While We’re Waiting…Browns vs. Packers Edition
Written By: Brendan | Category: Best of the Web, Cleveland Browns | Comments: 22While 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 in the sidebar.
Some thoughts and reaction from the Browns first preseason game:
“Sporting brown pants in their first exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers, the Browns had familiar miscues on offense, defense and special teams. They extended their offensive touchdown drought from last season to seven games in losing without a fight, 17-0, in Lambeau Field. Missing six prominent players on defense, the Packers yielded only two plays of more than 20 yards to the Browns’ No. 1 offense, both to Josh Cribbs.” [Tony Grossi/Plain Dealer]
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The OBR and Fred Greetham had a very comprehensive review of the highs and lows from last night.
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“Eric Mangini has been talking about Jerome Harrison having “a great opportunity to continue to carve out his role.” And he’s been talking about using a multiback system with the Browns. Jamal Lewis would still be the main focus, but someone else — probably Harrison — would have a significant number of carries. Mangini did that in New York, where he had a main back in Thomas Jones, but backup Leon Washington had at least 71 carries in the past two seasons. In his first year with the Jets, Mangini had three backs with at least 100 carries.” [Terry Pluto/Plain Dealer]
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“Instead of the Browns offense making gains against a transitioning Packer defense, the exact opposite occurred. Since the Packer defense held the inept Browns offense scoreless, now it’s the Packers who should be confused about their own legitimacy. As for the million dollar question, Quinn would appear to be the leader based solely on his receiving more snaps than Anderson. While Quinn was not dominant, he appeared to be poised in the pocket and showed some good footwork. His underneath throws were largely on target and his only mistake came when he tried to force an endzone throw…one play after Braylon Edwards dropped a touchdown pass.” [Cleveland Reboot]
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“I think we can all agree the Brown pants will not return … ever. It was an inauspicious debut for the 2009 Cleveland Browns that featured turnovers, penalties, missed assignments and a general look of disgust (above) by the head coach, Eric Mangini.
That look on Mangini’s face was the same look Browns fans had Saturday night. Yeah, it was that bad. Wonder if Mangini was regretting his decision?” [Don Delco/NoLogoNeeded]
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“Under G.M. Phil Savage, the Browns acquired defensive tackle Corey Williams from the Packers for a second-round pick, and promptly gave him a big deal with over $16 million in guarantees. Just a year later, another team may be trying to take him from the Browns. Panthers G.M. Marty Hurney was in Green Bay Bay Saturday night, reportedly to look at Williams. (Hopefully he enjoyed the game more than Eric Mangini, who was “fuming” after a lackluster 17-0 loss.) Williams has struggled to adapt to a 3-4 defense, rarely showing the skills that made him a quality starter as a defensive tackle in Green Bay.” [Gregg Rosenthal/ProFootballTalk.com]
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A Brady Quinn highlight package from last night’s game. [NFL.com]
Author: Brendan
Brendan is a weekend editor at WaitingForNextYear. He has been writing for the site since March of 2009. He went to college in Boston during a run of insufferable Beantown championships that only served to reinforce his Cleveland allegiance and fandom which he transcribes to you here at WFNY. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com/bmp21Brendan has written 149 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
For a team to come out under a new coach with no effort, emotion, discipline…is pathetic. Total and utter embarrassment. Brian Daboll dazzled with his rookie playcalling and slovenly appearance.
Does George Kokinis really exist? If so, he’ll be the first GM of a professional team never to make nary a comment on anything.
1. Did I say 8-8? Ha ha ha, I meant 2-14. Maybe.
2 Nice to see Braylon in mid-season form.
3 Quinn looked very poised in the pocket.
4. Death to the turd pants.
2-14 sounds aboout right MrCleaveland. I may have to change my Mangini watch from a 2 year and out tenure to one year and out, pursuant on Slow Lerner being forced to sell. Any new owner would clean out all of the pork on the coaching staff, and there is LOADS of it.
Yes…..BQ stands above the crap, thank goodness.
LOOK AT HOW HARD THAT MAN IS WORKING GET HIM A NEW CONTRACT HE’S THE HEART AND SOUL OF THIS TEAM!!!
Quinn looked good, but really, I’m still not convinced about him. Does he really do anything differently from Kelly Holcomb? He’s a quarterback that can take what the defense gives him, but I’m not really sure he’s the type of QB that can be a big-time playmaker.
I’m beginning to wonder if the Browns have a long-term answer at quarterback.
Isis:
“Slow Lerner”? Ha haaaaaaa! Love it.
billlegarm –
I agree. The good news is I think we found out who the best QB on our roster is. The bad news is its Brady Quinn.
I’m afraid Quinn will be just good enough to start but not enough to really take this team anywhere. Sigh.
Pants. That’s why the Browns can’t score, cover average receivers, or gain more than 2 yards per run (outside of Cribbs). It’s definitely pants.
They’re one fashion magazine away from a trip to the Super Bowl.
I know last night was abysmal, but lets take it with a grain of salt.
-The D should be better with Rogers at the nose, because Rubin was getting single teamed with the ends getting doubled, and no rush was getting there. With Rogers, the ends will be getting more 1-on-1 matchups and also the center won’t be pushing Rogers into oncoming LBs trying to make the tackle (that happened at least 3 times that I saw when Rubin was getting man-handled). So I fully expect to see a better D in the regular season.
- The offense stunk. I don’t know if the QBs are overwhelmed with a new playbook or something, but really it was not working. You cannot say through that 1 game that BQ is the better QB. I’ll say hes up on DA, but really, lets see what happens in the next 2 preseason game in Cleveland. After the 3rd game, it should be obvious who the QB should be. Everything seemed behind for them. That needs to be improved. There were 2 rookies drafted in the 2nd round, and I want to see them in the 1st team to see how they do. Also, I agree with Pluto in asking where the heck was Harrison. For that matter, where was James Davis? With the first team, we pretty much only saw J Lewis. I want to see these players that have been ‘lighting up camp’ in the game. Lets see something different from last year with this offense. And I hate Royal.
I’m convincing myself that Mangini is just playing dead until the season starts.
Are we serously going to call Brady Quinn not the answer after two series of the first preseason game? Come on, go back and look at what he did. The first drive he moved the chains right down to the red zone and was a dumb holding call away from getting 3 points on the board. True they should’ve stuck in the end zone. Then he ran a nice 2 minute drill down inside the ten and if Braylon catches the ball we aren’t talking about a mistake throw in the end zone. I know DA went through the drps last year that cost him his job. My point is that Quinn moved the ball the two series he wsa in. What else do you want when the talent around him is average at best?
Jeremy, I’m not basing my thoughts on two series. I’m basing them on what I saw last year and what I saw in preseasons past. To be fair, it’s very limited action and he definitely deserves the chance and is the best quarterback on this team and prove me wrong…and I hope he does.
But I also have not seen Quinn do anything spectacular in his limited chances. I’ve seen him dink and dunk and just kind of take what was there. Kelly Holcomb did the same thing and was very effective doing it (and was a Dennis Northcutt drop away from winning a playoff game). But he certainly wasn’t a long-term solution. I’m just not convinced Quinn is that much better than a middle-of-the-road NFL starter.
9.58 – that is all.
They need to add the brown jerseys to the brown pants.
That way they will more closely resemble their paying ability.
for anyone to say that this coaching staff needs to be replaced after one freaking preseason game is just Isisnine…erm, asinine…same difference…
point being is this…did you REALLY think that Mangini would come out with both guns blazing? this guy is the king of subterfuge and would rather not show his hand before the season starts…what kind of nitwit would come out and use their best packages against an opponent in the first preseason game…did i mention yet that it was the FIRST PRESEASON game…
I will admit that I was disappointed, as was anyone else that watched the game, but you also have to take it with a grain of salt…you cant necessarily flip a switch and have everything work perfectly…it would be nice though…
the Lions were 4-0 last preseason, and for that matter, who gives a crap about preseason? I was expecting more out of the team as well, but thankfully, its just PRESEASON…if these things happen during the year, then yes, we can talk about what needs to be done…but again, saying that the coaches werent calling the most exciting of plays on offense or defense is just plain idiotic…are we that starved for a win that you would give everything away in preseason for the sake of winning? thats ignorant…
that being said, I dont expect the Brownies to go 14-2 or anything…but as was said before…if they make small improvements from week to week and they focus on getting better and fixing the things that need fixing…I think this team could win 7-9 games…
Quinn looked like the starter and DA looks like the backup…the D goes as Rogers goes…hes a freak…I liked the play of Wright and the young LBs…I think the O-line will be ok…but still, this is just the first preseason game…gotta take it for what it is…
Denny – is there video of that race? I would love to see it…they said midway thru the race he was at just under 30mph…thats ridiculous considering my first car wouldnt go over 30…lol
I thought the defense without Rogers was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Let’s also not forget that one GB scoring drive was kept going on a garbage d-holding call on Corey Ivy. Even Drunken Bernie thought it was a bad call.
I only watched the first quarter-and-a-half (all I really care about in the first pre-season game), and while it sucked to see the offense not score again, I’d hardly cancel the season (and, in fairness, Isis has wanted to do so for the last six months). I didn’t see the stupid false-starts, the guys lining up in illegal formations, no burning of time-outs… other than Fraley’s take-down on the FG, there really weren’t any bone-headed penalties (again, I only watched the first team and DA’s two series).
But yeah, Isis, let’s can the coach and start over. AGAIN.
Don’t worry about the coaching staff guys, this time we got a defensive guru from the Patriots camp! OH wait we tried that already!?!
@ DK – NBC has the video here. It’s absurd, considering Tyson Gay set an American record in 9.71 (third fastest time EVER) and lost by about two meters.
much appreciated Denny…thats ridiculous…wonder if he was running at 100% or not…doesnt seem like it…which is scary…
@DP Diesel – agreed…some of the stuff was the 2nd and 3rd teamers, but its gotta be taken with a grain of salt…because, as sad as it sounds…after the initial two drives, they did only score 3 more points, however you wanna slice it, its still preseason…its like if the indians lose the first game out of 162 and you throw up your hands and say “FIRE EVERYONE, GET A NEW TEAM”…its absurd…
I think that as it progresses, they will make small improvements, and as long as they are being competitive and getting better, as a Browns fan, after last year, thats about all you can ask for…
IMO he was 100% until about 5 meters to go, and at that point he had it won and was slowing up a bit. Though considering the fact that he got in a bad car wreck earlier in the year and had to have surgery on his foot it’s possible he’s not at 100%. Best part is he’s like 23 and will be in his racing prime for a while.
agreed…to me it still looks like he isnt completely going all out though…seems like he knows he can sort of milk this for a bit…I’m not sure, but to me it seems like he might be able to run a 9.4 or so…it sounds ridiculous, but with the fluidity of his stride, he could very well do it…which is insane to think about…I’m still amazed that hes even running right now after his car accident…hes unreal…I heard on ESPN where they said if he was in full stride on a football field and hit the 40 yd line in full speed, he would cross the goal line in like 3 seconds…ridiculous speed and such long strides…