Browns Game Thoughts

[Vader]

We are young on defense. New faces. Its going to take time. As the season continues they will improve.. Also that was one of the Best Olines in football. When they absolutely had to they stepped up which is an improvement over last year. Rather get it wrong and still win then the opposite. Bring on the Ravens.

New faces? Everything can't be blamed on that. Ike and Troy are on their last legs. Heyward is on his 4th year. As I've said before. This team isn't much different than last year. Shazier is starting which is the only major difference. The DL is exactly the same. Keisel, McClendon and Heyward. Mitchell is new but he isn't inexperienced. There is less turnover on this defense than most people think. You have the same DL, CBs, 3 out of 4 LBs and 1 out of 2 safeties. They had the same issues last year. They struggle with the run and can be spread out.

 

[Roy92040]

My thoughts are that the officials were trying to even out the playing field. In the first half there wasn't hardly any penalties then bodda bing bodda bang someone decided the only way to make the game look respectable was to slow the Steelers down a little. Once the momentum had changed it was clear sailing for the Brownies.

 

[Litos]

The Steelers just wanted to show us fans what's the worst and best they can do. So they made us feel like SB contenders for a half, to then make us feel miserable, test our cardiac status and finally bring us back for a win with a game ending drive. The rollercoaster is on, who rides?

 

[Vader]

My thoughts are that the officials were trying to even out the playing field. In the first half there wasn't hardly any penalties then bodda bing bodda bang someone decided the only way to make the game look respectable was to slow the Steelers down a little. Once the momentum had changed it was clear sailing for the Brownies.

I didn't see that. I saw the clowns start throwing more and going to a no huddle offense. The officials didn't tell Gilbert to get pushed around like a rag doll on roller skates.

 

[Superman]

wha?

when I opined we should take Kouandijo, I was told that to replace Beachum would be asinine. Apparently the Wonder Twins of Adams/Gilbert would be just fine for the RT position. I mean, our SOP is to draft a guy for RT duties, in most recent years.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

The browns gashed the steelers with zone runs. This has been a weakness for years with the steelers. Even when the run defense was best in the league, you could have some success with zone runs. That was because the steelers rarely saw it.

the disturbing part now, is that the steelers themselves use zone runs on offense, so this defense has practiced against it for months. They see it every day in practice and still look clueless on how to stop it.

 

[Idioteque]

His patience and vision is amazing. That TD run was extraordinary.

Bell truly has the look of a special player.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

wha?

when I opined we should take Kouandijo, I was told that to replace Beachum would be asinine. Apparently the Wonder Twins of Adams/Gilbert would be just fine for the RT position. I mean, our SOP is to draft a guy for RT duties, in most recent years.

Kou was inactive for Buffalo. He can't play LT. He was beaten out by late rounder Seantrell Henderson at RT. That's not necessarily a mark against Kou because Henderson would have been the 1st OL picked if he wasn't a headcase with off field issues.

The steelers want more athletic OL so i doubt they were high on Kou. Henderson would have been a great pick because he's athletic and under Munchak, he might have been special.

 

[wig]

I like Bell, but he needs to learn to take better care of the ball. He seems reluctant to shift it to the outside when he breaks to the sideline and he doesn't look to me to have all that great a grip on it. I was worried about defenders punching it out from behind him. Once he even did the "loaf of bread" move which really bugged the **** out of me.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Bell truly has the look of a special player.

How would you know?

 

[keslerclan]

It may sound funny but watching the tape verses tape from 5+ years ago shows a lot of whats happening to our defense, especially the DL and ILB play.

In the past, we were very "gap sound" with very little penetration (either by design or player discipline). Aaron Smith, Snack and Kiesel were all "hold their ground" types of players with very little upfield penetration. Now we have Heyward, McClendon, Tuitt and Keisel all shooting gaps in an effort to disrupt and create pressure (may be due to poor play from our OLBs). This wasn't necessary in the past and while sometimes effective, it gets guys moving out of their lanes while creating others. Ever noticed Keisel has been in the backfield MORE over the last 4 years than he ever was before?

Secondly, our ILBs were not asked to "shoot gaps" as much either and were very sound in keeping running lanes closed. They weren't any bigger, stronger or faster but they were where the open lanes were to catch the runner IF he managed to get by the DL. NOW our ILBs are shooting gaps and running themselves out of plays. They are guessing a lot and the prescribed strategy displayed by the Eagles against us was on full display yesterday. (Misdirection, counters, play-action). This takes advantage of an over-aggressive penetrating scheme thus allowing cut-back lanes leaving the lone safety as our last line of defense.

The good news is our DL move well laterally BUT that is also what causes the problems with mis-direction plays and counters. The ILBs need to stay home more IMO in order to fix the problem. In Lebeau's system, the whole idea is to maintain gaps integrity and flow to the ball...they are just guessing wrong on the counters and getting gashed by the cut-back. It is fixable but our ILBs need to be able react SLOWER as their impatience is what is killing them now. Playing with speed and aggression will get you a few stops for losses BUT exposes you to getting gashed for big plays when they guess wrong.

 

[Idioteque]

How would you know?

Oh **** me.

I see my stay on Ignore didn't last long, and I'm back to boiling your blood pressure with every post, good or bad. Just don't pound your fists too hard on the keyboard; they're not built well for e-rage.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Why am I mad and you were never on ignore i just ignored you. Believe me im laughing at you.

 

[Idioteque]

Why am I mad and you were never on ignore i just ignored you. Believe me im laughing at you.

Glad to see you're done sobbing over the name-calling

 

[antdrewjosh]

Glad to see you're done sobbing over the name-calling

Lmao you're sad. You should be a magician the way you try to redirect things. Stay on topic son.

 

[Idioteque]

Don't you have some ready-made Steeler beat writer opinions to post? Get to it son!

 

[TDX27]

Keslerclan, That's a great observation. I am not x's and o's guru but I do believe the D we typically play does require being "gap sound". You have to plug your lane so the RB can't go anywhere but outside. Someone did a great analysis of this. I can't recall if it was TMC (before he left us) or one of the TV analysts. I'm thinking it was TMC, though. Would be nice if he were still here. He was great at the x's and o's.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Don't you have some ready-made Steeler beat writer opinions to post? Get to it son!

You should appreciate it them more then most since you know you dont see the games

 

[TDX27]

We don't really have any time to changes things for the Rats. They will have what, one practice and one walk through before the game. They'll have some extra time after this game and unless they play much better against the Rats, Tomlin better not give them an extra day off. They need to take the extra days after the Rats game and practice.

 

[keslerclan]

As Tape aptly pointed out...we've always been bad at "zone runs". Even when we were #1 defending the run. The Broncos used it and the Ravens started using it and gashed us plenty when we had Smith, Snack and Deisel too. Now everybody is using it to a degree. The mis-direction, counters and play-action fakes take advantage of our own penetration tendencies, neutralizing our ILBs in the process. There was lots of talk about it back when Snack was playing too. He hated the zone blocking. Lots of talk back then about trusting and doing your job and not someone elses (gap integrity).

As tape also pointed out...we attempt to run zone as well but don't seem to be able to stop it against other teams. My opinion is we do not practice it enough or at all in fear of getting players hurt BUT we have to figure it out soon or it will be the mainstay for every offense we face.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

It may sound funny but watching the tape verses tape from 5+ years ago shows a lot of whats happening to our defense, especially the DL and ILB play.

In the past, we were very "gap sound" with very little penetration (either by design or player discipline). Aaron Smith, Snack and Kiesel were all "hold their ground" types of players with very little upfield penetration. Now we have Heyward, McClendon, Tuitt and Keisel all shooting gaps in an effort to disrupt and create pressure (may be due to poor play from our OLBs). This wasn't necessary in the past and while sometimes effective, it gets guys moving out of their lanes while creating others. Ever noticed Keisel has been in the backfield MORE over the last 4 years than he ever was before?

Secondly, our ILBs were not asked to "shoot gaps" as much either and were very sound in keeping running lanes closed. They weren't any bigger, stronger or faster but they were where the open lanes were to catch the runner IF he managed to get by the DL. NOW our ILBs are shooting gaps and running themselves out of plays. They are guessing a lot and the prescribed strategy displayed by the Eagles against us was on full display yesterday. (Misdirection, counters, play-action). This takes advantage of an over-aggressive penetrating scheme thus allowing cut-back lanes leaving the lone safety as our last line of defense.

The good news is our DL move well laterally BUT that is also what causes the problems with mis-direction plays and counters. The ILBs need to stay home more IMO in order to fix the problem. In Lebeau's system, the whole idea is to maintain gaps integrity and flow to the ball...they are just guessing wrong on the counters and getting gashed by the cut-back. It is fixable but our ILBs need to be able react SLOWER as their impatience is what is killing them now. Playing with speed and aggression will get you a few stops for losses BUT exposes you to getting gashed for big plays when they guess wrong.

I think this all stems from the OLBs not being as good the last few years, so they have had to ask the DEs and ILBs to be more involved in pass rush.

 

[antdrewjosh]

As Tape aptly pointed out...we've always been bad at "zone runs". Even when we were #1 defending the run. The Broncos used it and the Ravens started using it and gashed us plenty when we had Smith, Snack and Deisel too. Now everybody is using it to a degree. The mis-direction, counters and play-action fakes take advantage of our own penetration tendencies, neutralizing our ILBs in the process. There was lots of talk about it back when Snack was playing too. He hated the zone blocking. Lots of talk back then about trusting and doing your job and not someone elses (gap integrity).

As tape also pointed out...we attempt to run zone as well but don't seem to be able to stop it against other teams. My opinion is we do not practice it enough or at all in fear of getting players hurt BUT we have to figure it out soon or it will be the mainstay for every offense we face.

Could that be a 3-4 issue? I mean is a zone running scheme kryptonite for the 3-4 or the way we play the 3-4?

 

[Vader]

The Broncos used the chop block on their zone reads. Hampton hated it as did I. It should be illegal to hit a lineman below the waist. Especially when he is engaged with another blocker. I think they changed that part of it.

 

[antdrewjosh]

That makes sense too tape.

 

[TDX27]

Was just reading up on Tomlin's presser today and saw Keisel was saying how they needed to be "gap sound". So, keslerclan is definitely onto something.

Then, I saw that the D was looking to the sidelines a lot in the 2nd half and the Browns snapped the ball. Tomlin said the players got into the right positions but weren't ready for the snap of the ball. I would hope, as Tomlin said, this is just a communication issue and can be readily corrected.