Dungy decision dooms Cleveland
Obviously, every team has to decide for itself how to approach games at the end of the season that have no bearing on their own playoff situation.
The Giants -- and that includes coach Tom Coughlin -- deserve an enormous amount of credit for slugging it out with the Patriots right up to the end of their game Saturday night. The Bears certainly didn't lay down for the Saints. And the Broncos did the same against the Vikings.
I realize Tony Dungy was trying to prime his guys for the playoffs. And if Manning had gotten hurt in a meaningless game, then the coach would be in deep trouble.
But put yourself in the place of the Browns and their fans. Cleveland simply needed Indianapolis to beat Tennessee. However, once Peyton Manning was out of the game and backup QB Jim Sorgi entered, the Browns were finished.
Consider that the Titans managed just 16 points playing their hearts out against the Indianapolis defense which had nothing at stake. Obviously, Manning and the first-string offense would have easily beaten Tennessee. As the Browns know, they have no one to blame but themselves after losing the previous week to a Cincinnati team that had already been eliminated.


Comments
Cleveland had their chance and blew it against Cincy.
Why should Indy do anything but what is best for them is beyond me.
Posted by: BUbacker | December 31, 2007 12:55 PM
The NFL is just like life in that you can't count on other people to help you out – sometimes they will and sometimes they won't, and it often depends on what's in it for them. The Browns put together a pretty good season (mitigated somewhat by the fact that they played an easy last-place schedule), but they were doomed by leaving their fate in someone else's hands. I don't blame Dungy at all for the way he approached that final game, and actually chuckled a bit over the drama involving those two teams forever linked to Baltimore.
P.S.: Happy new year to you and yours, and to all the good sports fans of Charm City. -------------------------------------- Joe, Thanks for the good wishes and the same to you. Yep, you are correct. Cleveland had a good year but it also had its own fate in its hands in Game 15. -- Bill O.
Posted by: Joe Dalhart | December 31, 2007 1:13 PM
I don't remember where I saw this first, but maybe Dungy also doomed the Colts.
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Wow, great reference. I didn't have a chance to go back and check out the records for myself but if true, quite a bit of interesting statistical evidence.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: soccer dad | December 31, 2007 1:27 PM
Who cares about the Cleveland fans. They are the biggest bunch of whiners in the country.
Posted by: Ray Kellar | December 31, 2007 1:42 PM
Exactly. The Browns have no body to blame but themselves. They should have played better in a lot of the games they lost. They had a great year. All they need is a defense and they might make the playoffs next year. I'm more concerned with The Ravens and their problems right now.
Posted by: Father Damien | December 31, 2007 1:47 PM
I am a Browns fan, and the reason why they Browns are not in the playoffs is because they choked against Cinci.
Browns fans being whiners? Ridiculous statement!! We didn't have the right to be mad when the Browns left for B'more? B'more fans are still whining over the Colts over twenty years after the fact. Don't be ridiculous!!
Posted by: BlkNyt | December 31, 2007 3:00 PM
If we were the Baltimore Browns, with the Browns colors, and if Jamal Lewis or someone else was breaking Jim Brown's team records, Cleveland would be upset too. The move to Baltimore was the best thing that could have happened for Cleveland football.
Posted by: Chris | December 31, 2007 4:48 PM
Yes, Dungy did what the vast majority of others would have done in his position. However, one of things that I've heard he prides himself on is integrity. If he were truly concerned about integrity, he would have put the NFL and it's integrity above his team's needs. The fact of the matter is that the NFL schedules 16 games. The right thing to do is do your best to win all 16 games. Who could argue with a coach who says that his main goal is to win any game his team plays? Sure, Cleveland put themselves in that position, but they played against 16 teams who wanted to win. Tennessee only played against 15 teams that wanted to win. I lost a bit of respect for Mr. Dungy after that game.
Posted by: Mark Speilman | December 31, 2007 5:11 PM
I think this tainted the season as the Titans backed into the playoffs. Had they had to beat the Colts with Peyton and the starters these bums lose easily. Cleveland is a better team and now the Chargers just get a break. In a way I hope this comes back to bite the Colts by having to face the Chargers who would have stood a bigger chance of losing to the Browns than the horrible Titans.
Posted by: Old19fan | December 31, 2007 6:35 PM
Normanly I would agree with you Mark, but in this case the Colts already have injuries to a lot of key starters and if you watched the game you would realize that if Manning would have gotten hurt and Sorgi had to QB the Colts in the play-offs the Colts would be one and done. I don't blame Dungy at all . Browns lost to cincy ,raiders and cardinals they have no one to blame but themselves.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 31, 2007 6:52 PM
What games were you watching this year? Because you obviously didn't see the other games that Tennessee played against Indy. They were tight - and Peyton played all the way through those.
But hey - Cleveland also lost to Oakland this year. The Titans didn't.
You can't tell me Cleveland fans wouldn't be ecstatic if the shoe was on the other foot.
Cleveland didn't get the job done and put themselves in this situation. End of story.
Posted by: DBJ | December 31, 2007 7:06 PM
While I do feel for the Browns in this situation, I think Dungy's decision was clearly the best for his team and their playoff chances. Though the wild-cards do add accessibility to the playoffs for many teams that would otherwise fall out of contention, I think there are always going to be a few situations such as this where the league will have to accept that some of its teams have mathematically clinched or been eliminated early.
Posted by: Jay Maduro | January 1, 2008 10:31 AM