dwiley21

Great game, good overall performance. The team will hopefully only continue to gel and get better. In a few weeks Drew will be converting those red zone passes and those FG's will be TD's!

yasoon

I thought the coaching was fantastic. The team was composed throughout.

The Deuce fumble would have signaled a meltdown in the Haz era. This team nutted up and finished the job. That was a HUGE stop.

I will skip echoing the thoughts of the others as we all know what we saw and we all know we liked it.

The one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is the turnovers. This defense forced turnovers, something that it has been very bad at of late. The fumble at the end of the half, the pick to seal the deal, all the sacks.

In the past, when you heard that a team had a weakness (like the Browns line), you almost knew that we would not exploit it. We took it to their o line. We beat em up worse than the score said. If it weren't for Frye's legs, they would not have scored.

I am still realistic about our playoff hopes, but when this team loses, I don't think it will be self inflicted. I have ultimate respect for the way Payton put together a team and a gameplan.

They really looked sharp. Let's see what we can do against a GB team that just got embarassed at home.

saintswhodi

Pessimistic thoughts:

First thought: It was the Browns and we barely won.

Second thought: Winslow owned Roman Harper.

Third thought: Too many FGs not enough TDs.

Optimistic thoughts:

First: We dominated. Plain and simple

Second: Our offensive line looked stout

Third: Deuce and Reggie are gona be dynamite.

Fourth: I agree with whomever said previously, that Deuce fumble woulda been a team killer. The defense sacked up and held. Nice to see.

Fifth: Fujita ia a beast. Wow was I impressed with him.

Not too much to be down about. I really wanna see how we fare against better teams though. We coulda beat Cleveland with our old team.

BrooksMustGo

A few observations in no particular order.

1. I was really pleased with the playcalling and the presence that Coach Payton brings to the sideline. As many of you have mentioned, I love that mistakes and penalties are simply not acceptable under our new leadership. I also enjoyed watching the use of Deuce and Reggie. I generally enjoy the ground game more and really liked watching us pile up yards on the ground. It's also great to have two backs who are great safety valves coming out of the backfield. I wouldn't be surprised to see Deuce and Reggie rush for 1000 and catch 500 each.

2. I've been second guessing my support for the Brees move as Culpepper had looked so good during the pre-season. I was wrong to do that. Brees has done what he does his entire career, he's smart with the football, knows the offense and executes. He wasn't flashy but he got the ball to the playmakers. A QB who seems to know what's going on around him and takes care of the ball is a welcome change.

2a. I'm loving that it looks like Miami got sold a bill of goods. Culpepper looked confused and awful the other night.

3. I was thrilled with the defensive line play. For us to shut down the run is a huge difference. Hollis Thomas looks like the key addition. He isn't a long term solution but he appears to be a major asset for our run defense.

4. I was pleased and surprised with the offensive line play. It wasn't great, but I was almost expecting it to be pourous. Brees came out the day with no sacks. I hope they continue to play so well.

5. Nice to see LBs getting into the plays.

6. Colston--strong rookie outing. He didn't play like a rookie and I liked what I saw. This is hard to evaluate since Stallworth just exploded for Philly, but I'm going to trust that the coaching staff knows what they're doing. I'm looking forward to see what Colston makes of himself this season.

7. Roman Harper--was beaten like a small child against Kellen Winslow all day. Seemed like a huge mismatch and Harper didn't come off well to me. He was the only negative on a really strong day. Drafting him in the second round continues to rankle me. He seemed a little lost at points. I'm going to take a wait and see approach with him.

Overall, I was very pleased with our new direction. It shows a lot of promise.

http://www.blackandgold.net/site/signature/buddysig.jpg

shrike3000

Roman Harper did get beat by Winslow several times, yes. A few things to keep in mind, Harper is a rookie and this was his first game ever in the NFL. He has some learning to do. Also, Winslow is a freaking beast! He is the best thing the Browns have going for them. He plays with huge attitude and clearly has something to prove and is possibly the most physically gifted TE in the league.

I think Winslow will be owning a lot of Safeties over his career.