While We’re Waiting… All About LeBron’s Dance Moves
December 7, 2009Cavs 101, Bucks 86: Complete With Hot Sauce
December 7, 2009
Congratulations to the Cleveland Browns for playing a football game that I would sincerely call watchable. Yes, they still lost. Yes, they didn’t seem to comprehend that the opposing team’s running back was allowed to catch the ball out of the backfield. Then again, this defense is a shell of its former self now that the injury hammer has smashed them in the face. In the end, the Browns lose by a touchdown, although it wasn’t quite that close. The Browns scrambled to score 16 points in the 4th quarter against mostly prevent defense. Still, there were some signs of progress on offense.
New names peppered the box score this week. Evan Moore was signed to play tight end from the Browns’ practice squad this week. He finally gave the Browns a threat in space in the middle of the defense. He caught six passes for 80 yards. The second highest receiver of the day was Brian Robiskie who finally made it to the active lineup with 69 yards receiving on four catches. Next on the receiving list was Jerome Harrison who caught seven passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Massaquoi and Stuckey also combined for five catches and 47 yards to round out the production.
Chris Jennings was dinged up with a sore shoulder, I believe. He still saw some time with five carries for 28 yards. He continues to show solid potential. Harrison also ran the ball as the “featured” back for the Browns, but only ended up with ten carries for 35 yards. It was a tough day running for the Browns and they were chasing the Chargers most of the game, so they had to abandon the run a lot. It was still nice to see Jerome Harrison making people miss, getting outside the tackles and generally making things happen. Also, one of his receptions was a shovel pass at the goal line for a Browns touchdown. Technically it is a pass, but it acts almost like a draw. Josh Cribbs was actually the leading rusher for the game. He ran the wildcat offense 4 or 5 times. He had one really long run for 30 yards. Those types of plays have to be potential with your offense.
The defense was ugly ugly ugly. They got gashed for long plays all day long. Eric Wright might be a good cover corner, but when the play changes and there is a blocker on him, he is almost worthless. He can’t seem to ever shed a block to make a play. There were also a great many Hank Poteat sightings. Now that Jamal Lewis is gone, I will continue to focus on him and wonder where Coye Francies is in this completely lost season.
Antonio Gates put on a show with eight catches for 167 yards. He had a really long 56 yard catch in there too. One thing the Browns will have to work on is finding some better linebacker talent to take away opposing teams’ tight ends. I don’t have specific stats to back it up, but doesn’t it seem like the Browns have gotten crushed all year by tight ends? The story of the day for the Browns’ defense was the long play. Gates had a 56 yard catch. Tolbert had a 66 yard catch. Vincent Jackson had a 41 yard catch. Darren Sproles had a 31 yard play, but it could have been longer if that pesky end zone hadn’t gotten in his way!
It says a lot about the season that this game actually made me feel better about the team. It just went to show how they could play if they continue to develop. Brady Quinn played loose. He held onto the ball a little too long a couple times, but that was a welcome sight after seeing him unload the ball in a panic in some previous games. The Browns went 8-16 on third down and were 2-2 on 4th down. Those stats were aided by the prevent defense toward the end of the game, but at least they took advantage of the prevent, right? They are supposed to do that. The Browns were also 3-4 in the red zone. Quinn finished the day with a 95.7 QB rating after completing 25 of 45 passes for 271 yards and three (THREE) touchdowns.
In the end, I don’t know how much this game shows negatively how Eric Mangini couldn’t let veterans like Jamal Lewis go. Even as I constantly called for Jamal Lewis to be run out of here, he was a captain with lots of locker room support. Mangini was in a tough spot and potentially could have lost the locker room depending on how he got rid of J-Lew. In the end though, Jamal Lewis, it seems, was this year’s Willie McGinest and needed to be benched in the name of player development. I don’t know what to think about the Robiskie situation. Was Brian really so far away from a performance like this until this current week? Was Mangini just being stubborn with him? Was he in the dog house as Scott suggested? He apparently had a sit-down with the coach this week, gets the active roster spot and performs well. Was this the natural progression or is it a fault of Mangini?
[Craig hands baton to DP to attempt to bring this home]
As much as it may pain a lot of the Browns’ fan base, this team appears not to have quit on Mangini; they played hard until the final gun. Granted, San Diego left the door open a crack for them back letting off the gas, but the Browns capitalized on that. I’d (and this is DP finishing up for Craig) much rather see a team play hard for 60 minutes. It makes me wonder if Randy Lerner’s plan might not be to keep Mangini-the-Coach, but to can Mangini-the-Personnel-Guy.
Speaking of personnel, I (still DP) saw the play of Evan Moore yesterday as a sign that Robert Royal should never play another down as a Cleveland Brown. Between Michael Gaines (big blocker type who can catch occasionally) and Moore (seemed to have great hands and, other than a missed hot read that donked off his head, a knack for being open as that all important safety valve that’s actually 5-6 yards downfield instead of in the flat), the Browns should have enough solid TE coverage the rest of the way and should be able to deactivate Royal. Please, I’m begging you.
I’m sure Craig and I missed some things, but while there are no moral victories in the NFL, it was definitely nice to see the Browns take an opening kick off and drive it down the field for a score. And really, if Dawson doesn’t miss the field goal and Quinn doesn’t cough it up at the 5 (or, if Mangini’s challenge had been upheld), the Browns could have possibly kept it a game for longer.
Pittsburgh is reeling, folks. The Browns could make Thursday night a game, too. And for once, I’m being serious.
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Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
47 Comments
Is it perhaps time for the “prevent defense” to be renamed? I don’t know if anyone has studied the matter, but the impression one often gets is that it actually assists the other team in gaining yards and scoring.
In the Chargers’ case, though, it was more of a “death by 1000 cuts” defense. Sure, the Browns scored 16 points, but it would have required TWO successful onside kicks as well as another TD with about 40 seconds left for them to complete the comeback. Once the Chargers were up 20 to start the 4th, there was really no way the Browns could come back and tie it within the confines of the 15 minutes left on the clock. So, while the Chargers definitely let the Browns back in, they did so with the knowledge that the Browns would have to bleed out most of the clock to even get close.
I’m still drinking the Kool-Aid. I like what I saw out of the Browns yesterday. Quinn looked good against a solid defense, now he needs the consistincey week in/week out. The defense, as was said, is a shell at best, and really there are no expectations from me at this point. Our Offense just needs to run up the score (ok, i laughed at myself at that one). We got Pittspuke coming in with a putrid secondary, KC & Oakland (who BOTH beat Pittspuke this year), and Jacksonville left. Dare I say we got a win in there somewhere.
Well, yes the prevent does allow the other team to gain yards and score (sometimes scoring is ok – sometimes not depending on the game situation). But a prevent is really playing against the clock. It tries to force the other team out of long plays and into short ones in the middle of the field to use up clock. I tend to think it works much more than it doesn’t. It is very easy to say it “prevents from winning“ but NFL teams are not stupid. They’ve studied this. I think we all remember when it fails and forget when it works.
Ndamukong Suh is going to look great brown and orange next year.
Just saying….
It is a bit sad that the mere spectre of offensive production got me excited, but I was definitely encouraged by this game. If the Browns figure out a way to be the Steelers on Thursday (which would all but end the Stillers’ playoff hopes), Mangini will have a better record against Pittsburgh than any Browns head coach since Chris Palmer. I think Mangini effectively ends speculation about his job with a win this week (though I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not). Either way, let’s hope the offense shows up again on Thursday and gashes an increasingly suspect Steelers’ secondary. This could actually happen.
Oops. Should say “beat the Steelers” not “be the Steelers.”
@RobGoBlue
I second that.
The prevent defense is fine, but teams go to it too early.
It should only be used when yards don’t matter (think 30 seconds or less), and should be shelved the rest of the time.
Well, Phil. You know what they say. The only thing the prevent defense prevents is punts.
I want to send a memo to the Browns’ staff to talk to the refs before the game. They need to keep an eye on Ike Taylor because that guy commits pass interference on pretty much every single play.
I want the Browns to draft Suh simply so I can make “NDAMUNATE” t-shirts
if nothing else, the fact that Quinn has looked decent should keep him around next year and the Browns can afford to look elsewhere in the draft. This is HUGE.
Matt, I agree. I haven’t been sold on Quinn, but yesterday’s performance showed to me that he should get a full year at the helm next season. There’s so many other things the team needs to address in the offseason that taking an early-round QB would be a huge mistake at this point. Shoring up the defense should be priority 1, rather than a passer. If they take a 3rd or 4th round QB, I wouldn’t flinch – but anything in the first day is beyond stupid.
@Denny Especially since the First Day only consists of the 1st round in 2010
The biggest change for Quinn I think is having a tight end that can catch who’s able to get five or six yards down field. I’m not saying Moore is a long-term answer, but they were able to exploit the weak area of the Chargers’ defense.
The more continuity that Quinn can get will only help him. If they can go into training camp with Quinn as the solid #1 guy and he can get first-team reps for a solid month, it can only help him develop.
Lots of good comments, good game but I still can’t believe the D let that little dump truck take one back 66 yards. Is it just me or did Trusnik just decide not to tackle him?
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Is that you Tolbert?
You know, I’m hungover, my knees are killing me and if you’re gonna pull this **** at least you could have said you’re from the Yankees.
@Denny – Agree with you man. We need defense and then more defense and maybe a RB and/or WR thrown in there with all those extra picks.
From what I am hearing, this QB class is sub-par at best.
@Matt- Very solid point man. The fact that Brady showed what he can do with a little time and receivers that actually catch the ball was the best part of yesterday’s game. Still think that with the right mix of weapons and playcalling, Brady can be a solid QB in this league. Was quite impressed yesterday also with his improvement in accuracy.
Thursday’s game should be interesting considering the weather forecast!
Completely agree, Matt. They may still spend a later-round pick on a QB, but if Quinn can just maintain, they won’t feel much pressure to draft a QB with their top-3 pick. And if they don’t need a QB, they can go so many different directions.
@ nullster – I. Hate. The. Draft. Especially changes that require people to pay more attention to it.
@ du – I haven’t seen anybody in college this year (aside from Ryan Mallett who likely won’t come out this year – but if he does, he’s top-5 worthy IMO) that looks like they’ll be great at the next level. Tebow’s delivery is horrendous and takes 4 years to happen. Bradford is the best of the three guys that are bally-hooed, but he doesn’t face defenses. Nobody in the Big Ten looks very good, and Case Keenum is more or less Graham Harrell 2.0. Jimmy Clausen isn’t worth a top 5, but likely is a better prospect than McCoy/Bradford/Tebow.
@ Denny
I liked the Draft as a two-day event; I could pay attention to rounds one and two and then just check the draft-tracker online whenever the Browns were up. Now it’s spread over four days? Insane.
Abe Elam is the most disappointing offseason pickup in my mind. Way too much hype for little impact. At least no one thought any of the other pickups would be anything but marginal stopgaps.
Keenum is staying here at UofH, and if you saw him play in person you wouldn’t call him Harrell 2.0. Harrell was a system QB, Keenum just makes plays. But that’s not why I’m here today
Evan Moore is our Antonio Gates. A college WR, he also played on the Stanford basketball team.
I think the biggest change we’re seeing in Quinn is being comfortable with the playbook and his receivers. Yesterday we saw less Furrey, on offense, and finally some Robiskie. Passes were on target down the field, and was really only off target on a few of the short ones to Harrison late in the game. Imagine how this game would have been changed if Quinn hadn’t fumbled the ball in the red zone…
I echo Denny’s statement completely. With Quinn’s “resurgence”, it should at least prevent the Browns from taking a QB early (I hope). It should at least buy the the Browns another year to see what Quinn has and fill in the other positions in the mean time. It’s expected that a greater number of juniors will come out this year with the threat of a rookie salary cap, so there should be some steals at QB available in some of the later rounds. I want Suh or Berry in a Browns uni next year. Suh and Rogers on the DL would be scary.
Good news fans…just looked up the tie-breaker rules for the NFL draft. The first tie-breaker is strength of schedule. Now I’m not gonna sit here and do the math today, but based the strength of schedule based on last year’s results we would get the number one draft pick…and Suh….
I would actually consider using a #1 overall on a guy like Suh a success for the Browns, and I hate the way rookies get guaranteed money in the NFL. It might still be best to trade down to prevent killing our cap, but that kid is absolutely dominant.
Can we all just pretend it’s 1998 again? Back then we were longing for an NFL team too. Plus there would have been nothing yesterday to sully the Cavs’ win and the fact that the Steelers lost to the pathetic Raiders and Toledo’s own Bruce Gradkowski.
*2008 Browns starting QB Bruce Gradkowski
@Oppie00 – Agree about possibly stealing a QB in the later rounds. Some names that could be out there are Colt McCoy and Tony Pike.
@Denny – Agree with you about Ryan Mallett. But I DO think he will come out because of the possible payscale for rookies starting in 2011. However, not sure he will go in the top 5 due to lack of experience. But the upside is there no doubt with his frame (6’6) and arm strength.
Good article. Actually went to the game yesterday (first one all year) and had a good time. Still would like to see more deep throws. We actually missed the first drive, but the first half seemed all dink and dunk type again. Was fun though, and wish I could go Thursday. I hope the Browns fans show up and don’t let the T.V. picture look like a Pittsburgh home game.
@ du – if the Raiders are in the top 5, they’ll take him. Then he and Jamarcus can have throw-offs all day while Al Davis cackles and does his best Mr Burns impression.
I think we should give credit to Mangini or at least the front office for 1. Making Wimbley a respectable LB that can make plays (mostly Ryan and Mangini on that one). Imagine what Kam would do if there was another guy to account for. 2. Finding Matt Roth and Evan Moore out of NOWHERE. I don’t know if anyone else said that but I wanted to mention it. Kudos Browns.
I beg the Browns to pick Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska. He’s the best defensive player in college.
No to any QB being drafted in the first round. It’s not worth the risk.
Prevent Defense prevents you from winning, I think that was said once or twice by my high-school coach.
Thought this was funny yesterday. I now live in Pittsburgh and my wife is a huge steelers fan. As we were watching the end of the steelers’ loss, a defensive back from pittsburgh drops an easy interception which would have ended the game.
My wife looks up to the sky and yells “damn you football gods!!!”.
I look up to the sky and yell “you mean the same football gods who have given you TWO super bowls in the last 4 years!!!!”
her sheepish grin was priceless.
You know, outside the playcalling, the O is looking better. The play calling is ridiculous still. They need to find something better for Cribbs in the Wildcat, because all SD was doing was loading up on the side BQ was not on. Maybe run Cribbs through the wide open middle, or heres a thing… have Quinn hand the ball off to cribbs like a normal running play! I also think that wil some better timing we could see some bigger plays coming from the O.
Also, I dont know why everyone is wanting Suh over Berry. Seriously who do we have in our secondary? Pool may be done for his career, and I am sick of seeing Poteat getting on the field. If Berry comes out he HAS to be our pick, not only because he’s the best defender available, but also in our biggest need. Having a ball hawk Safety might finally cause some turnovers and set our O up with decent position to score. Im not saying I wouldnt mind Suh, but Berry has to be the top choice.
@bobby
With Pool’s latest injury I agree with you. His absence leaves us with all of one player (Elam) whose natural position is safety and he’s not exactly lighting up opposing offenses. If we don’t address the safety position we’re trotting out either a nickel corner or a converted WR out next to Elam.
I was a Berry fan even before Pool went down (again) and now I think he’s a necessity.
@Du:
I think it’s interesting that a QB class with potentially 3 Heisman winners is sub-par. Not that I necessarily disagree. It’s just a nice thing to point out.
Suh, Berry, a stud RB, a stud LB, a lock down CB, a WR, a great LT to play RT (see: Mike Oher). ALL those positions need to be seriously considered. We won’t know more until about January anyway when the deadline to declare rolls around.
It’s going to take a couple of years to rebuild this team, and I take Suh as the best building block available. Seriously, I don’t know that I’ve seen a better D-lineman in the last couple of years. We can pick up CB’s and safeties in the second and third, but quality D-linemen are hard to find. Ask Gerrard Warren.
AND, ask the Baltimore Ravens. People say oh we have Rogers (who is 30 and will be coming off an injury). But, the Ravens have Trevor Pryce, Haloti Ngata, Justin Banan, Kelly Gregg, and a few other rotational guys who are good. The Pats had Seymour, Wilfork, and Ty Warren (all 1st round picks). In a 3-4 you need good DL that can get to the QB. ONLY Rogers can do that. Suh would be a great piece and those 2 would free up Wimbley for another 11 sack season.
A defensive back’s best friend is an effective pass rush.
TBrown, while I agree with you we still dont have anyone DBs (outside of Wright probably) that can cover anybody. There are impact pass rushers in every draft, but how often does a S like Berry come around? Theres few of his type in the NFL, and if he enters the draft, then we need to capitalize. Now, if he doesnt, then we can get Suh this year and pick up Berry in the top 5 next year.
A nice, non-self-loathing discussion about the Browns. Who’da thunk it?
Take the fact that the offense finally looks like a football offense, and I don’t know how this can possibly point to anything other than a terrible coaching job by Mangini. Our top RB, WR(s), and TE from yesterday were not starters at the beginning of the season or even a couple weeks ago, not to even mention the Quinn debacle.
The defense has been hit in the face with a hammer and the only team I can see them performing at a mediocre level against is Oakland. Injuries happen, but who knows if it’s due to practice or whatever. The offense shows signs of life only AFTER Mangini’s first (and sometimes second and third) guesses of players are off the field. For the decent rough guys Mangini picks up (Roth, Trusnik, Moore) he picks up piles of poop (Royal, Poteat, St. Clair) who continue starting for far, far too long. And we’re really jumping the gun on these guys looking decent. Hell, McDonald looked decent after his first couple games. I won’t call Roth or Moore a find until they perform over more than a couple games.
I think Berry will be a game changer, but I personally would go with Suh. Both should be Pro Bowlers in the NFL, but with the number one pick you chose a defensive lineman who can control the line of scrimmage. There is a great number of safeties in this draft, but there’s only one Suh.
Remember, we have to worry about the run defense too.
cle-28 pit-27
Alas poor Brodney, I found myself missing his 110% performance on Sunday. Elam and in particular Poteat are painfully uninspiring on D. Clearly Berry is a must for next year.
Overall a good game, that didn’t really feel like a Sunday-crushing loss. Thursday night is primed for upset. Go Browns!