First, some corrections: I found out from a reliable source that the Browns O-line provided adequate protection overall. The evidence cited? Frye was sacked, again and again, after SIX SECONDS OF LOOKING AROUND AND HOLDING ONTO THE BALL.
I THOUGHT so! No, Anderson didn't do much, and also looked pretty bad, but at least he threw the damn thing away. The linemen appreciate and respect that, because they know that the ignorant m asses will blame them for every single sack. (Old story. KOSAR acquired a taste for pigskin under Belichick. I figured he'd make a great politician after football. A democrat, of course.)
Ok, well you guys must have read Grossi: A third reciever has not quite filled in for the missing Henry, leaving Chad Johnson as the sole burner. Rudi Johnson is a human tank, but there's no one to really offset him with speed or verstatility.
Bodden will, when they do play man, be the main guy on Johnson. Wright is pretty small to cover Houshbenwhozzit, but Ben Zada can't shake him, either.
People who say that Palmer looked bad against the Ravens defense are full of crap. He looked like a decent, rather than great, quarterback. The Ravens will do that to anybody. Palmer will bring it to Cleveland.
The Browns D should be able to get more heat on him. The Cinci O-line is still very good, but not like last season. As for stopping Rudi--well, they just have to find a way.
Look: This defense is not identical to last season's, and the Pittsburgh game isn't definitive in that regard. The younger guys are about twenty lbs. heavier, S Smith is a real nose tackle--if the buttheads let him play it rather than Mr. Experience for cryin out loud--Wimbley has become a more complete linebacker, Jackson should be more instinctive, and Peek is here. The knock on him was weakness against the run...
Assenine, because he was only able to play in a 3-4 for his rookie season, and was then relegated to a passrushing DE. How can people make these judgements?
Johnson is a power-back, and Cinci's O-line is different. This defense is very fast. It could be overpowered, yes, but it has a good chance of converging on Rudi before he does a lot of damage. (Note: I didn't mention tackling him. I mean, they might just converge on him and get dragged around and bounce off and stuff.)
Cinci runs a 4-3 D-line. Joe Thomas has worked against the Browns 3-4 in training camp, but is no doubt more comfortable against a 4-3, where he'll usually get to concentrate on the DE (which is pretty damn good).
Again, Shaffer and (ex-Bengal) Steinbach missed a lot of time with their line-mates. I'll bet if I could see the film, I'd see two guys on a linebacker while another backer is untouched and stuff like that. Once the ball is snapped and (by design) defenses do unexpected stuff, the linemen have to adjust on the fly. That's where the chemistry matters.
Thomas might have got used to Findley staying put when a certain thing happened. Now Steinbach does something different, and it's a mess. Now they've been together for a couple weeks, and it'll be a little (not a lot) better.
Shaffer is not a prototypical right tackle and has never played on that side. Everything is in reverse, incuding even his stance, and veteran or no, he and Thomas will make mistakes here and there. This is a young unit, just learning to walk--what the hell do you expect?
I wish I could see the films, because I wonder about the scheme. The obvious way for this line to block is by zones. Every single one of them is an athlete who can run around. If they're trying to use them as man-blockers, they're stupid. These guys aint road-graders! I HOPE that they're trapping, pulling, and slanting, and just messing up because of the newness and complexity.
Adam Caplan made a few inaccurate statements recently which I need to correct:
Pool and Jones are weak in coverage. Wrong. Pool was used to man-cover big recievers and tight ends last season. Don't ask him to do this with, say, Santonio Holmes--but for a big safetey, that's pretty nifty. This is a cover two, mainly, and they cover in zones. Pool is still pretty new, and will make MENTAL errors early-on--but they are zone guys who'll close mainly only after the ball is thrown. That's by design.
Caplan thinks they're both supposed to be free safeties, and that's not reasonable. Cover two safeties are strong/free hybrids--usually NOT converted man-cornerbacks. They can man-up on TE's, backs, or some possession guys, but are strictly zone defenders vs. wide recievers. That's the trade-off for having two good run-stoppers splitting the field horizontally. They'll get burned some, break some up with big hits, and pick some off. That's the scheme.
Adam also picked on Anderson for and inability to find secondary or tertiary recievers. I'm not really sure that's correct, and it sounds like an assumption. Last season, he hit Heidman and Jurevicious a LOT, along with Draughns. These are not primary recievers. Usually, neither is K2.
Chud's offense is different, too. K2 WILL be a primary more often, and deeper downfield.
Cinci's cornerbacks aren't so hot. They got a real good one in the draft, I think, and he'll have to be put on Edwards. And Anderson has the arm to get it DEEP. No cornerback can really stop Edwards of it comes down to leaping wrestling, or reaching for it, and Anderson doesn't need pinpoint accuracy.
They'll have to respect Edwards, and they can maybe take him out of it, but they can't stop both him and K2. Yeah, they have a really good coverage linebacker, but NOBODY can man-up in K2---who will be slamming him a whole lot when he's blocking.
Robert Geathers is the DE they got--yeah. He ate the Ravens' lunch. But the Browns can now tell Thomas: "Just blast him on runs and stop him on passes and don't worry about anything else", and he can do it. The dude specialized in this as perhaps the best lineman in college, and practices agains Kimerion Wimbley. This is the perfect time to tell him he doesn't have to think--just beat this one guy.
That's beautiful, too. Most offenses have to help a tackle with a TE or something against a passrusher like this. That slows the TE or keeps him in period, limitting what the offense can do. We now, for once, have a guy who can deal with it one-on-one.
I don't know enough about the rest of the individuals on that defense, though. I do know that, overall, this defense was near the basement in the NFL, and didn't get the turnovers like it did in '05. They loaded up on corners in the off-season, one of which is a rookie (starter)--and the others are respectable. I know that at least two of the linebackers are pretty good.
The Ravens offense is decent, but (according to Boomer Esiason) their QB had a horrible day and made a bunch of bad reads.
Ah! Yes, Caplan also declared that, based on Pittsburgh, Jamal Lewis is done. That's rediculous. He was taken out of the game as soon as Pitt went up by about ten points. He historicly starts slow. Caplan saw what--did he hesitate once? Get to a hole late once? What could he have seen, in the few times he was given the ball, that the dude is washed up?
Hey, maybe he IS--I don't know. But I'll sure as hell wait til he has a CHANCE before I start shoveling dirt on his coffin. And this was PITTSBURGH--mostly intact from last season, when they were at or near the top of the league in run-stuffage! JEEZ, Adam!! I've got to downgrade you as a source, now!
YOU STAND CORRECTED.
Anyway, Cinci's D could be improved, but it's not all that--certainly not like Pittsburgh's. The Browns offense with Anderson has a good chance to get something done against it. Nor is this defense nearly as bad as it looked last week. Cinci's offense, though missing a couple pieces this season, remains pretty lethal.
People say there's Brady and Manning and then everybody else. Wrong. Carson Palmer belongs right there with those guys. That's how good this guy is. We have guys who can cover TE's, and Rudi isn't a big recieving threat. Johnson shouldn't be able to outsprint Bodden or Wright...
I would throw the kitchen sink into their backfield and hope Palmer can't find Houshyermomma. They have to stop Rudi, and the best way is to blow him up in the backfield. Palmer will burn blitzes, but I'll bet Wimbley or Peek (or a De if they turn them loose) can reach him before he can hurt us too bad...err...more often than not.
C'mon, Coaches! If you sit there with your stupid "blanket" Palmer will march up and down all freakin day. If you play that two-gap vanilla crap because you're afraid of Johnson, he'll trample you. Yeah, go ahead and play it "safe", and they'll kill you.
Dammit. I miss Bud Carson. Remember his defenses? "You go or I go." That's the ONLY way to treat a prolific, balanced offense with a human tank running back. TORA TORA TORA BANZAIIII!!!!
...and a conservative, Infantyan, physical, ball-control offense.
I mean yeah, maybe Carson throws three TD's and Johnson rips off a couple 20-yard runs. But if you get five sacks, three tackles-for-losses, a couple picks, a couple fumbles, and a bunch of punts, and maybe a defensive TD and a free FG, aint it worth it, you knuckleheads? Grantham? Is Romeo calling the plays, or are you? Who do I blame?
Bet it's Romeo...well let's give him has fair chance. Good luck. Don't be a wuss.
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