Browns Exposed 49ers’ Deficient Run Defense

And if 49ers defensive coordinator Eric Mangini could not align his men to stifle skittery second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel or a Browns’ rushing attack that was averaging just 74 yards per game… then you might as well call Mangini’s status into question, too, despite his fairly good work this season. His passer rating was 92.1.

“Maybe we did take them a little light”, linebacker Ahmad Brooks said after the game.

It’s going to be hard to find many positives emanating from the San Francisco 49ers’ 24-10 loss at the hands of the lowly Cleveland Browns in Week 14.

Yet Pettine said he wasn’t surprised by Barnidge’s assessment that Manziel’s teammates have his back and haven’t written him off.

The win, which would not have been a win if Bears kicker Robbie Gould were the Robbie Gould he’s been his whole professional career prior to this season, must have felt especially sweet and vindicating for 49ers CEO Jed York, because he sent out an ultra-rare public declaration of approval on the Twitterverse, a thumbs up from the emperor to his plebes. Someone asked him why the Browns’ rushing game (230 yards) was so successful against the 49ers. Barnidge ran a quick out route on the goal line and caught Manziel’s pass while being closely covered by safety Eric Reid to cap the eight-play, 78-yard march. Fresh off of his two-game suspension hidden as a demotion for partying and lying over the bye week, Manziel was sharp. Power-back Isaiah Crowell led the way with 145 yards.

Yesterday’s matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers featured plenty of surprises to say the least.

Jackson, Seattle’s backup QB, got his first completion of the season in mop-up duty, connecting for 9 yards on his only pass of the game. It was a season high in the NFL. It was his second block of the year, becoming the first 49er since DE Lawrence Pillers in 1983 to record two blocks in one season.

He went 21-for-31 for 270 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a 92.1 rating. His rating was 96.4. Browns coach Mike Pettine was careful to indicate the big-picture implications, still there was additionally clearly some relief with breaking a seven-game losing streak. As one colleague pointed out, the last one didn’t go so well.

Notable: Cornerback Trumaine Johnson returned an interception 58 yards for a score to give the Rams the first points of the game.

Roberts caught two passes for 20 yards and a touchdown.

Being eliminated from the playoffs now, what s the approach for these last few weeks? The Browns held the 49ers to 71 yards on 17 carries and the longest run they allowed was 15 yards by Shaun Draughn.

Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel just resumed practicing after missing two games with a concussion and cornerback Justin Gilbert remains sidelined with a head injury.

“I think we all took a step backwards today”, coach Jim Tomsula said. They have some good wide receivers and tight ends. But the practical matter is that the 49ers roster, while greatly flawed and gap-ridden, certainly contained enough talent to defeat a Browns team that owned a pathetic 2-10 record before Sunday’s kickoff.

The Browns paid tribute to Dawson’s return to Cleveland by featuring him in a highlight video on the scoreboard in the first quarter.

Meanwhile Joe Staley, one of the guilty parties responsible for Gabbert getting clobbered, summed up the lunacy of the Niners feeling over-confident versus San Jose State let alone the Browns. “It was great to see the way we ran the ball the way we did running for over 200 yards”.