Consider...
- We sucked in the red zone in the first half, getting three field goals and giving up three touchdowns.
- Ben threw an interception deep in his own territory.
- Joshua Cribbs had 201 yards on kick returns for an average of 51 yards a return. An average.
- We still won.
And, that's really the big thing to keep in mind here. A win's a win and this was a big win. We've got the Jets, Dolphins, and Bengals coming up before New England. We could be 10-2 (should be 10-2) heading into that game. By then, we should pretty well have the division locked up. We'll be playing for a higher seed. It's possible that we go 13-3 and end up being the third seed.
It's a crazy season, but we're on the good side of crazy. That's nice.
The defense is playing very well (#1 in almost all categories - including fewest points allowed), the offense is one of the best in the league (no, really, I'm serious - 5th in points per game, 5th in yards per game, 2nd in rushing, Ben has the second-most passing TDs and is second in passer rating), and we've proved that we can score when we need to (and pretty much whenever we want to).
Before we play the Patriots, we need to work on two things: Pass protection and special teams. Those are the two things that will completely fuck us if we can't get them right by then. And, it wouldn't hurt if we could keep those things straightened out through the playoffs. That'd be great.
As much as I love seeing Ben do his little Houdini act every week, I'd be much happier if the offensive line could actually pass protect. I mean, I really feel as though the line isn't run blocking well, either, but Willie keeps getting 100 yards a game. Sure, we have to run more frequently to get the same number of yards, but we're also #2 in the league (Minnesota is #1 and has rushed the ball 41 fewer times). We're still averaging 4.4 yards per carry, which is pretty damn good.
But, unlike last year when I didn't see too much of a difference between Ben and Batch, I was completely freaked out yesterday (and after the game against the hated Ravens) when it looked like Ben might be hurt. He's too important to the offense at this point and we can't have him getting hurt simply because the offensive line can't frickin' block. They need to play smarter, they need to play harder, and Najeh needs to be in the backfield on all third downs. He's a better pass blocker than Willie and too many guys came free too often yesterday for Ben to survive the season without serious injury.
The Browns had 7 sacks in 8 games coming into yesterday. They had four sacks yesterday and would have had at least 8 if Ben didn't give a bunch of Cleveland defenders the slip. Good teams (and especially good tacklers - like the guys that play for the Colts and Patriots, we'll even throw in the Packers) will not let Ben run around like that and bounce out of tackles. Larry Zierlein needs to put the porn away and teach these guys how to pass block, how to use their hands, and how to pick up a blitz (not to mention how to read one at the line of scrimmage). And, I really think that the receivers we have (plus Heath) are good enough to keep people in to protect the quarterback.
Special teams needs to improve. I heard all the talk radio guys and Internet experts talking about how much this team misses having James Harrison covering kicks. Well... Harrison was covering kicks yesterday. He's been covering kicks all friggin' season. He just can't do it on his own. We need to get Kiesel involved again. We miss Sean Morey. We miss Kevin Spencer. We need Bryant McFadden and Allen Rossum to remember how to tackle and cover kicks. The touchdown return would not have been a touchdown return had Rossum not overpursued, assuming he'd be able to pick up a fumble and score. McFadden probably couldn't have made the tackle at the end of the run, but he at least least could have tried to make the tackle. I understand that Cribbs had 15 blockers out in front of him, but he could have done something besides looking like a lead blocker. Maybe he was trying to blend in.
And, where was the back-end pursuit on that? Towards the end of the run, Cribbs was practically jogging, to the point where the back-up tight end was outrunning him. You're telling me that Rossum (or someone else) couldn't have pulled a Don Beebe and knocked the ball out? I guess I shouldn't be bitching, because we won, but...
We gave them all kinds of opportunities, made all kinds of mistakes, but eventually overcame them by leaning on an inferior team until they broke. When we play good teams, when we get to the playoffs, it's not going to work that way. We're going to stop playing inferior teams eventually, so we may as well get used to not screwing up so much.
But, that's a story for three weeks from now. In the meantime, I'm fully prepared to let the good times roll.
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