So you want to have season tickets in Cleveland
August 21, 2017High leverage Robo: That’s my boy
August 22, 2017After a first preseason contest against the Saints that was mostly forgettable and unwatchable, the Cleveland Browns welcomed the New York Giants to Cleveland for another fake game. Despite a 20-14 win and the fact that DeShone Kizer orchestrated the win, we’re talking about 13 fourth-quarter points in the first preseason game of the year. In the scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal despite the local media frenzy that followed.
That was last week so no matter here. This is a nationally televised affair! Uncomfortable pre-game close-ups on ESPN’s Monday Night Football production package welcomed us all to the game, presumably because they had some stock footage of Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. from NFL films. The Browns? Some slow-mo practice footage of Myles Garrett, but no real scientific footage of the pores on Cleveland Browns faces. Darn!
What a great start for the Browns’ defense. They forced a three-and-out after scoring the game-opening touchback. Joe Schobert sacked Eli Manning to force the punt, and Jabrill Peppers electrified the Browns’ faithful with a long punt return inside the Giants’ 40-yard line. It was great to see, but it all felt like we were biding our time until we got to judge quarterbacks. It’s the Cleveland way. It’s part of our disease.
Jabrill Peppers is one heckuva playmaker on defense, but his biggest impact during his rookie season may be as a returner on special teams. pic.twitter.com/hnrT43rpYG
— WaitingForNextYear (@WFNYCLE) August 22, 2017
We’ve seen how many superior defensive teams carry their offensive counterparts in the history of the NFL, but yet, despite all that evidence from real football teams that play in games after the regular season – “playoffs” – all we can do is obsess on the guy under center. The Browns have Jamie Collins, Myles Garrett, Joe Haden, and Jabrill Peppers on the defensive side of the ball, but we’d prefer to torture ourselves by two guys we basically know can’t do the job, and a guy who I like, but fell to the second round for a reason.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Brock Osweiler did what he does. He threw some nice passes when the pocket was clean. He showed nice arm-strength on throws to the sidelines, but he just didn’t put his teammates in a position to make a big play. Corey Coleman had to stretch to make what should have been a first down, a sideline nine-yarder with a degree of difficulty of 11. Then Olivier Vernon somehow managed to get his 6-foot-2 frame into the passing lane of 11-foot tall quarterback Brock Osweiler. Jason Pierre-Paul came down with it for an interception. It wasn’t even a good arm punt.
On the next drive, Osweiler decided to try and scramble on third-and-8, which gave me Josh McCown flashbacks.
Osweiler must have gotten into that Josh McCown tape. I thought we burned that footage. pic.twitter.com/p8c5i3qElp
— Craig Lyndall (@WFNYCraig) August 22, 2017
DeShone Kizer entered the game after Osweiler’s scrambled departure to gigantic fan applause, natch. After some screen-pass / shovel-pass gimmickry, the Browns punted the ball away.
Also, Cleveland is full of funny people.
At the #Browns game…so fun! Woof woof! pic.twitter.com/4FijAlwgYA
— Pants Pantsley (@okpants) August 22, 2017
The Giants take a 3-0 lead in the second quarter after a middling drive. The drama of the drive occurred when Odell Beckham Jr. caught a pass and as he was landing, Briean Boddy-Calhoun hit him legally but low in the legs. OBJ seemed to get his knee stretched out on the hit, and he was slow to exit the field. He was ticked at the hit, despite the fact that it was legal and much drama ensued as OBJ appeared to go to the floor on his way to the locker room. I’m just wondering why he didn’t get a 15-yard penalty for removing his helmet on the field. I don’t care, of course, but you know that’s precisely the kind of thing that would cost the Browns 15 yards.
Odell Beckham Jr. left tonight's game against the Browns after taking this hit. pic.twitter.com/IkJeQ7Y8Tf
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 22, 2017
OBJ is struggling en route to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/rRdANgXNPX
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 22, 2017
Kizer entered for his second run with the Browns’ offense with just over 13 minutes left until halftime. Bad plays and penalties beset the offense. In the end, even after getting a first down, the Browns were forced to punt with the down and distance at fourth-and-25. Ugly.
This is the point at which the game started to feel like a preseason game at its expiration date. These things get sillier the later they go, and I’ll just chalk it up to nothing that Kevin Zeitler and his large contract were on the receiving end of yellow laundry multiple times. Alas, Eli Manning stayed in the game, and the Cleveland Browns’ offense did well to create a turnover. Jason McCourty stripped Sterling Shepard on a beautiful play that game the Browns the ball in Giants territory.
Kizer executed a wonderful play-fake, throwing a screen to a fullback Danny Vitale, who scampered to the red zone. Duke Johnson ran it to the two-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit. Despite my warnings about taking evidence with a grain of salt, here’s Kizer leading a team to the red zone with a potential lead hanging in the balance in the shadow of halftime. It wasn’t overly impressive, but the rookie kept his pads low, and the Browns scrummed their way into the end zone for a 7-3 lead with 1:10 to go in the half.
Geno Smith entered the game for the Browns, effectively ending any semblance of a non-preseason game. But nevermind that because Smith goes down in history as Myles Garrett‘s first NFL sack victim (unless you count Browns practice quarterbacks). Smith kind of ran into it, but whatever. It counts!
Even a double-team won't stop Myles Garrett. The rookie recorded his first NFL sack just before halftime. pic.twitter.com/aFVeBCvvE7
— WaitingForNextYear (@WFNYCLE) August 22, 2017
So what’s the summation? Let’s start with the quarterbacks and save the best for last.
I would prefer Kizer not be the Browns starter at the beginning of the season, but he looked far superior to Osweiler. It’s not difficult to imagine Kizer being named starter of Game 3 of the preseason. If that happens, and he stays healthy, Kizer’s going to be the Week 1 starter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don’t know if that’s the best choice long-term for the young man’s future, but it appears to be the only option the Browns have left considering the applicants for the position. If it’s going to be Kizer, they need to start working on Kizer-specific packages.
I feel a little bit better about all this quarterback stuff after seeing the Browns’ defense. They look fast. They look aggressive. They look stout on the defensive line. The Giants aren’t particularly great running the ball, but the Browns didn’t allow them to do it either. Jamie Collins, Jason McCourty, Joe Schobert, Myles Garrett, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, and Jabrill Peppers all showed up well on my first viewing of the game when it still mattered. This Browns defense has the potential to become one of the best ones we’ve seen since 1999. Better than that, I think they have a chance to be a good NFL defense in the league at large.
All things considered, that’s a pretty good result for the Browns and their fans from the second preseason game of the year.
(The Browns were leading 10-3 when this game recap was completed. If anything else happens, stay tuned to WFNY for more.)
52 Comments
Didn’t see the game. Did Haden play? Useful?
He got burned at least once. Pretty bad.
Unfortunately I think his days are numbered.
Looked pretty obvious that Hogan thinks he has a chance to beat out Kessler.
“You have to trust me on this one”
Also keep in mind the defense was without Danny Shelton, but were still able to stop the run. I know the Giants have a pretty subpar run game, but still…it’s a reason to be optimistic, right?
it is plain-as-day who the best QB on the team is … but will Hue still go with Osweiler week 1 against the Steelers ? Hue is probably thinking ” “we have a stout defense that should keep us in the game … and the O-line should help by running the ball & protecting the QB … all OS needs to do is manage the game”. yes , Os will manage to find a way to eff it all up.
does Hue want a game manager who he hopes doesn’t make mistakes … or a guy that can make things happen ?? will Hue go with his head or his balls ??
WINNERS : kizer , schobert , peppers , kirksey , dayes , z.gonzalez & gregg williams
NOT-SO-MUCH-WINNERS : roderick johnson , haden (?)
** i cannot call them LOSERS anymore … things are gonna be changing around here.
… i should give a little love to shon coleman as well.
Haden did get burned , but the safety saved him as Brandon Marshall got alligator arms when he felt the safety ready to lay him out.
Thanks. The lack of press coverage on him is conspicuous.
Hue is taking that one for the team. Sashi traded the Brissett pick for Kindred and had Prescott off the board.
This is basically the scenario Brock has been in for his entire career. He sucks, but he keeps landing on teams with awesome defenses, which allows him to put Ws next to his name. Quick edit: I’m not saying the Browns have an awesome defense, we really don’t know yet. They look promising though.
I think he wants to protect Kizer from Kizer so he doesn’t get himself killed after mis-reading a blitz. There’s going to be plenty of snaps for Kizer this year. They just won’t be starting week one.
Amen bro.
The yinzers are not the team to test your shaky blitz-reading skills against.
hi SCRIPTY … i believe you’re right & that’s probably what will happen. if OS starts we’re playing “not to lose” instead of “playing to win” … i guess there is always a chance that Os could actually play well , though i’m not counting on it.
“he keeps landing on teams with awesome defenses, which allows him to put Ws next to his name.”
Sign me up.
I’ll sign up for the awesome defense, but I’m all for playing Kizer. If Brock can get you X wins, you’d have to think Kizer can get you X+2 wins.
I didn’t watch much, but respectfully, outside a few CBs, your #1 CB is still going to surrender yards and get burned a few times a game. Ideally not 20+ yard scores but if we’re expecting Haden to be some lockdown guy that is a gamechanger at CB1, then that is insane. He has at best, pedestrian help – at safety position. He is going to surrender a lot of yardage this year. He needs to make the break-ups he should, keep the home run plays away, and tackle, and keep himself on the field for 13+ games if possible. Just my 2 cents.
with those safeties and vanilla blitz schemes, you think he should be playing more press? Let’s get some real game tape and then see what’s up.
i did not see it , but i heard 11 Browns took a knee during the national anthem … i’m thinking Hue should’ve taken a tougher stance on this … in hindsight , I’ll bet he thinks so too.
$7M out of $11M not guaranteed……. just sayin.
If they were to cut him, I’d wait until he he suffers some injury that ends his season and cut him then. Ultimately they’d still need to fill those snaps somehow and I don’t see CBs at 5 & 6 that can take take his snaps and develop. If and when that time comes, so be it. But I don’t think you scuttle him this year.
They were praying together. Not everyone will land on the same side of the coin as me, but I was completely fine with it. Actually no, more than that, I thought it was awesome to see those guys praying together.
They have a clean out on his deal next year and can afford the cap space this year, so it does make sense to keep him. But it’s not my $7 million.
the good thing is that they also have J.Taylor , Boddy-Calhoun & McCourty at CB.
thanks PAT … they were praying DURING the national anthem ??
game1 – let Osweiler get pummeled
game 2 – insert Kizer
Yes. It was definitely a protest, but I appreciate the method. http://deadspin.com/seth-devalve-is-the-first-white-player-to-kneel-for-the-1798295618
I have no illusions of what he is at this point but until I see him taking snaps from guys that would benefit from 2017 development my calls for his departure will be muted. Who knows, maybe they find two more Calhouns.
If Wilson is healthy and battling at camp, this is probably a slightly different dialogue. HBT has done okay digging up Taylor, BoddyCcalhoun and McCourty, let’s see what they can continue to do this year with throwing more bodies on the pile
I have a ton to add here but was thinking it’ll be a post of it’s own later. To be continued….
I almost always pray during the National Anthem.
i appreciate the method as well , but it still falls into the category of disrespect.
https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6Zt16nOfEI0C9sPu/giphy.gif
hi MG … but i’m sure you do it standing with your hand over your heart.
Not for me, but I support your ability to think differently about it.
These “protests” are like my new low sodium diet. A big nothingburger.
Just win baby.
We’re Browns fans.
We pray the entire game.
Eh, I have learned that there are more important topics to direct my prayers towards 🙂
at home, I’m usually sitting on the couch. in the ballpark, stadium, I stand and remove my hat.
i’m ambivalent towards using it as a protest measure. the object of a peaceful protest is to gain attention. then, you work towards making what you see as a problem better. no matter your feelings on the method, you have to appreciate it has given the attention.
will be interested to see if these Browns players do something off the field to follow up and make a positive difference.
https://media.giphy.com/media/ohdY5OaQmUmVW/giphy.gif
a football game is not the forum to do this though … these 11 players can go out & take it the public , go on twitter & do many other things for their cause … it’s like an actor giving political views while accepting an oscar , not the forum to do it in.
these guys get to live the greatest country in the world & they get to make a lot of money playing a game & yet they protest. this doesn’t mean they’re bad guys … but this is still disrespectful in my eyes.
where else can NFL players gain the most attention if not a football game? doing anything in the public at a different time will create less attention, which is the opposite of what they seek here.
i’m fully against those who protest through illegal or violent methods & try to pass it off as being “morally correct” but am fine with those who do it through peaceful means & try to make positive change.
Kizer looks like a Blue Apron delivery: all the ingredients before they’re cooked. While I have reasonable hopes, he currently possesses no internal clock – zilch – ticking how long he can hold the ball, how quickly he must get into and out of the huddle. Add his never seeing disguised blitzes at full speed and his collegiate attitude about putting his shoulder into LBs … the quickest way of cooking up fresh Hamburger Kessler is to start him against Pittsburgh.
But I’m guessing they will. Because the other guy looks pretty horrible, any chance Kessler was going to develop into a competent back up QB was sacrificed on the altar of an historic teardown while all the confidence was concussed out of him, and Hue knows – KNOWS – that only the man-child has a chance of getting him the 4-5 wins that will keep his career panic at bay. What I saw last night makes me sad. They still lack a single receiving target who has the talent, technique and knowledge to help, to reliably be accessible for a bail-out before the kid gets crunched. Please, try to wait until Game 4. Until then, start Lurch and “Marty-Ball It Like It’s 1985” and ignore the beer-spittle screams. For just a few weeks… please?
i respect your opinion , MG … these guys had better be careful , you saw what happened to Kaepernick. everyone is not going think & be as lenient as you.
I would wager that what happened to Kaep is the reason we’ll see even more NFL players kneel.
Creating a tangible opponent (ownerships) & martyr (though not by death, thankfully) is the strongest way to start a movement.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b8a998593aa838c234f0252aebcecbf3fed64ddcd9ee001812735a29e264de01.gif