DENVER -- Pat Shurmur repeatedly has voiced his dislike for social media and its potential pitfalls for players.
Browns receiver Greg Little and reserve linebacker Tank Carder made news for nasty exchanges with fans earlier in the season. Sunday night, it was special teams ace Josh Cribbs who was ensnared. Cribbs lashed out at some followers of his @JoshCribbs16 account after a 34-12 loss to Denver in a game in which the veteran fumbled a punt and had a long return nullified by penalty.
"I see all the negativity on twitter after I gave my life to this (stuff)," he Tweeted. "So 2 all u who are against me (Expletive) all y'all. I'm still gonna do me!"
Cribbs deleted the Tweet, but later acknowledged his frustration with a series of posts
"We battle like gladiators on the field every week & we put our all out there, so 2 come off the field to the bs ppl put on twitter smh."
"2 all browns fans who are with us win or lose, we got Pitt next week & this loss makes us hungry for a W!!! #GoBrowns"
"Yea I had a moment smh..... wooossssahhh aiiight man I 4got each day there are a new breed of haters out there disguised as fans!"
Cribbs is one of the club's most popular players and won the fan vote for the Pro Bowl's AFC Special Teams player. He also might be playing his final game as a Brown next week in Pittsburgh. Cribbs is a free agent at season's end.
What a kick: Phil Dawson converted a season-long 53-yard field goal early in the third quarter. His 13 field goals of 50 yards or longer since 2011 are tied for the most in the NFL. Overall, he is 28 of 29 on attempts this season.
Familiar face: Broncos safety Mike Adams has spent most of his nine-year career in a Browns uniform, playing for them from 2007-11. He wanted to stay in Cleveland this year, but that didn't work out. So, he had some motivation going against them Sunday.
"I was excited," he said. "I had to calm myself down because I was too involved in wanting to make a big play instead of just handling my business. [Broncos cornerback] Champ Bailey calmed me down a little bit and I got to just focus on what I had to do."
Adams finished with four tackles, had a big hit on former teammate Colt McCoy and knocked down two passes.
"Yeah, I did pretty well today," he said. "I wanted to turn [those defended passes] into interceptions, but it's all right."
Protection issues: The Browns allowed a season-high six sacks to the Broncos, all in the second half. The Broncos entered the game with the league's second-most (42) sacks and came after Brandon Weeden and McCoy as Denver extended its lead.
"That's kind of an offensive lineman's worst nightmare," guard John Greco said. "You get behind and you abandon the run game and it becomes a blitz fest out there."
Scoreboard watching: At 12-3, the Broncos still have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Fans know it, and they cheered when the Houston Texans, who currently hold the top seed, lost to Minnesota. If the Texans lose next week and the Broncos win, they'll be the top seed.
"Most definitely [we want it]," Von Miller said. "That's what we're out to do."
Like the fans, the Broncos are paying attention to rest of the league.
"We all have our eye on it," Adams said. "You can't say we're not looking and not paying attention, because we're all paying attention. I saw the Patriots almost lost. We're watching that stuff, too, but at the end of the day, it don't matter. We're just looking for that next challenge and the next game."
Nothing to it: The Broncos converted nine of 15 third downs against the Browns, including six of their first eight attempts.
"We need to do a better job all around on third downs and get ourselves off the field," rookie cornerback Trevin Wade said.
Record day: Peyton Manning threw at least three touchdowns in a game for the 72nd time in his career. It tied the NFL mark of Brett Favre.
Brownies: First-year linebacker Craig Robertson recorded a career-high 14 tackles, surpassing his previous best of eight, which he recorded twice this season. ... Safety Usama Young recorded five tackles and an interception. He has three interceptions on the season which is a career-high and tied for the team lead. . . . Fullback Brad Smelley made his NFL debut and caught a pass.
Free-lance writer Brian Howell contributed to this report.