Week 8 - 2014 - Oakland

Well, honestly, that was a little bit boring.  A four o'clock game against the Raiders in Cleveland, on a gorgeous day, turned into a bit of a snoozer.  Maybe it seemed worse because we had to wait for it, but generally it was a workmanlike 23-13 victory over Oakland, the worst team in the NFL (except maybe Jacksonville but we know how that went last week).  The Browns were able to avoid being the first team to lose to two 0-6 teams in consecutive weeks in NFL history, so that's good.  What's better is them being 4-3, and what's best is that they sent the home crowd home happy.  They're now 3-1 at the Factory of Gladness.

Last week against Jacksonville was abysmal for the offense, and the blueprint for defending the Browns was drafted by Gus Bradley.  And Oakland tried to follow suit, by loading the box against the run and daring Brian Hoyer to beat them.  And last week, against a marginally talented Jacksonville defense, he couldn't do it.  And this week, against a marginally talented Oakland defense he could.  And the question last week was "Was this the real Brian Hoyer?"  And I think this week he definitively answered the question.  No, that wasn't the real Brian Hoyer.  What you saw against Oakland is.

We now have a body of work on Hoyer, and he's 7-3 as the Browns starter.  He is an above average quarterback.  He can win and manage football games.  With a good running game and a good defense, Brian Hoyer can win you games.  He's not very accurate.  His ball placement is below average.  He's got a quick release.  He's more brains than balls, which makes defensive coaches like Mike Pettine happy.  He has an average group of receivers, and it will be certainly interesting to see what he looks like with Josh Gordon in the lineup.  But that's who he is.  And 100% disclosure I'm as excited as anybody to see what Johnny Manziel can do as a starter.  But I'm willing to wait, because Brian Hoyer is winning football games.  It's not always pretty, and in this case it was harder than it had to be.  But the guy wins.

I've said from the beginning that the divide between Browns fans on Brian Hoyer is totally crazy.  Brian Hoyer is either the second coming of Otto Graham or he is garbage.  There is no in between.  And I go back and forth a little with how I feel about him as the starter, and I'm probably as hard on Hoyer as anybody, but frankly I care only about the Browns winning.  And Brian Hoyer gives the Browns the best chance to win right now.  Down the road, next season, all that can wait.  For now, Brian Hoyer is the best option for the Browns, and he is what he is.  He's not Joe Montana.  He's not Bernie Kosar.  He's not Charlie Frye.  He's Brian Hoyer, he's all the things listed above.  There are far worse options that are starting in the NFL than Brian Hoyer, and there are far worse things than a 21 year old rookie quarterback learning on the sidelines.

So having said that, Hoyer had a pretty Brian Hoyer like game against the Raiders.  He made some good throws, and there are some throws that I'm sure he'd like to have back.  And he made a couple of awful throws that could have been interceptions.  But the final score had the Browns in the lead, and comfortably.  And that my friends is what it's all about.

I legitimately am super sorry for anything mean I've ever said about Alex Mack.  Because it seems to be really hard to run the ball without him.  I actually thought Nick McDonald played respectably considering the circumstances, and they should get better as they go, but man the offensive line has had better days.  And I'm not a football coach, but it's hard for me to understand why the most talented running back on the roster only played a handful of snaps and got one carry.  We should be feeding the Crow more.  Losing Jordan Cameron in the first half definitely hurt.  But the offense needs to score touchdowns, not kick field goals, and it took until the 4th quarter to finally punch through.  And against possibly any team except the Raiders that might be too late.

But these were the Raiders, and they are just awful.  From their first drive, when they were gutting us with the run but decided to have Darren McFadden throw to Derek Carr, to faking a field goal with Matt freaking pick 6 Schaub, you knew that it was going to take a lot to lose to Tony Sparano and the pardon my french shitty shitty Raiders.  I liked Derek Carr for a few weeks last year before the draft, but then I decided that I hated him for the Browns because he's not that good in my opinion.  And for all the praise that has been thrown that guys way this season they are now 0-7.  Oakland's offense is terrible.  But they were just the tonic that the Browns defense needed to get well.

And the Browns defense played their best game of the season.  All the Browns defenders.  I can't think of a single player I thought that had a bad game on the defensive side.  And a bunch had their best games, including Joe Haden (who was AWESOME), rookie Justin Gilbert, and Donte Whitner, who made the play that really turned the game the Browns way when he stuck Darren McFadden and forced a fumble that bounced into Haden's arms and led to the Browns first touchdown.  The second biggest play of the game was in the third quarter when Paul Kruger smashed Carr on a sack, because that guy does not like getting hit.  After that shot by Kruger, Carr was not the same.  The defense forced 3 turnovers, and Kruger had 3 sacks against a team that had only allowed 5 in their previous six games.  My man Tashaun Gipson also had an interception giving him 5 on the season and 8 in his last 10 games.  The guy is a ballhawk.  The porous run defense also only gave up 71 yards on the ground.  That is encouraging.  Oakland added a garbage time touchdown, but the game was over by then.  The defense seems to be finding it's footing, and with some of the offensive struggles that is a really good thing.

Even the special teams didn't do anything too stupid, although Travis Benjamin probably owes Eric Martin dinner for pouncing on yet another fumble on a punt return.  Just put Leonhard back there and let him fair catch for crying out loud.

The Browns struggled to run the ball, their quarterback didn't play his best game, and they played probably the worst team they'll face all year.  But the fact is they won comfortably 23-13.  It wasn't pretty.  I'd call it boring.  But every week, we hear about how this is a results business, and the Browns won.  And they are 4-3 for the first time since 2007, with Tampa Bay coming to town next Sunday giving them a pretty decent chance to be 5-3 halfway through the season.  And whatever side of the Brian Hoyer debate you are on, I think if you are really honest with yourself you'd be thrilled with that.  So boring, game manager, and aesthetics aside, lets just enjoy the wins, they've been too few and far between around here to complain about them.  I'll take W's, boring or not.


Random gifs

Bosa.

Honestly not sure I've ever seen a facemask ripped off during a play

Can't stop watching this.

 

Week 12

The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.

That is one of my favorite quotes, and applies perfectly to football.  On the first Sunday in December, the Browns imposed their will against the Raiders, and won their second straight game, 20-17.  The win was their first on the road since last September, breaking a 12 game road losing streak.  It also marked their first winning streak since winning two in a row against the Colts and Dolphins last September as well. 

For the second straight week, the Browns were the more physical team.  They smacked around the Raiders, and are becoming heavyweight sluggers.  I've been as critical of Pat Shurmur as anyone, but it is hard to argue with the fact that this team is starting to come together and playing extremely hard every week.  Improvement is evident both from an individual standpoint as well as from a team standpoint.  Weeden looks better.  Richardson looks better.  Josh Gordon, Greg Little, and Jordan Cameron all look better.  Montario Hardesty is running with a purpose.  And the defense is playing at a high level, noticeably better since Joe Haden and Phil Taylor, the team's last two defensive first round picks, in 2010 and 2011, have been back.  Even guys like Tashaun Gipson and Eric Hagg and Juqua Parker contributed to the win.  The Browns may be on the cusp of turning a corner, something I never thought I'd write about this season.

The Browns came out and dominated a Raiders team that they were expected to beat.  Following a Raiders punt on their opening possession, the Browns moved the ball on their first possession before Weeden overthrew Watson for an interception.  They allowed the Raiders to gain a couple first downs before getting the ball back and driving down the field for a field goal.  They mixed in Richardson and used some short passes on the drive, and Weeden looked comfortable with the plan early.  I honestly thought Shurmur had a good gameplan in this one. 

They led 3-0, and after forcing the Raiders to go three and out on their next possession, Weeden found Little for 18 yards and then dropped a pretty pass into Gordon on a go route for a 44 yard touchdown.  Gordon blew by the one on one coverage and looks more and more like an absolute steal in the supplemental draft.  Browns led 10-0, and looked on their way to a easy win.  This team doesn't do things the easy way, though.  After the teams traded three and outs, they allowed the Raiders to move down the field and Janikowski banged home a 51 yard field goal.  The Raiders appeared to catch the Browns off guard with a no huddle attack, but the Browns limited the damage.

Cleveland had a chance to add some more points, they got the ball back with about 4 and a half minutes left in the half, and moved the ball down the field before Weeden underthrew Josh Gordon, who again had gotten behind his man, and the pass was picked off.  Weeden was pressured on the play and it appeared he couldn't get enough on the ball.  Oakland moved the ball but Janikowski missed a 61 yarder at the end of the half.  Somewhat frustrating, Browns dominated the game but only had a 7 point lead to show for it and only 10 on the scoreboard. 

The Browns took the opening kick of the third quarter and did two things out of the ordinary.  Following a couple of Richardson runs for a first down, Ben Watson was called for a holding penalty.  Normally that would affect both team and coach, but they were able to gain 18 yards back and faced a 4th and 2 from the Oakland 42 yard line.  And Shurmur actually went for it!!  And they converted, gaining 21 yards after Weeden stepped up in the pocket and found a wide open Richardson.  Shurmur showed faith in his team (finally) and the team answered the bell.  That is a true sign of the progress we hear so much about.  Predictably though, they did have to settle for a field goal by Dawson, his 29th in a row.  13-3 Browns.

The Raiders continued their no huddle attack and moved the ball down the field, before a Juqua Parker sack knocked them out of field goal range.  Following the punt, Weeden hit Gordon for 20 yards and then stood in the face of the pass rush and hit Mohammed Massaquoi streaking across the middle of the field for a huge 54 yard gain aided by a GREAT block by Greg Little.  Greg Little made it easy for people to criticize him early this season, but he had turned himself around and has been outstanding these last few games.  He's a great blocker and hasn't dropped a pass in weeks.  Kudos to him and the coaches for sticking with him when idiots like me were calling for him to get benched. 

Following the big play, some of the problems with Shurmur reappeared.  They had to burn a timeout immediately after the big gain, then appeared to play for a Dawson field goal, which was partially blocked.  That ended his made field goal streak at 29, but that guy should have a place in the Browns ring of honor and should make the Pro Bowl.  He's the best in the league.

Momentum shifted following the field goal block and it looked like the Browns may let another one get away.  Palmer hit Rod Streater, who had broken away from Buster Skrine, for a 64 yard touchdown, making it 13-10.  A bad decision to bring the ball out from the endline by Josh Cribbs had the Browns backed up at the 9 yard line, and following 2 tipped passes, the Browns called their second timeout.  On a huge 3rd and 9 play Weeden again stared down the pressure and found Greg Little across the middle for a first down.  That was a huge conversion, and gave the offense some room to operate.  The drive stalled following a Weeden sack and the Browns had to punt.  Buster Skrine gave Oakland 15 free yards on a kick catch interference and again, things looked dire.

Oakland used their no huddle attack to move the ball down the field before Palmer threw the ball directly to Sheldon Brown, who had good coverage on the play and made the interception at the 6 yard line.  Sheldon Brown played an outstanding game, probably his best in years, at least since he's been a Brown.

Then, the Browns embarked on a grown up, man's game drive.  14 plays, 94 yards, 6:04 taken off the clock with Oakland burning all three of their timeouts in the process.  They ran, threw, and took advantage of Oakland mistakes.  They converted a 3rd and 3 on a pass to Gordon.  They overcame a lousy spot on a quarterback sneak on a 3rd an 1.  (Sidenote Coach Shurmur - if you're going to call timeout you may as well challenge the play, you lose the timeout if you don't win).  On the 4th and 1 following that play, the Browns offensive line rewarded their coach's confidence in them by decimating the Raiders at the point of attack for an easy conversion on the Weeden sneak.  They threw 23 yards to Cameron on the next play, ran the ball a couple times, and drew Oakland offsides on a 3rd and 1 before Richardson pounded the ball into the endzone for a 20-10 lead.  The Raiders scored in garbage time to make the final score Browns 20, Raiders 17.

It was a big time drive for both the coaches and the players.  It's important that the players know that the coaching staff trusts them to execute in tough situations, and important that the coaches know the players can do it.  The Browns are learning how to win, as is Pat Shurmur.  They've lost enough of these games that they needed that to know they can win them, too.  I don't care who the opponent was.  They need to win games, and they did.  2 in a row, with a chance to come home and get another one against the Chiefs, who have been generally awful all season.  If the Browns maintain the will to conquer that they've had the past few games, they should be able to close the season out strong and possibly give new owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner some tough decisions to make regarding the futures of Heckert, Shurmur, and Weeden.


Gif of the Week

All Nebraska/Wisconsin this week

Taylor Martinez - horrible QB, hellava runner

Huge block. Should not have been a penalty.  But DAMN.

Oakland Pig fan is my new favorite

This is pretty good stuff Mike Polk

http://fox8.com/2012/12/02/mike-polk-pat-shurmur-press-conference/