DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Upon further review: Chargers versus Browns

[color:"white"]With all due respect to Eo's What I Saw thread, I think it's worthwhile to go back and talk about what I saw after watching slo-mo replay of various games. Things change drastically from the first few weeks of the season to a month later, so I'm leaving the earlier games in the past. When it comes to Droughns, the O-line, the defense, and Frye, it's what's happened in the last month that's important.

So, with apologies to everyone's eyes due to the length of this, I'd encourage everyone to use bittorrent and watch the games while using replays to determine what's real and what's fabricated, slanted opinion.

Instead of focusing on various aspects of the team and working in a linear fashion, I'll watch all the plays, pick out the ones with important aspects, and talk about them, be it good or bad.

First offensive series for the Chargers, first play. 2 TE set where Neal could have been at the LOS as a TE. 7 blockers against our 5-man front, 7 in the box. Jackson was blocked out of the play by the tackle, Eason neutralized by a solo blocker creating a hole. Davis made the tackle after he engaged, disengaged, and shed making the play behind him. There's a fine line between beating a blocker and shedding one to make the tackle.

On the 1st and 3 play, the play started before the director go the camera back on the field, but Jackson showed a great burst getting to the other side of the field and tackle Tomlinson for a 3 yard gain. Stewart actually did a good job of shedding his guy (again, not beating the block, just shedding it) and helping on the stop. 1st down Bolts.

1st down, playaction. Davis on a run blitz, picked up by Neal. Wouldn't have mattered as the Chargers play design was to get the ball out quick to an open receiver. It worked well. That's something OUR offense needs more of. That would cut down on the sacks. 1st down.

Next play. Chargers in a 1-TE, strong offset I. Davis on another blitz where he's stuffed. Playaction with the pulling guard. Rivers hits his drop and throws on time. Again, that's what we need in this offense. It'll stop making Chuck hold onto the ball. I tend to think that is Chuck's doing and not the play design. The playaction held Stewart and Jackson, opening up the zone for Parker. Not a complicated play, but effective.

Now 2nd and 10 after a fake end around pass that gained nothing. Handoff Tomlinson right side. He gained 3, but it was a really good play by Thompson. He didn't just shed the block, he beat it, forcing his guy back and making a solo tackle on Tomlinson. Really nice textbook play.

3rd and 7, 11:14 to go 1st quarter. Spread formation, tomlinson in motion out of the backfield. Only a 3-man rush. Gates put a quick out-and-in move on Jackson and Rivers threaded the needle. Good catch and tackle. Just a good play for the 1st. Again, timing throw where Rivers hit his drop and threw on time. That's part of the reason he's having such a great 1st year as a starter, and why Chuck is struggling. It'll take more film to see if Frye is holding onto the ball too long or if the play design just isn't helping him.

1st down, 10:29 1st quarter. Tomlinson off left side off what looked like a version of the counter-trey. Eason is stuffed, Jackson kicked out by the pulling guard. Davis is unblocked and whiffs on the tackle, Russel stuffed by Gates. Gain of 19. 1st down at the 10.

1st down at the 11. Tomlinson off right side for 3. Nothing special to report, other than an illegal block by the Chargers where the blocker cut someone down below the knees <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

2nd and 12 after two guys in motion. Gain of 2 on a pass, as our guys did a great job of not biting on play action. They doubled Wimbley, showing respect.

3rd and 9. Pool showed really good coverage forcing a tiny hole to throw through. Russel stepped up and finished off the play. Really good pass coverage by the DB's. Field goal.

Browns first offensive drive. Frye shifts to a spread, where he's clearly late getting the team in and out of the huddle. He must have pumped his foot 5 or 6 times trying to get Fraley to snap the ball. No excuse for that on the first offensive play after a kick return. I don't know if it's on Frye or the coaching staff, but there's no reason for that gaffe during week 9. Frye sees the unblocked rusher and gets the ball out to Heiden for 5. Good play.

2nd and 4 at the 30. Power I. Straight ahead powerball off the 2-hole. Fraley freezes his guy, Coleman kicks his guy out a little. Smith is leading through what looks like a hole, but it closes before Smith, tripping, can get there. Droughns sees it and cuts to his left, pushing the pile, gaining 5.

1st down, 6:25 to go. Power I again, Bolts walking the safety up to the LOS, putting 8 in the box, Edwards in motion, stopping off of Shaffers sholder, forcing the safety back into coverage. Run off strong side right, Chargers flowing to the play. Good looking play. Droughns takes the handoff, running at about 75%, waiting for Smith to get to the hole. Coleman did a good job shielding his guy and Fraley hit the 2nd level and found the 'backer. Reuben works around Coleman, then cuts left following Smith with his hand on his back. Patience and the ability to use a fullback are good attributes. The safety is unblocked and is waiting for Droughns. The folks that say Reuben isn't running with power won't like to see this play *L* He's hit by the safety after 3 yards. Droughns runs through that tackle, is hit by 4 guys (yes, that's right, 4 guys. Watch the tape) at the 40 and still falls forward to the 43. Watch the tape folks, he's running with patience, vision, and power, but only if there's a crease to hit.

2nd and 2 at the 42. Nice job offense. False start Coleman. 2nd and 7, and this offense can't survive those kinds of mistakes. Swing screen to Droughns left flat. Our left guard was supposed to get out and block Dinnie Edwards but can't get there. Droughns is hit by Donnie behind the LOS. He still moves foward to get back to the LOS. If we don't block the defenders, we can't make yards. 3rd and 7, false start Shaffer.

3rd and 12. Bunch formation right, Droughns in the backfield as protection, Frye in the gun. 4 man rush. It looked like Winslow was supposed to chip on the rusher, but all he did was keep Butler from blocking him. This is the "bomb" to Jurevicius. Frye showed what we love about him, which is making a rusher miss and making a play with his legs. 1st down.

3:23 in the 1st. Misdirection play to Droughns. Butler can't block his guy and there's nowhere for Droughns to go. He still fights through the tackle to get 2, but it's a shame Butler missed the block. There was at least 7 yards to the right before the Safety could have made the play.

2nd and 8. Power I, Winslow at TE right, Edwards in motion back to the left off of Shaffer's shoulder. Maybe I'm wrong, but this looks exactly like the same play I saw earlier in the game. 9 men in the box for the Chargers. Fraley is blown up and shoved into the backfield, head down, falling towards the sidelines. Inexplicably, Smith runs right past the guy that shoved Fraley out of the way, leaving him sitting there in the hole to stuff Droughns. Oh....my....God.....Not only did Smith let the NT go, but 'Druzzi, trying to get to the 2nd level, has TWO targets to hit. Guess what he did? He hits neither, instead choosing to fall right to the ground <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif" alt="" /> Droughns is stuffed by the NT and Edwards. Freakin' pathetic. Can't do that when it's 9 in the box and you're running a play you've allready ran before in the quarter.

3rd down and 8. 3-wide, 1-TE set (Winslow right). Winslow releases and doesn't even chip the rusher off the end, Droughns' responsibility is left. Frye, again, makes the guy miss, but instead of throwing the ball away, he gets tackled out of bounds for a 6 yard loss. The good and the bad of Frye all in one play.

Field goal.

2nd and 19 after a backwards pass to Tomlinson left flat and a delay of game penalty. 3-wide, Rivers straight drop. 16 yard completion as we had zero rush. We sent Jackson and Mcardell hit that seam. Rivers put it right on the mark. Great throw. 3rd and 3 was incomplete as Rivers made a poor slant pass.

Browns 1st and 10 at the Chargers 10 after an 81-yard return. 3-wide, 1-TE set. Droughns fights for 3 but we got zero push and there weren't any seams.

Start of the 2nd quarter.

2nd and 7. Straight I, Heiden back in motion left. Nothing is there on the playaction, Frye scrambles and gets down to the 3. Pretty good play.

3rd and goal from the 3. 2-TE, power I. It's a run. 4 blockers on the right to cover 4 defenders. Castillo barely gets touched by Coleman or Fraley, hits Droughns 3 yards deep in the backfield. REuben can only get back to the LOS.

On the field goal attempt, Butler absolutely whiffs and allows the defender to get a paw on the attempt. Luckly it was a short one.

Chargers 1st and 10, 13:42 in the 2nd. Chargers 2-TE set, Browns sending the Safety on some kind of blitz from his deep position, creating 9 in the box. Wimbley was an absolute man on this play, beating the blocker (not shedding him) and getting to Tomlinson in the backfield. Great play. DAmn glad we drafted him.

3rd and 8 after a false start, a Browns corner blitz, and an audible by Rivers for a gain of 7. Spread look, fantastic defense by Pool covering Gates all by himself. Punt.

Browns 1st and 10 at the 49. Frye drops, looks, steps up and throws. High throw, higher than it should be. Edwards catches it, is hit hard in the air, ball pops out, INT chargers. On a short throw like that, the ball needs to be lower, but it's just a good play by the defender who seperates Edwards from the ball before he can control it.

Chargers 1st down. Offset I strongside left. misdirection to the right as the left guard pulls, and Neal starts left and goes right. Tomlinson heading for what looks like a big hole. Big Ted actually did a great job of beating his block (not shedding it) and tackles Tomlinson for a gain of 4 on what could have been a huge play.

2nd and 6. Safety blitz by Jones and timed out well to Free Davis coming up the middle. Davis works around the block of the back, forcing Rivers to throw off his back foot. The pass is out of bounds, high and wide of Keenan. Nice defensive play call and timing.

3rd and 6. Grantham is doing more blitzing than he was earlier in the year. Maybe growing confidence in his unit? Rivers throwing against a 3-man rush, only gains 4 yards and Pool makes the tackle. Punt.

Browns 1st and 10 at the 10. 3-wide, 1-TE set. Chargers stacking the box with 7 tight. Fraley is blown into the backfield, ROLB is blitzing and comes unblocked. Butler is stood up and thrown to the ground. Coleman falls to the ground blocking nobody. Nowhere for Droughns to go and he's stuffed.

Where are all these holes again that he can't get through? <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

2nd and 9, same formation, same defensive formation. Droughns up the gut where, again, the ROLB is unblocked into the backfield. WTF? Droughns clearly hits the hole at full speed as he can't afford to be patient here. He's hit 1 yard deep in the backfield by the unblocked 'backer. He does, in fact, break that tackle. It's clear that those saying he isn't breaking tackles aren't seeing everything they need to see before making that statement. Time reference 9:25 of the 3rd quarter. Watch it people. He then lowers his head and gets 4 yards. Looks like the same guy as last year to me. But what do I know, I'm only watching replays and in slo-motion <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif" alt="" />

3rd and 5 when it should have been 3rd and 10. 3-wide, 1-TE. Simple 4-man rush, but they are stunting. No fake looks by the Chargers 'backers. Butler's guy comes inside, so he forces him that way. Coleman appears to somewhat get stuck behind Butler's guy as his leg is tangled up. His guy rushes and forces Frye to the inside. Nice presence by Frye. He scrambles, but there's nowhere to go with the ball, so he gets 1 yard and nothing more. Just unathletic blocking by our front 5.

1st and 10 Chargers 8:01 remaining, their own 32. 2-wr right, 2-te left, handoff left to Tomlinson with both the guard and McNeill pulling left. AMAZING job by Wimbley to recognize and react. He uses some pretty trippy speed to blow into the backfield and blow up McNeill. That forces Tomlinson to the outside, ruining the timing of the play, where Brown makes a great 1-1 tackle. Very nice, but the play was made by Wimbley. Boy is this guy going to be a great defender.

2nd and 7. Offset I, playfake to Tomlinson. Rivers stepped up into the marginal pressure and missed his throw. He had more time if he wanted it. Good coverage by Jacksonn who was all over the receiver.

3rd and 7. Rivers out of the gun, perfectly timed Safety blitz by Jones who comes unblocked up the gut. Rivers is SMOTHERED by Jones and Wimbley who beat McNeill. To this point, McNeill had done a pretty solid job on Wimbley, but clearly lost this one. Chargers punt.

Browns 1st and 10. 6:39 to go. Smith lined up in bunch right, motion to the backfield with Droughns to an offset I. Smith blocks the untouched linebacker 4 yards deep in the backfield where Droughns goes inside of them. Reuben makes a small cut again to daylight. The safety was coming up unblocked. Droughns cuts back and goes up the back of the guard. He should have gone right at the safety, where he could have picked up a couple more yards. He outsmarted himself, trying to cut behind a block.

2nd and 6. Frye on playaction. Butler fails to recognize the blitzing OLB who comes untouched. Frye does a great job making the backer miss, but then fumbles the ball as it comes right out of his hand for a TD. Hard to fully fault Frye, as it was more Butler's fault. The defense stacked not 1 but 2 guys to his side. However, Frye has to protect the ball. He should learn that before this year is out. TD Bolts.

1st and 10 Browns after the the good kickoff return by Cribbs to the 48. 2-TE set, both left side. Quick hook for Edwards left side, should have been picked off by Florence. They don't respect our ability to get receivers deep.

2nd and 10. Power I, safety walking up to the LOS. Solid protection, Frye with a great fade route to Jurevicius left side. Grantham got upset by Florence's lack of respect and burned him the next play LOL! By the way, interference on Florence, and Joe still caught the ball <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

1st down on their 35. Left hashmark, 2-wide right, Winslow motion right. Playaction DRoughns, pretty solid pass protection. Frye looks, and throws left into triple coverage and a decidedly non-open Joe. Very poor decision when Winslow was open on the shorter route.

2nd down and 10. Power I, Edwards in motion. Quick hitter to Edwards, stuffed after a yard. Poor play design and read easily by the defense.

3rd and 9. Frye in the gun, trips bunched right, Droughns in the backfield, delayed blitz by the 'backer, looks like Donnie Edwards. 'Druzzi gets beat like a drum, Shaffer has his guy around the neck, and Butler is beaten on the outside. Only guys holding their blocks are Fraley at the LOS and Droughns who stepped up to take on the backer. Frye made them miss but is stuffed. Sad blocking.

Now this is where we faked them out with the VERY long FG attempt from 50+. The Chargers were caught calling a 2nd consecutive TO, 15 yards, 1st down Browns.

1st and 10, 3:59 remaining. Smith in motion to the backfield, offset weakside I. Droughns up the gut, but Butler can't get there in time to block an unblocked backer. He steps into the hole and Droughns hits him flush, powering him back a couple of yards but into a wall of players.

2nd and 8. Playaction. Frye has plenty of time as it works. He actually does look left, then comes back to the right in the endzone. However, he throws a horribly high ball that had zero chance of being caught by anyone.

3rd and 8 at the 20. Frye in the gun. Butler is just too damned slow and gets beat to the outside forcing Frye up where he's sacked. Replacement for Tucker or anyone else my foot.

1st down Chargers after another 3-pointer by Dawson, 2:39 left, Rivers in the gun. 4-man rush against 6 protectors. Wmbley blows around McNeill and sacks Rivers all by himself.

2nd and 17, same formation Bolts. Great catch by Parker going way up high for the Rivers pass, gain of 25.

1st and 10 at the 2:00 warning, their own 44. Rivers in the gun, fake blitz by Davis. Because he couldn't get into his drop fast enough, Davis was way out of position. Fumble goes to the Browns, stripped by Pool.

Now, I said this when it happened, and I'm saying it again. The Ref stated quite clearly "RULING IS DOWN BY CONTACT!" That means the whistle was blown and the play is over. Non-reviewable. I also remember hearing the whistle blow. So I think not only did the Ref's miss it, but so did Marty for not vehemently arguing. Anyway.

1st and 10 Browns, Frye in the gun, 1:52 remaining. Chargers blitz which was picked up really well by our line. Frye looking, had Droughns all by himself in the middle of the field and could have ran forever, but throws to Winslow in the flat for a gain of 2. Very poor recognition by Frye. He also was all alone in the pocket, and sort of rolled right and threw off his back foot when there was no need.

2nd and 8, another blitz, good pickup by Droughns, completion to Winslow again on a good throw.

1st and 10. Another blitz, another stuff by Droughns, and a really good throw to Edwards for a 1st.

1st and 10 at the Bolts 48, Frye in the gun. Another blitz by Edwards, and this time Droughns doesn't have to pick it up. Good blocking by the line. Winslow again on the short out where he gains 13.

2nd and 10 at the 36, spiked by Frye with :42 left. Frye in the gun. Poor blocking by Butler forces Frye to dump to Winslow, then a wide open short slant to Edwards. TO Browns.

4-man rush, Chuck under center. Droughns takes on the blitzing rusher who comes untouched. Looks like his responsibility in the blocking scheme. He undercuts him and flips him in the air *L* Frye just ran out of bounds instead of throwing the ball up. It's a good play. You could see that Frye thought about throwing it back across the field. They sent Frye back out, and they actually had Winslow open going to the corner on the right, but Frye just threw it away. Can't blame the decision. Dawson with the field goal.

First half summary.

To this point, we have only 34 rushing yards and 100 passing yards. By my count, Droughns made one bad cut costing himself a couple of yards. He's made numerous good blocks, which is why he's in the game on 3rd down instead of the Shrimpkin Harrison (who may have been inactive, but wouldn't have played in that role anyway). Frye was sacked 4 times, one of them being his fault, but he avoided what should have been 3 more. This line can't block worth a flip, and that's against a defense missing their two best pass rushers, and Edwards being knocked out of the game by Droughns. Frye has made plays with his legs, but has been badly erratic throwing the ball. His mechanics are iffy as well. The fumble for a TD was horrid.

On defense, we've held out own, but only because the Bolts haven't pushed Tomlinson. Wimbley has been a force, and Pool made some good plays.

2nd half......

1st and 10 us. 2-wide left, TE-right. Toss right to Droughns against a 4-man line, our guards and right tackle pulling right. Coleman can't stop his guy before releasing to the 2nd level. That guy works down the line and gets a free shot on Droughns at the LOS. Butler can't maintain his block, so when Droughns tries to avoid the NT, he moves right into the unblocked DE. Finally, Coleman was so slow getting to the 2nd level that the guy was allready past him. Very poor play call behind this unathletic line.

2nd and 10. 2-TE right, I formation. Droughns stutter-steps, waiting for Smith to make a block. He does, Droughns then cuts right to daylight. He then sees the safety coming from the right unblocked and cuts back left. No vision my arse. I can't tell which Charger it is, but Droughns DESTROYS the middle linebacker LOL! He hits him with a forearm and runs him over, even though the guy was unblocked because our line couldn't get to him. Looks like Edwards again. Time Reference 14:15 of the 3rd. Look it up. No power.....you people talk out your butts when you haven't really looked at the film <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif" alt="" /> On that one play he showed patience, vision, and power. Watch the film then tell me I'm lying.

3rd and 6 at the 25. 5-man rush, playaction Droughns. Frye fakes the ball, Droughns then turns to the middle and chips the guy coming up the gut, buying Frye a little time. YOu don't have to believe me. Watch the film. I dare ya *L* Only problem is that Shaffer can't hold his block, and his guy blows right up the middle as well. I guess we need 3 backs in the backfield to protect Frye <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Problem is, Frye was carrying the ball like a loaf of bread and fumbled. Lucky for us, defensive penalty on Jammer, 1st down Browns. As the announcer said, it's great that Frye can scramble around, but he's got to take care of the ball!

1st down at our 30. 2-TE left, Droughns off left side. Fraley is being pushed into the backfield. There is a small crease. Only problem is that our blockers can't get off their 1st guys and into the 2nd level. Droughns hits the seam just fine, thank you very much, but the linebacker is unblocked, and only has one tiny lane he has to read and hit. Droughns is hit at the LOS, is popped by 3 guys (again, watch the film if you don't believe it), and still gains 2 yards. I know you people are FOS now. There's no hole that was open that even LT could have gotten through.

2nd and 8, 12:45 left, our 32, power I. Quick shot to the right to Edwards, who runs over Jammer and gets 4. That was impressive.

3rd and 3. 5-man rush. Frye quick-drops and tries to throw right. It's covered, but he recognizes it. He finds his 2nd read, Edwards on the slant. He throws a rather poor ball, way down near the ground, but Edwards caught it. Man, what a catch.

1st down Bolts 43, 11:17 to go. Offset I, Droughns up the gut. Winslow or Joe can't make the block, and the defender gets Droughns before he can get back to the LOS. Nowhere to go, gain of 1.

2nd and 9. 1-back set. Joe in motion, playaction to Droughns against a 4-man rush. Frye tries to throw left to Winslow, but Godfrey had the INT bounce right off his chest. Very poor decision.

3rd and 8. Playaction against a 3-man rush. Bolts ain't buyin' it. Edwards was the target with good protection, but there wasn't anything there. Frye started him down and threw a not-so-good ball. Punt, and a great one by Zastudil, who ballata's the ball at the 5 or so.

Chargers 1st and 10. Power ball, 1-wide, with 9 Browns in the box. Washington, DAvis, and Jackson hold their ground, and Ted falls on Tomlinson for a very short gain. Good stop.

2nd and 8. Parker drops a pass on playaction, the drop caused by Stewart. Good play.

3rd and 8. Rivers in the gun. My project guy Leon Williams forces Rivers up, who steps into a sack by Frasier. Punt.

1st and 10 Browns our 45, 8:47 remaining 3rd quarter, 3-wide 1-TE set. Coleman got blown up and into the backfield, forcing Frye to rollout. Frye throws to nobody close downfield, but Florence is fowling the heck out of Jurevicious, hehehe.

1st and 10 Browns. Chargers threaten 5 on the blitz against a 3-wr set. They drop out and only rush 4, the 4th a corner off the right edge. Heiden tries to pick him up but is blown up, being pushed into the backfield. Droughns gets the ball and has to cut back to the left to avoid him. Shaffer can't block #99 on the left, so Droughns doesn't have a cutback lane. He sees it and runs into the pile trying to push it forward. He protects the ball by turning and is wrapped up by 2 guys. There was no cutback lane.

2nd and 8, 8:00 in the 3rd. Power I, 2-wr set. 5 man defensive front. Draw play to Droughns left side. He couldn't get anything as there were no running lanes up the guy. Nowhere to go. Again, check the film.

3rd and 8. Spread formation 5-wide, Frye alone in the gun. He drops his foot, then checks at the line. 5-man blitz overloaded to the offensive right. Either Coleman or Butler didn't read the defense, but the bottom line is that we can't run the spread because our line isn't good enough to pick up the blitzes. Punt.

1st down Chargers. Swing pass to Tomlinson right flat. Frasier actually made a damned fine play running out there and making the tackle, hehe. Still, 7 yard gain.

2nd and 3. Rivers draw to Tomlinson. Davis is badly out of position having run upfield too quickly. Washington falls down trying to make the tackle and whiffs, but Jackson stuffs him. Very good play. I take it back. Davis was on a gap run blitz. He was just blocked. Still a good play by Jackson though. He showed great instincts in finding the run lane and beating the blocker to the spot. I guess that's why he's starting despite being undersized.

3rd and 2. Gates with a magnificient catch. Rivers was in trouble, Jones was all over him, but big Gates shielded Jones and caught the ball behind him. Just a good play by an all-pro.

1st down. Quick hitter to Tomlinson right flat, ticky-tack personal foul on Stewart. Very dumb play for an extra 15.

1st and 10. 2-te set left. 6-man rush on play action, absolutely zero pressure. Pathetic. Rivers had all day and just made a poor pass. Should have been an easy completion.

2nd and 10. 5-yard pass, tackled by Jackson. No pas rush to speak of.

3rd and 5, 3:50 left, our 37. 3-man rush, batted down Frasier. A case of "he was so bad he was good" *L*

1st and 10 at our own 2. Doh. Power formation, 9 in the box, handoff Droughns up the gut to the right. Butler, Fraley, Coleman, and Druzzi......all get zero push at the LOS. Droughns is hit at the 1 by Fraley's guy who'd pushed him into the backfield. Reuben can't do anything but get back to the LOS.

Where are these running lanes again? <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

2nd and 10. Power formation again against a 5-man front. Handoff Droughns following Smith to the right.

The entire right side of our line is RIGHT NOW at our own goalline <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Smith sticks his hat in there but there's nowhere to go. Droughns is hit at the 1 by #76, primarily because Druzzi was slammed back by his guy, closing off anywhere to go.

3rd and 10. 2-te power I. 5-man front, 8 men in the box. Shaffer falls down, letting his guy go. Droughns has to cut inside where the OLB was coming free on a run blitz. Droughns is hit by 3 guys at the 1.

Yeah, sure, and this is Droughns' fault <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif" alt="" /> Punt.

1st and 10 Bolts after the punt. 5-man front, handoff LT left. Straight blocking by the Chargers. Washington doesn't get much push, Jackson is eaten up by a 'backer, Davis takes a very poor line to the hole and runs into the back of Washington. Russel is blocked, Brown is blocked.......TD Tomlinson. Eason was BLOWN out of the hole.

1st and 10 Browns our 40, 1:03 remaining. Reverse to Edwards, he made a guy miss and gained 8. Nice play.

2nd and 2. Blitzing Chargers backer on playaction. Droughns completely whiffs on the block. Very poor effort. Frye gets loose, then makes a HORRID decision to loft the ball over the middle. Should have been picked. Lucky for us, personal foul defense.

1st and 10, 12 seconds left 3rd quarter. Winslow split wide right, uncovered. Frye doesn't recognize it, tries a swing pass to Droughns right, and sails it way over his head. Sad pass attempt. Frye looks rattled.

2nd and 10. trips right. Frye is DECKED when the whistle had clearly blown. Free 15 for us, but at what cost?

1st and 10. Playaction Droughns. He picks up the rusher and nulifies him. Frye swings the ball out to Smith for nothing. Duh.

2nd and 10, start of the 4th. Winslow popped and drops a Frye pass. Recovered Brownies.

3rd and 6. Trips left, Frye with a quick throw over the middle, right into double-coverage. Terrible decision and pass. WTF? FG Dawson from 36.

1st down Bolts. Keenan for 13 to the right on Perry.

1st and 10, 17-15 Bolts. Blitz by Davis and is stuffed badly. swing pass to LT for a moderate gain. Our defense is starting to tire. LT is getting yards, our blitzes aren't getting to Rivers, and our corners aren't covering very well now.

1st down at the 17. 10 more for LT as McKinley is shoved out the way and Wimbley doesn't shed. They both look tired.

1st down at the 7. LT walks into the endzone. We'd given up because of fatigue. Game over man, game over.

9:08 left, Frye in the gun, 1st down Browns. 4 man rush, Frye stares....and stares....and stares down Edwards. The CB reads the slant coming and breaks it up. <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif" alt="" /> Lucky for us the ball was so late that the defender got there too early.

1st and 10 on the penalty. Frye in the gun, Harrison on the draw. Where's the hole that he can hit that Droughns can't? He gets 1 as the hole is closed up. 2nd and 9. Tough throw to Edwards is incomplete. Can't see just how good or poor the throw was.

3rd down and 9. False start us. Thanks 'Druzzi. What, tired of gettin' beat?

3rd and 14. Frye dumps short to Winslow, who makes a great play to get the 1st. That was all Winslow.

1st and 10. Frye's out of the gun on every play now. A useless dump to Winslow, a stare down at Joe with a ball that sails over his head. 1st down to Winslow as he breaks a tackle. Crowd is tired of booing *L* Saw Harrison whiff on a block, as the rusher just went right through him. Cribbs has a ball bounce off him. Stick to kick returning for now. Northcutt was wide open, Frye had all kinds of time. Chuck just badly over threw the ball. Tough to watch. Draw to Harrison. Defense doesn't care about him *L* He then fumbles right to our guy. I see why this guy isn't getting PT. Another poor throw by Frye to Edwards. Druzzi is beaten on a couple of plays. Swing pass to Harrison who has the ball bounce off his chest. WTF? TD Harrison........but it's coming back for holding on Shaffer. He's a right tackle, not a good left tackle. Catch Winslow, FG Dawson, but it's over.

I know....I know. War and Peace was shorter <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> If anyone disagrees with anything I've written here, go back and watch the film and use the slo-mo. I think too many people are talking without really knowing what it is they are looking at. Droughns hasn't been a problem, the line has. Frye looked very bad in this game, the line looked bad, and in spurts, our defense looked good but wore out towards the end. [/color]

so who's gonna read all of this??!! i mean we lost.. NEXT GAME!!

Readers digest version.

Our OL can't block, so Droughns cant run and Charlie can't pass.

What I remember from the game is that Frye should have been sacked about 5 more times if he was a QB of average mobility.

Our defense is pretty good, all things considered.

I read his summeries <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

and I agree with him.. we lost <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[color:"white"]Maybe some of care more about the inner-workings of the game.

I mean afterall, who really cares about William Green or Georgia players we've never heard of? <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> [/color]

looking at the league.. the nfl needs more Georgia players..

I read about 80% of the post, and the biggest thing that stuck out to me was Kelly Butler. I didn't realize how horribly he was playing.

Go to bed, Toad.

This is how some of us watch every game. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I have a hard time believing most people know what really happens at full speed. I didn't bother to tape this game but from what I've seen this year it is probably a good assesment. Fraley has had two rough games in a row and will have another challenge this week.

Something I had noticed in the early games was it was the receivers not holding their blocks causing difficulties.

[color:"white"]With who? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bizzizz, yeah, he looked like a better version of Dorsey, but a very worse version of Tucker. The odd thing was that both guys would get to almost the same point in a block, but Tucker would drive the Falcon away, while Butler would let the Charger in. Very odd comparison.

Pdawg, I sure as Hell can't. That's why I usually don't say much in Eo's "what I saw" thread. I can only get bits and pieces as well as vague perceptions. Most of the time I talk about what I've seen on burned copies or tivo'd games. In this way, I can speak strictly from what I know I've seen, and often more than once in slomo.

Watching the Falcons game now, and in the 2nd viewing, I'm very impressed with what Frye has done in this game. Part of it is him, and honestly, I think part of it is Davidson. Of course I'm only through the very early parts of the 3rd quarter, but nevertheless. Droughns is also playing like he did last year, even down to the damned fumble <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> All the talk that he's less of a player than he was is so much unadultered and parrotted BS that it's sickening. He's not missed any holes in any of the three games I saw. I have seen him make a bad cut where he could have gained another couple of yards, and I saw him miss a block in the Chargers game where he should have caused a sack, but outside of that, he's running with patience, with power, with vision, and for the vast majority of time, is picking up his blocking assignments. I'm also very surprised to see how much better McGinnest is than either Stewart or Thompson, even at his advanced age.

I'll work on a workup of the Falcons game early next week, assuming I haven't used my allotment of bandwidth. Ref's?[/color]

I think this is the case where Butler was matched up against better competition.

Thanks for breaking down the film.. I for one , read it all twice <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> .. Wish I had the time .. It all go's back to my bassic premise ; Control of the LOS !

I read it all also. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> For us out of towners info like that in that kind of depth is gold. I know it wasn't meant for me but i'll scan it for purely selfish reasons. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Toad, you've taken a bit of a pounding off a few the last couple of weeks, this kinda post shows that your opinions are well thought out and gives us an inkling as to why you say what you say regarding your evaluations of certain players. Sometimes it's all to easy to just come out and say "You're a Frye-Hater" or "You have a man-crush on Droughns". Way to use football. A lot of viewing of footage, evaluation on numerous replays etc went into that post (not to mention the 6 hours it took to type it <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) Props. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Now the real question.....was you on work time when you did it? <img src="/images/graemlins/naughtydevil.gif" alt="" />

Yes I will second that Riddler. This season I have the NFL Game Pass so I can watch my Browns from my pc in England. It is great to read the (very) different views on our players and coaching and then be able to look at it from a 'novice' point of view!

Keep up the good work Toad and eotab to name just a few I for one love all the different perspectives and bias that goes on <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Great post Toad...thanks...but I can still read your agenda through it, lol



So, first he "catches" it...and then he "can?t control it"....hmmm, maybe no INT, if he?d catch the ball right away? Bad throw? No, it was catcheable = it wasn?t good nor bad, if it was catchable...but so was Rivers pass on "a great catch by Parker" later on....who was the guy drafted 3rd overall?



Now that?s funny....after 2 hours of Droughns-agenda...Harrison pulls off the longest Browns-run of the game (11yds) when he just runs by the blitzing defenders who are used to RD speed, lol (RD would have been stuffed for -2 on this one btw...why? because he?s too slow...sorry Toad)....and all you write about this run is: "the defense doesn?t care about him" <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> And near the redzone that is...with the game still fairly open (15-24...with 9min to go) if we score...way to go Toad...you write a novel about all the great Droughns moves, power and vision...on some of his runs I thought he ran for 30 yds...just to see that he gained "just" 4 and you stating we should be happy about it..ok...but what about the longest run by a Browns RB that day?

"the defense doesn?t care about him"...that?s weak, Toad...defend Droughns all you want, I actually agree with most you have written....but please don?t downplay our best run that Harrison accomplished because he has 1 thing over RD...SPEED: because you didn?t do it, here?s the breakdown: blitz up the middle, guys coming through unblocked (nothing new compared to RD?s runs before) but Harrison made them pay by running right by them...SD was blitzing all over the place all game long because they knew neither Charlie nor RD could make them pay for it....Harrison could....Droughns is better in everything else, I agree....but he couldn?t make them pay for this....

Too bad your excellent work gets this bitter taste at the and....making your whole "upon further review" work a tautological work....your premise was there from the get go

Still was fun to read...keep it up <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

That's great stuff Toad. I would hope the coaches make a similar breakdown...I personally get caught up watching the ball too much and often times miss the details of the game. You've given me some ideas for the Stoolers game. I'll try better this week since I'll actually be in the stadium and can watch what I want rather than what the TV gives me. BTW, Hopefully Butler's problems can be corrected as we need him for insurance...at the very least.

My question for you here: Based on your observations, can he be "coached up" to become at least serviceable or is he just filler for now?

I do want to chime in on RD but not to detail HIS play so much...to me the question is why are we not using Harrison? I don't mean as a feature back...but the guy is frequently inactive and I just don't get it.

Wright is not getting any carries...Smith gets one or two a game and should get none...Vickers...not much if anything now that Mo is gone...and RD is a great Cleveland Brown "big back" but good lord, he is not the kind of threat that we need (on occasion) to force the defense to worry about.

If RD is tired and we have a short yardage play, we give the ball to Smith. What is that? I'd rather run Vickers for sure...better yet, give the ball to Harrison on occasion so RD has the juice when we have that short yardage play.

Give Harrison the kind of touches he got in pre-season and make the defense think about him. If they blitz RD and miss, they will catch him as he is not fast...not slow either, but certainly not fast...or even quick. Harrison is exactly the counter-attack we need for RD, but he can't even dress on Sunday after playing the feature back in pre-season.

The stubbornness exuded by RAC (ie. not playing rookies like Harrison even when we really need them to play) can be very frustrating...of course I was very frustrated with Tressel early on and now I think the guy is Paul Brown reincarnated..so what do I know?

I'd really like to hear some opinions on why Harrison doesn't play...or, for that matter, not be activated on gameday. I really think that we hamstring our offense by being so one-dimensional in the backfield...and to me, that trumps making another guy active over Harrison due to special teams playability.

I read the whole thing!!! I love the breakdowns! I can't get enough of the X's and O's aspect of this game. GREAT POST!

[color:"white"]It certainly isn't a true "breakdown" as any real coach will tell you, and if I went through it yet again I'd find more info, but yeah, much of that is revealing. Glad you gents got something out of it, as I know I did.

Django, many of Droughns' yards last year on Draws were because the defense didn't really care about giving up 12 on 3rd and 20, hehe. In that situation, they are all pass rushing, and couldn't care less about a draw. As noted, watch the film yourself. It's not like I can lie when I'm challenging everyone to see it for themselves <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

On the INT, yes, he did catch the ball, and before he can completely bring it in to secure it, because it was a high pass, the defender got there, made the hit, and seperated Edwards from the ball. It was just one of those plays. I haven't been a huge defender of Edwards. He makes the great play and screws the easy ones, but on that play, it was just a good defensive play. Nothing more, nothing less. That's how I saw it. The AGENDA would be to blame it all on Frye or all on Edwards, but I think that on different teams with different receivers the same thing happens. I believe the only way the odds are reduced for that to happen is if Frye doesn't sail the ball so high.

And no, this wasn't on work time <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />[/color]

we need


<img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Harrison was drafted to be a "change of pace" back. Your post validates that. Without a strong power back to set the tone Harrison wouldn't be "changing the pace" They just need to use him more! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


Crush pittsburgh!

Overtoad, thanks for the breakdown. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

I always rewatch the games on my dvr, my wife thinks I'm nuts, but it is enlightening. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Droughns is not a super star, but he is definitely a power back lunch pail guy and our best option at this time. That being said, I wish they would work Harrison in more as the change of pace guy he was drafted to be.

Go browns, Smash the Steelers!

Great post and extremely good effort Toad.

I read it all and re-lived the game, only in more detail, because I sure can't see all those things in real time either. I record the games and watch some plays 8 or 9 times to get a handle on exactly what happened. That is in contrast to some who see it only once, in real-time, and expound dogmatically that they know what they saw...only they are wrong.

Going back and reviewing is the only way to really see all the intricacies that make up the good and bad plays. We can all see some in real-time. Some more experienced folks can see many. But no one can see it all enough to get a real understanding of the flow of the game without reviewing.

Supreme effort!

I could have done without the agenda driven RD comments, but at the same time I can understand where it comes from as you have been attacked ad nausium on your views of his playing. Even with those comments you've kept it real. VEry few opinions. Just the facts as it was played on the field. You've said nothing that anyone with access to a copy of the game couldn't review to prove or disprove your statements. But would they?

Too many casual viewers see one or two bad plays, don't really know what they saw, and so attribute the problem, or most of the problems, to the wrong player or unit and make us all sick with their repeated declarations. I won't think for a minute that you've put a rest to that, but you have proved your point in that game. The naysayers who still won't see it have an agenda of their own that they apparently refuse to give up.

I hope you continue to review the win over the Falcons and post it as well. That was a very good effort by our defense and an adequate offensive showing despite numerous mistakes. I haven't gone back and looked at it in detail myself yet.

Hell, why bother if you're going to continue posts like this?! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks

Funny thing is , don't you just know Savage & RAC. hate fans like us .. Nowhere to run ; Nowhere to hide <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

You had me, until right here - you are only watching tape to rip on Frye. It's obvious - you are blaming him for um, what exactly? The play got off and was fine. You are slanting it to make Frye look bad. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason to say Frye clearly had them out of the huddle late. The play got 5 and had a mismatch - nothing was done wrong.

I read the whole thing Toad. I kept expecting to find mention of Moby and Ahab <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Nice work.

I'd read the whole thing, but I have other things to do this weekend. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I see you registered and found the torrent link OT. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

[color:"white"]

Reread it again Tomato vegetable (I'll call you a new flavor everyday). What part of "I don't know if it was the coaches or the QB" don't you get? <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

One of these days, you'll have to get over being so black and white.

Coming out for the very first series of the game, there isn't an excuse for rushing a play like that. Good teams don't make those mistakes. So who was it....Frye or the coaches? Since I'd expect Davidson to have his crap together, I would think it'd be on Frye, BUT I can't say for sure.

Forget the end result. If a fumbled snap results in a first down, that doesn't mean it's ok that it happened.

Ddub, I know the pro-Droughns sentiment rang like the Liberty Bell in this, hehe, but too many people are talking out of the wrong hole. I honestly considered that perhaps he'd gone downhill since the Jets game, which is what really started all this. What I found is what I reported, which is that the line is the big culprit right now. It's also giving me perspective on what's going on. I think I like what I'm seeing out Davidson, and hope to continue to see developement from Chuck. This next game will be a bigger test for the line than for Frye.[/color]

Toad, your never going to convince me that the line is totally to blame for all the problems on O... I think they are part of the problem to be sure, but as for running the ball, I really think that Droughns has lost a step... frankly, he didn't have one to lose.. He wasn't that fast to begin with.

Tell you what made me see the light on Droughns..... HARRISON! I'm not saying that Harrison is the answer. I haven't seen enough of him to determine one way or the other. But that one run, I think it was against Chargers where he fumbled the ball after Blasting through a very tiny hole created by the line.. The fumble bothered me of course, but the speed with which Harrison hit that hole was simply amazing... We haven't see any back around here hit a hole like that since maybe Greg Pruitt. The kid is fast!

Again, the jury is still out on Harrison, but I'd like to see more of him so that we can find out if he's got the goods!

How do you know they were late??? You don't. They came out and completely shifted formations - it gave the D little time to react and line-up. The d knows the playclock as well. The result of the play is all that matters. You are acting like they made a mistake - they didn't, no penalty - no confusion, play was fine - no need to bring it up. No luck involved in the play (hence your fumble reference)

[color:"white"]If you honestly believe that the result of the play is all that matters when the timing was all screwed up, our discussion here is over.

Daman, if speed were everything, there wouldn't be a place in this league for the Bettis's, Dillons, and Droughns's of the world, not to mention guys named Kevin Mack and Okoye.

If you prefer someone like Harrison, hey, more power to ya. However, his speed wouldn't make this line any better. [/color]

One of the things Fraley gets graded on is snapping on the right count. I don't know if this was the case on the play or not but I do know that it happens on occasion.

Where did you see the timing of the play messed up? Frye got the ball quickly to the open guy for 5 yards. So the play would have been better if they got out of the huddle when you wanted, snapped it when you wanted and got the same 5 yards? You have me a bit confused. It didn't disrupt the timing of the play in any way shape or form. Now had that happened, the pass hurried and picked, a false start, delay of game, missed blocks for a sack - then you can make your statement - but NONE of that occurred so it was pointless for you to bring up.

I could correct your whole book OverToad, but that would be a waste of my time. It's obvious you think Droughns is the second coming of Jim Brown, and you despise the rest of the offense.

I had a good laugh reading through your pathetic reviews of each play. Basically you had every review wrong. It's pretty obvious you either never played football or played on a very bad team.



Rewatch the play, it was designed for Droughns. Notice the linemen running out to the right to lead block for Droughns. Do you know anything about football?

Your whole post was designed to bash Frye, Fraley, Tucker, Coleman, Druzzi, Smith, etc. But play up Droughns. Very sad.

<img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

[color:"white"]

I'll take it from the top one more time, just for you <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It's not about the result of the play, or even that it got off before the clock expired. It's about making sure that the offense is in rhythm, which includes getting the play into the huddle on time, as well as executing the pre-snap motions and counts.

So, from the standpoint of it being the very first play of the game, there isn't an excuse for the pre-snap timing to be messed up. Either it's the coaches fault for not getting it in on time, or it's Frye's fault for not getting the boys out of the huddle on time. Which one is something I can't determine, only guess at.

In the future, that's something that shouldn't happen. Such mistakes can ruin the timing of plays, and give the defense an advantage. More times than not, when that kind of frantic action is going on, the play doesn't work as it should.

Are we on the same page now?[/color]

Only slightly are we on the same page. Devils advocate - nothing was messed up on the play - a late release out of the huddle gives SD less of a look at the O and the shift happened fast and play got off and kept SD on their heels - very well could have been planned. I completely disagree with you bringing it up as nothing bad resulted. Had you rewatched the game and saw it in there 2 or 3 times, then you bring it up. Other than that - it's got "agenda" written all over it because 1 time does not = a problem.

[color:"white"]I brought it up because it's important, even if it's just one play. The reason it's important is because it was the very first play of the game.

Those are things that good teams don't have to deal with. It's one of the things that plagued Mike Martz in St. Louis.

That's all I'm saying about it. [/color]

Wow, what's got you so riled up today <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My point, which I realize I didn't make clear enough, is that they aren't even playing Harrison as a Change of Pace type back.. I was under the impression that's what he was brought it to become.

There will always be a place for big brusiing backs,,, But please don't try to convince me that Droughns is even in the same league as guys like Bettis or Mack..... It was very very rare that you would see either of them get stuffed as much as Droughns... And before you say it,,,,Yes, the line has a great deal to do with that which is why I agree that the line is PART of the problem..

I wish I could find some old tape of Mack or Bettis that I could share with you... I think that for the most part you would see them hit a hole much quicker that Droughns is doing THIS YEAR! (not sure what the problem is with RD...He's not the same back as last season)

Which means it happened more than once...unlike here.