Suddenly, the Browns defense doesn’t look so dominating after facing two top level quarterbacks in Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers. Now the Browns have a new starting quarterback in Jason Campbell and perhaps some hope that the offense will contribute to the effort, even against a stout Kansas City defense. But more importantly, even with the Chiefs being 7-0, the Browns ought to be able to slow down this offense. Alex Smith has played very well, but he’s not taking many chances throwing the ball downfield. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton seemed to indicate a more aggressive approach in the coming weeks, and that makes against Smith and the Chiefs. The Browns can play aggressive in order to stuff the run and press the receivers, daring Smith to throw the ball downfield. Horton also has more players back healthy which should give him much more flexibility. Let’s see how it plays out.
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It was particularly hard watching the Browns today. Brandon Weeden came out and didn’t even look like “bad” Weeden – he looked more like a bad Brady Quinn. His accuracy was nonexistent. As the game went on he started playing a little better, but he had already dug a hole for himself, and the defense was having trouble containing Aaron Rodgers and Eddie Lacy. Meanwhile, the receivers started dropping passes.
Weeden needs to make progress, for this week he regressed instead. It’s going to be a really long season if he keeps this up, though at some point Chud will lose patience and he’ll have to go to Campbell. There are two tough games with KC and Baltimore before the bye week, and Weeden needs to regroup and find a way to regroup and win at least one of them. If he can’t rebound soon I think the coaches may give up.
As for the rest of the game, here are some observations:
– In the old NFL, the Tashaun Gipson hit on Jermichael Finley would have been called a fumble as opposed to a ridiculous penalty. The NFL needs to think about these rules and whether the ref in the booth can overturn a penalty like this. Gibson hit with his shoulder and actually tried to avoid a helmet hit.
– It was nice to see Travis Benjamin return that kickoff, but I was disappointed the coaching staff didn’t have any set plays for him. Every game the Browns should have several plays like reverses and bubble screens set up for Benjamin. He’s a real weapon – use him!
– Josh Gordon seemed a little out of it today. I guess everyone is entitled to a sub par game every once in a while.
– I can’t blame Chud for going for it on 4th and 15. The field goal wasn’t easy from that distance on that side of the field. He rolled the dice and it just didn’t work out.
– The Packers seemed to be holding on every play. The refs only seemed to call it when it was so blatant people in the cheap seats could see it.
This season has been a roller coaster, and now we’ll see if we can get out of this valley, either with Weeden or without him.
Now that the shock has worn off, here are some thoughts:
– So many people are analyzing this trade in the context of Richardson being the third pick in the draft and also in the context of the past 14 years of misery in Cleveland. I get it, but that shouldn’t impact the football decision this regime made.
– Richardson’s potential is hard to give up, but his production never lived up to the potential. Yes, he was injured last year, and I like many had high hopes that a healthy Richardson would be a beast this year. He hasn’t been. He still dances too much approaching the hole. He seems to lack the instinct of great between-the-tackles runners like Emmitt Smith. He has never had the explosiveness of elite backs like Barry Sanders. He’s also been very injury prone. In hindsight, I don’t think even Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert would have drafted him again at #3 knowing what they know now. So we need to put aside where he was drafted.
– Given his production, and even with his potential, the Browns definitely got more than fair value in return for Richardson. Having another first rounder in a loaded draft next year is a great asset.
– Many of us were wondering why we weren’t seeing Richardson on third down. Tony Grossi has implied that the new coaching staff wasn’t happy with his grasp of those packages. This new regime saw him play two mediocre games, and apparently they weren’t that impressed.
– I was all for drafting Richardson in 2011, but I understood the risk of taking a running back that high. So far the move hasn’t panned out that well, and I can’t blame the new regime for getting back a first rounder for a running back, particularly when they subscribe to the theory that you can always find backs in later rounds.
– Most suspect that the current regime has given up on Brandon Weeden. None of us know for sure, and he or Hoyer could potentially surprise everyone by playing great over the rest of the season, but it’s safe to say the Browns will likely need to address the quarterback situation, and they’ve certainly put themselves in a position to address that in a stacked 2014 draft if necessary.
– Because that draft is stacked, the Browns don’t have to collapse this year and “tank for Teddy” for all this to make sense. There will likely be plenty of good quarterback prospects to choose from next year, and they also have the assets to trade up if they so desire.
– This team doesn’t suddenly become a 2-14 mess like the Raiders just because they traded Richardson. The defense should be able to keep them in most games. We can’t replace Richardson’s potential, but his actual production won’t be that hard to replace. If they can get solid quarterback play from Weeden or Hoyer, they will win some games. I’d rather see the defense and offense improve so next year’s draft isn’t the start of another total rebuild project.
It’s disappointing that after only two weeks the entire season has been thrown into turmoil with this trade. I understand why some fans are reacting so negatively. But from a football perspective I think they made a good move. We’ll see how it plays out.
The Tribe has stayed in the hunt all season, but they’ve fallen on their faces several times when they’ve had a critical series. The Detroit sweep comes to mind right away, but it’s happened many times.
Then of course they bounce back just when everyone is ready to write them off.
But now the Indians have Houston coming to town and they’re just a half game out of the Wild Card. They need to win at least three games in this four-game series. A sweep would be ideal of course. Then they have the White Sox and the Twins to finish off the season. It’s all set up for them, but they have to step up and grab it.
It seems like the Indians have blown the season on numerous occasions – most spectacularly by getting swept at home by Detroit and then most recently by getting swept on the road in Atlanta. But this team keeps coming back and hanging around.
Justin Masterson is hurt, but now Corey Kluber will be back to possibly save the day as the starting pitching is keeping the Tribe alive.
Baseball is a funny sport, and despite all of their problems the Indians would have a shot if they manage to get into the playoffs. We’re all obsessed with the Browns right now, but I’m not giving up on the Tribe yet.
— Mark Shapiro (@MarkShapiro) September 5, 2013
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