That Sucked BUT

The Bills are an underrated young team similar to the Bengals.  They played a great game.

Oh, the Browns still should have won, yeah.  But without even looking, I know that a lot of fans will be calling for everybody's head, and to launch yet another rebuild in perhaps the toughest division in football.

After his great performance against the Bengals, all the MM's immediately forgot that Weeden is a rookie.  320 yards and 2 TD's became what they expected and demanded every week.

This week was a reality check, and here's a news flash: The Browns have a rookie quarterback.

Nor is he to blame for this loss.  Certainly he helped with his two late interceptions, but for most of the game, he played pretty well.

Those who wanted McCoy to start cited all the drops last season as one reason.  It wasn't his fault.  But now, they don't want to say the same thing, with five drops in one game.  Wide-open, big-play, inexcusable drops for big gains and maybe touchdowns.

The recievers took points off the board.

Prior to the fourth quarter, Weeden's throwing mistakes were microscopic.  The long bomb to Benjamin on the sidelines was no more than one yard short, forcing Benjamin to slow down and let the beaten cornerback catch up for the deflection. He likewise missed Gordon by inches on a crossing pattern.

His accuracy with Massequoi and Little was better.  He's worked with them longer; they're the starters, and they're veterans.  See the pattern here DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Richardson didn't have a bad day.  The offensive line had a bad day.  The Bills have a great defensive line and stacked the front.

There was no double-coverage.  Shurmer was determined to pound the ball.  His playcalling has been questioned before, and I've defended him.  Now I agree with Pluto: When something's not working, try something else.

Another issue with Weeden: For much of the game, he held the ball too long.  The line did it's job passblocking more often than not, but Weeden couldn't find a target.  Was that on Weeden, or the recievers?  I lean towards the recievers.

The passing game was functional with Rodney Massequoifield, but when he went down, it got worse.  Gordon and Benjamin are rookies, and they're still learning.

Little has no excuses, which is why Shurmer finally came down hard on him.  The easy pass he dropped was huge.  Nobody was anywhere close to him.  He's a converted running back and he had so much space--he had five vertical yards in front of him before any defender could get close enough to threaten him!  He would have, at the very least, nailed down a field goal!

The defensive front four got heat on Fitzpatrick, but in addition to being mobile, he also got rid of the ball quickly.  Jauron had seven in coverage most of the game, and (you don't have to like this) they did pretty well vs. the pass (after those first two damn TD's).  Fitzpatrick was just exceptionally quick and accurate.

They sucked against the run.  This was partly over-pursuit and disciplinary breakdowns, but also partly the D-Line getting pushed around and interior linemen locking up the linebackers.  They just got outplayed.

Well, now it's the Ravens...

Updated prediction: 13-3.