So we made it close but lost the game 24-26 Was ok to watch the Steelers and their fans watching out game and bust their bubble.

Baker had a Good/Bad game.
The first INT was a good throw thrown away from the defender unfortunately it was slightly tipped deflecting the ball to go towards the defender. This was overlooked by the announcers until the 2nd half.

Lamar Jackson...man o man I never saw a running QB as good as he. I don't think he will last long but he will be awesome while he does last. We started to get a solution down in our adjustment on the D for the 2nd half...if the league copy cats it. The Ravens will not go far.

Back to Baker, so without playing the entire season he broke the Rookie TD record. The one at the beginning of the game noted by the announcers that he just would not get to do it because of how great the Raven Defense is. But he did.

Another milestone...fee bad for Chubb as he got to 1,001 yds at the end of the first half and then had ONE RUN the 2nd half and he lost five yards...not 1000 season for him.

Again we got jobbed by the refs as we had a 99 yard fumble recover return for a touchdown taken away as the refs blew the whistle only to have them virtually say Oooops our bad you get the ball at the 7 instead...smh

What hurt more was I think on the first play, play action and Landry was wide open 40 yards down field and Baker throws a beautiful pass but instead of catching with his hands, Landry decided to catch it over his shoulder and into his arms...but he miss judged it as it hit him in the face mask trying to make the catch! A 93 yard TD pass gone out the door. That btw was the game...a job by the refs once again but a TD pass to our most competent WR who dropped it.

But you know what, I loved the way our team played again a game that we were not suppose to be even close to winning as we were at their home and we were a 57 yard FG away from winning or a 4th and 15 yard completion. I thought we should have given the kid a shot at the FG a little redemption for all the missed FGs including an easy one earlier as Mayfield had a good drive (memory is fleeting) was it at the end of the half???

Randall, I never saw him miss so many tackles and he patted Lamar on the back just too many times for me. Peppers was having a good game but I thought we missed the boat as he should have been mirroring Lamar the entire game. Its just as I had said, He is pretty accurate on throws in front of him...keep him in the pocket and take away the between the has throw and he is dead in the water.

Garret did get to Lamar once. I forgot who it was, CB broke through nice but did attack Lamar outside in...but went up head on and he got the edge, not a big run but should have been a big loss. We seemed to have figured out their Run game the second half...the big adjustment I saw was the last second shift of the DL nice and tight in each gap both 1 Tech, then 3 n 5 tech to the strong side. That seemed to do the job and we made sure we had the edge taken care of for Lamar. That might be copied or not??? I wish I was a fly on the wall at the end of the game at the convo Greg was having with Haurbaugh it looked like it was one way I hope it wasn't - hey Hire me and we would make a great team speech.

I can't believe so many think the existing crew have no chance on being re-hired. I know the fans will be dissapointed. but in Dorsey I trust.

I thought Robinson and Hubbard had great games at the tackle spot.

Its a shame on one of our best pass rushes that we touched the helmet of Lamar and of course roughing the passer was called. Mitchell was the only CB we had that was mean in their tackling!

Collins was way too nice as well. I don't want nice during the game. After the game its just fine with me but come on guys these were the ones who stole our team it means a lot to us that you thrash these guys!

So I hope we got a better spot in the draft for the loss and as much as I hated losing it was nice to see the Steelers knocked out!

I thought Calloway was pretty good in Running back kicks.

Well lots of what I saw out there. I'm sorry my memory just doesn't hold the water like it use to...oh so is me holding the water literally...lol

Great season and turn around we have an amazing future to look forward to. Finally a Franchise QB One or two additions by Dorsey. And we will be there for the playoffs!

Have a happy new year all!

I saw another game where Mayfield shows us once again, what happens early does not effect him. He will still give you a shot and 110%. Cant be happier about that.

Im not made about going for the 4th and 10, I would have tried the FG personally, but I don't think it was a wrong decision either way. We were gashing them in the passing game for big chucks, so I understand it.

What a season, I have never witnessed one with more ups and downs myself that I can remember.

Love the post Eo,,,

Yeah, we have a leader in Baker,, that's for sure.

I'm really ticked off at the Refs on that fumble recovery...

That was a game changer and even without it, we came damn close.

Very proud of this team and very proud of Dorsey..

Ref jobbed us but I thought the drop by Landry much more hurting cause we DID IT, IT was a TD and we Jobbed ourselves not the refs, what ever they did would have been erased on that very next play as an IN YOUR FACE MOMENT...lost as Landry miss judged it and the ball landed on his face mask!

Enjoy the thread Tab,

We have arrived. If this off-season is just close to a home run as the last we will be in the fight for the North next year. 10 wins is a real possibility.
Shore up the D with a DT or two a corner and we need help at MLB imo.
A WR and RT will go a long way in scoring.
We are right there. We are super close and the last half of the season made that statement.
We gotta hire the right staff to pull it all together.
I have my tent on the beach at the isle and my #6 flag flying high. First round of drinks are on me .
It's gonna be fun !!!

Have you seen our kicker?

hopefully we won't see him much longer

SAME TO YOU, EO...HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

...and you thought I didn't read your "What I Saw" posts!

QBs who have thrown for 300+ yards against the Ravens this season:

Baker Mayfield
Pat MaHommes
Baker Mayfield

QBs who have thrown for 3 or more TD against the Ravens this season:

Andy Dalton
Baker Mayfield

The Ravens also had more on the line against the Browns than in these other games ..... by far.

Mayfield threw 3 INT, and that's a concern, but I think that he learns from his mistakes. Hopefully he studies his ass off this off-season, and looks at what teams like Houston and Baltimore did on defense against him, and how to overcome their tactics. He responded in the 2nd half of each of those games, and even though we lost both, we were in the Baltimore game up to our final play on offense.

Just a few thoughts.

Re-watching the game right now...Jimmy Smith held Calloway on the first pick and when Calloway fought him off, he was left out of position to receive the pass.

I was too p'od when watching live and missed the replay that was focused on Calloway...showing the blatant hold.

Amazing that the announcers didn't say a word about that. So typical.

I was mad at Callaway after that first interception because I felt he needed to come back to the QB, not just "sit down" after his turnaround. Isn't that WR 101, that you have to come back towards the QB? As it happened, the DB jumped in front for the easy pick. Its hard to blame Mayfield for that pick because when he threw it, he was looking at Callaway's #11 jersey. Callaway has to learn to come back to the QB and fight for the contested catch, IMO.

I thought that too...until I saw the replay angle about 15 minutes ago. Jimmy Smith had a hold of Calloway's jersey pulling him ...Calloway had to fight to free himself as Smith was pulling his jersey from his back...and as a result was unable to right himself to get back in front of Smith. Smith had pulled him away from Baker which put Smith in front.

Honestly I was disappointed in our defensive game plan.

I fully expected us to have Peppers spy Lamar. It was clear the plan was to make Lamar throw. But I was stunned how we got man handled up front.

The tackling was horrible. It is easy to say that sitting down but credit has to go the Ravens as well. Facing Lamar and trying to tackle him is no day in the park. But they eat us alive in the first half.

We finally pinched the gaps and did alright.

Baker was up and down. He did put up great numbers in yardage and did throw three TD's. But he would be the first say say there were some he wished he could throw again. In fact he did say he will be flashing back to the Landry throw that was behind him. Where Landry tried to one hand it. That would have put us close for the field goal.

Kicking?

So over looked. Never considered a special position. Often taken for granted. Yet look around the NFL week in and week out and see how many games it decides.

If we had a good kicker from the start of the season we would be in the playoffs.

We need a guy like the Ravens have. That guy is pure gold.

This off season we need an upgrade there.

I thought Schobert would have a big game. But the Ravens were prepared for him. They blocked the crap out of him. Every play they were on him.

The Ravens defense is good. They give you a lot to think about. They show all kinds of confusing fronts.

Offensively for the Ravens I agree totally. Not sustainable. Mike Vick found out so did Griffin.

A quarterback getting that many carries a game? With the frame of Lamar. Look Cam can't take it and he is a giant.

The game did point out some things to me. Good big men are always welcomed. We could use some DL help.

Overall. Man we have come a long way in a short time. I give big props to Dorsey. From free agency through the draft he has proved his value.

The future is bright. Waiting 8 months will be torture.

One thing is good. I don't have to look at drafting a quarterback. I have been waiting for what seems like eternity to say that.

For as talented as our team is, I think this is one of those games where the difference was experience. I feel like the biggest reason for some of our early 3 and outs was due to not being settled and rushing the execution. I wouldn't go so far as to describe our guys as rattled, but the game was billed as a playoff game for all intents and purposes. I think a more experienced team has that big game nervousness under better control. I was very glad to see we settled down and started making plays.

-I saw we had several really nice plays deep. I kind of wished we went to that well a little more often as it didn't appear to me that the Ravens had a real answer for that part of our game.

-I understand the sentiment that our DEF should have been better prepared to handle their OFF but I feel in a way that it's an overly simplistic view. I hope no one takes offense to that because I don't mean it to be critical of their view point. I'll be the first person to admit I'm no X's and O's guy. Having said that, I don't see how anyone can come away from that game and NOT be impressed by the Ravens. The amount of moving parts in such a small space was amazing. I don't think many teams have the level of discipline required to pull something like that off.

-Lamar is faaaaast!

-I still don't understand the quick whistle on the fumble. It's not like Lamar was so far over the goal line it was an obvious TD. It really sucks because I kept thinking a our DEF taking one to the house was one of the last things they had left to accomplish.

-For the who knows however many times we saw half time adjustments that were worth a damn. I think it's been talked about before that our adjustments are rather small. I think this is a credit to our coaching staff as it means their initial planning is solid. Not having to make huge adjustments or tossing out the plan all together IMO is one of the biggest reasons this team can't be counted out until the final whistle

-I think it's time for Jaime Collins to go. He's simply not consistent with his effort. This isn't just something we've seen in one game, this is an all season kind of deal. I just feel like we can do better than he.

-Callaway blew the doors off the CB on one of his over the shoulder side line catches. Overall I think it was his most mature game of the season.

-Perriman... boy can this guy deliver. He's one of many players trending up.

-Our O-Line.. I really like this line. I think there is a good synergy between them and Baker.

I might be able to add a little more later

I was livid about the non call it was painfully obvious and I am a bit disappointed Tab didn't seem to notice. I was screaming at the TV holding, holding no doubt holding, but they couldn't hear me and I doubt they would have listened...

I think the NFL needs to change the way they make calls. A penalty IMO should be called when its obvious otherwise they allow the teams to decide the outcome. To many times we were jobbed this year, and this was one of those non calls that was obvious.

Someone needs to develop a computer program that can detect and call games the ref's can't ever seem to get it right IMO. Or they call a good balanced game then call something out of nowhere that changes the outcome.

In fact there isn't a game this season where I didn't have a couple of issues with horrible calls, the one in the Oakland game was unforgivable.

JMHO

Oh and sense it wasn't mentioned I will do it here. I kept saying as the game went on that the TE #87 (don't remember his name) to be exact was the guy to key on generally speaking they motioned him and wherever they motioned him to was where the run was designed to go. It really was that simple.

Having said that they also pulled there guards and sometimes their center and sometimes the tackle or even all three, by bunching things up when they pulled we had the backside shut down by simply stepping into the areas vacated by their pulling G/C/T then it was IMO relatively simple to poor the backside of the defense into their blockers 1st taking out the TE, and lead blocker. Its a gimmick offensive scheme one BTW destined to fail.

This offense is a simple offense to diagnose bet they won't get away with it come their next playoff game and for sure with us next year provided GW is back. I can bet he was kicking his own ass for not putting together a better defensive game plan. The concepts Baltimore used were simple get more blockers into an area then defenders led by the TE. By cutting off the backside everyone on the back end of the defense flows to the side they are running too. Play over gimmick exposed and dealt with.

We should have won this game with ease. Baker will do better next year. It was also pretty obvious he was tight when the game started then when we were ready to win the game he got tight again thats something he will shake. Love his attacking style, he simply doesn't back down.

Happy New Year one and all. Can't wait for next season.

This is something that should be looked at by the competition committee, IMO. There's a huge difference between a blow to the head and the touching of a helmet. We've seen intentional helmet to helmet hits on QBs not called, but they penalize a non-jarring, errant or incidental touch. Those calls are simply ridiculous. Like the NBA penalty touching the hand after the shot is gone, it affects nothing and harms no one.

Mayfield admitted he threw it behind Landry so it's hard to put all the blame on Landry

Not blaming the refs, but on the last series, I think is was second down, the throw to Njoku. On the replay you can see him being pulled back away from the ball. It was so obvious to me when watching the replay. The guy was either pulling his jersey, or pulling his shoulder pads. You can clearly see Njoku's shoulders being pulled back. It was subtle, but noticeable.

You’re talking about a different play. Tab is talking about the play immediately after the goal line fumble, where Landry had a TD but dropped the ball. It was not behind him.

You’re talking about the final drive.

believe it or not mac, I don't take names or guesses on who and what, If I was that ego person I would make sure to make a shorter post right after the game to get all the hits. But as I said before, its mostly for posters to give an insight to a play in as much detail specifically for those who just could not see the game. Giving a little more perspective than the Sportcenters or NFL Network guys as we know our team better than any of them. But little things like that pass to Landry that would have changed the game, right after the refs jobbed us. It would have made that call meaningless and a message to the NFL, you can't screw us...but glad you enjoy the thread. Would like to see you insight posted now and then!

Oh,, you mean the one that hit him in the helmet? Is that the one you mean... he's flying down the field, Baker throws it up and Landry misjudged it....OK,, I stand corrected.

I forgot about that play, its those little things that make Baker great, who does that? I've never seen that fake toss and the nickel back was caught looking in as his shoulders were turned towards Baker and Duke rather than blanket coverage on Landry.

Also the Safety made a big mistake by going for the TE rather than Landry as the other safety would have had the TE and he could have made trouble for that play. Of course it was a perfect pass so maybe the Safety would have tackled Landry and not give up a TD but a great play. You know the fake toss was not written in the playbook that way. Its something Baker I'm sure adds in.

You figure stuff like that wouldn't go over in the NFL, but Baker does it so well. Great play and execution!

thanks for sharing!

Willie and Dave...the key was the tipped ball. Calloway was in the right position and Baker threw it towards the middle away from the defender. The tip did two things.

1. it changed the direction of the ball to the outside not inside pretty much leaving Calloway flat footed and put it right on the hands of the defender.

2. Once the ball is tipped the defender can make all the contact he wants with the WR that is probably why we saw no flag.

I have. He stinks. lol. But I think 4-10 against the ravens defense, given that - either call was the right call. I would have given the kid a shot to redeem himself. JMO.

As I said, I was ok with going for it, im not complaining...I am just saying I probably would have gone for the FG.

I thought we reacted to much to the Motions before the run rather than the pulling guards after the snap. We had to of done a better job whether it was poor execution or poor game planning I don't know what but the key was the pulls by the OL We had to penetrate behind the pull and hit Lamar hard whether he had the ball or not and after the backside guy we should have attacked the point of attack to eliminate that straight ahead run.

Good points...but the grabbed jersey occurred before the throw.

Like you, I'm not adamant about trying the FG. I get that Gregg probably thought it was out of Joseph's range, but we saw a guy fresh off the waiver wire (Catanzaro) kick a 59 yarder to beat us in Tampa. I would like to have seen Joseph get the chance to win the game. I would also add, if you don't think your kicker can make a 56 yarder ... why is he your kicker?

What can I say other than the Refs have continue their vendetta against us for that bottle throwing incident. When is the NFL going to step in and put a stop to this. Conspiracy, I know I'm nuts and seeing things but as many of you I watch game after game and we get Game changing Calls or none calls just about every game, then I watch other games and the same exact infraction occurs and it is called correctly by the refs...once ok, twice oh just a coincidence. But game changing calls or none calls on almost EVERY GAME...when yes, those happen to other teams but its like once a season...us EVERY GAME...so the only thing I can come up with there is a secret vendetta to hurt the fans who had the guts to react to a hideous call never done before nor after that day.

Well that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Agreed EO. I see the same things and it's happening too much to be coincidence. It cost us the AFC north this year. If we continue to improve it could cost us a lot more down the road.

There is no vendetta.

Oswald acted alone.

Jim Morrison is dead.

The CIA did not mastermind 9/11.

The refs/NFL head office aren't trying to screw the Browns.

head office No...Refs yes.

I know it can't be...but why then so many game changing calls compared to the rest of the NFL..just so lopsided. Something is afoot.

I still think it is our past coming back to haunt us. The Browns make a good play and the refs say ..Impossible. The Browns don't make good plays. Someone has to have held. pushed off, or interfered, and a flag is thrown.

"Back and to the Left"

I think is an area of Baker's game that doesn't get much credit or at least isn't talked about enough sometimes. Baker is not lazy with his play action nor does he rush it. And when you take a look at the form that play action takes sometimes (like holding it low and behind one handed and looking relaxed).. that kind of thing takes some cajones to pull off.

And it's only done well by a handful of QB's.

I teach my craft to private students, one-on-one. I constantly tell them that ours is an art form of detail- the more details you handle competently, the better you sound.

I've watched Baker Mayfield handle all the details of his craft this year. One of his real talents is sleight-of-hand. That play fake where he hides the ball on his back hip is just beautiful to watch. That stuff can be taught, but it takes a true artist to make it look so fluid, effortless- and convincing.

Well said Clem. It's so much fun to watch... and just dumbfounding when your mind turns back around to the fact that "this guy is a rookie!"

We always talk about how long it takes for the game to slow down enough for a rookie QB - yet this guy speeds it up for a veteran DBs, Safetys and LBs with subtle feigns, well placed pump-fakes and a flat out superior sense of timing.

In the words of Mr Cavalier, "trick 'em, young man, trick 'em!"

FATE, I tell you- at times this year, on certain plays, he looked like a 5-year vet who was working towards his pro bowl lockdown:

Confidence.
Execution.
Style points, even.

I've truly never seen anything like it.

What I didn't notice till now also the Ravens totally were miss alligned if you ask me. Once Duke went in motion there were 5 pass Defenders outside the OT in an area where there was ONLY ONE eligible WR limiting the cover options on the other side where there was 3 as well as a possible Duke.

Either it was simply smart on Kitchens side or dumb on the Ravens side. They were dead in the water as somebody was going to be wide open...if the safety took Landry the TE would have been wide open...if both Landry TE and WR on that side was taken then Duke was going to be wide open. It was a great design on Kitchens part.