I’m pleased to be joined for this week’s question and answer session by Cleveland Browns fan Ryan Burns. Burns is a co-host of the excellent Football Sickness podcast and is also a great Twitter follow.
Total Titans: It’s Week 5, and Brian Hoyer is still the starting quarterback while Johnny Manziel is on the bench. What has Hoyer done that has allowed him to keep his starting job?
Ryan Burns: Let’s start here: I don’t believe it was ever really all that close a question during the preseason. Despite the outside perception (or was it mere hope?) that Manziel was threatening for the starting position, everything I heard all along from the folks I trust in Cleveland was that Hoyer was well ahead. We also have to acknowledge that it is probably equal parts what Hoyer has done and what Manziel hasn’t. The kid simply isn’t ready, by all accounts. But Hoyer has played well enough to keep even a relatively well-prepared rookie off the field, and is doing so coming off a major knee injury. There’s some cliche analysis that is accurate when applied to Hoyer- he’s a veteran, calming presence, he keeps the offense on schedule, he gets it out quickly and he’s (relatively) protective of the football. Now, it’s also more accurate to say that he hasn’t been intercepted than it is to say he hasn’t thrown interceptions. There’s plenty of room for offensive improvement. But on a very young team with limited passing game weaponry, stability and reliability within the structure of the offense are critical, and they happen to be Hoyer’s strengths. The Browns have been in three games against what most perceive as quality opponents (Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Baltimore), and all three ended on a last-second field goal. With a defensive coach at the helm, I think the team’s competitiveness thus far plays in the veteran’s favor.
Total Titans: The Browns have been able to run the ball effectively, with Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West getting the work against the Saints with Ben Tate out. Tate is familiar to the Titans from his days in Houston (not great vision, but he broke an inside zone run for good yards most games), but what do Crowell and West do well and how have they been used?
Burns: The running game has been a revelation; a genuine 180-degree reversal of recent ineptitude. It starts up front- they upgraded both guard positions (Rookie LG Joel Bitonio is mauling people)- but the backfield should get equal credit. Tate, West and Crowell are all substantially better backs than anyone the Browns have been able to hand it to in years. Of course, while Tate is a very good player, his adherence to his own injury history opened the door for West and Crowell, and both have been productive. West is a little more shifty- he’s got noticeably light, smooth feet for such a powerful back (he goes 5’11” 223 lbs). My sense of West is that he’s still getting comfortable with the rhythm and timing of not only the NFL game, but Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. Crowell, on the other hand, seems to have a uniquely natural feel for it, is the more violent runner, and has more home run potential than the other two backs. Both have shown the ability to receive out of the backfield and have been adequate in protection. Coach Pettine has indicated it will be Tate’s gig upon his return, but we’ll see how the workload shakes out. It will remain a committee for the foreseeable future, but in the long run, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Crowell become the lead.
Total Titans: Ray Horton is now the Titans defensive coordinator after spending 2013 as the Browns defensive coordinator. How much does the 2014 Browns defense look like a Ray Horton defense, and how does what Mike Pettine is doing this year differ?
Burns: Perhaps the most unpleasant surprise for Browns fans in 2013 was the inability of Ray Horton’s defense to reach its perceived potential. I don’t presume to know enough to allocate blame, but I think it’s safe to say both scheme and personnel would take some. It’s also hard to get a great sense of Horton on but the one season in Cleveland. Still, they struggled mightily to get off the field on third down and often collapsed late in games. Some of that is probably due to offensive failure-driven exhaustion, but it was a troubling trend, nevertheless. Under Pettine and first-time coordinator Jim O’Neil, penetration is more of an emphasis up front and they rely heavily on their defensive backs to play press man. The Pettine defense is a more multiple, look-disguising defense than Horton showed in Cleveland, and there has been a noticeable improvement in the pass rush, generally. But they continue to be susceptible to the big play, and are far too frequently gashed on the ground. With Jake Locker apparently returning for the Titans, I would expect them to load the box, dare Locker to beat them, and trust Joe Haden, Buster Skrine and Justin Gilbert to defend the outside long enough to allow the front 7 to disrupt the pass game. If I’m the Titans, I’m ignoring that, running right at them, and making the Browns defense stop it because so far, they really haven’t.
Total Titans: It’s been a rough decade or two to be a Browns fan. I know it’s early, with just three games and a bye, but where’s your optimism level relative to where it’s been?
Burns: With the caveat that it is still incredibly early, my optimism is substantially higher, predominantly because of the attention the organization has paid to the offensive and defensive fronts. Call me old school, but I still think it starts and finishes in the trenches. The quarterback position remains the golden ticket, of course, but much like in Seattle the organization’s model is to minimize the importance or impact of the position as much as possible. We’ll just have to wait and see on that, as we will on the new regime’s ability to build. But Pettine and GM Ray Farmer exude a nice calm that has not really been present since the Browns re-appeared in 1999, and the early returns on the field have been quite positive. There is evident progress from both last season and this preseason.
Total Titans: Is there anything I haven’t asked you you’d like Titans fans to know about the Browns?
Burns: This team could easily be 3-0 or 0-3 right now, but had they merely not shot themselves in the foot it would be the former. I would expect a team that looks better than its 1-2 record, but we’ll have to see how this group and coaching staff respond coming out of a bye. As for what to watch to get a sense of who the Browns are, it is their play up front: everything this team does flows from its offensive line’s ability to control the game. Oh, and yes…despite my strenuous objections, you’re likely to see at least a couple of snaps of The Johnny Package. Enjoy.
Total Titans: Finally, if you’d like to make a score prediction, feel free.
Burns: Based on what I’ve seen of each team over the first few weeks, I expect the Browns to win, but won’t be surprised by anything. I’ll say Browns 24, Titans 20.
Thanks again to Ryan for joining me for this week’s Q&A, and don’t forget to check out the Football Sickness podcast.
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