George Armstrong Weeden

Wowzers!  I don't think I've ever seen a quarterback play that bad!  Not Anderson, or Quinn, or Spurgeon Wynn, and certainly not McCoy!

Every writer is quick to whip out the cliches: It wasn't all his fault.  Well yeah, there are ten other guys, but I want to point out that none of them were throwing the ball, okay?

Little helped a lot by letting a ball bounce of his neck and get intercepted on the Eagles four freaking four yard line (on the money in a tight window, I need to mention).  The offensive line made their contribution by getting stonewalled by the Eagles on runs.  Don't look at Richardson on this!  He had nowhere to go!  He can only break one or two tackles at a time, for crying out loud!  No push!  No gaps!  Adrian Peterson would have been stuffed the same way.  Or Jim Brown.

But Weeden was just absolutely horrible.

HOWEVER, Shurmer was right to stick with him.  I do feel that McCoy would have won, but then I kept thinking that Weeden would get his head out.  I kept remembering that this was Weeden's first-ever real NFL game.

Most importantly, they have made a commitment to Weeden, and believe in him.  They knew there would be growing pains, and had resolved in advance to stick with him.  If they yank him in the first game, now there's a real controversy, especially if Colt wins.

They believe that Weeden's stronger arm and accuracy deep threatens the entire field in a way that McCoy can't.  They believe that Weeden will be better in the long run, and they have to stick with him, at least for a couple more games, to give him the chance to get better under fire.

They might be wrong.  I don't pretend to know.  But I give Shurmer credit for sticking to his guns.

Rich Gannon said that no quarterback would do much with this offense.  Okay I'm sick of Rich Gannon, ex-Superbowl MVP or not.  They just got Josh Gordon, Trent Richardson, and--I won't recite the whole list, but if you go by talent, it's at every position, in the trenches and at the skill positions.

Duh...no quarterback could dump it off to Richardson or hit Watson or Cameron or even Smith in the seam or Gordon deep or crossing and oh yeah who's that Massaquoi guy?  Bullcrap Rich Gannon do your damn homework.

Armani Tumor said Weeden should have been yanked, because guys in the locker room would be wondering if the goal really was to win.  He said it's hard to play for a team that you know isn't trying to win right now.

He might be right, but I wonder if players are really that shallow:  Isn't their common goal to win a Superbowl, or at least a Division Title?  Does Armani really think the Browns players are dumb enough to think they have a shot at that this season?  That they can't comprehend that an experienced Weeden might give them a better shot at it when it's within reach?

If the players are that dumb, we really are in trouble!  How could somebody that dumb run a correct route, or pick up the right passrusher?

The topic on NFL Radio all week was how rusty Micheal Vick was, and how the Eagles should have run the ball more.  Many statements began with "Give the Browns defense credit, but..."

Skip the "but" dammit.  Why are they so damn determined not to give the Browns any credit?  Ask them about Dick Jauron, and they'll tell you he's great!  But his defense last week just sort of lucked out, because the Eagles offense just sort of had a bad day.

No, Browns defenders (especially TJ Ward and cornerbacks) spent more time in the Philly backfield than Shady McCoy did.  They covered well, and beat the snot out of Vick.

I'll admit that the Browns offense was as bad as any offense I've ever seen.  Why won't these "objective" guys admit that the Browns defense is pretty damn good? Do you see the negative bias here?

The linebackers especially are looking shockingly good.  LJ Fort and Robertson are still just puppies, and played great, just like in preseason!   See how well they covered, compared to Scott Fujita?  Did you notice how they were actually close to  the reciever?

Pat Kirwin last week talked about how important Fujita was in the Browns nickle and dime packages.  Pat knows his stuff, so I've got to assume that Fujita has indeed been on the field in those situations.  These must have been the times when I saw every tight end he faced catching passes two steps ahead of him.

I need to tell Pat that he might be on the field, but he's not important if he can't cover anymore.  But then, Pat thinks Ray Lewis is stiil great, and the Stoolers will be fine no matter what.

The Bengals just got stomped by the Ratbirds.  Based on this game, I won't change my mind about the Bengals being the better team yet, but I was impressed.

Ross Tucker, even before that game, slapped me awake about the age of their defense.  While Reed and Lewis are indeed old and decrepid, they're the only two over thirty!  I was full of crap.  I was too lazy to do my homework and relied too much on gossip.  My bad.  Ross Tucker is a great analyst.  Thanks.

Also I knew that Flacco was a very good quarterback, but didn't expect him to be THAT good.

Anyway, Dalton will get rid of the ball quicker than Vick did, and the Browns defense might not look as good as it did vs. the Eagles.  Haden won't play, and covering AJ Green will be tough.

Weeden and the offensive line can't possibly be as bad as they were last week, so they have a chance.  But that's all I can say.  A chance.

In re the offensive line, one analysis I read said that they released from their blocks too soon on runs.  Everybody wanted to freeze the guy they initially blocked and get downfield linebacker/safety-hunting.  They "left too early" and their first targets were able to launch and dive behind them to get a piece of Richardson.

I hope that's right, because it's easily correctable.  Get Richardson the first couple yards, and let him worry about the rest.

The ideal West Coast offensive line has a Fanika-type left guard who can pull and excels in space.  The Browns don't have that.  Pinkston has lost weight and has good feet, but is still more of a man-blocker.  They're trying to work with that.

This offense will not be like other West Coast offenses in several ways.  It needs to run with authority, and that's much more important with a rookie quarterback than it will be later.

Weeden will get better, of course.  How much better, or how quickly, is a mystery.  But if, by the third or fourth game, he's not at least adequate, they'll have to consider giving Colt a fair shot.

And that wouldn't bother me a bit.

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