Talib’s biggest challenge yet – can he/we contain Josh Gordon?

[juny]

The Browns have no QB to speak of, so I don't expect the Pats to struggle, especially at home. Just give some help over the top on Gordon and try to limit him, he will still get his yards anyway. If the Pats are good as we think they are, just should easily win this one.

 

[dales804]

So Brady and the offense has no say in the matter?

Also the 5th worst running team in the league doesn't really scare me.

Of course he does. Didn't say otherwise. But Brady doesn't play defense.

 

[manxman2601]

That's right - how could I forget that?! A masterful job on a TE that was tearing up the league!

And he shut down Julio Jones who is arguably better and at least as good as Gordon. I think Gordon fits the type of receiver Talib likes to cover quite nicely. It's the nippier more elusive receivers like Steve smith that Talib struggles with.

And Talib was really going through a masterful streak at that time. Let's hope he takes our defense back to those halcyon days.

 

[BradyBranch39]

Gordon has done this against the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville defenses. I'm not AS worried.

 

[BradyBranch39]

Julio Jones who is arguably better and at least as good as Gordon

Pretty laughable. Outside of their current health situations, there's no doubt Julio is way better than Gordon.

 

[Ozymandias]

Did we even try to take away Andre Johnson against Houston? He was getting wide open very early

Without Dennard they didn't play much man coverage. The Patriots ran mostly a zone-based scheme that was vanilla. So, they did not really try to take him away so to speak.

I'd expect that to change if Dennard does suit up this week.

 

[Don_the_patfan]

Talib's biggest challenge this upcoming game is his health.

 

[Ozymandias]

Pretty laughable. Outside of their current health situations, there's no doubt Julio is way better than Gordon.

Way better, huh? You sure about that?

Physically speaking, they match up pretty well. Julio's faster, but Gordon looks more polished of the two in terms of route running and his ability to get off the LOS.

Not saying Gordon's better, but to state Jones is way better as if Gordon is some scrub is disingenuous at best. Jones played with Matt Ryan, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez. It's easy to have exploitable matchups with that line up.

Gordon on the other hand, has had scrubs like Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell as his QBs whilst having no help from any other pass catchers sans Cameron who emergence only arouse this season and Gordon is still putting up monster stats,

The gap between the two is much, much smaller than you think it is. In terms of raw talent, both of them are top 5. As an athlete Jones is superior. As a receiver, Gordon is better IMO.

 

[manxman2601]

Pretty laughable. Outside of their current health situations, there's no doubt Julio is way better than Gordon.

Funny. I thought I said he was better.

 

[Brady6]

Pretty laughable. Outside of their current health situations, there's no doubt Julio is way better than Gordon.

Playing with a revolving door of QBs this season Gordon has 64 receptions for 1249 receiving yards, a 19.5 yards per reception average and 7 touchdowns. Julio Jones plays with Matt Ryan and his best season 79 receptions for 1198 yards and 10 touchdowns; Jones was often times covered by the other teams #2 CB because of Roddy White. I don’t get how you can make the assertion that he is without question better? Josh Gordon is playing at an insane level, his numbers over 16 games would equate to 102 receptions for 1998 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

You can certainly have your opinion but to suggest a player who in 10 games already has more receiving yards in season than the other player had in a full 16 game schedule is laughable seems rather irrational to me.

 

[Brady6]

Gordon has done this against the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville defenses. I'm not AS worried.

Pittsburg defense

We may have beat them up but Brady always has success against them the rest of the league not so much, the Steerlers regularly deploy one of the best defense in the league over the last 2 decades. **** LeBeau is considered one of the great defensive minds in the game today and they have Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark making up their secondary granted these guys are in the latter years of their careers but they’re some of the best at their positions over their career period.

 

[ausbacker]

Way better, huh? You sure about that?

Physically speaking, they match up pretty well. Julio's faster, but Gordon looks more polished of the two in terms of route running and his ability to get off the LOS.

Not saying Gordon's better, but to state Jones is way better as if Gordon is some scrub is disingenuous at best. Jones played with Matt Ryan, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez. It's easy to have exploitable matchups with that line up.

Gordon on the other hand, has had scrubs like Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell as his QBs whilst having no help from any other pass catchers sans Cameron who emergence only arouse this season and Gordon is still putting up monster stats,

The gap between the two is much, much smaller than you think it is. In terms of raw talent, both of them are top 5. As an athlete Jones is superior. As a receiver, Gordon is better IMO.

Come on mate. Let's be serious here for a minute. Gordon is developing into a nice receiver but to say he looks a more polished route runner and releases off the line better than a top 5 receiver in the league? As good a season as Gordon is having people forget what Julio Jones brings to the table given his IR designation.

Secondly, you can make arguments for and against your line up comment. It's a moot point. Gordon sees as many targets as he does because the Browns have Cameron and that's it. That's not taking away from Gordon who is showing signs that he is developing into a beast more a stab at the comment directed toward Jones being in a better line up.

I expect Talib to get the match up with McCourty lurking over the top. Collins can have first crack at Cameron otherwise that match up is palmed off. Outside of that, Braygreg Littlewards doesn't particularly concern me.

It'll be interesting to see how the Patriots handle the Browns Run D.

 

[Brady6]

As good a season as Gordon is having people forget what Julio Jones brings to the table given his IR designation.

I don’t think anyone is forgetting what Jones brings but what exactly does he bring other than better character that Gordon doesn’t offer?

Gordon 6’3 225 Lbs.
Games – 26
Receptions – 114
Targeted – 209
Catch Ratio – 54.54%
Receiving yards – 2054
Yards per reception – 18.0
Touchdowns – 12
First downs – 87

Jones 6’3 220 Lbs.
Games – 34
Receptions – 174
Targeted – 285
Catch Ratio – 61.04%
Receiving yards – 2737
Yards per reception – 15.7
Touchdowns – 20
First downs – 115

Considering Jones plays with Matt Ryan and the best QB Gordon has ever played with was probably Hoyer combined with Jones being on the field with White and Gonzalez I don’t think Jones has proved to offer anything that Gordon doesn’t also offer and I think Gordon potentially could offer more, outside of Calvin Johnson Jr. and Randy Moss the NFL hasn’t had a receiver play at Gordon’s current level since Jerry Rice. The kid has character issues and is a complete head case but don’t let that impair your assessment of him, he is playing at a ridiculous level with some of the worst QBs in the entire NFL.

 

[IllegalContact]

josh gordon ran wild and the browns still lost to the jags.....at home

the browns have lost 5 of 6

I am very unconcerned about this game

 

[ausbacker]

I don’t think anyone is forgetting what Jones brings but what exactly does he bring other than better character that Gordon doesn’t offer?

Gordon 6’3 225 Lbs.
Games – 26
Receptions – 114
Targeted – 209
Catch Ratio – 54.54%
Receiving yards – 2054
Yards per reception – 18.0
Touchdowns – 12
First downs – 87

Jones 6’3 220 Lbs.
Games – 34
Receptions – 174
Targeted – 285
Catch Ratio – 61.04%
Receiving yards – 2737
Yards per reception – 15.7
Touchdowns – 20
First downs – 115

Considering Jones plays with Matt Ryan and the best QB Gordon has ever played with was probably Hoyer combined with Jones being on the field with White and Gonzalez I don’t think Jones has proved to offer anything that Gordon doesn’t also offer and I think Gordon potentially could offer more, outside of Calvin Johnson Jr. and Randy Moss the NFL hasn’t had a receiver play at Gordon’s current level since Jerry Rice. The kid has character issues and is a complete head case but don’t let that impair your assessment of him, he is playing at a ridiculous level with some of the worst QBs in the entire NFL.

I'm not disagreeing that Gordon isn't showing signs of developing into a beast more I am taking issue with the opinion that it's somewhat easier for Jones because he plays in a line up that on paper, is better than the Browns O. It's a chicken versus egg. Does Gordon see so many targets because there is nobody else versus what would he produce where the targets are spread more evenly?

Gordon looks a great talent but I'm not prepared to say he's Julio Jones in spite of his numbers in 2013. That may change completely next season if Gordon continues to play to his current level, which is ridiculous.

 

[Brady6]

Does Gordon see so many targets because there is nobody else versus what would he produce where the targets are spread more evenly?

Gordon looks a great talent but I'm not prepared to say he's Julio Jones in spite of his numbers in 2013. That may change completely next season if Gordon continues to play to his current level, which is ridiculous.

They both average about 8 targets per game in their careers, Jones is actually on average targeted slightly more.

Gordon - 8.03
Jones - 8.36

I here what you're saying in terms of not being ready to put them in the same category and that's fine, personally I don't think Jones merits being in any exclusive category yet either.

 

[MassPats38]

Pittsburg defense

We may have beat them up but Brady always has success against them the rest of the league not so much, the Steerlers regularly deploy one of the best defense in the league over the last 2 decades. **** LeBeau is considered one of the great defensive minds in the game today and they have Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark making up their secondary granted these guys are in the latter years of their careers but they’re some of the best at their positions over their career period.

Didn't you discount Amendola's performance against that same great defense?

One or two bombs caught in a game has defined Gordon's statistics over the last three games. The Ravens, a team not having a great year in pass defense, held him to 3 receptions and 44 yards. The Packers, a team with no defense, held him to 21 yards.

While I have no desire to watch Browns games other than the one this week, it looks from drive charts that all QBs on the Browns will just heave the ball downfield repeatedly to him. Good teams go for sustained drives. Bad teams go for that improbable outcome. It seems a little premature to string two good performances against suspect pass defenses into characterization as an unstoppable foe. Graham racked up 530 yards in 4 prior games, and somehow the Pats shut him down. I don't know if I'd give Gordon Andre Johnson status either. Or even Steve Smith, who plays on a run-first offense in a passing offense that spreads the ball around.

Credit him with having a good season, but this thread appears to be a little dramatic in terms of characterizing him as the biggest threat the Pats D has seen all year.

 

[ausbacker]

They both average about 8 targets per game in their careers, Jones is actually on average targeted slightly more.

Gordon - 8.03
Jones - 8.36

I here what you're saying in terms of not being ready to put them in the same category and that's fine, personally I don't think Jones merits being in any exclusive category yet either.

Apart from the fact that Jones is perhaps one of the three most explosive and physically punishing Wide Outs in the game. Gordon is on his way there but I haven't seen him physically dominate an opponent like Jones. Don't confuse that with Gordon can't.

Gordon is developing into a beast I'm just not willing to put him in the class of Jones just yet irrespective of what the numbers suggest.

 

[goheels22002]

Cleveland Browns' Brandon Weeden sent home Monday with concussion, Jason Campbell not cleared for practice, team open to possibilities | cleveland.com

Stopping Josh Gordon is not going to be an issue. The Browns do not have a healthy quarterback. Whether Weedon, Campbell or this guy Tanney off the Cowboys practice squad starts, the Browns don't have anybody to get the ball to Gordon.

It's too bad. I had this one circled as the Grasshopper - Mr. Miyagi Bowl when Brian Hoyer took over in Cleveland and looked good before he blew out his ACL.

The Patriots need a comfortable victory before they get to Miami and Baltimore, so let's hope they jump out to an early two-score lead against the Browns and coast home from there.

 

[dales804]

Cleveland Browns' Brandon Weeden sent home Monday with concussion, Jason Campbell not cleared for practice, team open to possibilities | cleveland.com

Stopping Josh Gordon is not going to be an issue. The Browns do not have a healthy quarterback. Whether Weedon, Campbell or this guy Tanney off the Cowboys practice squad starts, the Browns don't have anybody to get the ball to Gordon.

It's too bad. I had this one circled as the Grasshopper - Mr. Miyagi Bowl when Brian Hoyer took over in Cleveland and looked good before he blew out his ACL.

The Patriots need a comfortable victory before they get to Miami and Baltimore, so let's hope they jump out to an early two-score lead against the Browns and coast home from there.

The Browns also signed Caleb Hanie today.

A week later, the Browns sign Caleb Hanie | ProFootballTalk