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Is This Real, Cleveland?
The Browns beat up the Steelers, and the best might still be to come for Mike Pettine's bunch. Plus, the story behind Aaron Rodgers' fake spike, DeMarco Murray as Emmitt Smith, J.J. Watt's MVP chances and the rest of Week 6
By Peter King
I’ve got a lot to say about the insanity of this season, about the Cowboys being up and the Seahawks down, about the Patriots being left for dead on the side of the road and now this, about Aaron Rodgers pulling the Dan Marino fake spike in the House That Dan Built, and I will soon. But the top of the Week 6 column belongs to the Cleveland Browns.
The contending, competent, fun, just-might-be-for-real Cleveland Browns.
One factoid before I go there, to tell you that no matter how much you know about football, you actually do not know jack. Remember opening night, Sept. 4? A nation turned its eyes to Seattle, and the Seahawks looked only slightly less scary-good than they did in last season’s Super Bowl. Seahawks 36, Packers 16, and the story line for the next week was something like this: Yeah, we know no one ever repeats in the NFL, but this year’s different. Seattle’s unstoppable. No weaknesses. Everyone who didn’t pick Seattle to repeat, change your picks now.
Seattle since the opener:
Record: 2-2.
Points scored: 97.
Points allowed: 97.
I’ll get back to Seattle, but now it’s time for the only other team that will exit Week 6 with a 3-2 record.
You are now permitted to get excited, Cleveland.
When’s the last time things broke right for the Browns? I mean, really broke right. And 2007, when the Browns won 10 games, really doesn’t count, because it was a fool’s gold kind of season; the Browns won 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 and 4 games in the six seasons to follow.
Not to say this 3-2 start signals anything permanent, or that Brian Hoyer is Kurt Warner reincarnated. But it’s going to take some getting used to, the Browns looking like a respectable NFL franchise.
“Even our fans don’t know quite how to react,” coach Mike Pettine told me Sunday night from Cleveland. “It’s uncharted territory for them, and for us. But they were great for us today. When we walked on the field before the game, there was a buzz we all noticed, an anticipation. The place was rocking. Just like I said to the team last night about the crowd and how it can help us: ‘We control the volume in the stadium, based on how we play.’ ”
As he spoke, Pettine was parked outside defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil’s house. Seems that O’Neil has a newly constructed bar in the home he’s recently moved into. “I’m going to help him break in that bar tonight,” Pettine said. Deservedly so. But he didn’t seem in any rush to get off the phone.
The Browns beat Pittsburgh 31-10, and the place went mad with 15 years of pent-up glee. The Steelers have owned the Browns over the years; Ben Roethlisberger, bypassed by Cleveland on draft day 2004, was 18-1 in his career against the Browns entering Sunday. And on this day, the Browns owned Roethlisberger. It was 31-3 early in the fourth quarter, and Roethlisberger was awful, pressured consistently and unable to generate any passing game.
Brian Hoyer, the native son, had another efficient game, and it’s becoming clear the Browns are comfortable with him managing the game because he doesn’t make the kind of killer decisions that most inexperienced passers do. For the fifth straight game, he was in the 200s in passing yards (217, with one touchdown and no interceptions), comfortable enough in his own skin and in the Kyle Shanahan game plan to preside over a grind-it-out scheme.
Not many games in the NFL these days feature 68 percent runs for one team, but that’s what this one had for Cleveland, and the 158 rushing yards showed a will that Pettine has wanted from day one when he got the job. Northern teams have to be able to run to win, and this one can. Hoyer’s running the ship so well that the immense story of the summer—When will Johnny Manziel take over the starting job?—has turned into an afterthought now. A single line under the Cleveland roster on the official NFL stat sheet said it all. Did Not Play: QB 2 J.Manziel.
“Brian is the best example of a guy who’s confident because of his preparation,” said Pettine. “He learned in the Tom Brady school of preparation. [Hoyer was a New England backup from 2009 to ’11.] I doubt there’s a better person to learn from. He knows everything about his opponent. Plus, he has a much better arm than people give him credit for. I have seen it since I got here—he can make all the throws.
“For Johnny, I think it’s the best thing for his career. He can see how a pro prepares and executes an NFL game plan. Nobody’s given up on Johnny. He has made great strides. This is a win-win, because now he can learn the game and not be forced into it before he’s ready. Nothing’s changed for us with him. We’re hopeful he’s going to be our quarterback one day. We just don’t know the day.”
Of course, part of the issue is Hoyer’s looming free agency. The better he plays, and the longer he proves he can be a competent starting quarterback, the more he’s going to want to at least test the market to see what’s out there. “I’m sure we’ll revisit the situation during the year and hope to get something done,” said Pettine. “It’s not like we’re not open to negotiations.”
Pettine savored his walk off the field after the game, seeing the joy on the faces of fans and his own players. Beating Pittsburgh—no, clobbering Pittsburgh—is a moment he’ll long remember. “It’s just a time to be extremely proud,” he said. “The big part of the success for me is that the success we’re having now cements the buy-in by the players. When I got here, when this new staff got here, these guys didn’t have a lot of reasons to trust us. New staff. Not a very well-known head coach. Radical change on both sides of the ball. But what we’ve seen the last two weeks—coming back from 28-3 down last week to win, coming back from two major injuries today to adjust and win, you don’t do those things without being a team.
The injuries: defensive lineman Armonty Bryant suffered a knee injury, and Pettine said he’s likely gone for the year. Pro Bowl center Alex Mack, an ironman of the highest order, fractured his leg and might have some ligament damage, which would put him out for the year too. Not having Mack at center was a culture shock for the Browns. Since being drafted in 2009, Mack had played every snap of every Browns game—4,556 offensive plays—until the injury in the middle of the second quarter. “Big, big loss,” said Pettine. “But no one’s sending us get-well cards. Everyone has injuries.”
When Pettine looked around the postgame locker room, loud music blaring, he took it in and felt grateful. “There’s no drug like that, no money you can pay to get that feeling. It is special, and we will appreciate it.”
Now, about things breaking right … check out the schedule Cleveland has before a Thursday night date at Cincinnati in early November that could have quite a bit of playoff meaning:
Sun., Oct. 19: at Jacksonville (0-6)
Sun, Oct. 26: vs. Oakland (0-5)
Sun, Nov. 2: vs. Tampa Bay (1-5)
It wasn’t so long ago (actually, about a month) that the Browns were everyone’s idea of a good Homecoming game. So Pettine’s not going to get cocky, and his players shouldn’t either. But if you thought LeBron coming home was going to be the only bit of good Cleveland sports news this year, it looks like you’d be wrong.
-----------------
How are the Niners doing it?
Fangio has gotten it done with a short-handed unit so far. (Jeff Chiu/AP)
The assistant coach of the year so far? San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is in the discussion. Without two of the Niners’ best three defensive players—linebacker NaVorro Bowman (knee rehab, out for at least another month) and pass-rusher Aldon Smith (due back from league suspension Nov. 16)—and with the secondary having been largely rebuilt (three of four starters from last year are gone), the Niners enter tonight’s game in St. Louis second in the league in yards allowed per game and ninth in points allowed. “We’re missing [defensive tackle] Glenn Dorsey too,” said Fangio. “He’s a really good player. So we’ve had to make a lot of adjustments.” My talk with Fangio Saturday:
The MMQB: You’re as good against the run as you were with Bowman, and you’re holding quarterbacks to a lower rating than the last couple of years without Smith. What’s the reason?
Fangio: We have a standard of play that we’re used to, no matter who we have. If you’re playing, you’re expected to live up to the standard. Sure, we were concerned at the start of the year. Smith and Bowman are terrific players. But some of our new guys have stepped in and played at a high level. [Safety] Antoine Bethea had to come in and replace a productive player, Donte Whitner. We had high expectations for him, and he’s exceeded those expectations. Very solid player, excellent tackler. He quickly earned the respect of his teammates. I think [defensive end] Justin Smith has come back strong. Last year he really played most of the time with one-and-a-half arms. He had a bad shoulder that really affected him, and now he’s healthy and making plays like he always has.
The MMQB: The guy who jumps out to me the last couple of weeks is Aaron Lynch, your rookie pass-rusher from South Florida. How has he made such a big impact?
Fangio: He’s taken that nickel rush position of Aldon Smith and done well. He’s a good system fit for us—good size and speed for an outside linebacker, and a good feel for the game. Even when Aldon comes back, he may have to be gradually built up into game condition, so Aaron is going to be important for us.
The MMQB: Pretty tough schedule for you now—at St. Louis Monday night, and then go to Denver Sunday night to face Peyton Manning.
Fangio: It seems highly unusual to me that a road team on a Monday night is on the road the next week as well. But we take the attitude that it doesn’t matter when you play ’em; you’ve got to play ’em in some order, and just show up and play.
----------
WHO I LIKE TONIGHT
San Francisco 27, St. Louis 24. Someone, somewhere, just doesn’t like the Rams. For the second straight year they play their most attractive home game of the season—a Monday nighter versus one of the league’s marquee teams—in the middle of the baseball playoffs with the wildly popular crosstown Cardinals involved. At least this year the two teams are not playing simultaneously, as they did last year.
Last October, the Rams made Seattle sweat until the last minute of a 14-9 Seahawks win. I think it’s more of the same tonight, because of upstart quarterback Austin Davis. In his three starts, Sam Bradford’s replacement has averaged 312 passing yards, completed 67.5 percent of his throws and had a rating of 100.6. The Rams need a stronger run defense (and should have one, with all those high picks on the defensive front) than the one they’ve shown so far. Frank Gore’s going to be a very big factor tonight.
------------
To read the entire article click the link at the top of the page.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Is This Real, Cleveland?
The Browns beat up the Steelers, and the best might still be to come for Mike Pettine's bunch. Plus, the story behind Aaron Rodgers' fake spike, DeMarco Murray as Emmitt Smith, J.J. Watt's MVP chances and the rest of Week 6
By Peter King
I’ve got a lot to say about the insanity of this season, about the Cowboys being up and the Seahawks down, about the Patriots being left for dead on the side of the road and now this, about Aaron Rodgers pulling the Dan Marino fake spike in the House That Dan Built, and I will soon. But the top of the Week 6 column belongs to the Cleveland Browns.
The contending, competent, fun, just-might-be-for-real Cleveland Browns.
One factoid before I go there, to tell you that no matter how much you know about football, you actually do not know jack. Remember opening night, Sept. 4? A nation turned its eyes to Seattle, and the Seahawks looked only slightly less scary-good than they did in last season’s Super Bowl. Seahawks 36, Packers 16, and the story line for the next week was something like this: Yeah, we know no one ever repeats in the NFL, but this year’s different. Seattle’s unstoppable. No weaknesses. Everyone who didn’t pick Seattle to repeat, change your picks now.
Seattle since the opener:
Record: 2-2.
Points scored: 97.
Points allowed: 97.
I’ll get back to Seattle, but now it’s time for the only other team that will exit Week 6 with a 3-2 record.
You are now permitted to get excited, Cleveland.
When’s the last time things broke right for the Browns? I mean, really broke right. And 2007, when the Browns won 10 games, really doesn’t count, because it was a fool’s gold kind of season; the Browns won 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 and 4 games in the six seasons to follow.
Not to say this 3-2 start signals anything permanent, or that Brian Hoyer is Kurt Warner reincarnated. But it’s going to take some getting used to, the Browns looking like a respectable NFL franchise.
“Even our fans don’t know quite how to react,” coach Mike Pettine told me Sunday night from Cleveland. “It’s uncharted territory for them, and for us. But they were great for us today. When we walked on the field before the game, there was a buzz we all noticed, an anticipation. The place was rocking. Just like I said to the team last night about the crowd and how it can help us: ‘We control the volume in the stadium, based on how we play.’ ”
As he spoke, Pettine was parked outside defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil’s house. Seems that O’Neil has a newly constructed bar in the home he’s recently moved into. “I’m going to help him break in that bar tonight,” Pettine said. Deservedly so. But he didn’t seem in any rush to get off the phone.
The Browns beat Pittsburgh 31-10, and the place went mad with 15 years of pent-up glee. The Steelers have owned the Browns over the years; Ben Roethlisberger, bypassed by Cleveland on draft day 2004, was 18-1 in his career against the Browns entering Sunday. And on this day, the Browns owned Roethlisberger. It was 31-3 early in the fourth quarter, and Roethlisberger was awful, pressured consistently and unable to generate any passing game.
Brian Hoyer, the native son, had another efficient game, and it’s becoming clear the Browns are comfortable with him managing the game because he doesn’t make the kind of killer decisions that most inexperienced passers do. For the fifth straight game, he was in the 200s in passing yards (217, with one touchdown and no interceptions), comfortable enough in his own skin and in the Kyle Shanahan game plan to preside over a grind-it-out scheme.
Not many games in the NFL these days feature 68 percent runs for one team, but that’s what this one had for Cleveland, and the 158 rushing yards showed a will that Pettine has wanted from day one when he got the job. Northern teams have to be able to run to win, and this one can. Hoyer’s running the ship so well that the immense story of the summer—When will Johnny Manziel take over the starting job?—has turned into an afterthought now. A single line under the Cleveland roster on the official NFL stat sheet said it all. Did Not Play: QB 2 J.Manziel.
“Brian is the best example of a guy who’s confident because of his preparation,” said Pettine. “He learned in the Tom Brady school of preparation. [Hoyer was a New England backup from 2009 to ’11.] I doubt there’s a better person to learn from. He knows everything about his opponent. Plus, he has a much better arm than people give him credit for. I have seen it since I got here—he can make all the throws.
“For Johnny, I think it’s the best thing for his career. He can see how a pro prepares and executes an NFL game plan. Nobody’s given up on Johnny. He has made great strides. This is a win-win, because now he can learn the game and not be forced into it before he’s ready. Nothing’s changed for us with him. We’re hopeful he’s going to be our quarterback one day. We just don’t know the day.”
Of course, part of the issue is Hoyer’s looming free agency. The better he plays, and the longer he proves he can be a competent starting quarterback, the more he’s going to want to at least test the market to see what’s out there. “I’m sure we’ll revisit the situation during the year and hope to get something done,” said Pettine. “It’s not like we’re not open to negotiations.”
Pettine savored his walk off the field after the game, seeing the joy on the faces of fans and his own players. Beating Pittsburgh—no, clobbering Pittsburgh—is a moment he’ll long remember. “It’s just a time to be extremely proud,” he said. “The big part of the success for me is that the success we’re having now cements the buy-in by the players. When I got here, when this new staff got here, these guys didn’t have a lot of reasons to trust us. New staff. Not a very well-known head coach. Radical change on both sides of the ball. But what we’ve seen the last two weeks—coming back from 28-3 down last week to win, coming back from two major injuries today to adjust and win, you don’t do those things without being a team.
The injuries: defensive lineman Armonty Bryant suffered a knee injury, and Pettine said he’s likely gone for the year. Pro Bowl center Alex Mack, an ironman of the highest order, fractured his leg and might have some ligament damage, which would put him out for the year too. Not having Mack at center was a culture shock for the Browns. Since being drafted in 2009, Mack had played every snap of every Browns game—4,556 offensive plays—until the injury in the middle of the second quarter. “Big, big loss,” said Pettine. “But no one’s sending us get-well cards. Everyone has injuries.”
When Pettine looked around the postgame locker room, loud music blaring, he took it in and felt grateful. “There’s no drug like that, no money you can pay to get that feeling. It is special, and we will appreciate it.”
Now, about things breaking right … check out the schedule Cleveland has before a Thursday night date at Cincinnati in early November that could have quite a bit of playoff meaning:
Sun., Oct. 19: at Jacksonville (0-6)
Sun, Oct. 26: vs. Oakland (0-5)
Sun, Nov. 2: vs. Tampa Bay (1-5)
It wasn’t so long ago (actually, about a month) that the Browns were everyone’s idea of a good Homecoming game. So Pettine’s not going to get cocky, and his players shouldn’t either. But if you thought LeBron coming home was going to be the only bit of good Cleveland sports news this year, it looks like you’d be wrong.
-----------------
How are the Niners doing it?
Fangio has gotten it done with a short-handed unit so far. (Jeff Chiu/AP)
The assistant coach of the year so far? San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is in the discussion. Without two of the Niners’ best three defensive players—linebacker NaVorro Bowman (knee rehab, out for at least another month) and pass-rusher Aldon Smith (due back from league suspension Nov. 16)—and with the secondary having been largely rebuilt (three of four starters from last year are gone), the Niners enter tonight’s game in St. Louis second in the league in yards allowed per game and ninth in points allowed. “We’re missing [defensive tackle] Glenn Dorsey too,” said Fangio. “He’s a really good player. So we’ve had to make a lot of adjustments.” My talk with Fangio Saturday:
The MMQB: You’re as good against the run as you were with Bowman, and you’re holding quarterbacks to a lower rating than the last couple of years without Smith. What’s the reason?
Fangio: We have a standard of play that we’re used to, no matter who we have. If you’re playing, you’re expected to live up to the standard. Sure, we were concerned at the start of the year. Smith and Bowman are terrific players. But some of our new guys have stepped in and played at a high level. [Safety] Antoine Bethea had to come in and replace a productive player, Donte Whitner. We had high expectations for him, and he’s exceeded those expectations. Very solid player, excellent tackler. He quickly earned the respect of his teammates. I think [defensive end] Justin Smith has come back strong. Last year he really played most of the time with one-and-a-half arms. He had a bad shoulder that really affected him, and now he’s healthy and making plays like he always has.
The MMQB: The guy who jumps out to me the last couple of weeks is Aaron Lynch, your rookie pass-rusher from South Florida. How has he made such a big impact?
Fangio: He’s taken that nickel rush position of Aldon Smith and done well. He’s a good system fit for us—good size and speed for an outside linebacker, and a good feel for the game. Even when Aldon comes back, he may have to be gradually built up into game condition, so Aaron is going to be important for us.
The MMQB: Pretty tough schedule for you now—at St. Louis Monday night, and then go to Denver Sunday night to face Peyton Manning.
Fangio: It seems highly unusual to me that a road team on a Monday night is on the road the next week as well. But we take the attitude that it doesn’t matter when you play ’em; you’ve got to play ’em in some order, and just show up and play.
----------
WHO I LIKE TONIGHT
San Francisco 27, St. Louis 24. Someone, somewhere, just doesn’t like the Rams. For the second straight year they play their most attractive home game of the season—a Monday nighter versus one of the league’s marquee teams—in the middle of the baseball playoffs with the wildly popular crosstown Cardinals involved. At least this year the two teams are not playing simultaneously, as they did last year.
Last October, the Rams made Seattle sweat until the last minute of a 14-9 Seahawks win. I think it’s more of the same tonight, because of upstart quarterback Austin Davis. In his three starts, Sam Bradford’s replacement has averaged 312 passing yards, completed 67.5 percent of his throws and had a rating of 100.6. The Rams need a stronger run defense (and should have one, with all those high picks on the defensive front) than the one they’ve shown so far. Frank Gore’s going to be a very big factor tonight.
------------
To read the entire article click the link at the top of the page.
