Leitch: “Cleveland sports exist to make you unhappy.”
September 9, 2013Chud: “This is a new time and a new team. Anything else is just noise.”
September 9, 2013While the Cleveland Browns left roster gaps this off-season, I’m pretty happy they didn’t go chasing Mike Wallace. According to The National Football Post, Mike Wallace refused to talk to reporters following the Dolphins big road win against the Browns in Cleveland yesterday. The report states that Wallace was “visibly angry.” Tom Reed’s game recap had some nice non-quotes from Wallace as well.
It’s good to have personal standards and to want to play well for your team, but in a complex game like football, sometimes you’re the distraction so your team can expose other weaknesses. You know, the kinds of weaknesses that result in nine catches and 114 yards and a touchdown for Brian Hartline against a combination of Buster Skrine and Chris Owens.
Even if the Steelers had gobs of cap space it’s hard to imagine they would have been chasing after this kind of guy. Such is often the case when the Steelers use up a young player’s early success before allowing him to take his diva receiver attitude elsewhere. Just ask Santonio Holmes.
Anyway, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that this is the feeling that Joe Haden gives opposing wideouts. And I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on Mike Wallace. At least he wasn’t suspended for the game yesterday.
[Related: Cleveland Browns missed a big opportunity with first impression]
17 Comments
Mike Wallace: Your issue isn’t with your coaches, it’s with the fact that Joe Haden is REALLY good at his job. Need proof? See the 20-plus targets to the Dolphins’ WRs who weren’t guarded by Haden.
Quick, somebody call the waahbulance. Look buddy, get in line. There’s a whole city full of legitimate butthurt ahead of you.
Actually, that’s probably more an indictment of the rest of the defensive backfield.
Gotta love seeing a guy being visibly angry and petulant on a day in which his team won the football game. Class act.
He sure didn’t help my one fantasy team that’s for sure but I agree, Browns fans would welcome that just don’t tell Greg Little ‘cuz he’d be in the end zone dancin’!
“Mike Wallace, your team just scored a road upset on opening day! What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to hold my breath until I turn blue and then I’m going to eat worms until I die.”
Craig, you’re right on the money, as it were, about not chasing this diva.
Actually, I don’t think Haden really had all that much to do with Wallace’s meager stats. Instead, it looked like Tannehill didn’t throw to Wallace because he didn’t have to; Hartline was always open. So he just took the easy pickings.
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5329/mike-wallace
Wallace had 5 targets and 1 catch. Haden wins.
You support my point. Wallace had only five targets, while Hartline had more than twice that many. Haden had less to do with that than Skrine did.
Kinda like not running because they didn’t have to in order to win.
um…yeah because if we had another corner that was a little better, they would have targeted the WR being covered by one of the best CB in the NFL more often?
Not going to pile on. I wish today we had won and Little wasn’t talking to the media because we won without really needing to get him involved.
I’m not saying Haden isn’t any good. I’m just saying that if you want to break into somebody’s house, you don’t cut through the front yard that the pit bull is guarding if you can cut through the empty back yard where the back door is wide open.
The Miami coaches were not calling Wallace’s number (notice that Wallace expressed his displeasure with the coaches rather than with Tannehill) because it was too easy to go to Hartline.
Sheesh, this ain’t rocket surgery.
Ok. I agree. Tannehill/Miami mostly threw elsewhere because they knew Haden would blanket Wallace well enough. My only point in addition that is anytime Tannehill DID go to Wallace, Haden defended well (20% completions when targeted), so it was a well-warranted plan.
We have seen too often people “think” guys are good only to see them exposed when actually targeted (say hello to Eric Wright playing opposite Brandon McDonald). It doesn’t appear to be the case with Haden. He’s legitimately good (we all agree on this one).
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
I’m still not getting through.
The main reason they didn’t call Wallace’s number is because they didn’t have to. It had way more to do with Skrine than with Haden.
?? we are in agreement there.
i’m just willing to also look at the few times they targeted Wallace and chalk up the 20% completion as a positive for Haden (especially considering how he seemed to get bored in the past and play lazy, it’s good to see that he shut Wallace down in only a few attempts).
mg, my man, we are not in agreement.
You wrote, “Tannehill/Miami mostly threw elsewhere because they knew Haden would blanket Wallace well enough.”
I”m saying that’s NOT mainly why they threw elsewhere. They threw elsewhere because Hartline was eating up Skrine with tea and jam.
BTW, they were still using Haden on at least one special team. Odd, no?
Tannehill:
“Okay, guys, Tight Right, 86 Cherokee, Y Dig, Z Cross on 2. . . . What? Oh. Uh, okay, Mike . . . uh, you go long.”