By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the second straight week, an incensed Phil Dawson is convinced that the officials blew the call on a crucial field-goal attempt.
Last week, the Browns kicker was certain there should have been a penalty for pre-snap movement on his missed 22-yarder, and officials failed to rule it a blocked kick despite all parties involved insisting that's what it was.
This week, they called his 38-yarder wide right. He's certain it wasn't. 
"It was good," he insisted. "The rule states that if the ball is above the upright, it's good. And that ball wasn't even close to being over the upright."
The pertinent part of Rule 11-4-1-c that Dawson was referring to is as follows:
"The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. [Ed: boldface ours]
In a pool report, referee Terry McAuley said, "The way we saw it was part of the ball was outside of the outside edge of the upright."
Because the ball sailed above the 30-foot uprights, it wasn't reviewable.
"I'm a little confused," said Dawson. "If you can't review a play where the ball is above the upright, why would you ever need a review to begin with?"
After the officials signaled the miss, Dawson was livid on the sidelines. Instead of a 17-10 edge with about 2:50 remaining, the Browns were forced to cling to their 14-10 lead on that last defensive stand.
"I'm pretty fired up," said Dawson. "It's probably as upset as I've been in a long time. I think everybody knows how I felt about it."
Said left tackle Joe Thomas: "I guess I didn't know the rule. The ref said, apparently if the ball goes straight over the goal post it's supposed to be good. From where we stood it looked like it went right over."
Dawson said he knows he'll probably get fined for speaking his mind.
"I hit it where I was aiming," he said. "I remember one like that against New England a long, long time ago and it was good. Fortunately our defense stepped up and made some plays at the end and we won and I won't get run out of town this week."
A week ago, the 13-12 loss to the Rams was decided when Dawson's 22-yarder was blocked by Rams defender James Hall after the snap went off Alex Mack's foot. Mack's foot was in the way because of pre-snap movement that went undetected. Elias Sports Bureau hasn't changed it to a block, despite Hall saying he blocked it with his forearm and the Rams confirming it on film.
"The execution [Sunday] was good," said Dawson. "It was a long week for us in that area. It was a good snap, good hold, good kick, good protection. I was proud that under those circumstances we held up."
Dawson was as grateful as anyone for the defense's goal-line stand, in which they stopped Jacksonville four times inside the 5 yard line.
"The good news is that we won the game and I get to keep my job another week," he said. "That's the life I live and those are some scary times."
Earlier in the game, a 40-yard Dawson field goal was turned down by the Browns when a Jaguars penalty gave the team a first down. It is the first time since Sept. 19, 2010 in which Dawson failed to make at least one field goal, snapping a franchise-best streak of 23 consecutive games.
Marecic concussion: Browns fullback Owen Marecic and Jaguars linebacker Clint Session both left the game with concussions after a fourth-quarter collision and didn't return. The Browns will re-evaluate Marecic on Monday. Jaguars defensive end Matt Roth also left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion. ... Browns linebacker Quinton Spears left with a hamstring injury.
Rooting on his teammates: Browns safety T.J. Ward made an appearance in the locker room with a walking boot on his sprained right foot. He said he'll still be out "a couple of weeks."
Ward said he loved the goal-line stand at the end. "I wish I could've been out there," he said. "It was great."
Chance at redemption: Joe Haden's breakup in the end zone on the second-to-last play atoned for a 15-yard pass interference call on that last drive that moved Jacksonville to the 14.
"Yeah, that wasn't a PI," he said. "I was just being aggressive. They probably thought it was a little too much contact. But we ended up winning, so it's all good."
Haden also dropped a couple of potential interceptions.
"One of them hit me in my sternum. I've gotta work on my hands a little bit. Then another one, I jumped up and tried to get two feet in."
Another strong effort: Browns rookie defensive tackle Phil Taylor made a tackle and an assist on the goal-line stand, stopping running back Maurice Jones-Drew two straight times. Overall, he had a career-best nine tackles.
"You live for games like this that come down to the wire, and it feels great when you can come out with the victory," said Taylor.
The Browns held Jones-Drew to 87 yards and one touchdown.
"He's a tough back," said D'Qwell Jackson. "He runs in-between the tackles well. He's probably the best back we've faced. Once you get your hands on him, he runs extremely well backwards if that makes sense. He's always avoiding contact and he's so low to the ground it's hard to find him. he does a great job of getting extra yards."
Unhappy Jag: Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio thinks the refs blew an interference call against Dawan Landry on a second-quarter pass to Chris Ogbonnaya in the end zone that eventually led to Ogbonnaya's TD run. He said the pass was tipped at the line by C.J. Mosely and challenged. He lost.
"Evidently they missed the call," he said.
Explained McAulay: "We had no definitive shot of it being touched by the player. There was a fuzzy shot that was possible, but then all of the other shots we just couldn't prove it and we have to see the ball touched by a hand before we can do anything with it."
Plenty of faith: Browns head coach Pat Shurmur believed in his defense at the end: "I did trust that we'd get them stopped, I really did," he said.
Extra points: Receiver Greg Little caught a team-high five passes for 59 yards, including a long of 22. He leads the team with 42 receptions for 438 yards, and leads all NFL rookies in receptions. ... Running back Montario Hardesty was inactive. ... Mohamed Massaquoi returned from his concussion and caught two passes for 19 yards.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/11/phil_dawson_certain_that_offic.html
No comments:
Post a Comment