Thoughts after the most important game of pre-season.

[Thaak]

Originally Posted by Joker

In a game that was supposed to be our "dressed rehearsal", we looked BAD against a BAD team.

Bad in what way? I thought the offense looked pretty good actually.

[Alo]

I agree with Thaak.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Thaak

Bad in what way? I thought the offense looked pretty good actually.

But we still lost due to costly turnovers. Like Kosar said "This week they are making us pay by turning the turnovers into touchdowns"

[Tobalaz]

Thanks dama, it sums up perfectly how I'm feeling right now.
I'm willing to give time to grow, but face it, Quinn and Frye both looked better in their first preseason than McCoy has up to this point.
Hell, Max Hall, UDFA QB from BYU picked up by the Cards, looks like a damn allstar in comparison.

It's not saying McCoy is going to be bad or I want him to bust, but I'm having Spergon Wynn flashbacks and it scares the hell out of me.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Tobalaz

Thanks dama, it sums up perfectly how I'm feeling right now.
I'm willing to give time to grow, but face it, Quinn and Frye both looked better in their first preseason than McCoy has up to this point.
Hell, Max Hall, UDFA QB from BYU picked up by the Cards, looks like a damn allstar in comparison.

It's not saying McCoy is going to be bad or I want him to bust, but I'm having Spergon Wynn flashbacks and it scares the hell out of me.

They spent a 3rd round pick on him, I think you gotta at least give him till next preseason to prove that he can IMPROVE.

[Pedros Gaff]

come on people ent developmental players ment to struggle to start with, give him aa chance to develop, if hes terrible by the draft we can try and hope we can gt luck or locker

[WVBrownsfan]

IMO with Jake and Seneca in camp, Colt isn't getting the reps or the attention that Bradford is because he's the Rams starter right now. I know he hasn't shown much yet but I still have to give him more time before calling him a bust. I'm just happy as a clam that we have not only one but two QB's that can throw the ball on target for a change and Colt can watch and learn from them. Plus with Wallace's scrambling ability at QB that can let Josh concentrate strictly on being a receiver or coming out of the backfield. I'm ready for the season to start !

[Thaak]

Originally Posted by Joker

But we still lost due to costly turnovers. Like Kosar said "This week they are making us pay by turning the turnovers into touchdowns"

No, we almost won in spite of the costly turnovers because of the play of our offense.

And the Harrison turnover likely would have been overturned given more camera angles in the regular season. I was sure that his helmet was touched while his knee was on the ground prior to the ball being punched out.

The Moore fumble I thought his ass was on the ground before the ball was pulled out, but Mangini apparently didn't see enough to even challenge it.

Yes, the turnovers are a problem. But otherwise, the efficiency of the offense looked good.

[Alo]

Winning a pre-season game isn't all that important. Having you starting QB complete 80% of his passes, on the other hand, is a pretty huge positive.

And the OL looks great, especially while pounding the rock.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by TheBestPlayersPlay

-Delhomme is what we thought he is (at least a few of us)...a damned good QB who had 1 god awful year. Clearly the best QB in a Browns Uni since Kosar. A lot of you seem to be pulling for Wallace to start and/or get a ton of action, I'm hoping the opposite. The less we see of Wallace the better, he's a good back-up but he's no Jake Delhomme. Prediction : Barring major injuries, Delhomme makes a push for the pro-bowl this season.

-Even in the very first training camp session, I commented how much better Cribbs was looking at WR. People kept claiming the opposite as TC and pre-season games played out ...but I am hoping he's changing your minds.

-Harrison has done little to nothing to impress me. He's not good enough as a feature back to be putting the ball on the ground as much as he has been. Prediction: When all is said and done, Harrison will be our 3rd down back ...if that. He's not, or at least shouldn't be a feature back.

-Hillis is a beast. He's the guy I'd like to see in combination with Hardesty this season. (if Hardesty is as good as advertised)

-Ben Watson is better than I hoped.

-Daboll is who we thought he is. (a couple of us) A smart, young O-coordinator who was growing leaps and bound towards the end of last season, and is continuing to grow into what looks to be a creative, intelligent coach.

-I hope Haden takes the starting CB spot so that Brown takes Elams spot.

-Elam sucks.

-Sheldon Brown is not as good as advertised.

-Not too worried about our D ...they look disciplined for the most part, and we are currently missing key components. Pre-season D is usually more vanilla than even the O, we're not showing much.

I'll stick with my pre pre-season prediction of 7-9. That being said, I am even more positive about our team. I could easily see a few breaks going our way, and us getting 10 wins and a play-off berth. (again, barring injuries ..we aren't deep enough yet) Yes, I said it.

(I know the game is not over yet, so I may have more to add)

Nice post Gabe! I'm VERY happy to see how Delhomme is playing and LEADING the offense. I NEVER agreed he was a bad QB when healthy. That said, I'd be lying if I didn't fess up to worrying about him and thinking Wallace might be the better answer at this stage of both of their careers. There's gonna be defenses like Baltimore and Pittsburgh that will knock Jake down and he may land on the elbow. It hasn't had ANY trauma all offseason or in training camp practices where they aren't allowed to hit the QB.

About today - Jake was very efficient just like he was vrs GB. For that matter, just like he was the final 3 quarters of the Superbowl. He's got some underrated leadership qualities that get a synergistic boost when he gets hot.

I haven't been nearly as impressed with Jerome Harrison this preseason as I was with him at the close of 2009. Much to my surprise, the guy I want to see getting the ball is Hillis behind the blocking of Vickers. Speaking of Vickers - HOW ABOUT that TD reception. Now that we have a QB capable of putting a pass in front of him and above the grass - it reminded me he CAME to Cleveland with 2 pretty nice hands to go with his blocking skills.

I was VERY disappointed I didn't get to see Montario Hardesty. That said, James Davis provided some of the same excitement he gave us last year at this time. Man, he side stepped someone and took off like someone had a lighter to his fanny.

The oline did a nice job tonight against a much improved 4 man front. Our WRs and TEs continued to show me they can make plays. Josh Cribbs had the play of the day on the sidelines getting both feet in bounds and catching the ball. Just more evidence suggesting he CAN improve significantly at WR. Carlton Mitchell had a better outting with a nice reverse. I think he also crushed a DE with a wham block and he made a ctach or 2. MoMass and Robo were reliable when called upon.

Defensively - I'll go with the good, the bad and the ugly:

The good was Joe Haden was always where he was supposed to be and he made ALOT of nice open field tackles.

The bad - Sheldon Brown keeps getting burnt everygame (moreso than the younger guys like Haden and Wright IMO). I'd try to get him into Elam's spot as soon as possible; because he would probably be much better in space. Elam hasn't impressed anyone so we could conceivably upgrade 2 different positions in teh secondary with this move.

The ugly - it's being mentioned by others that we aren't contesting the pass at all. Our LBers have also been terrible in their zones for the most part while we're not getting consistent pressure on the QB. The saddest part of my ugly here is that David Bowens looks like he lost about 3-4 steps from late last season. Not that he's ever been a speedster per say; but he's not even CLOSE to the guy I saw late last year. Reality is this will be his 11th season so father time might have snuk up on him or I'm jumping the gun off of tonight.

I'm HOPING alot of what we've seen is vanilla defense so our staff can EVALUATE our DBs under worst case scenarios. We've also been sending very LAZY delayed inside blitz/stunts, which leaves us 1 ILB splitting 2 hook zones. Haven't seen many/any ILBers getting sacks. I think I've only seen Titus Brown and Chris Gocong bat a pass down in the hook zones in 3 games so far.

I WISH we'd FREAKIN find out how long Shaun Rogers will be out. Just putting him next to Matt Roth or Marcus Benard could REALLY change things considerably in our front 7 IMO. I don't think we ever got to see Rogers have the pleasure of playing alongside either spark in 2009. I'm very intrigued to see the sum of those parts working together.

The best news about tonight is that no starters got injured AND I heard Sorensen was able to move and joke with family at the hospital.
- Tom F.

[Neo]

Just a quick question, now that DQ is out, who is the quarterback of the defense? Could be a major reason why we are struggling.

[YtownBacker]

First team offense looked good. They don't need the wildcat to manufacturer points but it will be an added bonus when they turn it loose. QB play is solid. WR have progressed by leaps and bounds from last year. Running game is still solid and Vickers is an animal.

Actually through 3 Qtrs the 1st team defense gave up 14 points. The offense gave up 7 points. I can't understand all the playing time for Barton. TEs and back just run away from him. Elam couldn't cover me and I'm 61. Bowens looked real slow and out of step the whole game. The positive aspect of tonight is that most of the guys out there playing in the front 7 on defense in the 4th qtr won't be on the team in two weeks.

As far as or 3rd team QB playing with a bunch of scrubs...................I really don't give a shit. BTW, he put the pass exactly where it was suppose to be for Mitchell to make the catch for the first down. Another drop by Mitchell ended the drive.

Ventrone is solid on special teams but sucks as a safety. Bowens looks slow and out of shape. Maybe a step slower then Barton. Elam sucks and I hope they reconsider and put Brown at FS. Brown is a savy veteran but seems to have lost a step.

Haden and Ward play above their experience level. These two guys can play ball.

Man our OL better stay healthy because are backups suck.

Engram got a chance tonight to earn the #5 receiver job. He just may make the team because there isn't anything behind MoMass, Robo, Cribbs and Stuckey.

First game of the season we are going to see if this offense is for real when Tampa tries to take away the TEs and back out of the backfield. Hillis out of the backfield was just way to easy. Sooner or later someone is going to make Jake throw the ball down the field.

Preseason is just that so you take it for what it's worth. Teams don't like to show their hands or let opponents see much.