DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2017 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 20 Saints 14 Postgame Thoughts

I didn't see much of the game, but the few things I saw/gathered:

- Coley has really shown a lot in the short amount that I've seen him. He's always disruptive and making plays. He might be a good player.

- I've pimped Matt Dayes since the draft and he looked pretty good last night. Very shifty and no-nonsense to get downhill.

- Kizer is SO far ahead of the other two (especially Cody) when it comes to upside. His throws are effortless. Does that mean he should start? I don't know ... yet.

- Cam Erving doing Cam Erving things.

- Kenny Britt was my least favorite signing of the offseason. I really, really hope my gut instinct is wrong about him ... but I thought he should have scored last night.

- Hope Campbell is okay.

- Any other injuries?

I haven't watched the game yet either. but I will come 7am.

I thought Brock would've played better...not sure why, but I did.

1st half defensive effort was excellent.

3 runs that were a little big had 3 players directly responsible.

1) All on Kirksey. He needs to lay the wood on that one for no gain. He wiffed. Fixable.

2) All on Carder. Had him for no gain and let him go. Insert Schoebert.

3) All on Collins. Over pursuit. Fixable.

Other than those 3 plays we stuffed their running game. Good sign.

Kizer is so flipping smooth in the pocket. He moves up excellently. Effortless throwing. He looks really comfortable already.

No brainer to me. Start the experience in Oz until Kizer is ready. And I wouldn't wait too long. Target Jets game.

Kizer play by play (throws):

1 - Screen to Dayes. Timing a little off. Complete for a few yards.

2 - Great back shoulder pass to Boyce. Hit him in the hands. Dropped. Would have been 15-18 yards

3 - 3rd and 3. Rifles a 5 yard out to Boyce for a completion.

4 - 3rd and a mile. Safe screen to Telfair for about 5. Nothing much to do here.

5 - Ball inside our own 10. Play action peel back. Timing is off. He just throws it into the WRs feet. Smart play.

6 - 3rd and 7. Throws the ball wide of target at the first down marker. Punt.

7 - Moves away from rush. Steps up in the pocket. Delivers for 12 yards to Hall. Nice play.

8 - 3rd and 15 from our own 45. Steps up to avoid rush. Pump fakes safety. Delivers (a tad underthrown) for a 1st down at the 1 yard line. Nice catch by Mullaney. There is NO WAY Cody or Brock make this play. Nice.

9 - Quick screen to Dayes at the goal line. Dumb play call. Complete, but worthless.

10 - Quick slant complete to Leslie for 5 yards. Awful OL blocking.

11 - Avoids rush. Nice awareness in the pocket. Rolls to the right and throws it away.

12 - 7 yard completion to Devalve on a crosser. Seemed like his check down.

13 - 3rd down. Bullet pass incomplete over the middle. Might have been DPI.

14 - Blitz. Batted ball. Needed more air under it to get to the check down.

15 - Blitz. Very nice read and throw. Gets it to Telfair for 12.

16 - 2nd and 17 and a great pass to the left sideline for a 1st down to Mullaney. Nice throw.

17 - 2nd and 24 overthrow to Mullaney. Nothing doing here.

18 - 3rd and 24 a great throw to Hall for about 23. Rifled it in there with good accuracy. Right into the window.

19 - 4th and 2. Game on the line. Low snap. Goes for broke. Nice pass to single coverage up top. Mullaney beat his guy. It's a TAD underthrown again, but no complaints

Kizer defiantly has an NFL arm ...

Kizer def has an NFL arm. I still think its too soon to start him though. He needs time to sit and learn, but what i have seen talent wise of Kizer there is ZERO need to draft a 1st RD Qb next year...Kizer is the future

the Browns just need to be patient and develop him over the next year or two. We have Osweiler a decent veteran to bridge the gap till then, Rome wasn't built in a day.

We need to stop trying to find "the next best ting" every year and actually commit to the success of one guy longterm....Kizer has more then enough physical talent, we just need to groom him a bit....I think he will be a fine Qb for us if we can be patient through the growing process.

I wasnt able to watch the full game, but based on the highlights..

1st postgame thoughts.. not bad..

- I enjoyed watching the defense. Seems to be more aggressive. Still missed tackles, and still got gashed for stretches, but not as often as usual

- Cam Erving still sucks. There are only so many spots along the OL. At some point someone will realize he can't play any of them. Had an impressive stretch, even for him: false start, a hold where they guy still hit the QB, and a missed block that got our RB drilled.

- I did not think Brock was as bad as the stats. Seemed like a lot of those incompletes were not on him. One horrendous throw out of bounds, though. Got a rifle.

- Kessler had a nice through down the middle. 31 yards. Remove that play and he had 16 yards on 9 attempts. Not good. But that was a good throw.

- We still cannot run

- Kizer. Has the arm. Was fun to watch. I know he is the shiny new toy and we all have hope for our rookie QBs. But it feels different than with JFF or Quinn. Maybe. Just maybe ... At any rate, I have no issues with his play yesterday

- We won as many games yesterday as we did all of last year.

- Officiating seemed bad

Kizer showed both why he could and also probably shouldn't start the season.

I'm pretty much done with Kessler.

Brock got screwed over by Erving at LT. Even then he showed good and bad. Seemed a bit off on most of his throws. Clean that up and I dunno. Sure. Why not.

Danny Shelton did not have a good first series or too. And was visibly upset about it. Good.

j/c

Did we really line up in the neutral zone TWICE yesterday? How in the world does that happen?!

Brock looked bad
Kessler looked bad
Kizer looked ok.

Starting defense looks so much faster, it was awesome to see. Everyone swarmed to the ball.

I don't think Cam Erving makes the team. He had a nice pancake, but overall, he is still doing the same stuff that got him benched.

Wasn't impressed with Crowell's performance. Hopefully he gets better.

Cam Erving flat out sucks. How do they not see that?

Kizer played better than I thought he would. He's got upside at that position and that's something we haven't had since when...?

Like the Dayes kid.

Like Coley at DT

Myles Garrett played well. I spied him and he hustled and dang near pulled off a sack.

Someone in the Game day thread mentioned the Center sliding the ball forward after we were set. I'll have to see if I notice it on the second go through.

The D corrected itsaelf as I thought a Williams D would. A few swaps and they'll be pretty decent.

Brock didn't get alot of help and he needs alot if help. Didn't hurt or help his cause IMO.

Dayes, at some point, could give Crow a run for his money.

Kizer (he says cautiously) looks to be the possible guy we've needed.
Still torn on the route needed to develop him. Half says slowly, half says get in there kid! Time will tell.

Game left me optimistic which is much better than apathetic like last season.

Me too!

I was screaming at the refs for allowing that. AFTER our guys were set on the line the center would slide the ball forward about a foot when he came up to the line. Causing most of our guys heads to be over the ball... LOL Nice trick if the refs allow it.

On defense. I liked the overall aggressive play calling. Pressuring the QB on 3rd down was effective. I was still less than exciting about stopping the run and stopping short passes. I also did not like the soft zone coverage at the end of both halves. Why be aggressive for the first 28 minutes of a half just to go soft zone the final 2 minutes and let the other team easily get into field goal range. Players that stuck out to me was Jamie Collins he was all over the field those 1st couple positions. Nate Orchard lived in NO backfield while he was in the game. Brien Boody Calhoun looked like a player with a years experience under his belt.

On Offense. Brock and Cody were alright as QB. DeShone Kizer was special. Yes, he played vs 3rd and 4th string but he looked very good. Matthew Dayes looked like a good NFL running back. Oline minus Erving looked good. I think our WR's as a unit is really bad. They will need to find a gem in other teams cuts to hopefully improve this area. The rumors about the Eagles looking to trade Jordan Matthews crossed my mind a few times watching them play. Kenny Britt lack of effort not attempting to drag his foot cost the team a TD.

Overall, a good start to the year.

Mathew Dayes looks like a real player. His cuts are fast and ruthless. One cut and go.

Overall, I think we're a much better team (factoring it's one game and one preseason game) than last year.

just watching the replay now, so i'll have more thoughts. TWo immediate observations:

Shelton looks leaner and more agile than ever
Mike Patrick looks like he died in the offseason

Here are a few thoughts:
Kizer is impressive (even though he played against their 3's).
Jamie Collins is a beast!
That Mullaney kid at WR could be a sleeper.
Dayes looks the part at RB.
Nassib is going to very good.
Payton could surprise, kid is huge and sneaky fast.
OL Minus Erving.

On offense the play calling was questionable at best
Britt lived up to his reputation
The oline pass blocking was solid
Louis has a long ways to go before being a legit 3 WR
Coleman did decent job making guy miss after catch.
Run blocking was below average.
Kizer has very fast release not alot of wasted motion
Too many oline penalties

Defense looked faster to the ball.
Secondary tackled very well
Lbers left too many yards on the field
Carder is atrocious
Sheltons leverage and pad level was bad

Kizer has an ARM... Damn.

The D didn't look good at first then I don't know why,, perhaps it was the first team Saints O that went off the field but anyway, they started to come on strong. Having Brees in there would have been a better test but still, they started to come on and with few exceptions, they played well..

Brock wasn't horrid... Kessler was Kessler... But DAMN,,, Kizer's arm, wow. That was a great pass to Payton.. (he had others that were pretty darn good also) Best part of that, he stood in the pocket and let it rip... And it was kinda like he just flicked it out there.. Almost with his wrist... Impressive

Miles Garrett,,,, Thumps up baby... Shubert, Thumbs up.. Orchard,,, Thumbs Up...

Oline,,, the middle of the line (starting) looked good. Coleman probably as the RT spot I think. Erving doesn't belong.. He's been tried at Center and IMO failed, Tried at RT and IMO, not good enough but not a fail, LT, Failed.

I'd expect him to be traded or cut... JMO.

Hope Campbell is ok...

But it comes back to Kizer for me.. Not sure he's totally ready, but he's clearly in my mind, the best long term answer we have....

Garrett's athleticism is so evident. He's so strong and fast. Effortless. Plus, I like that I saw him try multiple moves. Almost like he and the coaches said to try everything they've worked on and not resort to just dipping his shoulder (ala Kam Wimbley)

DI Trevon Coley, 86.3 overall grade

EDGE Tyrone Holmes, 85.6 overall grade

EDGE Nate Orchard, 84.6 overall grade

QB DeShone Kizer, 83.2 overall grade

G Joel Bitonio, 80.6 overall grade

Per PFT last night

One thing I liked to see from Garrett giving some of the criticism he received is the fact that he made a tackle pretty far down field on one of those run plays that broke out.

I expected Rod Johnson to be pretty green and needing some time ... but man, he's bad

I mentioned it, thought the Refs should have noticed it after a few times.

I was pretty ticked at the Brady Quinn sideline pass by brock last night. Overall he wasnt horrible. he looked like someone u can win with if everything around him is working. he isnt a franchise QB but u can win with this guy.

The difference between Tank adn Schobert was huge. The big runs we gave up early was because Tank let the guy break the tackle, didnt fill the hold. Schobert was just exploding. He looked like that guy in Carolina seriously, he played explosively last night.

Louis CAUGHT the football. He was nailed and he held onto the football. He keeps taking those steps, he could be our best receiver by next preseason.

Cam Erving got off to about as bad of a start as you can imagine, 1st play false start, 2nd play getting beat had to hold. After that he settled down and played some good football. He did get put on his ass again but the play went away from him so no harm but man you gotta play with better balance. There was a mixup when he and Bitonio pulled, usually the tacle goes out guard goes in when both pull. Bitonio saw guy bursting free and took him but Cam was going same place. He owned on several plays also.

Myles came off the snap so damn quick on one play that wow my chin dropped. Kid is gonna stud.

Kizer put the ball where it needed to be. He is gonna have his ups and downs but he put the ball where it needed to be. he doesnt flinch under pressure. That may change when he gets ran over but the guy plays big.

Shout out to Nate Orchard and Boddy, they may not start but man thats some quality depth at worst.

I feel like Orchard is going to have a great year. I felt it coming on last year but then he got injured. If he can stay healthy I believe he can be a 6-8 sack guy from the bench. If he has more opportunities to start I think he can get a double digit number.

I haven't seen the game yet but have watched the highlights of all of Kiser's throws. I like his pocket awareness. He moved up and slid left and right but stayed tall and didn't turn and run. Really impressive.

Is there anything new? That's a given every game.

I wonder how many will see this post?
I'm back fellas and still got my woof on

Offense

*Cam had a couple nice spots, but several more terrible ones than nice ones. He may get cut.
*Britt had a bad game
*Brock was ok, Cody was ok, and Kizer was good. Both long throws were underthrown, but they hit the mark so I can't complain. I really wanted to see Hogan in there for a little bit.
*The running game wasn't very good
*Way too many drops.


Defense

*Orchard and Schobert both had good games
*Outside of the first 2 drives, the DL was solid.
*The prevent D we used in both halves was horrid
*Boddy-Calhoun looked like a beast out there. I know a lot of his play was against 2s and 3s, but he looked like an adult playing against kids at times.
*I really like how aggressive we were at times. Knowing we only have 16 of our 46 defensive sets installed, I'm excited about our D.
*Coley and Meder are beasts
*Myles was double teamed several times last night, it will be interesting to see if that continues and what his numbers look like because of it.

Special Teams

*one "mistake" by Peppers, but I like what I saw overall
*Legatron has some power. I know he was kicking off from the 50 on one of the kickoffs, but he put the ball 20 rows into the seats.


Misc

*If the Saints were to cut Tommylee Lewis, I'd sign him in a heartbeat. He was their best player last night.
*Since when is tackling a running back on a fake handoff a holding penalty?

This team is going to be picking no less than #5 overall. The Saints without Drew Brees are a bottom 5 team. I saw horrible QB play, Kessler being the best one. I saw a 1st round pick not eve start on defense. ew

First time in my life that I have ever seen a fake handoff to the back, the RB gets tackled and they call holding on the defender for tackling him lol

Briefly,

I thought that Kizer, Orchard, Schobert, and Coley had good games.

The WR pair of Mullaney and Payton showed really nice ability to get open deep.

I thought that Bryant, (blown out of the hole 1 on 1) Britt, (4 passes, 1 catch for 4 yards, and an inability to get his 2nd foot in on a TD, which probably 75% of WRs would have)and Cam Erving, (who I disliked from the moment we drafted him) all had disappointing games.

When I was playing, if I made it into the backfield close to when the exchange happened and I wasn't sure which guy had the ball, I would try to wrap up both players. I don't think I was ever called on it once. That was one of many stupid calls on the night.

I can agree with all of that....you should add that Garrett was fun to watch as was Peppers..

And I just can't over Kizers arm...Damn

I did forget Jamie Collins, man he looked explosive. I thought he was the best player on the field for either team. The kid Coley might have been our best defensive linemen out there as well. Desmond is gonna have a rough time holding this kid back.

I have to say that one person who played well who I haven't seen mentioned (apologize if I missed it) was Seth Devalve. I thought he was going to be a non-factor, but he looked decent yesterday. Waiting to see Njoku.