2019 Browns Rant Thread

1) Titans are a really solid team. Their QB play is mediocre, but they play great defense and really fancy offensive playcalling.

2) The Jets are a very similar team to the Titans. They’re going to run the ball, Gase will use lots of pre-snap movement, and they’ll dink-and-dunk to touchdowns. On defense, well, it’s Gregg, so get ready for more exotic blitzes.

3) I always thought these first two games would be difficult. I’m not at all surprised we lost today and won’t be if we lose next week. The teams have offenses that are strong where our defense is weak and their defenses blitz, which hurts our O-line.

4) With that said, I am fairly surprised how badly we lost. It felt like the team - including Baker - totally quit after Tennessee went up 22-13.

5) @The Human Q-Tip taljed about this all summer, but our linebackers’ tackling is arguably as big of an issue as our offensive line. Schobert is great in coverage, but as soon as someone catches the ball, he’s too slow to make an impact. Kirksey tries hard but that’s it... Titans carved us up in the middle of the field.

6) I actually thought Ward was underwhelming today. I saw that people said it was the zone scheme, but that’s wrong IMO, it just looked like he was unprepared.

Overall, my guess is a bad matchup combined with some arrogance from months of hype, and we got what we saw today. I just hope that, if we lose next week, people stay somewhat level-headed. This team will be totally fine as the season progresses. There is just too much talent.

Ward was terrible today. Got destroyed. Was really surprised by how bad he was.

Hubbard is awful and there is no real alternative now that Lamm went down. Guy has been utter shit for a while, is weak and isnt big. At least Lamm can pass block.

The penalties should fix itself and, honestly, should fix a majority of the problems. But Hubbard and Robinson absolutely terrify me for the future. If the Browns make the playoffs, that will be their downfall.

But the amount of guys who had uncharacteristically bad days was out of control and should fix itself in the future. And hopefully Freddie doesnt coach a game like its Madden anymore. Team was on fire when they were getting the ball out fast but awful when doing this downfield garbage.

I'm not even mad at the team.
this shit happens. It was a bad game and it was very obvious the "game" the referees were playing. A lot of nickel and dime shit was called which killed drives.

I do actually agree. The titans are not a bad team. Their defense is solid (Cameron Wake, Malcolm Butler) along with some pieces of offense.

...

The takes after the game by the browns media and national media were both incredibly bad.
Again...I get it. It pays the bucks to be negative, but my god.

I even saw one going "BOOHOOOHOOO. I WISH THAT MIKE VRABEL WAS OUR HEAD COACH. OHIO STATE" and it's like, fuck off.

Team came out on fire offensively, but tried getting too cute. Chubb was underutilized. Our offense was almost predictable, we gained good yards when we seemed to force our will. We struggled when it seemed we should have played it safe in some instances ie; 1st down backed up to our goal line.

Team just seemed over pumped and after our opening drive, just got sloppy. Obviously, teams are going to gun for us this year after all the hype. I'm disappointed, not just from the loss, but because our whole team seemed lost. Hoping this is a wake up call and we can salvage our hopes by being 1-1 after next Monday.

jking948 said:

6) I actually thought Ward was underwhelming today. I saw that people said it was the zone scheme, but that’s wrong IMO, it just looked like he was unprepared.

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Ohio State didn't play zone until this year and the Browns played mostly man to man last year. Ward was drafted to be a man to man corner.

This scheme just doesn't show the level of talent that Dorsey has put together. This group seems to be constructed to fit what Gregg wanted to do last year more than Wilks. I think Wilks 4-2-5 scheme is really for a mediocre group to hide their lack of athleticism. It just holds a group like this back. This secondary is built to play man to man. The front seven should be built to blitz. Taking one of the front 7 out to just play 5 DBs and zone in the secondary helps no one.

inliner311 said:

Ohio State didn't play zone until this year and the Browns played mostly man to man last year. Ward was drafted to be a man to man corner.

This scheme just doesn't show the level of talent that Dorsey has put together. This group seems to be constructed to fit what Gregg wanted to do last year more than Wilks. I think Wilks 4-2-5 scheme is really for a mediocre group to hide their lack of athleticism. It just holds a group like this back. This secondary is built to play man to man. The front seven should be built to blitz. Taking one of the front 7 out to just play 5 guy and zone in the secondary helps no one.

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Anybody who is athletic enough to play man should be able to play zone. Ward needs to play better.

inliner311 said:

Ohio State didn't play zone until this year and the Browns played mostly man to man last year. Ward was drafted to be a man to man corner.

This scheme just doesn't show the level of talent that Dorsey has put together. This group seems to be constructed to fit what Gregg wanted to do last year more than Wilks. I think Wilks 4-2-5 scheme is really for a mediocre group to hide their lack of athleticism. It just holds a group like this back. This secondary is built to play man to man. The front seven should be built to blitz. Taking one of the front 7 out to just play 5 DBs and zone in the secondary helps no one.

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I felt the same way.
Especially with a guy like Mariotta who when pressured? Crumbled. I mean the guy can escape the pocket, but the times the Browns sent people at him? He was underwhelming.

I think that's part of the reason I'm not as upset? This doesn't feel like ultimate "MASTERSTROKE OF GENIUS" by the titans...rather it felt like this team couldn't stop stepping over it's own dick.

Felt like we were running a Monken-style offense. Lots of shotgun, empty backfield, and trying to have Baker gun the ball to someone on a seam route. Our offensive line isn't built for that kind of offense.

Where were double tight-ends? Counter runs? Hard boots? Reverse plays? All the smaller, quick-hitting plays that Freddie was using last year that opened up the deep passes? Chubb should've been handed the ball a lot more early on - Titans were obviously playing the pass the entire game.

No adjustment at halftime either.

We lost this game because of penalties and poor play-calling - both signs of awful coaching/discipline.

Pick6 said:

Anybody who is athletic enough to play man should be able to play zone. Ward needs to play better.

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This is true and overtime the secondary as whole should look better but I still think its underutilizing the talent that Dorsey has put together. Why have a base defense that puts 5 DBs on the field to play zone when the secondary group is capable of playing high level man to man with 4 DBs in base? Maybe it would make more sense if we had a hybrid DB/LB like Peppers was to be the 5th DB who could come down and stop the run, blitz, or drop back into coverage.

Here's my rant: All the fucking cutesy commercials for Baker, all the OBJ nonsense and not practicing, all the not getting enough reps for the starters in the Pre-Season caught up with them in a big fucking way.

Offense has no timing, everyone is sloppy as fuck and everyone is trying to be a hero, individually, instead of coming together like a team!

I know Baker works his ass off but with all the non-football stuff he does, the commercials and the rest of the circus, it could easily be construed as big-ass distractions!

Start living it up like a Super Bowl MVP QB with all the happy fun car insurance commercials after you've made the playoffs, not before!

Focus! Start working as a team and not a roster of erstwhile Pro-Bowlers.

/End Rant.

What are the fundamentals of our defense?

Triplethreat said:

160 in penalties tho is unacceptable

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Try almost 190, but yes, unacceptable

Oh wow! Now we have "INDIANS FAN ONLY" chiming in. Awesome.


I mean it's not like this area has an insane amount of football culture related to it. OH NO. We're just dummies.

...

I think a lot of people (including myself) were expecting like a 26-14 sort of game.

And honest to god? The reputation around this franchise doesn't exactly lend itself to patience. I don't blame them. It's been hell.

People were probably expecting the 1999 St. Louis Rams on offense and some sort of "Fearsome Foursome" or "Purple People Eaters" like effort on defense.

Well...it takes a while to build something. You have the parts. The execution is the tricky part of it.

You can either wallow around in pity or get to work.

inliner311 said:

Ohio State didn't play zone until this year and the Browns played mostly man to man last year. Ward was drafted to be a man to man corner.

This scheme just doesn't show the level of talent that Dorsey has put together. This group seems to be constructed to fit what Gregg wanted to do last year more than Wilks. I think Wilks 4-2-5 scheme is really for a mediocre group to hide their lack of athleticism. It just holds a group like this back. This secondary is built to play man to man. The front seven should be built to blitz. Taking one of the front 7 out to just play 5 DBs and zone in the secondary helps no one.

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The problem is that Ward was not playing in zone most of the day. NFL Scrap R has not compiled the information from this week's games, yet, but when they do I would be surprised if Ward was in zone on more than twenty percent of the plays, and almost never when he was playing deep. Those plays were straight man. The team was running cover three most of the day, but had the two outside corners pressing, and the nickel out in zone with the two safeties. So, if zone was to blame for Ward's issues, it was that he was not aware where his teammates were on the field.

ETA: Ward was playing in straight man here. He just got beat when the receiver cut in. He's got to be more aware than that.