Did We Play Down To The Browns?

Look, this isn't meant to be a negative thread in any way. So let me preface by saying that it is extraordinary what Russ and Doug have been doing in the past 4 games. History, literally.

I just got done watching the game for the second time (first time I watched it live but I had a 10-year-old daughter and her friend bouncing off the walls so it didn't count) and I can't help but think that we played down to the Browns a smidge.

For me it was most noticeable on defense. The attacking, gap-sound defense we know and love was a bit, well...Just okay.

Perhaps I am being too critical. I guess I was just wondering if anybody else thought the same.

Aros":nk46fnes said:

Look, this isn't meant to be a negative thread in any way. So let me preface by saying that it is extraordinary what Russ and Doug have been doing in the past 4 games. History, literally.

I just got done watching the game for the second time (first time I watched it live but I had a 10-year-old daughter and her friend bouncing off the walls so it didn't count) and I can't help but think that we played down to the Browns a smidge.

For me it was most noticeable on defense. The attacking, gap-sound defense we know and love was a bit, well...Just okay.

Perhaps I am being too critical. I guess I was just wondering if anybody else thought the same.

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Remember, containment of Manziel was top priority, so we had sort of a 'mush rush.'

Meh, I think the team might have underestimated the speed of the Brown's offense a tad-bit. But I think its just a mixture of coming off two back to back 10 AM Road Games and playing without Kam Chancellor. Perhaps, the intensity wasn't there full force against a 3-10 team but I just think they got caught off-guard on how dialed in Manziel was early on but they were able to get back to Seahawks D after that TD other than a couple of other drives here and there.

Think the Browns came ready to play. Had a good gameplan, played hard, were patient and had some time consuming drives. Games like this give teams like the Browns something to play for. Something to build on for next year. We don't have to be perfect to win, just good

Kind of felt like it to me, even though there's not much evidence of it, really. I mean, we scored 30 points, once again, and we did go for the jugular to close out the second half, but aside from that, we seemed... routine almost.

Don't get me wrong; I loved it, and we needed to win like that over a team like Cleveland, but it still felt somewhat muted.

Well, I don't really think so. I think you might be focusing on that opening drive. Face it, that is the scripted plays, that they work on all week. The Browns really pulled out the stops in that game, using all kinds of mis-direction and trickery trying to hit us unawares. Sure it worked for a while, but that usually only gets you so far. Like I predicted earlier, if we don't turn the ball over, we got this, and we did. We got used to all that and they had nothing else to throw at us.

We never trailed after that first drive. Sure, I guess we could call that a wake up of some kind, but really, that's all they had.

Manzeil might just turn out to be a good QB in this league, he has some skills. Overall, though, I think the score reflected the relative strength of the two teams fairly accurately. I mean, really...how many times did we punt in the game? Once? Maybe twice? That should be a definite indicator.

It appeared to me that the Browns had the superior initial game plan, and their players played surprisingly hard. There was no quit in that team when down by 3 scores in the 4th. Manziel was focused. His only mistake came when he had to force a pass to avoid 4th and 18.

I think this was a case of the Browns playing up to their opponent. And remember that the Browns demolished the 49ers the week before.

I think we're fine. The Cleveland game was a classic "trap" game for the Seahawks and the Browns played like they had nothing to lose. Still after that first drive (which did bother me), it was clear that our defense adjusted and regardless of the score, it was very clear that there was no way the Browns were going to win. The simple eye test told everyone that the Browns were simply outclassed.

I think that the Browns figured that their only chance for success was to go with speedy scripted plays to try'n catch the Defense off guard, hence the Defense got too aggressive.
I believe that as soon as they calmed down and made the Browns change the play THEIR style, it was all over.
I wasn't surprised that the Browns were going to throw caution to the wind, and try to overwhelm the Seahawks Defense, but it became pretty obvious that they were no match on either side of the ball.
I got irritated with the Browns opening drive and score, but I knew that there wasn't any chance that the Seahawks Offense & Defense were going to let them dictate the overall pace of this game, the 4 games prior to this were all indicators that Pete Carroll had decided to lay on the gas for the full hour of play.
I just want the Seahawks to go hyper from here on out. :thfight7:

Aros":xxv6d7cs said:

I just got done watching the game for the second time (first time I watched it live but I had a 10-year-old daughter and her friend bouncing off the walls so it didn't count) and I can't help but think that we played down to the Browns a smidge.

For me it was most noticeable on defense. The attacking, gap-sound defense we know and love was a bit, well...Just okay.

Perhaps I am being too critical. I guess I was just wondering if anybody else thought the same.

Click to expand...

Not taking it too critical, but we just got done watching our team hold the other team to just 240 total yards, while our offense doubled that. They scored 13 points while we scored 30. They had 136 passing yards, we had 241. They had 94 yards rushing, we doubled that. We possessed the ball for 10 more minutes.

That's pretty much total domination. I will say I think the first Browns series was more of an anomaly, but that is where Cleveland blew their wad and really had nothing left.

Cleveland played well. Manziel is the real deal if he continues to work and improve. Cleveland gave us a tougher game than the Vikings.

That and what was mentioned earlier about Kam being out. The good news is that Kelcie McCray got some trial by fire in case we need him there again later.

Plus everything Jazzhawk said above about putting the game results and stats in perspective. Any NFL win is a good win. This one counts the exact same as the Detroit and Dallas wins, ugly wins both.

Isn't being too critical what this place is for?

The game showed we still have some work to do on the oline, and I do think their offense played well. I didnt get to see the game cept redzone- the first hour was all about the steelers, but hawks dominated air time in the second half. ill watch it tonight. What little I did see is that we have our prevent d out there more than the situatiin dictates.

But its a win, we got to try out new things, and hopefully can strategically rest starters as we go on.

The real story is the game ended about 20 minutes earlier than everyone else-lots of runs in bounds and completions!

Their first drive was a nice mix of plays they hadn't shown before and they caught us on our heels a bit, but the better team rolled them.

Didn't we play a "Cleveland" type team (detroit) early in the year and nearly lose?

Oh how our perspective changes

I think we saw why some Browns fans are excited about Manziel. Put aside the hype, there is something there to work with for tools. His TD pass was a nice way to cap a good drive.

But the Browns put most of their guile out there in that first drive. They copied a cover 3 beater the Ravens used the week before, they used misdirection to take the wind out of a lathered up D at home.

And they dropped a shit ton of passes. So before we pound chest over 13 points, remember that the Browns shot themselves in the foot. a lot.

We were missing players on D, and have a lot of inexperience at one corner. So all in all, no problem. THe offense was crisp, and when the game mattered, scored every drive.

I would have to agree with you. I was actually very impressed with the Browns offense against our D. I work with a Brown's fan and he was concerned all week about what he calls a terrible Oline against our pass rush. I was very surprised at how difficult a time we were having getting to the QB. To be honest there were many times that a Brown's WR really, really helped us out flat dropping several passes which were first downs. I noticed that a couple of them came when we only rushed 3 and dropped a D lineman back into protection. That formation hasn't work well for us all year and even though we have an extra man in coverage it seems even bad teams like the Brown's are able to pick us apart.

Never the less, we played a solid game on D, but certainly not a great game.

Browns dropped a lot of passes. Dudes were open all over the field. Hawks need to be better in the D-Backfield. Browns O-Line played well.

Schadie001":288closv said:

I would have to agree with you. I was actually very impressed with the Browns offense against our D. I work with a Brown's fan and he was concerned all week about what he calls a terrible Oline against our pass rush. I was very surprised at how difficult a time we were having getting to the QB. To be honest there were many times that a Brown's WR really, really helped us out flat dropping several passes which were first downs. I noticed that a couple of them came when we only rushed 3 and dropped a D lineman back into protection. That formation hasn't work well for us all year and even though we have an extra man in coverage it seems even bad teams like the Brown's are able to pick us apart.

Never the less, we played a solid game on D, but certainly not a great game.

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I thought the pressure on Manziel got better as the game went on, but to his credit he eluded the rush well for the most part.