Francisco Lindor to start 2015 in Triple-A
November 3, 2014Have the Browns been playing possum the last three weeks?
November 3, 2014Has 5-3 ever felt so weird? I remember back to 2007 when a friend of mine texted me early in the season (I think it was after the home win over Cincinnati) to tell me that the Browns were going to win 10 games. I told him he was out of his mind. Next thing I know, Derek Anderson is rattling off shootout victories over opponents that were undoubtedly circling CLE as a win when the schedule came out. The point totals were a fantasy football owner’s dream—Jamal Lewis, Joe Jurevicius, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow were all viable options.
Fast forward to this season and the Browns are two games above .500 for the first time since that incredible, stat-filled season. It has that magic all over again, but without the huge point totals and the jaw-dropping offense. These wins have ranged from exciting (New Orleans and Pittsburgh) to downright ugly (Oakland and Tampa Bay), but they’re somehow finding ways to win out. Browns teams of the past found ways to lose, be it through helmet tosses or botched on-side kicks. This one, for all of its warts, continues to find ways to scrap until the final whistle.
Is it sustainable? We will soon find out. For now, we celebrate.
WINNER: Brian Hoyer The Destroyer went from making Cleveland fans want to pull their hair out to somehow compiling a 300-yard, two-touchdown day. I’ve found myself looking for reasons to not put the Browns starting quarterback in this column—I often believe the Browns are winning despite his occasional ineptness—but even the most cynical of fans can’t deny that this kid keeps getting the job done.
The true test exists ahead, on a short week, in the form of the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. Though typically stout on defense, the Bengals have recently allowed their fair share of yards and points for the opposition. Can Brian Hoyer open things up early and often? We will soon find out.
WINNER: Tashaun Gipson The kid is just a straight up ball hawk.
Sure, that Mike Glennon pass wasn’t exactly pinpoint accurate, but no one lucks into a league-leading interception total. And sure, Gip might have been better off just downing the ball in the end zone, but what fun would that be? The undrafted kid out of Wyoming continues to provide week-to-week stability in the secondary. There are fewer players on this team that we can say have been as consistent (at a high level) as him. Barring a crazy turn of events, this kid is heading to the Pro Bowl this winter.
LOSER: Nick McDonald First, I present you with this:
Now a stout video analyst will tell you that this play, while brutal, was not all McDonald’s fault. Joel Bitonio bit the stunt and ultimately provided Tampa Bay’s Gerald McCoy with a nice little sweep of McDonald’s leg. But on the afternoon, McDonald surrendered a sack and two more hurries as well as being destroyed in the run game, regularly driven into the backfield by Bucs defenders. Ben Tate was bad; Nick McDonald was worse. The Browns HAVE to fix this if they plan on competing late this season. Geno Atkins has to be salivating.
WINNER: Joe Haden Haden’s coming out party appeared to be last week in the win over Oakland, but he kept things going afterhours against Tampa Bay. In what might have been his best play, the Pro Bowl cornerback came up with a football just a hair after landing out of bounds. It doesn’t count as an interception, but it was one of the most athletic plays you’ll see a defensive back make in any game. But late in the first quarter, Haden did make a play that counted, playing a pass so perfectly that he was able to read and redirect the ball to a ready-and-waiting Donte Whitner (also a Winner) for a huge interception.
On the day, Haden was targeted eight times, allowing just two receptions and 13 yards. Of the five targets Vincent Jackson received while being guarded by Haden, none were caught. This, my friends, is the definition of a lockdown cornerback.
LOSER: Buster Skrine and Justin Gilbert Unfortunately for Haden’s teammates, the success wasn’t universal. Buster Skrine was targeted 11 times, and allowed nine receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. If you think it was all Mike Evans, don’t overlook the five receptions for 71 yards Skrine allowed to Jackson. Gilbert didn’t do much in this one to deserve the Loser tag, but his complete lack of trust he has earned to this point (which would in turn allow the Browns to put him on the other side as opposed to the diminutive Skrine) gives him just as much blame in this as the stats surrendered by No. 22.
WINNER: Chris Tabor Is there a unit that has seen more ebbs and flows in their week-to-week play than the Browns’ special teams unit? It seems like just the other day that fans were calling for Tabor’s head. Then we had the upside down visor, and all has been terrific. I’m not sure what the outcome of this game would have been if not for the special teams unit, but I also know I don’t want to think about it.
LOSER: Kyle Shanahan Sorry, Kyle. We gave you a lot of credit early on, but the offense has been vanilla at best over the last few weeks. I know Alex Mack is out, and I know you’re forced to deal with one of the worst performances in the league at center, but things have to get better—quick.
WINNER: Terrance West The run game was brutal, but that huge pass from Hoyer to Taylor Gabriel would not have happened if not for West’s downright filthy block on the edge. Make sure you watch closely as the edge rusher simply disappears from the frame as if there were a sniper in the stands.
LOSER: Isaiah Crowell I’m still a proud resident of #CrowHoeNation, but the rookie must not be impressing coaches during practice. I can’t think of any other reason he would be so invisible despite the team’s struggles running the ball.
WINNER: Badass Billy Winn Because this was pretty sweet.
WINNER: Taylor Gabriel and Andrew Hawkins The undrafted, underappreciated Gabriel hauled in five of his six targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. Hawkins had less success (three receptions on eight targets) but this was hardly his fault. He also took a few huge hits and managed to come back for more. Stand these two guys on top of one another and they may be able to dunk a basketball. But don’t let their size fool you—they’ve both been hugely important in this team’s 5-3 record. One more game without Josh Gordon and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll perform with more single coverage.
124 Comments
I don’t think any offensive lineman has earned themselves more money this year than Alex Mack.
Winners:
Billy Winn – Might not be great in the 200m hurdles, but damn impressive on the FG block. Bonus points to him because I called it in a room full of opposing fans.
Brian Hoyer – it was not pretty, but it was effective. Love the ability to shut out the boo birds and lock in during the second half.
Joe Haden – Credit where it’s due, he had a heck of a game.
Terrance West – That block should be the basis for an epic poem someday.
Billy Cundiff – With this offense, he is critical. Job well done.
Losers:
Skrinebert – Holy pathetic, fellas. Buster needs to learn to get his head around and find the ball. Gilbert should be ashamed that he still hasn’t moved up the depth chart against this competition.
The OL guys who aren’t Bitonio or Thomas – Granted, your RBs did you few favors, but wow. The run game is a bad joke.
The D-line – Speaking of jokes. Amazing how we turn every opposing back into the second coming of Gale Sayers each week.
John Pigskin – It was shaky enough early that if your chance were coming, you’d have gotten in. And your boy taunting you with his TD celebrations just drew more attention to your and your hat on the sidelines. Leave him out the next time you’re buying a round of shots.
I actually love and hate the look your kids give you when they are old enough to realize what vaccinations are and blame you for letting the mean old nurse do that to them.
Fortunately, my daughter is not there yet so I will revel in the bliss of ignorance while I can. (Definitely, not looking forward to it though.)
“I don’t know why he completely lost it on the next series though”
I have a running thought all season long. It seems that every time we are down, Hoyer’s game is focused until we take the lead. Each time this season we have taken the lead, the defense has stepped up to stop the opponents next drive and Hoyer and the Browns have then gone three and out. Except for the Pittsburg game, I don’t know that Hoyer knows how to play with the lead.
That’s what I have continued to think in each game at least. No stats to back me up on it.
It’s just whining for the sake of whining. The fact is that neither Tate nor West were arrested, and you’re projecting potential punishments in a fantasy land of your own creation. It has basically nothing to do with the Cincy game (except that Gordon is out – but he has been all year and the team is surviving). Getting to the meat of your questioning, it’s obvious that Gordon is under a microscope because he’s in the league’s substance abuse program, so yes, his punishments are more severe. Period. None of that is a mystery, and has be discussed ad naseum. Gordon will be back soon, and hopefully the Browns will still be in the hunt to win the division.
Leading QBrating of 87.5 (84 attempts)
Trailing QBrating of 96 (141 attempts)
Tied QBrating of 72.8 (30 attempts)
Strange we have been tied so infrequently, but he hasn’t completely fallen apart when we have a lead and the stat difference seem symptomatic of his slow starts putting us behind.
yes, Gilbert was called for holding and it was a long completion. It was his only negative play on the day (though I don’t have a snap count yet for him, so I’m not sure how well he did overall other than he had at least 3 positive plays earlier).
Meh, Gilbert is showing improvement. At this pace 2015 will be special. When skill players show improvement throughout their rookie year, it’s OK. Not everyone is dominant their first week.
One bad game…he’s not a fumbler.
It passes. They get older. Then they resent you for other stuff that you do.
I also thought Gilbert had a decent enough game, and thought the holding call was very fringe. Skrine ain’t growing and he’s going to be targeted until he’s safely back in the slot where he belongs. Neither of these guys are particularly good at turning for the ball, but maybe that’s mostly a function of being a step behind.
Robertson always misses open field tackles. Skinny little Buster is a better tackler.
yeah, Skrine works when the 2nd WR isn’t big. sadly, he doesn’t get to face the Browns because he could hang with our guys. unfortunately, Cinci has some big guys to run out there.
You really think we sat Crowell for a whole game to keep him fresh? That seems risky.
I don’t really think it, but I could imagine it to be true. We have 3 RBs that could all start (and have). I could see the coaches making the call to keep one guy fresh for the Thursday night game, and for it to be the hardest runner, particularly given the sickness of our running game lately. It’s just a theory.
Yeah, I see bad stuff in everything about Thursday night. No way we should be in it, so we’ll probably pull the upset.
Mostly though I wish, in support of player safety, I had the courage of my convictions to boycott Thursday games even when the Browns play in. We’ll see …
in Sudan, Liberia, and North Korea… simultaneously
I know you are an offensive lineman aficionado, so curious as to whether you think McDonald’s ineptitude justifies revisiting the arrangement of McQuistan at guard with Greco at center. I know it creates 2 weaknesses instead of 1, but it feels as if McDonald may be so overmatched as a professional that he presents the greater overall liability. McQuistan was pathetic in the Jacksonville game, and I know he’s getting up there in years, but he started 14 games for the Seahawks last year – he must be able to achieve semi-competence, right?
I’m thinking they should just go ahead and hold open center tryouts in Berea.
David Baas is a free agent. Coming off a few injuries but he’s in his early 30’s and let’s be real we only need half a season out of him.
I like it.
Thanks for the compliment.
The issue with McQuistan was that he had a horrible first step and has basically no chance at getting out front on a pull. He did a poor job on first contact, but his bad first step could be the main reason there too. Basically, he doesn’t look like he fits in a ZBS.
McDonald, on the other hand, was getting knocked and driven backwards continuously throughout the day. Anyone watching saw that he was THE problem, which is the absolute worst thing that can happen to an OL though, as noted, he did do slightly better in the 2nd half.
The question then becomes who do you think can do better moving forward. A center who merely holds his ground on the correct DL is a useful guy (this is what Hank Fraley did). It is supposed to be easier to find someone who can do that task. It also is a shame to waste Greco there when he did pretty well at RG beforehand. However, if McDonald is moving backward on even 25% of the snaps, then he is a danger to his fellow OL, QB, and will kill the offense. So, I’d actually lean towards making the switch back unless McDonald can prove in practice that he can do his job adequately.
Agree with everything except Gilbert… he didn’t play that much but when he did he played well… and has been continually improving for sometime now. It takes a while to learn to play CB in this league and even longer in a system that puts so much pressure on the position. He’s starting to come along…
Loser (and still going): Run Defense. We gave up 87 yards to RAINEY? and over 100 yards total on the ground again against a bottom-tier run team.