By Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns have only themselves to blame for the quandary at quarterback they face this off-season.
They didn't need to tank their season and lose more games to get a legitimate shot at Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, the consensus prize of the 2012 draft. They simply needed to take care of business on Nov. 13. On that day, the Browns lost to the St. Louis Rams, 13-12, on a series of late-game sideline and special-team blunders. 
The game defined their season and muddled their immediate future.
Had the Browns not given away the game, St. Louis would have finished with a 1-15 record. They would have moved in front of the Indianapolis Colts (2-14) and "earned" the No. 1 pick.
Instead, the Colts held on to the No. 1 pick on a tiebreaker.
Colts owner Jim Irsay has made it clear that he intends to use the pick on Luck to provide a seamless transition from Peyton Manning, the face of the team since 1998 and whose career is in doubt as a result of uncertain recovery from a third neck surgery.
The Rams, however, have a different situation. They've invested millions of dollars and two seasons in developing quarterback Sam Bradford, who is only 24 and a surer thing, they believe, than Luck. Their intention was to trade the No. 1 pick and use the bounty from such a mega-trade to surround Bradford with offensive weapons.
"Ownership and management seem pretty clear on that," said Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Thus, the 13-12 collapse served two purposes. It surely underscored the travails of first-year head coach Pat Shurmur, while blocking a path to the franchise quarterback the Browns so sorely need.
The Rams arrived at a critical juncture in Shurmur's first season. Back-to-back losses in San Francisco and Houston had dropped the Browns to 3-5 and left them physically banged up. With upcoming home games against the Rams and Jaguars, the hope of evening their record at 5-5 was realistic.
The Rams were reeling in their own right. They were 1-7 with Bradford trying to play through a high ankle sprain. Moreover, they were the team with which Shurmur was most familiar. He was their offensive coordinator the previous two seasons.
At the time, injuries to running backs Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty left Shurmur with Chris Ogbonnaya, signed two weeks earlier from the Houston practice squad, as his only running threat. The occasion called for offensive creativity -- anything to produce a win against St. Louis. It was evident throughout the game that Shurmur was selling out to win this game. He dusted off the Wildcat formation for Josh Cribbs and also dialed up a razzle-dazzle play that resulted in a Colt McCoy pass to Seneca Wallace for 21 yards.
Against his nature, Shurmur also incorporated more shotgun plays to accommodate McCoy. The quarterback responded with his best game in over a month. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 218 yards and a passer rating of 97.5.
McCoy's numbers were better than Bradford's except for one thing. Bradford produced the game's only touchdown in the second quarter on a pass to Brandon Lloyd -- the quality receiver the Browns had refused to pursue when the Denver Broncos made him available for trade a month earlier.
It looked as if the Rams would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter when they reached the Browns' 9. But a Phil Taylor sack of Bradford forced a field goal and a 13-12 St. Louis lead.
The Browns had one more possession. They moved to the Rams' 19. Shurmur called for four straight safe handoffs to eat the clock and set up a field goal. On the third one, fullback Owen Marecic was nicked up and he left the field. Two plays later, the call was for another quick handoff to the lead fullback. But Shurmur was unaware Marecic had not returned.
Unbeknownst to Shurmur, tight end Alex Smith took Marecic's place. Instead of calling a timeout, the Browns tried to execute the called play. McCoy's handoff to Smith was fumbled. Smith had never taken a handoff in his NFL career. Cribbs fell on the ball at the 7.
Ogbonnaya carried to the Rams' 4 on the next play. With 2:13 left, Shurmur used a timeout to settle the team for what surely would be the go-ahead field goal.
The unthinkable then happened. Reliable long snapper Ryan Pontbriand, who had been uncharacteristically off target for weeks, double-clutched prior to his snap to holder Brad Maynard. The twitch caused movement on the Browns' frazzled offensive line. Pontbriand's snap deflected off the foot of Alex Mack, lined up at left guard.
Maynard retrieved the errant ball and spotted it, but Phil Dawson's timing was shot. He tried to adjust his steps but couldn't. He pulled the ball to the left and it was partially deflected off target by a Rams' lineman. The Rams safely burned the final two minutes to secure their unlikely win. It was the low point of Shurmur's first season.
Somehow, the Browns shook off the horrific loss and beat Jacksonville the following week. But Shurmur never recovered. He became a lightning rod of criticism the rest of the year. The Browns didn't win another game after beating the Jaguars and wound up with one more loss than fired coach Eric Mangini had the previous year.
In his review of Shurmur's first season, President Mike Holmgren said, "I think his perseverance and his ability to handle adversity was tested. I thought he kind of emerged ... [with] a few scars, but for a first-year head coach he went through some stuff that I know I didn't have to go through my first year.
"There was some stuff that went on that was a little unusual."
There was the owners lockout, which canceled Shurmur's off-season camps and opportunity to meet his new team. There was the continual soap opera involving Hillis. There was the McCoy concussion in the Pittsburgh game, which threw his future in doubt.
Ultimately, it was the management of the final minutes of the St. Louis game that perhaps cost the Browns the most -- a real chance to get the quarterback of their dreams.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/01/cleveland_browns_2011_in_revie.html
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