Wow! Crap! Yay! Booo!

Ray Horton is probably throwing articles and invectives at his players as i write this.  Nobody except Nassib and maybe Kirksey seems able to tackle a girl scout.

It's intolerable.  The worst part is that, more often than not, the players were where they were supposed to be, in position.  They got their hands on ballcarriers quickly...then fell off or got pushed or dragged downfield.

I didn't see the game, but I have to assume that the defensive line got pushed back, as well.  

Fortunately, it's fixable.  Tackling is a skill.  The real experts will tell you, it hasn't been taught to highschool and college kids the way it used to be, and the big hitters seem to get all the accolades.

But the bottom line is, low approach, center mass, wrap arms, drive.  It's not that hard!

In fairness, sure the ball carrier has the initiative, and can juke and jive, and force you to dive sideways and stuff.  But he cant do that if he is reached first, or if the other defenders are converging as they should.  Defenders can use eachother and the sidelines to box guys in.  One who anticipates well can get at them before they can make a cut.

There was good news here, too.  RG3 was much more effective. 

Charlie Casserly said he was getting to his second read several times; real progress for him.  Too bad his knees were ruined and he can't run any more, huh?

Terrelle Pryor (yawn) blew Trufant's doors off, which probably made Gilbert feel better about himself.

This play was identical to the one vs Green Bay.  It's the one i described last year, when Pryor first came to the team: "You just go deep to the corner".  It's not complicated (Tony).  Pryor just hits the nitrous oxide out of the gate and outruns everybody, period.  He could always do that.  He was born that way.

Hue doesn't care that now other teams have that on tape, because the only thing they can do about it is hold a safety deep and to that side so he can get in front of it.  Or else put the corner at least seven yards back and concede everything underneath.  Hue will be happy to exploit either, especially when Coleman and then Gordon are on the field too.

The Browns first unit didn't try to run that much.  I still think Hue is focusing on the passing game first.  Pass protection is the hardest thing for running backs to get really good at, and pass blocking is much harder for everybody else, too.

Passing depends on timing and integration, and a lot more can go wrong. 

I seriously think that Hue Jackson considers his running game a fete accompli.  Any offensive lineman will smile when you say the word "run", because it means they get to bash the defenders instead of getting bashed, and because it's much simpler for them.

When Kessler took over, they did go to the ground more in earnest, and we finally got to see Terrelle Watson make him some road pies.  Jim Donovan, over and over again, started to say he was down, only to sit up staighter and say he was still moving forward.  What a BEAST!

Crowell is faster and can make big plays, but he knows he's got a fight on his hands now.

Hassan is even better even sooner than I had imagined.  On his strip sack, he was a 4-3 defensive end.  I could be wrong, but it looked to me like he was lined up extra-wide (I'll have to look again).  At any rate, nobody bothered to block him.

I havent seen the many other plays he has already made, but have to assume that generally people were trying to block him on those.

That's promising.  Hassan hasn't been on the first team YET, but he seems to comprehend how to tackle people, on top of the other stuff.

The flag on Gilbert was wrong, and he actually did a decent job overall.  I don't know if anybody told you, but that Julio guy is pretty good

Just heard Deron Cherry say he missed tackles and got burned by no-name receivers.  I'm skeptical.  Donovan and Dieken pointed out that Gilbert was tackling guys he hadn't been covering, and he'd be matched up with Jones most of the time schematicly.

I can't trust even a former New England Patriot who objects to veteran days off.  That's irrational.  I'm disinclined to expect objectivity out of the guy.

This just in! Terry Pluto saw the game, and him i trust: Terry says Gilbert missed tackles and looked timid.  I stand corrected.  He's been around too long to treat like a rookie project.  This does not look promising.

Terry also said that Cam Erving actually looked pretty good this time, but the snap RG3 had to chase down was just the worst of several high snaps.  I think it's just a matter of practice.  More good news than bad here.

Pluto also pointed out that RG3 is averaging 2.5 seconds from snap to throw in preseason.  In the past, he'd hold it an average of 3 seconds.  Considering the fact that he goes deep so much, and has to be part wide receiver to handle Erving's snaps.  He's more decisive.  This arrow definitely points up.

The defense needs work, obviously, but the offense hasn't yet begun to show what it can do.  Once the twin towers, Coleman, (pick two), and Barnidge share the field with the mad bomber back there, defenses stack the box at their extreme peril, and the run will be there.

Look, if you just heard me call RG3 the greatest or predict a Superbowl in 2016, wash your ears out with soap.  It's  okay not to be gloomy all the time, really!

What I did say was that this will be a good offense, the defense won't suck as bad as it did in this game (could it? Well they didnt give up 50 points, anyway), and the longer term future looks good.

The combined practice with Tampa Bay is a great idea.  Both units should make a jump here.  This will be a fun week.

Late add: More on Terrelle Watson:

I checked out his draft scouting reports, and found a lot of different opinions.  Mike Martz was very pro-Watson, which carries a little extra weight.

I watched his highlights from Azuza Pacific, and immediately dowgraded the report which described him as an "upright runner".  Like Pat Kirwan, i think that's a joke, since most running backs lean forward into impacts, and nobody can run very fast all hunched over.  It's a dumb comment, generally.

Listen: When you are 6'1", it looks like you are running upright no matter what you do!  Terrelle in particular leans his shoulders into contact.

All I saw were his highlights (his greatest hits), but i still learned a lot.

In the whole tape, i saw him caught from behind only twice.  He did have space around him most of the time on this record, but i did catch a couple piles of defensive bodies dripping off a moving mass trucking downfield at around 3mph.

One critique said he lacks a second gear, which seems true.  But it also said he's too cute and avoids contact too much.  Well, I saw the highlights, and he does avoid contact, but always heads downhill.  Jerome Bettis avoided contact, too.

Terrelle Watson is more than a human battering ram, okay?  Unlike most big bruisers, this guy might still be playing football in four years, and get more big gains because he can and does avoid contact when he can.

Yes, this was Azuza State and he was running over little guys, but he broke all of the Nigerian Nightmare's rushing records, and was a similar prospect.

No, he won't outsprint people like he did in college, and NFL linebackers won't fly off him like water off a duck, but he belongs in the NFL and the Browns are lucky to have him.

You mark my words: Terrelle Watson will play a LOT this season.  I doubt that he will pass up Isaiah Crowell, but look for him near the goal line and in jumbo packages.

This was a good move.  So far, one of many by this new staff.