Official Game Thread - Preseason Game 1 - @ Cleveland Browns

I listened to a couple of postgame podcasts this morning from two well respected and tenured members of the team’s media contingent. Neither knew that preseason games do not go into overtime. That’s a tad embarrassing.
 
I know it's preseason, but the end of the game defense was annoying. I wish teams would throw away prevent. Del Rio's prevent in particular never seems to do anything good. Opponents walk down the field, not even slowed down, and almost always score. For a good defense, our 2 minute defense feels like it never holds up. Also, despite the good goal line stand, the Browns sure made things look easy on that first drive.

Again, none of the above may matter except this team has a history of starting slow and while the tackling was crisp I'm greedy.

The o-line was both better than I feared (It wasn't a sieve) and worse than acceptable. Those two holds on the first two drives killed us. Even excluding those, Howell had to scramble away from pressure a bit too much.

Perhaps the player who disappointed me the most was Quan Martin. I think he was flagged twice. With all the amazing things I've been hearing about him in camp and probably because I really wanted o-line with the second, I hoped for better. This gets accentuated when Percy Butler comes out and flashes repeatedly making the need for that extra safety questionable.

Funny to be so critical after a game in which we actually played well, but there it is.
 
Not telling you anything you don't know burgold but in preseason, it's never been about trying to win. I guess if a coach is trying to work on something, like say 'prevent defense' (assuming that's something he believes in), that's sort of the goal. As for 'prevent defense' I've always had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, like all fans, I hate it when my defense suddenly seems to stop doing to pressure and limit the opposing offense, and reverts to giving up yds and easy gains with the goal of simply not letting anything go deep or threaten the end zone. I do wonder though if it's less a conscious decision by DCs and more that the opponent is in desperation mode and simply has to take more risks to win. Psychologically, the mindset of the team that's behind is polar opposite of the one which is ahead. And that's a big advantage in those moments. Just a fleeting thought.

I only caught some of the game last night but my most important takeaway was that Howell not only looked solid (and... that arm!) but he looked far more capable than did Brissett. I don't think he's a serious threat to challenge for the starting role. And Dotson may be the best WR on this roster.
 
Josh Harris gets the 'game ball' in the lockerroom after the game.
 
Yeah, but I think playing the soft cover two defense was a vanilla way of trying to win the game. They were trying to prevent the big play and burn the clock vs. seeing what their players do best. I guess that could be wrong. They could be trying to see how well the deep backups play deep zone, but I think it mostly rankles me because we've seen so many examples of the defense going Charmin soft and giving away the game or points just by doing what we saw yesterday. That seems entirely the wrong type of play or philosophy to practice.
 
I hear you 100% and would rather they never go prevent (to the extent it's really an intentional act vs. what I referenced above)...
 
Just watched it

Howell had a mediocre opening series. Great scramble and awareness in pocket, then our OL plays like they have concrete for cleats and he gets sacked. Bates drops an easy and important pass which is scary because Thomas is sketchy at best.

Our DL looked like they were a step too slow. Chase loses a sack and Watson breaks away, and we let them drive all the way down.

I'm not impressed with our 1s. Not one person on th opening drive can be happy with how they played. Dotson and Robinson did come back and look strong the second series. Robinson looks like he has a quick step to go with the power, and Dotson looked tough and quick on his TD.

C+ at best
 
Lol. That’s literally the most negative take I’ve read - anywhere.
 
Well then, I'm glad I made your day. Tell me how I'm wrong and I'll listen. Otherwise, I'm good with what I said.
 
I didn't say you were wrong. I said that was the most negative take I've read. Which it is.
 
Gotcha

I just watched it and am being honest. I don't think anything I said was emotional but instead honest. Howell looked good at times, the OL looked horrible, Bates can't drop big passes, and Watson ran through our DL.

We have to prepare better and this next week in camp needs to be our OL and DL drilling hard and specific
 
It's all good. There's little reason to be a 'homer' these days. There was plenty to criticise last night which even Rivera referenced. I think the big takeaway is that Howell looked poised, capable, and has an NFL arm. I'm worried about the OL more than anything. I think the criticism of Chase (even though I don't like him) was offbase though. He pressured the QB. Not getting there when you're looking at a handful of opportunities seems harsh.
 
He hit the QB solid but didn't wrap his arms. Watson ended up getting 12 yards from it. It's valid.

Howell looked good, I don't deny it. But, the OL and Bates let him down. Dotson showed out though and helped him against the second string
 
I get the feeling that one day in the near future we may be arguing about which WR pairing is the best we've ever had, and Dotson/McLaurin is definitely going to be in consideration.
 
Howell: I liked what I saw. The penalties that killed that first drive weren't on him, nor was the dropped Bates ball. I don't think (and correct me if I'm wrong) I saw a throw from him that looked dodgy or badly conceived, or off target. That first drive was far more indicative of the state of our Oline than it was of Howell. If they don't draft Oline early next year, I think I'll be mad!

I'm with Boone on Chase. Even in regular season form, 1 sack a game would be good production, so to expect a sack on his limited showing in just one or two defensive series is too much. I was a little worried the stutter was back, he seemed to do it on the first snap, but after that he looked pretty sharp. On one play he was being tripled I think. The miss on Watson was soooo close, and we are talking Deshaun Watson here. There's a reason why there was so much buzz about getting him in a Washington shirt a while back.

I thought it was a nervous start from the D, which I wasn't expecting. The starters began to toughen up at the end of that first series, and the goal line stand was impressive for what it was. They got yanked pretty quick, so it's hard to tell how they'll be going forward. I'm not worried yet though.

I also think our performance was uneven because of the nature of a pre-season game. The ball was spread around a lot. I was impressed by Kaz Allen, and I think Dax may be out of a job. I think that Dotson looks to be on the verge of a breakout season and could well out perform Terry at the start of the year at least. I suspect Terry will see the lions share of the oppositions best CBs for a while, but before long they'll REALLY need to respect Dotson.

Cole Turner looks the real deal, IF he can stay healthy. If Bates can stop dropping balls and play to potential, we may be seeing hte last year of Logan Thomas.

I love some of the youth on the team, too.
 
If you have a QB in your grasp and you don't wrap your arms, you failed. If that QB escapes you and runs for big yardage, you've definitely failed.
 
Him running 'for big yardage' has nothing to do with Young though Mike. Yeah - you are right - he *almost* made a big play but came up short. What happens after that has nothing to do with him. The point most are focused on is that he looked healthy, fast, and aggressive. So that's not a bad thing regardless of what happened on that one play.
 
Are you serious?

You miss an easy sack and you think it's not on him?
 
The missed sack is on him. That happens 20 times a game. What happens after that, the 'big yardage' isn't on him. That's on the rest of the D that isn't supposed to rely on a sack on every play.

There's really no argument other than on that point :cheers:
 
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