I wuldnt have to sell anything to Dansby and Whitner...I wuld just tell them to stop somebody. Also, if ur happy w those stats from Hoyer, I guess ur expectations were set pretty low....there are only 8-10 good QBs in this league right now and the rest culd b juggled 11-32...Manning, Rodgers, Brees, Ryan, Brady, Luck, Cutler, Roethlisberger and mayb Stafford and Wilson.
Duff I'll buy the D isn't getting pressure on the QB enough, but I still am unhappy with Haden's performance so far. Not "he sukks" upset, just we need him to be the lead dog back there, and at this point it appears even opposing QBs don't think he's all that. Enough said, and I hope it is an aberation, not a chronic condition. Yes the pass rush would help. Not sure where we rank on passing D, but the run D has been pathetic, and I don't expect the pass rush to be the first thing targeted for fixing, with the run D being so leaky. I think Pettine and his young rookie dependent players will get a lot out of this bye, and come back better. I believe. I believe! It's incredibly surprising to be saying the O is the strength of the team now, and for all the stats, Hoyer's biggest achievement to me is getting the O together and functionally literate in this brand new system. Johnny may some day be a better QB than Hoyer also maybe not, but there is no doubt in my mind about who was the right guy to start the season. Liking the attitude and the actions of the coaching staff, well I guess Pettine. Hope he finds a way to keep it going, cause if the L's pile up it is hard to keep the locker room.
Through week 3; CLE CIN PIT BAL Team Defense - 24th 1st 23rd 7th Pass Defense - 27th 17th 11th 24th Rush Defense - 28th 18th 22nd 8th
I posted this on the main boards but as of week 3, Hoyer has performed on par or better than Stanton, Flacco, Brady, Roethlisberger, and Kaepernick (I only looked up these QBs and Wilson at that point but Wilson dominates them all). Two of them are on your list. Looking at a few more from your list, he's not too far from Rodgers and he's outplayed Stafford. Keep in mind everybody named has had better weapons the first 3 weeks except maybe Brady and even that's debatable. That's four of your personal top 10 that Hoyer is compatible or better than as of the Tuesday of week 4. I think some of you expect too much or simply refuse to like Hoyer
And yet we're FIVE (5) points away from being 3-0 (2-0 in the Division). Yea, let's throw away the offense just to see what we have for a potential starting Quarterback. Makes perfect sense to me. *SCRATCH*
This is interesting. As a complete unit, the Ravens, Browns, and Bengals are ranked higher than any of their individual units rank. You guys need to look more at this defensive ranking as a reason you're 1-2 instead of 3-0, not Hoyer
. Nope, you know me, "just being competitive" , doesn't cut it. I always say an 8-8 team would be the worse case scenario, and I know that RIGHT NOW, Brian Hoyer gives us the best chance to win. To me that seems pretty obvious. How is Johnny gonna play better than a top 10 NFL QB with a 97.5 QBR? He's not.....And it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world if Hoyer kept JM on the bench for his entire rookie season. Look, I love Johnny, but if there was ever a guy that needed a little humbleness and some time to mature, and maybe even a bit of a reality check, it's Johnny football.....I think the coaching staff is doing a nice job of finding ways to get him in each week and get him a couple snaps. This is a learning year for him, and hopefully he will take full advantage of it and be ready when called upon. He's only a snap away from being our starter. With the weekly "JM package" implemented in the offense, he gets more work and experience than any other back-up QB in the league, and that's smart. They messed it up Sunday, but I thought that was pretty creative, and it woulda worked with better execution....
Again . . . That play was illegal in its design ! Agnew could have been stacked to the ground and it would STILL be illegal !
Bottom line: Even though we've had two brutal losses to divisional foe's that always seem to have our number, the Browns have shown real grit. Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh were sweatin bullets against these Browns, and I think both walked away with a new measure of respect for Cleveland football. These most definately aren't the same ol Browns. They haven't let key losses of offensive personel slow them down at all. Rookies and undrafted free agents have stepped up, and amazingly, the Browns are the only team in the NFL that has yet to commit a turnover. When is the last time the Browns ever went 3 consecutive games without a turnover? I fully expect the Browns to not just be in the hunt, but make the playoffs this season. Our O-line and running game are as good as any in the league. And no other team gets to add a true superstar WR to the roster for the stretch run. Don't forget that..
Manziel was too close to the sideline at the snap, and his shoulders weren't parallel to the line of scrimmage....pretty simple adjustments. Maybe I shoulda said that instead of "better execution"...
I think I already pointed out the rule... I don't think it even applied to Manziel because he wasn't a sub...However, the shoulders parallel definitely didn't apply because that is only the ones on the line and he was off the line.
You guys are knitpicking. I know that play can work with proper adjustments. I blame the fail squarely on the coaches...We ran a similar "sleeper" play in Minnesota last year off a fake FG. The pass went to Jordan Cameron and it worked for a touchdown...I actually still have that game on my DVR, and I went back and looked. Cameron was NOT lined up 5 yards from the sideline. More like 2 feet. So evidently that shouldn't haven't counted, and at the very least, there appears to be confusion among the officials. Last year there was no talk about Cameron being too close to the sideline, I can tell ya that. And everybody was talkin about how crafty the Browns were with that play call. It was my understanding that part of the problem Sunday was that JF didn't have his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. But whatever the case, the point is, the trickery should have and could have worked. Call it bad execution. Call it bad coaching. Call it whatever you want. We needed that play, and didn't get it.
Okay "Coach" Stopper.... how are you going to walk into that locker room and tell the team.... "I know Brian hasn't turned the ball over in three games, has a top ten QBR, and has the offense scoring 24.6 ppg, but, we're gonna go ahead and start JF the rest of the season because we wanna see what we got in him in case we gotta draft a QB high in NEXT YEAR'S draft" Do you really think Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, Ben Tate, and the rest of the veterans on this team are gonna say "Yeah, ok coach, sounds fair..." GET REAL!!!
One thing at a time here . . . Manziel WAS too close to the sideline as the LOS was between the two opposing 32 yard lines. At that point on the field, he has to be at least five yards from his bench's sideline - he was, at most, 2 yards from the sideline. (The reason that the Cameron TD you mentioned in another post WAS legal is because the LOS was outside of the two opposing 32 yard lines. (I seem to recall they were inside the five yard line?) Regarding the shoulders parallel to the LOS. ALL players must line up with their shoulders parallel to the LOS and remain with their shoulders parallel to the LOS up until the ball is snapped. The ONLY exception is that one player that is allowed to be in motion at the snap. It matters not whether they are on the line or not. Technically, all eleven players could line up with their backs to the line of scrimmage and still be legal. edit: fixed my error in the original post. It was West, not Agnew.
So what's the plan for Hoyer? Does he get a long-term extension after this season? Is he gone in free agency? The F/O wasn't about to open up the checkbook for him last year -- and for good reason. His "impressive" numbers (by your account) only add up to 3,800 yards and 16 TDs for a season. That would put him at 16th in yards and 24th in TDs in 2013. Not elite, not franchise and not even Pro Bowl caliber. Sure, we can stick with Hoyer for the season, manage the games, lose in a few tight contests because he isn't a clutch player and then where are we? 6-10 at the current win-rate. But what does that get us? Look... I'm actually all for leaving Hoyer in there right now (shock, right?) but (ahh, there's the caveat), I want to see more Manziel formations and packages on gameday, especially in tighter situations or times when we really need a spark or a clutch player to step up and deliver.
Maybe Russell Wilson... *WALL* The guy has the highest rating of any starting quarterback 3 weeks into the season with 6TDs and 1INT. Meanwhile Stafford has the 25th rating with 3TDs and 3INTS. Roethlisberger? 3-1 with the 21st highest rating. Brady - 3-0 28th Here's the list down to Hoyer: 2 Russell Wilson 3 Peyton Manning 4 Carson Palmer 5 Philip Rivers 6 Kirk Cousins 7 Matt Ryan ATL 8 Andrew Luck 9 Cam Newton 10 Drew Brees 11 Robert Griffin III 12 Jay Cutler 13 Brian Hoyer Those are all pretty damn good quarterbacks with the exceptions of Cousins and RGIII because we have too small a sample size.
Extra Points ? Snap to it: Look for the Browns to work out long snappers this week. Christian Yount has had snaps off the mark in each of the first three games. ?I talked with Tabe?s (Chris Tabor, special teams coordinator) about it,? coach Mike Pettine said Monday. ?That?s something we?ll look to address. I don?t know if it calls for a change, but it?s to be discussed.? Yount?s off-the-mark snaps cost the Browns one point in the New Orleans game and three points in the Baltimore game. The 50-yard field goal try against the Ravens was traced to a low snap that disrupted the timing just enough for Billy Cundiff to doink it off the left upright. Later, a block of Cundiff?s 36-yardtry was due to a blown block on the right edge of the protection team. Yount joined the Browns late in the 2011 season when Ryan Pontbriand developed the yips. They can hit a long snapper without warning. But once they arrive, they don?t go away. Yount maintains his problem is not mental. ?No, just a matter of execution,? he said. ?I?m not immune to mistakes, just like anybody else. Just going out there trying to do my best every time. Got to get better. ?I don?t believe in slumps. Every time?s a new snap, every day?s a new day. So I just go out and doing the same things I do every day to execute and work at practice to get better.? Yount said he can?t be concerned about being replaced because it?s out of his control. Well, at this point, yeah. J.G. is back: Suspended receiver Josh Gordon reported to the Browns over the weekend and has had a sitdown with GM Ray Farmer. Under terms of the new drug policy, Gordon is permitted to attend meetings, use the weight room and eat with his teammates in the cafeteria. But he can?t attend or participate in practice or attend games on Sunday, Pettine said. Those restrictions will be lifted when Gordon is officially reinstated on Nov. 17, the day after the team?s 10th game. ?To me, to have a guy who?s out for the year and all of a sudden get him back at the end, it?s a big plus for us,? Pettine said. ?A player of his ability. But I think it?s important we?ve got to talk not just about Josh Gordon the player, but Josh the person. We?re well aware of the human element here. ?We have to make sure we?re getting him everything he needs, (and that) is just as big a part of it of what he can do on the field for us.? Cornerstones: Pettine made the following comments about the big plays given up in the fourth quarter: * On Justin Gilbert, whose 31-yard pass interference set up the Baltimore field goal that close the lead to 21-20: ?He only played 14 snaps. I don?t know if he took a step back. I do know that the one play that he was beat on (was on) the double-move. But other than that, like I said, it was such a small sample size but they went bigger groupings especially in the second half, that really kept him off the field.? * On Joe Haden, who was beat by Steve Smith on a go route for 32-yard pass that set up the game-winning field goal: ?The pass at the end was a perfectly thrown ball. We need to make a play, though. That?s disappointing. We tell our guys all the time, be at your best when your best is needed.? Pettine said that to his knowledge, the foot injury that Haden suffered at the end of preseason has not been a problem. ?It was unfortunate that (the Smith catch) happened,? he said. ?We?re in a bottom-line business. Joe, for the most part played very well. Go back to the Saints game, you can look at two plays where you can vilify Joe and the rest of the game he played very well. But that?s life in the NFL. ?He?s played well at times, but as you can see, at some inopportune times he?s not played well. I think he?ll admit that, as well. That?s what we talk about. The great ones are going to make big plays when it?s needed, and I think that?s one area where Joe will look to improve.? Brownie bits: Pettine admitted return specialist Travis Benjamin has lost some confidence, but he indicated the coaches are hopeful of coaching him out of it rather than replacing him ? Players are required to have four consecutive days off during a bye week. Pettine said they will practice Wednesday and Thursday and then receive the next four days off ? Many players traditionally use the bye week to return to their offseason homes or former college campuses for a weekend break. Quarterback Brian Hoyer, whose home and family are in Avon Lake, said he will spend his bye studying the Titans, the next opponent. ?Having the bye week so early, you don?t really need ? yeah, it?s good to get away, but do you really need to get away? It?s only been three weeks. So, I know I?ll be in here and focus on Tennessee,? Hoyer said.
