Looking ahead to week 1 Vs. the Vikings

Kingphisher

The Browns have a daunting task ahead of them in containing the Vikings Run Game. Peterson looked to be in mid season form last night. I am not sure that Favre will beat us with his arm, but if we can't stop Peterson it is going to make for a long afternoon. I thought that the D-line did a nice job against the Titans run game last week (another stout running team) so my hope is that we can shut down the run and force Favre to gamble with his erradic passes. Any thoughts?

DTBH

Anyone know the fate of the Williams' pair on their defensive line? Huge factor.

? Aloysius

@shepwrite said:
Stopping the run and running the ball are tough against the Vikes. They seem slighly prone to cutbacks and they're easier to pass on than run on IF you have the kind of LT who can contain Allen, and we do.

I think you're going to see Allen lining up at LE a lot. They'll want him matching up with St. Clair: in his two matchups against St. Clair last year, Allen notched 4.5 sacks.

@shepwrite said:
As far as stopping the run, I certainly like our defensive line a lot better when Shaun Rogers is there, and the idea of a Rogers-Rubin-Smith line is intriguing at the very least... a bit like the 3-4 version of the Vikings' jumbo line.

I checked the transcript of Mangini's presser. His talk of playing Rogers at end didn't sound like something imminent:

Eric Mangini said:
It does create some flexibility if we ever wanted to work Shaun (Rogers) some at end, you could potentially do that. If you wanted to work Shaun some more in the sub package, having that ability, it’s nice. It adds some flexibility.

For now, I think Kenyon Coleman's starting job is safe.

ballpeen

If we can't stop either.....we are toast. so I elect to stop the run if possible.

I fudge my ends a bit and get them a little wider and make them run Peterson inside between the end and Rogers. For this game I even fudge Rogers a bit more often than normal and get him hitting the gap v playing a contain...try to break things up in the backfield.

Get them in to 3rd and long, then cross our fingers.

That said...the O has to come up with 27 points or it's curtains.

27 gives us a chance.

Mr. T

@ballpeen said:
If we can't stop either.....we are toast. so I elect to stop the run if possible.
I fudge my ends a bit and get them a little wider and make them run Peterson inside between the end and Rogers. For this game I even fudge Rogers a bit more often than normal and get him hitting the gap v playing a contain...try to break things up in the backfield.

Get them in to 3rd and long, then cross our fingers.

That said...the O has to come up with 27 points or it's curtains.

27 gives us a chance.

If we can stop Peterson or hold him to under 100 yards that would be great! Then we can count on #4 throwing a pick or 2

velvetdawg

@mr.-t said:
Then we can count on #4 throwing a pick or 2

Or at least a crackblock or two...

? Masters

@inspecta said:
I just have a sinking feeling that Peterson is going to school us opening day. I Just feel it in my bones. Pray I'm wrong

He will get his. He pretty much always does. If CLE can keep him to under 125 yards and only 1 TD, I'd actually be happy.

Vegasdogg

My expectations are low for this game. If we can stop Peterson from gaining 100 yards? By the 1st half or what? We will need some turnovers and penalties on the plus side. We will need great QB play against a tough D up front. We basically need to pick our spots running the ball to keep them honest - quality vs quantity. Finally we need a miracle. Everything they're strong at we're week at so I see a lot of passes, which worries me. 4 WR sets to run/pass and double TE sets to pass out of.

Letting a QB pick you apart while occasionlly allowing receivers getting behind the D plays into Favre's game. Our hope is ST's and passing. And that is to keep it close in a loss. I hope we win as a fan, but I've resolved myself that this season I will be objective until they show me something. We'll see.

Vegasdogg

@inspecta said:
I just have a sinking feeling that Peterson is going to school us opening day. I Just feel it in my bones. Pray I'm wrong

That can be seen on others team boards for 16+ games. LOL. Fans just bracing for the impact.

OconRecon

@shepwrite said:
BTW, Minnesota ranked 1st in rushing defense and ...

I wonder if the Vikes saw the umpteen screen plays we ran against the Titans.

ESPN saying "the screen play is the Browns running game right now". Pfffft.

BUNSofSTEEL08

@kingphisher said:
The Browns have a daunting task ahead of them in containing the Vikings Run Game. Peterson looked to be in mid season form last night. I am not sure that Favre will beat us with his arm, but if we can't stop Peterson it is going to make for a long afternoon. I thought that the D-line did a nice job against the Titans run game last week (another stout running team) so my hope is that we can shut down the run and force Favre to gamble with his erradic passes. Any thoughts?

tall order and Farve will get better each week , till age catches him again about week 10 or 12. I would commit to the Run if i was Cleveland too. The Ket will be if Quinn make good decisions and Edwards and Co. holds onto the Ball !

lambdo

I thought the William's pair were suspended the first four games?

browns24

@oconrecon said:
I wonder if the Vikes saw the umpteen screen plays we ran against the Titans.
ESPN saying "the screen play is the Browns running game right now". Pfffft.

If that is our running game i hope it contiunes to work like it has in pre season both running backs seem to be doing well doing it. if we can just break a tackle or two we might have some touchdowns on the board from those screens especially with te rookie

Solon16

@lambdo said:
I thought the William's pair were suspended the first four games?

Ruling on Williams' isn't imminent may be done After this year...from what they said on MNF

Sez.EJ

Prediction: Vikings punch us in the mouth showing they are a playoff team and we are..well the Browns.. AP goes for 136 rushing with 3 td's and another 45 yards receiving just to piss me off again that we passed on him. Vikings win by double digits.. Viking defense shows what happens when you have 3 probowlers on your DL and another in the secondary.

ballpeen

@inspecta said:
I just have a sinking feeling that Peterson is going to school us opening day. I Just feel it in my bones. Pray I'm wrong

Actually, Harvin is the guy i worry about.

As a Gator season ticket holder I have seen him play maybe a dozen times....well...more like 10...if you have never seen the guy live, you just don't understand how incredibly quick that guy really is....it isn't just the top end speed which is as good as it gets...his 10 yard speed is next to none.

YtownBrownsBacker

@shepwrite said:
Stopping the run and running the ball are tough against the Vikes. They seem slighly prone to cutbacks and they're easier to pass on than run on IF you have the kind of LT who can contain Allen, and we do. The Texans screens worked very well, too, so look for that.
As far as stopping the run, I certainly like our defensive line a lot better when Shaun Rogers is there, and the idea of a Rogers-Rubin-Smith line is intriguing at the very least... a bit like the 3-4 version of the Vikings' jumbo line. We just don't have a Jared Allen unless Wimbley really does return to form.

Unlike the rest of Planet Earth, I kind of like our chances in this game. I could see a LOT of passes in a controlled passing game, a la Brady and the Pats a few years ago. Quick slants and screens, an extended running game.

I don't think you will see much of Rogers at DE. The DL is their strength with a starting front of Smith, Rogers and Coleman. Rotating in would be Mosley, Williams and Rubin in the middle. We have 4 good DEs making the alignment stronger then if you have Rubin in the middle.

Jumbo package has been Smith, Rogers, Williams and Coleman on the DL and Barton, Bowens and Jackson behind them.

Timugen

@ballpeen said:
Actually, Harvin is the guy i worry about.
As a Gator season ticket holder I have seen him play maybe a dozen times....well...more like 10...if you have never seen the guy live, you just don't understand how incredibly quick that guy really is....it isn't just the top end speed which is as good as it gets...his 10 yard speed is next to none.

I definitely understand where you're coming from re: Percy "I'm faster than you are, even with my blown up foot/ankle" Harvin, but one thing you need to keep in mind....he is a ROOKIE, and will make rookie mistakes....just like he did this past Monday night.

Sure, on any given play he may break one.....but it's almost just as likely on any given play that he'll burn our secondary just to drop the ball in the endzone, or that he'll cough one up on an end-around, screen, etc.

Don't get me wrong...I still worry about Harvin in this game, but the player that can do more damage to us at this point (and the player that will get a lot more chances to do so) is AD.

Earl34

I am not optimistic about this game but I think a lot has to do with the Williamses and if they play.

Petersen will get his yards. We just cannot give him the homeruns.

Get pressure on #4.

I don't know which #4 will show up but the Jets' version threw off his back foot all the time to the tune of 22 picks last year. He will throw them. We need to be johnny-on-the-spot there. We also need to hit him hard.

I don't worry about Harvin because I have a feeling he's going to find things tougher in the NFL now that everyone is faster (see Bush, Reggie).

I am more worried about the TE Shiancoe and our ability to run the ball. We may rely heavily on short passing which isn't a good sign but it seemed to work okay for the Texans.

ballpeen

Don't get me wrong...I still worry about Harvin in this game, but the player that can do more damage to us at this point (and the player that will get a lot more chances to do so) is AD.

I don't misunderstand what you are saying. I agree...AD is the one we have to stop. No doubt about it...thus why I worry about a Harvin as he may get more 1 on 1 coverage without a deep safety to help or getting the ball in some play action off a AP fake.