Browns Lose To Chargers With A Decent Showing

The game started out decent, but by the end of the third quarter it looked like another blowout in the making in Brown's Town. Then, the fourth quarter and a sudden surge by the Brown's offense fell short of a route, ending with a missed on-side kick attempt, game over. The Brown's walked off the field this week with some respectability losing 30-23 to the Chargers.

Brady Quinn had some decent numbers and ended the game with a rating of 95.7. Quinn had 3 TD's, the first TD coming on their opening possession, something that hadn't been done for a span of 35 games. Quinn was 25 for 45 with a total of 271 yards. This week Quinn distributed the ball between 9 different players with Evan Moore his primary target. Philip Rivers unfortunately was near flawless with a rating of 140.8. Rivers had 18 completions out of 25 attempts with a total of 373 yards with 2 TD's.

The Brown's running game was minus Jamal Lewis and the carries were spread between Jerome Harrison, Chris Jennings, and Joshua Cribbs, Harrison getting the bulk of the carries. Harrison had 2 touchdowns and interestingly they were both 8 yard passes from Quinn in the mighty fourth quarter.

Neither team dominated defensively. There were no interceptions and sacks on the quarterbacks nearly unmentionable, except the hit to Quinn on the Charger's 8 yard line that caused a crucial fumble, stalling a potential Brown's score. Joshua Cribbs had a good kick return day with a total of 148 yards, the longest being 42 yards.

This week is the big Thursday night game with the Steelers. Steelers, by the way, were beaten by the lowly Raiders 27-24. It's crying time again in the Steel Town and the Terrible Towels are getting quite saturated by the many tears being shed week after week. Cleveland Brown's Stadium should be rocking, if it doesn't start out with a half empty stadium like today's game. There will probably be alot of Steeler fans there. The Dawg Pound will have to carry the load of boosting the Brown's psyche.

Good Start to the Season-Steelers Over Titans Thursday Night

You have twenty dollars in your pocket, but suddenly you realize the money is gone. A feeling of dread comes over you. You become frantic. You try to figure out where it went and how you could have lost it. If you have ever experienced that scenario than you know how Hines Ward must have felt when he realized he had lost the ball so close to the goal. The look on his face said it all. The loss was temporary, the Steelers went on to win in overtime with a Jeff Reed game ending 33-yard field goal. Final score, Steelers 13 Titans 10.

Did it look like Tennessee's punt returner, Cortland Finnegan, was afraid to fair catch the ball? Several punts rolled an extra 20 yards because he let them bounce giving his team poor field position. Something the coach might want to address. Tennessee's first half good, second half, not so good. When they were blitzing Rothlesburger he couldn't do anything. In the second half Tennessee's defense sputtered and Roethlisberger dominated. Tennessee's only TD was a Kerry Collins pass to Justin Gage. Tennessee helped Pittsburgh's cause by squandering two field goal attempts, one missed and one blocked.

Ben Roethlisberger had a good night. He was 33 of 43 with 363 yds passing. His only touchdown pass was a 34 yarder to Santonio Holmes. The Steeler's running game was stiffed from the start to the end. Troy Polamalu was certainly pumped up. He made a circus style one handed interception. He was all over the place and in just about every play until an injury sidelined him. Cris Collinsworth kept on saying it had to do with some play last year involving Chris Johnson. He supposedly stuck the ball in Polamalu's face when scoring a touchdown. They showed the replay, but I didn't see it. Adds to the drama I suppose.

All-in-all it was a good start to the 2009 football season, spectacular fireworks and a close game. Somewhat on the boring side, but that is generally the way it is in low-scoring defensive games. Looking forward to sunday's games. Especially the home opener of the Cleveland Brown's who will be hosting the Minnesota vilkings. Just a side note, the Brown's could have beaten the Steelers last night.