Colt McCoy's fourth-quarter game-tying drive Sunday should've delivered a semi-happy ending for the Browns, sports columnist Bud Shaw writes.
View full sizeBrowns quarterback Colt McCoy scrambles away from the Jets' Eric Smith during the second quarter of Sunday's game. McCoy's advanced poise for a rookie is best reflected in the Browns' confidence in him during the overtime period -- win or lose -- says Bud Shaw.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns lost a game Sunday in part because Colt McCoy doesn't play like a rookie.
Hard to imagine, that. Still, it happened.
Instead of running Peyton Hillis two or three times from their own goal line in overtime, they called two pass plays. A month ago, they wouldn't have had the faith in the kid from Texas. Sunday, they acted as if he were the other Peyton, Manning.
McCoy did nothing to lose the game, mind you. In fact, he made overtime possible with a game-tying fourth-quarter drive highlighted by pinpoint throws to tight ends Ben Watson and Evan Moore, then had the Browns moving for a win in OT before Chansi Stuckey fumbled.
In overtime at the goal line, McCoy overthrew Watson on first down, handed to Hillis on second, then made sure to get out of the end zone to avoid a sack on third down.
"You always play to win the game," McCoy said in defending the strategy.
Except, before you can play to win the game there, you need a first down to rule out losing it in the field position exchange.
If McCoy had Santonio Holmes, Jerricho Cotchery and the guy who used to play for the Browns -- the name escapes me -- it still would've been difficult to get in field goal position from the 3. Given that Josh Cribbs was missing and the normal deficiency was even worse at wide receiver, the degree of difficulty for McCoy in that spot was near impossible.
Trust in him is growing, obviously, and the Browns are mostly benefiting from it. But in the second quarter, near the Jets' goal line after a great catch and run by Cribbs, McCoy took three snaps in the shotgun formation. Only one was a handoff to Hillis. The Browns had to settle for a field goal and a 13-10 lead.
The Browns and their quarterback didn't deserve to lose on a day that tested their depth as much as their resolve, a day that cost them the services of corner Sheldon Brown, linebacker Scott Fujita and their Swiss Army knife, Cribbs.
Don't believe what they say about ties. They're not all benign wastes of time. Some are better than others.
A tie against the Jets looked like an oasis given where McCoy and the offense found themselves after Joe Haden instinctively intercepted a Mark Sanchez pass at the 3 instead of batting it down and forcing a punt.
There's no guarantee that three Hillis runs would've moved the chains, of course, but they would've moved the clock. The Jets had one timeout.
The Browns' play calling seemed stuck in no-man's land.
The good news is they trusted McCoy. The catch is McCoy's mobility, one of his strengths, was pretty much negated at the goal line in OT. Slip or get sacked scrambling in the end zone for a safety in a 20-20 game, you got some explaining to do.
His poise didn't forsake him at least. It hasn't yet.
At the beginning of the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter, McCoy commanded the huddle as if he'd actually been in that situation before in his NFL career. Sheldon Brown would watch that drive from the sideline and later call McCoy a "special player."
"He looked us in the eye and said we're going to score now and win it in overtime," said Stuckey, who sabotaged that prophecy with a fumble inside the Jets' 40 while fighting for a few extra yards.
The Browns have to be all-in with McCoy now. He's never acted like a rookie. And Sunday, for better and for worse, they made it clear they're done treating him like one.