Week 12 - 2013

I honestly didn't see that coming.  I should have, because I've been burned before.  But I didn't.  I thought it was going to be different.  It wasn't.  I thought the Browns were the better team.  They weren't.  I thought the coaches would have the Browns ready to play.  They didn't.  I thought the Browns would win.  They didn't.

Does that about sum it up?  Another game against the Steelers, at home, and another loss.  Another lifeless performance, not one but two Brandon Weeden sightings, passive coaching, poor special teams.  Awful all the way around in a 27-11 loss to a lousy Steelers team.


Ben Roethlisberger, sex predator, essentially treated the Browns defense like they were guests in his own personal barroom bathroom.  He did whatever he wanted.  The Browns generated no pressure, they gave Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders ample room, and they allowed Le'Veon Bell to run through them.  They were powerless at times.  The offense certainly doesn't help the defense by constantly turning the ball over and failing to score when given good field position, but the defense needs to create turnovers and pressure quarterbacks.  And the defensive players took shots at the offense after the game.  CHEMISTRY!

Jason Campbell apparently has a rib injury.  It must be bad because getting tackled by the ankle even aggravates it.  If he's hurt then he shouldn't be playing.  He had ample time in the pocket for most of the first half and generated very little, especially when gifted good field position.  If Chris Ogbonnaya can't hold on to the football then stop giving it to him.  Give it to Willis and Fozzie.  They only run the ball ten times every game.  Let's minimize some risk here.  But an ankle tackle forced Campbell out of the game in the second quarter, and Weeden came in and promptly fired a fastball that a quickly regressing Jordan Cameron dropped.  And then the wheels came off, Antonio Brown ran past Joe Haden for a touchdown, then Obie fumbled and Pittsburgh got three more points.  At 13-3, the Steelers had it essentially wrapped up at halftime.

The Steelers knocked the fragile Campbell from the game for good in the third quarter, then the home crowd was treated to some more Brandon Weeden.  He only fumbled once and threw a pick six, so all and all a pretty decent game out of him.  Josh Gordon is the only weapon on this offense now that Cameron has packed it in, and he was uncoverable.  Imagine what he would do with a good quarterback.  He had 14 catches and 237 yards.  He's a stud.  This is a team that is moving towards unwatchable territory.  The pillow fight next week between the Browns and the Jags should be epic.  I might be secretly hoping for a Browns loss, one step closer to a franchise quarterback.

The one thing that the Browns do better than anybody in the league, possibly any other team in the history of football, is throw the ball short of the first down marker on third or fourth down.  IF YOU NEED FIVE YARDS RUN A FIVE YARD PASS ROUTE!  NOT 4 NOT 3, FIVE STINKING YARDS. 

3-10-PIT 36 (7:56) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short right to 15-D.Bess ran ob at PIT 31 for 5 yards.

 

3-5-CLE 25 (14:20) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short middle to 18-G.Little to CLE 29 for 4 yards (20-W.Allen).

 

3-7-CLE 28 (6:53) (Shotgun) 3-B.Weeden pass short left to 15-D.Bess to CLE 34 for 6 yards (22-W.Gay).

 

4-16-CLE 30 (1:08) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 3-B.Weeden pass short right to 15-D.Bess to CLE 38 for 8 yards (22-W.Gay).

It is the most maddening thing.  I don't understand.  It's going to be a long five games.

Anyways for the 24th time in the 29 regular season games that the Browns and Steelers have played since 1999, the Steelers won.  I don't even know why I'm surprised.  I don't know why I expect anything different.  It's not different.  It won't be until we get a real quarterback, not a fragile journeyman or a 30 year old baseball player.  A real, legit quarterback.  If you think you can win without one in the NFL, you can't.


Random gifs

Pictures is a man's game

This is a pretty solid td dance

Oh Braxton.  Be careful.

#BeatBlue

 

 

 

 

Edit Had to add this gem of two drunk Bears fans racing

 

 

Week 11 - 2013

No pressure, no diamonds, as the old quotes says.  Well in the biggest game in years for your Cleveland Browns, the Browns succumbed to the pressure and created something closer to dog crap than diamonds.  They blew harder than the wind.  They played an absolutely embarrassing game to the Bengals, a team that could not have beaten them had they not beaten themselves.  Andy Dalton is awful.  An absolute liability.  I don't even hate the Bengals like I hate the Steelers and the Ravens.  If they had a real quarterback they'd be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.  But they have Andy Dalton.  And he tried to give the Browns the game.  But these Browns are a stubborn group, refusing the early Christmas gifts and returning the favor in spades. What a travesty.  Bengals 41, Browns 20. 

At some point in the first quarter, before the weather turned nasty, the Browns appeared on their way to destroying the Bengals and launching their playoff push.  Andy Dalton was confused on which Cleveland Brown he wanted to complete passes to.  But something happened to Jason Campbell.  I'm not sure why the Browns want to pass the ball from the 1 yard line.  I don't understand it I would literally qb sneak everytime from the 1.  But what do I know, when you can pass the ball and kick field goals I guess why bother.  Anyway from the 1 yard line Jordan Cameron was wide open and Campbell missed him.  He followed that up by having Greg Little wide open and firing the ball into the chest of the only defender between the Browns and 6 points.  At some point in that sequence, Jason Campbell turned into some sort of Colt McCoy/Alex Smith clone.  He never recovered.  He showed why the Browns are his fourth NFL team, and he's never been viewed as a long term answer at any of his previous stops.  He probably played himself on Sunday and not the role of Otto Graham as he had in his previous 2 starts.  He is who he is.  And he was himself in Cincinnati.  He constantly checked down to his running backs and tight ends, completing just 7 of his 54 passes to wide receivers. He held the ball and didn't move out of the pocket.  I honestly had a moment where I thought Brandon Weeden might give them a better chance.  That's how bad Jason Campbell was.  It wasn't all his fault but if he was better the Browns had an opportunity to win.  Especially early.  The opportunities were there to bury the Bengals, and they couldn't do it.

I can't say what the Browns did on their bye week to prepare for this game.  It really was a big game.  They were 1.5 games behind Cincy with winnable games on the horizon.  Win this one and they're right in it.  But they cracked under pressure.  The coaches and the players.  Cracked.

According to this post if a team blocks a punt they win the game 90% of the time.  The Bengals blocked TWO Cleveland punts.  TWO!!!!!  IN ONE GAME!  What the hell did Chris Tabor do during the bye week?  I don't know who is to blame, but it sure looked like Spencer Lanning was slow getting the ball kicked.  But there were blocking problems as well.  One would think those problems would be solved after the first punt was blocked, but again these Browns are a stubborn bunch.  In addition to the TWO!!!!!  punt blocks in one quarter, the Browns allowed a defensive touchdown off an Ogbonnya fumble.  Devone Bess was wide open on the play also.  But JaColt McCampbell was determined to get his running backs the ball on passes.  ALOT.  I might pay for the All-22 just so I can watch this game.  I'm shocked at how often Campbell checked down.  Shocked.  I can't imagine that Josh Gordon or Devone Bess couldn't win one on one against the Bengals secondary.  Shocked.

The Browns were shocked too.  In the second quarter they allowed 31 points.  31 points.  31 points.  In a quarter.  To a team whose quarterback was playing AWFUL.  Unbelievable.  Only in Cleveland.  To cap off the stupidity show in the second quarter, Jordan Cameron actively worked to get out of bounds on a 0 yard pass play on a third and thirteen with 34 seconds left in the half.  All he has to do is go down and at least force the Bengals to use their last timeout, assuming they would have.  They may have just taken it into the locker room.  But instead the Browns punted, gave up a 27 yard return, and gave the Bengals an additional 3 points before the half.  Just a stupid football play. 

Giving up 31 points in one game is bad.  Giving up two punt blocks in a season is bad.  Somehow the Browns gave this up in one quarter.  There's nothing else to say about it.  What else can possibly be said?

The second half was just as bad as the first from an offensive standpoint.  It was just a horrible game all around.

I can't figure out these Browns.  When I think they need to lose they win.  When they need to win they lose.  It doesn't matter anymore.  They're still in contention for a playoff spot in a weak AFC, especially with their upcoming schedule.  They need to start with Pittsburgh next week. 


Random gifs

Holy Auburn

LOLOL

Apparently this is now a 15 yard penalty in the NFL.  What a joke.

Good try good effort Texas Tech.  Thanks UC.

Week 9 - 2013

Dear Jason Campbell -

I'm sorry.  I'm sorry I lumped you in the same category as Brandon Weeden.  It was an honest mistake.  I just didn't know.  I'm really sorry.  You just played a great football game.  You played through pain all game after Haloti Ngata's giant body tried to smash your insides, making throws and moving the pocket with your legs.  You completed 23 out of your 35 passes, for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns.  You didn't have a turnover for a second straight week.  You are the reason the Browns won.  You are the first Browns quarterback since 2007 to beat the Ravens, and I hate the Ravens.  It was glorious.  You outplayed the Super Bowl MVP, Joe Flacco.  So thank you, and I'm sorry.  And tell Devone Bess I'm super sorry for being super mean to him, too.  He played great.  And War Damn Eagle from my Auburn folk.

Love Eric.


Seriously though I was wrong about Jason Campbell.  I really didn't think it mattered who the quarterback was after Brian Hoyer was injured.  But clearly it matters.  Jason Campbell played a fantastic football game on Sunday, leading the Browns to their first win over the Ravens since 2007, breaking the streak of 11 straight losses.  That is insane.  The last time the Browns beat the Ravens Josh Gordon was a junior in high school.  Joe Thomas was a rookie.  Romeo Crennel was the coach.  Goodness that is almost unfathomable in today's NFL.  The 24-18 victory also marks the first time the Browns have defeated Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh.  Lookout NFL here come the Browns!

The Browns are now 4-1 when Campbell or Hoyer have started, 0-4 when Brandon Weeden started. 


His offensive weapons certainly helped him out this week.  Devone Bess, that's what we've been expecting.  What a great bounce back game for him, catching two of Campbell's touchdowns.  He only caught 3 passes, but two were on fourth down.  He made the play of the game when he came back and secured Campbell's pass on fourth and one late in the game.  That's what we've been waiting for from him.  And seriously what the hell Greg Little?  Why can't you play like that every week?  Little was everywhere, snaring passes in traffic and showing some speed after the catch.  Of course he had two personal foul penalties, but screw the Ravens after 11 straight losses it was good to see some swagger and attitude.  The Browns were the better, more talented team.  Offensively, defensively, and on special teams.  And I'm really starting to love Rob Chudzinski.  I love the aggressiveness, going for it on 4th and 1 early in the game and converting for the touchdown, and late in the game to secure the victory.

Defensively, the Browns were really good.  Baltimore couldn't run the ball.  They couldn't really protect Flacco, although he made some plays with his feet.  The defensive front got great pressure, from just about everybody.  Armonty Bryant looks like he's going to be a pretty good player.  He certainly looks the part with those long arms and seems to use his hands well when pass rushing.  He appears to be a pretty good find by Banner and Lombardi.  Phil Taylor, Desmond Bryant, and Ahtyba Rubin are fun to watch.  Joe Haden got his first interception of the season.  TJ Ward is playing at a Pro-Bowl level.  Ray Horton's defense really is fun to watch, they are fast and swarming and everything I want from a defense.  I still think they're a couple players away from being really really great, but I do love watching them.  The Ravens had two weeks to get a gameplan put together coming off the bye, and the Browns stymied them pretty good.  It was Harbaugh's first loss coming off of a bye. 

The one thing I'll say is that they had the Ravens in third and long almost the entire game and allowed them to convert 7 out of 16 times.  That's not terrible but I think they're good enough to get off the field more frequently.  And again seems like nitpicking here but on offense they need to run to the left.  All game they ran right and got stuffed.  Joe Thomas is really good, maybe they should run behind him.

So here we are again.  When I convince myself that this team is going to lose, and that it is better for them to lose, they suck me back in.  They are 4-5 and have a bye week, then Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.  They certainly have a chance to get back into the race in the AFC North, and again this game proves that with pretty good play from the quarterback, this team is pretty good.  Just how good we will find out here in the second half of the season.  After the roller coaster ride the first nine games have been, I'm sure it will be interesting.


Random gifs

A "Michigan Man" everybody

 

 

Creepy

Justin Blackmon you idiot