Brandon Weeden Wasn't Great, But There Are 11 Guys

I think this picture sums up opening day for the Cleveland Browns.  Of course Brandon Weeden didn't ever look comfortable in the pocket... there was no pocket to be comfortable in.  How is a quarterback supposed to perform at all in the conditions that our offensive line gave him?  But I hear people pinning everything onto Weeden.  Now I'm no Weeden fanboy, but I can tell when a guy isn't getting any support on the field.  Against the Dolphins, Weeden took dozens of hits, but when he got a ball to someone they couldn't seem to catch it.

This has been an alarming trend since the return of the Browns.  We draft wide receivers who can't catch.  And I noticed that Brandon Weeden just simply stopped looking to Greg Little, yet he remained in the game.  And Miami picked up on the fact that Little wasn't being targeted, and simply moved their coverage to Devone Bess.  It was a simple formula to beat an offense that was barely executing, cover the only guy they have in that can play.  It also doesn't hurt when Oneil Cousins ruined every other drive where we were actually moving the ball.

But this final picture will summarize what happens to any quarterback that has zero support from his teammates.

 

What Went Wrong Yesterday? Just About Everything

I waited a long time for yesterday.  The promise of something new, more exciting, and fun.  But the 2013 Cleveland Browns came out looking even worse than the 2012 Cleveland Browns.  Bumbles, stumbles, and garbage yards were the name of the game.  And even though the defense showed signs of being a pretty good unit, they couldn't stay off the field.  And the increasingly frustrating phenomenon that is the Cleveland Browns offense stayed true to the form of the past decade and a half.

But this team was supposed to be anchored by its offensive line.  It was the true strength most people thought this team had, until yesterday.  Our blockers were terrible, even Joe Thomas looked pretty poor at times on Sunday, but oh my god then there was Oniel Cousins.  The position of right guard has been a scourge for the Browns, but not even John St Clair can claim to have held down the position as terribly as Cousins did.  He had four penalties and a day of getting blown off the ball consistently.  I am already not sure he deserves a chance to come back next week. Our tight ends didn't know who to block, Trent Richardson consistently missed his blocks.  It was a train wreck, Brandon Weeden was sacked six times and was hit a couple dozen more.  By the fourth quarter nearly every one of Weeden's throws came out wrong due to his arm being hit due to heavy pressure.

Then comes our receivers, particularly Josh Gordon, Greg Little, and Travis Benjamin.  First I will address Mr. Gordon.  Josh Gordon had no catches yesterday, because he got himself suspended.  So he immediately had a negative impact on the season, well done sir.

Unfortunately that meant that we needed to depend on Greg Little.  And let me tell you when I went to create the meme above, I had to pause and actually scroll through my COLLECTION OF GREG LITTLE DROPPING A BALL PHOTOS.  Need I say more?  Well yes I will because Little's little butterfinger episode also cost us yet another turnover yesterday, as he essentially volleyball set a couple balls to be intercepted.  Thankfully only one of his was because it was contagious as Jordan Cameron provided the other.

Which brings me to Travis Benjamin, who seems to have caught some form of Greg Little disease as he dropped a couple passes, and also let a defender intercept a pass nearly uncontested.  I was so excited to see this young man in the offense, and now I wish I wouldn't have.  

What baffles me is that both Josh Cooper and Tori Gurley seem to have some skills, yet we can't seem to grasp that the guys we are playing aren't very good, and perhaps it is time to start looking at new faces to play there.

Well I will continue this rant tomorrow as I set my eyes on Brandon Weeden.

So Much For Expectations: Miami Dolphins 27 - Cleveland Browns 10

And so it goes again, we suck.  And suck bad.  I'm not going to comment on the game, I'm too pissed.  I just watched Randall Cobb look like a pro receiver and score a touchdown for Green Bay.  We passed on Cobb because Greg Little was so much better than Cobb.  What a joke.

Greg Little you suck, but you aren't alone.  Brandon Weeden, Oniel Cousins, John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, Joe Thomas, Chris Owens, Buster Skrine, Travis Benjamin, Trent Richardson, Tashawn Gipson, and Alex Mack, you all sucked as well.  Thanks for ruining yet another Sunday afternoon for me you worthless pieces of crap.

Ratbird week is coming up, and I wasn't going to be incredibly nice to then this week, but guess what Browns, I'm not aiming to be that much nicer to you.

Son of a bitch!

It's Finally Here!

Well it has been a long offseason.  It seems like a long time since Pat Shurmur was handed his walking papers after yet another disappointing Browns season.  And a lot has changed since then.  We were all expecting Chip Kelly to come in and run the Browns, yet that didn't happen.

Rob Chudzinski took over the reigns and with him came an army of hope in the form of Norv Turner and Ray Horton.  Then things got ugly as owner Jimmy Haslam's personal business became national news.  Then things got even worse when Mike Lombardi was hired as the GM, despite his rocky relationship with the Browns fans.  Then things looked up as the Browns pursued a couple actual veterans in Paul Kruger and Desmond Bryant.

In a nutshell no one knows what to expect.  The starter's play in the preseason was either awful or exceptional.  But there are question marks nearly every where.  Was Brandon Weeden's lackluster season last season a product of a poorly organized offensive scheme, or is he just not that good?  After Joe Haden who on this team is capable of covering an NFL receiver?  What happens if something happens to Trent Richardson?  Will our pass rush actually work?  Can we run block?  Will Josh Gordon and Greg Little pull their heads out of their rears and become true professionals?

To me it sounds like too many questions that need answered positively to have any hope for post season this year.  So let me post what I believe to be the most important question that needs answered this season.  Are we heading in the right direction?  If that answer is yes, I will be fine with it.  

Yes it is sad but true, there has only been one year that the Browns haven't started 0-1 since they have come back.  And the only opener that the Browns have managed that 1-0 start they beat the Baltimore Ravens in Jeff Garcia's debut in 2004.  And even that season went straight down the tubes.

But the Browns have lost some games in the worst way.  I will never for the Dwayne Ruud helmet throwing game in 2002.  Ruud removed his helmet before the final play of the game was finished and drew a penalty allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to kick a field goal on the extra play securing a 40-39 win.  Highlights of that game are below:

And who could forget the 2007 opener where Charlie Frye played so terribly that he was pulled out of the game in the first quarter and traded the following week.

Anyway the wait is almost over to see if the trend of losing football is about to end in Cleveland, or suffer forward to another long year.  So Browns fans, you know the drill this Sunday.  Hope for the best, expect the worst.      

Peyton Manning Had a Bit of a Message For the Ratbirds Last Night

Thanks to Peyton Manning, Ratbird week is going to start early.  While next week leading up to the game this blog will be particularly cruel to those nasty Ratbirds, the Denver Broncos were particularly cruel to them last night.

Peyton Manning threw for seven touchdowns, showing the greedy Joe Flacco what happens when you steal all of your team's payroll.  Seven touchdowns is enough to tie the single game NFL record.  And a beautiful way to start the Ratbirds new era of defense without Ed Reed and that scumbag Ray Lewis.

Well Baltimore, I will see you next week.  Until then the Browns now have to look to take care of business.  

Trash the Opponent Thursday: Miami Dolphins

Sunday is the day that we finally get to see the Rob Chudzinski led Cleveland Browns in regular season action.  The opening day opponent is the Miami Dolphins.  This is an intriguing matchup between two teams that have had some recent parallels.

Both teams are still in a rebuilding phase from allowing old coaches run their front offices.  Obviously the Browns are in their first full year without Mike Holmgren in charge of football operations.  While it has been well documented that Holmgren was a complete and utter failure as the leader of the Browns, many have also forgotten the time that Bill Parcells ran the Miami Dolphins.  Parcells was also quite a disappointment in his role trying to get Miami back to it's former glory.

But most significant in this game will be the matchup between Browns QB Brandon Weeden and the Dolphins' Ryan Tannehill.  Both will be entering their second season of pro football after being "the other guys" in the first round of last year's NFL draf that also featured Andrew Luck and Robert Griffith III.  The jury is still out on both quarterbacks, and this game will provide a great opportunity for one to outshine the other.

Miami's biggest fear is that they have sacrificed too much of their offensive line to acquire deep threats for Tannehill.  The most significant move was letting OT Jake Long leave for the Rams freeing up cap space to sign free agents at other positions.  Former Pittsburgh Steeler WR Mike Williams was among those pickups.  But experts warn that Tannehill can't really utilize Williams' skills without time to throw the ball.

Either way, game on this Sunday, they start to count for real.

Brady Quinn is Going to New York?

I'm sure when Brady Quinn stepped into Radio City Music Hall in 2007 as a top quarterback prospect, he never pictured his career would have turned out the way it has.  The mistakes he made in Cleveland were monumental, from not signing until training camp was almost over, to his numerous on field blunders once he did finally get a shot to run the offense.

Quinn's career since has seen it's fair share of indignities as well.  From backing up Tim Tebow in Denver to his pitiful play in Kansas City, Quinn hasn't made much of an impact for a guy who was holding out for a top five draft pick money, despite dropping well out of the top of that 2007 draft.  But this post is about a couple other bad decisions Quinn has made since then.  

The sign he was holding in the above picture originally said "Brady Quinn does not have Myspace," making this his "proof picture."  After a bit of research I discovered that a "proof picture" is something a person does whenever someone on social media posts pictures of them without their prior consent.  This is done to prove their identity to people online.  This is extremely typical behavior of a hipster teenage girl, not grown men who are employed by a NFL franchise.

But ironically Quinn has put his name into the hat for a job that could very easily be won by a teenage girl at this point.  Starting quarterback for the New York Jets.  So far Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Greg McElroy, and Graham Harrell have all tried and failed to get the nod as the man in the Big Apple.  Hopefully for Brady's sake Rex Ryan has a soft spot for boyish good looks, and social media legitimacy.

The College Season Kicked Off Last Weekend

This is always a long week for me.  The final preseason game against the Bears seems like months ago, and the six days until the season opener seem deep into the distant future.  The only happy diversion is the beginning to the college football season.

However the one player that no one will shut up about is Heisman Trophy winner, and apparent douchebag Johnny Manziel.  Manziel is a monster created by media hype.  His cocky, disrespectful attitude towards nearly everyone and everything is already showing that he may not be able to handle the rigors of the next level of football.  Personally I hope to see the kid humbled real soon.  He needs a reality check and eventually he is probably going to get one in the form of an NFL linebacker.

Only in Cleveland: The 53 Man Roster is in and We Don't Have a Kicker

Yesterday saw the end of several players runs at becoming Cleveland Browns.  Among the more notable departures were WR David Nelson. He didn't seem to have recovered from the knee injury that ended his season in the first game of last year.  Additionally LB James Michael Johnson was once thought of possibly starting in the middle of the defense, and that is obviously no longer the case.

But more curious is the fact that there is no kicker remaining on this team.  Brandon Bogotay was released with the final cutdown. Then Shayne Graham's contract was terminated.  This means that we will have to kick extra points and field goals with either our punter, or a jugs machine...  Only in Cleveland.