Game 1 recap

[CCBoy]

I mean, I'm not too worried about the passing offense from what I saw. But the run offense, yeah, that does give me concern.

The offensive tackles need to run drive to get stronger and not lose pass protection.

 

[ShiningStar]

Honestly, the Zimmer and Harris connection looks better than the Quinn Harris connection already.

for right now, gotta agree with you.

what i liked immediately, couldnt abuse our rookie CB, so many teams love to abuse us and it seemed like Harris was having none of that. Parsons made it easy but it seemed like Harris knew what Cleveland would try and shut it down. Big fan of that. Interceptions are great, but the mere fact we werent abused. to me thats a win

 

[beware_d-ware]

Offense - C. The OL held up, but there was no spark aside from a few CeeDee shot plays. It just couldn't get out of second gear.

Defense - A? Either they were very good or Watson is very bad. Parsons looks like a guy about to earn his 4th straight All-Pro. DLaw's still got the juice. Carson is ready.

ST - A+. It doesn't get much better than a return score. And Aubrey would have banged home a 66 yarder no problem.

 

[Jfconrow]

Turpin is a great returner, with that said I’d rather they just take the ball at the 30 instead of running it out of the end zone.

Dak played well and I’m glad they signed him, don’t have to worry about the QB for 3 more years.

Ceedee I think they were bringing him along slow, they didn’t use him that much. I’m not a fan of those short screens to him, he could get hurt with those, send him down field.

The RBs were okay. If we want to use them more I’m for it but with a long season that invites injury. I can see Cook coming in half way through the season to help out with the run game.

On the defense it’s hard to say because Watson is so bad it was a cake walk.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

for right now, gotta agree with you.

what i liked immediately, couldnt abuse our rookie CB, so many teams love to abuse us and it seemed like Harris was having none of that. Parsons made it easy but it seemed like Harris knew what Cleveland would try and shut it down. Big fan of that. Interceptions are great, but the mere fact we werent abused. to me thats a win

Itd be amazing if we stole ANOTHER top CB in Carson.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Turpin is a great returner, with that said I’d rather they just take the ball at the 30 instead of running it out of the end zone.

Dak played well and I’m glad they signed him, don’t have to worry about the QB for 3 more years.

Ceedee I think they were bringing him along slow, they didn’t use him that much. I’m not a fan of those short screens to him, he could get hurt with those, send him down field.

The RBs were okay. If we want to use them more I’m for it but with a long season that invites injury. I can see Cook coming in half way through the season to help out with the run game.

On the defense it’s hard to say because Watson is so bad it was a cake walk.

Maybe, but I think Turpin is going to break one for a TD on a kickoff this year. I see him becoming what Heater was.

 

[charron]

2nd half offense was atrocious but bailed out by the defense

 

[ShiningStar]

Itd be amazing if we stole ANOTHER top CB in Carson.

doesnt happen often, but sure looks that way. a long way to go, lots of Qbs to see him against. but some of the rookies and players are making it fun to see waht they bring. Seems like Kendrick brought a "we are winners" attitude along with "you better work" so thats paying off from game 1

 

[rambo2]

Hello all, just as I did after the preseason games, I'm going to give my week 1 recap. This will usually be a couple days (such as Wednesday after a MNF game or Saturday or Sunday following a Thursday game) after our most recent game (if I feel like doing one). I these recaps, I'll give what I liked, what I didn't like, and how I felt the team did overall. Also, I will give what I want to see us do for the next game that can help us win.

What I liked

• Dak's throws for the most part - for the most part, I felt Dak played well. The TD to Cooks was outstanding!! There were a couple throws that i didn't like, but, that'll be for the next section. However, overall, I thought he did well.
• Turpin - do I need to say more? I wonder how many times we will get the ball at the 40 with teams trying to play keep away. He's electric, and I don't think teams will want to kick off to him.
• Zimmer's defence so far - there is still a ways to go, but the defence appears to be more disciplined than Quinn's was. It seemed that the players were actually staying in lanes and were playing more physically. This is one of the things that was missing from the last few seasons. It seemed that the last few seasons basically consisted of us having players that would go for the home run, but there would be areas left exposed. I thought our run defence was better. I'm not saying that it was elite by any measure. However, I like what I saw from Zimmer's defence against the Browns.
• Aubrey - I don't think I need to go in more detail here. I'd have liked the 71 yard attempt, but I get why McCarthy didn't go for that.
• The Zeke and Dowdle combination later in the game - there was a spot later in the game where, against a very good Browns defence, the combination of Zeke and Dowdle was working beautifully. I loved the screens to Zeke. I enjoyed watching them run in what looked like a good combination. I also liked seeing Luepke getting involved.

What I didn't like

• Mike McCarthy's lack of timeout on the 66 yard field goal - I understand not wanting to do a Jason Garrett and ice your own kicker. I also understand that the refs botched the situation in part there by not getting the correct kicking ball on the field and wasted a lot of the play clock. However, when that play clock got down to about 4 seconds, he should have been calling time out. Standing there and arguing with the ref about the play clock time wasn't going to help matter. He should have called the timeout and THEN argued with the ref when it was clear they weren't going to reset the play clock.
• The 3rd quarter - the third quarter in general against the Browns I thought was poor. The players didn't execute, and I thought they were snapping it with far too much time on offense. On the scoring drive by the Browns, I thought they got through our defence rather easily. I don't know what the scheme was there from our defence. As for our offense, I thought that was manager poorly and could've easily gotten the Browns back in the game. I thought, aside from the missed play, they were snapping the ball with far too much time. When it's 27-10 and it's mid-3rd Quarter, I wanted us to 1. Run the ball more or use safer passing plays that are predicated on keeping the clock moving (as well as getting yards, obviously), and snap the ball around 2-4 seconds on the play clock. That was a critical time where we really could've drained more time. I was getting flashbacks to the 2013 game against the Packers. Luckily, our defence had Watson fairly bottled up for the majority of the game. We WOULDN'T get away with that against the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.

How I felt the team did overall

• I thought we did well beating the Browns. It's always good to start 1-0. I think the offense gets a B overall, the defence gets a B, and the special teams gets an A+. We outplayed a very good Browns team.
• However, I will also say that some of the errors that I highlighted would probably bite us in the tail against some of the better teams like the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.
• However, it's week 1, and the team is still sorting themselves out. Always great to start a season 1-0.

What I want to see us do against the Saints

• Better clock management - especially leading up to halftime, Mike has to call timeout. Also, the playcall selection in the 3rd quarter was poor. I know the Saints were playing basically the NFC South equivalent of the Giants, but they're a solid team. We can't have clock management errors against them.
• Use Luepke more and maybe sprinkle in a little Vaughn - I think using Luepke and Vaughn in the run game would be good. I think Luepke in more situations would be great. As for Vaughn, I think sprinkling him in against the Saints can give us some advantages on the outside.
• Using our run game more - in conjunction with the above, especially if we have a lead, we have to improve our run game and use it more. I will also say that screen passes to Zeke, Dowdle, or Vaughn kinda counts as it's basically an extended handoff. But I want to see us run the ball better or use the screens more. This can really help us against the Saints and can keep the clock running.

What are your thoughts for my recap for this week?

I'd say that they kicked the crap out of the Browns and they will kick the crap out of the Saints as well.

 

[CCBoy]

Itd be amazing if we stole ANOTHER top CB in Carson.

Mike Zimmer runs an old school defense while Al Harris is a genius in the secondary. Leadership is shining.

 

[gimmesix]

Defense - A? Either they were very good or Watson is very bad. Parsons looks like a guy about to earn his 4th straight All-Pro. DLaw's still got the juice. Carson is ready.

I'd say a little of both. Dak missed some throws that he should have made, but Watson did even more of that and it wasn't all because of pressure. He was just off on some throws. Of course, considering he's coming back from missing time and recovering from shoulder surgery, he should be expected to be rusty early in the season (especially considering that Cleveland chose not to play him in the preseason).

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

doesnt happen often, but sure looks that way. a long way to go, lots of Qbs to see him against. but some of the rookies and players are making it fun to see waht they bring. Seems like Kendrick brought a "we are winners" attitude along with "you better work" so thats paying off from game 1

As far as Kendricks goes, imagine if we used free agency more.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Mike Zimmer runs an old school defense while Al Harris is a genius in the secondary. Leadership is shining.

And leadership appeared to be lacking against Green Bay on the defence.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Hater have nothing to hate

It's truly perplexing how often people that hate haters are the first ones to bring up haters.

But yes....it's a good point. All the team has to do is play well and win...suddenly the "hate" disappears. Funny how that works.

 

[TexasHillbilly]

Good job! I was surprised you didn't get any responses yet...I have noticed it's been a bit quiet around here. Go Cowboys!

We have to lose for it to be noisy. It's like termites finding fresh wood to eat.

 

[CCBoy]

And leadership appeared to be lacking against Green Bay on the defence.

Leadership has changed, and stupidity didn't reign and I refuse to kiss butt now to the thought of a Robert Kraft type here in New England. You?

 

[CCBoy]

We have to lose for it to be noisy. It's like termites finding fresh wood to eat.

That is called 'ring tappers' and not fans of sport.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Leadership has changed, and stupidity didn't reign and I refuse to kiss butt now to the thought of a Robert Kraft type here in New England. You?

I'm more referring to Quinn vs Zimmer.

 

[CCBoy]

I'm more referring to Quinn vs Zimmer.

lol, I'm paying attention to time at defensive tackle and who is settling into what is being done here and now. Quinn is already gone and Jerry already is smiling...now.