Moohead Radio

Anyone with eyes can see the good news. Two things stood out yesterday in Chicago:

1) The offense is an honest to God NFL offense
2) The team played with intensity

Now for the other stuff

1) This honest to God offense is not ready for the regular season. Due to its complexities and shifting, the Browns still seem puzzled getting players on and off the field, and getting the sets right. In the first half, all 3 time outs were wasted this way. Not just one QB. All 3. Be prepared for growing pains, with a lot of illegal set and shift penalties in the first 4 weeks.

2) Charlie Frye still stares down one receiver. The 3rd down pass to JJ was a prime example. The pocket was perfect, and Frye threw to the first option (which the CB had jumped the pattern) without even looking elsewhere. Frye threw it out of bounds. In a real game, you can’t give up the football on 3rd down with that kind of protection. Someone HAS to break open if the QB is patient.

3) Derek Anderson still forces passes into double coverage. Yes, he’s more patient in the pocket (and gets sacked more). But once again, Anderson couldn’t produce 7 in the red zone due to short meaningless passes, and a ridiculous force into the end zone that should have been picked off.

4) The OL is so improved, it actually looks like pro football out there. QB’s have time to throw, and runners can pick holes because the OL actually hold their blocks. Even blown up running plays went for 2 yards instead of minus yards as in years past. There is a surge on goal line blocking. Amazing.

5) Josh Cribbs ran wild on something resembling the Bears. Turn the cameras on, fill the stadium, and we’ll see how he catches them. This was a good start. We’ll see if he can continue to vertically return punts without blaring side to side quickness.

Here’s the ultimate dilemma. There is no doubt in my mind that Quinn is the right QB for this offense. But he really isn’t ready for it yet. Frye and Anderson are never going to be able to move the sticks enough to score TD’s. Frye is inaccurate and foolhardy. Anderson is a directionless cannon. The receivers lack open field speed and we will need the scheme to get them open in 8-12 yard chunks. We need an accurate arm out there.

The really good news: Check out this PD headline…

Dawgs win preseason finale I guess we’re the Dawgs again, folks!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 10:04 am and is filed under Browns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.