2017 Season The Good, Bad and Ugly

I LOL'd... well done!

He looks like a skinnier Colt McCoy.

 

Shizer

First play against Cincinnati. Read is left (Britt) to right. Time to throw is 2.51 seconds.



The tight end at the top of the screen has been open the entire time. Kizer "progresses" from left to right. Missing the obviously wide open TE in the process, he tucks it and runs it himself (from a clean pocket) for 4 yards. Browns punt after a 3-and-out.

 

SAS-

Another thing that puzzled the hell out of me during the Bengals game was twice with a play action play. Both times after the snap, the RB had already taken off 2-3 steps forward/out to the flat and Kizer still turned and faked the handoff. Both times there was nobody there to fake to.....they were already 10 feet or more away. WTF?!?! Not sure who gets blamed for the sloppiness, the RB, the QB, or both. But who the hell is that fooling? If the RB ain't there, don't waste the time turning to the side to fake the handoff. The DEF sure wasn't fooled. Kizer could have had an extra second or two to scan down field.

And I believe Kizer didn't complete a pass on either of those two plays.

SMH

 

Good

The ageless wonder:

 

Could explain why Hue's only had Kizer under center 13 times.

 

Ugly (for Browns fans)

 

Good

Myles Garrett. Whew. He had himself a ball game. The wait was well worth it - 18 snaps at non-100% and he records 2 sacks and 2 run-stops. Guy is the very definition of elite.





Jason McCourty. In what continues to be another game in a quietly great season for the vet, he's come through for Gregg Williams' defense (as well as the F/O's ability to identify valuable free agents). PFF grades him as the No. 2 cornerback in the entire NFL. An interception, two passes defensed, one forced fumble, and four tackles on the game.



Kevin "The Hulk" Hogan. Amazing what an NFL-caliber quarterback can do for a team. Minus a tipped passes that went the wrong way, he was nearly flawless on the game. He executed the game plan, made the right throws, oh... and he's a more mobile QB. Went from 8 of 17 (47.1%) to 16 of 19 (84.2%) just by making the switch. I'm sure there's someone out there weeping angrily and still trying to blame Kenny Britt and the Receivers (sounds like a good name for a Alt-Indie rock band) for the woes of their ex-QB.



Bad

Big plays.A 97-yard TD drive by the Jets to basically seal the deal. It was a huge play to the reserve tight end that really broke the defense in this one. It seems that one big play keeps rearing its head in games. Despite an overall stellar performance by the defense, this one big drive hurt and was one of the major reasons the Browns didn't get the W.

Schedule. The Browns are through the "easy" part of their schedule. It will be interesting to see who gets the start (and who the back-up is) next week. If Hogan and/or Kessler see the field the rest of the way, I can see the Browns finishing 3-13. If they go with Kizer, it's 0-16 and the worst season ever in the history of the NFL statically.

Right now, we're playing for Saquon Barkley.

Ugly

Zane Gonzalez. Yuck. What a poor performance by the rookie. Two shanked field goals (at least three on the year now) and a case of the yips so bad that the head coach decides to go for the score on fourth-and-short with a chip-shot FG in his pocket.

If he doesn't right his wrongs soon, he could be looking for employment elsewhere.

Hue Jackson. Lost. That's probably the best word to describe him. Any of his unfavorable tropes you can name, he did it.

• Down more than 7 points? Abandon the run.
• Key decision in the game? Burn a timeout.
• Duke Johnson Jr. playing well? Put him on the sidelines.

Jackson and Kizer are going to be linked now, so I doubt he sits the uber-bust, but it just further torpedoes the season and ensure he doesn't come back in 2018.

Shizer

What else is left to say? The worst QB to ever play for the team had yet another reaffirming game that he's a bust. There is no redeeming quality here. There is nothing to build around. This was a busted pick, a busted player, and a torpedoed start to a season where real, tangible progress could have been made.

Worse still, it probably seals Clueless Hue's fate as the Browns' coach. Through his tenure with the team, he's hitched his wagon to: Bob Griffin, Brock Osweiler, and DeShone Kizer. He seems unwilling, or unable, to tailor a gameplan to the pieces he has and his knee-jerk reactions have left this team basically starting at square one again offensively - the roster is better since the 2016 offseason, but the development is the same.

The only hope here is that Haslam - when filling out pink slips - keeps a steady hand at one and keeps the rest of the staff in place.

 

Not arguing with the point made, but just who do you propose as a replacement HC? Honestly, it's just the same rotating carousel of crappy coaches getting fired and recycled around the league year after year. What about taking OC duties away from Hue and making that hire first? What options are out there on the OC spectrum? Wouldn't you think Slick Jimmy and the FO would rather keep the ship a little bit more steady than starting this whole thing all over again? Another new HC hiring is sure to lose the fans and maybe for good this time. On the other side of the coin, if they do nothing and the team continues its losing ways......then same effect and then a new HC hiring.

 

1-20 is keeping the ship steady?

 

I have a short list here of coaches in the league that I would like to see get a crack at being the head coach somewhere.

Ken Norton Jr. (D.C. Oakland)
Jerry Gray (DBC Minnesota)
Joe Woods (D.C. Denver)
Teryl Austin (D.C. Detroit)
Rick Dennison (O.C. Buffalo)

I have a list of college coaches here that I would like to see get a crack as position coaches and coordinators in the NFL.

Give me a half hour of your time Doug and I'll convince you that I have an all-star line-up ready to right the ship in Cleveland.

 

The problem with hiring a DC as new HC is if they have a different system than the present one in place, it leads to scrapping the team again and we're back to Year 1 of a 5 year rebuild. And I wouldn't want them to limit their choices by hiring a guy who uses the system in place as they may not get the best guy.

As for college coaches, my memory is not as deep here. Don't remember too many and my present memory is jaded by Chip Kelly.

I know, my opinion is a bit limiting in the choices available. I would also rather see them get an OC in cause something isn't working with Hue at the helm of that. There may be many factors as to why that is, but at present they keep trying the same old stuff and it's not working and the only thing they can change (without a drastic organizational change) is hiring an OC.


(Edit: This convo more than likely should be over in the Where Do We Go From Here thread. Sorry fellas.)

 

I agree that would be the prudent move. I'd like to see them promote Al Saunders into the OC role over the BYE week.

Agreed 100%. I hate the idea of having to fire Hue, but he's not giving us a lot of options.

I also hate that we have to have this discussion Week 6, but they could take an approach out of left field (which would seem to jive with their analytics-based approach) but promote someone who's more of a President than a coach. A guy who isn't (1) 100-percent football and (2) a re-tread.

Hue is complicating the HC position by also trying to be the offensive coordinator, QB coach, etc. Bring in someone who manages the coaches beneath him. How many times do we see and hear of coordinators who're promoted to head coach only to struggle? Romeo Crennel, Wade Phillips, Hue Jackson, Josh McDaniels - all terrific coordinators who flopped for one reason or another as a head coach. Hire the appropriate coordinators who'll do their jobs well and bring in someone to literally 'manage' the game.

 

I don't want to pull the plug on Hue. Every time we do that, we lose quality players because the new guy never checks his ego as he steps in and demands to have "his players"....Who could forget Mangini? He was the worst about that. He wanted ALL the veteran Jets to come with him to Cleveland, and he damn near got it...

Maybe Hue should hand over play-calling duties, but I honestly have a hard time believing ANY offensive coach could find success for Kizer. I don't know if it's nerves or what with him, but I don't want to see any more. You go back and read all the scouting reports on Kizer and say, yep that's what I'm seeing. Except we haven't seen ANY of the spectacular since the preseason, when he was going against non NFL talent...

Meanwhile the ultra-soft Browns pass defense gets to face Deshaun Watson in Houston Sunday....Should be a treat. Like a sharp stick in the eye.

 

Beyond time to hire and offensive coordinator.

Good

Duke Johnson Jr. Continues to ball out.




This is actually starting to become an issue at this point - the best player on offense is seeing fewer touches than the starter who's ineffective right now. If Hue had the gumption to pull his "chosen" QB, why not do the same with his starting RB?

Crowell is gone in the offseason, plain and simple. Johnson Jr. may be able to be a feature back, but we won't know until he gets more exposure.

Right now, in the reps he gets, he's one of the NFL's best.

 

Good

David Njoku.


Maybe let's get him more involved in the offense?

He's been targeted 15 times, catching 12 of them (80.0%) and is scoring a touchdown once every four catches.

Briean Boddy-Calhoun.


So we have the #2 perimeter cornerback (McCourty), the #1 slot cornerback, the #1 run-defending safety (Kindred), the #5 run-stopping defensive tackle (Ogunjobi), and I'm sure Garrett's production on a meager 18 snaps has to be among the league's best so far...

How is it again that the talent is the problem on this team?

 

Good

Emmanuel Ogbah (again).

Anytime you rate higher than Khalil Mack, you've had a good day. To be fair, this was his Week 4 grade against the Bengals.

 

Ugly


"Trubisky's first throw is on target."
"Certainly does not seem nervous, playing with confidence."
"Throw on target, again."
"Mitch Trubisky - quick release."

What is, "Things you'll never hear about DeShone Kizer, Alex?"

 

Good?

Browns lose top spot in 2018 NFL Draft order after Week 5

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2017/10/browns_lose_top_spot_in_2018_n.html

 

lol! You are correct, sir. and let's not forget Mitch had another 80 to 100 yards in nice pass plays that were wiped out by various penalties, plus at least 3 drops. One of those drops had 6 written all over it....The numbers weren't great, but I liked what I saw from Trubisky.

That said, the Bears were smart in simplifying things on those roll out passes. Trubisky was hitting his targets all night, until the end. I don't think he ever saw the Safety lurking over near the sideline at the end, and his last pass was regrettable. But hey, that's Harrison Smith for ya. He's a baaad man.

 

If I had a chance to do it over, I'd still take Myles Garrett.....The move down that eventually led to Peppers is the one that shouldn't have been made. Nothing against Peppers at all, but Dabo's guy is making us look a bit foolish...

Some of you guys were on him as the best of the class. Honesty time: I had Watson 3rd, behind Trubisky and Maholmes....Watching him play on Sunday night I realized the obvious error I was making. You just can't underestimate the clutch gene, and the ability to perform when the pressure ratchets up...Anyway, props to those that were calling for us to take Deshaun. I should have listened, but more importantly, the Browns should've...