Cody Kessler headlines unsurprising Browns inactives for Week 1
September 11, 2016
Another Browns loss and iPhone 7’s Airbuds: While We’re Waiting
September 12, 2016The Cleveland Browns did it again. They began another football year with yet another season-opening loss, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, 29-10. The Eagles were led by rookie quarterback Carson Wentz and their passing attack. Wentz completed 22-of-37 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Wentz completely outplayed Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III, who completed 12-of-26 for 190 yards and one interception. The Eagles took control of the game early and extended their lead in the second half, ending the game with 403 yards of offense over the Browns meager 288 yards. The Eagles also dominated the time of possession in the game, nearly doubling up the Browns 39 minutes and 20 seconds, to just 20 minutes and 40 seconds. The Browns seemed petered out as the second half rolled on.
The Browns first half was mix of good and bad, but the first quarter was a disaster. On the opening drive, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz looked like Tom Brady leading his offense down the field for a touchdown. The Browns offense looked discombobulated. RG3 and company were unable to get a first down in the opening quarter. The play-calling was mystifying, with too much toothless trickery. It was not the start the team was looking for to begin the season, falling behind 7-0.
The second quarter started off with more of the same. Hue Jackson called an incredibly dumbfounding fake punt that failed on the Browns own side of the field. The defense seemed to play better and showed some grit, holding the Eagles offense to a field goal on a short field. The Browns offense finally picked it up, rejuvenated by a big 44-yard pass from Robert Griffin III to Terrelle Pryor. On that drive, the Browns capped off the series with a touchdown run by Isaiah Crowell. Philadelphia added a field goal, but the second quarter was much better for both units, ending the half trailing the Eagles 13-7.
Fantastic recognition by Crowell to bounce that out instead of following his fullback.
— Scott @ WFNY (@WFNYScott) September 11, 2016
The third quarter started really well, with a big 58-yard completion from Robert Griffin III to Corey Coleman. It was an apparent underthrow by RG3 to the Browns’ rookie with three defenders nearby, but only Coleman made the adjustment back to the ball. The Browns ended that series with a field goal. It all turned to bad shortly after when Browns center Cameron Erving floated the snap over Griffin’s head and into the endzone, causing a huge game-changing safety. The next drive saw Wentz throw an absolute dime to Nelson Agholor for a touchdown over Joe Haden. The quarter ended with the Browns trailing 22-10.
We need a burnt toast emoji. https://t.co/nK6gZyE1vb
— Scott @ WFNY (@WFNYScott) September 11, 2016
The fourth quarter continued the Eagles surge and the Browns failures. The Browns offense completely collapsed, while the Eagles offense was able to control the ball and add one more touchdown. The game ended with the Browns losing 29-10.
The game was seemingly changed by one play, the errant snap by Browns center Cameron Erving resulting in a safety. Before that play, the Browns had all the momentum. The defense had just stopped the Eagles offense. The Browns offense had driven down on the opening series of the second half to get a quick field goal. But, the big safety turned the momentum back to the Eagles and seemingly killed the spirit of the Browns.
Random Thoughts and Observations
- Carl Nassib was really impressive. He was productive in run defense and pass rushing situations. He is looking like a huge steal for the Browns.
- Robert Griffin III was bad. Plain and simple. He was inaccurate for the most of the game, missing some opportunities for big plays. He held onto the ball far too long, especially late in the game. It was just not the start that many and I had expected to see.
- The Browns offensive line was OK. In pass protection, the team did fine keeping Griffin upright. The sacks that he took were more on him holding the ball too long. In run blocking, the line, the interior especially, struggled to open up holes for the runners. It was good in some situations and bad in others.
- The Browns secondary was torched by rookie QB Carson Wentz. The Eagles receivers dominated Joe Haden and crew. Receivers were getting open pretty easily, allowing Wentz to pick apart the secondary on his way to his first career victory. The secondary is in trouble if it can’t cover these Eagles receivers and the throwing of a rookie quarterback.
- Danny Shelton showed some bright plays for the team. He was able to penetrate into the opposing backfield, breaking up a couple plays with this penetration. He was solid for the Browns.
- The Browns rushing attack had glimpses of success, but never was able to get consistent success. It was able to put some hits on Wentz, but after the quarterback had thrown the ball. The rush definitely tailed off towards the end of the game, due to the immense time they had to be on field.
- The Browns offense was just not good. It looked out of sorts with weird play calling and just plain bad play. The team has no chance if the offense cannot play better than this.
94 Comments
Nah, it’s a labor of love. 😀
You know darn well that “a Division II rook” and “our 5 year veteran” are intentionally deceptive. If I called them “the #2 overall pick that a boatload was given up for” and “a broken down reclamation project that hasn’t won a road game in almost four years”, that would be no less accurate, but with an obvious (and opposite) flavor. All that out of the way, RG3 wasn’t brought in to play halfway decent football, but to rile up the fans a bit, like Manziel, just without the obvious partying issues.
Is it really a surprise to people that we aren’t just bad, but this bad? The roster wasn’t constructed with winning games any time soon in thought.
Ha. Hue personally scouted Wentz and said no thanks, he sincerely liked the chances of his “reclamation project” better. DePodesta just publicly proclaimed him a “not league top 20” QB. Today he was looking off dbs and hitting receivers in stride all day. Griffin showed none of that. We are all commenting on the earliest returns of a choice, one that may haunt. We know the Browns will be bad. The question is why the team chose one QB over another. Or if the concept of a choice still offends you, why they determined that Wentz this year is worse than anything next draft. If these questions bother you, better pray Wentz starts struggling, and soon.
http://i.imgur.com/9ReRvb8.png?fb
None of these questions offend me. If people want to get into the nitty-gritty and analytics of Wentz vs Griffin vs anyone else, that’s great. But you know as well as I do that there’s little of that here. Whining about a loss and proclaiming that things would be so much better if just this one thing was different is a Sunday night/Monday morning ritual, and not just for Browns fans.
But even for the Browns, this was so clearly a lost year before the balls were rolled out at training camp. I just don’t get the people who had to see this game before proclaiming they were upset about the team. It was obvious coming in. And then the kicker, every one of these people who thinks they’re done will be back next Sunday, and they’ll have the same complaints and frustrations, despite knowing darn well that RG3 (and something like half the rest of the top 22) shouldn’t be starting NFL games. And they’ll sit and stew through the game, thinking about how much the Browns frustrate them. And then they’ll be glad to come back next week and fork over a significant part of their time, energy, and paycheck anyway.
What hurts the most is the possibility that we just passed up Beg Ben 2.0 in the draft, and will have to live with the decision for the next 15 years. Anyone prefer RG3 to Wentz? Also, I wonder why the game plan didn’t call for RG3 to roll out more.
You can go ahead and confirm me… I did say 6-10. Things don’t look too good for yours truly.
No, no. I was sarcastic AND responded to what you said.
Let’s keep a little perspective. The Wentz we saw was a Wentz against the Browns defense. If we drafted him, we wouldn’t see that. Let’s hold the bemoaning of lost gems until that gem faces an NFL team. Not saying we won’t have reason to moan then, we might; we just don’t now.
You missed the compliment. He called you witty!
Ok. Let me sum this up. Some of us Browns fans on this forum had a bad day bc we watched a bad team play. Some non fans here had a bad day bc the priest slipped them the trick communal wafer again and no one wished them peace be with you.
for everyone lamenting the Wentz non-pick: don’t forget that he looked confused and was knocked around pretty good when the Browns actually were able to play NFL caliber defense. Please, peeps, withhold your evaluation until you see the kid play against an actual NFL team.
Frankly, everyone should me MORE pissed that the Browns wasted a 3rd round pick on a guy they deemed not good enough to be active this week.
Hilarious. Clever. Sick burn, or whatever the kids say. As always, Garry has nothing to actually contribute.
Ad hominems, classic.
You guys and the Browns deserve nothing more than each other.
Pax tecum!
Listen dude. Everybody knew the Browns would be bad. But we did find a little hope in the unknown. That is normal. We also were all waiting to see what Wentz could do because we passed on him. And of course you know that we are the most qb-starved team in the history of the NFL and are not in a position to be passing on any qb. And who cares if we are whining. Get over it. That’s why we are here. To vent and share our frustrations with like others who are feeling the same way. Don’t expect to make any sense of it. Clearly being a Browns fan is nonsensical.
This is exactly what I knew would happen with Bob. This is how he plays QB in a pro style offense. This is how he’s always done it. His dropbacks are random and off script for a start, so that none of the unfortunate people tasked with blocking for him have the faintest idea where he is at any point after the snap. He himself has absolutely no idea where he is supposed to be, where his teammates are supposed to be or where opponents are likely to be. So directly off the snap the entire offense loses any rhythm it may have had pre snap, as 10 other guys frantically try to adjust in time to all of Bob’s weirdness. That is what people saw in the first quarter.
So are you advocating apathy theories now? Can I have your tinfoil?
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To be honest, Johhny’s trip to Vegas in disguise last year is going to be pretty darn hard to follow. Bob’s man bun needs to be much bigger and he has to become a lot more risque with his new Ukrainian girlfriend on the training field to even come close.
Approximately this ugly:
http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/565775/81394957.jpg
Sic semper tyrannis!
Oh, Moriarity.
Go Indians.
Magic number down to 14 with 20 to go……..
3-13, because I’m feeling generous this morning.
No surprises here. It’s going to take them multiple games just to install the defensive and offensive packages. No pass rush, every QB will look like Montana until that is addressed, and it may be next year.
McCown might win them some games (I personally think that is doubtful), but they need to evaluate RGIII this year. He needs to be healthy.
Care Bear’s mistake was a huge one. Changed field position and dug a hole when they needed the exact opposite.
I can see multiple beer brewing Sunday’s in my immediate future. First batch could be done for the World Series. 🙂
Orange Jersey’s. That’ll do it.
For your listening pleasure……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HDMCCLlGl4
I’m on a roll with the Who.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuLhcbY_08
And Stipe also won! Why aren’t we talking about him in a story written about a Browns game!
I officially dub you and CB #TeamEsq.
https://media.giphy.com/media/LfCWTCDyzPDu8/giphy.gif
https://media2.giphy.com/media/qiPJ5kow5KOT6/200.gif
Good call. I just cleaned up my kit this weekend, thinking the same thing. Need to replace a few parts, and I’m in business.
yep … i think the browns PRE-season is going to last another week or two … then , hopefully they can get a little continuity goin’.
Done.
Now you sound like Team Conspiracy….
I haven’t brewed in years, so I need to do something simple to get my chops back. Probably an all grain pale ale with some grapefruity hops. Maybe throw in some carapils for mouth feel and some rye to spice it up. The WS will require a session beer, so need to keep it around 5%.
It’s OK: If the Cavs, Tribe, and Browns somehow managed to all win a championship in the same year, the ensuing explosions of heads, particularly at certain 4-letter news networks, would be the biggest disaster this country has seen since Hurricane Katrina.
Also, this is further proof of my statement when Hue Jackson was hired: It’s a real shame when a promising football career is ended in that single instant when they sign with the Browns.
Team Snark will win this year, I think.
Same here. I used to brew regularly, but haven’t in years. Mostly because my last one came out so criminally awful, and for reasons I still have not identified, that I lost the passion – and was afraid I lost the touch.
I’ve had a small batch chocolate maple porter kit sitting around for a while. Maybe I’ll just try that. Otherwise, I will keep it way more simple than you, and get my feet back under me with a simple ale. (But it also sounds like you’re a level or two beyond my skill set.)
If ESPN talking heads exploding is a disaster, I think you’ve misunderstood what the word “disaster” means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqk-CLxrW6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRGDkxa6CSw
2.5 -13.5, because tree and a half looks too generous
It’s not the ESPN talking heads I’m worried about, it’s that the size of the collective explosion would take out a good portion of the surrounding area.
New England? Hmm. Still mulling whether that would meet the definition . . .