Official Packers/Browns Thread (Preseason Ver)

[SkinBasket]

Man... How comfortable does Rodgers look. He has always had a strong arm coming out of college, but he has looked much better than anticipated - especially being a Tedford product. How much of that do you think is attributed to him sitting for 3 years with no pressure?

A lot. He looked very good tonight. Definitely less skittish than last year imo. Then again, it is the Browns so I'll continue being fair and withholding judgement.

Except for when it comes to declaring Desmond Bishop the next Ray Lewis and Hawk a bust?

I've been a Bishop supporter from the get-go, but until he can produce in the regular season, I'm not going to get terribly excited. He looked like an all star last preseason too. In games that mattered, not so much.

As far as Hawk goes, I have no idea what you're talking about "getting blown up."

Did you watch the Texans regular season game from last season? The best Hawk can do at the point of attack is a stalemate. Teams shall test Hawk throughout the season with inside runs.

So you're using a game from last year. The year he suffered through two injuries and played out of position for the last 3rd of the season with a ramshackle line in front of him and a quintet of starting safeties behind him. That's fair.

[ThunderDan]

Wow!!! What a difference a year makes on defense.

I was at the game live and it was very hard to watch players on the defense because they were constantly in motion. The old vinilla Bob defense you knew exactly what play was being run and where every one should be on the play.

Poopinga kept crashing down the line as OLB and got burnt on the reverse. Lots of pressure from everywhere.

The only thing that concerned me was on the corner blitzes, the CBs sold the blitz early and didn't back out. Cleveland should have been able to adjust and get a WR one-on-one with a safety.

[Partial]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

[SkinBasket]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

You're right. Giving up 0 points usually leads to defeat.

[Partial]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

You're right. Giving up 0 points usually leads to defeat.

Why the smart ass remarks in this thread? Am I not entitled to my opinion? Get off me, guy. Several things: They allowed the Browns to drive several times, including a dropped touchdown and a penalty on a field goal. Also, it's the Browns, a team that is most likely going to be horrible.

The defense wasn't super sharp imo. Quinn had a lot of time to throw the ball at the beginning of the game. I suspect they'll be a lot better once they get all their guys in there starting.

Remember... the Lions went 4-0 in preseason last year.

[ThunderDan]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

Really?!?

Did you have any idea where the pressure would come from on every play? You should have last year.

[Waldo]

And I agree with wist and the previous poster that Jolly was everywhere. Jenkins was the end on the busted contain of Cribbs end around, but I haven't seen it addressed whether he shared blame with Popp and Collins for abandoning the edge.

Pop got washed inside and took the bait, lost outside contain.

Chillar shot the B gap and took himself out of the play. Should have read run and protected the weak edge. He has to realize that he is the last line of defense before a big play. Chillar does not have weakside instints. Either Hawk or Barnett on that side, that play is at best a 5 yard gain, even with Pops' busted outside contain.

[Partial]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

Really?!?

Did you have any idea where the pressure would come from on every play? You should have last year.

No, I didn't, and it's a definite improvement, but it wasn't a super dominant performance as the score would reflect. I think they're well on their way, though. They'll be much better off with Raji at end, and hen actually having a #1 or #2 at ROLB. Plus, they're going to keep it fairly vanilla in PS. Also, they didn't have their two star CBs playing.

[ThunderDan]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

Really?!?

Did you have any idea where the pressure would come from on every play? You should have last year.

No, I didn't, and it's a definite improvement, but it wasn't a super dominant performance as the score would reflect. I think they're well on their way, though. They'll be much better off with Raji at end, and hen actually having a #1 or #2 at ROLB. Plus, they're going to keep it fairly vanilla in PS. Also, they didn't have their two star CBs playing.

I am not talking about the score or a "super dominant" performance by the D.

I am simply saying that you cannot predict what the GB D was going to do and where the pressure would come from. That is a huge improvement from last year alone.

[rbaloha1]

I personally didn't think the defense was anything to write home about. Jolly and Bishop were the two guys I noticed.

Really?!?

Did you have any idea where the pressure would come from on every play? You should have last year.

No, I didn't, and it's a definite improvement, but it wasn't a super dominant performance as the score would reflect. I think they're well on their way, though. They'll be much better off with Raji at end, and hen actually having a #1 or #2 at ROLB. Plus, they're going to keep it fairly vanilla in PS. Also, they didn't have their two star CBs playing.

Gee Whiz -- What would have happened if the Browns scored 5 offensive tds -- the haters and "I told you so" dudes dominate the thread.

The Browns offense is terrible. Nonetheless playing a basic scheme with typical 3-4 blitzes and backups the defense executed well.

Its going to be excited when the first team base defense and nickel and dime packages along with the exotic blitzes are implemented.

Jolly played well -- showed good lateral movement and should be a serviceable backup.

[Waldo]

I liked what Hawk did. When Lansanah came in he did the same thing. Both are Buck backers. (Chillar and Bishop played Mack). Hawk was constantly adjusting the defense pre snap. Hawk got his nose in there at the POA and made some plays, even if it was only bottling up the blocking.

Which they couldn't do to our blocking. Quinn Johnson destroyed their defense. The only back that I thought looked great was Jackson, though Grant ran with power and drove guys back. Johnson was trucking their buck and mack, clearing a clean hole to the 3rd level a good % of the time. Sutton's running had a lot to do with a tired defense getting beaten silly by our big FB.

We pushed their DL backwards all game. Ours didn't budge all game. LOL @ the sentiment that Pickett couldn't handle the nose. They couldn't budge him at all. Toribio looked real nice too. They moved him a little with two guys, but he stood stood strong (didn't pull a Cole and get destroyed), pass rushing he got a lot more push than Pickett and had a nice zone drop as well. He might have trade value if we don't keep him.

My player of the game is Jarius Wynn. Bishop's int was a pop fly caused by a hit on the QB that Wynn had, and Wynn made a nice double move to beat his guy to get it. Smith's int was off of Wynn pressure as well I believe. He got good movement into the pocket when he didn't get home. His run blocking was real nice, they didn't get much running at him. He also showed a lot of hustle chasing plays on both sides of the field, even if they went away from him, taking good angles in case his hustle was needed. I like that a lot in the DL, most of our guys lacked hustle last year. Kid showed a lot of play awareness, something that separates the men from the boys on the DL. All the physical ability in the world is useless without play awareness, and Wynn has a ton of it.

[Partial]

That is excellent that Jolly will be a solid backup, because I have a hunch he's going to be playing a fair amount. Jenkins has not made it through an entire season healthy yet in his career.

[Waldo]

That is excellent that Jolly will be a solid backup, because I have a hunch he's going to be playing a fair amount. Jenkins has not made it through an entire season healthy yet in his career.

After watching last night, I'd take Wynn over Jolly at RDE, unless it was agaisnt a dominant running team that is terrible at throwing.

Jolly is a LDE in this scheme. RDE should be able to penetrate the pocket, LDE has to be more run stout.

[rbaloha1]

Wynn showed promise -- quick and hustles to the ball. #95 was also impressive. Quinn Johnson had punishing blocks similar to Wil Henderson early in his career. Sure would be nice if Quinn is a good pass catcher.

Disagree about Hawk -- assignment sure is no longer good enough. Also disagree about Sutton -- yes he had open running lanes but also showed vision to find the cutback lanes when the play was designed to the right (as per Bernie Kosar) and gaining yards after initial contact. Sutton is in position to claim the #3 position.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Sutton is in position to claim the #3 position.

I didn't notice anything special there. I thought Lumpkin looked the best, even though I am a Wynner.

Maybe Sutton can catch the ball, haven't had a good third down back in a while.