Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

27 Sep 2011

The defense never rests

Fresh off their second consecutive game where they limited the opposition to a lone touchdown, the Cleveland Browns are starting to build something on defense and the league is beginning to take notice.

In less than two years on the job general manager Tom Heckert has jumpstarted the process of rebuilding the defense. Out are the aging veterans and ex-Jets, like Abe Elam, Kenyon Coleman, Jason Trusnik, David Bowens, Eric Barton, C.J. Mosley and Hank Poteat, and in their place are draftees Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard, T.J. Ward and Joe Haden.

And it’s starting to pay off.

The Browns are ninth overall in the league on defense, third against the pass and tied for 8th in third-down efficiency.

“You have to get off the field on third down and then there are a lot of ways looking at it,” coach Pat Shurmur said in his weekly presser. “Better percentage on first down makes a longer third, all of that. Most teams on offense find a way to move the ball. Now, when you get in the red zone and teams find a way to get in the red zone anywhere from two to three and sometimes five times a game. That’s when you have to make them kick field goals.

“Turnovers, efficiency on third down, that’s getting off the field and then execution in the red zone. That’s pretty much offensively and defensively the areas that if you are going to be consistently good you have to be good in those areas.”

Through three games corner back Joe Haden is playing like an All-Pro. He shut down A.J. Green in Week 1 (one reception), kept Reggie Wayne in check Week 2 (four receptions) and did the same on Sunday against Brandon Marshall (four receptions).

Defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin earned Defensive Player of the Week honors in Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column.

King writes: Taken out of Iowa State in the sixth round of the 2008 draft, in what would be one of Phil Savage’s last acts as Cleveland GM, Rubin is turning into one of the best defensive tackles in the league. He was one of the keys to a resilient if ugly 17-16 win over Miami Sunday. He had 1.5 sacks, nine tackles and another tackle for loss as the Browns stifled much of what Miami tried to do on offense.

The young and mostly inexperienced defensive line has been a nice surprise so far this season, and should only get better as the season moves along.

“We are another game better of knowing what those guys can do,” Shurmur said. “I thought (defensive line coach) Dwaine (Board) had a good rotation getting guys in there. Every play is a critical play but you need your guys all the way to the end. So we had a good rotation in there and they played a lot of snaps.

“I think getting sacks is a team thing just as well as giving up sacks is a team thing. There is coverage involved. There is pressure sometimes and then there is just flat out guys beating guys. I think there was a little bit of all three elements yesterday, but I think that unit is really improving.”

King also made note of Shurmur’s decision to bring the players in to work on Monday, a sign that the coaching staff knows there is still a lot of work to be done.

There was something I liked about the Browns post-game Sunday, after escaping with a 17-16 win over the Dolphins. With the players screaming for a “Victory Monday,” a day off that normally follows a win, which then is followed by the normal day off on Tuesday, coach Pat Shurmur told the players he’d get them in and out as quick as he could on Monday, but it wasn’t going to be a full day off because next week is the bye, and a game with Tennessee awaited this week, and he wanted to do everything he could to make sure they prepared fully for this game against a non-division foe. And not a peep was heard from the players.

“Multiple reasons why that’s an important game,” said receiver Muhammad Massaquoi. “You don’t want to go into a bye with a loss, and you want to be sure you keep a good thing going. We still have work to do here.” Of the three Rust Belters not accustomed to feeling so good on a Sunday, Shurmur’s idea was not only the right one, but one his players embraced. And that’s the kind of team that can grow into something.

We’ll give defensive tackle Phil Taylor the last word.

“If we keep playing like we’re playing, people are gonna know about us,” Taylor said in published reports. “People already know about us from watching film, but if we keep playing like we’re playing, we’re gonna be one of those dominant forces.”

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, defense, NFL | Leave a comment
25 Sep 2011

Play fast defense saves the day for Browns

The Browns continued to show the benefit of defensive coordinator Dick Jauron’s “play fast” defense, defeating Miami on Sunday for their first home win of the season.

For the second consecutive game, the defense gave up only one touchdown on the day, working hard to carry the water until the offense could get its act together.

The defense showed why we’ve been longing for the return of the 4-3 for years, recording five sacks – four from the defensive line – and keeping the Dolphins out of the end zone for the final 52 minutes of the game.

The Browns also held Miami to 4-of-13 on third down and the Dolphins were just 1-of-3 in the red zone (think field goals, not touchdowns).

The biggest series for the defense came with 6:20 left in the game. Leading 13-10, the Dolphins took over with a chance to put the game away. Miami would eventually have a first-and-10 at the Browns 23, but the defense stuffed the Dolphins, forcing Miami to settle for a field goal and give the Browns hope.

As for the offense, it wasn’t very good – until it was.

Playing without starting running back Peyton Hillis and with a limited Josh Cribbs, quarterback Colt McCoy struggled on the day, but saved his best for when it mattered.

With the Browns trailing 16-10 and 3:23 on the clock, McCoy led an 80-yard drive where he completed 9-of-13 passes, hitting Greg Little with three passes (two for first downs) before finally finding Mohamed Massaquoi for the game-winning, 14-yard touchdown pass.

It was a nice throw by McCoy and an even better catch by Massaquoi.

“My best throw of the day,” McCoy said. “Mo did a nice job and got that guy (Miami defensive back Jimmy Wilson) to bite just a little bit. He wasn’t that open, but in the NFL, when they’re like that, you just gotta make a good throw. Mo did a great job of getting his feet in. It was a great feeling.”

Of course, this being the Browns the victory wasn’t that easy. Two highly suspect calls by the refs – yes, it may be sour grapes but the excessive celebration and horse collar tackle penalties were crap calls – allowed the Dolphins to start on the Browns 48-yard-line with 36 seconds and one time out left.

Needing only a field goal to win, Miami quarterback Chad Henne threw three consecutive incompletions before his fourth-down pass was intercepted by Mike Adams and the Browns finally secured the win.

“I’m proud of the guys because no matter if it’s one point, one second left — we hung in there,” coach Pat Shurmur told The Plain Dealer. “Colt knows how to win games. We are learning about each other.”

“We lost four games last year after leading in the fourth quarter,” Cribbs told The Plain Dealer. “This just shows how much we’ve grown.”

So what did we learn on Sunday?

This defense has the makings of being a pretty good and fun to watch group as general manager Tom Heckert’s decision to add Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard to last year’s draft picks of Joe Haden and T.J. Ward looks better every week.

You know who else looks better every week? Defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin, who had nine tackles and 1.5 sacks on Sunday.

The defense may not have a lot of depth, but the starting 11 looks pretty good.

Montario Hardesty looks like he may be a nice compliment to Hillis at running back. Making his first start on Sunday, Hardesty ran for 67 yards and a 4.8 yards-per-carry average. If he can continue to run like that, the duo of Hillis and Hardesty are going to be a real asset.

The offense is still very much a work in progress. The timing between McCoy and the receivers just isn’t there yet, and McCoy’s accuracy is off – he’s only completing 54 percent of his passes.

It’s obvious that the shortened training camp, combined with preseason injuries to the receivers, has the offense struggling to catch up.

“I’ll be the first to tell you I’ve got a lot of work to do leading this football team, and we as a team have a lot of work to do,” McCoy said in published reports. “We earned some confidence today in each other.”

There are those who will say the Browns “deserved” to lose the game because of the offensive struggles, but the last time we checked both sides of the ball count. The defense made the plays it needed to keep the team in the game and the offense found a way at the end.

There is still plenty of work to do, especially on offense, but for now the Browns hold a share of first place in the AFC North, and that’s a good thing.

“We got the job done,” Phil Taylor told The Plain Dealer after the game.

And really, that’s all that matters.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in NFL | Leave a comment
25 Sep 2011

Browns vs. Dolphins – Week 3

Fresh off their first win in the Pat Shurmur era, the Cleveland Browns return home to take on the Miami Dolphins and try to turn up the temperature on Dolphins coach Tony Sparano’s chair.

The Opposition

Miami record: 0-2
Offensive rank: 10th overall/9th passing/8th rushing
Defensive rank: 32nd overall/30th passing/22nd rushing
All-time record: Dolphins lead 9-7 (including playoffs), but Browns are 5-4 in Cleveland
Last meeting: Browns won 13-10 in 2010
The line: Browns (-2.5)

What to Watch For

How the Browns respond to being back at home following the mistake-filled season opener against the Bengals.

The Dolphins come into the game as the worst defense in the NFL, but that has a qualifier to it. They have given up the third-most passing yards and the second-most passing touchdowns in the league so far, but those numbers came against New England’s Tom Brady and Houston’s Matt Schaub, quarterbacks who can make any defense look silly when they are on their game.

Is the Miami defense really that bad, or are the numbers skewed because of the level of the opposition?

This will be a good game to see what kind of progress the Browns have made as they transition to the West Coast offense. The offense should be getting better each week as they make up for the repetitions they lost during the shortened workout.

If Colt McCoy and the receivers are on, they should be able to take advantage of the Dolphins, especially since Miami will be without starting cornerback Vontae Davis and possibly back-up corner Will Allen. Miami is giving up 30.5 points per game and allowing opponents to convert on 46.4 percent of their third downs.

Sounds like a potential good day for the offense.

Of course, the Browns may be without starting running back Peyton Hillis (strep throat), as well as starting wide receivers Josh Cribbs (groin) and Mohamed Massaquoi (ankle), who are all questionable for the game.

If all three are out, then the Dolphins can key on back-up running back Montario Hardesty, pay a little attention to rookie wide receiver Greg Little and ignore Brian “Blutarski” Robiskie, which would make for a long day for McCoy and the offense.

Much as the Dolphins defensive ranking may be artificially low because of the opposition, the Browns No. 6 ranked defense (No. 2 against the pass) may be a bit high because of playing Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

The Dolphins can still run the ball and, even under Dick Jauron’s “play fast” defense, the Browns are struggling to stop the run.

But the Browns have been tough in the red zone as they are tied for third in red-zone defense and didn’t give up a touchdown to the Colts until there were 24 seconds left in the game. The Dolphins may play right into that strength as they are weak in the red zone under offensive coordinator Brian Daboll (think field goals on Sunday, not touchdowns) and have made the eighth-most negative plays in the red zone in the league.

The Most Frustrating Browns vs. Dolphins Game We’ve Ever Seen

The 1986 playoff game where the Browns blew a 21-3 lead in the third quarter as Miami rallied back to win 24-21.

We can still see Miami’s Ron Davenport running over Don Rogers on his way to the end zone.

The Prediction

If we knew the Browns were going to be healthy on offense we would feel a lot better about this game. There’s no such thing as an “easy win” for the Browns, even if the other team is 0-2 and falling apart under a lame duck coach.

We’re worried that the Dolphins are not as bad as they’ve looked over the first two weeks, but that the Browns are what they’ve looked like: a young team adjusting to a new offense and new defense that can play well in spurts, but possibly not yet for an entire game.

And the Dolphins do have the third-best road record in the NFL since 2008.

But the Browns did look noticeably better at times last week against the Colts, which gives us hope.

The Browns should think touchdowns, not field goals, just enough on Sunday to pull out the win and stay on pace with Pittsburgh and Baltimore at the top of the AFC North division.

Take the Browns and the points.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 1-1-0.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, NFL | Leave a comment
24 Sep 2011

Out of sight, out of mind

The NBA announced on Friday that training camps, which were scheduled to open Oct. 3, are postponed indefinitely and that 43 preseason games have been canceled because of the ongoing labor fight between the league and its players.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

The thing is, we’re not sure we really care.

It’s not that we don’t enjoy rooting for the Cavs. And we’re eager to see how coach Byron Scott works rookies Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson into the squad.

It’s just that we have a serious case of labor fatigue at this point. After going through the NFL lockout and all that it entailed, we just don’t have room any more to care about another labor issues involving millionaires and billionaires fighting over the money pie.

The league and its players don’t really care about the fans and, as fans, there is not much we can do about the ongoing labor issues. That’s also contributing to our feeling of ambivalence toward the whole lockout.

Plus didn’t we just go through this in 1999? Wasn’t that work stoppage – which caused the league to miss games – supposed to solve the problem? Why are we here again?

We admit we might feel differently if the Cavs were still a 60+ win team and a threat to challenge for an NBA title. The prospect of missing games under that scenario would be far different.

But for now, our attitude is call us when this is all over.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, lockout fatigue, NBA | Leave a comment
22 Sep 2011

Browns being cautious with Hillis contract

When it comes to extending the contract of third-year running back Peyton Hillis, the Browns are approaching it like a fine BBQ chef.

Low and slow.

Browns general manager Tom Heckert said on Thursday that, “Until we get a contract done with somebody, we’re not gonna talk about it.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, EPL, hot seats, Peyton Hillis | Leave a comment
22 Sep 2011

The Browns are grown-ass men!

Alex Mack is the latest Cleveland Brown to go on the record about how things are different in Berea under new coach Pat Shurmur.

“It’s not acceptable to make mistakes (under Shurmur), but it’s — tolerable is the wrong word — a learning experience more than a lynching experience,” Mack told The News-Herald. “We had a lot of team corrections (the last two years). The theory behind it was as a team you’d see where people made mistakes and hold everyone accountable.

“On the same hand, other guys don’t know what you’re coached. If you keep it in your own meeting group and get it aired out, that’s better. Everyone knows you. But to have a DB get beat and have the coach yell at him — I don’t know how to cover anyone, and I don’t need to know. It’s hard for him to get embarrassed in front of the whole team. If it’s just your group of core guys, and they know how good the receiver is. It’s easier to bear.”

Mack joins a growing list of players who are embracing the changes in Berea from former coach Eric Mangini:

  • Joe Thomas: “I’ve been so impressed with coach (Pat) Shurmur and the staff that he brought in and the way he teaches the players. He won the respect of some of the leaders on the team right away with the way he treated them.”
  • D’Qwell Jackson: “(Coach Shurmur’s) created a great environment for us to want to come to work. You can tell the players are more involved. We have a lot more opinion about things.”
  • Scott Fujita: “Coach Shurmur is going to turn over the keys to us and say, ‘You need to run this thing the right way. I don’t need to be the guy policing the locker room. That’s on you guys.’ I think we embraced that. This is good for this group of guys.”
  • Sheldon Brown: “You have guys who go home to their families, to their kids. You’ll tell me I can raise a family, but I can’t behave and act like a pro? Give me the locker room. He understands that and I think that’s why the guys love and respect him.”

“The atmosphere is really nice,” Mack told The Plain Dealer. “To come to work and not be dreading it from what’s going to happen and how you’re going to get yelled at or what’s going to show up on the screen and just knowing that like, ‘Here, guys, we made mistakes, and let’s get better,’ and have a kind of lighter atmosphere is going to help guys stay upbeat. It’s easier to learn.

“It’s not acceptable to make mistakes, but it’s a learning experience more than a (chastising) experience.”

It’s not uncommon for players to have a positive reaction to a change in the coaching staff. But when you look at the names behind the quotes, you realize these are not just company men trying to get in good with the new coach. Fujita and Brown have been part of winning organizations, and Thomas and Mack are among the best in the league at their positions. When they say things like this, there is some credibility behind their words.

There are three things keys coaches have to do in order to maximize their chances of being successful:

  • Put the players in situations where they can succeed. If you are coaching the Patriots you can run a highly complex offense because you have Tom Brady at quarterback and he has built up a knowledge base over the course of his career. Try to be complex with a career back-up and an over-the-hill veteran and you are out of work.
  • Not everyone learns the same way and you have to figure out who on your team is an auditory learner, a visual learner and a tactile learner. Trying to teach everyone the same way doesn’t work. That’s why Shurmur’s approach of having the position coaches, who work with the players the most and should know how to teach them, work with the players to correct mistakes is a good approach.
  • Just like how not everyone learns the same way, everyone doesn’t respond to the same types of motivation. Some players need a pat on the back, some a kick in the ass. As a coach, you need to know the right approach to take; again you can’t treat everyone the same.

We seriously doubt players need to be humiliated in front of the entire team to understand they made a mistake. Sheldon Brown knows if he blew a coverage. Joe Thomas knows if he blows an assignment, all he has to do is look at the quarterback lying face down on the field. They don’t need to be treated like children.

But while the players can talk all they want about being treated differently, they have to show they have earned that right with their performance on the field each Sunday. That means no stupid penalties, no putting themselves before the team, etc. You want to be treated like adults? Then you better come through for the coach when it counts.

Look, there’s no universal way to coach an NFL team. Offensive coaches can win, defensive coaches can win, player’s coaches, hard-ass coaches, there’s room for everyone if they have the right approach.

We just hope that Shurmur’s approach is the right one for this Browns team.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Alex Mack, Cleveland Browns, coaching philosphy, Pat Shurmur | Leave a comment
21 Sep 2011
1 Comment

Shurmur riding high after first win

Fresh off his first win as an NFL head coach, Pat Shurmur is moving up the coach rankings at ESPN.

Shurmur has an 80 percent approval rating following the Browns 27-19 win over Indianapolis, fifth highest in the NFL and tops in the AFC North. Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis (39 percent) and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh (45 percent) are in the bottom 10.

Not bad for a coach who only met most of his players a little less than two months ago.

***

To commemorate New York’s Mariano Rivera recording his 602nd career save, it’s worth looking back at one big game he couldn’t close out: Game 4 of the 1997 American League Division Series.

Never gets old.

***

Finally, we’re all aware that Fox News is anything but “fair and balanced,” so we guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that attitude extends to Fox Sports.

According to Jim Romenesko at The Poynter Institute, during the Week 1 broadcast of the game between the Bears and the Falcons, Fox Sports showed the following newspaper “headlines”:

Cutler Leaves With Injury
Cutler Lacks Courage
Cutler’s No Leader

Daryl Johnston was working the game as an announcer and told viewers that “these are the actual headlines from the local papers in Chicago.”

Turns out, that was a blatant lie. The headlines sounded fishy so the Chicago Tribune checked around and found out that Fox Sports fabricated the headlines to sell an angle they decided the game needed.

Not sure why Fox just couldn’t televise the game and let the stories come naturally, but there you go.

(h/t to UniWatch)

(Photo by the Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, jounalistic integrity, NFL, Pat Shurmur
19 Sep 2011

Is the bloom off of King Kenny?

Following their ugly 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday at White Hart Lane, the new penny shine has worn off for Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.

After last season’s late run under King Kenny, Liverpool opened the season on a high note, punctuated by their first win at Arsenal in 11 years. But back-to-back wins over Arsenal and Bolton have been followed by consecutive shut out losses to Stoke City and now Spurs, leaving the team in a bit of a mess.

And just as importantly, Dalglish has only two more points from the first five league games than Roy Hodgson had in 2010-11.

“The boys are upset and so they should be,” Dalglish said after Sunday’s embarrassing loss. “The football club expects more than that.”

The club was active in the off season, with the data-driven signings of Stewart Downing ($30 million), Jordan Henderson ($30 million), Charlie Adam ($13 million); Luís Suárez (nearly $40 million); and a record $57 million for striker Andy Carroll, now the most expensive English player ever, but so far the results have been mixed.

Suárez has two goals, but at times seems more interested in flopping than scoring; Adam has come as advertised with his crossing skills, but he was sent off against Spurs; and Carroll hasn’t done much of anything so far this season.

The team could just be biding its time waiting for captain Steven Gerrard to return and, while he will certainly help, we have to wonder how much the 31-year-old Gerrard, who has the groin of an 80-year-old, can have an impact.

Gerrard, who hasn’t played since March, is reportedly working toward the midweek Carling Cup game with Brighton & Hove Albion to make his return, but Dalglish hasn’t confirmed that.

“He’s fine,” Dalglish said. “We’ll try to get over this before we start worrying about something else. I’ve said all along, he’s done fantastically well to get where he is. We’ll just monitor him and pick the right moment for him and us before we get him back.”

The good news is that, unless you play in Manchester, there’s no team really playing lights out this year. Only three points separate Liverpool from third-place Chelsea, with Newcastle, Stoke, Aston Villa and Everton – not exactly the cream of the crop, between the two.

Having an emotional leader at the top can be a good thing and Dalglish gets high marks on that end. But now is the time for him to focus on the tactical end of the management spectrum.

The Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint, which gives Dalglish time to get the squad settled down. Getting things going this weekend against Wolves would be a good start, especially with the derby with Everton looming on the horizon.

***

It was nice to read that Fox did a good job with Sunday’s telecast of the Manchester United vs. Chelsea game.

But we are a bit puzzled by their strategy. Showing a game on tape delay (how very 1970s of them) or, in some markets not at all, against NFL games on Sunday seems like a strange way to draw viewers.

Fans already had watched the game on Fox Soccer in the morning or, at least, probably knew the score. Casual fans were watching NFL games.

We’re glad that Fox is making an effort to grow the game, but this seems like a strange way to do it.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in King Kenny, Liverpool | Leave a comment
19 Sep 2011

Browns think TDs, come home with win

Now that’s more like it.

The Browns cut down on the penalties (only three this week), kept their wits about them (coming back after falling behind 6-0 in the second quarter) and finally wore down the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday to hand coach Pat Shurmur his first NFL win, a 27-19 victory over Indianapolis.

And while things may have turned out differently if Peyton Manning had been at quarterback for the Colts, he doesn’t play defense and its not like the Browns haven’t had to deal with their share of injuries through the years.

“I don’t know if we adjusted. We probably would have seen some different things (against Manning),” Shurmur said in published reports. “Don’t underestimate this (Colts) team. For us to get our first victory against them is good.”

Defensive coordinator Dick Jauron’s “play fast” defense carried the water until the offense got its act together, limiting the Colts to 4-of-14 on third down, 109 yards rushing, four field goals and no first downs from halfway through the third quarter until garbage time, when the Colts scored a meaningless touchdown.

Defensive linemen Ahtyba Rubin (a sack, four tackles), Jabaal Sheard (a strip sack, five tackles) and Phil Taylor (five tackles) all had solid games. Rubin absolutely destroyed Colts center Jeff Saturday on his sack.

“We’re just playing blocks better, getting off blocks versus the run,” Taylor told The Plain Dealer. “We knew (Collins is) not going to run their offense like Peyton (Manning) does. So we knew we could rattle him after we hit him a couple times.”

The defense’s effort kept the game in check until the Browns could get their offense untracked.

Peyton Hillis rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 24-yard run that pretty much put the game away with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Colt McCoy spread the ball round to eight receivers, completing 22-of-32 for 211 yards and a touchdown, hooking up for the second week in a row with tight end Evan Moore.

We’d like to see McCoy throw a little bit less, but today’s game was a good look at what this Browns offense is going to look like. McCoy is going to share the wealth with his passes and the offense is going to try to use the combination of time and pressure to wear down opposing defenses.

Hillis’ second TD run was a perfect example, as the offensive line kept working and working until they finally broke down the Colts.

“That’s Peyton,” McCoy said. “He’s going to run and run and run. Eventually, he’s going to run over someone and go.”

Josh Cribbs also showed that not only is he healthy again, but that the new kickoff rules have made him a weapon again. Cribbs had two kickoff returns for 80 yards – with a long of 52 yards – and two punts for 52 yards – with a long of 43 yards. His ability to continue to give the Browns a short field is going to make it that much easier on the offense.

“I love being the spark on the team,” Cribbs told The Plain Dealer. “That’s my role. I’m embracing that role.”

After two games, despite the problems on offense, the Browns have scored 17 and 27 points. In two years under Eric Mangini, the Browns only scored more than 27 points four times. And as Terry Pluto pointed out in his column today, the 17 points was more than the Browns scored in seven games last year and nine games in 2009.

So now, a week after some believed the season was over after one loss, the Browns have embraced Shurmur’s “think touchdowns, not field goals” philosophy and find themselves in a tie for first place in the AFC North.

Not a bad way to start off the week.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL | Leave a comment
17 Sep 2011

Browns vs. Colts – Week 2

The Browns head deep into the heartland on Sunday to take on the Peyton Manning-less Colts as the Browns look for not only their first win of the season but also Pat Shurmur’s first win as an NFL head coach.

The Opposition

Indianapolis record: 0-1
Offensive rank: 28th overall/24th passing/26th rushing
Defensive rank: 20th overall/14th passing/29th rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 16-14, with a 3-4 mark in Indianapolis (although the Browns were 6-1 against the Colts when they still played in Baltimore)
Last meeting: Colts won 10-6 in 2008
The line: Browns (-2.5)

What to Watch For

How the Browns respond after last week’s loss to the Bengals.

Far too much importance was placed on last week’s loss – it was Opening Day, it was Shurmur’s first game as coach, the Bengals scored a touchdown on a ridiculous play – that people have forgotten that it still only counts as one loss.

The Browns need to forget about last week, settle down, and just play football. If they do that then everything else will take care of itself.

What they can’t afford is a repeat of Week 2 from last season. After losing the opener because of self-inflicted mistakes, the Browns dialed up a sequel the following week against Kansas City.

They can’t do that again this week – if the offense stumbles around in the first quarter like they’ve never played together and rack up penalties, then this game could look a lot like last week’s game.

Much like last year’s squad, the Browns are still not talented enough to overcome too many mistakes and hope to win. They have to play as close as they can to a perfect game to have a chance to win.

This would be a great week to get the running game back on track. The Texans ran for 167 yards against the Colts in Week 1 – without Arian Foster – so there’s little reason to think that Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty can’t have success on the ground.

A strong running game will help take some of the pressure off the offensive line, which will counter the pass rush of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis with a right tackle rotation of Oriel Cousins and Artis Hicks. Pound the ball between the tackles and Freeney and Mathis can speed rush off the edge all they want and it won’t matter.

On defense the Browns catch a huge break as they will face Kerry Collins rather than Manning at quarterback.

In the opener against Houston, Collins fumbled on consecutive snaps in the first quarter to set up Houston touchdowns, was sacked three times and the offense mustered only 236 yards and 15 first downs.

Sounds like a great day for the Browns front four to show what they can do in defensive coordinator Dick Jauron’s “play fast” defense.

One key to the Browns success on defense will be how well safety T.J. Ward plays against tight end Dallas Clark. Cincinnati’s Jermaine Gresham had six catches last week as the Browns continue to struggle when it comes to covering tight ends, no matter who is running the defense.

One player we’re confident we don’t have to worry about is corner back Joe Haden, who had a monster game in the opener. Haden completely locked down A.J. Green, who’s only catch on the day came when the Browns blew the coverage. Haden’s match-up with Reggie Wayne should be a fun one to watch.

The Best Browns vs. Colts game ever

This is an easy one: the Browns 27-0 win over the Colts in the 1964 NFL championship game – the Browns fourth NFL title and the defining moment for every Cleveland fan born after Dec. 27, 1964.

Honorable mention should go to the 1987 playoff game, however, a 38-21 win by the Browns. As this game was sandwiched by the two AFC Championship games against Denver, it often gets overlooked by Browns fans.

The Prediction

We were sure the Browns were going to get the Pat Shurmur era off on the right foot last week, but that obviously didn’t work out.

We’re a little worried that if the Browns can’t beat the Colts without Manning, who will they beat this year?

And we would feel better if the Browns were getting points, rather than being a road favorite.

But what the heck. Last week was one of those days and, despite everything that happened, the Browns still probably should have won the game. There’s no way they mirror last season and bring out a sequel this week against the Colts.

We’ll take the Browns to win on a Phil Dawson field goal, not only evening their record at 1-1 but also covering the spread.

Record picking the Browns (using the point spread) this year: 0-1-0.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, NFL, Week 2 | Leave a comment

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