Re-Focused: Seahawks @ Browns, Week 7

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Re-Focused: Seahawks @ Browns, Week 7

October 26th, 2011 | Author: Tyson Langland

A game that was called “hard to watch” by many with a fair amount of struggle; but don’t let the score fool you. There were plenty of fine and not-so-fine performances to be had with most of the fine ones coming on the defensive side of the ball.

Seattle was coming off their bye week and flying high with a victory over the New York Giants in their last outing, but in years past they have had trouble traveling cross-country. Sunday proved to be no different, as they couldn’t muster anything offensively.

The Browns didn’t fair much better, but proved to be a field goal better as there were no offensive touchdowns scored. Cleveland, like Seattle, came into this game with a 2-3 record and was looking to make a move in the AFC North with a victory. The win moves them to 3-3 and puts them right back in contention.



Cleveland: Three Performances of Note

His usual self
Joe Thomas was in true form (+4.6) having one of the best games of his career. Whether it was protecting the quarterback or grinding it out in the run game, there was no one who could get by him. Just one negatively-graded play on the day for the Cleveland left tackle, and perfect in pass protection. Thomas was about the only player (including the Browns special teams coach, the right side of the Cleveland line, and the officials) who could get a handle on the stout Red Bryant, in his most telling victory in the run game.


Call it a comeback
What a bounce back game for Dimitri Patterson (+2.5). Last week was a game to forget as Darrius Heyward-Bey ate up Patterson time after time. Heyward-Bey gained all 82 of his yards against Patterson and caught all six of his passes on him as well, but that was last week and good NFL players make it a point to have short memories. It just goes to show you that when you put a player in his best position (slot cornerback), and don’t force him into a spot he’s ill suited for, you can get the most out of them. Patterson had a day to remember in coverage as he never looked out of place or got turned around by rookie sensation Doug Baldwin. Baldwin was held catch-less for the first time all season and struggled to gain separation. To go along with his great coverage, Patterson also had a fumble recovery early in the second quarter.


What’s worse than this?
From one end of the line where there was near perfection to the other where there was a disaster waiting to happen, Tony Pashos’ performance in the run game (-4.7) can be summed up in one word: dismal. It didn’t matter who was lined up in front of Pashos, everyone had the pleasure of beating him off the ball and making him look silly. When the Browns ran behind him they averaged 2.4 yards per carry, almost a full yard below the team average. Even though everyone took their shots on Pashos, no one enjoyed the day more than Alan Branch. The former Cardinal forced Pashos into committing a penalty, as well as beaten him badly on two other plays.


Seattle: Three Performances of Note

The replacement
A guy who doesn’t get enough love is the man who replaced Aaron Curry. While Curry would have a couple good games sprinkled in with a lot of not-so-good ones, rookie K.J. Wright seems to be the complete opposite. Wright can do everything that is asked of him and then some. He has only had one bad outing to date with Sunday being his best; he accumulated a personal-best six solo tackles and four defensive stops. Wright was relentless against the run (+2.1) along with the rest of Seattle’s defense, which is no surprise since they hold the top cumulative rating (+55.2) in that department. On the last play of the third quarter, Wright gets off the ball so quickly that he is in the backfield before Hardesty can get back to the line of scrimmage.


Maybe things are looking up
There were a lot of negative grades handed out to the Seattle offense (rightfully so), but there was one guy who played lights out. Russell Okung (+2.9) managed to snap his streak of six consecutive negatively-graded games with an impressive performance. Okung was clean in pass protection, not allowing anyone to get close to Charlie Whitehurst. The Seahawks only managed to run the ball 15 times, but on those 15 attempts, Okung did a nice job of holding his ground while generating some push when the ball came to his side. Let’s see if this was the type of performance that will help get his season turned around.


The fill in
Besides a serviceable performance in the run game, Anthony McCoy had rough go at it (-3.7) while filling in for the injured Zach Miller. McCoy was asked to stay in and block six times in pass protection and out of those six measly plays he gave up a sack to Chris Gocong and a quarterback hit to Jayme Mitchell. Besides his miserable day in protection, he was also targeted four times, rewarding Whitehurst with two drops. The first one came in the second quarter with 13:22 left to play. McCoy couldn’t have been any more wide open and it couldn’t have hit him in a better spot, the hands. McCoys’ performance sums up the general play of the Seahawks offense all afternoon.


Game Notes
● The longest Browns pass play was to backup running back Chris Ogbonnaya. The longest reception by a wide receiver was 15 yards.
● Rookie cornerback Richard Sherman was targeted seven times, he only allowed three receptions for 15 yards.
● The Seahawks ran 37 pass plays and on those plays they gave up a sack, hit or pressure 27% of the time.


PFF Game Ball
The Cleveland Browns’ defense, this was one of the ugliest games I’ve seen in along time. They did everything they could with little offensive help and pressured the quarterback effectively.

Re-Focused: Seahawks @ Browns, Week 7 | ProFootballFocus.com