2013 Offseason Update, Week 7

A member of the Cleveland Browns since 1999, Phil Dawson went to
his second Pro Bowl in 2012 and is currently rated as the NFL's
7th most accurate kicker. Photo credit to SB Nation.

The NFL got very quiet over the weekend, just in time for everyone to turn their attention to March Madness. There was plenty of news in the first half of Week 7 though, so let’s get to it.

Major Additions

Most of the big additions this week came in the AFC. The lone exception was Phil Dawson signing with the 49ers. David Akers struggled mightily in 2012, just a year removed from a historic season in which he set the NFL record for field goals converted in a season. It just goes to show how short a kicker’s career is once he starts missing.

Tennessee nabbed a former Ravens in Bernard Pollard, but the bigger addition in my mind is Ryan Fitzpatrick. He will not be taking Jake Locker’s job, but he will provide competition. Locker progressed rather nicely in his second season but with Matt Hasselbeck out, the Titans would like to speed up the process.

Former Raven Ed Reed is headed to Houston. He visited the Texans last week but when he left without a deal we weren’t sure where he was headed next. Turns out they just needed to talk money and contract length.

With all these Ravens players leaving, it is nice that Baltimore finally got some good news Sunday afternoon when Elvis Dumervil signed with them. This comes a week after he signed a contract with the Denver Broncos that was voided because the document arrived via fax after the league’s deadline.

Rule Changes

The Tuck Rule is gone. Praise the Lord, right? It only came about a decade late. One rule was put into place, however, that most people are not too happy about.

The League’s new Crown-of-the-Helmet rule states that any player three or more yards downfield may not deliver a blow with the crown of his helmet. It isn’t a popular new rule, and I myself am not looking forward to a new slew of fines to come this season because of the change. However, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh made an excellent point when he said, “Anybody that has played the game knows that when you’re going in on a higher hit you tackle with your eyes up. You see what you hit.”

We Have Football!

Well, not quite. But at least we know when we will have football again. The Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins will meet in Canton on August 4 for the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame Game, which kicks off the preseason.

The game will be played the day after the 2013 Hall of Fame Induction is held. This year’s class includes former greats such as Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden. Bill Parcells will be inducted in his second year on the ballot and Cris Carter will also be inducted after being slighted for several years.

Opening On the Road

The Super Bowl victor traditional hosts the NFL’s Kickoff Game on the Thursday (or Wednesday) following preseason to officially begin the regular season. A scheduling conflict with the Baltimore Orioles, who share a parking lot with the Ravens, will force the city’s NFL franchise to open their season on the road. There is no word yet on which team they will visit. The New England Patriots believed they will play the Ravens in Baltimore but perhaps the NFL will look kindly on Baltimore and not force them to visit such a difficult opponent in their first game of the season.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my blog’s Facebook page or my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Ravens vs Browns

It is becoming harder and harder to knock Joe Flacco. Despite a valiant effort on the part of Cleveland, Flacco improved to 9-0 when facing their AFC North rival. Last night was also Baltimore’s 10^th consecutive intra-division victory, and their 13^th straight home win.

The 23-16 final score is very telling of a hard-fought game, which it was. But almost everything came through the air. Trent Richardson had just 47 rushing yards for Cleveland while Ray Rice managed 49 on 18 carries. Meanwhile, both Flacco and Brandon Weeden threw for over 300 yards.

Ultimately, it was Baltimore’s defense that preserved this win and gave the team a 3-1 record after a quarter of the season.

Late in the third quarter, Cary Williams made a great play on an our-route, picking off Weeden and taking it all the way back. It was the first time in the game the Ravens had a real cushion.

Also important was stalling the Browns when they did get the ball moving. Phil Dawson attempted, and converted, field goals of 50, 51 and 52 yards (not in that order) and became the seventh player in NFL history to convert three 50+-yard field goals in a single game.

On the final Cleveland drive of the game, Weeden led them from their own 10-yardline with just over a minute on the clock into scoring range. Two desperation attempts into the end zone by Weeden fell incomplete, but it felt oddly similar to the end of Monday Night’s game between the Packers and Seahawks. This time both attempts fell incomplete, and we didn’t have replacement officials to make any boneheaded calls to affect the outcome of the game.

So how much does this say about the Browns? I saw a meme earlier, with photos of the last four Cleveland quarterbacks, including Weeden, reading, “Same s*** different day.” I think this game may be an indication that Weeden is not the “same s***.” Richardson didn’t get many yards, but I think Cleveland was too ready to abandon the run game when the Ravens built up a lead, despite only trailing by double digits only once in the game.

The Browns have big-play potential, but the Ravens defense is good enough to contain it, as are many NFL defenses. But I think Cleveland is better than their 0-4 record; maybe not much, but a little. This is the third time since 1998 that the Browns have started 0-4. They finished 2-14 the first time and 5-11 in 2009. I think this year could be more like 2009.

The Ravens, meanwhile, are sitting atop the AFC North at 3-1. The Ravens could tie it up with a win over Jacksonville on Sunday but the Steelers will sit at 1-2 through the weekend since they have a bye week (along with the Indianapolis Colts).

Baltimore certainly seems to be in the driver’s seat of the division through four weeks.