Have you ever tried to outrun your shadow? Well if you ever
want to find out what it’s like for Joe Haden to guard you, you should go ahead
and try that. The daunting task
presents a challenge and could be fun at first, but after constantly failing it
can get demoralizing, annoying, and even frustrating. If you’re a top wide receiver facing the Cleveland Browns
you should expect these feelings as Joe Haden will be blanketing you all game. Even when you do finally create a
little separation, his recovery speed is just too great for a quarterback to
complete the throw. He perfectly
uses his hands to keep receivers off balanced and cover up any available
passing lanes as well. Haden has
an aggressive style to his game but also shows his intellect when reading plays
and jumping routes before the receivers even get a chance to make their
cut. Simply put, he's a ball hawk. Most of the interceptions he got early in his career was actually from leaving his man and following where the quarterback was placing himself to make the throw. His most recent interception came this season against the Ravens where he did something similar but this time got a little help from Flacco's poor throw and teammates who tipped the ball.
Haden makes a great diving grab by fully extending his body and reaching out for the tipped ball.
A perfect example of Joe Haden’s abilities was shown in his
matchup with star wideout AJ Green.
In typical Bengals fashion, Dalton tried force-feeding Green the ball often
which led to a whooping total of fifteen targets. Haden managed to bat two of those passes away and Green
finished the day with seven catches for fifty-one yards (only a few of
which were caught when Haden was guarding him). Green’s longest play only amassed sixteen yards and that was
when the Browns were playing a really conservative defense to protect their
lead. To put the stats into a
better perspective, the Bengals only averaged 3.4 yards every time they tried
feeding their uber talented wide receiver the ball. More than just showing off his superb coverage skills, Haden
showed supreme tackling abilities in both one on one situations and in
traffic. The Browns have faced
good wide receivers often and Joe Haden has come up big every time. He has matched up with the likes of Mike Wallce,
Dwayne Bowe, Torrey Smith, and the inhuman wide receiver of Detriot.
I was actually thinking of using his matchup with Calvin Johnson as an
example, but Megatron was returning from his knee injury so he may not have
been at full strength.
Additionally, there were a couple of pass interference calls against
Haden, one of which was debatable and the other, a flat-out awful call. He ultimately finished the game with three
catches for twenty-five yards. The
only player who I would say has gotten the better of Haden this seasons was
Jordy Nelson, as the receiver actually managed to get in the end zone and catch
a few balls on a couple of comebacks after Rodgers got away from trouble and
extended the play.
AJ Green had a tough day in the Bengals loss to the Browns in Week 2. The Bengals offense only mustered six points in that meeting.
The Cleveland Browns finally have a respectable defense and
its ranking is representative of that.
If they had any form of a running game and consistent quarterback play,
this squad could very easily be a top two or three defense in the game. The constant three-and-outs and
turnovers force the defense to be on the field much more than the average
squad. As the leader of this
defensive front, Joe Haden, in my mind, is the best corner in the game. It would be an absolute travesty if he wasn’t
recognized across the league and voted to the Pro Bowl.
P.S. AJ Green and Joe Haden have a rematch tomorrow so try
to keep your eyes on that.
It’ll be a treat to watch these standouts go against each other.
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