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2014 Cleveland Browns
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Cameron shouldn't play. Guy has had 3 concussions in 2 years. I don't him to be a drooling idiot by 50.
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http://espn.go.com/fantasy/football...unning-game-more-fixable-tampa-bay-buccaneers
We tend to want simple answers: Either he's not very good, or his blocking is terrible. But the truth is almost always somewhere in between. How do we, as film-watchers, decide where our struggling RBs of choice fall? Let's take a few examples, one at a time:
Ben Tate, Cleveland Browns: In his past two games, Tate has gained 62 yards on 31 carries. He rescued his value with a garbage-time score Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, but watching that film was painful. As a team, from Weeks 1 through 6, the Browns averaged 4.4 yards per carry with a league-high eight rushing TDs, and the easy conclusion is that center Alex Mack was lost for the season in Week 6, so of course that's the reason Tate and the Browns are now struggling.
Mack's absence definitely doesn't help. His Week 8 replacement, Nick McDonald, got manhandled Sunday every time the Raiders put a man -- usually rookie defensive tackle Justin Ellis -- head-on against him. Here's a failed play that can be directly traced to McDonald:
NFL/CBS
This is a classic Kyle Shanahan zone-stretch play. At the snap, everyone is going right, including Tate, whose task is to float toward the sideline until he sees an opening in his blocking wall, whereupon he can cut upfield and get yards. It's well-blocked with one major exception: Instead of continuing right and accounting for Raiders linebacker Sio Moore, McDonald stays connected to a double-team of Ellis. Moore easily shoots the gap and meets Tate behind the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard loss.
But breakdowns are happening all over. In Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Browns ran the zone-stretch to the left:
NFL/CBS
The breakdown on this play was either a mistake by left tackle Joe Thomas or fullback Ray Agnew; given the fact that Agnew was cut after the game, I'm guessing he might've been the culprit. The problem here is that Thomas stays connected with a double-team on defensive endRed Bryant, but Agnew doesn't fill the hole between Thomas and tight end Jordan Cameron. This mistake allows linebacker Paul Posluszny an easy path to gum up the works.
Tate's prognosis: Breakdowns are more noticeable in zone-blocking schemes because the RB is waiting, usually gliding east/west; when a missed assignment allows a defender to blow things up, the result looks bad. As Sunday's game progressed, the Browns eschewed outside-zone plays, simplifying things and asking Tate to get north/south much faster. I wouldn't say the results were spectacular, but it shows some flexibility. Fixing this scheme seems more like a mental challenge to cut out breakdowns, more than something the Browns are physically incapable of doing. I have hope that good coaching can fix this.
We tend to want simple answers: Either he's not very good, or his blocking is terrible. But the truth is almost always somewhere in between. How do we, as film-watchers, decide where our struggling RBs of choice fall? Let's take a few examples, one at a time:
Ben Tate, Cleveland Browns: In his past two games, Tate has gained 62 yards on 31 carries. He rescued his value with a garbage-time score Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, but watching that film was painful. As a team, from Weeks 1 through 6, the Browns averaged 4.4 yards per carry with a league-high eight rushing TDs, and the easy conclusion is that center Alex Mack was lost for the season in Week 6, so of course that's the reason Tate and the Browns are now struggling.
Mack's absence definitely doesn't help. His Week 8 replacement, Nick McDonald, got manhandled Sunday every time the Raiders put a man -- usually rookie defensive tackle Justin Ellis -- head-on against him. Here's a failed play that can be directly traced to McDonald:
This is a classic Kyle Shanahan zone-stretch play. At the snap, everyone is going right, including Tate, whose task is to float toward the sideline until he sees an opening in his blocking wall, whereupon he can cut upfield and get yards. It's well-blocked with one major exception: Instead of continuing right and accounting for Raiders linebacker Sio Moore, McDonald stays connected to a double-team of Ellis. Moore easily shoots the gap and meets Tate behind the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard loss.
But breakdowns are happening all over. In Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Browns ran the zone-stretch to the left:
The breakdown on this play was either a mistake by left tackle Joe Thomas or fullback Ray Agnew; given the fact that Agnew was cut after the game, I'm guessing he might've been the culprit. The problem here is that Thomas stays connected with a double-team on defensive endRed Bryant, but Agnew doesn't fill the hole between Thomas and tight end Jordan Cameron. This mistake allows linebacker Paul Posluszny an easy path to gum up the works.
Tate's prognosis: Breakdowns are more noticeable in zone-blocking schemes because the RB is waiting, usually gliding east/west; when a missed assignment allows a defender to blow things up, the result looks bad. As Sunday's game progressed, the Browns eschewed outside-zone plays, simplifying things and asking Tate to get north/south much faster. I wouldn't say the results were spectacular, but it shows some flexibility. Fixing this scheme seems more like a mental challenge to cut out breakdowns, more than something the Browns are physically incapable of doing. I have hope that good coaching can fix this.
Chris
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^^ Totally agree. Weird.
Anyways, glad they won today but man, I really hope this team plays up to the competition because judging by what I saw over the last 3 weeks, they will get smacked routinely on the coming schedule.
Anyways, glad they won today but man, I really hope this team plays up to the competition because judging by what I saw over the last 3 weeks, they will get smacked routinely on the coming schedule.
Binkster
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I've learned by now that what you've come to expect in the NFL almost certainly never happens.
Seattle struggled with Oakland today, Denver got clobbered, STL just dropped the Niners to 4-4. This stuff happens every week.
The Browns have had tough games with poor opponents so by the law of the NFL, the Browns should trounce the first place Bengals by 30.
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The Browns also slapped the shit out of the Steelers 31-10, and the Steelers are in 1st now.
elcheato
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The Browns were down by over 20 to the Titans at one point, lost to the Jags, played the Raiders in a close one and then barely squeaked past the Bucs. There's a difference between the occasional miss step against a bad team and consistently having poor outputs against bad teams.
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The injuries on this team have been brutal. Glad we have a home field advantage finally. 5-3 at the halfway point is great, so who cares how we got there. I do question some of Mike's decision making. I feel like he has coat us a game or two. On to Cincinnati.
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Maybe but I think he's responsible for the 5 wins we have now. In previous years we would have found interesting ways to lose just like Tampa Bay did yesterday. Pettine has us finding ways to win which hasn't happened in a long time here.
FiveThous
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Exactly, our ugly wins are usually games we have been accustomed to saying we should have won!
Regarding Justin Gilbert; He's seen an increase in playing time, and I can remember one bad play where he got beat (that touch down last week, which wasn't a big deal to me). I didn't even really mind his illegal contact flag this week because, if I'm honest, if he does exactly that two yards closer to the LOS that route is shot and we probably sack Glennon and that's coach able.
Regarding Paul Kruger; Six sacks from someone I didn't expect to do anything this year. Thanks, Paul. Your game against Pittsburgh with literally no back was a big, big reason I will always cut you slack.
Regarding Mingo; I do not care what anyone says, or what the Browns think; He is more impactful as a pass rusher than Jabaal Sheard. His speed fucks up blocking schemes and even if he can't get the QB (honestly, his shoulder is so messed up that I'm surprised he can run let alone tackle), he usually breaks the protection and causes something good to happen. You want an example? The two sacks against Big Ben that came back to back were 100% because Mingo pushed the RT directly into Ben's face and he had to step up into a defensive lineman. Honestly think he might be our fastest non-DB because his ability to go side-to-side on strictly speed is insane. I hate how much flack he gets.
Regarding Joe Haden; The tip drill was a thing of beauty, but I really don't care for praising him against slow, big receivers, because I can't remember a time where he was ever torched by one.
Regarding Donte Whitner; Wish he would show up on the road like he shows up at home. Him and Dansby were wonderful additions.
Regarding Tashaun Gipson; He will never get credit playing here, but let's be real. He's our best defender. Elite hands for a DB, and when he returns the ball it's usually for a big chunk of yards. Had he not got the shoe strings pulled out from under him, he probably would have took it to the 40 yesterday. 5 picks in four games. I honestly can't remember the last time a Browns player had a multi-game pick streak.
Regarding Terrence West; I hate how confident he is, and how much he dances, but good lord is he the perfect protection back. He killed Asante, and if he doesn't, Hoyer gets wrecked and we probably lose the game.
Regarding the run defense; Why is it that when it's third and one or fourth and one we can lock shit down? I don't get why we need to wait to the second half to correct the issue, that to be honest, shouldn't really be there to begin with.
Regarding Kyle Shannahan; I might have spelled his last name wrong, but I'm getting sick of the stretches and pitch stretches/dives that seemingly always result in a blown up play. We can run the ball on hand offs up the gut. I have no reason to believe that's harder than running outside. But I feel bad for him. His biggest weapon was a center who could handle and digest the no huddle. Sucks that our biggest weapon with JG and JC out is now also out.
Regarding Paul Kruger; Six sacks from someone I didn't expect to do anything this year. Thanks, Paul. Your game against Pittsburgh with literally no back was a big, big reason I will always cut you slack.
Regarding Mingo; I do not care what anyone says, or what the Browns think; He is more impactful as a pass rusher than Jabaal Sheard. His speed fucks up blocking schemes and even if he can't get the QB (honestly, his shoulder is so messed up that I'm surprised he can run let alone tackle), he usually breaks the protection and causes something good to happen. You want an example? The two sacks against Big Ben that came back to back were 100% because Mingo pushed the RT directly into Ben's face and he had to step up into a defensive lineman. Honestly think he might be our fastest non-DB because his ability to go side-to-side on strictly speed is insane. I hate how much flack he gets.
Regarding Joe Haden; The tip drill was a thing of beauty, but I really don't care for praising him against slow, big receivers, because I can't remember a time where he was ever torched by one.
Regarding Donte Whitner; Wish he would show up on the road like he shows up at home. Him and Dansby were wonderful additions.
Regarding Tashaun Gipson; He will never get credit playing here, but let's be real. He's our best defender. Elite hands for a DB, and when he returns the ball it's usually for a big chunk of yards. Had he not got the shoe strings pulled out from under him, he probably would have took it to the 40 yesterday. 5 picks in four games. I honestly can't remember the last time a Browns player had a multi-game pick streak.
Regarding Terrence West; I hate how confident he is, and how much he dances, but good lord is he the perfect protection back. He killed Asante, and if he doesn't, Hoyer gets wrecked and we probably lose the game.
Regarding the run defense; Why is it that when it's third and one or fourth and one we can lock shit down? I don't get why we need to wait to the second half to correct the issue, that to be honest, shouldn't really be there to begin with.
Regarding Kyle Shannahan; I might have spelled his last name wrong, but I'm getting sick of the stretches and pitch stretches/dives that seemingly always result in a blown up play. We can run the ball on hand offs up the gut. I have no reason to believe that's harder than running outside. But I feel bad for him. His biggest weapon was a center who could handle and digest the no huddle. Sucks that our biggest weapon with JG and JC out is now also out.