Pluto---Game Day Thread

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

Bingo!!! There are ways to offset this, like keeping an extra guy to chip, throwing quick hitters to a back to that side, designed screens, quick slants, misdirection run plays etc. The problem with keeping an extra guy to chip is it takes another option out of the offense, and the WCO is predicated on using all available options. However, to use all available options, sometimes you need the time to do it and go through the progressions. Catch 22 and not the kind of Catch 22 Quincy Morgan used to have. You know, throw him a hundred balls and he catches 22?

Not to sound outrageous, but if we're whiffing at RT again today - we might see our first sky hook pass. Okay, our second - the one to MoMass had a Kareem Abdul Jabber arc on it. Thank God MoMass went James Worthy on it to make sure it landed where it was supposed to.

[Riffer X]

Name	Position	Injury	Practice Status	Game Status
CLV
Jason Pinkston	T	Knee	Full Participation in Practice	--
Titus Brown	LB	Ankle	Did Not Participate In Practice	Out
Eric Hagg	S	Knee	Did Not Participate In Practice	Out
Tony Pashos	T	Ankle	Did Not Participate In Practice	Out
Mohamed Massaquoi	WR	Hamstring	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Carlton Mitchell	WR	Finger	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Dimitri Patterson	CB	Ankle	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
T.J. Ward	S	Hamstring	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Usama Young	S	Hamstring	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
IND
Gary Brackett	LB	Shoulder	Out (Definitely Will Not Play)	Out
Peyton Manning	QB	Neck	Out (Definitely Will Not Play)	Out
Ernie Sims	LB	Knee	Out (Definitely Will Not Play)	Out
Robert Mathis	DE	Neck	Did Not Participate In Practice	Questionable
Tyler Brayton	DE	Knee	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Kavell Conner	LB	Foot	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Brody Eldridge	TE	Knee	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Eric Foster	DT	Knee	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Anthony Gonzalez	WR	Hamstring	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Blair White	WR	Back	Full Participation in Practice	Questionable
Dwight Freeney	DE	Not Injury Related	Full Participation in Practice	Probable
Reggie Wayne	WR	Not Injury Related	Full Participation in Practice	Probable

[Riffer X]

INDIANAPOLIS -- Artis Hicks will make his first start for the Browns at right tackle in place of injured Tony Pashos.
Hicks, who joined the Browns the week of their first regular season game, came off the bench in the opener against Cincinnati last week. He will replace Oniel Cousins, the first-game starter.
Pashos was among the team's inactive players for today's game against the Colts.
The others: quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, receiver Carlton Mitchell, safety Eric Hagg, linebacker Titus Brown, offensive lineman Steve Vallos and tight end Jordan Cameron.

[Riffer X]

How bad does Cousins suck to start Hicks over him after the way he got abused by Dunlap?

Only hope is that Mathis is still hurt and that Warhop worked with Hicks this week and magically turned him into Nate Solder.

No surprises on the other inactives. Cameron will probably be inactive all year unless one of the TE's goes down, and the others are hurt besides Mitchell and Vallos. I'm assuming Greco would play center if mack goes down.

[Brown Warrior]

Shaw wrote a good (and a little depressing) article this morning too, about the offense. Neither McCoy nor Hillis has had a good game in a while (like the last 4-5). McCoy refers to ours as a "passing offense," but his bosses did little to upgrade a very weak set of pass catchers. If we're a smash mouth team, then we need to pray that it becomes 1978 real quick AND we should have found a major upgrade at RT.

The line feels like a passing team line, with Lauvao an unusually athletic RG but not a massive bonecrusher and Joe Thomas regularly called the league's best left tackle. Mack is more nimble than imposing, too, and Pinkston is a college left tackle.

Point being: We have the line of a passing team and the receivers of a team that doesn't intend to throw very much. It's that identity thing again.

We also haven't scored over 17 points in five games (I think it was). We need to decide who we are, at least for this year before getting Blackmon and a right tackle.

[Sez.EJ]

Pluto's article seemed pretty much on the money. Really agree with the comments on Taylor..He was a beast last Week we need more of that. Hillis needs to be the focal point of the offense. We need to get him off early and often to give us better down and distance on 3rd down (3-4 yards vs 8-12 like last week). The OL needs to step up..period. Wondering how much we use Alex Smith and Watson to help out Hicks with Mathis.. Joe Thomas vs Freeney is going to be fun to watch. He struggles with the super fast guys which Freeney is about the fastest in the league..so he needs to be great today... McCoy just needs time to throw the ball. He did not last week.. I believe he will find the open guy if he has time.
Hilllis gets 23+ carries.. I believe we win the game... If not..we lose. I don't think we beath the Colts trying to throw the ball around the field..They gave up 167 yards rushing last week.. Make them prove they can stop it.. If not..why bother passing at all. Just smash mouth all day.

[Brown Warrior]

Not sure what to say about this game. It wasn't very pretty and nobody really had a great game outside of perhaps Phil Taylor.

- Marcus Benard had a sack last week... and then I don't think he played a snap. Very odd. We flipped the DEs so Sheard was left and Mitchell was right, further proof that they're both LDEs, really. Sheard looks like he could be a good starting LDE but RDE is the pass rush position in the 4-3... in a Pass the Ball, Rush the Passer league.

We need a pass rush RDE. Benard needs reps this year but it's an offseason priority.

- We got the ball to our WRs a little more, mostly on short stuff except the deja vu scramble and deep ball to Massoquoi. Nobody had so much as 50 yards receiving... but at Mo, Little, and Cribbs all had at least three catchs and 40 yards. Little is easing his way into things (5 looks, 4 catches). I expect to see more and more and more of him.

- Keeping Evan Moore off the field is getting weird. Pretty soon we'll have to say, "All he does is catch touchdowns!"

- DQJ has 19 tackles in two games and many today were at the line. He's having terrific season. He, Taylor, and Sheard stood out to be today. I don't think Haden had any PDs today and struggled early, but the coverage looked much better in half two.

- I really like Usama Young, not just for the gimme pick but for his tackling ability and speed. He's going to be a really nice addition over time.

- I could run our draft right now (yes, I expect to take shit for that overstatement): We CLEARLY need a pass rusher and to "get better on the perimeter," as Gannon said... meaning what we all know, that we lack a #1 WR. I'd be stunned if those two positions aren't our two first round picks. Which means I'm sure we'll go left guard and corner.

Round 2 is for a right tackle. That's a really high slot for a dedicated right tackle, as opposed to a guy who can play left tackle. We should be able to get a serious guy there. Round 3 is a linebacker (4-3 LBs shouldn't be drafted much higher).

Upgrade Sheldon Brown in free agency and add DB depth in round 4. Skrine and Patterson are keepers.

[Riffer X]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Not sure what to say about this game. It wasn't very pretty and nobody really had a great game outside of perhaps Phil Taylor.

- Marcus Benard had a sack last week... and then I don't think he played a snap. Very odd. We flipped the DEs so Sheard was left and Mitchell was right, further proof that they're both LDEs, really. Sheard looks like he could be a good starting LDE but RDE is the pass rush position in the 4-3... in a Pass the Ball, Rush the Passer league.

We need a pass rush RDE. Benard needs reps this year but it's an offseason priority.

- We got the ball to our WRs a little more, mostly on short stuff except the deja vu scramble and deep ball to Massoquoi. Nobody had so much as 50 yards receiving... but at Mo, Little, and Cribbs all had at least three catchs and 40 yards. Little is easing his way into things (5 looks, 4 catches). I expect to see more and more and more of him.

- Keeping Evan Moore off the field is getting weird. Pretty soon we'll have to say, "All he does is catch touchdowns!"

- DQJ has 19 tackles in two games and many today were at the line. He's having terrific season. He, Taylor, and Sheard stood out to be today. I don't think Haden had any PDs today and struggled early, but the coverage looked much better in half two.

- I really like Usama Young, not just for the gimme pick but for his tackling ability and speed. He's going to be a really nice addition over time.

- I could run our draft right now (yes, I expect to take shit for that overstatement): We CLEARLY need a pass rusher and to "get better on the perimeter," as Gannon said... meaning what we all know, that we lack a #1 WR. I'd be stunned if those two positions aren't our two first round picks. Which means I'm sure we'll go left guard and corner.

Round 2 is for a right tackle. That's a really high slot for a dedicated right tackle, as opposed to a guy who can play left tackle. We should be able to get a serious guy there. Round 3 is a linebacker (4-3 LBs shouldn't be drafted much higher).

Upgrade Sheldon Brown in free agency and add DB depth in round 4. Skrine and Patterson are keepers.

Shep, I am very impressed by this post of yours. This is the Shep that is good, the guy talking football and commenting on what actually happened. I didn't get an opinion of you just tryig to be right out of this, I sense true fandom

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Not sure what to say about this game. It wasn't very pretty and nobody really had a great game outside of perhaps Phil Taylor.

- Marcus Benard had a sack last week... and then I don't think he played a snap. Very odd. We flipped the DEs so Sheard was left and Mitchell was right, further proof that they're both LDEs, really. Sheard looks like he could be a good starting LDE but RDE is the pass rush position in the 4-3... in a Pass the Ball, Rush the Passer league.

We need a pass rush RDE. Benard needs reps this year but it's an offseason priority.

- We got the ball to our WRs a little more, mostly on short stuff except the deja vu scramble and deep ball to Massoquoi. Nobody had so much as 50 yards receiving... but at Mo, Little, and Cribbs all had at least three catchs and 40 yards. Little is easing his way into things (5 looks, 4 catches). I expect to see more and more and more of him.

- Keeping Evan Moore off the field is getting weird. Pretty soon we'll have to say, "All he does is catch touchdowns!"

- DQJ has 19 tackles in two games and many today were at the line. He's having terrific season. He, Taylor, and Sheard stood out to be today. I don't think Haden had any PDs today and struggled early, but the coverage looked much better in half two.

- I really like Usama Young, not just for the gimme pick but for his tackling ability and speed. He's going to be a really nice addition over time.

- I could run our draft right now (yes, I expect to take shit for that overstatement): We CLEARLY need a pass rusher and to "get better on the perimeter," as Gannon said... meaning what we all know, that we lack a #1 WR. I'd be stunned if those two positions aren't our two first round picks. Which means I'm sure we'll go left guard and corner.

Round 2 is for a right tackle. That's a really high slot for a dedicated right tackle, as opposed to a guy who can play left tackle. We should be able to get a serious guy there. Round 3 is a linebacker (4-3 LBs shouldn't be drafted much higher).

Upgrade Sheldon Brown in free agency and add DB depth in round 4. Skrine and Patterson are keepers.

I'm going to agree with Riff, and also offer an aopolgy since this was posted in a similar time frame to your posts in my thread. Doesn't mean I think you were right for posting it.

now on to some meat. and I'll start with the one you think you'll get attacked for, the part I bolded.

I actually think you could run next years draft. and I think you're right, WR and pass rush are probably 1st round picks, RT being the next most important on the list. and I think you can mix and match upgraded LB and DB with draft or FA depending on who they like when they are available. Where we would disagree is that I don't think our front office failed for not getting that WR this year. And that I don't think trading a Donny Avery for Brian Robiskie is all that big of an upgrade especially when you want to get Little and maybe Norwood or Mitchell more experiance this year.

As for Moore, there is obviously a reason they don't think they can make him just a reciever, and he's too much of a liablility in the run game to have him out there full time. Sometimes I don't think it's bad to have a guy who's a situational player that you bring in to catch TDs in the redzone ect.

[Brown Warrior]

It's all good, Golf. I really meant to be just "teasing" about our Robiskie bet, not being a big horking tool. In fact, the entire Robiskie thing is so inconsequential, in my head and typing fingertips, it's more like what we call a "comedic runner" in the TV biz.

But I think stuff doesn't always translate over the Interwebs. My brother-in-law and I poke and prod each other all the time about who's more right-er, and it's blatantly obvious it's all bullshit and neither of us is really right enough to claim anything. I don't see it as anything more serious here, really.

Sorry if it comes off otherwise, but please know... I'm just funning. Truly. I'm wrong a TON, man. Aside from the absurd posturing I do to get laughs or at least eye rolls, I do know that!!

[Sez.EJ]

Jabaal Sheard was moved to left end in Sunday's win over the Colts. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Both Sheard and Jayme Mitchell like to play on the left side, creating an issue. But Mitchell was moved to the right yesterday and it paid dividends. Sheard was everywhere, recording his first sack, first forced fumble and first fumble recovery. He also stuffed Delone Carter for a big five-yard loss that forced a field goal in the third quarter.

I thought he looked much better and more comfortable this week also. The stuff of carter on 3rd and short was VERY impressive. I also saw he weill be working on the left side now.. Time will tell. I am always a fan of changing it up.

The Browns will keep Jayme Mitchell at right defensive end with rookie Jabaal Sheard at left defensive end going forward. Mary Kay Cabot on Twitter

Mitchell is more of a long-bodied run-defender type at 6-foot-6, 285, but the Browns want to keep Sheard at his natural position. Through two games, Mitchell has 7 tackles (6 solo) without a big play. Sheard has 8 tackles (7 solo), and is coming off a breakout game against the Colts with a sack and forced fumble. He's the far more explosive rusher and better IDP target.

[Riffer X]

I don't care where Mitchell likes to play, he should appreciate the right side.

Sheard has found a home on the left it looks like.