Tag: washington redskins

Weeden Deserves Chance in Real Offense

After a poor performance in Sunday’s loss to the Washington Redskins, the fickle football fans of Cleveland now want the head of quarterback Brandon Weeden.  They are ready to write him off after just 14 games.

Some people even went as far to say that the rookie from Oklahoma State should have been benched in favor of Colt McCoy in the last home game of the season.

Think about that for a second.  If the Browns coaching staff thought McCoy was better, he would start.  They, after all, watch both of them everyday in practice.

Still, Weeden deserves the chance to be the starter next season for many reasons.  One, he was a first round draft pick, and although he hasn’t lit it up like fellow rookies Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and even third round selection Russell Wilson, he hasn’t been god awful either.

He should get a chance to put what he learned during his first year into practice.

However, the biggest reason he should get another opportunity to start is to play in a better and more creative offensive scheme than the one run by his current head coach, Pat Shurmur.

While it is true that Weeden hasn’t set the world on fire with his play this season, it looks to us that he is similar to another passer who played in Cleveland recently.

No, not Derek Anderson, who most fans compare Weeden to because both have “big arms”, but his play and demeanor remind us of McCoy.

The major complaint about McCoy last season was that he checked down a lot and didn’t take shots down the field.  Weeden can throw deep, but doesn’t, mostly because the coaching staff seems reticent to do so.

Both quarterbacks looked like they were afraid to make mistakes, something that obviously has been drilled into them repeatedly by Shurmur.  There is a time and place to take chances in the passing game.  Protecting the football is certainly important, but being ultra conservative on offense doesn’t score points, and not scoring points leads to losses.

Statistically, Shurmur’s offense has always been a dink and dunk attack.

In his two years as the Rams’ offensive coordinator, St. Louis ranked in the bottom three in the NFL in average yards per attempt.  Last year, with Shurmur serving as both head coach and coordinator, the Browns ranked 30th in the league.

This year, Cleveland ranks 23rd, mostly because of the long passes Weeden has hit on with WR Josh Gordon, as well as Sunday’s bomb to Travis Benjamin.

In addition to the quarterback, the offense doesn’t help the running backs either.  Most of the formations are so tight in design that the defense doesn’t have to cover the entire field.  Do you think that helps Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty?

Both high draft picks deserve the chance to play in an attack that spreads the field a little bit before making judgments as to whether or not they can be All Pro caliber players in the NFL.

It was remarkable to watch Washington on offense because they seemed to play to reserve QB Kirk Cousins’ strengths.  That’s what coaching is.  Looking at the talent of your team and developing a plan which gets the most out of them.

It’s tough to say Pat Shurmur’s offense gets the best out of anyone.  Seriously, what player thrives in this scheme?

No matter who the Browns’ next head coach is, and we assume the current coach will not be back in 2013, he should see what Brandon Weeden can do in a real professional offense before making a change.

There is no problem with bringing in a veteran for competition, in case the 29-year-old passer can’t thrive in any offense.  Weeden still deserves a chance to play in a system that successful teams run, not as offense that doesn’t spread the field, doesn’t spread the defense, and for the most part, doesn’t score points.

JD

Browns Pass, Pass, Pass Offense Returns in Loss to Redskins

The Cleveland Browns seemed to have everything going for themselves as today’s game against the Washington Redskins unfolded.

The contest was at home, where the Browns had won three straight games.  The weather was a balmy 60 degrees, incredibly warm for this time of year in Cleveland.  And Redskins’ QB Robert Griffin III was inactive for the game because of a knee injury.

However, Pat Shurmur’s squad looked at all their good fortune and smashed them with a sledgehammer.

Washington hammered the Browns 38-21 and ended whatever slim playoff hopes this football team had.

One can’t help but think coaching had everything to do with today’s debacle, starting with a total ignorance of the running game.

When the Browns scored the first touchdown of the game following a T. J. Ward interception on a 6-yard run by Trent Richardson, it gave the rookie 24 yards on four carries, with a long run of 14 yards.

After getting a three and out, the next time Cleveland had the football, they ran just once, with Montario Hardesty getting the carry.  It was just a three play series for the Browns.

The next possession by Cleveland featured a one yard run on first down, followed by two passes, one a six yard loss to Richardson, the other incomplete.

The Redskins scored after 34 yard punt out-of-bounds by Reggie Hodges to tie the score.

The subsequent possession featured six plays, five passes and a one yard run by Richardson, who now had 6 carries for 26 yards, a 4.3 average per carry.

The Cleveland defense held, but the offense gave it right back on three straight passes, one of which was a nine yard completion to Mohammad Massaquoi.

Meanwhile, Dick Jauron stacked the defense to take away the Washington ground game, which leads the NFL in yardage.  Alfred Morris didn’t have a lot of success, but still the Redskins kept giving him the ball to keep the Browns’ defense honest.

Washington took the lead on the next drive to put themselves in the lead at 10-7.

The Browns scored the next time they got the ball using nine plays to go 75 yards.  Five of the nine plays were passes, with Josh Cribbs carrying once out of the “wildcat” formation.  The last two plays were Richardson runs totally four yards.  He now had 9 attempts for 29 yards.  He carried just twice more for the rest of the game, and one of those was the first play of the second half.

Weeden threw a terrible interception to open the third quarter which wound up giving the ‘Skins a lead they would never relinquish, but the Browns were still only losing by 3 points.

Richardson’s last carry came with 13:08 left in the third quarter, and the Browns only attempted one other run the rest of the game, that by Hardesty.

Even after another short punt led to another Redskin touchdown, the Browns trailed 24-14, but there were still 22 minutes left in the contest!

After the game, Weeden talked about the problems that occur when the offense becomes one-dimensional, but it wasn’t the Redskin defense that forced that, it was the play calling of the Browns.

Washington averaged less yards per carry than Cleveland for the game (3.5 compared to 3.9), but they didn’t stop giving the ball to Morris.  They kept mixing up the play calls.

Meanwhile, Shurmur allowed the Redskin defense to play pass exclusively.  It was a weakness going into the game for Mike Shanahan’s team, but when you don’t have to play the run, it makes the job a little bit easier.

It was the same trap the Browns fell into in past games.  In the three game winning streak, the attack was much more balanced.

For those begging for the current coaching staff to stay in 2013, today’s game was a cold slap back to reality.  The Browns need more imagination on offense.  For inspiration, they need only to look at their opponents today.

JD