It's been a while since I've written.
I've tried to stay away from it while focusing on my YouTube channel, but last night's game was something else between the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.
For starters, it was a game of momentum shifts. The Bills jumped out to a 10-0 lead, then the Browns stormed back to take a 17-10 lead, then the Bills regained the momentum and took a 24-17 lead before the Browns scored the last 20 points to grab a 37-24 win.
Of course the big story was the season-ending injury to Brian Hoyer, who tore his ACL attempting to run along the side-line. That brought Brandon Weeden and the boo-birds out as Weeden's first couple of passes were a tad off to say the least. He did make a couple of nice throws, but for the most part, it was the same old stuff we've come to expect from Weeden.
This game demonstrated to me the differences between Hoyer and Weeden. See, I was one of the supporters of Weeden who claimed the line wasn't giving him the time needed to make a good throw. I said a running game and better blocking would help Weeden.
Truth is, after watching Hoyer for 2+ games, I've come to realize that while the line has sometimes had its ups and downs, but with Hoyer, the protection didn't seem to be much of an issue. The ball would get snapped, Hoyer would take his drop, and the ball came out.
Last night after Weeden came in, the ball was snapped, Weeden would take his drop, and stand there. And stand there some more. Then get sacked or throw the ball very late.
So I sat and thought about the things I've seen from Weeden and the things I've seen from Hoyer and came up with some simple conclusions that most rational fans should be able to agree with.
With Weeden, the biggest problem is his inability to make a quick decision once the ball is snapped. He holds the ball and if he doesn't get sacked, he throws late and the receiver has little chance of making a good, clean catch. He also has a very bad habit of staring his receiver down from the moment he takes the ball, which helps a defense tremendously. His lack of mobility and feel for the rush work against him as well.
That said, his arm is strong and he can throw a mean deep pass when he has the time to get the ball off as demonstrated on his successive throws to Greg "Mr. Dependable" Little and Josh Gordon to tie the game at 24 in the third quarter. Unfortunately, he still continues to be off with his throws more often than not, mostly throwing behind his receivers, again giving them little chance to make a good play on the ball. In essence, if he learned to look from one side to the other and throw the receiver open, he'd be a successful quarterback.
Which brings me to Hoyer. He may not have the same arm strength as Weeden, but his accuracy and timing are far better than Weeden's. He often would throw the ball with the receiver not yet out of his break yet and when the receiver would turn his head, the ball was on its way. This helped the receivers tremendously and the chemistry was immediate between Hoyer and Jordan Cameron, as well as with Gordon. Whereas Weeden holds the ball, Hoyer would take his drop and more often than not, the ball was gone when it was supposed to be.
Whether his decisiveness would hold up for a full season remained to be seen, but for two games, his ability to make quick decisions, get the ball in the endzone, and not make terribly costly mistakes had endeared him to Browns fans. Weeden will need to show that he can do the same if he wants to remain viable and I'm not sure he can correct his biggest issues during the season.
Brownie Bites
- The biggest spark in the game was clearly the punt return for a touchdown by Travis Benjamin. It gave the Browns the lead shortly after the Browns had tied the game and then forced a quick three-and-out by the Bills. Benjamin took the ball from the right sideline, weaved his way through traffic to the left, dodged the punter, spun out of another tackle, and darted to the middle of the field before running it in. Bills fans will complain about the lack of a block in the back call, but the contact was minimal at best and I doubt those fans would be crying if it had been the Bills returning the punt.
- The defense was gashed a couple of times by the Bills running attack, but the Bills are unique in that they have three running backs who can hurt you. CJ Spiller had the biggest run, a 54-yard scamper that tied the game to start the second half, which for the moment sparked the Bills again. But after that run, the Browns locked back down against the run and forced the Bills to pass, which became a huge issue once EJ Manuel had to leave with a knee sprain. Jeff Tuel was clearly overmatched and the pick-six to TJ Ward sealed the deal late after the Browns had regained the lead.
- Buster Skrine continues to impress and the biggest thing I've noticed his he's getting his head turned around now to find the ball, something he hadn't done very well even early in the season. He's demonstrated he can run with the best of them and get to the receiver, but more often than not he'd plow into the receiver without finding the ball, thus drawing the pass interference penalty. Several times he has now batted the ball away without the extra contact and his open-field tackling has been superb. He and Joe Haden have both made sure that once the ball is caught, that's it.
- You can't say enough about the job the coaches have done with this team so far. Dead and buried at 0-2, Trent Richardson traded, Weeden hurt, Hoyer given the starting job, and it seemed like the Browns were ready to throw the towel in. Except the team itself didn't get the memo. Rob Chudzinski deserves props, as does Norv Turner for optimizing the offensive talent on the field and Ray Horton for getting the defense up to play week in and week out. You can't say enough about the last three games, but let's hope this isn't a flash in the pan type of situation.
- Greg Little is such an enigma and probably always will be. Clueless off the field, sometimes with it on the field, it becomes frustrating when he does make a play because you can see the talent he has. Unfortunately, he and Gordon sometimes have concentration issues, although Gordon's aren't nearly as frequent as Little's. On the tying touchdown drive in the third quarter, Weeden unleashed two good throws, the first to Little who peeled the ball off his helmet and secured the ball. After a bad, bad penalty on John Greco, Weeden launched a pass into the end zone for Gordon who caught it off a couple of deflections, got the feet down, and made sure to keep possession. It's maddening sometimes.
- I'm neutral on the Jim Brown topic, but it was nice to see he and the team stop squabbling and put together a nice halftime ceremony celebrating his legacy and induction into the ring of honor. He then received a gameball after the victory, which I'm sure meant a lot to him.
- The team has 10 days to get as healthy as possible. The hope is Jabaal Sheard, Quentin Groves, and others will be back and ready to play the Detroit Lions, who will present a tougher challenge, especially for the offense. While I don't think Josh Freeman is in the cards for the Browns, I would be surprised if they don't try to sign another quarterback.
- The Browns are for now leading the AFC North at 3-2. Go ahead and try and tell me you saw that coming, especially after the first two weeks of the season. You can't. Now I'm not sure they can maintain this (Weeden scares me tremendously at this point), it's at least nice to be above .500 for once and leading the division, rather than 2-3, 1-4, or 0-5 like we've been so many times in the past.
- Props to Willish McGahee for stepping in and keeping the running game stable if nothing else. His numbers won't jump out at you, but he ran hard and had a couple of decent runs during the game. Not the long-term solution by any stretch, but isn't giving you much less than you got from Richardson, which is what makes getting a first round pick for Richardson all the more remarkable. It will be tough sledding, but McGahee has helped keep the ship afloat.
Each week I take a look back at the last Browns game and point out the things that stood out to me. The most recent game was a 20-17 win over the Oakland Raiders....sorry Heny.
Brandon Weeden continues to make rookie mistakes, but he reminded fans why the Browns were high on him when he dropped a 44 yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon that stunned the Raider crowd. Unfortunately, he dropped two picks into the laps of the Raiders when the Browns were driving down the field, removing two potential scoring opportunities. He now has 13 touchdown passes, but the 15 interceptions continue to be a concern.
Trent Richardson runs hard, but it seems like Montario Hardesty hits the hole faster and gets upfield quicker. Richardson doesn't go down easily though and is still likely going to hit 1,000 yards rushing despite missing all of preseason and significant time in other games due to a rib injury.
Josh Gordon has been the surprise of the year for the Browns. Showing a set of hands not seen in these parts in a long time to go with a good burst of speed and good size, the Browns may have found a number one receiver. Add in the sudden improvement shown by Greg Little, and the receiver situation is suddenly ten times better than previously thought.
The defense, well, Buster Skrine, allowed a big play, but otherwise played fairly well. There wasn't a ton of pressure on Carson Palmer, but the coverage was generally good. Sheldon Brown in particular had a solid game, defending three passes and picking off an underthrown pass from Palmer that directly led to the scoring drive that sealed the win.
The team showed tremendous growth on that scoring drive as Weeden threw for a couple of critical first downs and Richardson punched it in from three yards out, something we're becoming accustomed to seeing from him this year. He has seven on the season and it isn't inconceivable that he could pass Jim Brown's rookie record by the end of the season.
For the first time in a long time, Pat Shurmer didn't make any glaring mistakes in coaching. He went for it on fourth down on two different occasions and had Weeden throw the ball deep on several other occasions to keep the Raiders defense honest. Some may point to his lack of a challenge on a bad spot on the final scoring drive that burned a timeout, but in retrospect, that moment had little bearing on the final outcome.
The Browns matched their win total from last season with this win, and it's very possible they could win two more games this season. This week's game against the Chiefs is winnable despite the mini momentum that the Chiefs picked up in their emotional win last week. The following week gives them their first look at Robert Griffin III, then they travel to Denver where it's possible the Broncos could be resting some starters that day. They finish the season in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers could be fighting for their playoff lives.
The growth on this team can't be discounted, even from the most pessimistic of people. Jabaal Sheard's sack numbers are down, but he's been more involved in the steadily improving run defense. Rookie defensive tackles Billy Winn and John Hughes have both shown tremendous promise as part of a rotation that includes last year's rookie Phil Taylor and standout veteran Ahtyba Rubin. The young linebackers have shown growth as well, and despite Skrine's penchant for bad plays at bad times, even he has shown growth on the field. Offensively, Mitchell Schwartz's name is not being called, which is good for an offensive linemen. We've documented Weeden, Gordon, Little, and Richardson, but the offensive line has improved over the course of the season.
Josh Cribbs has complained about his role, but truth is, he's becoming less and less of a factor overall. Aside from being one of the first men down on special teams to make a tackle, his return numbers have been declining and he made one incredibly poor decision to bring a kick out from 9 yards deep. He still is capable of a big return, but it seems less and less likely he's going to break one anytime soon.
Last, but not least, a special shout-out to Phil Dawson, who's consecutive made field goals streak came to a halt, not because of a bad kick, but because of a high snap, treacherous field conditions, and a deflection because of the timing being thrown off. Dawson made two other field goals though and ultimately provided the margin of victory. Dawson has been steady and deserves one final contract before riding out into the sunset.
Each week I take a look back at the previous Browns game and recap what I learned from the game. I also write a different introduction to this page. Last week the Browns won 7-6 in adverse weather conditions.
The Browns won a sloppy game over a Chargers team that has been steadily dropping from week to week. It wasn't pretty, but the defense stepped up and the offense stayed away from major mistakes for the most part. I still haven't had a chance to watch the dvr of the game, but I've read enough about it to put some thoughts down.
Trent Richardson needs to get the ball at least 20 times a game. This has become abundantly clear. In the two games against Cincinnati and last week's game, the Browns made a conscious effort to run the ball and the offense hummed along nicely as a result, at least as much as it could given the weather last week. In the other games, they threw much more than they ran, and while competitive, the offense was a lot more disjointed. In this game, the offense HAD to go through Richardson and he delivered 122 yards and the game's only touchdown.
TJ Ward needed that defensive stop as much as anyone on this team. He came into the league as a physical safety who would be a force on the defensive side of the ball, but hasn't been the same since he was fined for a hit in his rookie season. He's been tentative since, but lately he's been getting more aggressive. Coming up with the stop on fourth and one was huge and gave the Browns the ball for their only score of the day.
The defense overall played a good game, getting stops when needed and holding a high-scoring offense to just 6 points. The popular stat going around is that the defense has held opponents to those 6 points in the last six quarters, which is a nice streak that needs to continue. The front four have held up nicely in the absence of Phil Taylor and Ahtyba Rubin, who both could be back this weekend.
Drops again plagued the receiving corp, as they dropped at least 4 passes this past week, most notably another drop from Greg Little and Josh Cooper getting in on the act, both on third down plays. The receivers haven't helped Brandon Weeden at times, but he's refused to throw his teammates under the bus thus far.
One guy not dropping the ball is Josh Gordon, who caught three more passes in the game without a drop. This on the heels of his infamous drop in Indianapolis when the ball bounced off his hands as he entered a sunfield. It could've been a game-winning catch, but instead it was an unfortunate drop. Gordon didn't let it linger though and has continued to be an integral part of the offense.
The coaches didn't overthink things as much in this game. Sure, there weren't many chances to be taken in this game, but when they needed to roll the dice, they did. Of course, when your owner's reaction is all over social media after a previous fourth and one decision, it makes the next one easier to make.
Brandon Weeden didn't have a great game, but he managed the game well given the fact that northeast Ohio was dealing with the preliminary effects of Hurricane Sandy. It was windy, it was rainy, it was cold, but Weeden was under control. He didn't throw any interceptions and didn't fumble the ball away, as was the worry coming in. He missed on some passes, but he gets a pass given the conditions since Philip Rivers was having his share of issues as well. Overall, it was a solid effort by the rookie.
Alex Smith may have earned himself the fullback job after he helped open up some running lanes for Richardson. The offensive line overall did a nice job of run-blocking and has continued to grow throughout the season. There were a couple of sacks in the game, but overall they have done a nice job since the opening week. Smith certainly did his part by blocking well.
Next week is a big game for the Browns as they host a depleted and wounded Ravens team coming off its bye week. The Browns, if they're smart, should be able to run the ball against the Ravens, which should, in theory, open up the passing game more for Weeden. He needs to do something about the batted balls though. That's been an ongoing issue lately for him and it needs to be corrected soon. A third win would do a lot for the coaching staff in its efforts to keep their jobs.
