DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2015 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 10 Jets 31 Postgame thoughts

totally forgot about this play (it was HUGE) ... how in the HELL did Fitzpatrick recover that snap over his head at their own 1 yard line!? ... it was like 5 browns vs him and he didn't have the position ... forgot about it until I was driving home from work and got more angry

he was standing on his head and beat 4 defenders to the freaking ball lol

lol i know and i threw my remote

No mental toughness.

No "want to".

I'm telling you guys this is killing this team.

jc

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/09/14/cle-nyj-grades-manziel-grades-low-in-opener/

Cleveland Browns

– We went into the struggles of QB Johnny Manziel (-2.6) in further detail here. There are times when he flashes potential, but the dependency on his legs is clear. That reliance sometimes leads him into trouble, as it did when he scrambled out of the pocket early and subsequently suffered a strip sack from the blind side. Manziel certainly isn’t ready to carry a team, and the Browns lack the offensive weapons to bail him out.

– Only two of the Browns’ defensive starters graded positively; eight graded below -1.0. The front seven struggled in particular, as the Browns generated just four combined pressures from only two different players (OLBs Armonty Bryant, -0.2, and Paul Kruger, -1.6). In run defense, no starting member of the front seven graded positively. The complete lack of adequate performers is particularly concerning, considering the Jets are by no means an offensive powerhouse.

– The Browns only defensive player to perform well was ILB Craig Robertson (+2.8). The coaching staff will need to consider giving him more playing time, as he was on the field for just 21 of 60 snaps. Despite recording just a single stop, Robertson was disruptive in run defense (+1.8). He also made a play on his only target in coverage (+1.1 with a pass deflection), which is more than can be said for any of the other Browns players.

Top Performers:

ILB Craig Robertson (+2.8)
LT Joe Thomas (+2.3)
RT Mitchell Schwartz (+1.8)
WR Travis Benjamin (+0.9)
TE Gary Barnidge (+0.9)

---------------

Giving Robertson more snaps would lead to another Farmer-pick benching in Kirksey. Funny, looking at that top 5 list, no Farmer players despite having turned over 2/3 of the roster with "his guys". Makes you go "hmm", doesn't it? 4 Heckerts, 1 Savage (though every idiot would have drafted Joe Thomas and Savage almost didn't. Imagine J.Russell instead of Thomas, lol). This list should also put to rest the OL critics. Pass pro was good and QB/WR play was bad, not the other way around.

I thought all ILBs played a good game, including Kirksey. Don't have a subscription to PFF so I don't know how they graded him....

I also think many have stated they thought pass protection was good and run blocking was sub-par to say the least.

I don't think anyone is running from the fact that Manziel was solid at best, and possibly bad overall. But there was incremental improvement from last year. It was his third game. I don't think we should expect a great performance in his third game, but we should expect improvement. We got that. I think fans need to start being more realistic.

As for the OL, they are in a tough spot just like last year. Teams dared Hoyer to beat them with his arm and sold out for the run. When Hoyer refused to do it, it got worse and worse. Manziel is going to face the same thing.

As for the WRs, Hartline can't get open, but Benjamin, Gabriel, and Hawkins can. These guys need to be a major part of the gameplan.

As for Farmer, I'm still preaching patience, but you don't paint a pretty picture. Bet let's be real here. I'm preaching patience for Pettine as well and his team laid over on him. Plenty of blame to go around at the moment.

My bold prediction is one of the two will be gone by the end of the year. Pettine will accuse Farmer of giving him a crap team and Farmer will accuse Pettine of being a terrible coach. One will stay, one will go. There will be a huge fan uprising for Pettine and he'll likely stay because of it.

Could the lack of passion in the game, be attributed to the "whoa is us" attitude the team still carries?

They seemed on fire in the first quarter, then McCown goes down. Any player that knows our recent history, could easily fall into the "Here we go again" mode that many of our fans do.

It also did not help that we were extremely ineffective at running, allowing the Jets to key in on the pass and pressure Manziel constantly. Heck, it looked like the laundry guy could have came out and stopped out run game.

Beating a dead horse .... It all starts up front .. imposing Your Will on the opponents ( on both sides of the ball ).. With that in hand , you win !

Both lines sucked and we lost !

Reminded me of the end of the season of Chud. Quitters.

I think Farmer is toast, while Pettine still has a strong enough base of support from the fans that he might survive even a disastrous season. But Mike should be warned that efforts like his team gave against the Jets are what got Chud fired after only one season. I can forgive a coach if he's been handed a crap sandwich for a roster, but not for a team that quits.

Thats my biggest issue watching. The team is a reflection of the coach, I would have loved to see them play pissed after that interception was stripped..get pissed, take it out on them, and get the momentum back...What i saw was a whole team (minus JFF) say oh no, here we go again.. Theres not been a change of culture with Pettine as coach. I think alot of it has to do with credibility. He's a nobody, he doesn't command respect. I think to change the culture, you need a coach that has proven to do that.. A coughlin, belicheck, gruden, cowher...guys like that who have a history of creating a winning culture. Not a barely average DC who's never been in charge of anything. For continuity sake I hope pettine figures it out. But he don't seem to have the personality to command a team.. He's a manager, not a leader

Speaking of passion for himself and not the team.... Look it's our resident troll Berea

IF this is the case, and the team is going to quit when Manziel steps on the field, then there is only one thing to do: GET RID OF MANZIEL. The guy is OBVIOUSLY a cancer on the team. You don't get rid of 52 guys and keep Manziel. That would be beyond stupid. But then again, we're talking about the genius that is Ray Farmer and the Cleveland Browns. LMAO

Nutshell. Roger that. They CERTAINLY wanted it more. Shelton did pretty well IMO.

We have no leadership! Thomas acts like he knows this season is over and we are just getting started! As soon as JFF came into the game (even though he threw a td pass) you could see the deflated look from the O line. Watching that game was like watching a sloppy Raiders game, stupid fundamental Penalty after penalty!

Forgot to mention something.

In the last drive by the Jets when we still had a shot, the Jets ran right around John Hughes for big gains on back-to-back plays... one to the defensive left and then the next play to the defensive right. Hughes looked completely lost and didn't affect the play at all. Too bad he got the big extension and Winn will be lining up for Indy.

Yeah I remember those plays w/Hughes. I actually didn't know it was him at first, but he didn't react well (especially after getting beat the first time)

You don't think Hughes is the type of player to back off now that he got his contract, do you?

McCown takes too many hits. This is the third down run on the first drive. Instead of throwing the ball, McCown runs it and takes a hit:



It certainly looks like Crowell could have picked up the necessary yardage.

http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2015/9/15/9...10-loss-to-jets

This is the most thorough breakdown of the Browns/Jets games. I recommend everyone read it.

Holy crap. Crowell was wide open.

After reading this, I had forgotten about Manziel's overthrow of Hawkins in the endzone. That hurt us just as much as Gipson's fumble.

Those are the throws every professional quarterback should hit, every time.

It was disappointing. But we were still up 10-7 at that point. Zero reason for the defense to just collapse on that next drive before the half.

And it's not like he doesn't see him, he's pointing at a spot where he wants him to block. LOL.

It was mostly Haden. He got picked on all day.

Yes, that is an excellent read!

According to the picture, and the chain set (@ 9yd line), it looks like he was passed the line of scrimmage at that point (but the blue line ahead of the marker (10 yd)?). Not sure what was going on there, but I'll assume Crowell was still open one second prior, just not sure what where McCown was looking at that point....elsewhere or turning away from pressure?

Still overall that article is a great read.

Peyton Manning missed a similar throw twice this weekend. Matt Ryan underthrew one so bad it was picked off by a LB who started out 10 yards in front of the WR and still managed to get his hand on it. QBs do miss those throws.. but as you pointed out, one missed opportunity is absolutely no reason to go completely in the tank. Good teams recover from them, we do not.

Shawn’s Film Room: The Running Game In Week 1 14 Recently updated !

The question I’ve gotten the most this week about what the film shows is pretty overwhelming. What, or who, is to blame for the Browns running woes in week one. Let’s take a look at the tape.

I’m going to dig into some of the Crow’s runs first. This is just a sampling, but outside of an 8 yard run, this was really the bulk of what I reviewed. Short gains, short losses. Let’s get to it.

Result: 3 Yard Loss



Here we are pre-snap. This is going to be a run where Crowell is expected to hit the gap between where the left tackle and left guard are pushing. The entire line is pushing left. You see a little more clearly the gap I’m talking about with this next still.



Two problems happen here. One, the Jets had shown run blitz pre-snap, and that’s exactly what they did. They fire off fast, and you can see #56 already moving towards the edge.



Crowell doesn’t really have anywhere to go. The edge is contained, and three defenders push past two blockers to make the tackle for loss.



1 Yard Gain



The Browns bring a man in motion, and snap the ball when he’s in position to help run block.



The problems develop quickly on this play. The gap that Crowell is supposed to hit is already closed. The initial block is good, but the Jets again sold out to stop the run, and the gap is plugged.



Crowell, seeing that the lane is closed, cuts back. Here on the film, there looks to be a small shot to get outside and make a play. Also, I circled Andrew Hawkins, because he totally sacrificed his body in trying to take on two defenders.



Crowell gets up to the lane fairly quickly, but the defensive line rolls and Crowell runs right into him. It wouldn’t have mattered if he didn’t, because the support was coming from two unblocked defenders on that side.

2 Yard Gain

This is the last of the Crowell clips I’m going to use. This one will start in motion:



This play starts off well enough. The initial pull on the block is working. The only problem at this point is that Bitonio was a little slow off the snap, and can’t get the inside shoulder of the defender.



Here’s where things start to go bad. Bitonio is beat inside. Alex Mack falls down? I’m not really sure what he’s doing.



This happened really fast, so let me explain. Seeing the intended running lane collapse on the left side where Bitonio and Mack are beat, Crowell cuts back. If you go back to the clip before this, you see the cornerback coming across from the right. He clobbers Crowell, along with the defender who came off of Mitchell Schwartz’s block when Schwartz moved to try and go 2 on 1 with him and the defender that Alex Mack fell down on.

Duke Johnson, 1 yard gain



http://www.dawgpoundnation.com/2015/09/16/shawns-film-room-the-running-game-in-week-1/

PART TWO



Another short run. Still, you’ll see the problems.





The intended gap on the left (Duke’s left) is closed immediately. He’s going to cut back, but you can see from the film that it’s 3 defenders on that side against 2 blockers.



Duke starts to cut back, but it’s now 5 on 3 in favor of the defense.



And this ends exactly how you’d think.



Finally, this is a 4 yard gain from Duke. It’s still going to have some serious problems. This is immediately after the handoff. As you can see, there’s already an unblocked defender in the backfield, a unblocked defender spying the run and a pointless two on one against #90.



Duke runs to the intended gap, but cuts back as it collapses.

Cut makes a cut and a desperate dive forward to gain a few yards, but the lack of run blocking is evident.



Summary:

It’s easy to blame the running backs, but it’s pretty tough to run through holes and gaps that don’t exist. Part of this falls on the line, but another part falls on the play calling. The Jets were regularly stuffing 8 or 9 defenders in the box. There were very few plays were they did not have a numerical advantage over the Browns blockers. The Browns play calling has got to torch a team for this. The formations, and this ties into the passing game, were just plainly obvious. Especially once Manziel came in, he threw the ball almost exclusively out of the an empty backfield, and runs came in stacked formations.

Still, the line has got to do a better job of coming off the snap and engaging blocks at the correct point of attack, and not get beat by second moves.

There were a couple of runs where Crowell especially missed holes, but they were the exception rather than the rule.

http://www.dawgpoundnation.com/2015/09/16/shawns-film-room-the-running-game-in-week-1/

Results of a very , very raw rookie OC , Thank you Pettine .

I wonder if Manziel has the ability to change the play.

Have to recognize when teams are selling out for the run and make them pay.

This was a common theme last year as well.

I just watched the Sound FX show on NFL Network. Bowles literally said these words when coaching his defense, "Don't worry about the pocket."