Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin dominate Browns for a 30-13 win in Seattle.
By @mrgroce
The Browns started the game on offense, and went 80 yards on a 15 play drive that ended with a seven yard touchdown pass from Johnny Manziel to Gary Barnidge. Sounds pretty good huh? Well, the only problem was the Browns only gained 27 yards for the remainder of the half, and 150 total for the rest of the game. Manziel finished 19 for 32 161 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The running game that was so dominant last week only had 94 yards this week. The offensive line had another terrible day. Offensive lineman John Greco was lost to injury early in the game, and was replaced by first round pick Cameron Erving. Needless to say he had another uneventful day. For two drives in a row I only watched him and almost every snap he was overpowered. An off season in the weight room will be his #1 homework assignment.
When facing a unit as talented as the Seahawks' defense it is almost guaranteed that if you don't have any playmakers you're not going to be successful. The Browns have a few guys who are solid NFL guys on offense (Travis Benjamin, Gary Barnidge, Duke Johnson), but I would not label any of them "special" or some one that deserves to be game-planned for. Combine that with a sketchy offensive line and an average quarterback and this is the type of performance that we should expect to see when facing top tier NFL talent.
The elite and elusive Super Bowl winning quarterback Russell Wilson was in control of the game from the outset. Like Manziel, he led his team on a long opening drive touchdown. Actually, the Seahawks scored touchdowns on their first two drives, both scored by wide receiver Doug Baldwin. Wilson finished 21 for 30 with 249 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson and Baldwin are on a historic tear the past four weeks, and seem to have caught fire at just the right time of the season. Seattle went with the "running back by committee", but were led by Christine Michael who finished with 84 yards rushing. With their victory over the Browns, the Seahawks have clinched a playoff berth and still have a shot at winning their division.
What hurt the Browns this week are the same things that have them all year: bad play by the offensive line, dropped passes by the receiving corps, little pressure from the defensive line, and terrible coverage by the defensive backs. The team wants to see what Johnny looks like for these final games, but without any weapons worth mentioning and always having to play from behind, we truly will not know just how good Johnny could have been this year. What we do know is this team will have more holes to fill this off season than they originally hoped. With Dwayne Bowe, Terrell Pryor, and Josh Gordon coming back next year we know they won't be drafting a receiver!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Next week The Browns will be in Kansas City to take on the Chiefs at 1:00 PM
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