What’s you definition of trolling? Am I trolling right now?

Sorry to Chris Pokorny for causing this very off topic argument. I was unaware that my typing would create such tension and hatred.

What is trolling? Is it going to someone’s blog and stirring up controversy? If that is the case, you should see what I do at BTSC. But the difference with those guys is that they know its all in good fun, plus I did not have to make another account to talk to them. Ive said terrible things about their team, yet Blitz still allows me to post. And I enjoy talking football with them, just like I would like to talk football with you guys.

We are enemies, so of course you are going to hate me and everything negative I have to say about the Browns.

BradyQuinnsaBeast spends more time at Baltimore Beatdown then he does here, but we welcome any argument he has. Is that trolling?

I guess like BAL_Hawk said, some people take an internet blog too seriously. Sorry.

Kokinis should do well in the long run. In all honesty, his personality always reminded me of Mangini. He’s a solid talent evaluator and has a “tough-guy” mentality. Kokinis has what it takes to be a good GM.

The problem isn’t Kokinis; it’s the job. The Browns have no team identity right now. Mangini and Kokinis will need to establish this quickly. I believe that they were trying to make a statement in the past draft when they selected Mack. They want a tougher team that runs the ball more. The problem is that the Browns have been a revolving door of coaching and drafting philosophies recently. There were players on the roster that didn’t fit into Mangini’s system, and there are many more that he will need. Everthing cannot be accomplished in one off-season. Mangini and Kokinis need to find a team identity that fits with the current talent and allows them to build for the future.

from what i understand of their conversations, mangini really knocked randy’s socks off when he enumerated the things he’d learned as coach of the jets, and how anxious he was to put into place the “fixes” he’d identified for himself as a coach.

clearly, the proof will be in the pudding, but it sounds like randy agrees with you…as do i.

So are you calling Harrison the ghost now?

It seems to me that the 2007 Brown’s running game was a result of opposing teams defending against the pass. Maybe I’m wrong. If the Browns can run the ball effectively next season, they will surprise many people.

Can we find a running game between Lewis, the Ghost, and Davis? We will see, but the blocking should be there this year

I agree with this 100%. Look around the league, outside of a few backs (Peterson, LT in his prime), it doesn’t take a superstar as long as the O-Line does their job. RB’s are a dime a dozen in this league. I still think that Darren McFadden has as much pure talent as A.Peterson. Peterson just has some pro bowlers blocking for him. McFadden has Kwame Harris.

This league after all these years almost always comes down to blocking and tackling. I think we will be good on the blocking aspect, tackling…… maybe not so much.

Sorry, I missed this comment somehow. I would have responded earlier had I saw it.

Anyway, you’ve made excellent points, and I understand your comparison between the 2007 Ravens and the 2008 Browns. If the Browns have as many lucky breaks as the Ravens did last season, they may make the playoffs. I really do not see it happening, but it is in the realm of possibilities. Pittsburgh and Baltimore make it very hard.

The comparison between our defense and your offense is interesting. The Browns rely on their offense, and the Ravens rely on their defense. That’s true, but finding success in each system is different than the other. A team that relies on its offense obviously puts more pressure on the quarterback. Defenses, as a general rule, tend to spread the responsibility around more than offenses. In the Ravens system, there is alot of pressure put on the secondary, particularly the cornerbacks. The Ravens blitz on over half of their plays and rely on the corners to hold down their men. In 2007, the Ravens lost both of their starting cornerbacks, the position that they (arguably) rely on the most. That loss was a fatal blow. The Ravens were not prepared and had no depth at corner. In some games, they were starting guys that are no longer on any NFL teams. As a result, our entire team concept was ruined. Our offense wasn’t built to score fast, and opposing teams were simply throwing over our excellent defensive line and linebackers. All of our star defensive players (Reed, Lewis, Suggs…) were forced to help in coverage more and had bad statistical years.

By comparison, the 2008 Browns lost their most important position, quarterback, to injury as well. Their problems were more complicated than injuries at the quarterback position, but that seemed to be the main theme. Braylon’s dropping problems and the poor defense didn’t help. Sure, I can see your comparisons. They make sense in theory, but I think that there are fundamental differences that make them unrealistic.

Here’s the problem that I see with that comparison and the reason why I think it’s unlikely that the Browns will mirror the 2007-2008 Ravens. It all goes back to pressure on an inexperianced quarterback. The Browns defense isn’t built to get many three-and-outs. They rely on the offense to score and get first downs before they come off the field. Otherwise, the defense will be blown-out. That’s more pressure on Quinn. Sure, the running game will be probably be better, but they will still need to revolve the offense around the passing game to keep the defense off the field. The problem with having a run-first scheme is that it typically has many three-and-outs. That puts pressure on the defense. If a team goes three-and-out too many times with a bad defense, they’ll be down several scores in no time.

Like you said, “Could someone from either team emerge as a star? Sure. But I don’t think it’s very likely.” The Browns defense will probably improve, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me think it will be a drastic improvement. As a result, Quinn will need to perform better than Flacco in his first season. That’s the main difference between the 2007-2008 Ravens and the 2008-2009 Browns. The Ravens scheme did not put pressure on Flacco. His statistics were’t very impressive, and our offense protected him. In the Browns case, Quinn will need to put on a Matt Cassel performance in order for the Browns to be as successful as the 2008 Ravens. Even if they can run the ball, the defense is not good enough to keep the score close against good teams. Quinn will be forced to carry the offense and the team. I think he will do well. I just don’t think that he’s going to do well enough for the Browns to win more than eight games or make the playoffs in a hard division. That’s too much pressure put on one young player with very little experience.

Please refrain from commenting if you don’t know what you are talking about. We ran the 3-4 every year under Crennel. We have also brought in at least 5 players defensively that are already familiar with Mangini’s scheme

Man, you have lost all credibility.

snag a clue on your way out

We didn’t score an offensive TD in the last 4 games! That has entirely to do with the fact that Dorsey and Gradkowski were behind center. Those games should really not be viewed as part of what our team is capable of

I like it.

Pennington’s career numbers include a 66% completion rate and throws a pick for every 40 attempts.
Romeo cobbled together a poor defense out of total crap. He had almost no young talent, so couldn’t stop the run or pass rush or cover receivers. Whatever defensive results you saw from him in Cleveland were a result of having almost nothing with which to work.
I believe Belichick has a lot to do with NE’s successes and that his reports get too much credit for that success. However, don’t forget, as great a football mind as Parcells was willing to give away his first round draft pick to steal RC from us.
Of course Parcells isn’t fallible, but it’s indicative of the respect RC carries in the NFL. And you saw how awful RC was at most things coaching, so what’s left is his ability to run a defense.
It seems you want me to pay a price for peeing on your parade. What if I just say that I’m sorry and go away?

RBs can be found, wasn’t Willie Parker a practice squad guy? Lewis doesn’t need to be back for the running game to work. And if he isn’t getting it done, I don’t think Mangini is going to just keep giving him the ball.

Ie, the success of our running game does not depend on Jamal Lewis in my mind, at all.

What are the upgrades at RB and OLB2? Using Harrison more and an improved Alex Hall or Davis and Bowens?

WR 3, WR 4, WR 5, CB 4, Not sure what you are referring to with MLB/OLB but we added 3 total guys to the LBs who should be better than the people they are replacing, LT 2, RG/RT (pick one) 2, RB 3.

Those all should be better, too.

I still want to get that movement where the cameras are moved to a Madden view during the play. Write your congressman, people!

When your RB approaches the line of scrimmage with the ball and hesitates so he can read the blocks, it means either the seam that was there closed or there never was a seam. Our blocking was not so bad last year that there was so rarely a seam. All too often, Lewis failed to gain yardage because he didn’t have a seam by the time he reached the line of scrimmage. In pro football, the seam that an O line creates closes very quickly almost all of the time. When you read Lewis’s reaction and compare it to the previous season, you can see that he recognizes the seam has closed and tries to change direction.
He’s a victim of his old habits where he had the quickness to read the blocks as he entered the seam in order to maneuver in the open field. He now needs to charge into where the seam was supposed to be and hope for the best because his lost reaction time doesn’t allow adjustments. I love his desire, but age catches up with all of us.