My notes from the Family Day scrimmage game

[DeadWombat]

[caution]I have pics of the scrimmage game on my blog.
http://www.barkinghard.com/forums/bl...mage-game.html[/caution]


Ok, so lets break this down. Sorry, I was exhausted when I got home today from work.... was too tired to type this up yesterday. Lets take a look at the teams for this scrimmage:

# Brown Offense (aka First-Team):
QB: Jake Delhomme, Brett Ratliff
RB: Jerome Harrison, James Davis
FB: Lawrence Vickers
WR: Mohamed Massaquoi, Brian Robiskie, Chansi Stuckey, Carlton Mitchell, Johnathan Haggerty
TE: Ben Watson, Robert Royal
LT: Joe Thomas
LG: Eric Steinbach
C: Alex Mack
RG: Floyd Womack
RT: John St. Clair

# Brown Defense (aka Second-Team):
DE: Titus Adams
DT: Kwaku Danso
DE: Clifton Geathers
OLB: David Bowens
ILB: Eric Barton
ILB: Kaluka Maiava
OLB: Jason Trusnik
CB: Joe Haden, DeAngelo Smith
S: Ray Ventrone
S: Nick Sorensen
CB: Brandon McDonald


# White Offense (aka Second-Team):
QB: Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy
RB: Chris Jennings
FB: (probably A. Smith)
WR: Joshua Cribbs, Bobby Engram, Syndric Steptoe
TE: Evan Moore, Alex Smith
LT: Scott Kooistra
LG: Casey Bender
C: Billy Yates
RG: Shawn Lauvao
RT: Tony Pashos

# White Defense (aka First-Team):
DE: Robaire Smith
DT: Ahtyba Rubin
DE: Derreck Robinson, Brian Sanford
OLB: Scott Fujita
ILB: Chris Gocong
ILB: D'Qwell Jackson
OLB: Matt Roth
CB: Eric Wright
S: Abram Elam, Larry Asante
S: T.J. Ward
CB: Sheldon Brown


Sidelined players: DL Shaun Rogers, DL C.J. Mosley, DB Coye Francies, RB Montario Hardesty, RB Peyton Hillis, DL Kenyon Coleman, DL Brian Schaefering, LB David Bowens, LB Titus Brown, P Dave Zastudil, DB Chris Roberson.

Roster observations: Larry Asante and TJ Ward on the first team defense, just like I reported on Thursday's camp. Really disappointing to see Evan Moore on the second team offense... hopefully that can change, though. There's a possibility they may have wanted 1 blocking TE and one catching TE per team? Odd to see Derreck Robinson and Brian Sanford on the first team, but Rogers, Coleman, and Shaefering were all sidelined. Jennings by himself on the 2nd team offense gave him a lot of time with the ball. I think Davis should have been over there with him. Same with Haggerty or Mitchelll.... the other team could have used another receiver. I think its no coincidence Cribbs was moved to the 2nd team offense with Seneca Wallace.


Ok, lets get down to business.

When I got there I had trouble finding a parking spot. Later I learned there were some 22,000 people at the game. Wow. Thankfully my brother (who has an account here but prefers to lurk) saved me a seat at the 4th row on the 47 yard line. Sweet! I got there during the end of the first quarter. Many of my notes from the first quarter of the game came from my brother. He gave me a few play-by-plays. It was hard juggling the camera, writing notes, and trying to be aware of everything on the field at once. Damn, I don't know how reporters can do it while giving detailed, player specific observations like "so-and-so was a little slow coming out of his 2 point stance but really showed great spacial awareness with his hands". How the hell do people get all that while keeping track of the game? I think that might come with prior experience in playing organized football, of which I have none. I would need to watch tape to get that kind of detail. Sometimes I tried to follow specific players so I could get some close observations, but most of the time I tried to follow the ball so I could keep track of everything.





Ok, so enough of me rambling. Here's the notes from the first half:

First half

One of the first few plays I saw with the White team was a wildcat from Cribbs. He ran right, didn't find anything, then doubled back and got about 15 yards. Unfortunately they didn't really use Cribbs in the wildcat after that. (gives be bad '09 Pittsburgh game 1 memories)

There were very few penalties in the first quarter.... unfortunately that changed when our newer guys were being rotated in as the game wore on.

Right away I see Engram making a couple catches by Wallace. Maybe he does have something left in the tank.

Jennings was getting a lot of attention, being the only running back on the White team. Lucky bastard.....

During the first quarter, Delhomme looked pretty good. Wallace was decent so far. They were getting the occasional first downs, but not moving the chains enough to score often. White got close enough for a field goal on a 48 yard Dawson kick.

In the 2nd quarter, Wallace and Delhomme switched for McCoy and Ratliff respectively. Colt McCoy's first pass was embarrassing. It was a 5 yard screen pass to jennings as McCoy was curling right to avoid a sack. It went way behind him out of jennings reach.

There are beginning to be a lot of penalties now. Holding calls especially. The slight majority of them are from the 2nd team players.

Blake Costanzo gets an interception on Ratliff. It was a high pass, he had to jump to get it. I couldn't tell who it was intended for.

McCoy looked overwhelmed and thus underwhelming in performance... but Ratty just looked plain bad. Balls where being chucked all over the place. It was chaotic.

James Davis in the Wildcat. He breaks through to the 2nd level and sprints for a 60 yard TD run. There starts to be celebrating, but a holding call by Watson calls the play back.

After a few more ugly throws by Ratty, he makes a completion to Haggerty for a gain of 7. He had to jump and bend backwards to catch it.... and looked nice doing it.

I'm starting to see a couple sacks now.... To sack the QB you just need to touch him.... which means there were more sacks than usual. Blame this on poor O-line play more than good D-line play. I saw our 2nd and 3rd string O-line getting burnt. I believe most of the sacks came from the right or left, rather than center. I saw Casey Bender get scorched for a quick sack. I couldn't catch who got past him.

B-Mac gets a beautiful jumping interception on Colt McCoy. Welcome to the NFL, Colt! He returns it 40 yards for a TD. When McCoy gets the ball back, he gets a pass batted down by Tidus Adams. However, he is later able to start moving the chains and gets a few first downs. Good, because the first half is almost over.

Evan Moore fumbled on the hit. The ball rolled out of bounds.

On the last play, McCoy scrambles to avoid a sack, runs right, then left, then throws a hail mary during the last few seconds. Its an errant throw... goes right to DeAnglo Smith on the other team.

Half time.... we spend 20 bucks on 2 burgers and 2 hot dogs. Thank goodness we brought our own drinks. One of the browns dawg mascots come down to where we sit and dances to Hang On Sloopy with the fans. Masaquoi comes out a little early and jumps on a stationary bike.

Second Half

The whistle blows and the game starts up again. Delhomme and Wallace return to the field. Wallace gets the ball.... he throws to Moore with a nice path and spiral... with an eaqually nice on-the-run catch. He then throws a perfect pass to Steptoe. It hits him right in the bread basket, but he drops it. The next pass is at Steptoe's knees as Steptoe breaks right and back, but he drops that too.

Stuckey drops a punt return.

Delhomme gets a pass batted down. His next throw is to Watson in what looked like triple coverage for 7 yards. There were seriously 3 guys around him. I don't know what Delhomme was thinking.... but hey... it was a completion.

We see 3 incompletes from Delhomme to Watson in a row..... aaaaand punt goes the football.

I'm seeing some really moronic plays going on... like a spike on 3rd and 12 with 1 minute left, handing the ball to jennings on 3rd and 8..... WTF? The last one must have happened 3 or 4 times.

Kwaku Danso finally takes the field. He's the only one standing around with his helmet on the entire game. He's mostly by himself, too... a very quiet guy. I watch him. Unfortunately he looks pretty unspectacular. He's not too fast on his feet and was getting manhandled at nose tackle. I'm pulling for this dude ever since I read his underdog story... but he needs work.

Ratliff throws a pass that was tipped and incomplete. At this point I realize there has only been one field goal and no offensive touchdowns.

James Davis catches a pass from Ratty. He looked very fluid in his motions. Ratty is finally moving down the field with a few first downs.

Then, something amazing happens. 22,000 fans' minds were blown in the next play.

Its 3rd and long. James Davis takes the snap. Stuckey runs back for what looks like a hand-off. Then all of the sudden I see a goofy white guy in an orange jersey running: Ratty is taking off down the right sideline. I think he's running the ball.... WTF? Then I see Stuckey still in the pocket. Trick Play!!! Stuckey THROWS the ball to Ratty in a perfect spiral. It lands right in front of Rattliff's chest as he catches it over the shoulder. First down! The crowd erupts in a roar of cheers.

Its official: Chansi Stuckey is our best QB, and Bret Rattliff is our best WR.

Delhomme comes in for the start of the 4th quarter. The crowd and the players are fired up. Delhomme fires a pass to James Davis, who caught it despite being completely covered by Chris Chancellor. Holy shit. I don't know how Jake did it. Chancellor was on Davis so tight you couldn't slip a book between them

On the next play, Delhomme tries hard to get in the end zone. He makes a couple incomplete.

On third down, Delhome connects with Watson in the corner for a TD. IT was thrown so that Watson had to reach to get it. I think the defense had a major slip up: Watson was unguarded. The crowd cheers loudly.

White team challenges the play. Pssshh... whatever. I saw Watson clearly drag his feet in as he fell out of bounds. We get to sit around as nothing happens for 10 minutes. B-Mac and Rob Royal jeer the white team from the sidelines. They know the call's gonna be held too. Geathers headbutts Danso (who still has his helmet on) despite not wearing a helmet himself. Haha. Danso talks to the water boy. Its the first conversion I've seen him have all day. Joel Riendeers is another guy who always seems to be by himself. He's standing on the sideline wearing a walking boot.

The touchdown is sustained, and the game continues. Wallace steps up and starts playing very well. He makes a good throw to Cribbs who jumped but did not fight enough to get it.

Delhomme pass right on the money to Watson. QB play is improving from both QBs.

Rubin bats a pass down from Delhomme. Another punt.

Cribbs catches a number of passes from Watson.... he looks good diving for the ball.

A fight breaks out. Scott Kooistra and Marcus Benard start going at it. The fans started booing loudly. Geathers (pretty sure it was Geathers) tried to step in and break it up, and got punched in the face by Kooistra (he was wearing his helmet). Both players were ejected from the game. WTF, guys? You're all team mates, here.

Back to the game. Wallace and Cribbs continue to make completions. Wallace throws an absolutely gorgeous throw to Jennings in an over-the-shoulder catch.

A female fan yells at Rob Royal asking him to sign her helmet after the gane. He looks back, sees the cute face, and gives a cheesy smile with a thumbs up. I laughed. He does come back when the game is done to sign.


Wallace is looking fantastic at this point of the game. Crisp throws with a tight spiral... and I love watching him using his mobility to make plays. He throws a tight pass to Moore, who makes a fantastic one handed catch on the run. Go Evan!

Near the end of the game, Wallace moves the chains enough to set up a feild goal. Its now Brown 14 White 6. With a couple minutes left, the White team won a coin toss to gain possession in a simulated onside kick. Wallace gets one last chance.

Jake Delhome goes over to MoMas and Robo several times over the course of the game to tell stories of some sort. He's very active with his hand gestures, so I assume he's talking about some of the finer points of football. At one point, Delhomme grabs one of the coaches to look at the playbook, and they, and Stuckey crowd around it. MoMass stands up, getting interested. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the sideline, I spot Kwaku Danso getting some man hugs from David Bowens. Haha!

Rob Royal and Reggie Hodges are dancing to the music as the game nears its end.

I finally see a good Haden play: Haden breaks up a pass intended for Cribbs. He had to really reach to get it.... almost looked like he was dunking a basketball.

Wallace gets stymied and could not make it close enough to get in the end zone.

The game ends with a group huddle and lots of cheers from the fans. Some of the players then spread out to different points of the stadium seats to sign autographs.

Final score: Brown 14, White 6.

[Riffer X]

Great report and appreciate the time DW!!!

[hammertime]

thanks

[Danamal]

James Davis was someone everybody was so high on last year but since he was injured last season he just completely fell off of everyones radar.
I'm glad to see he has been having a good camp,I really want to see us line up and just tell the defense "were gonna run and you can't stop us".
You need that type of ability come December in Cleveland,nice to have all the time but when you play in the snow and swirling winds it's all you have.

[Flugel]

Kick Ass report DW!!! Thanks!

Well, sounds like the first week of camp where defenses are traditionally ahead of the offense at this point of the season. Hopefully, they'll move the chains a little better next week vrs Green Bay.
- Tom F.

[Shep]

After reading all the reports, sounds like:

Winners: James Davis, Evan Moore (6 catches, 62 yards), and Brandon McDonald (welcome back), and kind of Seneca Wallace (some actual yardage).

Losers: Offense in general, quarterbacks in general... but especially McCoy.

Lost some of my enthusiasm for Freckles. Sounds like he really struggled ugly. It ain't getting any easier. Still hoping, still responding to the evidence at hand.

[jason j]

Originally Posted by Shep

After reading all the reports, sounds like:

Winners: James Davis, Evan Moore (6 catches, 62 yards), and Brandon McDonald (welcome back), and kind of Seneca Wallace (some actual yardage).

Losers: Offense in general, quarterbacks in general... but especially McCoy.

Lost some of my enthusiasm for Freckles. Sounds like he really struggled ugly. It ain't getting any easier. Still hoping, still responding to the evidence at hand.

Look at it this way... Ratliff made McCoy look like a world beater. So, he's got that going for him... which is nice.

-jj

[Shep]

Originally Posted by jason j

Look at it this way... Ratliff made McCoy look like a world beater. So, he's got that going for him... which is nice.

-jj

Well, it's something!

[Alo]

At last year's Family Day, Brady Quinn threw a beautiful deep ball. Obviously, that was a great indicator of his future performance.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

McCoy did look terrible, but not that much worse than the rest of the offense. Not to mention that much of his time was spent with the scrubs, and he had pressure blowing past the O-Line on almost every possession it seemed like. Great write up DW, thank you!

[DeadWombat]

Originally Posted by Alo

At last year's Family Day, Brady Quinn threw a beautiful deep ball. Obviously, that was a great indicator of his future performance.

Ha.... I remember that.... t'was a nice, nice throw. It was to Gerard Lawson, too. LOL.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Thanks for taking the time to put that together DW, it was the most concise and complete recap of the scrimmage that i've read. Good to see that fans reacted the way they did to that Bernard/Kooistra fight (what the hell sparked that, anyone hear anything?) and glad to see some decent plays were made all around (except for Ratliff who sounded like he didn't ammount to much of anything).

I think its cool that the Browns do this for a 'family day' and it's even cooler that the game gets such a large turnout. Just goes to show the strength of the Browns fan base and the respect the team has for its fans.