Browns vs. Titans, the Tribe season review, and the return of LeBron – WFNY Podcast – 2014-10-02
October 2, 2014
LeBron’s real impact, Adam Sandler, and Speedy Ortiz… While We’re Waiting
October 3, 2014My dreams of watching the Browns face Charlie Whitehurst again, are apparently not going to come true. I never root for injuries, of course, but it sure might have been nice if Jake Locker needed another week just to make sure his injured wrist was truly 100 percent. Alas, Locker is practicing and says he feels fine.
“When you are not winning and things are not going the way you’d like them to go, I’ve always believed the first place you have to look is at yourself, and it is no different in this situation,” Locker said, via the Tennessean. “Just the details, executing the details in a play can make a big difference. And making a tough throw. It is not always going to be wide open and you have to find ways to complete contested passes in this league, and we have to do a better job of that.”
I’m probably just being greedy anyway. Locker isn’t a great quarterback at this point. While he led a Titans victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in their season-opening contest with a 66-percent completion percentage and two passing TDs, he struggled in his next two games against Dallas and Cincinnati, throwing one touchdown and four interceptions while completing just over 50-percent of his passes.
The key number to me is eight. That’s the number of times that Jake Locker has been sacked so far this season. Add in three more for Charlie Whitehurst and the Titans have given up 11 sacks on the season thus far. One of my biggest criticisms of the Browns has been their inability to finish off the pass rush and actually sack the QB. This might be the week where they finally have an opportunity to pile up some numbers.
Pro Football Focus has graded the Titans as a -4.8 in terms of pass blocking and a -17.8 as a passing team in general. The Browns currently are a -5.5 in terms of pass rush, but I don’t think that says as much about capability as it does execution for the team.
We (and Jake Locker) will find out soon enough.
2 Comments
How can the Browns draft Locker if he plays against them Sunday? I do not like this development.
This week in my mind is HUGE for the Browns…
1. Chance to get a road win against a team they should/could beat, and they are coming off a bye with fresh legs.
2. Chance to go to 2-2 and gain a game on Baltimore – who should lose on the road to Indy, and gain a game on Cincy – who could lose a prime time night game on the road against New England (say what you want about the Pats struggling, but road night games are always tougher).
These are the kind of opportunities you can’t let pass you by when you are a team looking to take the next step and be a contender.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of going 2-2 in this scenario instead of dropping to 1-3. In my mind, this is the biggest game of the season……so far.