Report cards are out: Time to pay the piper (Browns)

Posted Mon, 09/15/2008 - 00:00 by Hardnosed

QB:  B+ 

Again, it was just Ben being Ben.  Efficient,  accurate, and the best player on the field.  Playing with an apparent shoulder injury and wind gusts of up to 60 mph,  he stood tall delivered the ball with velocity.  There was some minor miscommunications on QB/WR reads in the first half and he did step up into the rush on a 1st half sack,  but registering another 113 QB rating and near 10 ypa is a definite winning recipe.  I liked his decision making on the quick strike QB sneak that made the marker but a timeout was called.

 

RB’s:  B 

Willie was a grinder.  Going 28 for 104 against constant 8 man boxes headed by Shaun Rogers.  He showed good vision between the tackles and took what was there.  I would’ve bumped him to a higher grade had he pulled in that 2nd QTR wheel route down the right sideline.  Most importantly he’s showing good ball security at crucial points in the game and showed why his nickname is fast Willie by bouncing a 4th & 1 around right end for a big gain.

 

WR’s  C

Tough sledding when trying to haul in balls during Hurricane Ike,  but the timing and execution seemed to be off at times.  A misread by Santonio Holmes early on and a dropped TD pass by Hines Ward earn them this grade.  Although Hines did rebound on the same drive by hauling in a TD pass.  Nate Washington was nowhere to be found in this game but Santonio Holmes did go up grab a key 47 yard reception that led to a FG and Hines Ward caught a key 31 yard pickup from underneath the shadows of their own goal post.

 

TE’s:  C-

This group was silent in the passing game,  but Heath Miller did pull down a key first down grab on the final drive.  The perimeter blocking from this group was adequate enough to spring the RB a time or two and the TE’s manhandled Kam Wimbley when asked.

 

OL:  C

Im usually not one of his antagonists,  but Kendall Simmons had a Kendall Simmons type game.  Repeatedly beat and looked lost in combination blocks.  The left side of the line has seemed to have gelled to the point where they look comfortable in the belly series of run plays to the interior and and the perimeter zone lead packages.  Cleveland steadily brought 6 rushers in their blitz packages to apply pressure.  Justin Hartwig did an adequate job handling the massive Shaun Rogers most of the night,  although his name was called quite often.  This unit seemed dominant at times,  then lost focus at others.  A complete lack of consistency.

 

DL:  B

This group did a phenomenal job suffocating the run allowing Jamal Lewis only 2.0 ypc.  They played fast and smart,  but with little penetration.  There seemed to be no dropoff in substitution packages as well

 

LB:  C-

Failed to apply any type of consistent pressure outside the tackle or interior blitz packages.  Although stout in the run game,  they were also nowhere to be found in coverage calls either.  A 3rd QTR taunting call on James Farrior during an injury timeout is inexcusable as well along with letting Jerome Harrison break free back across the field on a screen pass.

 

Secondary:  A

Troy Polamalu seems to be the Troy of old for the moment.  All over the field blowing up run plays and sticking a key pick at the goal line at the end of the half.  Troy had a tough assignment in man coverge with Kellen Winslow,  but did enough to erase Winslow in key situations.  Bryant McFadden had a nice game on Braylon Edwards registering a pick himself and Ike Taylor and Ryan Clark didn’t make any notable mistakes.  Steelers played a lot of TE man coverage with some man over and cover 1 concepts over Braylon Edwards as well with zone under out of the LB’s

 

Special Teams:  D+

Jeff Reed did kick a key FG in the 3rd QTR and the punt/kick coverage continued to be steady.  But the return game was awful.  Mewelde Moore couldn’t field a punt to save his life and and its inexcusable for Rashard Mendenhall and Carey Davis to let a kickoff hit the ground inside the 20.  One that was nearly recovered by Cleveland if not for a heads up play by Lamar Woodley.

 

Coaching B

The gameplan lacked a way to apply pressure to Derek Anderson,  but the mad scientist did devise a way to stop the run and take away the 2 big passing threats at the same time.  A gutsy coaching call near the end of the game to throw the ball on 2nd down and picking up a first down was key in this win.  A gut wrenching timeout call by Tomlin on a 4th & 1 that Ben had converted.