Preseason Game 1

I hate the NFL Preseason, it's an incredible tease.  However, it's football, and football kicks ass, and garbage football is better than no football, so FOOTBALL.

It's hard to know what exactly to takeaway from exhibition football games, even ones with Johnny MFing Football making his debut, but here's what I gleaned from the Browns 13-12 loss to the Lions in the famed GLC, the greatest of all meaningless preseason football games.

Sorry Brian Hoyer fans, but this will be Johnny's team, and soon.  We all know what Brian Hoyer is.  He's the girl next door.  Somewhat attractive, nice, friendly, easy to like.  Johnny Manziel is the stunner, the beauty queen.  Supercharged, smokin hot.  There's a chance he'll break your heart, but if you have the beauty queen you don't take out the girl next door. 

Hoyer had some decent moments, as he should as a 6 year vet in a preseason game with Josh Gordon to throw to and two pro bowl linemen in front of him.  He wasn't pressured.  He still doesn't look like he fully trusts his knee to me, but he looked exactly as he should, maybe a little better coming of the ACL tear.  And that's not to say that's a bad thing.  With the trash I've had to watch at quarterback the past few years I'd take it.  But Hoyer has a problem - Manziel can do things that Hoyer can't, and (probably soon, based on the rate he's supposedly picking up the offense) can do everything Hoyer can.

Manziel has plenty to learn, and was still pretty quick to take off when his primary read was covered, but it was tough to gauge with the trash playing offensive line in front of him.  Everything looked disjointed while he was in, and he was still able to move the ball.  (CATCH THE GD BALL WILLIE SNEAD)  He showed a live arm, quick feet, and after a couple of hits, figured out to slide and get out of bounds on two separate runs.  The game will slow down for him.  It will be his team soon though.

Manziel needs some time with the ones, with the starting o-line in front of him, to fully evaluate his comfort level within the offense.  But rest assured Brian Hoyer, Johnny's coming for you, and soon.

Speaking of the second team offensive line, they are terrible.  The problem in the NFL is that there are more roster spots around the league than there are good linemen to fill them.  Offensive line depth is an issue with most teams for that reason.  It's hard to find good linemen. 

At running back, you have to like watching Ben Tate see the hole and hit the hole.  Terrance West had some decent runs as well.  The Browns look to be in pretty good shape with those two.  Dion Lewis fumbled, and probably won't be on the final roster.  Edwin Baker or Chris Ogbonnaya should fight it out for the third running back spot.  MarQueis Gray is above average at fullback, a decent pass catcher who at least gives you that option off play action.

The wideouts dropped way too many passes, across the board.  Miles Austin and Josh Gordon both should have caught big passes from Hoyer.  Willie Snead and Jonathan Krause may have played their way off the roster.  Charles Johnson is an intriguing prospect who is worth watching more as the preseason goes on.  It should be noted that Jordan Cameron, Nate Burleson, and Travis Benjamin all didn't play.  I'm a big Andrew Hawkins fan.  I think he's going to be very good in this offense.  Gary Barnidge stinks.  But these guys need to catch the ball.

Defensively, the line is stacked.  Armonty Bryant is a stud, he's going to be hard to keep off the field.  With Rubin on the nose and Taylor, Winn, Des Bryant, Hughes, Kitchen the Browns are in really good shape.

Paul Kruger just does nothing for me, he did his classic hesitate, then slam into a blocker move a couple times and it was as ineffective as it always is.  Sheard and Mingo should be out there.  Robertson and Kirksey are going to battle it out to see who starts next to Dansby, both guys played pretty well.  Depth at linebacker is a concern, Tank Carder was embarrassing himself out there.  I'm rooting for you Justin Staples.

Come back soon Tashaun Gipson, I do not want to see Jordan Poyer as my starting free safety.  And welcome to the NFL Pierre Desir, you aren't at Lindenwood anymore.  He's clearly a work in progress.  It would have been nice to see Justin Gilbert out there.

I would have like to see what guys like Connor Shaw and Isaiah Crowell could do, but it's possible that the Browns are going to hold them back to sneak them on their practice squad and don't want to give other teams a look at them.

Also, NFL officiating still SUCKS.  And so does Soloman Wilcots GIVE ME BACK MY BERNIE!!!!!!!!!

The best thing that happened in this game is that no one got injured.

All and all it was a typical Browns game, a bunch of field goals until they find a way to lose in the end.  But Manziel is coming, and so are touchdowns and playoffs and excitement.  Hey it's early but we can dream, right?

Week 4 - 2013

 

Remember last weekend when I said it didn't get much better?  IT GOT BETTER.  Oh man did it get better.  What a sports weekend in Cleveland.  What a Sunday.  In addition to the Browns systematic shutdown of the Bungles and victory in the battle of Ohio, the Indians completed an incredible September by winning against the Twins and guaranteeing a wild card game back in the 216 on Wednesday.  Wild card game Wednesday, nationally televised Browns game on Thursday, it's gonna be an exciting week here in Cleveland.

The Browns are 2-2 after their victory over the Bengals.  They are tied for first place in the AFC North.  The legend of Brian Hoyer is growing.  Hoyer was, for the second time in the past two weeks, the better quarterback on the field.  Is he the "championship level quarterback" that Banner and Lombardi seek?  I have my doubts, but at this point I could care less.  I just want the Browns to win.  I don't care who is the quarterback as long as they play well enough to win games.  And Hoyer has certainly done that over the past 2 weeks.

There are plenty more games, plenty of time to find out if Brian Hoyer, pride of North Olmsted, is the answer at quarterback.  But his play has been awesome.  Both of the teams that he defeated qualified for the playoffs last season.  He is decisive, his arm strength is above average, and he has the moxie that the position requires.  He caught the Bengals without two of their starting defensive backs, but he was impressive regardless.  He'll take center stage on Thursday night with a chance to win a third straight game.

He'll have his chance to stake his claim, to prove the doubters wrong, and to really legitimize Michael Lombardi as a general manager.  As someone who has been as critical of him as anyone, I can't help but to have a slight taste of crow right about now.  Between Hoyer, Mingo, the defensive free agents, and the Richardson trade, the moves he's made are certainly looking like the right ones.  We can only hope that continues.

The defense played outstanding.  Barkevious Mingo was excellent.  He looks like a DeMarcus Ware clone.  He has a sack in each of his three games.  His run support needs work, but his motor is non stop, and his athleticism is off the charts.  He appears to be a special player.  Joe Haden is one of the top five cornerbacks in the NFL.  This Browns defense is almost championship caliber, and we should enjoy what we get to see while we have Ray Horton.  I don't think he's long for Cleveland, because he's going to be a head coach somewhere.

Another week, another run game shut down by the front seven.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Browns are a legitimate number 2 cornerback away from being a top 5 defense.  Six points is all the Bengals could muster.  And the Bengals are pretty good.  The Browns stuffing them on fourth and one in the second quarter set the tone for the rest of the game.  It was awesome.  There aren't enough good things to say about Desmond Bryant and Phil Taylor.  Those guys are playing at a Pro Bowl level.

Andy Dalton looked horrible, that's a fact.  He really is exactly who I thought he was.  The Bengals are too good to only score 6 points.  But the Browns secondary played a part in that.  Haden (and/or Dalton) frustrated AJ Green all game.  He basically made no impact.  Chris Owens had a great strip sack and recovery on a well designed cornerback blitz.  Loved the play by Tashaun Gipson in the 4th quarter, where he rearranged Jermaine Gresham's internal organs forcing the dropped pass.  The next play was the interception by Buster Skrine, which basically decided the game.

If it weren't for Billy Cundiff and his lousy kicking, the game would have been decided by then.

The most impressive thing that I saw in that game was the 12 play 91 yard drive in the fourth quarter.  What a drive.  That was grown man football.  That was one team imposing its will on another team.  That was the Browns letting the Bengals know that they were not losing this game.  Hoyer was great, going 5-5, including a great touch throw to Jordan Cameron for 31 yards in between defenders.  Willis McGahee got his legs under him on that drive, looking like at least a serviceable solution at running back.  It was big boy football and the Browns played it better.  17-6 Browns victory.  Two wins in a row with a big Thursday game against the Bills.  3-2 after five games very possible.  I think we all would have taken that at the beginning of the season.

Joe Thomas made his 100th straight start.  He's actually never missed a snap in his career.  It was 6,054 straight before yesterday's game.  That's incredible.
The Browns still have 0 rushing touchdowns this season.
Jordan Cameron is on pace for 120 catches 1440 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Oh yeah and Pittsburgh is 0-4, and may be the worst team in football.  VICTORY MONDAY!


Random gifs

Troll hard Knowshon

Geno Sanchez

Barry Sanders Jr Everybody

Oh yeah and the Indians locker room celebration was legendary.  WINDIANS

Week 11

Thanksgiving is the greatest holiday of the year.  No other holiday offers such awesome expectations.  Seriously on Thanksgiving you are expected to spend time with friends and family, eat and drink as much as possible, and watch football.  Nice try Christmas, you're not even close.  I love Thanksgiving.

And amazingly, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the Browns thanked their fans for sticking with them by defeating the hated Pittsburgh Steelers 20-14.  Yes, it took 8 Pittsburgh turnovers.  Yes it was against Charlie Batch.  I could care less.  A win against the Steelers is rare for these Browns, and I'll take them any way I can get them.  There's no better sight than seeing those dirtbag fans leaving our stadium with their heads down, the only use for those towels to wipe their tears.  A possible season wrecking loss by the Steelers, and a big win for the Browns, who needed one.

It looked like it was going to be the same old same old early.  Weeden had
a pass picked off on the Browns first series off a tip by that barbarian Brett Keisel and returned for a touchdown by Timmons, and Pittsburgh had a quick 7-0 lead.  Following a three and out the Browns punted to the Steelers and forced the first turnover of the day when Rubin stripped Mendenhall and Usama Young recovered.  The Browns turned that into a Phil Dawson field goal.  He's so damn good.  27 straight field goals, like Terry Pluto said we won't appreciate him until he's gone.

The teams traded punts until early in the second quarter when Juqua Parker forced another fumble which was recovered by Buster Skrine at the Steeler 10 yard line.  Weeden found Cameron for the touchdown on third down and the Browns took the lead 10-7.  It was Cameron's first touchdown, so congrats to him, and a big play seeing as how the Browns have had trouble scoring in the red zone.

 

The defense went soft at the end of the half and allowed the Steelers to score a touchdown on a Chris Rainey run following a Sheldon Brown pass interference in the end zone.  The Browns dominated the half but still trailed 14-13.

In the second half, the defense rose up and dominated.  They smacked the Steelers over and over in the mouth, and eventually they folded and the Browns were the one's left standing.  They turned a Sheldon Brown interception into a great 15 yard touchdown run by Richardson to take the lead for good, and then held on for the rest of the game for the win.  They forced every Steeler running back to fumble, and added another interception, by Joe Haden.  They out physicaled the Steelers.  And we haven't been able to say that in a long time.  I understand the circumstances but I don't care.  The Browns notched only their 5th win against the Steelers since they've been back.  And damn if it doesn't feel good.

We had only our second opportunity to see Phil Taylor and Ahtyba Rubin play at full strength, with last week being the first.  And guess what?  For the first time since 1989, the Browns held an opponent to under 65 rushing yards in consecutive weeks.  Well done defense.  I can't think of one defender who didn't play well.  On offense you'd like to see Weeden play with more consistency, you'd like to see Richardson hit the holes when they're there (he missed a couple), and you'd like to see less holding penalties, but I'm not going to nitpick after a win.  Browns win, 20-14.  A great win to cap a great weekend.  For guys like me, it doesn't get better than the Buckeyes beating Michigan and the Browns beating the Steelers in the same weekend.  It hasn't happened since 1962, so soak it in.  For the Browns, they've got the Raiders and Chiefs in their next 2 games.  Is a winning streak in the cards?  Let's hope so, but like Shurmur said, Richardson, Weeden, Schwartz, and the rest of the rookies are 1-0 against Pittsburgh, and that's something to enjoy, at least for a week.

On a side note, the officiating in the NFL is awful.  Replacement refs were really bad, but the real ones are pretty lousy as well.  The call in the early game on turkey day when Justin Forestt of the Texans was clearly down was horrible.  Yeah, Schwartz threw the challenge flag and he shouldn't have.  But that should not prevent the refs from getting the call right.  What a stupid rule, NFL. 

Here's a thought - even if Schwartz doesn't throw the flag, Gary Kubiak should have.  Teams should sacrifice 15 yards to ensure that those types of plays don't get reviewed.  Yeah I understand it's completely against what they're trying to do, but if Kubiak challenges saying he wanted to run more clock or whatever, and the play is automatically reviewed, the refs have to flag Kubiak and the play isn't reviewable anymore, just like they did to Detroit.  Kubiak would have been smart to throw the challenge flag himself and ensure the touchdown.  Just watch, some coach will be smart enough to do it before the season is over. 

Also, in the Browns game, Richardson clearly fumbled with just over 2 minutes left in the game.  Not. Good. Trent.  However, the Steelers were out of timeouts and couldn't challenge.  Finally a horrible call goes the Browns way, but geez these guys are bad.

The same play that happened in Dallas last week, where Miles Austin clearly made a catch and fumbled but the play was blown dead, happened again in Cincinnati when they were playing Oakland.  Oakland was down in the game, Bengals player catches the ball, tucks, has it knocked out.  Oakland recovers and returns the fumble for a score.  Buuuuttttt ref blew a whistle, meaning the play is not reviewable.  Total garbage.  Next play, a frustrated Oakland player throws Dalton to the ground, and a brawl ensues.  What a joke, the NFL should hold themselves to a higher standard.  Get it right.

And officials should have their calls graded and made publicly available by the league.  It would force them to be accountable for what they're calling, and would allow for an easy evaluation system that fans could be aware of.  I want to know how many pass interference calls the back judge that blew the Miles Austin fumble call in the Dallas game made.  Was it just one ref making all these calls or was it a few?  Everything players and coaches do is public and they're held accountable.  Why not the officials?  It'll never happen, but it should.

Random gifs

Yeah this pretty much sums up Michigan's day

Ouch

Yes.  Dance away Joe.  Dance away.

And just because.

Defensive Tackle - My Take

After the big trade down last year, and subsequent trade back up, the Browns took big Phil Taylor, defensive tackle and awesome traveler. However even with he and big Ahtyba Rubin, the Browns run defense was horrible.  That should improve with the addition of Frostee Rucker and growth of Taylor and Jabaal Sheard, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Browns picked a defensive tackle in the mid-late rounds of the draft.  Let's look at what the Browns have now

Starters:

Ahtyba Rubin - should have received Pro-Bowl consideration last season but the Browns were so awful he didn't.  An absolute stud.

Phil Taylor - Struggled at times during his rookie season, but flashed enough potential to give fans hope for the future.  Should continue to develop and will hopefully team with Rubin as dominant inside forces for the foreseeable future.

Backups:

Brian Schaefering - serviceable backup and one of the nicest guys on the team.  My dude.
Scott Paxson - tried to be my hero and wreck Roethlisberger's leg but it just wasn't meant to be.
Brian Sanford - ??


I don't see the Browns taking a defensive tackle before the 4th round, but here are a few guys who may fit what they're looking for late.




Loni Fangupo, BYU - 4th rounder - USC transfer, big guy (6'1 320) who can play over the center in the 4-3.  He's an older prospect (27) who is basically a 2 down player as he doesn't offer much as a pass rusher.  May be overdrafted because he can play in a 3-4 or 4-3 and is the space eater many teams covet nowadays.







Mike Daniels, Iowa - 4th rounder - Not huge, (6'0 290) penetrating d-tackle who is better at getting after the passer than playing the run.  Not built to be a starter but could provide excellent value as a rotational guy.  No one will out work him and teams will know what they're going to get.

Trevor Guyton, Cal - 4th rounder - good sized (6'2 285) high motor guy who will give his all.  Like Daniels probably not meant to be a starter but can contribute in a rotation and teams will be comfortable that they're getting a lunch pail type guy, aggressive and competitive player.

Jaye Howard, Florida - 4th-5th rounder - big (6'3 300) and fast (4.78 forty at the combine) but doesn't always play to that ability.  Extremely inconsistent effort and can be invisible for stretches.  More of a boom or bust type but could provide great value if he slips into the 5th round.

Marcus Forston, Miami - 5th-6th rounder - once one of the top recruits in the country.  Strong upper body but seems like he'll always tease with his talent.  Suspended for beginning of his junior year, hurt his knee in practice and only played 3 games before declaring.  Should have gone back to school, but could make a team and contribute.

Christian Tupou, USC - 6th-7th rounder - played nose at USC.  High character guy who worked back from a torn ACL in 2010.  Not a great athlete and will always be limited in that regard.  Could make a roster and stick.













Tydreke Powell, North Carolina - 6th-7th rounder - another athletically limited big man who will likely only be a rotational guy, but has size (6'2 311) and gives effort, and that's what you want as a backup d-tackle.









Wild-Card:


Armond Armstead, USC - (6'4 295) - Experienced chest pains while at USC and spent 5 days in the hospital.  Was cleared medically but USC would not allow him to return to football, so he declared for the draft.  Has visited with the Browns and could be in their sights.  Has experience playing end and tackle.  Interesting prospect, was a big-time recruit out of high-school.





Depending on what the Browns do with their picks, we could see a defensive tackle in this draft class.  They have 2 surefire starters in Rubin and Taylor but could use depth.  It wouldn't surprise me to see one of the guys listed above in brown and orange as the brass tries to shore up the run defense.