This guy gets it.

[ThankyouFather]

Source : http://clevelandfrowns.com

Monday, September 20, 2010

Adjust Your Expectations: Browns Drop Home-Opener to Chiefs, 16-14

Tuning out moronic Browns fans is hard enough even without the local press egging them on. It's understood that writing about a rebuilding NFL football team can be boring, or at least less fun than some of the alternatives, and maybe one could even fairly call it challenging. But it's no excuse for making things up, like with conclusory references to theoretical "adjustments" that the Browns coaching staff allegedly failed to make in yesterday's 16-14 loss to the Chiefs.

Here's a small sample (and we haven't listened to a spot of WKNR analysis on this yet):

Adjusting just doesn't seem to be the strong suit of this team. -- Tony Grossi, Plain Dealer (ending his game recap with a zing)

A talent gap isn't responsible for casting a pall over the Era of Good Feeling ushered in by Mike Holmgren. ... [The coaching staff will] be judged on what kind of adjustments are made during the course of the game. -- Bud Shaw, Plain Dealer

None of this is about to change until the Browns learn to make adjustments and play some offense in the second half. -- Terry Pluto, Plain Dealer

[T]he lack of vision, game-day management and decisions have significantly contributed to the Browns woes. -- Lane Adkins, Orange and Brown Report

Cleveland struggles making adjustments after intermission as it blew it's second straight lead in the second half. -- James Walker, ESPN

Mangini and his staff ... seemed clearly outcoached by the Chiefs' Todd Haley and his staff. ... [T]he team seems paralyzed by overanalysis.* -- Marla Ridenour, Beacon Journal

Of course it would be a lot different if any of the accusers could make a persuasive explanation for why yesterday's second-half performance was better explained by a lack of adjustments by the coaching staff than by a glaring lack of talented offensive playmakers, or a general (also glaring) failure to execute the plays that were called (including the small matter of giving the Chiefs 13 points with two turnovers and a missed 42-yard field goal). But we've searched high and low, and failed to come up with even one.**

How could it be any simpler? When you're in the NFL, Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme are your quarterbacks, and Mohammed Massaquoi is your top receiving threat, you're not the adjuster, you're the adjustee. What more can realistically be expected from a team coming off a season in which it ranked worst in the NFL in total offense and whose only upgrades were an above average tight end and a pair of journeyman quarterbacks? Why is it anything but natural that a team with such limited ammunition would have a harder time as a game goes on and its bullets are depleted?*** How could anyone reasonably expect this team to win after handing 13 points to the Chiefs on turnovers and a missed field goal?

If anyone was in a position to make adjustments at halftime it was the Chiefs, and they did.

It shouldn't be surprising that the offensively-limited Browns weren't able to push them up and down the field. Kansas City backs up a front seven populated by three first-rounders (Glenn Dorsey, Tamba Hali, and Derrick Johnson) with another in Eric Berry at safety, and bookends in one of the most talented young cornerback tandems in the league, Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr. The Chiefs, like the Bucs the week before, continued to stack the box and dared the Browns to throw the ball. You don't have to take my word for it, here's Adkins again, this time making all kinds of sense at the OBR:

On numerous occasions during the Browns two games this season, defenses have flowed linebackers and safeties toward the box, challenging the Browns to beat them over the top. Little respect has been shown for the Browns passing offense and receivers. . . . The lack of true speed on the offensive side of the ball is evident. Without threatening speed, teams have cheated on coverage and scheme and will continue to do so. Teams have locked-up in man coverage often against the Browns and been successful.

Those wondering why the Browns couldn't keep it going in the second half should consider that their first-half scoring boiled down to a mere three plays: A 23-yard screen pass to Harrison and a 44-yard pass to a wide-open Ben Watson on a coverage breakdown that made up most of a 98-yard touchdown drive; and the 65-yard bomb to Cribbs made possible by Berry biting on the play action. All that's left for the Chiefs to do is tell Berry to stay cool on the play action, tell somebody to cover the tight end, and keep an eye out for the screens (which themselves can only work so many times for a team that's no threat to throw downfield). There. Adjusted. It's the sort of things that the Browns coaching staff should be given credit for exploiting even once.

Yet still the Browns might have pulled it off, even despite the turnovers and missed field goal, if a few plays would have gone differently. Let's break down each of the team's four second-half drives to take a closer look at the charge that this loss is substantially attributable to a failure to make adjustments on the part of the coaching staff.

Drive 1: The Browns had moved the ball into Chiefs territory with 1st-and-10 at the 46. Here Harrison gets the ball twice and gains two yards. Are these demonstrably bad play calls? Hard to say, especially given all the complaints that the team didn't hand the ball off enough yesterday (or the week before in Tampa). But still, a 3rd-and-8 was doable if Wallace didn't overthrow an open Robiskie streaking down the sideline.

The Production Services Department apologizes for the lack of high-def images here**** and wants you to know that it's the coaching staff's fault that an 8-year backup with barely a season's worth of career starts under his belt missed on this throw. You get the picture. Also note that the receiver breaking into the right flat might have had an angle on the first down with a good throw.

Drive 2: Once again the Browns are moving along after a first down when Lawrence Vickers gets hit on a close call for holding to negate a first down run by Wallace and set up a 2nd-and-13. Wallace is flushed from the pocket on the next play and forced to throw the ball out of bounds. The CBS cameras give us no view of the receivers on this play, but we might safely assume they were covered or that Seneca missed a read. Maybe a run would have been a better call here, but with the Chiefs daring the Browns to throw and the Browns having failed to execute the run on the last drive, it's hard to second-guess a pass play on 2nd-and-long. On 3rd-and-13, Hillis jumps to set up an impossible 3rd-and-18, an 8-yard pass to Hillis, and a punt.

Drive 3: Now the Chiefs have a two-point lead and all the momentum with only half a quarter left to play. The Stadium crowd was reeling toward a state of grim resignation. The first-down call was a pass and the receiver was open. Wallace threw the ball in the dirt to set up another second and long:

Coaches' fault? Anyway, 2nd-and-long (10) became second-and-twice-as-long (20) when Joe Thomas was whistled for grabbing Hali's jersey as Wallace tried to escape the pocket.

Cribbs then picks up nine yards on 2nd-and-20, which had to be at least a decent call to set up 3rd-and-11. Now we suppose we have to blame the coaches (on 3rd-and-11) for Wallace throwing the ball out of bounds deep to a covered Robiskie. To Wallace's credit, none of the other receivers were open with a good chance to make the first down (it looks like the safety has the angle on stopping the short route here).

Or is it that they should have called a running play here (on 3rd-and-11)?

Drive 4: After a heroic stop by the defense, the Browns now find themselves pinned at their own 7-yard line, needing a field goal to retake the lead. On 2nd-and-6, Wallace takes a sack with Hillis coming open in the flat:

Would Hillis have thrown his arms up if he didn't have room to run? Hard to say. But it wouldn't have mattered if Massaquoi would have been able to hang on to what at first looked like a game-saving reception on 3rd and 9.

He didn't. Game over. And we still can't figure it out. Two of the four second-half drives were killed by penalties that created 2nd-and-20 and 3rd-and-20 situations. We suppose the coaching staff can take some blame for veterans like Thomas, Vickers and Hillis committing key penalties, but there's no way to call that a failure to make adjustments. Whatever anyone thinks about this team's talent, there's nothing in even a theoretical playbook to allow it to consistently convert on 2nd-and-20 and 3rd-and-10.

So the best the "adjustment" crowd can do is point to the first and last drives of the half where it's clear that better execution would have vindicated the plays that were called (Robiskie was wide open; Massaquoi had that last pass).

This is a team that had the worst offense in the NFL last season, with only an above-average tight end and a pair of cast-off quarterbacks as key additions. Mohammed Massaquoi is its number-one receiver, and an 8-year career backup with less than a full season of career starts was its starting quarterback yesterday, yet it still nearly managed to pull one off despite giving 13 points to its opponent with turnovers and a missed field goal. Blaming the loss more on a lack of second-half adjustments than a lack of talent or execution falls somewhere between lunacy and dishonesty.

A proper rebuild on the order that's necessary here wasn't going to happen overnight, nor is grooming a quarterback of the future that almost certainly isn't even here yet. Speed on offense and athleticism in the front seven are major holes that will be easier to fill, and will make it increasingly easier to wait. In the meantime all we can do is hope that the pieces that are here continue to develop, and cut down on the backbreaking mistakes.

Seneca Wallace's play yesterday, like with Delhomme's the week before, both has as much as anything to do with the bitter taste we have in our mouths today, and no significant effect on the overall development of this football team. As disappointing as the mistake-filled losses have been, it helps to remember that it's really all just going to the same place.

----------

*It's funny when someone who's so routinely guilty of paralyzing others with underanalysis accuses someone else of being paralyzed by overanalysis. Like ten-thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.

**Adkins comes the closest to coming up with any kind of viable alternative second-half plan. Specifically he says that the tight ends might be better deployed vertically. OK. Maybe. He also says that "when teams provide over-the-top help, the Browns play-calling or QB awareness has not led them toward an open receiver in the soft spot of the zone." One thing we want to know here is whether the receivers are actually in these theoretical soft spots. But yeah, sure, Coach, look into this. (In the meantime, we'll blame the QBs.)

What doesn't make sense is Adkins' criticism of the offense for "flip-flopping between the run and pass" since we're not sure what else a football team is supposed to do with its offense.

Anyway, we're sure that another good plan is for the quarterbacks to stop throwing pick-sixes and start making more good throws to open receivers, and for the rest of the Browns to realize that this offense isn't good enough to afford fumbles and penalties. Also, Phil Dawson can start hitting perfectly blocked sub-45 yard field goals any time now.

***(UPDATE: As if on cue, Bernie Kosar was just talking to Reghi and Roda on KNR explaining: "It's impossible to trick or outscheme an opponent for more than one half in the NFL. At some point you have to be able to man up and beat somebody ... . You're going to have a really hard time if you don't have a receiver who can consistently make plays in one-on-one coverage. ... We're not good enough to make mistakes and then come back and dial up another play." In other words, the Browns simply ran out of bullets.)

****The Zapruder-effect works fine here, no matter what the Production Services Dept. wants to apologize for.

****To end on a positive note, word up to Patrick McManamon who looks to have come a long way regarding Coach Mangini:

"A coach of a rebuilding team with little talent probably should not be on the hot seat ..."

He also gave us this, from Chiefs head coach Todd Haley:

"That's a good team we played," Haley said. "They are fighting, fighting to play out there. It is evident they are a good team."

We'll take it. A fight is all we're really asking for. Bring on the evil ratbirds.
Labels: 2010 NFL, Abdication of Journalistic Responsibility, Brian Daboll, Browns, Dumb Dumb Dumb, Eric Mangini, Mike Holmgren, Seneca Wallace

[Greythan]

Really really interesting read. It makes me wish I had both the team's game films and a lot of time on my hands.

Also, gotta love Bernie's take. I know I'm a complete homer when it comes to number 19, but man his analysis is always spot on (to me ).

[DeadWombat]

why yesterday's second-half performance was better explained by a lack of adjustments by the coaching staff than by a glaring lack of talented offensive playmakers,

IMO the writer seemed to pick and choose what plays to analyze and then claim "look at my evidence that the loss is our lack of talent!" I could very easily do the same pick-and-choose and make the bad playcalling/lack of adjustment argument. I'm not suggesting that we're fine on the talent side of things though... but we sure as hell could be performing better than we are. In any sort of sport you make due with what you get.... you utilize your strengths and minimize your weakness. Right now I don't think anyone would argue with me saying our passing game is weak. Yet, we function like a passing team. We don't use the Wildcat/Flash/Cyclone package except 1 or 2 times a game, and everyone knows when its coming. We call a vanilla running game. We didn't role out Wallace or let him play like the mobile QB he is. Our biggest scoring threat, Cribbs, is underutilized. St. Louis has had Steven Jackson as their only premiere threat on the offense for several years now. And they use him as much as possible because the staff is smart enough to utilize their limited tools as best as they can.

Meanwhile, we aren't making use of what we have very efficiently.

Funny that we seemed to have relatively no problems making plays in the first half..... players don't start out good and turn sucky after halftime. Over the past 2 games we've scored 0 points in the second half. IIRC we only got 2 first downs in this week's 2nd half as well, when we were previously able to march down the field multiple times.

In the first half Weis and company did a lot of zone reach plays and we beat the Chiefs to the spots every time. In the second half KC stopped doing reach blocks and started pulling guards and running straight ahead base blocking. Imagine that-effective half-time adjustments!



Blaming our loss on lack of talent is just a way to point the finger instead of trying to see what you can improve. Against a team like the Colts I would readily use the talent argument, but we lost to two teams who have some lack of talent issues just as we do. You can't say "oh he should have caught that ball" or "he should have thrown it better" and blaming the loss on performance. What are you asking for.... For our guys to go out and play perfect? You're never going to get that. Hell, the chiefs sure as hell didn't play perfect but they still WON.


Besides, Mangini was criticized for not being good at adjustments even when he was with the Jets..... Its not like all these sports writers are pulling these comments out of their asses this week and we've never seen it before.

There's truth to both sides of the coin here. No one should expect the players to magically grow into Pro Bowlers overnight. Most of our players won't grow into Pro Bowlers EVER. Roster upgrading takes time. You can, however... call a better game week after week.

[PlaygroundLegend]

-we should undertake a shannahan esque zone blocking scheme with our o-line (i think it suits them better) to open up bigger holes with our talented and athletic line.

-We need more playaction

-We need to line up in a shotgun WAY more often

-We need more Wildcat/Cyclone

-We need to run slants and posts with 1 deep route every play

-We need to mix up our running game from outside to tackles, to back inside, then back again on the outside.

-We need consistent personnel on the field, so they can develop a rhythm and learn (This is my LARGEST beef with mangini and our organization over the past 10 years, we know NOTHING about rythm, and progression).

-We need blitz beating plays

-and ;ast but not least WE NEED TO STOP PUTTING SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PLay to our strengths, play the players to their strengths WHILE developing their weaknesses slowly and surely. Give them CONFIDENCE... THEN Introduce them to new things.

[PlaygroundLegend]

Lets go steal Mike Heimerdinger, He's brilliant from what I understand, and I think he believes in most of the above.

I dont care if we make him our HC. We need offense, we need it now, lets keep rob ryan, fire the penguin and Dabbs, and bring this guy in as our HC. We need some firepower

[DeadWombat]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

-and last but not least WE NEED TO STOP PUTTING SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PLay to our strengths, play the players to their strengths WHILE developing their weaknesses slowly and surely. Give them CONFIDENCE... THEN Introduce them to new things.

A to the fucking MEN. I'm tired of seeing Mangini and Co. go try and shape his team into the way he wants to play instead of working with what we got.

[ThankyouFather]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

-and last but not least WE NEED TO STOP PUTTING SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PLay to our strengths, play the players to their strengths WHILE developing their weaknesses slowly and surely. Give them CONFIDENCE... THEN Introduce them to new things.

Indeed.

Bring in The Walrus.

[Shep]

Koo koo ka choo. I'm in. I'm over Mangini and Daboll.

[nickers]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

Lets go steal Mike Heimerdinger, He's brilliant from what I understand, and I think he believes in most of the above.

I dont care if we make him our HC. We need offense, we need it now, lets keep rob ryan, fire the penguin and Dabbs, and bring this guy in as our HC. We need some firepower

You dont want heimerdinger...Hes totally conservative...no thank you

[Tobalaz]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

-and last but not least WE NEED TO STOP PUTTING SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! PLay to our strengths, play the players to their strengths WHILE developing their weaknesses slowly and surely. Give them CONFIDENCE... THEN Introduce them to new things.

I agree with you 100%.
Joe Gibbs won 3 Superbowls while head coach of the Redskins with 3 different starting qbs and each season the offense and defense adjusted to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. He really didn't start going downhill until he started putting his NASCAR teams first and decided to retire from coaching in order to pursue his real passion, rednecks making left turns at 120mph for 5 straight hours at a time.

[Legacy Fan]

This guy gets it? I don't think so. "He searched hi & low for a compelling argument suggesting our coaching staff doesn't/cant make adjustments yet couldn't find one"????

He apparently hasn't made it through the box score yet.

Our Offense was sniffing 225 yds in the 1st half and were stuck in the sub 75 region for the second. I take that to mean we had the talent, playcalling, etc., to get it done in the 1st half, but not the second.

That's called getting out-coached. Pointing out our staff's "inability to make adjustments" is being polite.

[Legacy Fan]

p.s. I follow this guy on twitter & usually agree with most of his takes. This one, I do not.