Browns Really Lost on Four Drives of Futility
September 12, 2011Browns Extend DT Ahtyba Rubin
September 12, 2011Richmond McGee, making NFL line judges earn their paychecks one shanked punt at a time. Depth perception can be tricky, you know. Even more so when attempting to calculate just exactly where a considerably small piece of inflated leather crossed the sideline despite being rougly 10-20 yards closer to the line of scrimmage than originally anticipated.
Save for the drive that ended in a mental meltdown by Dick Jauron and the Cleveland Browns defense on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals would score on four separate drives. Three of these drives occurred within the first quarter with the last not coming until the coffin-nailing late-fourth quarter off-tackle run by should-have-been-still-incarcerated running back Cedric Benson (a “jailbreak,” per Solomon Wilcotts), taking the score to it’s final tally of 27-17.
And while that last play was merely icing on the stale cake, the three first-quarter drives – in which Cincinnati totaled a mere 118 yards – were aided by none other than the right foot of McGee, the Browns’ freshly acquired punter who just so happened to be making his NFL debut. With the first two Browns’ drives stalling in three and four plays, respectively, the Browns sent their dropkicksman to provide their defense with enough of a cushion to reduce the chances of an opposing scoring opportunity. McGee promptly booted punts of 20 and 48 yards, the latter of which was a line drive that was followed by a 15-yard return, allowing the Bengals to start at the Browns’ 41-yard line both times.
While he would go on to perform as an NFL punter for a decent portion of the afternoon, “pinning” the Bengals to their own 30-yard line in the second quarter as well as their own 33-yard line midway through the fourth quarter – the Bengals would subsequently end each of these drives with punts of their own – the coup de grâce arrived with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter with the Browns already lurking into Bengals territory. With the ball placed at the 44-yard line, McGee retrieved Ryan Pointbriand’s snap at the Browns’ 42-yard marker, a situation with a coffin corner scribbled all over it.
Rather than providing a punt with enough air time to allow his gunners to field the descending ball deep in the opposition’s territory and, in effect, placing Cincinnati’s third-string quarterback on his own goal line, McGee’s punt stayed in the air for what may as well have been negative time, forcing a superhuman effort from one Joshua Cribbs – one that would ultimately fall just short upon further review, placing the ball at the Bengals 20-yard line. Bruce Gradkowski would then tack on an additional 30 yards of offensive production and his punter would plant the Browns back to their own 20-yard line.
The Browns’ offense would not step foot on Bengals’ territory again.
Behind the scenes in Berea, McGee was a source of questioning throughout much of the preseason. While the Browns no longer have the Manginian outwardly focus on special teams as they had in the prior two seasons, Pat Shurmur’s coaching staff runs sections of practice before the true practice session that are devoted strictly to special teams. Still, following what was an inconsistent at best preseason, Shurmur has coined McGee as “improving” and “a fine holder.” And if he doesn’t have a performance that is deemed up to par, you “grit your teeth and coach him up.”
Shurmur has gone on record to say that a punter within the NFL has to have what he calls a total game. From pooch punts to directional execution, the punter – requiring one of the finite 53 roster spots available to NFL teams – can ill afford to fail within his few seconds of on-field work for he has no back-up and can completely turn the tides of a contest in a make-or-break fashion.
On this very occasion, McGee broke. Shanks galore, there is already speculation that the Browns will hold punter tryouts on Tuesday. Compared to the effort put forth by McGee on Sunday, a one-legged Reggie Hodges – he of the torn Achilles tendon – would prove to be an upgrade. And while it may be revisionist, former Browns punter and Cleveland native Dave Zastudil – who was suffering from a strained oblique muscle when the Browns were conducting their America’s Next Top Punter search – was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals and averaged 42 yards per punt, pinning the Carolina Panthers inside of their own 20-yard line twice, the second of which resulted in the Panthers falling one yard shy of a game-extending first down and potential opportunity to win the game with just over a minute of play remaining.
The NFL may have eliminated the volume of kickoff returns by moving the tee to the 35-yard line. While this helps the kickers and forces only the best of the best return men to press their luck, the special teams onus – in what ultimately turns into a battle of field position – falls on the shoulders (or foot) of the punter. Rather than rostering one who opts to provide souvenirs for fans lucky enough to lock down sideline seats, it would be in the best interest of the Browns to use that sole, precious roster spot on someone who they can count on to consistently deliver; even more so when the game is on the line.
26 Comments
we sure gave him the boot
I don’t believe the one punt should be his fault….but more on cribbs…in the replay you see cribbs wait until the very last moment to down the ball…he should have just downed it at the 2 or 3 yard line instead.
but it doesn’t matter….browns lost, and it was an overall horrible performance on the punter
I’m confused — is he actually cut? Because I see no link or anything that says he is but the headline certainly strongly indicates this
@Dingo – not sure, but the only thing I could find searching for “mcgee browns cut” is that McGree Brown made the cut to become a Ohio Supreme Court Justice.
So, kudos to that McGee who has relations to the Browns. Not so much for Richmond (whether or not he was cut).
I thought the title meant he’d been cut. Is that the case? Or not?
To my knowledge he has not been cut….yet. But I cannot fathom how the Browns would decide not to part ways and find someone else. I always hate advocating for people to lose their jobs, but McGee was simply not good enough to be an NFL punter.
No, the team has not officially made any moves though, as stated within the post, heavy speculations around Berea state that he will be replaced.
That was a bit misleading. Maybe throw a question mark in there.
Punters should be a wash. There are so many kids that punt in college you would think there would be at least 3 rookies come out each year are good enough to be an average punter in the NFL.
why would the title indicate that he was cut then you spend 10 paragraphs rehashing his performance? Doesn’t make any sense….
it would’ve made more sense to say “Richmond McGee on his way out” or “Richmond McGee probably will be gone soon.”
Now what am I supposed to do with my McGee jersey? I thought for sure he would one day enter the Ring of Fame.
McGee gave a heroic performance considering he was injured in the pre-game warm-up
You can say a lot of negative things about ol’ Punts McGee, but he’s not to blame for that “almost down at the one” incident. Cribbs clearly eased up around the 5 or so, then had to rush to get to it when it hopped too far forward on him. I still have a hard time believing that there was “conclusive” evidence that Cribbs didn’t get it downed, but it wouldn’t have been in question had he just gotten to it earlier. Oh well, not the worst part of yesterday’s debacle.
Scott…You write fine articles. However, this was an overly long-winded and mis-leading article to basically say (what we all knew) that McGee had an atrocious game and that the Browns most likely will hold tryouts on Tuesday.
I found myself skimming for the “Richmond McGee has been cut by the Browns”. But only found myself annoyed.
As Browns fans, we don’t need posts just to fill the gap. Give us useful and informative info.
@Du:
+1 (everything you said is correct).
Punter try-outs? Is that where they are they holding the Punt Pass and Kick finals?
Yeah this guy raised red flags with me from day one. Was not impressed at all with his performance in the 2nd pre season game. He should have just said “eff it” and gone with his own version of RUN REGGIE RUN and maybe gained a shred of creadibility and respect from CLE on his way out the door.
See ya. Wouldn’t want to McGee ya.
Someone call Alex Steigerwald.
Per the other comments, the title should be changed as to not insinuate that McGee has already been cut. I was excited when I read the headline, and now I feel the same as I did before I read the headline, just a little more confused.
Scott is as good at making article titles as richmond is at punting.
Stupid.
Word on the street is the Browns signed Brad Maynard as the new punter.
McGee was 6th in the NFL pre-season and Brown’s insiders confirm he played the game injured showing NFL grit. Talent and Grit. To have 5 good punts injured is remarkable. Most NFL punters don’t have to punt 4 times, much less 8
I have a feeling we will be seeing Shanks McGee on Sunday.
Also, is just me or does Gradkowski look like Ben Stiller in a helmet?
“Word on the street is the Browns signed Brad Maynard as the new punter.”
WHERE’S THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE??
probably buried somewhere in a rambling 10 paragraph article with a confusing title…
The Browns should take a hard look at the kid out of Cornell, Nick Maxwell. Two trivia points, he was the High School QB for Jonathan Stewart. He’s also my step son! (shameless, I know)
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1152&bih=658&source=hp&q=nick+maxwell+punt&pbx=1&oq=nick+maxwell+punt&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=126828l130203l2l138109l13l4l1l0l0l0l1312l1312l7-1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=e383b5a7f79131c3