While We’re Waiting…Weeden lights it up

While We’re Waiting is the daily morning link roundup that WFNY has been serving up for breakfast for the last several years. We hope you enjoy the following recent collection of yummy and nutritious Cleveland sports-related articles. Anything else to add? Email us at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

“The Browns are counting on Weeden to take a major step following an up-and-down rookie year. Chudzinski and new coordinator Norv Turner have tailored Cleveland’s offense to better suit Weeden, who has won over his teammates with his work ethic during the offseason.

Now, all the soon-to-be 30-year-old has to do is convince skeptical Cleveland fans that he can be the man. This was an ideal start.

Weeden looked composed as he led the Browns to 10 points on their first two possessions.

He went 5 of 8 on Cleveland’s first drive, which included wide receiver Greg Little — a former basketball player — making a leaping catch of a pass that deflected off tight end Jordan Cameron’s facemask. Brian Bogotay’s 25-yard field goal gave Cleveland a 3-0 lead.

Weeden was even better the second time the Browns got the ball. He completed all five passes, connecting on a 30-yard crossing route to Cameron before capping the drive with his TD strike to Lewis, who juked Rams rookie linebacker Alec Ogletree before hauling in Weeden’s throw.

”I thought he did a good job,” Chudzinski said of Weeden. ”He was efficient and led us to some drives. Ultimately, doing that is what his job is all about.”

Cleveland’s revamped offense clicked even without Richardson, kept out as a precaution as he recovers from a shin injury. Weeden saw plenty of progress.

”We maneuvered well,” he said. ”We didn’t have any penalties. We didn’t do anything to move backwards. We were moving forward. For the first game out, I think we did some good things.”

Benjamin gave the Browns reason to believe they won’t miss spectacular return specialist Josh Cribbs, who signed with Oakland. With Cleveland leading 10-0, Benjamin backpedaled and caught a punt at his 9. He broke toward the left sideline, picked up a couple blocks, one by rookie Barkevious Mingo, and went untouched to the end zone.

”Freaky fast,” Weeden said, describing Benjamin.” [Associated Press]

—

“The Browns have good depth behind Weeden. Moreover, they have bolstered their ranks at wide receiver and running back in recent years. They have more skill-position talent than in the past, and it shows on the depth chart. The right players seem to be on the right rungs.

No one would say the Browns are finished product on offense, but this looks like a group with a little more punch than we’re accustomed to seeing from Cleveland.”[Wilkington/NBCSports]

—

“Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge shared reps at tight end with the first-team offense.  When lined up to the same side of the line of scrimmage, Cameron was the inside tight end and Barnidge was the outside tight end.  Both players spent time in the slot.  There were multiple occasions when Barnidge motioned into the backfield and lined up as an offset fullback.  As a receiver, Barnidge showed soft hands as he caught a hitch route for six yards and a first down. Although Cameron had one pass go right through his hands and off of his helmet in the red zone, he made up for it later when he caught a shallow cross in stride and exploded up the sideline for a 30-yard gain.

In the run game, the tight ends were inconsistent overall.  Jordan Cameron was unable to create much movement at the point of attack and got moved back into the backfield on a few occasions.  Cameron can develop into a solid blocker if he develops some consistency, but he is never going to be a great blocker that regularly moves defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage.  Gary Barnidge did a good job of fighting at the point of attack and sealing defenders away from the running lane.  Barnidge also did a solid job of lead blocking for the running backs when lined up in the backfield.  There was one play that went for negative yardage where Barnidge missed a block on a linebacker at the second level and the linebacker tackled the runner near the line of scrimmage.” [Orange and Brown Report/Leister]

—

“There were six games in the NFL on Thursday. According to an article by SB Nation, out of the 11 cities of the teams in those games (Tampa Bay was blacked out), the WKYC viewing area in Cleveland was tied for the second-highest TV rating.

Rams vs. Browns TV Rating: 21.0/34

For those who don’t know what that means, here is an explanation:

• 21% of the people in the Cleveland market were watching the Browns last night
• 34% of all TV’s that were turned on in the Cleveland market last night were tuned in to the Browns

The next highest watched show last night in Cleveland was The Big Bang Theory; 4.6% of the people in Cleveland were watching that. The only city with a higher TV rating than Cleveland last night was Nashville. St. Louis had the lowest TV rating at 9.4/16.” [Dawgs By Nature/Pokorny]