Terry Pluto scribbles about turnovers, the running game, Seneca Wallace, T.J. Ward and Joe Haden as the Browns prepare to face Kansas City.
View full sizeBrowns running back Jerome Harrison does not have a history of fumbling, and the team will need that reliability this season.1. I'm not going to dwell on the obvious about how important it is to win the home opener and how damaging it would be for the Browns to be 0-2 going into Baltimore next week. But I will stress that the team must stop all the turnovers . . . right now! I have no data to back this up, but it seems that when teams open the season with a lot of turnovers -- it haunts them for most of the year.
2. It's purely mental. You tell yourself, "don't fumble, don't fumble!" So what happens? You fumble. You don't run the ball with your usual comfort level. You don't catch the ball in traffic with confidence. You worry about fumbles.
3. Peyton Hillis had one fumble in his first 81 pro carries before doing it twice (lost one) at Tampa. Jerome Harrison had only two fumbles all last season, and three (two lost) in 280 pro carries. So it's not as if either player has a fumble history. But Harrison fumbled three times (lost one) in the preseason. In fact, it seems offensive coordinator Brian Daboll partly backed away from the run in the second half of the 17-14 loss at Tampa Bay because of fumbles. That thinking has to stop, because the Browns are not a team that can thrive with a passing attack.
4. Joshua Cribbs had a fumble that the Browns recovered. With Cribbs, fumbles are a fact of life. In his five-year pro career, he has 19. But the Browns have only lost five. In the last two seasons, it's six (lost two). Nonetheless, the Browns still need to put the ball in Cribbs' hands. In fact, that should be a part of today's game plan, get the ball to Cribbs.
View full sizeIt's unlikely that James Davis will get a lot of carries in the near future.5. After the Tampa Bay game, I received some e-mails from fans wanting to see James Davis in the backfield. That made little sense, because the Browns were not even running enough plays for Harrison and Hillis (nine carries each). If you want to see a third back get the ball, I prefer Cribbs. Davis is a backup.
6. When the Browns were backed up in the shadow of their own goal posts in the fourth quarter at Tampa as Jake Delhomme was hobbling on his sprained ankle, it was a situation that screamed for Sunday's projected starter -- Seneca Wallace. In practice, Wallace showed a knack of using his quickness on rollouts to move the ball -- be it near his own goal line, or near the opponent's end zone. His speed makes him unpredictable for the defense, and it will be something to watch in the Kansas City game.
7. I believe that T.J. Ward had the best first game of any Browns rookie since the team returned in 1999. The safety had 10 tackles, and forced a fumble with a hard hit -- and banged into the quarterback, leading to an interception. The Browns were last in the NFL in forcing turnovers last year, and Ward can change that. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said, "T.J. Ward really is a tough guy and what a special guy he is going to be for a long time."
8. Ryan tried to take the heat off Joe Haden by insisting he made a poor call on a blitz, leaving Haden vulnerable to what became the game-winning 33-yard touchdown pass. But before he was beat, Haden was flagged for pass interference. The coaches want Haden to be physical as he defends receivers, but they are concerned about him committing penalties. He needs to play like Sheldon Brown, the veteran cornerback who is mentoring Haden.