DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 13 Panthers 17 Postgame Thoughts

Pretty typical.

Defense played their butts off, but just couldn't hold them off in the end.

Johnny Manziel has a LONG way to go. Calling designed runs is not something I want to see 2 starts in. If he's not willing/able to sit in the pocket and make throws more times than not? He needs more time to mature.

He will learn to slide too. Today was a lesson learned.

Hoyer came in and did a halfway decent job, but it's more proof that he's not the answer, and this offense is a mess. 13 points won't cut it.

Really nice job by Pierre Desir today. Thought he showed some ridiculous athletic ability out there.

I know some are railing the refs for blowing Winn's INT early, but he clearly gave himself up. He made the play, rolled over, and protected the ball. He made no attempt to get up and make a play. The refs made the right call, sorry to say.

I just can't wait to get this mess of a season over with. So much promise, but it ends like almost every season over the last 15 years ends.

This isn't good enough. I don't want guys fired, but this isn't good enough. They need to get better as a group.

We are in a must win situation next week to keep from having a losing season.

Conner, hope you're ready.

this team makes me ill !

I think that we better find a QB for next year ..... even if just so we have a contingency plan in case Manziel does not develop/

This was really painful.

I don't want to see anymore of johnny Football. Sit him until next year. Let Hoyer finish the season.

The defensive strategy that we employ is horrible. I know many injuries, but if you can't stop the run or pressure the QB you are not going to win.

Same old Browns whether Pettine believes it or not. They have folded just like every other team since '99

I hate this team.

That about sums it up for me.

Browns suck. Again, still and continually.

Great effort play by Benji.

O-line blows.

Run D blows.

Robertson is a keeper.

We need a QB.

Cam Newton is an a-hole.

Browns suck.

"Defense played their butts off, but just couldn't hold them off in the end."

I diagree totally. They could not mstop anything in the first half, IMO they kept themselves on the field just as much as the offense did

I'm still going to preach patience with everyone.

Hoyer, Manziel, Pettine, Farmer.

Pay Hoyer to be starter next year. Tell Manziel he's the backup. That's where he wants to be anyway. I thought we were getting a competitor but he seems to like it on the sideline.

Don't draft projects.

This is the best thing for the Browns.

Desir and Solomon both showed well today

Should have drafted Teddy Bridgewater....

Some guy signed off the street, coming off the bench....outperformed our 6th overall pick of 2013

They are really going to have to make a decision on what they think Manziel is. Right now, I can't imagine it's good. He's so young and raw though. He needs development. I'm not closing the book on him, but the team needs to protect their future, and I wouldn't blame them if they drafted another QB somewhere in the spring.

The Browns should not throw away next year, simply for the development of anyone. Signing a vet could be another option. I know there won't be a ton out there, but maybe they could find someone who could help JM, and double as a guy who could win a few games.

It's Hoyer.

No one is going to come in and play better than he can.

Give him another offseason of work. Hopefully he can improve on his deficiencies.

my thoughts is that they called it a season after the Colts game. only spurts of effort. im done. makes me not wanna watch the final game. if this kind of game is what i got to look forward to, then F that.

This.

I have to wonder if Pettine and Farmer have the patience to stay the course with Hoyer and Manziel. I tend to doubt that, but we shall see.

I think that all depends on Haslam.

You know he's not happy right now.

I realize he's just a Rookie but not knowing the whole playbook is unacceptable. He had as much time as Hoyer to learn it. I just don't feel confident with Manziel. At least Hoyer will throw the ball. I'm not sure I've seen Manziel even set and throw deep. Everybody says Manziel has an arm but based on his attempts at throwing it you wouldn't know it.. I don't want both QBs on this roster next year. . I know what my pick would be. Having both will not end well.

The culture of losing continues.

Gordon looks terrible. Hawkins dropping passes. The defense can't stop the run to save their lives. Shoddy QB play. Basically, the same story since '99.

A coach that preaches winning and toughness and then proceeds to wave the white flag and punt on our final drive with absolutely nothing to lose. However, we need to stay the course and I would give Pettine the full four years on his contract. We need consistency in this organization.

Unless, by some miracle, the QB position greatly improves next season I'm afraid we're looking at 4-12 type season. We'll be playing the AFC and NFC West divisions. Pettine would then be fired in all likelihood (Haslam will lose his patience), new QB, etc...and the cycle of madness will continue. I know I'm getting way ahead of myself, but couldn't help but speculate.

Different year same ol garbage team. While we see the Steelers & Ravens and now even the Bengals make the playoffs every year we have to continue to be "patient" with a loser football team. I don't know what to think right now, i'm just glad that I don't invest much $$ in this team anymore. Our coaches (you know the only ones willing to coach in loserville) have the same loser mentality every single season...it just never ends

a lot of miscommunication between our center and left guard.

For the D to only give up 17 points for the time they spent on the field is pretty impressive.

We started second and third stringers in the secondary. We lost Rubin and Kitchen to boot. Throw a couple more on the scrap heap along with Taylor, Bryant, Hughes, Haden, Gipson, Williams, Mack, etc. etc....

The offense is absolutely sickening to watch. There was not one time today where I felt like there was any chance of a good solid TD drive. Crowell would have one fantastic run and follow it up with two straight runs for loss. The OL is atrocious, regardless of who the QB is. Losing Mack has really cost this offense immensely.

Benji made one helluva play to make up for a poorly thrown ball. How do we respond to that? We end up at 3rd and 21. Pretty easy conversion there.

Lanning does not give us any chance to win field position both in the PR and KR game. Whitaker consistently fielded the ball outside of the 5 yard line. And, every punt that needed to be downed inside the 20 rolled right through the end zone.

Cam Newton ran whenever he wanted and we never seemed to have a spy on it him.

The officiating was garbage. Gordon made a catch only for it to be called incomplete. The Panther's dude's catch was ruled incomplete and then changed on review. Pettine should have challenged the Hawkins catch on the sideline as he controlled the ball and it came out as his knee was going down. Should have been a catch and fumble out of bounds.

Cameron got completely mugged by the LB on two separate catches and it was "great coverage". Skrine made a nice play on the ball and was called for PI. We can't ever catch a break and we are not good enough without the occasional break.

The play-calling with Manziel was horrible. Designed QB run that got him clobbered on the sideline. I was surprised it was a hamstring and not a concussion. I won't blame someone for faking injury, but I do wonder if he actually got as hurt as he let on. He didn't seem to have any trouble moving across the field to shake hands.

Another wasted Sunday hoping against hope that we might see something that we know darn well we won't see, a competent and complete football team playing NFL quality football.

Oh, well.... On to games that are actually entertaining.

Indy faked a punt inside its 20 that would have gone for the first down if the dude just made the catch. That shows some confidence in your team and your defense. And we didn't even go for it on 4th and 2 with nothing to lose.

Not going for it on 4th and 13 with 3 minutes left, from the 50, is hardly "waving the white flag". It was the right call, especially given the way the offense has been playing for the past 5 or 6 weeks.

With how our defense was playing it was the wrong call

Indy has locked up their division. Still, the fake punt at that point just handed Dallas 7 points. Still, a loss in today's game could affect home field advantage for them. Maybe they don't feel that is important. I think that Pagano was foolish for taking that risk there, and despite all of the "could haves", they lost the play.

They had given up 17 points to that point. There were 3 minutes left in the game. The defense did its job today.

Man I agree with a lot of what you post. This is definitely not one of them. Did you think they were gonna stop them? Pettine and the whole city of Cleveland knew what was coming.

Doesn't even look like Indy is playing to me.

I just couldn't believe how well it was executed up to the point where a guy just needed to squeeze the ball and fall forward.

I guess my point was that the Colts are still playing relevant football and showing the balls to try something that will fail (statistically speaking) more often than not.

We, who have nothing to play for, gladly trot out the FG unit on a 4th and 2. To me, that shows that the team plays like losers who do not care that they are now becoming whipping boys again. If I'm Hoyer, I lobby hard for us to try to get those two yards....

I mean for criss sake, as a fan, I would have rather seen them try and fail so I could say "well, the season's over. At least they tried SOMETHING."

We allowed 17 points in this game. Yeah, I think that we stood a lot better chance of stopping them on defense than picking up a 4th and 13.

How many "and long" did we pick up on offense during the whole game? How about in the past 2 weeks? 3 weeks? 4 weeks? 5 weeks?

We faced 4th and 13. The odds had to have been somewhere around 1:1000 against us picking that up.

I'm just going to drop my end of season thoughts now, because it's over. I saw a lot of good and a lot of bad, and I'm going to focus on the bad, because we just lost and it was ugly.

Trading up to take Manziel was a terrible idea. Beyond that, the way they handled it from there got worse. The 'let's wreck this league' story is a perfect example of a dysfunctional organization.

The kid who is falling for good reason begs the QB coach to draft him, who goes to the top brass and says 'This kid actually wants to be here!' and everyone gushes and trades up to get him?

And they bragged about it!

Nobody reigned him in at all, and then they threw him in the game knowing he wasn't ready (and if they didn't know, that's more damning.

The organization mishandled this QB situation very badly.

This isn't just about Manziel. It reaches to a dysfunctional organization, which is precisely what Bernie was talking about.

...But how do you REALLY feel?

I'm gonna guess that Manziel won't even be on this team next season. I'm not saying I hate him or he shouldn't be, it's just that I have a feeling he will be gone.

^ This!

Boy, it sure doesn't look as if Johnny Manziel is the answer does it.

I mean yeah, 1.5 games isn't enough to really know, but he hasn't even shown any ability at all thus far.

The season is lost, we're either going to be 8-8 or 7-9..

If he can play next week, let him, but they better put it in high gear.. Finish with a bang..

I can't even talk about this game today. With the exception of a few bright spots, namely: the INT by Wynn and the Fumble recovery after getting picked off and the beautiful throw for a TD, there really isn't much to get excited about.

Oh yeah, Who's number 54.. Dude was in Beast Mode today..

I said something to that effect in a couple of threads.

I really thought that had they told Manziel flat-out that he would be the backup the entire year barring injury, that Hoyer wouldn't have to constantly look over his shoulder.

A couple of posters said that you would just give Hoyer a sense of entitlement. I saw it as an opportunity to teach Manziel a lesson and give a bit of an endorsement to Hoyer.

I wonder if some of his struggles came from the fact that he knew Manziel was always on his heels based on the HC's lack of confidence.

I don't think Hoyer is a world-beater, but he was giving us an opportunity to win, until the pressure really got to him.

Loggains should be on the hot seat since both of our QBs have/had issues with mechanics that never seemed to improve.

+1
Like it or not and I'm not sure it will be the right decision but signing Hoyer makes the most since. . He can win games and it gives the time to find their QB of future if it's not Hoyer maybe it will be Shaw. . At least with Manziel gone no one will be screaming for Shaw. Maybe they can get a QB in the third round that can be developed and no one will be screaming to play. . I don't hate Manziel but I don't care for his style of play. Run first throw 2nd.. He hasn't looked good so far. Yes it's been small sample size but he hasn't really done anything that you can be hopeful. I just don't have a good feeling about him and I give all QBs a chance but usually the QBs make a few plays in the beginning to give you hope of the future.

The only thing that Manziel has "wrecked" is his value. In only 6 Qtr of play he isn't even worth the extra 3rd Farmer burned to trade up to him. That's a new low.

Speaking of disappointing 1st rounders....anybody else concerned that they trusted Desir to Benjamin over Gilbert?

And this dude Solomon? In a couple of series he made as many plays off the edge as Mingo

You guy want to know why we suck? Here's the answer

Trent Richardson
Brandon Weeden
Bark Mingo
Justin Gilbert
Johnny Shortstop

5 first rounders, 3 top ten picks and not even ONE decent starter...I mean, how is this even possible?

I wanted the guy, but I can't get over that report from back in the spring about how the team spent 100k on an analytics study to find out the best QB (it was Bridgewater) only to pass on him. It smells of the owner stepping in and drafting Manziel.

Actually, that might be the best case scenario if Johnny doesn't pan out. Maybe the owner will keep his nose out of football business and let the guys do their jobs. Plus that study worked (Bridgewater right now looks like the best of the QBs), so maybe it it something to use in the future?

I wonder how much of the "Come get me" and "Let's wreck this league" stuff is true or fabricated.

Haslem wants Manziel, but no one else in the room does. To save face for the owner, they concoct a story that Manziel texts the QB coach who in turns texts the owner, GM and HC.

We've already heard enough other stuff come out about things over the last couple ofweeks that you at least have to wonder, no?