This week's edition comes to you from the pages of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer. Enjoy!
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden outplayed by Kirk Cousins as Washington Redskins roll to 38-21 victory
By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden gets sacked by Washington Redskins outside linebacker Rob Jackson in the second half Sunday, December 16, 2012 at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland. The Browns lost the game 38-21.
Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
Washington's Pierre Garcon -- a Mount Union grad -- makes his emotions clear after another reception Sunday afternoon against the Browns.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden came into the game wanting to be in the same conversation as Redskins' rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who was the Browns' first choice to be their quarterback of the future.
But by the end, Weeden wasn't even in the same paragraph as fellow rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Redskins' fourth-round pick out of Michigan State who made his first NFL start in place of the injured Griffin (sprained right knee) and lit up the Browns for 329 yards and two TDs on Sunday.
Thanks to a third-quarter meltdown by Weeden that included two interceptions -- one on the second play out of the locker room -- and his fourth batted pass of the game, the Browns lost, 38-21, to the surging Redskins. It snapped a string of three straight victories for the Browns (5-9) and snuffed out their flickering playoff hopes in their home finale. The Redskins (8-6), meanwhile, won their fifth straight to climb into a tie for first place in the NFC East behind a bootleggin', play-fakin' Cousins.
"Obviously I didn't play well enough for us to win," said Weeden. "I didn't play well for the most part throughout. I'm not losing any confidence over it, because I felt like I'm still going in the right direction. I just didn't play well enough to put this team in position to win. I put our defense in a tough spot, once for sure with the one on our side of the field. That one's on me. You just can't turn it over."
Weeden didn't get any sympathy from linebacker and captain D'Qwell Jackson, who took off the kid gloves.
"That's one thing coming out of halftime, defense, offense, that's the most important series of the ballgame and we throw a pick," said Jackson. "You can't do it. You can't turn the ball over like that. I don't care who you are. Then we've got to keep them out of the end zone."
On his second play after the break with the Browns leading, 14-10, Weeden looked for Greg Little over the middle from his own 27 and was picked off by leaping linebacker Rob Jackson, who returned it 17 yards to the Browns' 15. It took Cousins -- and his perfectly executed misdirection plays -- only three plays to get the Skins in the end zone, on a 3-yard run by Alfred Morris that put Washington up for good at 17-14.
"The first (pick), I didn't see him," said Weeden. "Greg threw his hand up, he had his guy beat and they had a little fire zone. My offensive line was blocking right in front of me and I didn't see him."
Next drive, Weeden had his fourth pass of the game batted down, which drew a chorus of boos. The batted-down passes are becoming a huge problem as he leads the league with 21 this season, including seven in the past two weeks.
"I've never had so many batted balls," said Weeden, who was 21-of-35 for 244 yards, one TD and two picks for a 66.8 rating. "If the defensive linemen aren't getting to me, they just kind of stand there, watch my eyes and stick their arms up. I'm trying to throw over guys three yards down the field (on shallow crossing routes) and that can be challenging."
How can he beat the bats?
"I don't really know," he said. "It's been one of our better plays. I don't have an answer for you."
Cousins, who faked and rolled out like a seasoned vet to hit big plays all day, stormed back with the second of his four second-half TD drives, throwing a 2-yard TD pass to Leonard Hankerson, who caught a 54-yarder in the first quarter. The Redskins outscored the Browns, 28-7, in the second half with 18 first downs to the Browns' four.
"Coach (Mike)Shanahan put (Cousins) in a great spot," said Weeden. "He's a good player. Me and Kirk are good buddies. I wasn't expecting any less. They tailored what he does well. It seemed like they were doing nakeds and play-action passes through the middle. He's got great targets and played well. You've got to tip your hat to him. He's a good player and he put his team in a position to win."
Weeden, who was off right from the start when he overthrew Josh Gordon by five yards at the Redskins' 20 on his opening drive, closed out third quarter the same way he opened it: with a pick. This time, he underthrew Little as his elbow got hit and Cleveland native London Fletcher swiped it. Cousins parlayed it into a 4-yard TD run and a 31-14 advantage.
"I took an elbow as I followed through," said Weeden. "I just couldn't get it up and over."
The hit struck a nerve and Weeden was forced to throw with Colt McCoy on the sidelines to shake it off.
"It was (like a funnybone) times about 100," he said.
Never considering coming out, he responded with a beautiful 69-yard strike, hitting Travis Benjamin in stride to make it 31-21, but it was too little, too late. It also didn't help Weeden that the Browns abandoned the run in the second half. Trent Richardson, who criticized the game plan, rushed for two TDs but a total of just 28 yards -- including two totes in the second half for zero yards.
"It's shocking," he said of the two second-half carries. "That's one thing that you've got to tell your family when you go back home: 'The game's much bigger than me.' Coach had the game plan. And whatever he had planned, they just overcame it."
He added: "the game plan we had at the beginning of the game, we should've stuck with it. But we didn't. We were going to do a lot of inside zone game-planning. And we were going to just go off a couple of the draws, and we were just going to do some play-action stuff. And when we did do it, it worked. So we got away from it, and the outcome comes as an 'L'."
The defense had Cousins on the ropes early, and T.J. Ward picked him off on his second drive on a tipped ball by Sheldon Brown. That set up a 6-yard TD run by Richardson the next play. But Cousins responded with the 54-yarder to Hankerson and never looked back.
"As much as Robert (Griffin) wants to show that he can be a pocket passer, which he can, I want to show people that I can move around a little bit, and I think I did that a little bit today," said Cousins, who earned a stellar 104.2 rating.
"He ran the offense like RG3 would run it," said Haden.
Unfortunately for the Browns, Weeden didn't.
Keys to Redskins-Browns
1. QB meltdown: Brandon Weeden was off from first drive to last, throwing the game away in the third quarter with two interceptions — including on the second play out of the locker room. The picks both led to TDs for the Redskins. Weeden also had four more batted passes for a league-leading 21, overthrew a wide-open Josh Gordon deep early, and threw the ball away on fourth-and-3.
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Joshua Gunter / The Plain Dealer