What I saw - Game 6

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Post what you saw in game 6. I'll get to it later, have some demanding foreign couple coming to get their laptop fixed.

[samoth]

"I didn't see anything!" - officiating crew

[BrownieBornAndRaised]

*waving arms* "You didn't see anything!"- The Rooneys

[Gary]

i saw a rookie QB come in and impress me , i also saw a CB get beat up and down the field { the same one every week it seems } and am just waiting for our rookie CB to come in and start , after all were getting smoked in the secondary any way so like Colt why not put him in and learn from his mistakes ........i also saw Robinson step up to the plate and play a major role on the D-line , and Ward, More, & Hillis play a good game { would also like to see the guy we got on the trade for Harrison play some more . i like him better then Harrison already and he didnt do anything } .......... i wonder had the results been the same if we had a better receiving core that would spread the field a bit and give Hillis some more running room instead of having to over earn his yards ??????

[Legacy Fan]

Originally Posted by samoth

"I didn't see anything!" - officiating crew

"There was no helmet to helmet contact, Roger."

[OzDawg]

I saw a rookie go out in a not so great environment and not shit the bed
He played better than most of the football world expected.
No he wasn't great.
Same time he gained confidence not only in himself but from his team mates and coaches.
He showed good poise under the circumstances .
He had some good plays and some medium plays, none that bad imo.
I'm looking forward to seeing him again! (and like someone said in another thread..this year I don't look at gameday as "we lost already" but rather, wow we are finally fielding a football team)

[NDneighbor]

Robiskie was targeted immediately.
Contrary to the opinion of so many know it alls, the QBOTF IS on the roster.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Legacy Fan

"There was no helmet to helmet contact, Roger."

I knew it! I knew those Jedi mind tricks would work on a feeble minded person like Goodell.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

OK, I dropped the ball on this thread, sorry about that.

The Good

I saw our potential franchise QB, Colt McCoy ...stare down the barrel of a loaded gun, and not blink. For a rookie starting his first game against the best D in the land, he was exceptional. There are some things he needs to work on, but I think that goes without saying. He's very accurate, he's got plenty of arm, he seems intelligent, goes through his check-downs, looks for his hot routes, scans the entire field, has a really quick release, very good scrambling ability, poise, leadership ....have I missed anything? He's the best QB on our roster as a rookie playing in his first NFL game against the top defense in the league. That speaks volumes. What more could you ask for from that performance, in that situation? I'm not crowning him as our franchise guy yet, but he definitely should get the rest of the year to start. He's in the unenviable position of coming in during our toughest stretch of game ...but this kid seems like a gamer. I just hope our O-Line doesn't get him injured.

Joe Haden is showing us why he was the clear #1 CB in the draft. He's not only a sure tackler, but a hard hitter, he has a nose for the ball, you'll notice the receivers he covers rarely get thrown to, AND he is a special teams dynamo. In a position that's littered with Divas and "me" types, he seems like an exceptional talent with high character. Jack-pot.

Reggie Hodges had a game for the ages. Hell of a job punting for a guy some members of this forum were saying is the worst punter in the NFL.

Phil Dawson has never been one of my favorite kickers ...but he deserves some recognition for breaking Grozas' record. He's consistent, he's been here since our return, and I hope he retires as a Brown.



The Bad

Our receiving core as usual finding it difficult to get open. Colts accuracy paid off as he was usually threading the needle to get the ball into our receivers hands.

Our offensive line was getting abused, maybe it was just the right side, I can't remember now ...but I think Colt got pounded into the turf 6 times, and was hurried 15 times.

Our DEs suck. Schaefering did an admirable job filling in, but did we get any pressure ever from the DEs?

Sheldon Brown seems to have at least one major flub per game. I'd love to see him moved to Elams position, but we have nobody to replace him, and I think he may be a liability in run defense.

I think our best LB is Fujita or maybe Roth ...the other 2 are marginal at best. How we manage to hang in these games despite our lack of talent at the majority of positions on this team is a testament to our coaches, and our players overall character.


The Ugly

The Referees seriously make me frustrated with the state of the NFL. I don't want this league to turn into the NBA/WWE ...but maybe I am only kidding myself and it already has. It's been discussed already here quite a bit, and I am late to the party ...but I think Harrison deserves a game off. And the fact that he, his coach, and the rest of their team just sit around gloating about it truly make me think they get some special treatment in this league ...they seem to know it, and it's hard for everyone else not to see it.

Eric Wright has single handedly lost us multiple games this season. This wasn't one of them, but man is he a liability. At best he would only be depth on a good football team. Our endless blitzing is not helping matters, but good lord Eric, man up and play with some heart. Put it all out there. As he said this off-season: "I'm not going to jeopardize my career like that". Maybe he just doesn't have the talent, but it sure does appear he's dogging it.

Abe Elam seems to end up in the ugly section each and every week. The only time this guy looks decent is 10-15 yards out from the endzone so he doesn't have to worry as much about coverage deep. Again, not Elams fault he doesn't have the talent ...and we've got no one currently to replace him. It is what it is.

[BernietheKid]

Punting Away Golden Opportunities
		By Don Delco OBR Reporter Posted Oct 17, 2010 | More Don Delco on the Browns failing to capitalize on Reggie Hodges' terrific performance.
PITTSBURGH — Reggie Hodges couldn’t do much more. Four times the Cleveland Browns punter placed the Pittsburgh offense inside the Steelers 10-yard-line. Considering the Browns offense was playing with a rookie quarterback and he was playing against the NFL’s best defense, every yard mattered. Early on, Hodges was setting himself up to not only be the game’s Most Valuable Punter, but the Most Valuable Player. Hodges finished with five punts for 204 yards for a 40.8 average. Yet his excellent punts were for naught. Each time the Steelers re-tilted the field possession in their favor. It seemed as if the Steelers thrived off the poor field possession. “We have to stand up,” said Browns rookie cornerback Joe Haden, who finished with two tackles, one pass deflection and his first career interception. “Usually, we make the team go the long, hard way. We make them pound it, pound it, pound it and we make them throw routes that go back toward the quarterback. No team can just straight drive the ball with short passes and short runs. Sometimes we give up the big play and we’ve got to stop that.” Twice the Browns gave up big plays on first down — plays of 20 or more yards — with the Steelers in the shadows of their own goal posts. “Their punter did a nice job,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “They had us backed up and we were looking at a full field out there for a majority of the early portion of the game. But the guys didn’t blink and continued to work and made the necessary plays for us to have a victory.” Hodges’ first punt came with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Haden downed the ball at the Steelers’ 2-yard-line, but on first down, Rashard Mendenhall broke free for a 25-yard run. While the Steelers drive stalled at their own 40-yard-line they got some breathing room, as Pittsburgh as able to pin the Browns at their own 16-yard-line. The inability to keep the Steelers offense pinned deep in its own territory finally burned the Browns for points in the third quarter. Pittsburgh led 7-3 when the Steelers had first and 10 at its own 4-yard-line. On first down, Ben Roethlisberger connected with Mike Wallace for 50 yards down the right sideline. Four plays later Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward for an 8-yard touchdown pass and a 14-3 Steelers’ lead. “When you have them backed up that’s a good thing,” coach Eric Mangini said. “It should be a good thing. It’s disappointed to have them backed up and then they score a touchdown. You put yourself in a good position and then it plays out that way, it’s just not good.” The Browns blitzed on the 50-yard hookup between Wallace and Roethlisberger, and the good news was Cleveland’s embattled defensive back, Eric Wright,was not on coverage because he was blitzing. Still, the drive did not end favorably for Wright. Hines Ward caught an 8-yard touchdown pass with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Wright guarded Ward. Early in the first half, Wright was beat by Wallace on a 29-yard touchdown pass for the game’s first touchdown. “I feel like I’m in a good position,” Wright said. “It’s frustrating. I have to have short-term memory. I thought I was in a good position, I turned around to find the ball and Wallace had it.” Despite more secondary mishaps, the Browns trailed 14-3 when the punting game became their hindrance. After the Browns forced an incomplete pass on a third and 12 from their own 37-yard line, Pittsburgh called on its punt team. The Steelers were forced to punt three consecutive times because of penalties. On the third punt, Chansi Stuckey muffed the catch and the ball was recovered on the Browns 13-yard-line. Four plays later Mendenhall scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and Pittsburgh took a commanding 21-3 lead with 5:54 left in the game. Stuckey was returning punts in place of Josh Cribbs, who left the game in the first half with a head injury. “I have respect for Josh and what he does,” Stuckey said. “The punter got a lot of movement on the ball, but it is still my job to catch the ball. It was windy, but it was still a catchable ball and I have to catch it.”

Scout.com: Punting Away Golden Opportunities

[Boltblogger]

1) The constant blitzing is killing us. We're not getting to the QB, and we don't have enough talent with our DBs to get things done on that end. We need at least two more cover guys and a mean, nasty linebacker like, say, Clay Matthews (who I guess we didn't need to trade up for...hmmmmm)

2) We did not pick up an experienced wide receiver because....because....what, we forgot?

3) Please, no more Jake. Colt and Seneca, yes. Pay Jake his money and hand him a clipboard.

4) Is there a rule that says we can't run Hillis outside more instead of up the middle all of the time, especially against the Steelers. Swing pass to him is sweet. And could we use Evan Moore sometime before the second half?

5) Get rid of Big Baby. Turn that into a draft pick for a solid, young lineman or two (either side of the ball is acceptable)

[Enigmatic Evil]

The TD pass to Wallace where Wright had coverage was downright ugly. Wright made absolutely NO attempt to break up the play, it's like he watches the ball sail over his head into the recievers arms EVERY SINGLE TIME HE'S BURNED and it's getting downright ugly out there.

I loved the Haden pick, was that his first? Ah man it was a beauty! Was like Roethlisburger was throwing right to him, maybe forgetting which team he was on for a second.

I think the lack of a legitimate WR is overshadowing our "lack of a #1 QB" at the moment, if MoMass is going to miss time as well this will be more evident. We just need someone who can run sharp routes, maybe has some deep speed to stretch the field but most importantly someone that can CATCH THE BALL! We're now 1/3rd the way into this, and I can say the lack of a true target in our WR corps is definitely hurting our offense.

I completely agree if we can trade Rogers for some high picks (A 2 and a 3? Is that asking too much? Maybe package him with another player...) we totally should.

BoltBlogger I'm starting to wish I just copied and pasted your post because I've been screaming for weeks now that DC Ryan needs to pull his head out of his ass in regards to the blitz packages. We keep getting burned big time through the air and I am telling you guys right now. Next week against New Orleans is going to be REALLY ugly if Rob doesn't start using some better coverage packages. Brees WILL pick our secondary to pieces.

Gabe I thank you for giving both Colt AND Haden some props. I feel like a lot of the fan base (maybe just Shep?) have been dogging both picks and I am glad that not just you, but numerous other posters have been giving Haden a lot of credit in the past weeks but have warmed up to Colt after this game as well.

I've always felt good about Colt, he seems to say the right things in interviews and he has the perfect mental approach to the game. The thing is, he's a pretty good QB to boot. He played well at Texas, he played confidently for us this week and I expect he will be watching video of his picks and looking to ways that he can eliminate mistakes. I look forward to him playing this season and growing as well. Say Colt starts until week 11-12, that's what 5-6 starts counting the by week? I think by that point we will have a good idea of what we're going to get with Colt and how big a priority QB will be going into next years draft.

I think for making his rookie debut against arguably our toughest division rival, he handled himself extremely well and played a good game.