NFL 2011 Week 1 - Colt Mccoy Era Gets Off to Slow Start in Cleveland

Colt Mccoy Era Gets Off to Slow Start in Cleveland
John Nestor

Cleveland, OH

Colt McCoy's season got off to a slow start, some of that is on him, others bear responsibility as well and its something that needs to get ironed out if the Cleveland Browns are going to take a step forward this season.

A new coach, a young quarterback entering a season as the starter for the first time, renewed enthusiasm and optimism, it all didn't matter much as the Browns dropped yet another season opener, 27-17, to the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon.

McCoy threw two touchdown passes but never seemed to get in sync Sunday. His first pass was batted back into his own arms and his last intercepted. You mix in an offensive line riddled with injuries, some good defense from the Bengals and you get a quarterback in McCoy who was not as sharp as he needed to be.

McCoy completed only 19-of-40 passes for 213 yards and was intercepted once as he dropped to 2-7 as a starter and the Browns fell to 1-12 in season openers since 1999.

"I certainly had my bad plays," said McCoy. "It's not one person, it's all of us."

The Browns would like to be able to run the ball and take some of the load off of McCoy, but the Browns are going to need the former Texas star to be sharp as he learns to run coach Pat Shurmur's West Coast attack.

"We had a very, very, very poor offensive first quarter if you think about it," Shurmur said. "Penalties, you get yourself behind in third down situations, you have third and long."

McCoy, who showed signs of being a solid NFL quarterback last season did not complete even half of his passes and averaged only 5.3 yards per attempt.

"There are a lot of factors involved when you don't get enough completions," Shurmur said. "Some of it has to do with progression, some of it has to do with the routes, some of it has to do with protection and maybe having to move slightly. Each play is different and I probably have a little different view of it. We've just got to be better."

The Browns will have a chance to be better Sunday at Indianapolis against another struggling quarterback in veteran Kerry Collins.