Week 13 - 2014 - Bills

As the snow melted in Buffalo on an unseasonably warm day, so did the Browns playoff hopes.  They aren't out of it, but the road got tougher following a 26-10 beatdown by the Bills.  Brian Hoyer was awful for the third straight game, and may have seen the his last game as a starter for the Browns.  His fall from grace has been steady, and the Browns offense has fallen with him.  In the past 3 games he has completed 50.1% of his passes, he has thrown 1 touchdown, and 5 interceptions.  He has thrown 9 interceptions and 5 touchdowns in his past 8 games.  He was horrible on Sunday, not even his biggest supporters can defend that performance.  Johnny Manziel came in and led an impressive drive, looked like he gave the team a spark, and looks to be the quarterback that will lead this late season playoff push.  But the Browns laid an egg, and it was ugly.

Hoyer and the Browns' biggest problem in the past few games has been the inability to generate points off of turnovers.  The defense gave him the ball twice in Atlanta, which he and the offense turned into two field goals.  That is unacceptable, and that and the fact that Hoyer threw three picks were the only reasons that the Falcons were in the game.  Against Buffalo, the defense again came up with 2 interceptions, which resulted in zero points.  On the second turnover they got the ball on Buffalo's 30 yard line and proceeded to get stuffed on a run, throw a one yard pass to a fullback, and get sacked to push them out of field goal range.  I'm not sure I've even seen a team spit in the face of momentum like the Browns do.  It was pathetic.

The defense held the Bills to 2-15 on third downs.  The Bills were 0-10 at one point with a 14-3 lead.  What more can a defense do? 

The Browns were not beaten by the Bills offense, they were beaten by the Bills defense and they lost the special teams battle.  And they were called for 10 penalties, almost all of them untimely.  Jerome Boger is an awful referee.

Kyle Shanahan did not call his best game in my opinion.  Too many outside runs against a fast Bills defense and a stacked box.  It's hard to call games when your quarterback can't beat an 8 man box though, and Brian Hoyer was not beating anyone on Sunday.  His chemistry was still clearly off with Josh Gordon, who did not have a great game either.  But forcing passes into triple coverage is inexcusable, and Hoyer did that on multiple occasions.  Thus the switch at quarterback, and the first real live action for Johnny Manziel.  Manziel showed a live arm and excellent mobility on the touchdown drive.  I personally don't think they are going to go back to Brian Hoyer.  I think that Johnny Manziel fits Kyle Shanahan's offense perfectly.  I think that if Manziel is the starter the Browns will be in the shotgun or pistol more, I think Shanahan will scheme to utilize Manziel's quickness and speed, and I think there will be both some excitement and some rookie mistakes.  But I don't think they will go back, and I don't think they should.  We've seen the best of Brian Hoyer, and that was 8 weeks ago.  He has regressed.

So the Browns will be making a playoff push with (possibly) a rookie quarterback, two rookie running backs, a third string center, a rookie guard, and their star receiver still working out the kinks following a 10 game suspension.  It should be quite a ride, but these guys are growing up in a winning culture and gaining experience which should be invaluable to them.

Speaking of rookie running backs, that fumble by Terrance West was the play of the game.  That is inexcusable.  It might be time to see what Glenn Winston has.  Running backs cannot fumble the ball.  Period.  That was a game changing turnover.  It was TERRIBLE.  Joe Thomas also had the worst game I can remember him having.  Ever.  It was just a mess on offense.

Defensively the Browns played well, they harassed Orton, they held the Bills to 3.5 yards per carry, and they forced the two turnovers.  I'm not sure what else a defense can do other than score points themselves.  The offense and special teams let the Browns down on Sunday.

And those special teams, boy they just continue to let the Browns down.  I hope Chris Tabor has his bags packed and is out on the first bus.  His unit continues its pathetic ineptitude, Billy Cundiff has now missed a field goal in four straight games.  4.  Straight.  Games.  The media likes to make fun of the fans adulation towards Phil Dawson but geez can't we get ANYONE in here that can make 37 yard field goals?  CUNDIFF IS TERRIBLE.  TABOR YOU ARE THE WORST.  Benjamin was running backwards on punt returns, then tripping over his own feet.  They embarrass themselves on a new level weekly.  Pure hot garbage.

It was a tough loss for the Browns, but it may mark the beginning of a new era.  I know there are some fans who will now root against Johnny Manziel out of pure spite.  Go ahead.  There shouldn't be this divide but there is.  If Manziel wins they'll be the first ones jumping back on the bandwagon.  But one thing is clear, Brian Hoyer wasn't getting it done.  It's Manziel's turn to see if he can right the ship and lead this team into the playoffs.  It may have been a week too late, but it's his turn now.  The Browns future is now, it should be a wild ride for the last 4 games.



Random gifs (and vines if I can get them to work)

Cheerleaders fight on, the stand up sign works here too





Dickie V had some wiggle back in the day

 

 

Mike Evans.  That's all.




Bonus pic of Johnny Football because it was hilarious

Week 3 - 2014 - Ravens

I forget who said it, maybe former Steeler Ryan Clark, but I was watching NFL Network one day and the comment was made about the Browns that you know if you play them close, they'll find a way to lose the game (EDIT It was former Ravens and current Browns coach Wilbert Montgomery).  Well whoever said it had it right.  Play like a Brown, Pettine says.  Boy did they.  He should use Coach like a Brown, too, because boy they did.  They blew another game, 23-21 to the Ravens.  They played like the Browns we've all seen over the past 16 seasons.  What other franchise consistently loses games they should win?  I can think of a couple teams blowing a couple games, but the Browns do it almost weekly.  At least the Jaguars are a consistent dumpster fire, same with the Raiders.  I think those two are the only other franchises I hold in the same esteem that I hold the Browns.  Garbage teams that make stupid mistakes, but they don't just give away wins like the Browns do.  NO ONE DOES!!!!  It seems impossible to blow it week in and week out.  But no, alas, it's possible.  Because this team will do it.  They'll find a way to lose.

I don't even know where to begin.  First of all, what did we as a collective fan base do to deserve having to be emotionally invested in this team, other than being born in a certain area or having parents that were fans?  No one in the past 20 years has just up and decided "Oh I'm going to be a Browns fan that seems fun!"  Because it's a horrifying existence.  I want to change sides, to become a fan of an actual, respectable team.  Maybe the Colts or the Bears.  But I just can't.  And I hate myself for it.

Instead I get treated to games like the one on Sunday.  Let's just check some boxes on how much this loss sucked.  At home.  Check.  To the scum of the Earth, and a division rival.  Check.  Had the lead in the 4th quarter.  Check.  Lost on a last second play.  Check.  Yup I'd say that about covers it.  It sucked, and not just a little.  A bunch.  This group of Browns had a chance to be different than the other Browns, and announce that they aren't going to be a punching bag in the AFC North anymore, that they have a chance to really make some noise this year with a soft schedule, that it's not going to be the same old Browns.  But it is.  IT ALWAYS IS.

Mike Pettine put the loss on himself and the coaches.  Uhh yeah Mike, that's where I'd start.  So Mike Pettine has a defensive coordinator, Jim O'Neil.  And Jim O'Neil calls the defenses sometimes, but Mike Pettine wants to call the defenses sometimes.  And then for the second straight game there are 12 players in the defensive huddle on multiple occasions.  Hmmm, I wonder what would cause confusion with that streamlined setup?  Garbage.

Chris Tabor, our special teams coach, is literally the worst coach in the league at his position.  Somehow, like a little blond parasite, he keeps surviving coaching changes.  He is horrible.  People think he's good.  He's not.  I've been saying it for two years.  His unit loses the Browns games.  On a team without a bunch of big play offensive threats you cannot lose the special teams battle, but we do.  Often.  His unit has consistently underperformed, going back as far as last year.  Remember that one time when we had two punts blocked in one quarter?  That was fun.  On Sunday he tried to up even that performance.  First play of the game, offsides on the kickoff.  Two missed field goals, well I guess one was blocked so that doesn't count, right?  His long snapper is low on everything, his kicker can't hit a kick further than about 40 yards, and the defensive tackle protecting the right side let a guy run right in front of him to block a kick.  We lost by 2, by the way.  Oh and let's not ignore the fact that when we needed our punter to let one fly on the last series he powered one for 40 yards.  Oh and why were we in that position?  Because Travis Benjamin, the most terrified football player I've ever seen, let a punt go sailing over his head instead of fair catching it, giving up 20 yards of field position in the process.  TRAVIS BENJAMIN IS AFRAID TO GET HIT.  GET HIM THE F OFF THE FIELD!!!!!!!  He had no business being out there, especially with a reliable option like Jim Leonhard on the bench.  Chris Tabor.  Billy Cundiff.  Christian Yount.  Travis Benjamin.  Get rid of them all they are putrid.  You could put this loss squarely on this unit, and you wouldn't be wrong.

Defensively, in addition to the stupid penalties, not a great game.  They were pretty much gashed by the Ravens run game.  Ahtyba Rubin is just stealing Jimmy Haslam's money at this point.  He can't stop the run.  Going into this last game he was PFF's worst rated defensive tackle, I can't imagine this performance changed that.  Craig Robertson is still playing for some reason.  I just can't figure it out.  But nonetheless, the defense did rise up and make some critical stops when they needed to.  They stopped Baltimore on a key fourth quarter 4th down, they held them to a field goal from the goalline to maintain the lead, and they got the Browns the ball back with a chance to close out the game.  But when it was really time to make a play, they played like Browns.  Joe Haden, $67.5 million dollar Pro Bowl shut down cornerback, gets burned on a straight go route by a 36 year old wide receiver, and that's your ballgame.  Joe Haden, maybe the best defensive player on this team, has been absolutely destroyed in every game this season.  He and Gilbert, this great cornerback duo, have been simply awful.  If they don't get better this team isn't winning too many more games.  And get set before the plays start, Browns defensive backs.  Bill Kern is right, they never look ready for the snap.

On offense, no team in the league knows how to waste momentum like the Browns.  Lets take a look at some big plays.

43 yard pass completion to Travis Benjamin!  Have to call timeout after the play.

21 yard pass to Miles Austin on a 2nd and 23!  Next play, Brian Hoyer 1 yard scramble, then punt on 4th and 1 from the Baltimore side of the field.  (Punt went into the endzone, of course).  Never punt on 4th and 1 from the other teams side of the field.

Creative pass play to Manziel for 40 yards!  Penalty on Terrance West.

22 yard run by Crowell!  Next play, some sort of reverse counter to Taylor Gabriel that lost 10 yards.

Interception by Tashaun Gipson!!  Next play 8 yard loss on a bungled looking pitch play to Crowell.

70!!! Yard pass to Gabriel (who fell down on a perfect pass)!  Next play, one yard loss on a West run.  Then a sack.  Then a touchdown except Hoyer threw the ball 5 yards past the line of scrimmage.  Then a easy field goal.  Blocked.

And the offense actually played well!  Hoyer had his best game, probably the best game a guy like that can have, and he lost at home and put 21 points up.  When Hoyer had to make a throw, even tossing out the second to last series where he threw two incompletions when they could have run the clock, when he absolutely had to hit Andrew Hawkins between the 1 and the 6, to seal the game, he was behind Hawkins who couldn't pull it in.  Ballgame.  He played well, I'm not discounting that.  No turnovers, long sustained drives, big plays.  But when they needed it he missed Hawk.  And they lost, and that's what matters.

I hate the Ravens on a plane that not even the Steelers can touch.  I hate them with all of my being.  I hate losing to them.  I hate that the Browns lose games consistently that they should win.  I hate that I'm invested in this team after seeing this for so long.  I hate Chris Tabor.  But most of all I hate the feeling in this city after a loss like that.  This team had a chance to do something big, and they let us all down.  Offense, defense, special teams, coaching.  All of them.  They all played like Browns.  Someday, that will mean something different.  Not today.

Random gifs

Browns fans baby

Ouch

Ouch

Bonus pic new favorite fan