The Seattle Seahawks could not take care of business against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday (Oct. 23), and the loss drops the team to 2-4 on the season. This game was nothing short of embarrassing, as the Seahawks offense could only manage to score three points. That isn’t going to get it done; even playing against what should have been one of the worst teams in the NFL. Instead, the Seahawks take that moniker away from the Browns and allow the Cleveland fans to enjoy a .500 record once again.

The box score is not pretty at all, with the Seahawks posting only 137 total yards. Maybe it was the team missing starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson(notes), running back Marshawn Lynch(notes), and the officials making some bone-headed calls, but all the Seahawks had to do was get seven points total to win this game. Seven points would have been enough to win, and it’s ridiculous to blame the game’s outcome on anything other than the 11 guys on offense.

Another great performance by the Seahawks defense got wasted , including five sacks, an interception, and two blocked kicks. The only other thing Seahawks fans could have asked for is one less penalty from Red Bryant(notes), because it would have allowed Charlie Whitehurst(notes) one more chance to go deep with Sidney Rice(notes). Maybe that penalty with about a minute left in the game simply saved Whitehurst from throwing another interception or getting hurt on yet another sack.

It’s hard to keep the faith in this team, especially with what seem like weekly coaching blunders from Pete Carroll. Through Week 7, the Seahawks now sit at 2-4, three full games behind the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. Time is running out on the 2011 Seahawks , and it doesn’t seem like the team even gets it. The current roster cannot do anything right on offense, and it is clear that it is time to look for a big name offensive player in the 2012 NFL Draft.

More From YCN :

Jackson_Or_Whitehurst

Seattle_vs_Cleveland_Preview

Trufant_Out_For_Season

Seahawks_Cruch_Giants

2011_Team_Not_Worst_for_Seahawks

References:

Seahawks_2011_Stats

Seattle_Seahawks_Roster

Seattle_Seahawks_Schedule/Results

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a lifelong fan of the Seattle Seahawks that continues to hold out hope that the team is heading in the right direction with a new coach, a weak NFC West, and some great young players on defense.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Browns kicker Phil Dawson emerged from the trainer’s room following one of the most memorable games of his career clutching an ice bag.
He was sore.
“Old age,” Dawson cracked, using a joke to brush off discussing a possible injury. “When you get to be my age, everything hurts.”
Luckily for the Browns, his right foot was more than fine.
Dawson kicked field goals of 52 and 53 yards between having two batted down by Seattle defensive end Red Bryant and Cleveland’s defense kept the Seahawks under wraps and out of the end zone Sunday during a 6-3 win, moving the Browns to .500 in coach Pat Shurmur’s first season.
It wasn’t a work of art, but Dawson, the sole survivor from the Browns’ 1999 expansion team, knows any win is a good win.
“That’s the prettiest 2-for-4 day we’ll ever have,” he said.
The Seahawks (2-4) gained just 137 yards of offense and had the ball for only 17 minutes, but came away feeling they should have won.
“I don’t want to disrespect Cleveland or anything,” said Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams. “They played a good game, but we are better.”
The Browns (3-3) failed to score a touchdown and only got inside Seattle’s 20 once, but Dawson bailed them out by making two field goals beyond 50 yards for the first time.
“In an NFL game,” Dawson quickly pointed out. “We’ll take this one. We’re probably not going to brag about it in 15 years, but we’ll take the win.”
Seattle came in without starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and then lost running back Marshawn Lynch in pregame warmups to back spasms.
Making matters worse, Seattle was penalized eight times, and its biggest play was called back by a penalty as Leon Washington’s 81-yard punt return for a TD in the third quarter was nullified by a blocking-in-the-back infraction — one of several mistakes that annoyed coach Pete Carroll.
“It was a very difficult loss,” said Carroll, who also had some issues with referee Mike’s Carey’s crew. “The guys took it hard. It was really close. The margin of error became a factor that amplified every call and every play. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get enough going to get the win.”
Carroll didn’t blame the officials, but he wants to take a closer look at a few calls.
“When a game is this close, a call can make a difference,” Carroll said. “Whether they did or not, we’ll see the film and take a look. In this game, those calls are magnified. I kind of hope they’re right, to tell you the truth. I hope they made the right choices because it’s pretty hard to live with if they didn’t.”
Dawson’s 53-yard field goal with 11:18 left gave the Browns a 6-3 lead, and the 36-year-old was set to give Cleveland a six-point lead before his 24-yarder with 3:05 left was knocked down by Bryant, who stormed through the line to get his hand on the attempt. In the first quarter, Bryant blocked Dawson’s 48-yarder.
As bad as they had played, the Seahawks had one last chance, but couldn’t move the ball as Charlie Whitehurst had four incompletions and had a pass dropped on the Seahawks’ final possession.
In the final minute, a frustrated Bryant was ejected for head-butting Cleveland tight end Alex Smith.
“Dumb move on my part,” Bryant said. “I take full responsibility for it. I’m supposed to be a leader. I lost my composure. You never know what could have happened if we got the ball back on offense. He (Smith) was talking the whole game. He was taking cheap shots at me. That’s what guys do when they can’t block you.”
The Seahawks’ only points came on a 20-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka in the third quarter. Other than that, their offense was abysmal.
“We never got going,” Carroll said.
The victory was forgettable on so many levels, but the Browns will gladly take it.
Earlier in the week, team president Mike Holmgren, who took over in Cleveland after 10 seasons in Seattle, defended Shurmur’s early performance and pleaded patience from Browns fans. Shurmur’s West Coast offense remains a work in progress, but quarterback Colt McCoy managed the game, made a few plays with his feet and protected Cleveland’s slim lead in the final minutes.
The Browns also had to overcome injuries. Peyton Hillis didn’t play because of a strained hamstring and wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi and tight Benjamin Watson sustained concussions. Also, right guard Shawn Lauvao injured his knee in the second half and will undergo an MRI on Monday.
“It’s about winning,” said Shurmur. “Our guys found a way. I’d like to think that’s going to be the mark of the team we have.”
Seattle’s chances took a big hit before kickoff, when Lynch, the team’s leading rusher and top offensive weapon, had his back tighten. He remained on the sideline and at one point appeared ready to enter the game.
“He’s had an ongoing thing with his back since he arrived with us,” Carroll said. “It came up right before game time and he couldn’t get loose. We tried to work with him the whole game and keep him going. He was about ready to take a shot at going after it, but he had sat too long.”
NOTES: Browns RB Montario Hardesty started for Hillis and had 33 carries for 95 yards. Newly signed Chris Ogbonnaya had a team-leading five catches, three for first downs. … Carroll said Seahawks starting CB Walter Thurmond broke his leg and is done for the season. S Kam Chancellor injured his knee. … The 137 yards were the fewest given up by the Browns since 1993. … Cleveland’s time of possession was its most since 1976.

The Seattle Seahawks have still not announced whether Tarvaris Jackson(notes) or Charlie Whitehurst(notes) is the starting quarterback against the Cleveland Browns this weekend. The problem goes beyond a quarterback controversy though, and maybe head coach Pete Carroll is also hoping the Browns have to do extra work to prepare for both scenarios.

Pete Carroll told The Associated Press that he may need until game time to decide about his starting quarterback. That seems like he is taking it a bit far, and it might show just how dedicated Carroll is to keeping Jackson as the starter. If that wasn’t the case, he could simply allow him to rest another week, and place Whitehurst out there with the starting offense.

Jackson is still trying to recover from a high-grade strain to his right pectoral, and luckily for him the Seahawks had a bye week to allow a longer recovery period. He came out of the game against the New York Giants on Oct. 9, and it was Whitehurst that led the team to a 36-25 win in the fourth quarter. A lot of thanks go to the defense in that game though, because an interception taken back for a touchdown was a pretty important turning point as well.

That success by Whitehurst has led a few fans to suggest that it is time to pull Jackson out of the starting roll, but there are also the fans that want to give him a full opportunity to prove what he can do. It really seems like all the television analysts want Jackson out of there, and many of them continuously talk down what Jackson brings to the Seahawks . For better or worse, he is the starting quarterback though, and the rest of the 2011 season for the Seahawks could rest entirely on his shoulders.

Jackson has 1,012 passing yards through the first five games this year, and that means he could easily pass 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns by the end of the season. Those numbers would be pretty good, but it might have to get even better if the Seahawks running game never develops.

The game on Oct. 23 has a start time of 10 a.m.

More From YCN:

Seattle_vs_Cleveland_Preview

Trufant_Out_For_Season

Seahawks_Cruch_Giants

What_Quarterback_Controversy?

2011_Team_Not_Worst_for_Seahawks

References:

Seahawks_2011_Stats

Seattle_Seahawks_Roster

Seattle_Seahawks_Schedule/Results

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a lifelong fan of the Seattle Seahawks that continues to hold out hope that the team is heading in the right direction with a new coach, a weak NFC West, and some great young players on defense.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

While there is no guarantee of an NFL season, the league made a primetime spectacle of their 2011 schedule release – one that was gladly accepted by fan bases throughout the country.  After all, anything that can provide us with even the smallest sign of hope, we will take it and run. 

Typical schedule breakdowns include fans or experts analyzing week-by-week scenarios despite the uncertainty that surrounds every game-specific variable from weather to rosters.  Opting to ignore the unknown, we have the ability to take a look at items that we can discern with some level of certainty – location and last year’s winning percentage.  We can mix in a dash of hope, a pinch of optimism and mix it all together while assuming that owners, players, coaches and fans are all treated with a full 16-game slate that ultimately provides the city of Cleveland with an improving football franchise under the watch of first-year head coach Pat Shurmur.

Let’s take a look…

Home Heavy Out of the Gate

The 2010 schedule provided the Browns their first road game on an opening week since their return in 1999.  As we now know, the result of such was a rough loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  This time around, the Orange and Brown are in familiar territory thanks to an Opening Day at Cleveland Browns Stadium where a rabid fan base will likely be treated to some sunshine and a division rivalry as the visiting opponent will be the Cincinnati Bengals – last year’s AFC North cellar dweller.

Following the opener, the Browns will be playing host in two of the next three weeks, heading into the Week 5 bye with three of their eight home games already having been played.  This is not only great for those that opt to stay home in unfavorable conditions, but it also provides the Browns with a strong home field advantage early in the season; momentum early on is something this team has not had in their corner very often after starting 1-11 in 2009 and 1-5 in 2010.

Getcha Frequent Flier Miles Ready

Following the Week 5 bye, the Browns will take a handful of cross-country flights as they draw several teams that play well west of the Mississippi River.  Week 6 through Week 8 features trips to Oakland, California, San Francisco, California and Houston, Texas.  For good measure, the Browns will also fly to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona in December.

The Browns will play host to the Seattle Seahaws and St. Louis Rams, so the travel is not all one-sided, but it sure does seem like much of the Browns in-air action will come during one stretch of the upcoming schedule. What this means to their relative fatigue and record remains to be seen.

Storylines du Jour

Sure, we have your typical fare of AFC North rivalries – more on this later.  But the 2011 (hopeful) season will provide the Browns with many auxiliary storylines that will certainly garner some headlines and airtime when the games draw closer.

In what will be his first game against his old team since returning to the gridiron, Mike Holmgren will lock up against the Pete Carroll-led Seattle Seahawks on October 23.  Three weeks later, the Browns will host Pat Shurmur’s former team in the up-and-coming St. Louis Rams. 

The Browns will face off against several Cleveland-raised players as the Indianapolis Colts roster former St. Ignatius and Ohio State wide receiver Anthony Gonzales; the San Francisco 49ers are the employer of former Glenville and Ohio State wide receiver in Ted Ginn Jr; the Rams boast one of the best young offensive linemen in the NFL with Bedford’s own Rodger Saffold. 

For good measure, unless the Cardinals address their quarterback situation by December, the Browns may also square off against a familiar face in Derek Anderson.  Queue YouTube meltdown…

Yeah…About that Final Stretch

If anything jumps out at you when looking down the Browns’ 2011 schedule, it will undoubtedly be the final five weeks when the Orange and Brown lock horns with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers four times.  You read that right – four times.  In five weeks.  For a little salt in the wound, there is only a four-day break between the Week 13 game against the Purple Birds before the Browns travel to the Steel City that following Thursday night for their sole nationally televised primetime contest.

While the Browns will have the 21st-ranked (in terms of difficulty) schedule heading into the season, the 2010 winning percentage of the teams they will face heading into Week 13 is 41.4 (73-103), a considerable decline when compared to the overall mark.  And while the saying may be “it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them,” the fact that the Browns will get through the bulk of their 2011 schedule without having played the Ravens or Steelers once should bode well for their overall success before the calendar turns to December.

For comparison purposes, the Steelers and Ravens will play each other twice within the first nine weeks. 

So what say you, Browns fans?  Without going game-by-game and attempting to forecast the future, what do you make of the road ahead?  Let’s hear it in the comments.

 

Why on earth didn’t the Cleveland Browns pick linebacker Clay Matthews III?

Ask Clay Matthews Jr. He was the defensive coordinator who wouldn’t even start his son during his junior year at Agoura High School in California.

Ask Pete Carroll. He didn’t even offer Matthews a scholarship to USC, forcing Clay III to follow Clay Jr. to USC as a walk-on.

Why not Cleveland? The kid understood.

Even after he fought his way to a scholarship, he says, he didn’t get a whole lot of playing time.

“An NFL team,” he says, “was going to have to take a shot on me.”

He wanted the shot to be in Cleveland, where Clay Matthews Jr. played. He doesn’t blame Eric Mangini for not taking the shot.

“(Alex) Mack played in the Pro Bowl,” Matthews says, “so I’m sure they’re happy with his performance.”

The Packers are thrilled with Matthews. He is a big reason they are in a Super Bowl for the first time since Mike Holmgren was coaching the team in the 1990s.

Mangini actually passed on Matthews three times, trading down from No. 5 overall to No. 17 to No. 19 to No. 21 before finally grabbing Mack in the 2009 draft.

There is little doubt Mack can be a fine center for a long time. But still … .

Matthews is a young superstar in a Super Bowl. Why didn’t the Browns want some of that action? Why couldn’t they foresee Matthews might become what his father was — one of the greatest Cleveland Browns?

Here’s why: Mangini loved what center Nick Mangold did for him with the Jets. He wanted a Mangold for Cleveland.

Matthews wanted Cleveland because it was where his dad was an all-time iron man.

“I mean, 16 years with the Browns means a great deal to my family,” he said. “We love the Browns.”

Stark County football fans of a certain age remember the 1978 NFL draft in part because a former Canton South quarterback, Mark Miller, was picked by Browns in the third round. Browns fans from everywhere remember that draft for the two picks the team had in the first round. They were used on Matthews Jr. at No. 12 overall and Ozzie Newsome at No. 23.

The 2009 Packers likewise had two first-round picks.

“We were very fortunate,” Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers says, “to get both B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews in the first round.”

By 1980, Clay Matthews Jr. was a force on the Kardiac Kids playoff team. Matthews was one of the best players on the 1986, ‘87 and ‘89 Browns teams that reached AFC championship games. He was 12-6 against Pittsburgh from 1983-90, including a classic 51-0 win at Three Rivers Stadium.

“I’ve seen some film, some highlights of my dad,” the younger Matthews said. “It’s pretty impressive.

“He was asked to do a multitude of things. Play in a 3-4, a 4-3. Inside linebacker. Outside linebacker. He was really able to do it all.

“One of his highlights was picking off (Buffalo’s) Jim Kelly to seal a playoff victory. He has some impressive highlights on YouTube that I’ve checked out.”

The son is in awe of his father’s longevity, 19 years in the NFL, three more with the Falcons after Bill Belichick cut him loose. Clay Matthews Jr. played in 232 games with the Browns, most in franchise history. Next is Lou Groza with 216.

“Growing up … he was just my father,” Matthews III said. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Now, I realize 19 years is truly amazing.

“Here I am, two years into the league, barely holding together, just trying to make it through one more game.

“He said the money wasn’t that good then. He had to play that long to support five kids.”

Matthews III signed a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $13 million. That’s way more than his father made in his career but small change compared to what top-five draft picks make.

It can be argued his development might have accelerated if his father had played him sooner, that he would have been drafted higher, consequently signing for millions more.

Maybe it was just a matter of a dad giving a son a swift kick in the pants.

“He was defensive coordinator, and he didn’t start me that junior year,” Matthews III said. “After that, I really dedicated myself to the weight room. I matured physically and mentally.”

College was like high school. He didn’t become a USC starter until his senior year. He talks about that now and then with Browns linebacker Kaluka Maiava, who followed a similar career path with the Trojans.

Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy remembers General Manager Ted Thompson raving about Matthews in the autumn of 2008.

“Ted hits the road during the regular season and is usually back by Friday morning,” McCarthy said. “When he got back from USC that year, Clay was the player he talked about the most.

“Ted had played with Clay’s uncle (Bruce) in Houston. He was really excited about Clay.”

That was just a start. Matthews had 10 sacks as a rookie and was named to the Pro Bowl. He had 13 1/2 sacks despite missing a game in the 2010 regular season, and he has been in on four sacks in the postseason.

He finished second to Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu in NFL Defensive Player of the Year balloting.

Shouldn’t he have been doing this for Cleveland?

“I didn’t want them to draft me just because my father played there,” he says.

Shouldn’t they have drafted him because he’s as good as his father was? He won’t go there. He says he only hopes his career will be half as good as his dad’s.

On the other hand, he’s in a Super Bowl in his second year. His dad never got to one.

Under any circumstances, most Browns fans would be wishing ill on Pittsburgh on Sunday. In this case, they have extra incentive to want the other team’s sack artist to plow into Ben Roethlisberger.

Clay Matthews III doesn’t mind at all if anyone thinks a little piece of Cleveland is in Super Bowl XLV.

“I do have a Browns helmet in my house,” he said. “My father does, as well.”

Steve Doerschuk is a reporter for the Canton (Ohio) Repository, a GateHouse Media newspaper in Canton, Ohio.