Matt Sullivan - Getty Images
almost 2 years ago: CLEVELAND - AUGUST 21: Benjamin Watson #82 of the Cleveland Browns scores a touchdown in front of Craig Dahl #43 of the St. Louis Rams at Cleveland Browns Stadium on August 21 2010 in Cleveland Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
The rain poured down all game long as the Cleveland Browns played the St. Louis Rams at home Saturday night, losing by a final score of 19-17. The rain certainly played a factor in the game too, at least against the Browns.
Things got off to a rough start on the team's first offensive play of the game. Jake Delhomme took the snap and sort of bobbled it before handing it off to Jerome Harrison. Harrison gained four yards and lost the football, but the referees ruled that he was already down by contact. On the second play, Harrison fumbled the ball again, but thankfully the ball squirted out to Joshua Cribbs to prevent a turnover. It was a sign of things to come in the rest of the first quarter.
On the Rams' first drive of the game, A.J. Feeley marched his offense down the field rather quickly for a touchdown as he kept connecting with his tight ends over the middle. On the Browns' second drive, Delhomme fumbled on the second play and the football was recovered by the Rams' Fred Robbins. Due to a hand injury to Feeley on the first drive, first overall pick Sam Bradford entered the game. St. Louis tacked on a field goal to make it 10-0, getting off to a similar start that the Browns did last week.
On the third offensive drive for the Browns, Delhomme was sacked on a third down play when Billy Yates missed a block. The Browns forced a quick punt on the Rams' next drive, but the fumble woes continued as the ball was lost by Joshua Cribbs on the punt. The Rams recovered and eventually tacked on another field goal to make it 13-0 late in the first quarter. After that, the Browns started to click.
With Peyton Hillis in at running back, Delhomme led the Browns down the field for a touchdown, finishing things off with a pass to Ben Watson in the back of the end zone. Watson did an amazing job hauling in the one-handed pass, as the play was originally called incomplete but was overturned after a challenge. Delhomme saw two more series and was fairly effective, leading the Browns to a field goal before the half to make it 13-10.
Seneca Wallace got to play with the first-team offense to start the second half. There was a stretch when Hillis ran the ball on five consecutive plays for 25 yards, before the drive was capped off by a nice 15-yard touchdown pass to Cribbs. That gave the Browns their first lead of the game at 17-13.
After that, the game was pretty boring if you're a Browns fan. The Rams just dominated the time of possession against the Browns' second-string defense, putting two field goals on the board to take a 19-17 lead. Colt McCoy was the third quarterback into the game, but he finished 0-for-2 and was sacked twice. Brett Ratliff came into the game with a chance to run the two-minute offense. He made some pretty darn good throws to try to lead the Browns down the field, but Carlton Mitchell either wasn't looking or dropped the pass on two consecutive plays. The game was officially over when Ratliff was picked off on a third down play.
Overall, it wasn't as bad of a game as it could've been given the team's start in the first quarter. I guess it's a good thing to practice under the elements though, and one thing you can take out of this game is that Hillis will be getting a lot of reps on the ground this season. I'll have my full, in-depth recap up tomorrow.
0 recs | 74 comments
Some quick thoughts:
1. Hillis ran the ball really well, and he was breaking tackles all over the place. I think he’ll be used often this year on short-yardage situations with Vickers.
2. Cribbs made some nice plays at WR. Besides just catching the ball, he looks like he’s actually learned how to play the WR position. He had a nice push-off on his TD catch.
3. Wallace has been making some plays the first two games. I know it’s just the preseason, but I think he’ll see more playing time at QB this year than we thought.
Buckeye Brad - August 21, 2010
Obvious
Brownie's Year - August 21, 2010
What?
Buckeye Brad - August 21, 2010
If I had to guess, it’d be that he’d call Cribbs’ push-off “obvious” as opposed to “nice”?
Chris Pokorny - August 21, 2010
Sure. We’ll say that.
Brownie's Year - August 22, 2010
I’m curious to see if Cribbs can still look like a professional receiver in the regular season. I still don’t think I like him as the only wideout in the game when we have two backs and two tight-ends. I would prefer someone that is a true receiver in that spot.
That said, his route running and his hands have been encouraging. He is even making good plays on the ball when it is thrown behind him.
rebuilding year - August 22, 2010
I agree but remember Cribbs was starting at WR only b/c Massaquoi was held out with a minor injury.
Monsters of the Midway - August 22, 2010
Why didn’t Veikune play?
Brownie's Year - August 21, 2010
He did. Lots of Veikune sightings.
TheDriveStillHurts - August 21, 2010
No way. I never saw him.
Brownie's Year - August 21, 2010
ya he played
kjc - August 21, 2010
I know. Play off an old thread thread.
Brownie's Year - August 21, 2010
An old thread thread?
golanbatrac - August 21, 2010
typo typo
Brownie's Year - August 21, 2010
Quick question on something I’ve been noticing…. How many times has Evan Moore been in the game on a running play and how many times has Robert Royal been in the game on a passing play? I know Royal caught a ball today, but for the most part (and i’m thinkin 90-95% of the time) Royal is only in on runs and Moore only plays on passes…
Another thing… who do you think has the edge right now between Davis and Jennings because we havent really seen a lot of either? And do you think we carry 4 QB’s?
kjc - August 21, 2010
This would be the sort of thing that could kill us if an opposing DC figured it out.
It is obviously only preseason, and I am guessing we scout our own team and tendencies, so they would probably notice something that extreme. A 60 or even 75% tendency would be acceptable, but 95% is way too high.
My guess is that whoever is practicing better between Jennings and Davis has the edge; both guys are running behind linemen that are awful. I keep seeing people complaining about indecisive RBs with choppy feet, but if they are running behind the same line that is blocking for McCoy, my guess is there are no holes.
rufio - August 22, 2010
From our playing days we had a fullback and a tailback and they couldn´t stop us. In fact, not being able to stop what you know is coming is the pinnacle of football success.
mooncamping - August 22, 2010
If you can do this and beat your individual opponents, you´re in swagger town.
mooncamping - August 22, 2010
My favorite is when you reply to your own posts. You do make a good point though about the D knowing what is coming and still not being able to stop it.
Monsters of the Midway - August 22, 2010
Thank you.
I do that for pragmatic reasons. Seeing how long some of the post commentaries can get, it lets you control that your comments aren´t segmented, if they are to the same topic.
mooncamping - August 23, 2010
I’m a huge fan of that style of play. We ran that in high school and I was the fullback, so of course I liked it. But it worked really well.
shep615 - August 23, 2010
We were even worse than that some times. If we saw a play worked, we´d keep running it all the way down field. Usually it was the 25 dive, with the halfback leadblocking and the tight-end getting the linebacker.
I feel sorry in retrospect. It´s not a very respectful play-calling method.
mooncamping - August 23, 2010
Does this mean mooncamping is a fullback?
Chris Pokorny - August 23, 2010
It would explain so very much.
Bernie19Kosar - August 23, 2010
If I was able to play, I would if I got my share of carries. It´s unfashionable, but I´m pining for the days when the fullback and halfback never left the field. Remember I´m an old (the bright blue and green days) Seattle Seahawks fan. We got spoiled by the tandem of John L. Williams and Curt Warner, the vaunted “Ground Chuck” (named after the old coach Chuck Knox).
Remember this too, although not a super star, Dave Krieg, the quarterback then, was renowned for sporadically posting 500 plus yardage passing games. So an offense can be quite balanced.
You may not remember because the Browns were contending for AFC championships at the time.
The year the Bengals played in the AFC championship, defeating the developing, later dominant Buffalo Bills 21-10, they first barely defeated the Seahawks, 21-13, to include Brian Bosworth. They eventually lost another close one to the 49ers in the Super Bowl, 16-20, this was the famous Boomer Esiason quarterbacked team, featuring Icky Woods and James Brooks.
Well anyways, they weren´t half bad, using an I-Formation, alternating carries between a fullback and halfback.
mooncamping - August 24, 2010
Short little clip about John L. Williams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8o_1zp5DI
mooncamping - August 24, 2010
I’d love to say our OC is smarter than that, but i cannot say that with confidence.
We are not doing any wildcat stuff, in order tohide for the season, so I only look at these games as not much to tell about the scheme of the offense.
I noticed that SW throws are more spiral last night than JD’s were….bigger hands to grip the ball better….Wallace just seemed to be able to handle the wet football better.
Harrison seemed to disappear for long stretches for hillis…..whom did very well, but what could harrison have done in the open field that hillis was running through?
We were beaten by a horrible team….by our own turnovers….that is disappointing. ‘well it was wet’ my friend told me…..well, the rams didn’t seem to have near the trouble we did.
allsides - August 22, 2010
The Rams fumbled a few times as well.
Roger Dorn - August 22, 2010
The rams fumbled once and recovered it.
allsides - August 22, 2010
we had two int’s, reams none.
allsides - August 22, 2010
We ALMOST had two picks, but I don’t remember actually getting any.
BrownDawg1409 - August 22, 2010
we didn’t get any, that is why eric wright is a DB not a WR, can’t catch! He’d a pick-six if could catch! He has to be kicking himself about that.
allsides - August 22, 2010
Ronald had one sail right over his head that was catch-able if he was paying attention.
North Coast Flea - August 22, 2010
Not being able to catch doesn’t always mean you’re a DB and not a WR, though.
See: Braylon Edwards.
… It’s 12:12 AM on 8/23/2010, and Braylon Edwards still sucks.
shep615 - August 23, 2010
Harrison is best when he can make some cuts to get to the open field and then turn on the speed. Hillis does a good job of blasting through people who get in his way to get to the open field. Which approach do you think works best on a sloppy field?
JustBob - August 22, 2010
I’d say both can be very effective, but being able to cut on wet field when the defender doesn’t know where you are going could put just as many defenders on the ground.
allsides - August 22, 2010
Isn’t this the thinking on snowy fields as well?
Reaction in poor weather is harder than action.
Bernie19Kosar - August 23, 2010
I don’t know if it is reaction vs action necessarily, but the ability to stop, start, and change directions and speeds becomes much less viable of a skill (as stopping, starting, and CoD become much harder). Guys who are reacting are just usually doing these things.
rufio - August 24, 2010
Best comment from the Rams gamethread:
golanbatrac - August 21, 2010
Haha, that’s good.
Buckeye Brad - August 21, 2010
my personal favorite.
johnnyphoenix - August 22, 2010
Thank god he is a Bronco to show Teboo how to be a playa!!
Suppa Bob - August 22, 2010
my thoughts – eric wright had a good game in coverage and in tackling. vickers is on a mission to destroy all linebackers and safeties. hillis is a beast. cribbs excellent downfield blocking leads to a lot of extra yardage. delhomme and wallace were productive.
rockybrown - August 22, 2010
Delhomme hasactually posted 100plus efforts as far as qb rating
Drexel Dawg - August 22, 2010
ihatemyspacebar
Drexel Dawg - August 22, 2010
Ha
Buckeye Brad - August 22, 2010
Haden played all game and did very well. He was around a lot of tackles and celebrated on big plays when he wasn’t involved.. That’s leadership.
You can’t blame our slow start on Delhomme. He’s playing great. I hope some of you haters are realizing that. I may pick him as my FF backup tonight.
The running game looked horrible… then Hillis came in. Who said we didn’t come out as the "winners" in the Brady trade? We ditched a pretty boy who can’t play and got a EFING MONSTER!
Bradford sucks. McCoy sucked, but he has no line protection. I feel sorry for him.
Brownie's Year - August 22, 2010
we don’t know enough about bradford or mccoy…..the Oline for Rams is horrible, and our O-line depth is questioinable with lots of pressure coming in second half when backups are in. Early on, there were so many turnovers, that the running game didn’t have a chance to get started.
Del looks solid so far, boy, i was one of those that was a little disappointed to see BQ gone before we really gave him a chance, but I DON’T MISS HIM AT ALL NOW.
Vickers was the reason we ran the ball so well the last 5 games, We cannot afford to get him hurt, take it easy on him for the rest of preseason, coach.
allsides - August 22, 2010
Bradford might be good, but as of now he blows with that team. There is potential though.
We gave Quinn a chance. Look at him now. He’s doing the same shit in Denver. He’ll be out of the league VERY soon. Talk about someone who blows.
Brownie's Year - August 22, 2010
Two things:
1. Impossible to evaluate McCoy behind that line.
2. We better pray there are no injuries to the offensive line.
notthatnoise - August 22, 2010
Well I’d like to hope one things for sure….
With the beasts we have on the first string OL and the reps Colt is taking not behind it, hopefully one could assume that when he gets behind the starting OL that he would flourish due to better blocking and more time to read the defense and make his play decision.
3PON Nemo - August 22, 2010
As I was not able to find a stream of the game last night, I am curious as to how TJ Ward looked.
Les Fleurs Du Mal - August 22, 2010
Not as much came his way as did in the first pre-season game. In the times he was in on a play though he looked pretty good. He broke up one potential TD pass. Some thought it was pretty good coverage, others thought it was potentially pass interference. Either way, no flag.
Monsters of the Midway - August 22, 2010
I haven’t had a chance to watch the game yet – couldn’t get a feed to work right last night. But looking at what has been posted here and at the game stats, it would seem that the Browns played a decent game overall except for the fumbles. Just looking at the scoring and stats, it seems the game became irretrievable in the 4th quarter where most of the players on the filed represent future cuts.
However, I wonder if S. Jackson had played for longer if our run D would have ended up looking super bad. How would those of you who saw the game rate our run D in the first half?
JustBob - August 22, 2010
Poor. Jackson wasn’t in long at all. We looked a lot better once S. Jax left. I’ll leave it to the more knowledgeable here to say if the D improved or we got lucky they pulled him.
Monsters of the Midway - August 22, 2010
SJax had 4 carries for 20 yds. after he left they had no running game at all.
North Coast Flea - August 22, 2010
Six things I think:
1) I like how we looked like we weren’t panicking after that terrible start. All it took was one score to put us back in.
2) I think the fact that we had 5 turnovers but only lost by 2 pts. is a testament to just how bad the Rams are going to be this year.
3) I was expecting Ratliff to come in over McCoy with so little time left, and I have to wonder if he would have done a little better considering his advantage in expierence. Ignore that Colt’s a third round pick, and I think Ratliff would earn a roster spot over him.
4) We weren’t able to get the pressure on Feeley like I thought we’d be able to. It got easier when the rookie went in, but if the experienced guys can figure out when we’re blitzing, we’ll have problems.
5) After a huge game against GreenBay last week, T.J. Ward wasn’t that involved this time round’. He did make some good solid tackles and was in a lot though. Maybe other teams are already starting to gameplan to avoid him?
6) Our guys can lay the WOOD! I don’t think there’s going to be any trouble this year as far as tackling and getting the big hit in is concerned. What worries me is being able to get to the QB. But once we know we can get to them, I honestly think his laundry bill’s gonna skyrocket.
BrownDawg1409 - August 22, 2010
we also didn’t have rodgers, who is gonna help with the pass rush a ton
the_fox_and_the_browns - August 22, 2010
I’m confused on number 3. Ratliff did come in over McCoy at the end of the came. He also didn’t look very good (no thanks to carlton mitchell).
notthatnoise - August 22, 2010
Indeed, and that nice INT he threw ended it for us. As I said earlier, I didn’t really understand the function of putting Ratliff in at that point. It seems extremely unlikely that we’ll keep him over McCoy, which means his only shot is if we keep 4 QBs. Might as well have given Colt the experience there, it seems to me.
RelapsingDawgCatcher - August 22, 2010
This means that I thought that Ratliff would play before McCoy.
BrownDawg1409 - August 22, 2010
And if you ignore that Queen Elizabeth had no balls, I think we’d call her the King.
Point being that you can’t ignore that Colt was a 3rd round rookie and that Ratliff has been in the league for four years. At best, Ratty is a little better than Colt right now, but the fact that he is only a little better (and I don’t concede that) after his time in the league and the fact that the organization thought highly enough of Colt to draft him in the 3rd round means that Colt is going to get a spot over Brett. And it makes perfect sense and is the right thing to do. For a 3rd stringer, it’s better to keep a guy who has potential to be better than a guy who has never shown it.
TheDriveStillHurts - August 22, 2010
I don’t think we can draw any conclusions from yesterday. Each played one series in terrible weather with atrocious backup linemen.
Roger Dorn - August 22, 2010
Right. And, as said above, you don’t cut a 3rd round pick because a veteran might be slightly better.
Buckeye Brad - August 22, 2010
I cannot harp on the atrocity that is our backup OL enough. Seriously, they are terrible.
rufio - August 23, 2010
this
North Coast Flea - August 23, 2010
Is Isaac Sowells available?
golanbatrac - August 22, 2010
I hope Simms draft has Autodraft, of course out of all the previous Sundays, I won’t be around a computer tonight. Frick’en beautiful. Sorry, not trying to bail in any way but I have no license and can’t drive myself back home and I doubt someone will give me a ride to make it time for a FF draft, =/
SpecialBrownie - August 22, 2010
Nevermind
SpecialBrownie - August 22, 2010
I hope your team is a fail on grand proportions.
Brownie's Year - August 22, 2010
As sloppy as this game was, I dont know that I would call it a loss. We should have won 20-17 but we went for it on 4th and 3 and got stuffed. I think in a regular season game we take the field goal. However its preseason and we know Dawson never misses so why not go for it and practice something that could come up in the regular season. That being said I would like to see them protect the ball better. (Side note…I think it would have been a better game for us if our starters on the right side of the line had played.)
Skov17 - August 22, 2010
I mean 20-19
Skov17 - August 22, 2010
As sloppy as this game was, I dont know that I would call it a loss. We should have won 20-17 but we went for it on 4th and 3 and got stuffed. I think in a regular season game we take the field goal. However its preseason and we know Dawson never misses so why not go for it and practice something that could come up in the regular season. That being said I would like to see them protect the ball better. (Side note…I think it would have been a better game for us if our starters on the right side of the line had played.)
Skov17 - August 22, 2010
Here´s a news bit. Tim Hiller, the Western Michigan star quarterback, has been released from the Colts, after being judged on just 7 passes.
Article:
http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2010/08/indianapolis_colts_release_for.html
Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hiller
His availability might be worth looking into.
mooncamping - August 24, 2010
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