What Do You Want to See This Weekend Against Houston?
November 3, 2011On Scott Raab’s Search for the Soul of LeBron James
November 4, 2011While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Ouch.- “Meanwhile, a fun trick with stats that you’ll probably hear an announcer employ this weekend: Did you know Cleveland has allowed the second-fewest passing yards in football? Does that sound impressive? It isn’t. The Browns have also faced the fewest pass attempts in football, and that’s because of who they’ve played. Here are the starting quarterbacks they’ve faced this season: Andy Dalton, Kerry Collins, Chad Henne. Matt Hasselbeck, Jason Campbell, Charlie Whitehurst, Alex Smith. The only quarterback on your fantasy league’s waiver wire missing from this list, coincidentally, is Browns starter Colt McCoy.” [Barnwell/Grantland]
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A test of the Browns’ watchability- “Are the 2011 Cleveland Browns passing anyone’s eye test? Conventional wisdom says no. But dig a little deeper…and the answer still seems to be no. I base this theory on a few criteria. Criteria #1: Ability to be side-tracked while watching. It’s one thing to watch the game with friends and occasionally get mired in a riveting conversation about fantasy football, barbecue, or John Coltrane, but it’s quite another when there’s nothing distracting you and you seek out something to distract you.
This Sunday I was comfortably in my bed around the time kickoff rolled around (don’t judge me) and realized that I didn’t have it in me to travel to a bar – especially since I wasn’t sure my friends would be there. I found a completely legal/ethical website to stream the game for me and stayed cozied up in my bed. The feed cut out a few times so I had to try a few different links. One of them, during every commercial, featured an NFL Films-style documentary on Charles Woodson. Suddenly, the game became secondary to this fascinating doc. I was basically more interested in the Woodson story than I was in watching an atrocious offense and a solid defense play losing football.” [Kevin Nye/Dawg Pound Daily]
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Hillis has a defender- “I think it is ridiculous to think that Hillis is not trying as hard this season because of his contract situation. Have our other running backs found gaping holes to run through? If you think Cleveland’s offense was ineffective with Hillis in there, then how did things go over the past two weeks? It sounds weak that Hillis didn’t play through an illness. It sounds weak that Hillis suffered a hamstring injury right away in his first game after that and hasn’t played or practiced much since. We’ve been over the illness fiasco already, so I won’t rehash that. Hamstring injuries aren’t something you can just come back from right away without the risk of re-aggravating it. Arian Foster injured his hamstring in the preseason. He sat out Week 1, and then returned in Week 2, only to feel it get tight during the game. He sat out Week 3 before finally returning to form in Week 4. Keep in mind again that the media has been stirring the pot with a lot of these things; it’s not like Hillis has suddenly become Terrell Owens and is an attention-seeker demanding he gets some respect.” [Pokorny/Dawgs by Nature]
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How close are the Indians?- “Going into the offseason the Tigers are still the clear favorite in the AL Central next year, but the Indians and other teams have a chance to make some headway by making the right moves this offseason. Just like several of the Tigers’ midseason moves this past season vaulted their performance to a different level, the same could happen for the Indians this offseason. Also young teams like the Indians and Royals with a lot of good young players should show considerable improvement next year just by being a year older. Time will tell, but the Indians have the makings of a nice starting rotation with two very good pitchers at the front end with right-handers Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez. If Jimenez can get back to anything remotely close to his 2010 form the Masterson-Jimenez duo at the top of the rotation could be one of the best in baseball. On top of that the Indians have three solid starters making up the rest of the rotation. Right-hander Josh Tomlin has consistently pitched deep into games and been a winner and even though right-hander Fausto Carmona is an enigma he has the talent to be a good #2 or #3 pitcher for almost any rotation.” [Tony/Indians Prospect Insider]
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Finally, a Kyrie Irving caption contest. [Ball Don’t Lie]
5 Comments
Barnwell’s an idiot… it’s fine to say that, but then shouldn’t he also say something about the Brown’s run defense facing the 3rd most rushing attempts per game and how our rushing defense gets a bad name because of the increased number of attempts even though they are actually good at stopping the run? We’re ranked 9th in yards per attempt.
ESPN (I know, I know) had a short piece on SportsCenter this morning about how Romo’s yards per pass numbers were down from two years ago and hence, the offense hasn’t produced well. It is a known problem on Dallas’ end and they are trying to fix it.
Sound like an offense we know? And, they have solid playmakers as well (Bryant/Austin) in their WR corps. It’s one of two things for Dallas: Romo just can’t hack it anymore or their line isn’t giving him the time he needs. Of course, Romo said it was the latter but I think it is somewhere in-between. He isn’t making reads or getting rid of the ball quickly/smartly enough, and it causing issues and lowering his yards per pass.
You can’t compare the Browns offense to the Cowboys or for that matter any college team. High school, maybe. And the Browns are definitely unwatchable but then again they’ve been that way almost since they returned.
anyone who watched niu/toledo had to imagine colt in the pistol with cribbs coming around on a fly sweep. cmon admit it.
@ Shamrock: Not comparing offense, comparing quarterback production.