wanted to run a bit more in the first quarter than we did last week, in part to try to eat up more of that clock and in part to try to set up the passing attack for late game situations.

Cockroft missed the extra point, though I didn’t think much of that. In fact, I was elated when our defense held the Oilers to almost nothing on their first possession, forcing a punt after 6 plays.

Of course, we fumbled the punt, Houston got the football, and scored a quick touchdown.

That’s the sort of game it was. Both teams suffered from multiple early fumbles. A field goal and a touchdown put us up 16-7, but Houston managed another touchdown before halftime to make the score 16-14.

It was too close for comfort. Houston managed a field goal late in the 3rd quarter to go up 17-16.

We did score a touchdown after another one of those 6+ minute drives in the 4th quarter to go back up 23-17, but it turned out to just not be enough in the end.

After forcing a Houston 3-and-out after a drive that lasted only 30 seconds, we wound up turning the ball over on downs, failing to convert a fourth and one that would have surely clinched it for us.

Houston got the ball, scored in a little over a minute, and took the lead late, 24-23. And that was that.

The Kardiac Kids strike again.

Game Stats

Remember my promise to blitz more after last week’s narrow defeat? Yeah, that didn’t happen.

I’m probably too conservative on defense, which is almost certainly one of our problems. In my defense, I will note that I played to defend the run almost all game long, since Earl Campbell is such a machine.

We actually did well in that sense, limiting Houston to only 94 yards rushing. I did feel that our running backs could have done more; 63 yards on 31 carries simply isn’t going to do it.

I can’t blame Brian Sipe this time out. 315 years is an impressive performance, and that makes 2 300+ yard games in 2 starts this season. This is much better than he performed in real life at this point.

Houston fumbled 5 times, which is impressive in itself. We dominated possession once again, and actually did okay with 4th down conversions, converting 2 of the 4 we attempted.

The closer I look, the more I see that our problem is defense, not offense.

This is a very abbreviated form of the player stats summary.

I wonder if I didn’t try too many similar running looks with Pruitt. I might have also been too predictable about when I tried to run with him.

In contrast, Rucker had an absolute whale of a game receiving. Charlie White also did very well receiving, serving as an emergency outlet for Sipe when the receivers were covered.

Campbell didn’t hurt us too much in the end. Carpenter was the real surprise, as you’ll see when you watch the video. At the end of the 1st half, Houston went to a 3 wide receiver setup with Carpenter playing running back that completely fooled me. He was able to run right over our surprised defense after my instructions to drop back and look for the long pass.

There’s a lot to learn here.

Other Action

At New England: Falcons 31, Patriots 30. The Falcons blocked a New England 27-yard field goal attempt to steal a win on the road.

At New York: Redskins 41, Giants 7. Wilbur Jackson demolished the hapless Giants defense, rushing for 161 yards and leading Washington to a big road win.

At Minnesota: Eagles 27, Vikings 16. Two 4th quarter Eagles touchdowns lifted them past the Vikings.

At San Diego: Chargers 38, Oakland 17. Dan Fouts threw for an impressive 355 yards as San Diego demolishes the Raiders. Jim Plunkett threw for 301 yards in a losing effort.

At Buffalo: Bills 50, Jets 21. Buffalo exploded for 37 4th quarter points to turn a 21-13 deficit into a 50-21 route. The Jets threw two interceptions and gave up one fumble in that ignominious 4th quarter.

At Miami: Dolphins 16, Bengals 3. Miami’s defense held Cincinnati to a lone field goal in a dominant performance.

At Baltimore: Steelers 28, Colts 21. Terry Bradshaw threw for 317 yards in a dominant win; the scoreboard looks closer than the game really was.

At San Francisco: 49ers 32, Cardinals 28. A 13-yard pass from Steve DeBerg to James Owens with 21 seconds remaining capped off the win for San Francisco.

At Green Bay: Packers 34, Lions 7. Green Bay’s defense overwhelmed the outmatched Lions.

At Denver: Broncos 24, Cowboys 10. Danny White’s 329 passing yards weren’t enough for Dallas, as they suffered a big loss to the Broncos.

At Kansas City: Chiefs 19, Seahawks 0. Kansas City’s defense held the Seahawks to only 182 yards of total offense and no scoring.

At Chicago: Bears 48, Saints 14. Vince Evans passed for 319 yards and Walter Payton ran for 123 more as the Bears overwhelmed the Saints.

At Tampa Bay: Buccaneers 27, Rams 24. An interception with 13 seconds left seals the win for Tampa Bay.

Standings

Just like that, we find ourselves in last place. We host Kansas City next week, which should be a challenge.