2. The seat is getting warmer
Pettine’s decision to go for 2 instead of 1 wasn’t the only questionable decision made by him and his coaching staff Sunday afternoon.
As McCown moved the ball down the field late in the game after an exchange of punts, the Browns suddenly got conservative in their playcalling.
Robert Turbin, making his Browns’ debut, had been running well and helped get the offense into the red zone. However, he was pulled and the offense bogged down. They threw a pass to rookie fullback Malcolm Johnson that didn’t gain anything, Isaiah Crowell was stuffed for a short gain, and a short pass to Brian Hartline fell incomplete on third down.
The Browns did not attempt any plays into the end zone and seemed content to play for the tie, even though it gave Manning and the Broncos one more chance with a little over a minute remaining.
Also the playcalling on the Browns’ first possession of overtime was questionable. Following Barkevious Mingo’s thrilling interception, all the offense had to do was get one first down to get the ball in reasonable range for Coons. But, on first down, they called an outside pitch to Turbin.
It was clear that Turbin hadn’t practiced that play very much, because he bobbled McCown’s pitch and wound up getting drilled for a three-yard loss. Then, the Broncos pinned their ears back and blitzed on second and third down, sacking McCown both times. They wound up losing 15 yards and had to punt.
Coupled with some questionable time management calls at the end of the first half, and fans are suddenly calling for Pettine to be replaced. While it may be a knee-jerk reaction, it is games like this – games that could have easily been won but instead lost – that will fuel media speculation on Pettine’s job. The vultures just got more fuel.
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