The Painful Process Begins

If you had any doubts about the struggles the Browns would face this season, Sunday afternoon provided a a brutal wake up call. Like, a three-hours-early-to-the-wrong-room type of wake up call.

The Eagles are supposedly on the Browns’ level. Both teams are in a rebuilding phase. Both will be considered part of the drecks of the league this season. In the first half, those things appeared to hold true. The Browns were within a score, and it appeared they would be able to somewhat move the chains.

But, the Eagles separated themselves in the second half. Cleveland only managed 112 total yards in the second half, and only put together two drives longer than 18 yards. The Browns’ offensive line struggled to protect– RGIII was sacked three times in the second half–and the secondary continued to look dreadful against a rookie making his first career start.

It was only one game, but man did Tramon Williams look awful. It seemed like he was either being flagged or burned every other play. The physical statistics are not on the internet yet, but if you watched that game, you saw what the Eagles did to him.

Joe Haden, who is supposed to be the lone bright spot in this secondary, wasn’t too much better than Williams yesterday. Haden spent most of the day directly matched up with Eagles wideout Jordan Matthews–who proceeded to catch seven passes for 114 yards and one touchdown. The worst part is, the pass rush was not terrible yesterday. Wentz took his fair share of licks and continued to move the ball. Part of that is to his credit–that was the most impressive part of his play yesterday. But,the other part of it is just how bad the Cleveland secondary was.

To make matters worse, the Eagles running backs rushed for over 100 yards. According to profootballfocus.com, Philadelphia has the second worst set of backs in the league. As I wrote in the season preview, it’s not going to be a fun season. But, fans have to find the leaks of sunshine among the drudgery.

Week one’s leaks mostly came in the first half. The pass rush was decent against a Eagles offensive line that sports some notable veterans. 3rd-round pick Carl Nassib  picked up his first career sack and three tackles. Nassib led the NCAA in sacks his last season at Penn State, and was very active on Sunday. He’s someone to keep an eye on.

I’m also officially very intrigued by Terell Pryor Sr.: wide receiver. I mean, did you see this catch? Pryor looks comfortable and very capable in his new role. Corey Coleman also made some big plays despite dropping the first throw that came his way. Once Josh Gordon returns, the Browns will have a rich group of field-stretchers. And for all the knocks on RG III, he throws a good deep ball.

Next week against the Ravens should be another good chance for the young wideouts to show what they can do. The Ravens held this week’s check down king, Tyrod Taylor, to seven points. But, Baltimore’s secondary is vulnerable and Hue Jackson showed he’s not shy about throwing the ball down field.

The secondary has a chance for a redemption week as well. It is unclear whether the Ravens best receiver is 37 year-old Steve Smith Sr coming off a torn achillies, the artist formerly known as Mike Wallace, or Kamar Aiken.

If Cleveland can clean up the atrocities that were the secondary and the 2nd half pass protection, it’s not out of the question to expect the Browns to be able to win on Sunday. But as always, keep those expectations tempered.