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Cleveland Browns All-Decade Team: Vote on the Quarterbacks

Chris Pokorny — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:51:21 -0000

One of the popular themes going around as the year 2010 approaches is the creation of "all-decade lists." Rather than just creating a list myself, I'm going to allow the Dawgs By Nature community decide who should be on the Browns all-decade team. When all of the positions are voted for, I will post the compiled list along with my own comments of who I would've selected.

Today, we start with the quarterback position, which I've narrowed down to five candidates. For all positions, the candidates will be listed roughly in chronological order. Also, I've made it that in order to be considered, the player must have accrued at least 16 games (a full season's) worth of playing time. That's why someone like Brady Quinn is not on this list as a candidate, but if you are vehemently opposed to such a thing, explain why in the comments section.

Quarterbacks

1. TIM COUCH (2000-2004)

After being taken with the first pick of the 1999 draft, Couch was the Browns' starting quarterback for a good portion of the first half of the decade. Overall, he received more playing time than any other Browns quarterback of the decade. His statistics were average for a first-round pick -- he threw for 49 touchdowns and 54 interceptions.

The thing I loved about Couch was his ability to lead a comeback. Case in point -- during the Browns only playoff season since returning to the league, the team was down 17-14 to Jacksonville in Week 14 of the 2002 season. With only 1:25 left to play, Couch was intercepted and the Jaguars tacked on another field goal. Couch got a chance at a Hail Mary and delivered it to Quincy Morgan as time expired. Two games later, Couch, on the road against the Ravens, engineered a 92-yard drive and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mark Campbell with 29 seconds remaining. The Browns won 14-13. Earlier in that season, Couch had tremendous comebacks against the Titans and the Jets as well.

Couch accomplished what he did with a decent ensemble cast, but no real stars or an offensive line surrounding him. The negative moment in his career came when fans were getting more excited to see Kelly Holcomb at quarterback instead. After getting injured against the Ravens on October 6, 2002, it appeared as though some fans were cheering that he was injured. After the game, Couch was emotionally upset and lashed out at the reaction of the fans.

2. KELLY HOLCOMB (2001-2004)

Here's the man who inadvertently led to (partially) the downfall of Couch's reign in Cleveland. Holcomb was known for his ability to step into a situation and light it up. When I say "light it up," I really mean it -- he didn't just put up ordinary numbers. Take a look at two of his most memorable games.

First, during the 2002 campaign, he started the opener against the Chiefs (the Dwayne Rudd game). In that game, Holcomb threw for 326 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 40-39 loss. He fought hard in the playoff game against the Steelers too, another spot start, when he threw for 429 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

When given the opportunity to start over Couch the following season though, Holcomb fell flat. He had zero spark in his first two games, and suffered an injury after the third game (a contest in which he came from behind to win). Besides one blowout game against the Arizona Cardinals, Holcomb never really proved he was anything more than a veteran backup quarterback.

Holcomb did have one more "spot start" type of success -- the 58-48 shootout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2004, a game in which he threw for 413 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

3. CHARLIE FRYE (2005-2007)

Expectations were probably set a little too high for the third-round quarterback, and it showed on the field with Frye's poor touchdown (14) to interception (23) ratio. The thing that separates Frye from the other quarterbacks we've had was his mobility. In 21 games, Frye rushed for 276 yards and four touchdowns. Those aren't Michael Vick numbers, but they were certainly Frye's best asset.

Frye should've used that asset more often to assist him in the passing game. I still have to believe the coaching staff instructed Frye to be a pocket passer, because as effective as Frye was when rolling out, he hardly did it towards the end of his career with the Browns. Maybe the coaches just didn't want him to roll out to the sideline and then throw the ball back toward the middle of the field idiotically.

For those who aren't aware, Frye will be starting for the Oakland Raiders this week.

4. DEREK ANDERSON (2006-2009)

That's right -- we're already at our final quarterback, Derek Anderson. There clearly aren't any Peyton Manning's to choose from on this list.

It's really kind of tough to decide how Anderson should be ranked in terms of making the all-decade team. One one hand, he by far had the best single season of any Browns quarterback in the decade back in 2007, when he threw for 3,787 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions en route to a Pro Bowl.

Even during that good season though, the bad decisions were still always evident. His completion percentage is below 60 percent, and he doesn't have any touch on his throws. When expectations were high in 2008, Anderson laid an egg besides the memorable Monday Nighter against the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. This season, it's unfathomable to believe Anderson was ever given the distinguished notation of a Pro Bowler, since his completion percentage in 6 games is a mere 42.9% to go along with 2 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Was Anderson's one "wowing" season good enough to overcome the other ones?

COMPARABLE STATISTICS

New Page 1

Quarterback	Games	Comp %	Yards	TD	INT
Tim Couch	47	60.98%	8,684	49	54
Kelly Holcomb*	24	63.45%	3,867	29	22
Charlie Frye	21	62.54%	3,490	14	23
Derek Anderson	37	52.91%	6,876	45	44

*Includes playoff game against the Steelers.

OTHER QUARTERBACKS

These quarterbacks played for the Browns during the decade but are not up for consideration in the poll due to their lack of tenure with the team. If you'd still like to comment on them, or if you believe one of them should be the all-decade quarterback instead, sound off in the comments section. (Note: I am not listing quarterbacks with less than three games played).

Doug Pederson (2000, 11 games)
Luke McCown (2004, 5 games)
Jeff Garcia (2004, 11 games)
Trent Dilfer (2005, 11 games)
Ken Dorsey (2006-2008, 5 games)
Brady Quinn (2007-2009, 13 games)

DECISION TIME

Now it's time to cast your vote in the poll below, and then go ahead and explain your choice in the comments section. The next position we'll do is running back, but save the discussion on that position for a later date.

Please be aware that the considerations do not include the 1999 comeback season.

Poll

Who do you think is the Browns' All-Decade Quarterback?

Tim Couch

484 votes

Kelly Holcomb

273 votes

Charlie Frye

31 votes

Derek Anderson

476 votes

1264 votes | Poll has closed

Week 10: Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Jets Game Preview

Jonathan Loesche — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:07:42 -0000

New York Jets (4-4)	Week #10	Jacksonville Jaguars (4-4)
	VS.

Date:	November 15st, 2009	Location:	East Rutherford, New Jersey
Time:	1:00 PM EST	Stadium:	The Meadowlands
TV:	CBS	Favorite:	Jets -7
Radio:	Click Here	Over/Under:	40.5
Weather:	Mid 50's, no chance of rain	Injury Report:	Click Here
SBN Coverage:	Gang Green Nation	Coverage Map	Click Here

The Jaguars travel to the swamps of New Jersey for what is in essence a playoff elimination game. Both teams are part of the logjam of 5-3/4-4 teams in the AFC. A win means they get a leg up on one of their main competitors, a loss means they'll need a lot of help to keep their hopes alive.

The last time the Jaguars went against a Rex Ryan defense was the final game of the 2008 season at Baltimore. It was certainly a low point in a season filled with low points. The Jaguars committed four turnovers and were held to only 245 yards in a 27-7 defeat.

Now the Jaguars must find a way to defend against the defense to keep their playoff hopes alive. In addition, the Jaguars must deal with a hot rookie quarterback, much like last year in Baltimore. Mark Sanchez has played well for the Jets so far, but has had his fair share of rookie moments.

Can the Jags go into the Meadowlands and land one of Jack Del Rio's biggest wins in his career, or will they have another quiet flight home?

Jaguars Offense vs Jets Defense

The Jets have an impressive resume on defense. They're the only unit in football that hasn't given up 100 yard rusher, 100 yard receiver, or 300 yard passer all year. The defense is surrendering only 11.5 points in the game, best in the NFL. They come at you from every angle and any one of the 11 players on the field is liable to blitz at any given time.

However, here is something to ponder with the Jets defense. How will the react to getting smacked in the mouth running the football? The only time the Jets defense had genuinely looked bad was when Miami ran at them with the Wildcat. That is where this game is going to be won or lost.

Maurice Jones-Drew has to start fast for the Jaguars to have a chance. If he gets going running the ball, that'll force a cocky Jets defense onto it's heels and give David a chance to get throws off. If we come out and throw nine straight times again,we'll likely be seeing Luke McCown because David will be on the sideline with broken ribs.

If MJD can get it going, I expect to see alot of screens to Mike Thomas on the outside as well as to Jones-Drew coming out of the backfield. The way you beat a blitz heavy team is to get them aggrivated and then use that against them.

When the Jaguars do decide to test the Jets through the air, the obvious target is going to be CB Lito Sheppard. Sheppard is coming off a quad injury and the Jets' other corner, Darrell Revis, is one of the best in the league. I would try to get Sims-Walker matched up with Sheppard as often as possible to test the quad injury, while leaving Holt to deal with Revis most of the time.

Jaguars Defense vs Jets Offense

Rookie Quarterback Mark Sanchez came out of the gates like a man possessed. However, he has slid back down to reality as the season has progressed. Sanchez was a turnover machine in losses against Buffalo and New Orleans, throwing a combined nine interceptions.

The Jaguars will need to build on the success against the Chiefs and hopefully get into Sanchez's face early. All the indications are that he'll show you early on how he's going to be. If he gets hot, back by the NFL's #1 rushing attack, we could end up with a repeat of the Seattle game.

As I previously mentioned, the Jets have the NFL's #1 rushing attack averaging over 170 yards per game.The Jets leading rusher is Thomas Jones, who has 704 yards and 7 touchdowns so far this season.

The Jaguars' defensive line will have to be the key to stopping the Jets' rushing attack. John Henderson and Terrance Knighton will have to be getting penetration in the back field to help counter for a weak right edge.

Speaking of that right edge, former practice squad player Bryan Smith will be the starting RDE for the Jaguars. As Collin pointed out in his brilliant two part series, he didn't play all the well against the Chiefs. However, Quentin Groves has been such a liability against the run it's not likely things could get much worse.

The basic game plan for the Jaguars has to be stopping the run and putting the ball in Mark Sanchez's hands. Sanchez hasn't looked great over the last five games and he's never had a situation where he's been expected to simply throw it to win.

Intangibles and Special Teams

If the Jets have the best rushing offense and one of the best defenses in the NFL, then why are they sitting at 4-4? Two reasons, turnovers and bad special teams.

The Jets have committed 15 turnovers so far in 2009, eleven being Mark Sanchez interceptions. However, the Jaguars are even worse. The Jaguars are -3 in the turnover department in 2009. David Garrard has thrown four interceptions in the last three games and he'll need to be careful to avoid more on Sunday.

The Jets' Special Teams melt down against the Dolphins two weeks ago has been well documented. However, the unit has been suspect all season. Mike Thomas seems like he's due to finally break a touchdown on a return and this would be a perfect week to do it.

Josh Scobee has been having something of an off year. Scobee is just 9-14, though 4 of those misses have been from 50+ and another one was blocked. Also, here is an interestining tid bit. Scobee leads the league with 6 attempts from more than 50 yards. The next closest is Mason Crosby of Green Bay with 4, then several kickers with 3. Only 5 kickers have had more than 2 50+ yard attempts this year.

Coaching

Jack Del Rio leads the Jaguars to the Meadowlands for the final time as the stadium is scheduled to close after this year. After almost coughing up a win against the Chiefs, it will be interesting to see how the Jaguars respond to that scare.

Rex Ryan is coming off his first bye week as head coach. In an interesting move, the Jets only had two days worth of practice during the bye week, despite losing four of their last five games.

Player On The Hot Seat

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB

The entire fate of the Jaguars offense rests in his hands. If he can't get things going running the ball, then the Jets will have their ears pinned back the entire game and it could get even uglier than Seattle.

Video Killed The Game Preview

Prediction

Jacksonville Jaguars 28

New York Jets 24

Mike Thomas breaks a punt return for a touchdown, the Jaguars score following a Mark Sanchez interception deep in Jets territory, and get two long pounding drives thanks to Jones-Drew.

-Jonathan Loesche

Analysis: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Through 7 Games

Brandon — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:15:17 -0000

You might have noticed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only NFL team without a win this season, and the Green Bay Packers are going to play them on Sunday. And rookie QB Josh Freeman will have his 1st NFL start. The Packers should be favored, but they still have to travel to Tampa and win the game. Though I don't expect Mike McCarthy will let his players overlook any team.

Since I haven't watched a Bucs game this season, and don't know how the team that beat the Packers last season in week 4 has managed to become the only remaining winless team, I asked Buc 'Em blogger Niko Houllis a couple questions:

Brandon: What happened to the formerly great Tampa defense? The draft hasn't been kind in recent years, but they were still very good in early 2008. The collapse seems sudden to me.

Niko: That is a fanastic question. Most would say it's on the sideline singing "Rocky Top"! People can say what they want to, but the collapse started the game after Monte Kiffin announced he is headed to Tennessee to coach his son's defense. Other things happened around the same time too though. We got hurt on our D line, which wasn't that good to begin with. Carolina found a weakness. They were able to put 3 receivers on the field and keep us in a defense which favored their running attack. They were able to gash us for almost 300 yards on the ground in that Monday night game that Bucs fans were waiting all day for so we could finally pronounce our team for real...and give us an inside edge on the 2nd seed just like we had in our Super Bowl year. Little did we know we would not win a game again! Truth is, the Bucs misfired on their #1 draft pick Gaines Adams, and were lucky to get a #2 for him. But the defense had gotten old, and started to patch things up with bandaids like the offense had been doing too. Instead of tearing the team apart and starting over like were doing this year, the team kept using bandaids, and drafting poorly just about every draft.

Brandon: Are their offensive problems solely due to poor QB play, or have other areas on offense let you down?

Niko: Some feel the offensive line has not been playing up to its potential, but truth is it was a FAR drop from starting Center Jeff Faine to second string Sean Mahan, who was released in preseason, only to be called up again due to Faine's injury during game one. Teams were blitzing the heck out of our gap between our left guard and center, and we couldn't do anything about it. So that is not a fair assesment. The biggest problem has been the quarterback play. I'm not sure what the Bucs were thinking during preseason, everyone just knew Byron Leftwich wasn't starting material anymore, and then they traded Luke McCown, who really didn't beat anyone out to prove his worth this preseason anyways. Josh Johnson has some upside, but he doesn't have the pedigree Josh Freeman has. This team has now taken the step, this is the 6th generation of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and we will build around Freeman, though it may be ugly to watch at first.

Brandon: I've read articles that made it seem like Tampa's coaches have been unprepared. Is Raheem Morris a capable NFL head coach?

Niko: This is a hot topic. Any article I write about Morris gets many comments. Mostly negative. The older football fan (not trying to tick off any younger fans...) tend to be more patient because they have seen more seasons of football and understand this happens, while the younger fan tends to be more impatient and want him gone now for the big name guy . Funny how we forget the past, when Steve Spurrier and Jimmy Johnson were wanted but a guy named Tony Dungy came instead!

The 2010 Draft - Where We Stand in Chart Form

Jeremy Bolander — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:37:57 -0000

[Editor's Note: This is a draft order chart based completely off of the current standings. Tiebreak rules were used to establish order of playoff teams, and then playoff "wins" were awarded to the team with the best record, or whomever came out ahead in tiebreaks. For those who are wondering, Denver topped Indy in the #4 tiebreak scenario, "strength of victory" (.504 to .305). Obviously, this chart will change drastically from week to week, and I will update it as time permits to keep us abreast of developments.]

#	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	TEN	STL	TB	¹⁰TEN	STL	TB	TEN
2	TB	⁷NE	STL	TB	TEN	STL	TB
3	STL	TB	TEN	STL	¹⁷CLE	TEN	STL
4	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	²⁶MIA
5	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE
6	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET
7	WAS	OAK	¹⁰~~WAS~~	OAK	WAS	²¹CAR	WAS
8	OAK	WAS	OAK	WAS	OAK	²³MIA	OAK
9	SEA	CAR	MIA	SEA	¹⁸KC	MIA	SEA
10	MIA	SEA	CAR	MIA	SEA	CAR	MIA
11	¹SF	MIA	⁹PHI	CAR	¹⁹KC	SEA	CAR
12	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF
13	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD	SF	BAL
14	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD	SF
15	JAX	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD
16	²DEN	⁶NE	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX
17	BAL	⁵TB	JAX	SD	SF	BAL	CHI
18	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU
19	DAL	PHI	DAL	PHI	^13,11NE	²²BUF	DAL
20	PHI	DAL	PHI	DAL	PHI	DAL	²⁸NE
21	NYJ	NYJ	NYJ	NYJ	¹⁶CLE	NYJ	NYJ
22	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI
23	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	²⁵GB
24	NE	NE	⁸OAK	NE	¹⁴TB	NE	²⁷NE
25	ATL	⁴KC	ATL	ATL	ATL	ATL	²⁴STL
26	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG
27	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN
28	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT
29	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN
30	IND	IND	IND	IND	IND	²⁰PHI	IND
31	NO	NO	NO	NO	¹⁵PHI	NO	NO
32	³SEA	DEN	DEN	DEN	¹²DET	DEN	DEN

First round

1. Carolina to San Francisco. Carolina traded its 2010 first-round selection for San Francisco's 2009 second-round selection (43rd overall, used to select Everette Brown) and its 2009 fourth-round selection (111th overall, used to select Mike Goodson).

2. Chicago to Denver. Chicago traded its 2010 first-round selection, its 2009 first- and third-round selections, and quarterback Kyle Orton to Denver for quarterback Jay Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round selection.

3. Denver to Seattle. Denver traded its 2010 first-round selection for Seattle's 2009 second-round selection (37th overall, used to select Alphonso Smith).

Second round

4. Atlanta to Kansas City. Atlanta traded its second-round selection to Kansas City for tight end Tony Gonzalez.

5. Chicago to Tampa Bay Chicago traded its second-round selection to Tampa Bay for defensive end Gaines Adams.

6. Jacksonville to New England. Jacksonville traded its 2010 second-round selection and its 2009 seventh-round selection to New England for the first of New England's 2009 third-round selections (73rd overall, used to select Derek Cox).

7. Tennessee to New England. Tennessee traded its 2010 second-round selection to New England for the third of New England's 2009 third-round selections (89th overall, used to select Jared Cook).

Third round

8. New England to Oakland. New England traded its third and a conditional pick to Oakland for defensive end Derrick Burgess.

9. Seattle to Philadelphia. Seattle traded its third-round selection in 2010 and its fifth- and seventh-round selections in 2009 (137th and 213th overall) for Philadelphia's third-round selection in 2009 (91st overall, used to select Deon Butler).

10. Washington (forfeit). Washington will not have a third-round selection in 2010, as it used a third-round pick in the 2009 Supplemental Draft to choose defensive end Jeremy Jarmon.

Fifth round

11. Dallas to Denver. Dallas traded its fifth-round selection to Denver for guard Montrae Holland.

12. Denver to Detroit. Denver traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#235 overall, used to select Zack Follett) to Detroit for a 2009 sixth-round selection (1st selection in round six, #174 overall, used to select Tom Brandstater).

13. Denver to New England. Denver traded its fifth-round selection to New England for defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith and New England's seventh-round selection, which was later traded back to New England.

14. New England to Tampa Bay. New England traded its fifth-round selection to Tampa Bay for tight end Alex Smith.

15. New Orleans to Philadelphia. New Orleans traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#222 overall, later traded to Indianapolis) to Philadelphia for a 2009 fifth-round selection (#164 overall, used to select Thomas Morestead).

16. New York Jets to Cleveland. New York traded its fifth round pick, as well as a conditional third-round pick, WR Chansi Stuckey, and LB Jason Trusnik, to Cleveland for WR Braylon Edwards.

17. Tampa Bay to Cleveland. Tampa Bay traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and its 2009 second-round selection to Cleveland for tight end Kellen Winslow II.

18. Carolina to Kansas City. Carolina traded its 2010 fifth-round selection to Kansas City for defensive end Tank Tyler.

19. Miami to Kansas City: Miami traded its 2010 fifth-round selection to Kansas City for quarterback Tyler Thigpen.

Sixth round

20. Indianapolis to Philadelphia. Indianapolis traded its 2010 sixth-round selection to Philadelphia for a 2009 seventh-round selection (#222 overall, used to select Pat McAfee).

21. Oakland to Carolina. Oakland traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#216 overall, used to select Captain Munnerlyn) to Carolina for a 2009 sixth-round selection (#202 overall, used to select Brandon Myers).

22. Philadelphia to Buffalo. Philadelphia traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and 2009 first- and fourth-round selections to Buffalo for tackle Jason Peters.

23. Washington to Miami. Washington traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and 2009 second-round selection to Miami for defensive end Jason Taylor.

Seventh round

24. Atlanta to St. Louis: Atlanta traded its 2010 seventh-round selection to the Rams for Tye Hill.

25. Green Bay to New York Jets (returned): Green Bay traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and quarterback Brett Favre to the Jets for the Jets' 2009 third-round selection. The Jets acquired this pick as part of the conditional agreement of the trade in which Favre's performance resulted in the Packers receiving the Jets' 2009 third-round selection, coupled with Favre retiring after the 2008 season. However, this pick has been returned to the Packers.

26. Kansas City to Miami: Kansas City traded its 2010 seventh-round selection to Miami for Miami's 2009 seventh-round selection.

27. New England to Denver (returned): New England traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and Le Kevin Smith to the Broncos for their 2010 fifth-round selection. Denver then traded the selection back to New England for offensive lineman Russ Hochstein.

28. Philadelphia to New England. Philadelphia traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and wide receiver Greg Lewis to New England for New England's 2009 fifth-round selection.

Conditional/Undetermined

29. Carolina to Cleveland: Carolina traded a conditional 2010 selection to Cleveland for DT Louis Leonard.

30. Jacksonville to Tampa Bay: Jacksonville traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Tampa Bay for quarterback Luke McCown.

31. Kansas City to Miami: Kansas City traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Miami for offensive linemen Andy Alleman and Ikechuku Ndukwe.

32. New England to Baltimore: New England traded a conditional 7th round 2010 draft choice to Baltimore for LB Prescott Burgess. Burgess was placed on the Patriots' practice squad, but was claimed by Baltimore after their game against the Patriots, thus nullifying the trade as Burgess did not meet the condition for playing time.

33. New York Jets to Philadelphia: New York traded a 2009 fifth-round selection and a conditional 2010 selection to Philadelphia for CB Lito Sheppard. Depending on Sheppard's playing time in 2009, the selection could be in the second, third, or fourth round.

34. New York Jets to Cleveland. New York traded a conditional third round pick, as well as a fifth round pick, WR Chansi Stuckey, and LB Jason Trusnik, to Cleveland for WR Braylon Edwards. The third-round pick can become a second-round pick based on Edwards' performance with New York.

35. San Diego to Houston: San Diego traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Houston for defensive lineman Travis Johnson.

The Call for Free-Chise!

Niko Houllis — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:15:42 -0000

More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

Browse more photos »

Ok, I'm sure I'm going to catch heat for that take on NY Jets Sanchize (or last week was being called DEmise), but hey, what are you gonna do!

Josh Freeman got in the game and pretty much did what we expected him to do with 8 minutes left, gett sacked, throw a nice completion, and have one of those 'throw the ball away but it looks like a fumble' moment rookies have a patent right to.

For a coaching staff that has not been afraid to admit its mistakes (See Offensive Coordinator Jags), the way the Quarterback position has been handled this year seems to have been another big one. Either way, it is time to make this right.

The entire preseason and training camp was a complete waste. Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich took all of the valuable snaps in practice for their battle to start the 2009 season. Well they may as well have been Jack Thompson and Jerry Goldstein; because neither one was in the Bucs plans only 4 weeks later. When it was obvious that the rumours about Byron Leftwich were actually true, the competition was already shipped off to Jacksonville.

Moving to Josh Johnson was questionable at best, but Johnson did show flashes of potential in both camp, and preseason, perhaps even winning the job in the exhibition games. In four games however as the starter, he has regressed and any chance of magically taking over this team should now be given solely to the man the Bucs stated all along would become THE Franchise here in Tampa Bay.

You don't have to like Josh Freeman's college stats or accomplishments there, or lack of if you feel that is the case. Josh Freeman is a Blue Chipper. He is the raw talent that has all of the keys necessary to be given the car to drive. He has the size, the arm, and the experience for the job. Freeman was a starter for three seasons at Kansas State, and in the history of the league, that translates into better chance to succeed early for rookie signal callers being given the reins in their first year.

In the coming weeks, we will take a look not only at Tampa Bay's rookie signal callers like Vinny Testeverde, Steve Young, and Trent Dilfer; but we will also look at the rest of the league and their history with first timers like Joe Montana, Heath Shuler, and Peyton Manning.

No one can be sure which one of these men Freemen will emulate, but one thing is certain...its time to start finding out; in two weeks against the Green Bay Packers, wearing that familiar color of Orange to remind us of all the potential and all the heart aches and heartbreaks going with a #1 round Quarterback pick will do for you.

And all the Glory too.

Five questions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

JasonB — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:00:19 -0000

View full size photo »

This week I traded 5 questions with Niko over at the Tampa Bay Bucs blog Buc Em. We talk Tampa QBs, the collapse against the Skins, rookie head coach Raheem Morris, the Buc's ownership situation, and which Eagle would Tampa steal?

Check out my answers to his questions over there.

BGN - What's up the Bucs' QB situation? We know Leftwich was benched for Johnson who didn't do much better but is obviously still young. There's Freeman waiting in the wings... Who should we expect to see this Sunday and how much confidence do you have in that guy?

Buc Em - Bucs Head Coach Raheem Morris drafted Josh Freeman to be the Franchise QB of the Buccaneers. He expects him to be a John Elway, McNabb, ETC, the face of the team for a decade. Problem is the Bucs were hoping to sneak in a few wins in the first few weeks, so they wanted to have a QB dual between Luke McCown and Leftwich. In doing so, Both Joshes had critical reps taken away from them. In fact, you could say the Bucs Quarterbacks are ill prepared at this stage of the season because NONE of them really have had a large share of practice reps. Byron Leffwich has obvious mechanical flaws, and the Buffalo Bills exploited them with our starting Center out, and the NY Giants copied that game plan to the point Raheem felt since NO surprise wins were achieved, it was time for a change.

The lack of practice reps with the starting team has hindered the progress of Josh Freeman. Josh Johnson has one year of NFL experience even though its mostly just bench stuff, but he is familiar with offensive coordinator Olsen, who was the QB coach last year. You will see Josh Johnson this week, and the NFL will not see Josh Freeman until either Starting Center Jeff Faine gets back or Freeman is more ready. I expect to see Freeman after the Bye.

I know a lot of Eagles fans were watching the Bucs/Skins game hoping to see a Redskins loss and it looked like that would be what they'd get... but the Bucs seemed to implode. What do you attribute that to?

Tampa Bay came out playing hard, but they left alot of points on the field when then kicker Mike Nugent missed two FGs that would have given the Bucs a 16-0 halftime lead.

Josh Freeman looked like a rookie, and at times looked very indecisive. Then you have some questionable coaching decisions as well, such as kicking the FG on 4th down with 4:00 left instead of going for it , and having a fumble prone back as your 2:00 back. None of these plays cost the Bucs the game though, it was mostly lost on the missed FGs, and the youth and inexperience of the Bucs and their coaching staff. In time, they will learn to close out games like that one.

What are your thoughts on rookie head coach Raheem Morris so far?

I may not be the best person to ask, because I actually predicted his rise back in 2007, telling my friends to look out for Raheem Morris, who did wonders with the Bucs secondary when he came back to Tampa Bay after leaving for Kansas State for a year. Judging by what he did to K States defense the year he was there, and what he did to the Bucs secondary from 06 to 07 when he came back, I felt he was going to be a hot coaching prospect one day.

There are a number of Bucs fans (% we have no idea) who feel Morris and GM Mark Dominik are too young and in over their head, however Mark Dominik has been with the Bucs since 1993, and learned under Rich McKay (who built the Sapp, Brooks, Barber Bucs), Jerry Angelo (who left Tampa to build the Bears into Superbowl shape), and Tim Ruskell (who left the Bucs to build the Seahawks into a Superbowl team too), as well as the last GM Bruce Allen. So Dominik has been trained by and worked with some of the best football minds in the country. Then you have Raheem Morris, who has been with the Bucs since the Superbowl season, and trained under Monte Kiffin, arguably the best defensive coordinator of all time, perhaps next to Phily's own Jim johnson. Seeing as the ownership is going to be paying Jon Gruden AND Bruce Allen for two more seasons for doing nothing, it is doubtful they will do the same with Morris and Dominick. Their jobs are pretty safe; unless of course they go 0-16, and that may be unforgivable.

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the Bucs' ownership? BGN readers may not know that they also own Manchester United soccer club in the English Premier league and have over a billion dollars in debt. When you combine that with the fact that Tampa has almost twice as much cap space as any other team in the NFL... you have to wonder what is up with the Glazers? Can they afford these teams? Are they still committed to the Bucs?

This situation certainly has not escaped the Tampa fan base. The problem is the same economy that has hit the rest of us has hit the rich as well! The Glazers are required to pay a lot of money on interest payments right now, and that money has them cash strapped. The money coming in from the NFL TV contracts is more than enough to run the football operations of the team, but they do not have the cash to offer cash bonuses, instead they have been offering guaranteed contracts, which is also an attractive incentive for a player. Once the interest payments become more reasonable or gone, I personally am pretty sure they will get back to the business as usual for the bucs. Frustrated fans forget that the Glazers saved football in Tampa by purchasing the team and keeping them here at a time when the Rams, and Browns, Footballs historically relevant franchises, left their respective cities, yet the Bucs stayed in Tampa! Fans also forget that not so long ago the Bucs were in Salary Cap hell because of the unwise spending of former GM Rich McKay. The Bucs have not signed players just for the sake of spending the money, and in fact did go after big name talent this year, losing out to Washington for Albert Haynesworth. And speaking of Washington, Bucs fans also seem to not realize that the Redskins have led the league in Free Agency spending, and have not had much to show for it. A Lower Salary Cap surplus does not always spell out to more wins. The Bucs brought in K2 and Derrick Ward, the Best Tight End and Running Back available in 2009 Free agency. If the previous regime had drafted better, the Bucs would not need to rely on Free Agents so much.

Finally, my standard question... If you could steal an Eagle and add him to the Bucs, who would it be?

Right Now? We would take DeSean Jackson. Local Bucs beat writers had us taking him in the draft, but also warned that he reminded Bucs fans too much of some other WR we took with similar attributes, like Florida WR Jacquez Green. However, the Bucs ended up taking Dexter Jackson from App State, and he is now no longer with the team because he could not play WR nor could he play football in special teams duty. DeSean would be a welcomed addition to the Bucs roster. If we could go back in time and take someone off your roster, we would go back and take Donovan McNabb! Enough said there!

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills vs Cleveland Browns

sireric — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:30:15 -0000

Buffalo Bills (1-3) vs Cleveland Browns (0-4)
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 1:00 PM ET
Ralph Wilson Stadium - Orchard Park, NY

Random, unexpected pre-post note: Cleveland on Wednesday morning traded WR Braylon Edwards to the Jets in exchange for WR Chansi Stuckey, LB Jason Trusnick, and two undisclosed draft picks. Essentially, Buffalo will be playing against Edwards soon - it's just been delayed a week. Report comes via ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Well, it took last week's "game" to finally bring out the pessimist in me. This Buffalo Bills team is really killing my enthusiasm for football. But the cupcake Cleveland Browns are coming in this week, so they should be pushovers, right? I'm fairly certain that is the sentiment that most of us had the last two seasons when the Bills played the Browns, and look how that turned out. If you forget how that turned out just, skip the rest of my rambling and hit the jump.

The Browns and Bills have met fifteen times during their histories, despite being less then 190 miles from each other, that includes one playoff game. The Browns hold an all-time edge in the series 10-5, including wins in their last two meetings. Hit the jump for the last five meeting in greater detail.

Sunday, November 4, 1990: Bills 42, Browns 0
Ah, the good old days when the Bills could take a weaker team behind the wood shed and beat them senseless. The Bills ran for only 102 yards on the day, but four runs ended in touchdowns. Thurman Thomas had three touchdowns on the day (two rushing and one receiving), while Jamie Mueller and Kenneth Davis punched in the other two offensive scores. Darryl Talley picked off two Mike Pagel passes, taking one of them 60 yards to the house to cap the scoring for the Bills. The Browns had 43 rushing yards on the day and committed 13 penalties for 87 yards to aid the Bills. Marvcus Patton and Hal Garner recorded a half-sack each.

Monday, October 2, 1995: Bills 22, Browns 19
Steve Christie (three field goals) and Matt Stover (four) had very active days for their respective teams. The Bills got two Jim Kelly touchdown passes - one to Justin Armour and the other to Andre Reed - while the Browns got a 69-yard punt return for a score by Derrick Alexander to round out the scoring. Vinny Testaverde hit his favorite target, Andre Rison, to the tune of 6 catches for 126 yards, but it wasn't enough for the Browns. Phil Hansen (1.0), Bruce Smith (1.0), and Bryce Paup (1.0) all recorded sacks for the Bills.

Sunday, December 12, 2004: Bills 37, Browns 7
Ah, the good old days when the Bills could take a weaker team behind the wood shed and beat them senseless... again... but this time with defense. Luke McCown and the uber-popular Jeff Garcia combined to go 9 of 21 passing for 62 yards while getting sacked 8 times for a loss of 108 yards. Add to that the pitiful 29 yards rushing for the Browns, and Buffalo's defense held Cleveland to 17 total yards of offense on the day. Ouch. And you thought the Bills' offense was bad? Willis McGahee ran for 105 yards and two scores to pace the offense. Sam Adams (2.0), Chris Kelsay (1.0), Jeff Posey (1.0), Aaron Schobel (2.0), Lawyer Milloy (1.0), and Troy Vincent (1.0) all recorded sacks, and Vincent and Nate Clements added interceptions.

Sunday, December 16, 2007: Browns 8, Bills 0
This was the "Blizzard Game" from 2007. You remember - the one that started a three-game slide to end the season and eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. Jamal Lewis put the Browns on his back to the tune of 163 yards rushing. The Bills' offense, on the other hand, did almost nothing, with the exception of a single long run by Marshawn Lynch that didn't result in any points. And, of course, on the final play of the game, with the Bills attempting to tie it up... well, you know.

Monday, November 17, 2008: Browns 29, Bills 27
Trent Edwards came out of the gates firing in this one! Three interceptions to the Browns in the first quarter really set the tone for this game. Cleveland capitalized by going up 13-0 on two Phil Dawson field goals and a Josh Cribbs two-yard touchdown run. Two Rian Lindell field goals and a Marshawn Lynch 18-yard touchdown catch sandwiched another Dawson field goal to bring the Bills to within three points at 16-13. Jerome Harrison then broke Buffalo's back by rumbling 72 yards for a touchdown. Yes - that remains the lone career touchdown of his four-year career. Leodis McKelvin then resuscitated Bills fans by taking the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a score to stay three points down. After another Dawson field goal, Edwards plunged into the end zone to give the Bills a 27-26 lead. But that jerk Dawson hit his fifth field goal of the day - and then Lindell missed one wide right as time expired - to give the Browns victory.

Shallow thoughts and aimless musings on the Jaguars

Tkopa — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:00:53 -0000

After following the team through the draft and preseason and now the first three games, I am forming some thoughts. Maybe you agree, maybe not. I am interested in your comments, well most of your comments. Here are my ideas to date...

The offensive line looked better against Houston than I thought they would. A good offensive line allowed David to get comfortable and the receivers didn't look as mediocre. I don't know what is really happening but I trust Andy Heck, the Offensive line coach, and believe this is the true rebuilding needed. If the line forms as a unit, we are a minimum .500 team (maybe not this year but going forward it looks promising).

Speaking of the offensive line, where is Tra Thomas? After an absolute standout performance in training camp, where did he go? On the pass to Mike Sims-Walker to the one yard line, Mario Williams had beaten Tra and had a bead on David. I am guessing Tra is limited somehow. He was an eligible receiver on one play. Now that is interesting. Hope he is ok.

Quentin Groves seems to be finding his way to be useful faster than Derrick Harvey. Quentin seems to find a way to get into the play. Derrick hasn't found his way on to the stat sheet yet. What a huge mistake trading the entire draft away for him was. Even if he develops, he won't match the performance of guys who could have been taken at 21 or 17 or whatever our draft position was.

We all love Derek Cox, but he is the reason we are worse on pass defense this year over last year. Like it or not, Greg Williams did produce a defense that was decent, not great last year. Derek Cox is someone we all believe will get better. When he does, this defense will become a top 10 defense. Until he does, we need the offensive line to improve to keep the defense off the field. Derek just seems to have all the talent and brains needed, so I look forward to him developing.

Speaking of Greg Williams, he is doing a standout performance in New Orleans. Wow, what a team they have. It is interesting they have the offensive fire power they have and Reggie Bush isn't mentioned. I think Greg Williams is a good coach but it was wrong for Jack to hire him. Last year's chemistry issues were more coaches not getting along than player issues. Jack should not have hired Greg. It wasn't a marriage that could last from the start.

Having said that, I think I like the new defensive philosophy of disguise. Are we a 3-4 defense or a 4-3 defense or are we two two two flavors in one? I think the defensive strategy did a lot to keep Peyton Manning from scoring more points. Something is going on in our defensive coaching that is new. I don't think anyone understands it yet but it is interesting.

Having said that, I still think Ted Monochino is taking up a coaching spot without doing any coaching. He might be the worst hire in Jack's career.

I know Jack Del Rio has a following in Jacksonville but I fail to see it. As a coach he might understand football, as a public figure, he doesn't have a clue how to work a fan base. He comes across as either ignorant or arrogant when interviewed. His comments on not caring about the fans frustration and closing down the David Garrard radio program were media blunders on a top level. I don't care if you think he is right or not, you don't call a guy three minutes before he goes on the air and "strongly suggest" he not do the program. In my opinion David came across as the more mature person. Jack needs to show results on the field, he certainly isn't a Bobby Bowden with the masses.

I do like this team but I don't enjoy the home games like I used to. I remember coming just in time for a Monday Night game last year and the place was packed and full of excitement. That feeling of a crowded stadium with everyone either cheering or holding their breath or even booing is part of the live game experience. An empty stadium doesn't have the same feel. It is still better to see the game live than on television. I don't care what anyone says about big screen HDTV, the stadium is the only way to really understand how the game went.

Looking around the league, the linebackers as a draft class are holding up real well. All of the teams who drafted linebackers in the first and second round are playing them and reaping benefits. The offensive linemen are not showing that same return on investment yet. Jason Smith and Andre Smith haven't found the field yet and Michael Oher isn't living up to first round status. I don't think Eugene Monroe has gotten off to a good start either, but he is playing and developing. We won't remember the first three games if his last 8 are fantastic. So does anyone think ESPN will apologize for suggesting Michael Crabtree should have been our draft choice? What a head case he turned out to be.

So are the Jaguars the best NFL team in Florida? How much farther could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fallen? Are they going to repeat their 0-16 season? So how does Byron Leftwich win the Quarterback battle and by game 4 end up as the third string emergency QB option? Did Gene steal Luke McCown from them? I am beginning to think so. I don't wish David any bad luck, but would love to see Luke play sometime this season.

I don't know if anyone is following this but Justin Durant is playing linebacker as well as anyone in the league right now. He is tied for 8th in tackles. Interesting to note, so is Mike Peterson. Justin is a MLB and Mike Pete is an OLB. Mike Pete and Justin Durant would make a great pair on the field together. Daryl Smith is no slouch either and we might have the makings of a pro-bowl group of linebackers right now. I know this, no one is making it to the corner running the ball anymore.

One last item. There is no one on this team I am happier to see than Torry Holt. He was an absolute outstanding free agent aquisision. He is changing the make up of this team in a very quiet way. I can't wait to see Jarret Dillard play. He has been hugging Torry since camp and I think he has some football in him.

VIDEO- On This Day: September 2nd, 1984- @ Chicago Bears

Niko Houllis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:56:50 -0000

John McKay and his Bucs had just come off a disasterous 1983 season that ended up 2-14. McKay had JackThompson as his starter, but Steve Deberg from Denver was waiting in the wings..

.which was around game 3!

Similar to where we are now? Jack Thompson? Steve Deberg?

Thompson started most of the preseason games as evidenced by his greater number of pass attempts.

Thompson was 32/53 (60%) 359 yards (11.2 per attempt) and 1 TD , While DeBerg was 19/43 265 yards (14 per attempt) and 1 TD.

Sound like Luke McCown & Byron Leftwich? ANYONE? Bueller?

We all know which QB was the better of the two

Enjoy!

Jay Glazer (Foxsports) reports that Byron Leftwich has been named the starting quarterback - Updated

Buc Wild — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:52:42 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

Browse more photos »

Per Jay Glazer, Raheem Morris has informed the team that Byron Leftwich will be the starting quarterback this year.

He beat out Luke McCown in ~~what can hardly be called~~ a battle over the first three preseason games. Leftwich went 9 of 17 for 100 yards while McCown went 5 of 11 for 38 yards. Neither threw a touchdown or interception, though all of the Bucs points came on Leftwich led drives.

Glazer said Morris informed the team this morning in a meeting of the news. Coach Morris is due to speak to the media around 11:30 AM ET, and I imagine will be spilling the beans then.

In other news, the Bucs cut four players, the most notable being Kelly Campbell. This gets the Bucs to 76 players. They need to be at 75 by September first and down to 53 by September 5th.

Update: Reports, specifically from PFT, are saying that Freeman will open the season as the 3rd QB. Does this mean Josh Johnson will go in as #2, or are we sticking with McCown and dumping JJ?

Update #2: Morris has now said that Leftwich had the lead coming into camp (then why give McCown the new deal?) and that McCown closed the gap during camp. McCown will open the season as the #2 QB and Josh Johnson still has a shot to make the team. This might be another year carrying 4 QB's, and we lack depth at other positions. One of the three (Leftwich, McCown, Johnson) need to get shipped out to free up some room, maybe net a draft pick, and allow us to keep other players. The truth is, we don't need to develop Luke or JJ if Freeman is the guy in 2010.

Will be back for analysis on this deal later in the weekend.