A few numbers on the Browns’ dropped passes

by Cleveland Frowns on December 14, 2011

The Browns have attempted 465 passes this season, and Browns pass-catchers have been tagged with drops on 38 of those attempts. By way of comparison, the Green Bay Packers have dropped 25 passes in 444 attempts through the same number of games, 13 fewer drops in 21 fewer attempts. Thirteen plays out of some 450; an average difference of one play per game. The drops can’t be the real problem here.

We’ll have a related Xs and Os post up here shortly.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t care near as much about the receivers drops as I do their lack of speed, lack of athleticism, and their poor route running. You don’t need to defend the receivers to make your case against McCoy, its obvious what he is and what his ceiling is. They are week at both positions, and there is really no disputing that.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t care near as much about the receivers drops as I do their lack of speed, lack of athleticism, and their poor route running. You don’t need to defend the receivers to make your case against McCoy, its obvious what he is and what his ceiling is. They are week at both positions, and there is really no disputing that.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t care near as much about the receivers drops as I do their lack of speed, lack of athleticism, and their poor route running. You don’t need to defend the receivers to make your case against McCoy, its obvious what he is and what his ceiling is. They are week at both positions, and there is really no disputing that.

  • Anonymous

    Shaw rips on Holmgrin today…sort of. Hey it’s a start.

    • Jaceczko

      A start to what? Another teenage-boy-playing-Madden reset button push?

      I’m as beyond pissed as anyone about the state of this franchise, but one would have to be insane to expect that hitting the regime change button AGAIN and AGAIN will somehow yield a different result than what it has consistently done for the last 13 seasons.

      • Anonymous

        I agree that we shouldn’t blow up the franchise every couple of years, but I also think a couple of articles questioning the state of the franchise and the direction that it is going wouldn’t be uncalled for.

        • Jaceczko

          Ok with me too, just so long as suggested solutions are considered as *among possible* solutions (plural), not *only* solutions, sine qua nons of moving forward. That leads, in my opinion, to reset-button mentality.

          Colt may not be a franchise quarterback, but I think a lot more needs to go into the case for drafting his replacement this year (assuming we can’t get Luck). We have a lot of good picks and a lot of needs, and no reason to think we won’t have a shot at the #1 overall pick again next year (when do we not?). We’re better off with “safe” low-risk picks like Joe Thomas or Joe Haden year after year until a “can’t miss” QB is available when the Brown are on the clock.

          I love talking draft in December.

          • Anonymous

            We’re right here today (you can’t see it, but I’m pointing from your eyes to my eyes). I see drafting a QB early as more of the final piece of the puzzle as opposed to the piece we build the team around (the Tim Couch model). By the time you put some of those other pieces in place (O-line, D-line, secondary, receivers, lbs, rbs) the quarterback is out of the league after being killed for 3 years. When your team has more holes to fill than a colander (I like to cook), filling one big hole while doing nothing about the others isn’t going to keep the water from rushing out any slower.

            The right side of the O-line needs to be addressed, the D-line needs depth, the secondary is starting to come together but still needs a player or two, the Lbs need to be upgraded, and we haven’t had any receivers for 3 years. I fail to see how one “can’t miss” QB is going to fill in for everything else we need when we would likely have to give up 3+ early round draft picks.

      • Anonymous

        So if you have an incompetent fraud at the helm, your strategy is to stand by and watch him sail your ship into the reef?

        • Jaceczko

          Yes.

          For the duration of his contract.

  • Peter

    No Playmakers anywhere. Simple

    • Chris P.

      #4 dislikes your post.

      • Jaceczko

        Playmakers on the offense are here and were here last year. Last year they got used, this year the offensive gameplans are designed specifically to prove that we don’t need them.

  • Jaceczko

    Lost in all this is just how close NFL teams all are to one another, and as evidence for this I adduce the stats above, together with the fact that, as we have been seeing on the TV broadcasts for weeks, the Browns do in fact lead the league in dropped passes. So even though the difference in this stat is slight, it is enough to be the difference between the best and the worst.

    I would also point to the even more significant stat of turnover differential, which is about double the importance of drop differential, since in addition to killing a drive or even taking points off the board (in common with drops), the turnover can often account for half a field’s worth of drive for the other team, or even add points to their board outright, on that single play.

    While we’re at it, let’s consider TD-INT ratio as closely correlated to these stats, along with another important stat: Wins and Losses. Who has the best TD-INT ratio in the league? Tim Tebow. Who’s next? Aaron Rodgers. How are they doin? 20-1.

    I think the drops are important, but I think the most interesting conclusion to draw from this is how similar all these teams really are, and how much difference a plan can make in utilizing the strengths of a team. These games are about matchups and if you pit Josh Cribbs and Peyton Hillis against the top two skill position playmakers on most of the teams we’ve played this year, you’re going to see a lot more wins and a lot better TD-INT ratio and a lot fewer drops.

    Want proof? Check these stats from last year.

    (And please spare me the annual Lump of Coal game in which the Browns roll over to the tune of 40-something to 3 every year.)

    • The Cuuuuuuuuuuugs

      Eliminating Turnovers > Field Goals vs. Touchdowns

      • Anonymous

        agreed

        (i wish brian kelly had figured that out)

      • Jaceczko

        I’m not really sure what you’re saying here.

  • Ronnie James Dio

    For all of the handwringing you did last year about being reductive, this is about the worst bullshit in the history of the site.
    If your point is that the problem is not the WRs but actually the QB, that’s fine. And I probably even agree with you. But to “support” it with this? No, no.
    Not your style, Frowns. Aim higher.
    /Love the site

    • Anonymous

      ??? So you’re saying the drops *are* the real problem?

      The Browns have 13 more drops than the Packers. I think it’s an interesting stat that supports the idea that all the gripping about the drops is misplaced. If it’s really “the worst bullshit in the history of the site” I guess that’s pretty good.

      • Ronnie James Dio

        Let’s say someone says this: “The Browns will probably finish with 5 wins this season. So Shurmur’s doing as good a job as Mangini.”

        You would (rightfully) never let that fly, because you’d point to Strength of Schedule, Point Differential, whatever else you wanted. Right?

        Not all drops are created equal.

        What if the Packers drops are on 1st and 10? And all the Browns drops are drive killers on 3rd and X? That would make a difference right?

        What if the Packers drops are all 20 yards down the field, which shows they are pressuring the defense, which (even though it’s a drop) forces the Packers to move their coverage back, which opens up the run?

        To cite drops and pass attempts only with a self-satisfied, “LOOK. Told ya.” just isn’t what I thought I thought this site was about.

        That’s all.

        • Anonymous

          Relax, dude. Your comparison is just way off. Wins and dropped passes are two profoundly different statistics. I really don’t feel like I should have to explain this, but exponentially more factors go into the evaluation of a single “win” or “loss” than go into that of any given “drop.” You might also note that teams attempt about 600 passes per season while they play only 16 games.

          I understand that all drops aren’t created equal, just like all wins and losses aren’t, but you’re talking about the difference between 13 plays out of 450. Even if all of the Browns drops came at the worst possible time and all the Packers drops came at the best possible time (which can’t be the case), I still think the fact that we’re only talking about 13 plays is interesting.

          If this really bothers you, maybe you should have a cup of tea or something.

          • The Cuuuuuuuuuuugs

            Drops < Wins

  • kjn

    If only we had known going into this season that we were weak at WR. Then, we could have signed some FAs.

    • Anonymous

      The WRs were fine, they just needed a system they could flourish in, instead of the caveman offense of the previous regime.

  • Drumbiker

    Not that I’m going to do the research (although I’m sure some stat-geek has), but I’d like to see how many of The Browns drops were on 3rd down vs. Any-other-team-in-the-league. “Drive Killing Drop” would be a much more meaningful stat. Although in the case of this years Browns, you could apply that term to any down and distance situation, I suppose.

    • Anonymous

      I thought the same thing, but then you would get into down and distance of the drops as well as all sorts of other things that muddy the waters. For example, if Hardesy dropped a 6 yard pass on 2nd and 5, and Colt throws incomplete pass/gets sacked/throws a 3 yard completion on 3rd down,* would the drop count as a “drive killing pass?”

      *Not that any of this has ever happened. It is all purely hypothetical.

  • bobby

    boy talk about using statistics to not quite tell the truth.

    The brown drop 8.17 percent of their passes.

    The packers drop 5.63 percent of their passes.

    a 25 percent difference……..which is significant.

    • Anonymous

      Looks like a 2.5% difference to me, spread out over 450 plays. If you want to get worked up about it, I’m glad you’re not running my football team.

      13 plays, dude. 13 plays. Out of 450.

      • bobby

        You really aren’t so good at this math stuff.

        The difference between 8.17 and 5.63 is 25 %

        8.17-5.63/8.17 * 100

        That is a 25 % delta

        Ooops damn windows calculator 31%

        not sure what number I punched in wrong the first time……but there you go.

        The difference is significant. Whether you acknowledge that or not is a different story.

        • Ronnie James Dio

          If 2.5% of plays resulted in touchdowns league-wide, and the Browns had 0% of plays resulting touchdowns (literally zero touchdowns), would anyone say, “Looks like it’s only 2.5% difference to me.”

          • Anonymous

            I would say the league is an undefined amount better than the Browns, but as the Browns near zero, the league approaches infinity.

        • Anonymous

          Delta-schmelta mathboy. It’s 13 plays out of 450. If you want to get worked up about it, it’s your world. I’ll just keep being thankful in my world that you’re not running my football team (as much as it probably wouldn’t even matter either way).

          • bobby

            except you want to use incorrect math to prove your point?

            or use the right ones when it suits you….kinda like the statistics that show you go for touchdowns and not field goals? or when to go for it on fourth down.

            Sometimes you just have to admit your wrong.

            It might not look like a significant difference to you, but i just showed you unequivocally that it is.

            and you want to play ground name call about it.

            I know people who are good at math and deserve the title “mathboy”, like people who study Microgravity for NASA

            I am not in their league, …but you sir are not even in mine.

          • Anonymous

            Sorry, house rules. If you’re going to come in here and tell me that interest rates are the same thing as football plays, you’re going to be called mathboy. Especially when you tell us you’ve “unequivocally proven” something by repeating a number and calling it significant.

            13 plays out of 450. 1 play per game. It’s not a controversial point. You might want to call one of your NASA friends for help.

      • bobby

        very simple example.

        if interest rates fall from 2 % to 1 %.

        they fell 50 % not 1 %

        The other half of your crusade against predatory lenders is innumeracy.

        Much harder to scam people into things they cannot afford if they can do some fairly simple math.

        I make 25 thousand dollars a year. I cannot afford a 400,000 house. Period, full stop, end of conversation.

        • The Cuuuuuuuuuuugs

          If I had 450 billion dollars and I had t0 spend 13 billion of it to keep your math out of my life, I would do it.

          Because 13 billion isn’t that significant when I have 437 billion left.

          • bobby

            how about 139? is that significant?

            because that is what you would have to give me to equate to the difference between the drops.

          • Anonymous

            13 drops out of 450 plays. 1 play per game. Interest rates aren’t football plays, mathboy.

          • Ess Eh

            wow, nice math. didn’t realize you could take two percentages, find the percentage difference between them and then it apply to the initial total. that is brilliant!

            I should do my mortgage that way when I refi. Current rate is 5.85% and the new rate would be 3.5%. So the new rate is 60% of the old rate, therefore my mortgage payment will only be 60% of my current mortgage payment. fucking awesome, thank you!!!!

          • Ess Eh

            or I can simplify with hard numbers.

            100,000 @ 30 years

            5.85%: $590 /month
            3.5%: $449 /month

            3.5/5.85 = 0.60

            60% of $589 = $354 /month

          • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

            ah yes, if the cuuuuugs had $450B.

            i could get behind that. that would be fun.

      • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris

        In other words, 1 dropped pass per game.

        • Ess Eh

          right, the browns drop 3 passes per game and the packers drop 2. That’s a 33% difference!!!!!!!

          • Anonymous

            !!!!!!!

          • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris

            It’s one dropped pass per game. We’re not building a résumé here and padding growth statistics in order to make ourselves look better.

    • Anonymous

      A 25% difference is big. A 25% difference between two small numbers is not.

      For example, if the Packers drop %5.63 of their passes and the Browns drop %8.17 of theirs (hypothetically), and the Packers throw 444 passes and the Browns throw 465 (why are we throwing more passes than anyone let alone the PACKERS?), then you discover that the previously massive appearing difference between the Packers drops and the Browns drops amounts to 13 extra dropped passes. If the Browns had thrown only 444 times, they would have 11 (point 2~) more drops. This concludes my demonstration of The Unified Theory of Why Do I Even Give a Darn Still.

      The argument that should be taking place is whether the Packers dropping %2.54 percent fewer of their passes than the Browns is a large enough difference to say that drops are a meaningful statistic here. Since we’re talking drops and not field goals I MEAN TOUCHDOWNS or turnovers then I gently suggest that fussing over drops is rather like drooling over tackle counts. That is, it’s generally meaningless as a statistic unless you know a great deal about the specifics of the player(s) in question.

      • Anonymous

        That’s another way to put it.

      • bobby

        we are talking about it because our host wants to talk about it.

        Of course he only wants fawning adoration and will chase out anyone who disagrees with him with 3rd grade insults.

        About what I expect from somebody who defends he who shall not be named.

        Its your world, I was just visiting….I see that I am not welcome.

        Peace.

        • Anonymous

          “I came in here under an anonymous handle to use bad math to support the conclusion that the author is a liar, and he called me mathboy. I guess I’m not welcome.”

          You are starting to get it, mathboy. Keep it up.

          • bobby

            I said you were wrong.

            I showed my work.

            You are making yourself out to be a bully and liar, because now you know you are wrong and instead of acknowledging it you are acting like a dick.

            And now you can have the last word…..

          • Anonymous

            No, no. You have the last word. I was going to go with “delete” but I think you nailed it with “dick.”

            Nice work.

        • Anonymous

          It’s really extremely simple, bobby. You’re saying the Browns drop passes 25% more often than the Packers, which is true. You are not explaining why that number is significant (stating it to be significant does not count as explaining the significance). When put into context, the 25% (31%) difference is revealed to actually show very little.

  • Anonymous

    Rod Rod Rod! Help us understand how gravity is against us.

  • Anonymous

    There’s so much vaguery in that stat but it stabs at the heart of every Browns fan who remembers Braylon Edwards’ “Hands of Stone”. Frownie, you may have just found the one stat that could put the Browns and the Packers in the same sentence.

    Do we believe that being the league leaders in drops is any more telling than having having the “#1 pass defense” (vomit…)? I would say that it is an important stat if you can interpret it correctly because pass drops are a sign of a problem. Whether it’s a problem in timing or things as fundamental as throwing and catching a football…it’s an issue. A dropped ball on a 1-yard dumpoff is one thing if it’s covered and another if the guy has a field of green grass in front of him. It’s one thing if it’s first and 10 and another if it’s 3rd and 4.

    We have a lot of drops. That’s unacceptable. Fix it or you (coaches, players) will be replaced.

    • Anonymous

      don’t the Pack run the WCO?

      • Anonymous

        Good point, but theirs is an evolved WCO run by Mike McCarthy. Ours is the one off of eBay that’s still a Xerox copy.

        • Anonymous

          “evolved” = Aaron Rodgers

  • Anonymous

    So for the sake of continuity (ugh) Keep Shurmur, replace the WR coach, and get an OC.

  • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

    im starting to read holmgren’s extended silence as an implied vote of no confidence.

    ive read perspectives that it would have been more courageous for gen pickett to refuse gen lee’s order to charge than to run headlong over an open field into union minie balls.

    bit of a reach, but it applies. it would take more courage and leadership from holmren to can his own guy and after having canned mangini and with the browns’ recent history of (non)continuity. conventional wisdom says you sack up for two more years of this loser before pulling the plug.

    here’s hoping holmgren has the stones to admit he was wrong and perform a real head coach search. or that he has the courage to risk his ‘legacy’ and put on the headphones himself.

    • Anonymous

      I think Holmgren has painted himself into a real “lose-lose” situation here but perhaps he’s just set on collecting Lerner’s money.

      • Anonymous

        I still think the only way Holmgren replaces Shurmur this year is if Holmgren takes over as HC and demotes Shurmur to OC so he can “learn” for another 2 years. Otherwise, they’ll just bring in an OC next year so that Shurmur can figure out which of his players are in at full back, on the field, out of the huddle, brain damaged…etc., in real time next year as opposed to finding out about these things in the post-game presser.

        • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

          anyone want to bet it’ll be brad childress?

          when the fuck did andy reid’s eagles teams outperform expectations on any level to the extent that being of ‘The Reid Coaching Tree’ would be considered a positive. i mean,,, look at this list of mediocrity:

          Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings (2006–2010)
          *John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens (2008–present)
          Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams (2009–present)
          Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings (2010–present)
          Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers (2011–present)
          Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns (2011–present)

          and then consider that shurmur is the ‘slow one’ of the group having been qb coach for ~10 years. ……….

          *John Harbaugh is actually from the Jack Harbaugh/WMU-WKU coaching tree and also an alumnus of the Cradle of Coaches. Hard to credit Reid in any way for having a positive impact on the best pedigreed coach in recent memory.

          • Anonymous

            Harbaugh coached at Miami (OH)?

          • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

            alumnus! (didnt coach there.) (but we get to claim him.) (we just do.)

          • Anonymous

            You’re a Redhawk (or possibly that other offensive mascot that I will not use on this site)!?! At a future Frownie function we’ll have to sing the Alma Mater.*

            note: Bring a copy of the Alma Mater as I have no idea what it is, but I could tell you what days of the week Top Deck, Skippers, Stadium, C.J.’s and Church St. have their drink specials.

          • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

            yes sir. class of 83. (woof. 1983.)
            i know the first line of ‘love and honor.’

          • Anonymous

            i know my college and my high school lol whyyyyyyy

            brush high’s is the best:
            hail to the brown and
            hail to the gold
            hail to dear brush high, the school we uphold
            we love no other so
            let our motto be
            victory brush high school
            varsity

            (also i know ohio state’s because my dad is a superbuckeye like that and i had to sing it in order to get dinner)

          • Anonymous

            Wow that IS the jam. I am *super* going to sing it while I dance a jig after I dust you in the 400 at the Brush High track and win my 50 Cheddar Bay points.

            “Victoreeeee for the Brush High varsiteeeeee doot doot!” /jigjigjig

          • Anonymous

            You super don’t have even half the street cred to sing it, buddy.

            Do you even know how far around the track you go to get to a 400? #toast

          • Anonymous

            I will have all the cred I need and more after I #dust you.

            #dust /jigjigjig

    • Anonymous

      liked for linking gettysburg to the Browns.

      “COACH SHURMUR! SEE TO YOUR PLAYMAKERS!”

      “BUT PRESIDENT HOLMGREN, I HAVE NO PLAYMAKERS LEFT!”

      • Anonymous

        I just hope we don’t have to hear more revisionist history about the War of Mangini’s Aggression, and that “The Browns will rise again!” isn’t just an empty call spouted by delusional fanatics.

  • Anonymous

    while the drops are a lazy stat to lean on for excuses as to why the offense has struggled, they do have some relevance when our roster is as inadequate as it is. our margin or error is much smaller than most teams, and every little drive killing drop hurts us exponentially more than a team like the Packers.

    We are just finishing up Year 2 of this rebuild, and it is a rebuild, (only 4 players on roster drafted from 99-09????) we just don’t have enough playmakers on either side of the ball and our margin of error is slim to none.

    Hopefully with the draft picks we have next year that looks to be getting better and more valuable as the season ends, as well as the financial flexibility we have with a solid FA class, our margin of error increases next year and we have more chances of scoring TDs instead of FGs.

  • Ess Eh

    It’s a meaningless comparison on a meaningless stat. I think it was the Titans game when Hardesty dropped 5 passes, with 4 of those after the score with 31-6 after 3 quarters. Honestly, who gives a crap if Hardesty drops those. I sure don’t.

    I also don’t care if Greg Little drops a ball that gets thrown high and behind him on an out route or if he has to stop turn around and jump as high as he can just to get his finger tips on it on a 5 yard pass play, but i’m sure they get counted as “drops.” It’s a meaningless stat.

    The point is, people need to stop blaming the poor offense on the “drops” because there are much bigger problems.

    • Anonymous

      That is all. Exactly.

    • kjn

      Who even decides what is a drop? Is there an official NFL scorer at every game like in MLB? A council of elders who meet every Tuesday morning to review every incomplete pass and assign blame? What criteria do they use?

      • http://twitter.com/musicman06 Chris Music

        Perhaps Mr. Dick Goddard of Fox 8 would have answers for at least half the season, since he’s the official statistician for Browns home games…

    • Anonymous

      yes, the biggest problem is we don’t have any receivers we can trust to make a big possession catch yet. i’m hopeful we will address that in this offseason. hopefully we add a legit #1 and possibly even a #2, so that Little and Momass can be their natural slots of 2/3. A WR group of Blackmon, Garcon, Momass, Little and Norwood would be a slick.

  • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris

    People can blame the playmakers all they want, but the fact is that Colt does have time to throw occasionally (more and more often lately), and the receivers aren’t always smothered either. Things may change, but right now I don’t think he’s the guy.

    I think that if Wallace has a good / very good game this Sunday, that it’s not an endorsement of Wallace, but more of an indictment of McCoy.

    • Anonymous

      Seneca also has been in the system for 9 years, but yeah, if he does well, i’m sure it will lead to a lot of speculation.

      i’d also imagine Bill Davis is helping Pat Shurmur out with offensive gameplanning, (he’s formerly DC for the Cards) I think he may have an idea what sort of tendencies they have on both sides of the ball, we’ll see if that helps or not as well.

  • Anonymous

    its impossible to not agree with your assessment.

    • Anonymous

      “in holmgren we trust for one more year”

  • Anonymous

    “If we’d just snap the damn ball and catch some passes, we’d be 7-6.”

    If Holmgren actually believes that…oh well Tribe starts in April.

    • Ess Eh

      yeah, i have been following the holmgren presser, too.

      absolutely absurd. well, the training staff didn’t see the hit. what a joke.

      #noexcuses

  • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

    after holmgren’s press conference, i think frowns has content pre-baked for the rest of the year.

    holy shit.

    i dont care what he says, i’m super© going to call him up for playoff tickets.

    ©p_forever

    • Anonymous

      i meant super like is what i meant

  • Anonymous

    I can hear the daiquiri blender working furiously in Mike’s office about now.

  • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

    what’s worse:
    using video equipment to steal defensive signals? or
    not knowing and/or executing nfl protocol for dealing with concussions?

    one of these resulted in the loss of a team’s first round pick.

    based on that precedent, browns could lose two picks.

    nfl, i would think, wants to let everyone know they’re serious about head injuries. PERFECT opportunity for them to show they mean it.

    (might also help head off any lawsuits from brad mccoy.)

  • Anonymous

    At least when the receivers drop the ball they are man enough to admit it, unlike the front office and the organization in general. Any respect is lost after that shit, really. God.

  • Alexb

    something is wrong when Ben Watson is among the top few leaders in drops in the entire NFL. Like way wrong.

  • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

    y’all cant believe how much shyte the nfl has produced
    http://nflhealthandsafety.com/media/videos/

    the nfl is ALL OVER THIS. the nfl will not be pleased that one of their teams, in a nationally televised game, on their starting qb, had not a clue on how to deal with head injuries. like, how can the nfl say theyre doing all they can to reduce injuries and their league as well as promoting safety in youth football.. when the browns cant even figure out that their qb,
    a. who just drew a helmet-to-helmet personal foul penalty
    b. who is flat out on the turf for two minutes.
    cant figure out that they may have a head injury issue. AND THEN the head coach and CEO go out in the next week and say they followed the proper protocols.

    i say the punishment starts at $250K for not knowing the procedures during the game and then another $250K for STILL not knowing the procedures six days later.

    theyll be like: HEY! WE DIDNT EVEN MAKE YOU READ ANYTHING YOU DICKS!

    the NFLPA will be like, how can you fine our guys when your own coaches and CEOs dont know the rules?

    wouldn’t rule out getting draft picks docked either. this is a super major eff-up on the hottest of hot buttons with nfl.

  • Anonymous

    I think I can be peacemaker here. A large portion of browns fans think Colt McCoy has the makings of a great quarterback but is being held back by a bad line and a horrible receiving corp. Others think that a great quarterback elevates his playmakers and because of the lack of offense that McCoy must be too small, doesnt have an NFL arm, isn’t making the right reads, so on.
    Here is my theory. They all suck.

  • Anonymous

    I may be a bit jaded here, but I don’t remember any drops by one certain running back (see avatar), including a one-handed catch (with his left hand) last Thursday that may have saved an interception since the only other potential receiver in the area code was Alex Mack.

    That includes two long passes downfield in the past 2 seasons by the second-leading pass receiver of the Browns last season.

    I really hope Hillis is back in a Browns uniform next year.

  • Jca1073

    If you fail on 2 run attempts and follow that by a dropped pass that would be adequate for a first down, then yes. It is the real problem. Stats are averages and does not tell the story of what we have all witnessed all season. It’s not how many dropped balls, it’s when they occurred. We lack a “go to” receiver. Like the Green Bay Packers and every other team when they need a first down, they throw to a guy that drops 3 balls all year.

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