Pre-Season Game #2 Preview and Discussion

[Paul Cumberland]

You said: situational football in preseason doesn't happen all that much

You mentioned this out of the blue when you responded to my previous post. Its not something I brought up. BUT since you mention it....they 'practice' situational football precisely because it does happen in games. Practicing 'situational football' merely means you practice situations that occur in real games during practice. So yeah of course 'situational football' happens in preseason football.

 

i think we're in agreement here...  of course situational football occurs in preseason games...  maybe i should have said certain situational football can be practiced more in camp than in preseason games simply because those situations may not occur during a game..  unless of course they intentionally put themselves in say 3rd and 15 just to see if they can pick it up... j/k

 

I said: I'm looking for Griffin to get rid of the ball quickly and decisively via a pre-snap read or quickly going through post snap progressions to find the secondary, tertiary or checkdown man.

Not sure what you mean in response to what I said above in green. 

 

But last year playing in Jay Gruden's offense no one got rid of the ball faster then Andy Dalton. Not Brady not Peyton not Rodgers. And getting the ball out quickly has been a point of emphasis from Gruden especially getting the ball to the backs. 

I didn't say Griff has to get the ball out like brady/peyton/rodgers (<-----who doesn't actually get rid of the ball quickly btw) or do it 'succintctly'. But I look for Griff to get rid of the ball quickly because that is a hallmark of Gruden's passing game going back to Cinci. And Griff showed in the Pats game that he has taken heed to the mantra of quickly going through the reads and getting the ball to the checkdown, perhaps even to a fault. But I didn't see Griffin throwing quick to the first read which is a hallmark of a good pre-snap read and its something I'm going to look for.

 

hope you're right and griff does well with his reads (pre and post snap) all season long.  it certainly was encouraging knowing he went through his progressions fairly quickly to get to his check down in the 1st preseason game.  with a full quarter in tonight's game, we should get a better idea of his progress in this area, imho.   just out of curiosity, do you know if dalton, in his 1st year with gruden, was as fast getting the ball out as he was last year?  it may take griff some time for him to get to that quickness since this is year 1 with gruden.

[HtownRocks111]

I think Cleveland is setting up Manziel to be their #1.  So they want both QBs to get a chance with the 1's, so they're going to let Hoyer face our 1's and let Johnny face our 2's?  Come on, I want to see what Johnny has against Orakpo, Kerrigan, Chris Baker, Dhall, Amerson, and Ryan Clark....

 

Produce against those guys a few plays and earn that starting job.  Kyle Shanny is all too familiar of the feeling you have when your franchise QB taking hits.  It's not easy for the fans either!

[gaskinsfan]

I hope our D gets a good shot on Johnny Football, Orakpo blasts him to the turf causing a fumble. Haslett vs. Kyle Shanahan for at least the first half should be entertaining. 

 

Another is the commentary of Jon Gruden, and how he critiques the QB position. Jon may have insight to the real feelings of Jay's assessment of the QB position so far. Of course in the end it is "RG3's job to lose" (Jay's words), but Jay Gruden has been refreshingly candid about his opinion of RG3's performance. He has not had much to say about Cousin's performance, other than he's handled himself like a pro and he likes his work ethic. So while its hard to read Jay's real feelings about Cousins' QB performance, he may have shared it with his brother, and it may show up in some comment Jon makes during the game. 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I hope our D gets a good shot on Johnny Football, Orakpo blasts him to the turf causing a fumble. Haslett vs. Kyle Shanahan for at least the first half should be entertaining. 

 

Another is the commentary of Jon Gruden, and how he critiques the QB position. Jon may have insight to the real feelings of Jay's assessment of the QB position so far. Of course in the end it is "RG3's job to lose" (Jay's words), but Jay Gruden has been refreshingly candid about his opinion of RG3's performance. He has not had much to say about Cousin's performance, other than he's handled himself like a pro and he likes his work ethic. So while its hard to read Jay's real feelings about Cousins' QB performance, he may have shared it with his brother, and it may show up in some comment Jon makes during the game. 

Jon isn't going to say anything at all that would cause his brother an issue.  I think you're going to hear him basically flap his gums and say nothing at all about anything.  He'll make some stupid comments, but I don't think he'll come out with any projections or predictions.  

 

And I would love to see Rak and Kerrigan meet somewhere in the middle of Manziel's sternum.  Welcome to the league, rook.  

[Paul Cumberland]

I think Cleveland is setting up Manziel to be their #1.  So they want both QBs to get a chance with the 1's, so they're going to let Hoyer face our 1's and let Johnny face our 2's?  Come on, I want to see what Johnny has against Orakpo, Kerrigan, Chris Baker, Dhall, Amerson, and Ryan Clark....

 

i believe you'll get your chance to see that happen in tonight's game.  the browns have already said they'll rotate hoyer and manziel when they're still facing our 1's...  wapo.st/1rMOB2A 

[Soup's Uncle]

I think tonight is going to probably break all Monday Night Football records for a preseason game.  It's got to.  I've been seeing commercials on both NFL Network and ESPN billing it as RG3 vs Manziel.

 

That being said, I'd love to see big Rak put a hurtin on Johnny Football.

[airborneskins]

I want to see the Special Forces be Special and make the difference in the game.

 

I would also like to see Gano make his damn mind up on whether or not he wants to be a kicker here.  He looked like crap last week.

 

A brief glimpse of RGIII to DJAX (LONG) would be nice.

 

Most importantly... NO INJURIES!!

[Stugein]

Aside from the always most important "no injuries", I just want to see someone plant Manziel in the ground one time.  Don't want him hurt, don't want him injured..I just want to see him get the snot knocked out of him one good time.

[darrelgreenie]

 He was such an uptempo field general in college, but clearly the NFL has been too much to handle, as well it should be, but now, with the right coaches, time training and studying, he should start to be able to take the next step and play fast controlled offense.

I agree with most of your post but I don't know about the bolded part.

Griffin executed the offense asked of him at a high level.

If he was asked to run an up-tempo quick passing offense and failed then I would agree it was too much to handle....but he wasn't asked to do it.

This team lacked a hurry-up/up-tempo during the Shanahan's regime before Griff got here.

And the passing game was built on play-action not quick throws.

[HtownRocks111]

 

That being said, I'd love to see big Rak put a hurtin on Johnny Football.

 

 

I wanna see this:  

[darrelgreenie]

hope you're right and griff does well with his reads (pre and post snap) all season long.  it certainly was encouraging knowing he went through his progressions fairly quickly to get to his check down in the 1st preseason game.  with a full quarter in tonight's game, we should get a better idea of his progress in this area, imho.   just out of curiosity, do you know if dalton, in his 1st year with gruden, was as fast getting the ball out as he was last year?  it may take griff some time for him to get to that quickness since this is year 1 with gruden.

Yup in 2011 Dalton was 3rd in the league behind only Matt Hasselbeck and Ryan Fitzpatrick ahead of Brady 4th, (Manning didn't play) and Rodgers was 18th.

[Koolblue13]

I agree with most of your post but I don't know about the bolded part.

Griffin executed the offense asked of him at a high level.

If he was asked to run an up-tempo quick passing offense and failed then I would agree it was too much to handle....but he wasn't asked to do it.

This team lacked a hurry-up/up-tempo during the Shanahan's regime before Griff got here.

And the passing game was built on play-action not quick throws.

I am in complete agreement with you. Perhaps it was 100% on the coaching/scheme, but it also just felt like he either was over his head or not comfortable or both. Not a knock on him what so ever. He was a rookie. Last year he was asked to sit in the pocket, behind a porous line (and I give our Oline more credit than most around here) and take longer drops and wait for plays. Clearly not playing to his strength. I do think it was much more on the coaching and those days are over.

 

Totally not a knock on Robert. 

[TheShredder]

I'd like to see...

 

RG3 throw the ball away as appropriate....  RG3 option for a first down and display some natural dangerous speed.  RG3 hit the open receivers.  Then, get out of the game.

 

Morris, rest...not risk any injury. Period.  He's fine.

 

Special teams, not give up anything special.  No penalties. 

 

Defense....pressure the QB and give the below average secondary a chance. 

 

Coaches...show some promise and continuity.

 

Starters... in and out.  Nothing to see here.  Take some snaps and bail. 

 

No injuries for either side. 

 

Would love for the Skins to lose by being exposed to what they have always done and learn a lesson that they won't repeat when it counts.

 

It's pre-season and I don't want them going undefeated again...I want some lessons learned and something to address and fix.  Kyle is just the man to do it.  I hope Kyle pulls some gameday planning because of what he used to coach and it exposes last years hold over weaknesses.  Then, let Gruden coach it out of them for another 3 weeks before it counts!

 

$.02

[darrelgreenie]

 but it also just felt like he either was over his head or not comfortable or both.

I guess I don't understand what aspect (or season/s) you are refering to with the feeling he was in over his head/not comfortable. *shrugs*

I look back to the Saints game. The offense was uptempo, the formations were spread, there was quick passing and Griffin looked hella comfortable right away in his first ever NFL game.

Of the course of both the seasons Griff always seemed to have success in hurry-up situations (even when the headsets weren't working).

 

I guess I never got that Griff was ever in over his head feeling at all.

I got the feeling that in year 2 he was frustrated more then anything.

[darrelgreenie]

But I digress.....

 

I would like to see Grudes/McVay/Griff use some hurry-up/no huddle

[Koolblue13]

I guess I don't understand what aspect (or season/s) you are refering to with the feeling he was in over his head. *shrugs*

I never got that feeling at all.

I got the feeling that in year 2 he was frustrated more then anything.

I've seen him be a good QB, I just don't think we've seen him really look ten feet tall and control a game, like he did in college. Seen him lead a team, make great plays and put everything on his back. It just always felt like he was on his heals and reactionary, instead of dictating and dominating. 

 

I think that changes by midseason.

[Gregpeck99]

Just watched last year's Game # 2 preseason Bengals vs. Titans.

 

Dalton played first three series and drove the team to TDs on the last two series using a mixture of running and quick passing plays in an uptempo offense.

 

First play on first series was PA and a 20 yd strike to Sinu along the right sideline. Series ended when Dalton fumbled a couple plays later.

 

Second series: Dalton  ran Geo B. 3 straight  times for a couple of first downs on quick hitting cut-ZB schemes ... then hit Geo with an outlet pass who ran 15 yds for a first down deep in Titan territory.  After a couple of incompletions ... Dalton hit Sinu down the left sideline for a first down at the i yd line ... and Geo punched it over.  

 

In next series, Dalton hit Brandon Tate on a crossing pattern for 20 yds ... ran GB for 5 yds.  ... hit a quick out to Tate for first down ... ran Peerman twice for 7 or 8 yds .. then off a 2-step drop hit a WR in the flat who did YAC for a ist down at the 5 yd line.  Dalton then hit Sinu over his shoulder on a beauty fade in the left of the EZ for the TD. 

 

Dalton knew this offense cold ... changed several plays at LOS ... played mostly under center and used quick drops ... played in the gun on third down.  He  threw for over 100 yds in about 22 plays from scimmage before giving way to John Skelton on the Bengals 4th offensive series.  Demonstrated quick release, decisiveness and accuracy.

 

Gives insight into Gruden's gameplan for RG3 tonight and probably is a tell for what he expects.

 

We should all be delighted if Griff does as well ... and then relax and watch the position battles unfold!

 

That would be a fun evening!

 

Bring it on!!

[Mr. Sinister]

I want to see the Special Forces be Special and make the difference in the game.

 

I would also like to see Gano make his damn mind up on whether or not he wants to be a kicker here.  He looked like crap last week.

 

A brief glimpse of RGIII to DJAX (LONG) would be nice.

 

Most importantly... NO INJURIES!!

 

Lol..... Damn kickers, they all look alike

[TheShredder]

Just watched last year's Game # 2 preseason Bengals vs. Titans.

 

Dalton played first three series and drove the team to TDs on the last two series using a mixture of running and quick passing plays in an uptempo offense.

 

First play on first series was PA and a 20 yd strike to Sinu along the right sideline. Series ended when Dalton fumbled a couple plays later.

 

Second series: Dalton  ran Geo B. 3 straight  times for a couple of first downs on quick hitting cut-ZB schemes ... then hit Geo with an outlet pass who ran 15 yds for a first down deep in Titan territory.  After a couple of incompletions ... Dalton hit Sinu down the left sideline for a first down at the i yd line ... and Geo punched it over.  

 

In next series, Dalton hit Brandon Tate on a crossing pattern for 20 yds ... ran GB for 5 yds.  ... hit a quick out to Tate for first down ... ran Peerman twice for 7 or 8 yds .. then off a 2-step drop hit a WR in the flat who did YAC for a ist down at the 5 yd line.  Dalton then hit Sinu over his shoulder on a beauty fade in the left of the EZ for the TD. 

 

Dalton knew this offense cold ... changed several plays at LOS ... played mostly under center and used quick drops ... played in the gun on third down.  He  threw for over 100 yds in about 22 plays from scimmage before giving way to John Skelton on the Bengals 4th offensive series.  Demonstrated quick release, decisiveness and accuracy.

 

Gives insight into Gruden's gameplan for RG3 tonight and probably is a tell for what he expects.

 

We should all be delighted if Griff does as well ... and then relax and watch the position battles unfold!

 

That would be a fun evening!

 

Bring it on!!

RG3 needs to be RG3.  He's winner and needs the support to play like he has no fears.  Everyone witnessed him playing with fear last year... Fear of reinjury.  Fear of not producing.  Fear of a Super Bowl coach up his ass!  Too much fear for a fearless soul to deal with when playing bound.

 

You can be the most positive dude on the planet and the forces and weight will show you how human you are.  The opposite would be a new coach, supportive admin who fired the dude who hog tied you and got you hurt in the first place...as well as new weapons that can make your reads that much easier of an adjustment going through the progressions.  Year 3 will be quiet different of a scenario for an RG3 who can be himself. 

 

I hope he get's in and get's out.  No need to put a name on this game.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I want to see the Special Forces be Special and make the difference in the game.

 

I would also like to see Gano make his damn mind up on whether or not he wants to be a kicker here.  He looked like crap last week.

 

A brief glimpse of RGIII to DJAX (LONG) would be nice.

 

Most importantly... NO INJURIES!!

 

Gano kicked for us last week?...That 'splains a lot lol...

[Bantu]

Can I stream this game to my laptop?

[pjfootballer]

Lol..... Damn kickers, they all look alike

Was waiting if someone else caught it.

Gano doesn't have to make up his mind. We did it for him.

[Paul Cumberland]

Interesting read from the Browns site and who they feel are the ones to watch...

 

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-1/What-to-watch-for-Browns-vs-Redskins/66955df5-7c3e-4910-bcc2-d3a1ed4d8b03

 

Barkevious Mingo vs. Redskins offensive line

 

In a recent article, NFL.com’s Adam Schein named Mingo as his number two player in the entire league to watch during the preseason. Mingo’s been all over the field in both the intrasquad scrimmage and against the Lions, recording an interception and a sack, respectively. Earlier this week Mingo was frank about his 2013 season, saying he, ‘hit a rookie wall’ and relied too much on his athleticism. With a rededication to the class room and an increase in his weight, all indications are pointing towards Mingo being a focal piece in a defense committed to being among the elite.

 

The Browns generally alternate Mingo, Paul Kruger and Jabaal Sheard on both sides, but to test Mingo in the preseason, it would be ideal to have him try and beat Redskins Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams as often as possible. For years, Williams has been successful in stoning pass rushers like DeMarcus Ware, Trent Cole and the never ending supply of New York Giants’ defensive ends. Even if he doesn’t produce a sack, lining up Mingo against Williams will give Cleveland some measureable data on his progress.  

 

Browns nickel backs vs. Redskins slot receivers

 

Because rookie cornerback Justin Gilbert sat out last weekend at Ford Field and Buster Skrine’s consequent strong week of practice, Cleveland’s nickel back position is still a competitive situation. Gilbert hasn’t played the nickel back spot much during training camp. Against the Lions we saw Isaiah Trufant see significant time with the first unit, and even get his number called on a third down blitz.

 

On paper, the Browns' cornerbacks should have their hands full. Redskins head coach Jay Gruden will get creative with where he uses receivers DeSean Jackson and Andre Roberts. Both will likely see action in the slot. Without Calvin Johnson last week, Detroit was lacking firepower at the receiver position, which in turn meant the Browns blitzed quite a bit. It will be interesting to see how the talented Redskins receiving corps affects Cleveland’s strategy on defense.

 

Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer

 

Both players will get snaps with the first-team. It would be hard to imagine rotating each quarterback between series, because that would surely interfere with Manziel and Hoyer’s rhythm. So will each get a quarter? Does Manziel start the game, have Hoyer come in for the second, and bring Manziel back for the third quarter?

 

The rookie needs as much live game action as possible – no matter if it’s the first-string or the fourth-string. But at the same time, Hoyer needs game action as well, so he can get more comfortable with defensive linemen chasing his repaired knee.

 

In the final stretches of the competition, the job is there for the taking. If the quarterback competition is as neck-and-neck as it seems, the decision on who to choose as the starter might come down to which quarterback finally gets Cleveland in the end zone. The Browns have only settled for field goals in their scrimmage and their lone preseason affair. Each time the Browns pass midfield and don’t come away with a touchdown, the monkey grows larger on their backs.

 

Other players to circle

 

Travis Benjamin – It appears the wide receiver will be a full go against the Redskins. After a strong week of practice, watch for him to play some outside wide receiver in the first half.

 

Taylor Gabriel – The little engine that could. The 5-foot-8 jitterbug has shown to be a reliable receiver during training camp and even has wheels as a return man in case something does happen to Benjamin. Gabriel actually modeled his game watching YouTube videos of his teammate Andrew Hawkins – we’ll have that in depth story soon.

 

Joel Bitonio – He was the highest-rated Browns offensive player against the Lions according to ProFootballFocus.com. He also revealed to me the other day he can dunk a basketball. The unassuming Bitonio is a player that turns on an athletic switch once he puts the pads on. So far he’s been the perfect blend of speed and strength at left guard.

 

John Hughes – With all the ballyhoo about Armonty Bryant and Billy Winn on the defensive line, many forget about Hughes. It wasn’t hard to forget about him in Detroit, because the defensive end  couldn’t be blocked. Hughes was violent with his hands, stuffing the Lions running backs several times. Expect to see Hughes rotate more in the first half this Monday.

 

Zac Diles – The backup inside linebacker racked up four tackles against the Lions. The 29-year-old hits hard and his and has seen increased playing time with Darius Eubanks’ injury. His chances of cracking the roster seem to have greatly improved since the start of camp.

 

Josh Aubery – Pettine had this to say about his reserve strong safety:  “He’s a good teammate; he’s a good football player. He’s not going to be a flashy guy, but he’s solid. He does his job and he’s a guy that we’re very pleased with his development. He’s really showed up when we’ve done live work. I thought that he had a good scrimmage, he made a couple of nice plays in the game, forced a fumble, had another tackle but he’s a guy that’s fighting for a spot. But he’s doing everything he can.”

[Laxpunk2006]

The screen game.  My oh my, how our screen game sucked/was non existent in Kyle's tenure.  Should be a nice counter to the interior blitzes that plagued us last year.  Want to see CT and Lache in space.

Are you referring specifically to HB screens?  Pierre caught a ton of balls on screens the past two years.

[autoidiodyssey]

At this point I just want RG3 to have a good showing and shut up all of these QB controversy vultures. I've been listening to 980 and all of the Skins talk has been RG3 vs Cousins.