Buckeyes remain No. 9 in Coaches Poll, fall to No. 10 in AP Poll
September 18, 2017Corey Coleman’s broken hand confirmed
September 18, 2017Every time I’m golfing at a place entirely too nice for my game, and we’re fortunate enough to have a caddie, one of them is bound to say “there are no pictures on the scorecard.” This, of course is in reference too shots which do not necessarily go as intended, but somehow still end up in a place that makes them playable for the next shot. Luckily for the Cleveland Browns, 24-10 losers on Sunday, there are no pictures in the box score as this one should have been much, much worse.
Given all of the turnovers forced by the Ravens (including a strip-fumble early and a bevy of interceptions throughout), one would have expected the difference to have been much, much larger. The Ravens, as appears to be their M.O. for this season, quickly went into clock-bleeding mode, handing the ball off to Terrance West, Buck Allen, and even Alex Collins and Michael Campanaro, essentially daring the Browns — led by a second-year coach and a rookie quarterback — to challenge their world-class defense. Instead of Kizer getting a good kick off a tree, his drives went sailing into the woods. Instead of Isaiah Crowell getting a bounce off the cart path, he appeared to run in to the actual cart, bouncing backward way too often. While the pin placements were tough throughout the entire afternoon, the Browns were lucky to escape with the game only being two scores — the exact gap at which I had forecasted heading into the game.
LOSER: DeShone Kizer
Between the Delay of Game penalties, the interceptions, and the missed time for a migraine, it was an all around rough day for the Rookie. After giving Browns fans rays of hope in Week 1, Kizer played like a 21-year-old who was getting his first taste of road action in the NFL–oh, and it just so happened to be against one of the best defensive units the league has to offer. Again, holding on to the ball way too long. Again, blitz packages leading to some inaccuracy. Much like last week, the issues are correctable. Unfortunately for Kizer, however, it appeared that there was some regression.
There were some post-game thoughts in Week 1 about getting the team to the line quicker. The play below, what would have been a 3rd-and-7, was moved back due to a Delay of Game penalty, which then forced the receivers to have to run longer routes, ultimately giving the Ravens more of a chance to bring the quarterback down. You all know how that sequence ended…
LOSER: Hue Jackson
Another week where Jackson seemingly cannot get a run game going despite all of the resources having been poured into the offensive line. Another week where it’s tough to decipher whether or not failed plays are a result of poor play calling or a lack of execution. It’s safe to consider this Week 2 matchup more of a test than a referendum, but Jackson is now 1-17 as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. What isn’t tough to decipher is the lack of discipline shown by his team, recording an astounding 11 penalties for 65 yards — and those were only the ones accepted. These next three weeks are going to be very, very telling.
WINNER: Joe Thomas
In addition to playing one hell of a game, Thomas also recorded his 10,000th consecutive snap without missing an offensive play. It’s truly incredible, and also a reminder of how unfortunate it was that the guy gave it his all on and off of the field and will likely end his career having not played a single one of those snaps in the playoffs. (For the Browns, anyway…)
10,000 consecutive snaps.
That's unbelievable.
Hats off to you good sir, @joethomas73— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 17, 2017
LOSER: Isaiah Crowell
I’m not ready to close the book on Isaiah Crowell’s tenure with the Cleveland Browns just yet, but over the last two weeks I see a guy who’s not able to properly bounce outside when holes collapse as well as one who’s struggling mightily in key moments of pass protection. Pittsburgh and Baltimore provide tough challenges, so I’m willing to give some benefit of the doubt. If these struggles continue against Indianapolis, New York, and Cincinnati, however, we may be seeing the last of The Crow in Cleveland.
WINNER: Duke Johnson
Conversely, you have Johnson who racked up 80 combined yards, plugging a hyper efficient 21 yards on four carries and doing the rest through the air. Johnson’s yardage totals from a receiving standpoint would have actually been much higher if not for Kizer missing him multiple times throughout the contest. It would appear that Week 1 film showed Johnson open during several of the sacks which were taken, and that the release valve was a concerted effort. The execution, however, was lacking, including the tipped interception in the first half. Let’s choose to remember Duke for this play instead.
WINNER: Rashard Higgins
From cut, to practice squad, to leading the Cleveland Browns in targets (11) and receiving yards. Seven catches for 95 yards, some of them coming on tremendous plays. I had super high hopes for Higgins following the draft, and that had not exactly panned out. The team opted to move him into the slot where he was able to utilize the middle of the field, amassing 30 of his 95 yards after the catch. Here’s hoping this game was what he needed to build some confidence, as…
LOSER: Corey Coleman
Corey Coleman could be out for a while as the team fears he broke the same hand that forced him to miss time last season. The most unfortunate part is that it appears the injury was the result of the receiver getting sandwiched after an inaccurate throw from Kizer. Here’s hoping for some good news this week as this team is already bereft of play-making options. Especially because…
LOSER: Kenny Britt
Kenny Britt looks utterly disinterested to be on the field. Worse, he follows his horrid game up with this:
Y'all ppl kill me 😂😂😂
— Kenny Britt (@KennyBritt_18) September 18, 2017
WINNERS: Jason McCourty
We wondered who would be the next member of the Browns’ young defense to step up and it appears we have our answer. McCourty was terrific on the edge in run defense, and played such solid coverage that he was only targeted five times while allowing zero receptions and picking one off. His forced fumble late provided the Browns with a glimmer of at least covering the spread, but the offense couldn’t mount any sort of momentum. Great game by McCourty.
LOSER: Jamie Collins Jr.
In addition to being one of the three linebackers to be abused in pass coverage, Collins was ineffective in run defense and may have sustained a concussion.
If any sequence summed up Collins’ day, it was this complete showing of disrespect by Buck Allen on what was effectively a run play on third and long.
WINNER: David Njoku
While the yardage and targets weren’t exactly aplenty, this was a hell of a catch by the rookie. Hopefully a sign of things to come.
LOSER: Greg Williams
Love the toughness that Williams has brought to the table thus far, but for the love of God please find some way to stop a tight end from abusing this team. The Browns perennially make every tight end look like Rob Gronkowski and it’s maddening. Jack Doyle hauled in all eight of his targets in Week 2 against an Arizona defense that boasts one of the best secondaries in football. If the Browns don’t figure this out quickly, the dude could easily drop 100 yards in Week 3.
And now, the fans…
Winners = Tribe fans. Losers = Fans that predicted 8-8.
— Dirty Danchez (@alanshadow22) September 17, 2017
Losers: Ticket Brokers. With the Browns in dismay and a team that looks to be making no progress, prices of online tickets have plummeted
— Joseph (@TheLand0619) September 17, 2017
Winners: Higgins, Mccourty, Devalve, Njoku, Duke, Hogan?
Losers: OC Hue, Kizer, Gregg, the D line without Garrett, Crow, Britt, Coates— chris wilson (@chrswlsn) September 17, 2017
winner: whiskey Loser: liver
— Eric Brooks (@OffSummers) September 17, 2017
Biggest winner and loser, Joe Thomas. 1,000 consecutive snaps for the abysmal Browns.
— Jason Sunkle (@jsunkle) September 17, 2017
Yes that should have said 10,000 Scott…I think you knew that I knew. Typo fail
— Jason Sunkle (@jsunkle) September 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/__Hoss/status/909588343717015552
64 Comments
Okay, I posted the wrong jpg. I tried to cancel/fix it, but it wouldn’t let me.
I just wanted to post the pic, not the Tweety thing, but I’m incompetent. I have no idea if “Black Adam Schefter” is racist or offensive or grounds for ostracism, death, or worse, but I didn’t mean to do that.
I throw myself on the mercy of the merciless, and I apologize on behalf of me, my descendants, and my ancestors to anyone else who takes offense.
To prove my sincerity, I’ll go slam my car door on my hand to atone.
https://media.giphy.com/media/26ybvbqy7JfsGMjjW/giphy.gif
Gee, thanks, Mr. Sam Gold, the Tweety thing is gone!
Can you take care of all my screws-ups like that?
I’m betting it was our old pal, Bode fixin’ things up on the DL.
I’m looking at Sunday’s game against Indy as a real Litmus Test. If they can’t do something against this bad Indy team then I’m going to become very discouraged.
Not this time. My suspicion is that he edited but then didn’t refresh the page. Disqus has a habit of not showing things properly unless you reload everything.
hi SP … yep , they had better find a way to put a good game together & beat Indy.
Oh man I’m such a disgusting cynic. Was expecting something along the lines of “Hey kid, you’re going to slave away in horrible schools that are like concentration camps for kids for 15 years and then move on to a life of unemployment and crack addictions and die before you’re thirty. Are you excited?”
Where is the therapy section on this blog?
Confidence in short supply, as was evidenced on the putrid offensive drive that took place mere moments before I switched to another game, any other game, even the Cards vs the Jets, in frustration. At least I could get amused by the incompetence in that game. You need all 11 players on the field to buy into everything from the staff to the specific play being run, and to actually know what the hell they are supposed to be doing on said play. And the Browns seemed to have about…two players buying in on that drive and knowing what to do at the same time.
In general things are really hard to evaluate in football when the entire collaboration you witness on the field is half assed, for whatever reason. You just eventually reach a point where enough confidence and competence has been accumulated that you suddenly recognize what they are doing as proper football, often to your great surprise. And even then it is often hard to know for sure exactly what happened to cause the transformation.
But really it all comes down to plays. Making big ones yourself while preventing the opponent from making them. No turnovers on offense and takeaways on defense basically. Sounds simple enough, but somehow it isn’t. And the Browns still seem to have an almost mystical ability to give up just enough big plays to make winning a thing that only happens to other people. But despite the annoyance while watching this particular game I still think patience is the way. At least for another season or two.
Paging Dr. tigersbrowns2, paging Dr. tigersbrowns2 . . .
Hope you don’t mind medication.