DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Quarter Season Review.... or the Good, Bad, and Mostly Ugly/

I got a lot of thoughts on this...itll prolly come out pretty randomly.

Positives:

- Weeden has been terrific. He started out awfully, but he has improved with each game and has looked pretty good as recently as last week. There are things that he has done that no quarterback in Cleveland has done in years. He's looked a lot like Derek Anderson when Derek was successful. He's got things to work on obviously, but he's improved to the point where he looks like a competent quarterback, and looks like he would be good on most teams.

- TRich. The man is a beast period. He has played well in all but that first game. As soon as he adjusts to our zone blocking scheme, and the NFL speed, and everything, hes going to be so much more than hes been already to this point. Just give the man time.

- Chris Ogbonnaya...our 3rd down back has shown up, and hes the opposite of the man we thought it would be. He's really shown that the decision to keep him on the roster was a good one. He's also raised other questions about choices on who they decided to keep...but I'll get to that in the negatives.

- Cameron (when hes had the chances). He's looked good catching passes the last two weeks, and I really hope he becomes a much bigger part in the offense. He has a lot of talent catching passes.

- Alex Smith...when he's been healthy, he has been a beast. These two being solid will eliminate the need for Ben Watson beyond this year. Its too bad that we didnt keep Gronk on the roster to really solidify this TE spot for years after we move on from Watson.

- Usama since his return. I actually think he's played pretty well in his limited time, and will continue to improve with more time. He's still raw at the FS position, but he has been pretty decent, and will get better under Jauron.

- Schwartz...He's been very good for a rookie. When they called him a plug and play they were right. He struggled against Mario Williams at times and struggled against the wide nine and Jason Babin...he's been good the rest of the time. With more time, he'll get better.

- Benjamin...He's shown he can stretch the field. He's shown he can hold on to the ball, and hes dynamic with it in his hands.

- Cribbs - He's our best playmaker not named Richardson. He's dynamic with the ball in his hands and is our most reliable set of hands. He catches everything, and i get a feel that when he is able to play again, he will see more snaps on offense, and Little will see fewer.

- Skrine...He's very good, and this experience sans Haden will be very beneficial. I want him to be the starter when we replace Sheldon.

- Healthy Sheldon. While hes a little slower than in the past, he has still played well. He's often in the right position although the Baltimore game was a bit of a struggle...IDK why they didnt go Patterson against Smith and Brown on Boldin all the time.

- our LBs...Robertson, DQ, and Fort have been very good. Carder has long term potential and JMJ will be very good upon his return.

- DL...all of it. Everybody has played well. Rucker, Parker, Winn, Hughes, Sheard (as the season progressed, he's played better), Kitchen, and Stephens have all been successful in their snaps. When Taylor returns we'll be even better.

- OL pass protection. Weeden has been kept pretty clean.

- Shurmur (not in the Buffalo game)...he's called a pretty solid set of games of late. He's had good game plans to keep a young team with a relatively limited amount of talent. I think he's progressing along with the team.


Negatives:

- OL Run blocking. They havent open many holes to this point.

- Joe Thomas so far...yea he is fighting injury (we hope) but he has had a down year so far.

- interior OL...Pinkston, Mack, and Lauvao have struggled. Not much of another way to put it. They havent played well.

- Hardesty/BJax. BJax actually looked good at the end of the preseason, but has been inactive alot. Hardesty has been a ghost on the roster. Not sure why he's even active on gameday. Ogbonnaya is better anyway. Id feel better about TRich, Ogbonnaya, and BJax than having Hardesty active.

- Fujita, Hagg, Little, Gordon, Patterson, MoMass, Norwood (couple drops, only active once). They have all underachieved big time.

- The results. 0-4 hurts, but its a different 0-4 this year. It reminds me of the 1-15 Dolphins. they were so close so many times, and just couldnt get it over...then they went 11-5 the following year. It's kinda like the Bills too under Gailey that first year. Started 0-8 and then it started to click and they won 6 of 8, but we seem to be flashing and clicking quicker. If we can put one full game together we'll be dangerous.

- The first quarter...we've scored 32 (26 last year) first quarter points under Shurmer, and have given up 103 (82 last year)...82-26 last year, and 21-6 this year. Something needs to change going forward. If we get off to better starts we'll be a better team. We have not been good at the beginning of games.

- We've also struggled to put games away when we do have the lead, giving up 5 4th quarter leads in Shurmur's tenure. We gave up 4 last year and 1 this year...5 total in 20 games...hold on to those, and he's .500 overall with a bad team. 5 lost 4th quarter leads after being outscored 103-32 in the first quarter...We have done well in the middle of games, but awful the rest of the way. If we can improve early, and in finishing...we'll be a lot better later.




Theres a lot of positive, but plenty of room to improve. Thats what I think.

Going forward...if we can play the Giants tough, maybe sneak out a win. the rest of the schedule softens. Lots of winnable games. We could easily win 8 of our last 11.

If we keep improving...things will go much better soon.

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We could easily win 8 of our last 11.

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I want some of that Kool-Aid.

Exactly what went through my mind ... much more than just Kool-Aid

I can actually still see us winning 6 games this year.

We will be much, much better on defense when we get Haden back. I expect the offense to get better and better as the year goes by.

WOW! Six whole games?!?!?

If we pull off six wins, I would be dancing in the aisle. I wasn't sure what the season would be like, but at this point, I see the youth struggling and hurting the chances to pull out close games.

I will be surprised if we win 3 to be honest.

I think Skrine's scrappiness and strength are a plus for him. He's stronger than he seems. If you watch the plays that Boldin outsrengthed any of our guys it was Patterson.

If you think that Skrine is too small to be a good starting corner look no further than Brandon Flowers who is also 5'9 and weighs 187...2 more than skrine. There are examples of CBs that play well that are small. They always have scrap, good ability to play the ball, and are strong. I think Skrine has that, he just needs a little more experience, as (like you said) he is always a small tiny fraction of an inch away from making the play.

I like Buster and think he not only can survive but can thrive.

Nothing for nothing..but I don't know if this plays into anything,but didn't Skrine go to UT Chattanoga?
Sometimes if you draft a player from a college that isn't known for playing a powerhouse schedule,it makes you consider the calibur of players he went up against.
Could have Skrine started at LSU....heck no,not with Peterson and Claiborne ahead of him.
was he coached up at UTC?
Its not like he was playing the likes of LSU,Bama and Florida every week.
Skrine too me just looks overmatched all of the time.
He's feisty. He gives it his all.
But he can't read a QB like Charles Tillman or Carlos Rogers can.

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Nothing for nothing..but I don't know if this plays into anything,but didn't Skrine go to UT Chattanoga?

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Yes and in his senior season they played at Auburn where they lost in the final minute, 62-24.... they also played App State and they held Brian Quick to just 5 catches for 121 yards... so that can't be it.

or is that just a matter of adjusting to the speed of the game? As he does that...if he has the talent, it will show up

I don't "holding" a WR to 23 ypc is saying alot.
Skrine might turn out fine.
But its not like he went up against NFL starting calibur WR each week

I will be surprised if we win 3 to be honest.

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that's been my line since before preseason

Look at our schedule though.

Cincy, SD, Baltimore, Pit, KC, and Washington at home
Giants, Colts, Cowboys, Raiders, Broncos, Steelers on the road...

any game at home is winnable. Cincy we were in it last time save for two awful plays (hawkins and pacman), SD will be coming cross country after the bye (They're 3-2 coming off the bye under Turner (wins against Hou in 07, KC in 08, and Denver in 10, losses to Broncos in 09 and Jets in 11)). Baltimore at home the week before our bye. Dallas coming off the bye, Colts, Raiders, KC, and Washington are all bad teams.

Denver and Pit on the road to end the season is the toughest remaining stretch...though if we've put some wins together, things could be easier at that point. If confidence is high, we could really make a run. Denver late in the season, Manning may wear down some, and Pit is usually banged up by that point.

Its conceivable, that SD, Baltimore, and Denver are our only losses left on the schedule.