NFL 2011 Week 9 - Lack of Offense Problem Once Again for Cleveland Browns

Lack of Offense Problem Once Again for Cleveland Browns
John Nestor

Cleveland, OH

As if they didn't know already, the Cleveland Browns saw that their slow starts on offense and lack of at least a servicable run game are killing them.

The Browns were done in again by a lack of offense and almost no run game Sunday in a loss to the Houston Texans.

Houston rolled to a 30-12 victory as Arian Foster and Ben Tate each ran for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown.

Foster and Tate paced a punishing ground attack as Houston ran for 261 yards on 40 carries en route to its third straight win. The Texans held the ball for 35:15 and outgained the Browns 380 to 172 in total yardage.

Foster ran for 124 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries, while Tate racked up 115 yards on 12 rushes.

Matt Schaub completed 14 of 23 passes for 119 yards and added a rushing touchdown for the Texans (6-3), who were without All-Pro wideout Andre Johnson for the fifth straight game due to a lingering hamstring injury.

It didn't matter as Tate ran for a 27-yard score in the first quarter and Schaub made it 14-0 with a two-yard scamper. Foster ran in from 19 yards in the second quarter and the Texans rolled from there.

On the other side the Browns (3-5) couldn't generate much on the ground, picking up just 44 yards rushing while playing without running back Peyton Hillis, who suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury on Friday.

"I think they're very good at running the football; it's what they do," Browns coach Pat Shurmur said. "We had a hard day today, stopping them. I don't know how you account for it. We practiced it; we saw every single run. They're an off-tackle, zone team and they do it very well. We didn't do a very good job of stopping them. We've got to get that fixed."

While the defense didn't have its best day, the Cleveland offense has been an issue all season long.

Cleveland has lost two straight and four of its last five games. During that span the Browns have not scored more than 17 points and are averaging 11.6.

Slow starts are hurting as well. Cleveland has scored just six points in the first quarter all season and was trailing Houston 14-0 about midway through the first quarter Sunday.

"We spend the whole week working on the run game, play-action, things that you're going to do," Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy said, "and then both times you have to completely abandon that and get into something else because you're down two touchdowns. We're not good enough to overcome that."