Well that was a downer, wasn't it Browns fans?
The Cleveland Browns, riding high following a 31-10 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers, went on the road to face the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars. Confidence was high and many fans had already penciled this game in as a win.
I, having seen 15 years of bad football (2002 and 2007 aside), was worried about this game though. This had the makings of a disaster if the Browns didn't come prepared, and were they ever unprepared.
60 minutes of football passed and the Browns had fallen 24-6, marking the first time this year they had failed to surpass the 20 point mark and marking Brian Hoyer's first truly bad game (more on this in a minute). They didn't block well, they didn't tackle well, and they were sloppy overall. It was a bad display of football, one that hopefully humbles the team and gets them to prepare better for their next two underwhelming opponents.
Offensively, we're used to seeing slow starts from the offense and this week was no different. Luckily the defense started off relatively strong and the Browns carried a 6-0 lead all the way up until around the 2:00 mark of the first half. Mike Pettine probably was a little too cute passing up a field goal to go for it on fourth down, but he made the call. It failed, the Jaguars took over, and Blake Bortles (who's going to be a fine quarterback in this league by the way), marched the Jaguars right down the field for a touchdown that was aided by a blown coverage on one play and shoddy tackling on the touchdown.
The troubling thing about this game was how ineffective the previously strong offensive line was. It showed just how valuable Alex Mack was to this line and how big of a blow it was to lose him. The Jaguars, already touting a stout defensive front, were typically in the backfield all day with just 4 down linemen, making the running game largely non-existent and allowing Hoyer virtually no time to throw.
Now, I've noticed a lot of critics suddenly coming out of the woodwork regarding Hoyer since the end of the game. One blog in particular has been aggressive in pointing out his sub-60% completion rate makes him a bad quarterback. Yes, you'd like to see a completion rate of 60-70%, but there's more to it than just that. If you're going to use the argument the stats tell the story, then you shouldn't be selective on which stats you use.
Hoyer hasn't been as accurate as we'd like, but until yesterday, he'd shown an ability to make a big play when it was needed and avoid the silly mistakes. He also had been the benefactor of good protection, which allowed him to make the reads he needed to make. In yesterday's game, he didn't have that benefit. The Jaguars repeatedly crashed the right side of the Browns' line, forcing early pressure.
Yes, it was bad. But to call for his job after one bad game (and yes, it's been one bad game, not six as some of you are claiming), is ludicrous and misguided. Knee-jerk reactions are part of the problem this organization has had over the last 15 years. If Hoyer was throwing interceptions and unable to put any points on the board over a few games, it would be different. However, until yesterday, they had put up at least 20 points in every game this season.
When was the last time you could say that?
Now, I know many of you have a love affair with Johnny Manziel, but I still don't think his skill set translates over to the pro game. I thought that before the draft, saw it during preseason, and still feel the same. He very well could come in and prove me wrong and I'd certainly eat my share of crow, but I just have this feeling that he's not going to be as successful as others feel.
Hoyer is the least of my concerns with this team.
My first concern is that porous run defense. They were gashed for 111 yards and a touchdown by Denard Robinson. Bortles was able to get off a few good runs as well. And while they did get decent pressure at times, it wasn't nearly consistent enough. The injuries up front aren't helping, but the guys down weren't exactly getting the job done either. This needs to be addressed.
The secondary has been better of late, but they still have a tendency to give up a big play and miss tackles. Tashaun Gipson has justified being given one of the starting safety spots and Donte Whitner hasn't been bad, but hasn't been great either. Buster Skrine has been the best cover corner, which isn't saying a whole lot given how they've played this season.
My big concern going forward though is the offensive line. What was a definite strength going into yesterday's game was reduced to shambles by halftime if we're being honest. The Browns couldn't run the ball, they couldn't give Hoyer time to throw, and just seemed out of sync overall. Maybe another week of practice with John Greco taking snaps will help, but I have doubts given how many times he was pushed back by the Jaguars front four. Paul McQuistan (sp?) didn't fare much better, and Mitchell Schwartz had his issues at times as well.
Some of this was just facing a really good front four at a bad time. I wonder how different this game would've been if Mack was in there, but part of me feels the Jaguars would've caused problems regardless. The one thing they were good at was stopping the run, so it's possible that even with Mack, the Browns still would've struggled.
Finally, I have to raise a few eyebrows at the coaching staff. Kyle Shanahan by large has done a marvelous job calling plays this year, but yesterday it felt like he just couldn't find anything that could get the team going and it felt like the Jaguars' defense was almost always a step ahead of the Browns with every move they made.
Pettine also made some questionable decisions, marking this the first time in his short tenure that I was wondering just what the plan was for this game. It's kind of nice that it took until week 7 to feel that way, but it's still an unnerving feeling that I hope they eliminate next week.
All in all, I want to see how this team responds. Their next two games are at home against the Oakland Raiders (another winless team) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who at this point only have 1 win. It's almost imperative for this team to win both these games and do so impressively. If Hoyer wants to keep this job, he needs to improve his accuracy and continue to limit mistakes. The offensive line needs to do a better job, and the defense needs to stop the run. If they get to Cincinnati at 5-3, that game has a totally different feel to it than if they're 4-4, or worse, 3-5.
If it's that bad, it may already be Johnny Football time in Cleveland.
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