@miktoxic said:

Talking about the Cowboys circa 94

@baconhound said:

wha WHA WHAT??

yep. that's your whole dissection of what that analogy is about?

both great OLines. how's the cowboy's run O doing? i don't know or really care but it's sure as hell not like it was last year with murray, well that's at least what a lot of people who know more about football than i do say.

rbs are a dime a dozen but that dime in your pocket better be made of dylithium crystals or some shit CUZ we all know how bad sucky rbs do nothing but make an O one-dimensional.

need a thoroughbred who's not playing for nick saban.

@tour2ma said:

Two separate responses. The idea that we have a dominant O-Line and the reason we can't run the ball is RB deficiency is nonsense. All I've heard from coaches and fans alike is how awesome Duke Johnson is as if he is Dickerson already. My point with the Cowboys reference was that was the last real dominant O-Line and anyone could've run behind them. The Cowboys O-Line imposed their will on teams the Browns does not.

@tour2ma said:

Well he was playing for their scout team, SMU!

@baconhound said:

But Duke Johnson is the next Dickerson. A one legged man could've run behind the Cowboys line in the early 90s

Dickerson was never a Cowboy.

@mudfly said:

Couldn't have said it any better so I didn't. Great point Mud!

The 3 drops by Hartline in half 2 vrs Arizona were all really significant. 1 week later, there were a lot of passes hitting hands of professionals that were dropped which would have moved the chains. Can you imagine if 1 guy dropped an Elway fastball vrs us - how much that changes history?

@flugel said:

And...lets be honest......5 straight 3 and outs to start the second half.....kinda puts that D in a bad spot, no?

Last week...

drive 1 = 2 min

drive 2 = 56 sec

drive 3 = 1 min 30 sec

drive 4 = 20 sec

drive 5 = 2 mi.....

So, D got an average of 1 minute and 20 seconds between drives.....so, yeah, after holding early I can why they tailed off as the half progressed.......

The O has gotta hold the ball for a minute and actually score for us to win....no matter what the D does....

@columbusking said:

When you scare nobody on the perimeter - you're way easier to outnumber at the point of attack. Teams are putting their #1 corner on Benjamin,jamming the TE and asking - what else do we need to defend? Since it's Duke Johnson (who only plays part time) they know when they can swarm our point of attack with more numbers than our line can block up front. And when it's a defense like Cincy who intercepted Ben Rapen 3 times and held Pitt to just 10 points - they don'teven need to outnumber us.

In the last 3 games, we've only scored 3 points in the 2nd half so I wish our only problem beside a 32nd ranked defense was Johnny...

@unsympathetic said:

Good for Schwartz. Both he and Alex Mack played in Tedford's zone blocking schemes at Cal so it was nice to see him getting back in the same comfort zone that originally made him a 2nd round draft prospect. All the preparation he puts into earning the "Oracle" nickname from his teammates is paying off on the field.

I'm still not a big fan of some of PFF's grading criteria;but I'll be happy to make this an exception my own stubborn rules.

depends on what corner i presume. maybe 5th and madison instead of MLK and malcolm x blvd?

@bringbackbrownie2 said:

But Duke Johnson is the next Dickerson. A one legged man could've run behind the Cowboys line in the early 90s

@columbusking said:

SO HOW COME WE CANT RUN FOR SHIT!!!!

More to running the ball than just the Oline.

@columbusking said:

SO HOW COME WE CANT RUN FOR SHIT!!!!

25th in penalties? Ouch...

@opal312 said:

No but having one solid piece in place is one less piece you gotta replace next year so the draft picks can contribute to areas of need.

But hopefully the old story doesnt hold true.

New HC

Draft New QB

Gets 1-2 years of implimenting his system with players that dont fit the system..

Fired

Repeat.

@tour2ma said:

It really wasn't hard. His PassPro technique was weak and he was easily beaten by speed rushes. In our then power run game, he whiffed quick assignments with regularity.

Now it's not and he's not plus we emphasize the ZBS. I did not see his development coming. And based upon the players taken above Mitch, I had no faith in our top talent evaluation.

Aside: Looking at the 2012 Draft now rounds 2-6 were pretty good...

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/draft.htm

2011-12 drafts produced a lot of decent players:

Taylor

Sheard

Cameron

Skrine

Schwartz

Hughes

Benjamin

Winn

Maybe heckert wasn't so bad? Sweden aside, who was a Holmgren pick. Richardson was a bust but everyone else would have done the same drafting him.

@unsympathetic said:

Great article.

It's everyone else.. and unfortunately, that makes total sense.

@mudfly said:

People have been on him since day one and I have never been able to figure that out.....

It really wasn't hard. His PassPro technique was weak and he was easily beaten by speed rushes. In our then power run game, he whiffed quick assignments with regularity.

Now it's not and he's not plus we emphasize the ZBS. I did not see his development coming. And based upon the players taken above Mitch, I had no faith in our top talent evaluation.

Aside: Looking at the 2012 Draft now rounds 2-6 were pretty good...

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/draft.htm

@baconhound said:

They do account for penalties though......and of ALL our O linemen, Schwartz has the fewest penalties.........

People have been on him since day one and I have never been able to figure that out.....glad he's finally getting his due for showing up....playing every single snap since he was drafted.....being ranked in the top half of the league every year since he was drafted......and getting progressively better every year as well....

What more should we ask?......does he have to be another Joe Thomas to be accepted ?......

@chicopee-john said:

No, we just cut the next Jim Brown. (Turbin)