News Flash Skippy: The Cowboys were just about everybody's preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl. They are the best team in the league IMO. The Browns aren't there yet obviously. This should come as no surprise to anyone.
With that said, I am not as discouraged with this loss as I am with last years season opening loss to the Steelers.
I actually feel that our QB played well, Jamal Lewis ran well and the O-Line moved the Cowboys D-Line at will, but we abandoned the run when we fell behind early.
I came up with 4 reasons why the Browns lost yesterday:
1) Defense. Our defense which is the weak point on the team didn't show any signs of improvement from last year.
2) Braylon Edwards. Edwards showed signs of rust from being injured throughout training camp in his first game back. He dropped 4 key passes that could've changed the complexity of this game. He also had 2 penalties called on him. If he catches those balls and is penalty free, the outcome of this game could've been completely different.
3) Injuries. Donte Stallworth injured his groin in warm-up drills and didn't play. That left the Browns without their #2, #3 and #4 WR's. (Stallworth, Jurevicius and Cribbs). Cribbs is also our best return man and best special teams defender. Field position is 1/3rd of the game and his abilities are game altering. The Browns also played without 2 starting Offensive Lineman (Tucker, Hadnot), starting LB (Peek) and our starting saftey (Pool).
4) Coaching. Romeo Crennel looked as lifeless as our team at times. A mind boggling call happened in the 4th quarter. The Browns had a 4th down with 3 yards to go, with the score at 28-7 with over 10 minutes in the game. Crennel opted to kick a field goal instead of going for it. Needless to say, the Cleveland crowd showered Crennel with Boo's following this decision.