The Cleveland Browns have been benefitting from a three-headed rushing attack that has kept their offense balanced while taking pressure away from Brian Hoyer at the quarterback spot. While all three players have proven capable of handling increased responsibility in the ground game, someone has to start. Isaiah Crowell got the spot in Week 11 and possibly fumbled away future shots in later weeks.
Crowell made a play against the Houston Texans that proved to be one of the crucial turning points of the matchup. In the second quarter, the Browns were inching close to a go-ahead touchdown when Crowell fumble the ball at the Texans 19-yard line following a collision with linebacker Brian Cushing, which resulted in a 78-yard scoring drive by Houston. Despite the fumble, Crowell remained in the game and finished with 61 yards while head coach Mike Pettine continues to voice his faith in the rookie.
"We weren't going to just not play him because we felt he had lost, I think, one fumble before that," Pettine said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He had dropped a couple pitches, but that wasn't anything, defensively. He was a guy that we felt we wanted to give the start. The fumble was unfortunate. It was just one of those (plays) the guy was running across and made a heck of a play punching it out, but I thought there were a bunch of runs Isaiah ran pretty hard."
The starting of Crowell comes after veteran Ben Tate complained about his lack of carries in the offense. The veteran has been rather outspoken regarding his desire to be the primary running back making note that it is the reason he was signed by the Browns in the first place.
"It's not [satisfying]," said Tate, via Cleveland.com. "But whatever the organization thinks is best for the team, that's what they are going to do."
Tate's role in the loss to the Texans was basically non-existent. The running back's numbers have been getting smaller and smaller as the weeks progress as the Browns favor the younger backs. Those numbers could decrease even more as Josh Gordon returns as the Browns can now throw the ball more. Tate was one of the running backs that earned a multi-year deal in free agency and Cleveland needs him to try and earn it.
