You're right. And I'm sure Pettine won't recall any of the defensive game planning so Fitz should be good.
When Fitzpatrick was on the Bills I seem to recall it was not all the Jets CS that was giving him problems. I seem to recall the Jets had some pretty good defensive players back then. I don't think I know Cleveland well enough to say they have an equally good roster on D.
revis yes. richardson wont be on the field wilkerson can be doubled, since we have no real edge rush i dont think anyone fears cromartie we have some elite defensive players. but at linebacker, pass rusher, and safety we are as weak as it gets. ILB/S id rank us near the very bottom of the league.
im not worried about cleveland. we can win that game 10-6 or something if need be. Manziel is trash, our defense is going to force turnovers and big negative plays. and he wont put up a ton of points on us. my only fear is we suck on special teams and lose a tight game because of that
Their pass defense is somewhere between great and elite. Joe Haden is a top corner and Gipson/Whitner is a terrific safety combo. Their issue has been run defense, they were 32nd last season, so they drafted Danny Shelton for the middle. Notable losses are Jabaal Sheard (Pats) and Buster Skrine (Jets) and they still have Dansby and Paul Kruger at LB. Their first round pick from last year, Justin Gilbert, has been very underwhelming and if we're going to throw I'd pick that side more often than not. Still, the gameplan should be to pound the ball up the middle and open up a play action attack off of it. That looks to be the plan most weeks, but especially so against a defense built like Cleveland's. Passing yards could be hard to come by (for both teams - Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline vs Revis and Cromartie shouldn't inspire confidence, especially with McCown at QB). They'll also try to feature their elite offensive line (Thomas, Bitonio, Mack, Erving) in a run first attack, which is why having Sheldon would have been a great asset week 1.
I think you need to readjust your expectations. and look around the league. Cromartie is a top 10 corner. ( only 64) that start. I think our safeties are better than Houston, our corners are better than houston, our line is better than houston, and are linebacking group is better.
Cro is an upgrade on what we had last year even in his lower moments. Also, Where's the start Geno thread on this forum?
Can you name 9 other guys you would rather have than him? Revis, Sherman, Hayden. Let me guess you want namdi asamough.
I can't believe your serious. Revis Davis Harris Sherman Gilmore Shields Flowers Gaines Gay Petersen Rhodes Smith Hayden Williams Maxwell Scandrick Boykin Browner I'd take any of them over Cromartie. I really feel like you're being sarcastic and I'm falling for it.
Fitz can be Trent Dilfer yes. As long as we are on that subject, How big a douchebag is Rich Gannon as an analyst for acting like he was Joe f*cking Montana his whole career?
He's right. You're wrong. And somehow you left Buster of the list, and he's better than all but maybe 4 of those guys. Confession. I live in Columbus now. So...consequently I saw a shitload of Brownie football last year...And always came away thinking...dang..I'd like Skrine on our team. Now he's our third corner.
Here is my path to 9-7 Home wins: browns, redskins, jaguars, titans, Bills Away wins: dolphins, raiders, Texans and giants.
Until they play opposite Revis and only Browner and Cromartie have it's hard to judge whether they are any better or not and say what you want about it but Cromartie still made the pro bowl last year and you can only base anything on what they've done lately.
Ohio bias is really showing here. It's been really awful as of late. You can absolutely name 10 better corners then Cro, and he left out Chris Harris, Trufant from the Falcons, and Sean Smith.
