The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
A KICK AND A MISS
Cleveland Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez reacts after missing an extra point during the second half of the game against the New Orleans Saints, in New Orleans Sunday. The Browns fell to the Saints, 21-18. More coverage of the game is available
Moments after Zane Gonzalez — or Gone-zalez as he will likely soon become — missed a 44-yard field goal try early in the fourth quarter on Sept. 16, the FOX cameras inside the Superdome zeroed in on Hue Jackson.
A successful kick would have expanded the Browns lead to 15-3 (Gonzalez was wide left on an extra point attempt in the third quarter).
Jackson, accustomed to disappointment in his time as Browns head coach (1-32-1), remained stone-faced.
The missed kick gave the Saints the ball on the New Orleans 34, and from there they used nine plays to cut the lead to 12-10.
Two Browns’ possessions later, the normally careful Tyrod Taylor threw a pass over the middle in Cleveland territory that Saints safety Marcus Williams picked off and returned 22 yards to the Browns 18. The Saints needed only four plays to take the lead on a five-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Michael Thomas.
The camera flashed on Jackson again. This time he wore the expression of a worn-out man who arrived home to a find a note from his favorite dog, informing him Fido was leaving home to move in with the next door neighbor’s dog.
Jackson wasn’t alone. The camera panned the sideline.
Virtually everyone had a look that said, “Here we go again.”
Good teams find a way to win, even when all the statistics say they should not, and a team that has won only four times in the last 55 games does what the Browns have done the first two Sundays of the 2018 season.
The Browns should have beaten the Steelers in the opener. But they tied, 2121, after 10 minutes of overtime because they converted on only one of six takeaways by the defense and because a gamewinning field goal by Gonzalez late in overtime was blocked.
Gonzalez was awful on Sept. 16. He was wide left on a PAT after Taylor hit rookie Antonio Callaway on a stunning 47-yard touchdown pass to tie the score, 18-18, with 1:16 remaining, and he was wide right from 52 yards with eight seconds remaining with a chance to tie the game at 21-21.
Nothing anyone can say to Gonzalez can make him feel better. He will probably feel worse on Sept. 18, because he will likely be replaced.
As Phil Dawson said when he was the Browns’ kicker from 1999-2012: “You’re only as good as your next kick,” and that was a veteran talking about how tenuous the job of a kicker can be.
On that note, Browns general manager John
Dorsey better move quickly if there is a kicker he prefers (Dan Bailey?), because Minnesota Vikings rookie kicker Daniel Carlson might not have to pay next month’s rent, either. Carlson was 0-for-3 on field goal tries in a 2929 tie with the Packers, missing wide right from 48, 49 and 35 yards. His final miss came with four seconds left in overtime.
But the loss Browns’ to New Orleans was on more than Gonzalez.
Browns safety Damarious Randall recovered two fumbles, and all the offense could squeeze from those takeaways was one field goal when a drive fizzled after moving the ball 25 yards.
That’s eight takeaways by the defense and 10 points scored by the offense
from those gifts.
The defense was not guiltless in The Big Easy.
The Saints took over on their 25 with 1:16 remaining after Gonzalez missed the PAT with the score 1818. The Browns needed a stop, but in just two plays the Saints were on the Browns’ 25. The defense did stiffen then, but too late; Wil Lutz kicked what turned out to be the gamewinning field goal from 44 yards with 21 seconds left.
Gonzalez had one more chance at redemption. He was off the mark.
The Browns as a team are getting better, but they are still off the mark. And it isn’t just the kicker.