BR1986FB;896674 wrote:So it looks like Shurmur is already starting to look like previous shady coaches (Botch Davis, Mangini..). Apparently he KNEW of McGee's back issue prior to kickoff but did nothing about it.

Ok, the guy shanks a 20-some yard punt on his first attempt. After hearing "McGee has a lower back issue" from one of the coaches PRIOR to kickoff and then the miserable shank of the first punt, don't ya think the head coach should at least go up to the guy and say "hey McGee, are you OK?" He doesn't and then McGee proceeds to shank another one. Does Shurmur go up to McGee then? NO.

Patty Boy isn't getting off to a good start here.

What was he going to do about it? Sure, he probably could've put Dawson in, who probably hasn't practiced punting in years, and risked having his FG kicker injured. Sticking with McGee as long as he could kick at all, was probably the right move.

se-alum;896971 wrote:Dawson in, who probably hasn't practiced punting in years

I would be stunned if that was true.

Greg Little can punt...and I'm willing to bet there are a lot of guys on the team that could punt the ball over 20 yards!

About the Browns' West Coast offense...
View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerWith Peyton Hillis the lone Browns offensive player who has earned the attention of opposing defenses, fans' dismay over the struggles of last week may be a bit misplaced, says Terry Pluto.
1. I've been getting emails calling what the Browns run "The Worst Coast offense" or that it's the same old stuff. Many fans have already seen enough. Others, such as Mark Murphy and Doug Leedy, sent thoughtful emails, but they are just frustrated by the lack of production.
2. Let's start with the scoreboard, where the offense did put up 17 points in the 27-17 loss to the Bengals. Hard to believe, but that's more than they scored in seven games in 2010 ... and nine games in 2009 ... and 10 games in 2008. That's three seasons with two head coaches (Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini) and five quarterbacks (Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy).
3. In the last three years, the offense has ranked 29th, 32nd and 31st out of 32 teams. That screams for a new approach. They have played one game with the West Coast offense, one game with a new head coach who is also calling the plays.
4. The offense drove me crazy with all the penalties and the sluggish and ragged approach in the fourth quarter. But let's not act as if this is the worst offense we've seen. The Browns failed to score more than 17 points in their final five games last season, and that includes a 19-17 loss to the Bengals.
5. The team opened the season with one established offensive weapon -- Peyton Hillis. His 1,117 yards rushing last season was his first good year. Ben Watson (68 catches), Hillis (61) and Chansi Stuckey (40) were the three leading receivers last season. In 2009, Mohamed Massaquoi led the team with 34 catches.
6. So let's not pretend that Pat Shurmur inherited the Browns of the 1980s. His quarterback entered the year with eight pro starts. Hillis had one good year. Watson is an above-average tight end. As for everyone else, they are still trying to establish themselves.
7. Former Browns coach Chris Palmer once told me, "If you want to evaluate your talent on offense, pretend you are the opposing defensive coordinator. Then ask yourself what players worry you." On the Browns, it's Hillis. No receiver is worthy of double coverage. McCoy is still trying to figure out the pro game.
8. The bottom line is it's way to early to make any significant judgments, other than the stupid penalties are just that -- stupid -- and need to be cleaned up. We also have a chance to see if the Browns can make any adjustments after the first week, which will begin to reveal more about the new coaching staff -- and if they can develop some of the young talent.
About the defense...
View full sizeLisa DeJong, The Plain DealerPhil Taylor's NFL debut merits some smiles around the Browns.
1. If Phil Taylor plays every game close to how he performed in the opener, the No. 1 pick will make his team very happy. Taylor had five solo tackles, two for losses. He also was credited with a quarterback hit, and he combined with Jayme Mitchell to make the left side of the line a place the Bengals avoided.
2. This from profootballfocus.com: "When a defensive tackle makes five defensive stops, you know he's had a good game. Taylor was a handful all day and earned ... our highest grade for a DT this week."
3. Yes, the Browns gave up that 39-yard Cedric Benson touchdown run with 1:59 remaining. Coach Pat Shurmur said they were selling out on defense to make a big play. He didn't go into depth, but odds are they were overloading to the right side, where Benson had been crunching the Browns.
4. Based on the first game, the right side of the defense -- Mitchell, Taylor and linebacker Scott Fujita -- appears strong. D'Qwell Jackson had an outstanding game at middle linebacker. He played all 69 snaps, he had two sacks, 11 tackles and seemed near the ball on every play. That indicates that not only was Taylor effective, but so was fellow defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin. Those big men kept the blockers off Jackson.
5. The problem was rookie left end Jabaal Sheard and linebacker Chris Gocong. They could not stop Benson running those sweeps. Sheard missed only seven snaps, and probably was on the field too much. Perhaps Marcus Benard can help, although he's mostly known as a pass-rushing defensive end. This is not about writing off Sheard, but keeping him fresh and also doing something with right side of the line.
6. There were 69 defensive snaps. Mitchell played 63, a real load considering he played only 74 the previous two years combined. Other snap counts on the line: Sheard (62), Rubin (57), Taylor (50), Scott Paxson (14), Benard (11) and Brian Schaefering (10).
7. In passing situations, the Browns took Gocong (43 snaps) off the field, and replaced him with Dimitri Patterson, a defensive back. They usually went with four linemen, Jackson and Fujita at linebacker and five defensive backs. Michael Adams (39 snaps) and Usama Young (29) split the free safety spot.
8. I will be speaking Saturday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. at the Columbia Station Library. It's free, and I'll be glad to sign books.
About Joe Haden...
View full sizePhil Masturzo, Akron Beacon-JournalSure, Joe Haden is expressive and enthusiastic, but frustrated fans looking for someone to blame for a Game 1 loss are mistaken if they direct their anger at him, says Terry Pluto.
1. I've been getting some emails about Joe Haden. He "celebrates too much." He "should catch some of those passes for interceptions, rather than knock them down." I understand fans were frustrated, but Haden is not the problem. If most of the Browns played even close to Haden's caliber, the 27-17 loss to Cincinnati would have been an easy victory.
2. Haden was credited with five passes defended. That's a tremendous stat. Consider that Brent Grimes led the NFL with 28 last season. Haden ranked No. 5 with 24. According to profootballfocus.com, there were 11 passes thrown in Haden's area, and only three completions. One was the 41-yarder to A.J. Green when the Browns were asleep in the huddle.
3. Does Haden get very excited? Yes. But he doesn't spend a lot of time taunting the other team. Rather, he wants to fire up his guys and the fans. Know what the Browns have in Joe Haden? Their next annual Pro Bowl selection like Joe Thomas -- along with a guy who played at Florida, loves Cleveland and has embraced the community and its teams.

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2011/09/terry_plutos_talkin_about_the_40.html

I feel like yakety sax should be played in the backround for this entire game.....

Complaining about Haden is completely illogical. He had a great game other than falling asleep on that JV play.

From reading the OBR, and hearing this story, it really does piss me off how delusional and retarded browns fans are. I mean "haden should have intercepted those balls" and " he celebrates too much" are not the types of things people should be saying after his performance last week. Lighten up people, it's been ONE FUCKING GAME with the new regime. Everything is NEW to these guys, it's not going to happen in one week. Idiots.

DeyDurkie5;901403 wrote:From reading the OBR, and hearing this story, it really does piss me off how delusional and retarded browns fans are. I mean "haden should have intercepted those balls" and " he celebrates too much" are not the types of things people should be saying after his performance last week. Lighten up people, it's been ONE FUCKING GAME with the new regime. Everything is NEW to these guys, it's not going to happen in one week. Idiots.

Heard he was actually getting "hate" mail after the game ala Eric Wright. Now I know that every fan base has their idiots but WHY does it seem like the Browns fan base is the most blatantly stupid about it? Guy is a stud, plays like a boss, LOVES the city and fans are gonna give him shit? REALLY?

Off topic but does anyone know Calvin Johnson's status for today? Wondering if I need to grab Burleson off waivers.

I read that Johnson would be ready...

And I love being a browns fan, but we have more than our share of morons. I guess it makes sense that we have dumb fans since our team isn't good...lmao

BR1986FB;901407 wrote:Heard he was actually getting "hate" mail after the game ala Eric Wright. Now I know that every fan base has their idiots but WHY does it seem like the Browns fan base is the most blatantly stupid about it? Guy is a stud, plays like a boss, LOVES the city and fans are gonna give him shit? REALLY?

Off topic but does anyone know Calvin Johnson's status for today? Wondering if I need to grab Burleson off waivers.

The OBR is the worst about it. I can't even read that shit anymore.

And megatron should be playing. Hasn't been confirmed, but I don't see him going.

wes_mantooth;901410 wrote:I read that Johnson would be ready...

And I love being a browns fan, but we have more than our share of morons. I guess it makes sense that we have dumb fans since our team isn't good...lmao

lol reps.

Also, can we change the damn name of this thread. I am starting to think the name of this thread is bad luck. It is worth a try to change the title, come on Wes get on that.

DeyDurkie5;901411 wrote:The OBR is the worst about it. I can't even read that shit anymore.

There are plenty of idiots over there who melt at the drop of a hat. I see that many are pissed about this new "West Coast Offense" but as the article says, they put up more points (17) than they did in a lot of games over the past few years. PLUS they left points on the field.

wes_mantooth;901410 wrote:I read that Johnson would be ready...

And I love being a browns fan, but we have more than our share of morons. I guess it makes sense that we have dumb fans since our team isn't good...lmao

You know on second thought of Non's argument, he has it the wrong way imo. When teams like the steelers, packers, cowboys gain bandwagon fans nationally due to their success, they tend to gain fans who never played football, don't really care about football and could live without it. There are a lot of fans out there who just need to pickup a team, so they go after one of the more successful teams to be their "team." Let's be honest, if someone with no passion for the NFL is going to choose their team to start their fandom, they currently are not going to choose Cleveland, Cincy, Buffalo, etc. I.E. Automatik is a fan of the Steelers. So, in actuality one can say the more successful a team is, the less knowledgable their fanbase is.

Bam counter thesis to Non's idiotic theory.

like_that;901424 wrote:You know on second thought of Non's argument, he has it the wrong way imo. When teams like the steelers, packers, cowboys gain bandwagon fans nationally due to their success, they tend to gain fans who never played football, don't really care about football and could live without it. There are a lot of fans out there who just need to pickup a team, so they go after one of the more successful teams to be their "team." Let's be honest, if someone with no passion for the NFL is going to choose their team to start their fandom, they currently are not going to choose Cleveland, Cincy, Buffalo, etc. I.E. Automatik is a fan of the Steelers. So, in actuality one can say the more successful a team is, the less knowledgable their fanbase is.

Bam counter thesis to Non's idiotic theory.

lol...why the fuck is my fandom being brought up in this thread?

Automatik;901431 wrote:lol...why the fuck is my fandom being brought up in this thread?

Lol, that may be my fault because of br's post about haden

Oh great, now this thread will turn into a shitstorm.

BR1986FB;901435 wrote:Oh great, now this thread will turn into a shitstorm.

Yeah, I should probably thread ban myself

BR1986FB;901435 wrote:Oh great, now this thread will turn into a shitstorm.

Nah..I'm too hungover to participate in a shitstorm.

Automatik;901443 wrote:Nah..I'm too hungover to participate in a shitstorm.

Actually, I wasn't talking about you...now Non is a different story.

BR1986FB;901449 wrote:Actually, I wasn't talking about you...now Non is a different story.

Typical Auto, thinks everything is about him. SMH.

Man, watching this sunday night game with the falcons/eagles really is depressing......it just shows how bad our WR core really is.

OQB;902542 wrote:Man, watching this sunday night game with the falcons/eagles really is depressing......it just shows how bad our WR core really is.

Well we passed on one of Atlanta's WR for a hell of a trade. Still hoping the Falcons lose this game. Would be nice if they miss the playoffs this year.

Automatik;901431 wrote:lol...why the fuck is my fandom being brought up in this thread?

Maybe because this is the Cleveland thread, and we will discuss what we want.... The better question is why the fuck are you so concerned with what is being discussed in a Cleveland thread?

Posted this in the Browns/Dolphins thread as well...

Interviewing T.J. Ward tomorrow at 1:00 PM

http://www.brownsgab.com/2011/09/19/got-a-question-for-browns-starting-safety-t-j-ward-let-us-know/