Watch out, there. Without Tashaun Gipson's INT return for a TD in the Saints game, who's to say that we're not 0-3?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-grown-since-2008-domestic-violence-incident/ On a more unifying note... can we take a moment to reflect on how malicious this statement is from one of the NFL's "most respected" organizations / people? What a scumbag.
Goodell and the competition committee have done a spectacular job of ruining Sunday football...You can't play defense without drawing a flag, and ya can't hit anybody anymore. No kick returns...No celebrations of any kind.... It sucks now. Today's NFL sucks compared to how good it was in the 70's and 80's.... Irish is right that it certainly isn't just our CB's that are struggling. I don't know what they expect defensive backs to do, besides obviously giving up tons of touchdowns. Clearly they want that...
TD I agree a lot has changed, and that last bit "they want a lot of TDs given up" YEP! The age of the "Shut Down Corner" may be numbered, or maybe adjustments will be made: the CBs figurw out how to do it with their hands behind their backs and/or the league softens it's stance, aknowledging that some "contact" is inevitable. This is purely an NFL strategy move, since it is impossible it is for player safety. It is clearly the direction they want to go. Look at how a 3000 yd passing year has become mundane, and now if you want to impress anyone, you haveto hit 5000. Ratings! It hasn't yet achieved Arena Football levels but it feels like that is the target, What next: 9 man teams, 3 down linemen, no motion restrictions? Their is still a lot of very tough football being played, but theT rules are pointing towards some sanitized, vanilla hybrid, and while it may be fun to watch, it isn't football as we saw it growing up. I'll miss it, but I suspect I won't be tuning out, never the less. And therein lies the wiggle room to go forward with the chnages, the spreading to the worldwide stage, all of it. Think the banks were "too big to fail" I give you the NFL
While fans of the Cleveland Browns deal with the frustration of the team?s 1-2 start, they can take solace in the fact that we?re witnessing a side of the offense not seen in these parts for a long, long time. Through the season?s first three games, the Browns are fourth in the AFC in scoring with an average of 24.7 points per game, only one point behind the Denver Broncos, who have Peyton Manning at quarterback. (The fact that the defense has given up more points than just three teams in the AFC helps explain, at least in part, the 1-2 record.) To put the offensive output into perspective, only once since 2004 has a Browns offense scored more points on a per game basis ? the 2007 team with an average of 25.1 points, the only offense in the past decade that has broken the 20-point barrier for a season average. Much of the credit for the offense?s strong start can be attributed to quarterback Brian Hoyer. While Hoyer is a middle-of-the-pack quarterback in terms of completion percentage (15th), yards (13th), yards per attempt (12th) and touchdown passes (18th), he has only taken four sacks and is currently 10th in quarterback rating at 97.5 ? ahead of such quarterbacks as Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick. (Perhaps you have heard of them?) More importantly, Hoyer doesn?t turn the ball over. He has now gone 156 consecutive passes without throwing an interception, currently the longest streak in the NFL and the fourth-longest in franchise history. While not losing fumbles has an element of luck associated, not throwing interceptions is more about the quarterback making the right decisions, even when things are falling apart. And Hoyer is doing it with a trio of rookies in the backfield and a wide receiving group that is missing Josh Gordon and playing with an injured Jordan Cameron. ?Brian?s had an opportunity to play for some really good football coaches,? quarterback coach Dowell Loggains said in published reports. ?He?s got a great knowledge of the game and he?s been trained well, so we feel like as he learns the system and understands defenses, and understands really the thought process that Kyle (Shanahan) has and the offense, and the coaching staff, he?ll continue to get better that way.? That last quote won?t appease those in the national media who remain so desperate to see Johnny Manziel take over as the starting quarterback, but that?s their problem. There is simply no reason currently for the Browns to even consider making a change at quarterback. The one stat that jumped out at us about the current offense is that this is the first time since 1969 that a Browns team has scored 21 or more points in the first three games of the season, which seems hard to believe but it?s true. In the final year of the old NFL, the Browns averaged 25.1 points per game (good for third in the NFL) and scored 21 or more points 12 times when you include the playoffs. (Interesting that in an era where defenses were supposedly so much more terrifying, the Browns were able to rack up so many points.) They won the Century Division title for the third consecutive season with a record of 10-3-1. After beating the Cowboys in their opening playoff game (to this day Cleveland?s last road playoff win), the Browns fell to Minnesota in the NFL Championship game, missing out on a trip to Super Bowl IV. It was the second consecutive year that the Browns missed out on the Super Bowl, as they had lost to Baltimore the previous season (the first of five times the Browns would be one win away from making it to the renamed NFL title game). Under the headline Vikings Repulse Browns, 27-7 (funny, since it is usually the Browns doing the repulsing these days), The Plain Dealer?s Chuck Heaton described the day?s events by writing that: History does repeat itself. Just ask the Cleveland Browns. It was almost a repeat of last November here at Metropolitan Stadium. There also was more than a slight resemblance of the title game flop of a year ago, as the Browns fell before the Minnesota Vikings, 27-7, before a capacity crowd of 47,900 on a sunny but very cold day. So the Vikings, a team organized back in 1961, captured their first National Football League title with a fine clutch job yesterday. And these huskies from the North Country will be a strong representative for the NFL next Sunday in the Super Bowl at New Orleans. THE BROWNS, beaten by Minnesota, 51-3, earlier this season and by Baltimore, 34-0, a year ago in the title game, could do little right the first half. They seemed tense and cautious at the outset and were 14 points behind almost before their feet got cold on an afternoon which saw the thermometer at about 8 degrees above zero most of the time. In contrast to their fine showing against Dallas only a week back, the Eastern Conference champions lacked that pursuit and determination. The Browns looked as though they were on ice skates, as the Western rulers showed the way with drive and second effort. The Vikings perhaps have a team better suited to the elements ? the biting cold and somewhat slippery field. At any rate, they seemed right at home. The Browns, who were in the last days of their NFL dynasty, would not make it that close to the Super Bowl again for almost 20 years. The game against Minnesota also was the last one for Paul Warfield in his initial stay with the team. In the off-season, Warfield was traded to Miami so the Browns could move up and select Mike Phipps in the NFL Draft, starting the franchise?s ongoing quest to find a championship quarterback. It would be folly to suggest that the current edition of the Browns is going to follow in the footsteps of the ?69 squad, and there is no way of knowing if they will keep up with the current offensive pace, but at least for the opening weeks of the season this has been a fun team to watch. After what we?ve witnessed for the better part of the past decade, we?re definitely ready for some fun.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport confirms the Browns are sticking with Brian Hoyer as they come out of their bye. Hoyer went just 1-2 in the first three games, but completed 64.2 percent of his passes with a solid 7.53 YPA and 3:0 TD-to-INT ratio. Simply put, he played more than well enough to hold off Manziel. Now the schedule gets softer as the Browns face Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Oakland and Tampa Bay the next five weeks. Hoyer has a serious chance to win games and strengthen his grip on this job.
If Hoyer is 6-4 when Gordon returns, I will be happy with the way things are going...anything less and this is lost season as the end of this schedule is going to be difficult.
Random fact for Browns fans a quarter of the way into the season. Your offense is ranked #12 in points per game. 2 ppg behind the Bengals and 1.1 behind the Ravens. Ahead of the Steelers by .5 Honestly, I've said that you guys have the worst WR corp in the division. So to keep it that close in scoring says a lot. When you get Gordon back, things will take off
I brought up the Browns offensive performance after a quarter of the season. You respond with the Steelers and Saints defensive performance in individual games. Nothing personal but those two things are not the same and I don't really get your point. Unless you're suggesting that stats should never be used because they can always be deceiving
My point is they havnt played a good defense yet so thats why their offense has looked better...Balt was the best they have seen and scored 21 pts...now in the next few weeks(Tenn, Pitt, Jax, Oak and TB) I wuld expect the Def 2 look much better cause of those opponents and not necessarily overall improvement.
No ravens#1.... The point is, you are dealing with showstopper. Therefore anything positive ever said about the Browns will immediately be pissed on, and it doesn't matter how ridiculous the logic.... But I hear ya, and I agree that the Browns are an up and coming team. Anybody that takes them lightly is going to get beat. The problem is, the AFCN coaches are smart. They know how good the Browns are regardless of the naysayers like stopper. So obviously, the notion of any team within the division taking the Browns lightly is absurd. They are gonna have to earn it. No sneaking up on anybody.
That's fair, but also remember that you guys scored above the average for the Steelers and Ravens. In fact, the Ravens are tied for 2nd at 15 points per game and Cleveland still scored 2 points less than the Bengals did with far more offensive weapons and 6 more than we're allowing. You scored 24 unanswered against the Steelers in Pittsburgh during one half. That offense has a ton of promise as is. Get some defensive help and it's a whole new Browns team
Do we need defensive help? Or do we need more time for these guys to adjust to the 5th different defensive scheme we've had around here in the last 6 years? Obviously the young guys have some growing to do, but with natural leaders like Dansby and Whitner now in the mix, I think this defense will start to gel as the season progresses. There are a whole lot of struggling NFL defenses right now...
I guess I'm just sayin, I don't think it's time to panic on the Cleveland defense...I'm seeing the same sort of defensive breakdowns in almost every NFL game I watch....Pettine is a defensive guru. He will have this unit playing better soon. I'm confident in that.
I wuld make that statement prior 2 facing Tenn, Pitt, TB, Oak and Jax 2 look smart as well....how come u didnt ask these questions when u were yelling top 5 defense in the league in Aug? What defenses are struggling that didnt last yr? Some have improved and some have gotten a little worse
You may be right. The talent is there and nobody expected this defense to be this bad. Once they pick it up, the offense will get more opportunities score more points. Joe Haden needs to step up though. If he plays better the entire unit becomes better
Pettine a def guru? Buff def 24pts/game('13) and Buff def 19 pts/game('14)...I wuld hold off on the guru until bout 2017
