Browns Permabashers Getting Nervous

Most of the fan comments after preseason game 3 at Tampa Bay were fairly intelligent.

Tampa does have a pretty bad offensive line, so the Browns' pass-rush looked extra-good against the pretty stationary Jameis Winston.

It wasn't perfect either, but what game is?  Most fans know better than to expect perfection out of any team, because no team has ever achieved it.

One caller to the post-game show really typified the permabasher:

"It was just Tampa Bay" was his favorite line.  The hosts were a little flabbergasted.  They failed to point out that Tampa had outplayed the Bengals in week 2, or that the same Bills who scraped by against the Browns almost blew out the Steelers in their own dress-rehearsal.

Instead, they pointed out that the Browns did what they were supposed to do in the most important preseason game. They repeated the score several times.

"But it was just Tampa Bay".  What would be satisfactory?  50-0?  

These people will find something wrong with anything the Browns do.  

Probably, this guy thinks Farmer should be fired for drafting Manziel and Gilbert in the first round last year.  Nevermind all those undrafted free agents and low draft picks making all those plays, or Terrelle Pryor winding up here, or Shelton or Starks or Hartline or...well I could go on and on and on.

NONE of those other guys matter.  Nothing Manziel has done this preseason matters.  31-7 doesn't matter because it wasn't the Patriots.  6 new offensive skill players doesn't matter.  An improved record last season with a new Head Coach didn't matter.  Kicking butt til Mack went down didn't matter.

It was just Tampa Bay.  Good grief.

One thing about the quarterbacks:  I remember last season with Hoyer at quarterback, when I saw third and long, I hit the head.  I knew that Hoyer would run around some and then throw the ball away.

With any of the other guys, sometimes they get a first down.

Travis Benjamin is a lock for the roster now.  The new offense really sets the smurfs up for success.  

Did anybody notice that Josh Lenz made a 48-yard play?

The Browns starters didn't run the ball very well.  I wasn't able to see the game (I'm in LaTrobe PA shhh!), but I'm assuming that Tampa was stacking the box.  If I'm right, this worked like it was supposed to, as the passing game worked like clockwork.

I actually heard one guy say "They scored a touchdown, but took a week to do it."  "but"?

No, this is what is supposed to happen by design.  When they play the likes of Brady, Rodgers, Big Ben etc., the Browns offense doesn't only want to score, but to keep the scary opposing offense off the field while wearing out the opposing defense.

This gives the badass opposing offense fewer possessions, and with the Browns badass defense, that will rarely happen very quickly either.

Pettine's first objective in this is to keep the score close early on, and then start ripping off longer and longer gains as the opposing defense fatigues.

This formula gives him the best chance to have a late-game lead with the personnel he has.

His second objective then is to pulverize the opposing quarterback as he plays from behind and has to pass more.

After the first drive during Tampa Bay, I didn't like how the offense got stopped again and again.  But I felt better when they racked up another long scoring drive after halftime.  Those TWO DRIVES ate over 1.5 quarters off the clock.

They'll get better, you see?  What if they put just four of those drives together per-game, and score a couple touchdowns and a couple field goals?  20 points, and how much of the game is left?

At least that's the plan.  Except that the Browns non-playmakers like Benjamin, Gabriel, Hawkins, Wynn(?), Johnson, and Pryor might spoil it by scoring too quickly.

There's a great chance that Jamie Meder has made this team.  As a potential draft pick, he had a lot going against him, starting with the small college he played at and that level of competition.  He was ranked the 32nd defensive tackle in his draft by Dwayne Bugler, who nevertheless liked him.

Forget the "small" 295 lb. crap.  He was benching 515 lbs as a senior, lettered in wrestling, and his 6'2" height helps him with leverage.  This guy could play NOSE tackle.

He's not fast, or even very quick, but it's hard to argue with what he's done here.  He has great balance and instincts.

Ozzie Newsome thought enough of him to sign him as an undrafted free agent, then to keep him on his practice squad.

This is actually good news, since as a Raven, Meder learned to play a similar position in a similar scheme to Mike Pettine's.  The Ravens broke him in for us!  Thanks guys!

Another great grab by Ray Farmer.

Another one was 6th rounder Charles Gaines.  WOW!  None of his scouting reports indicated that he could be this good this fast.  Good thing Ray doesn't read them haha!