Browns Coach Blasted For Going For It On Third Down

CLEVELAND--As if things couldn’t get any worse for Eric Mangini, the Browns coach has found embroiled in another controversy, this time over his stunning decision to go for it on 3rd and 2 late in Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Mangini is being blasted by everyone from talk show hosts to his own players for making the bold move. For his part, he says he was just trying to give his team the best chance to win.

“At that point I felt like, since it was third down, going for it would be the best thing for us,” Mangini said on Tuesday. “Obviously it’s a calculated risk and a lot of people felt I should have just punted right there to avoid the possibility of a turnover or something, but I felt like I was playing the percentages. After all, our offense was averaging 2.1 yards a play at that point, and we only needed two. You do the math.”

The play, a short out pass to receiver Mike Furrey, landed incomplete when the ball bounced off the foot of the defending safety and ricocheted out of bounds. Still, Mangini said he would make the same decision again if he had the chance.

“Absolutely I would go for it again on third down,” he said. “At some point you have to have confidence in your offense to get the job done. That being said, I would definitely make it a running play next time. You want to put the ball in the hands of your best player, and our best player at that point was Josh Cribbs. Still is, even though he's in a coma.”

After the game, a clearly stunned Quinn sat at a podium and attempted to defend his coach’s decision.

“I really liked the decision,” he said. “It showed confidence in the offense and challenged us to win the game. And I think if I threw a pass that didn’t miss the target by about eight feet and land on the shoe of the defender, we’re having a whole different conversation right now.”

In league circles, the call was seen as further proof that Mangini is not equipped to run a football team. Some even suggested he was trying to get fired.

“It’s clear to me now that Eric Mangini is trying to be fired,” ESPN analyst Tom Jackson said on NFL Primetime. “You make a call like that and it’s a signal to your team that you don’t want to win, that you want to instead take ridiculous risks like trying to get first downs against competent NFL defenses. If I was coaching the Browns, I would take on shot on first down, then take a knee on second down to grind some clock, then punt away on third. Forget about fourth down. The fewer downs for this team the better.”

Owner Randy Lerner came to the defense of his coach today, saying he had “full confidence” in Mangini and supported his decision to go for it on fourth down.

“Obviously the call looks bad because it didn’t work out, but the decision itself was fine,” said Lerner. “ I think he sent a great message to the team by going for it on third down. He said 'we're going to adhere to conventional football strategy and act like a normal football team.' That's a big step for us. Our next step will be to fire the guy, which also seems like something a normal football team would do.”