look, we're 2-4 on a bye. things are sort of bleak, but then their are still good things to like about this team and the season coming up, so maybe lets talk about some good things we like about our squad:

1. Myles Garrett.

as much flack as he gets in gameday chat, at the end of the day, he's really looking like an all pro. he's tied for 1st in sacks with 9, and has a FF, with 20 tackles on the season.

2. Joe Schobert

he's is playing at a high level again, tied for 1st with 62 tackles.

3. Sacks

we do have 19 on the year, which ties us 4th overall.

4. Nick Chubb

He's 2nd in the league in yards with 607, has a 5.3 average, and 6 TD's. dude is an absolute monster.

5. despite having injuries, our defense has held its own and kept us in most games. Hopefully with the bye, Greedy and Ward will finally be healthy to play, which should help a lot.

I love watching our team.
We are (usually) competitive.
Its like watching the raw materials of something great slowly coming together.

- The fans are awesome
- It’s tradition for my family
- We’re at least competitive now
- We’ve had some national attention (albeit mostly bad since September)
- We have a glimmer of hope for the future
- Nick Chubb is a top 3 RB in the NFL

In addition to what you said...

Our run blocking has been better than I expected it to be.

Both of our kickers have been better and more consistent than I expected them to be.

Our offense has been prolific at times, our defense has been dominant at times.. I think that's the most frustrating part.. we all see it, once in a while, but it's just not consistent enough.

The kicking game has been much better. I love the hammer's leg! And hopefully Siebert can figure out the wind and weather demands in Cleveland this year because he looks like a long term keeper too!

Good call on Seibert ... a pleasant surprise for sure

All of it.

We just boat raced one of the top candidates for the NFC Championship other than Refs, a few WR drops + unlucky bounces, and a few bad coaching calls.

Just keep improving.

This is kind of where I'm at, which is the frustrating part..

I've heard it said that we don't make plays to win games... against Seattle, we failed on 4th and goal later in the game to take the lead.. yes, it was an awkward attempt and things were weird but we failed to score... in previous eras we would have allowed them to march out to midfield before we MIGHT force them to punt. We kept them inside the 5, forced a short-snap punt, which was shanked out of bounds and we took it in for a score.. THAT is a serious that teams who win pull off. We are making SOME of the plays it takes to win.. we just aren't making the final play yet...

That's jus tit, we didn't. Jarvis scored a TD, anyone can see. The Refs are just doing some kind of protest refusing to overturn instant replay calls.

DK Metcalf did NOT catch that first down to end the game.

Javris did NOT do that illegal block. Hubbard was NOT downfield illegally.

Take away those things and we aren't even passing at the end of the game to throw an INT in the first place.

That's not to take away the bonehead call by Kitchens to run the same play he did before the challenge. So I'm not 100% blaming the Refs, but they are the major reason we lost for sure.

and I do agree the D did great to not only stop them scoring but also to keep them pinned in the endzone so the punt could get shanked.

the only thing in there that I disagree with is that from what I saw, Hubbard was downfield illegally. It was ticky tack and had no bearing on the success of the play.. but from the replay, I believe he was..

Just keep in mind, there are 31 other teams and fan bases who can come up with 3 or 4 examples per game of how they got screwed by the officials. I know we are fixated on it because it's us and because we aren't winning... but we aren't the only team getting screwed, teams under .500 aren't the only teams that feel like they are getting screwed.. some teams just seem to win any way...

I have friends who are Saints fans who complain every week about how they are getting screwed and they are 5-1...

Totally agree.

I don't think it's just us at all. If it was, I'd actually be more OK with it cuz I could just chalk it up to bad luck, but it's obviously being done either 1) on purpose or 2) with willful ignorance.

Both are unacceptable.

and yes, he was technically downfield by like 1 step, but c'mon, you can call hands to the face, holding, downfield, etc on almost any play. That's exactly my point, they seem to be only calling it on pivotal plays to control the game.

The rules are so ambiguous nobody knows what's happening that's watching at home.

The thing is, the NFL has 32 BILLIONAIRE owners that spend MILLIONS of dollars a year in salaries to hire analytics guys from MIT, Harvard, etc.

You don't think those guys are smart enough to understand how rules should work?

there is no such thing as "getting screwed". It's a purposeful decision by a giant conglomerate. Anyone thinking they are smarter than the NFL is just arrogant.

Just Kidding Eve, but I can't help it...

One thing that I think has gone unnoticed as a positive is game plans.

I thought the plans for the Rams, Ravens and Seahawks were good game plans.

We didn't consistently execute but I thought the plans were solid on how to attack those teams.

Chubb obviously is a hellava player. Along with that the run blocking has been pretty good.


Schobert has been our most consistent player on defense.

The pass blocking has been better than the run blocking according to the analytical sites and my eyes. In fact, it's not even close.

I would say the uniforms are still good - but even those are hideous (except for the color rush, those are legit).

I mean they haven't screwed up the team name yet.

Edit to add: Oh we still play outdoors and on natural grass. We've got that going for us.

Not to mention we already have 2 wins so we got that goin for us as well.

https://mobile.twitter.com/gemdata/status/1184683284665638912/photo/1

There are the current OL grades

I guess Chubb is even better.

Also, we have Kareem Hunt coming back in a few weeks. We do have some positives as have been stated on some earlier posts. If we can get some things straightened out during this bye week we may be in for a very good 2nd half. Like stupid turnovers and penalties.

I don't see real year to year progress toward winning over the last 5 years.
I don't see player development, team abilities development, and progress toward looking like that unbeatable team that does so much for other teams to have to overcome.

The success or failure for at least the next few years is tied to Mayfield.

Everybody has their take on him bad, good, great.

However it turns out so go our fortunes.

Yep, he’s our lotto ticket after sucking forever. Let’s hope he turns up aces

This year has been a challenge so far.

But I think back on the throws and plays he has made in the past.

I can not see a reason why he can not be the player we have hoped for.

I am guilty to believing he would come out hot this year. Mostly based upon the way he played the second half and the players added.

So far this year he has been inconsistent. And so has the team.

Hopefully, the team and Baker will turn it around.

I love watching us. Even the crowd at the bar, into it; we have more scoring. I love watching The Hammer. Seibert, not as much. Myles. Chubb. End of most of it for me.

Aspects are... there's always next year... Seriously.. I see nothing in this team that I haven't seen in all the previous..

The same hope the same excitement..the same positive they will win and over come the same kool aid glasses..Oh it's early they will turn it around...the same fan hope and heart break..

People..take it one game at a time...don't get your hopes up..and don't get them down... Myself... Blah same old story...I took a walk in the woods last Sunday and enjoyed the heck out of it..

Top of the list, I still like Baker & Freddie. I know there have been plenty of miscues but these two strike me as the types who will figure it out. I like them as people and have no problem with their personalities or the fact that they've basically failed so far this season. I think the comeuppance may be a very good thing in the long run. Nothing lights a fire in your belly like failure, and having that failure rubbed in your face.

I like Dorsey.

I love Chubb.

I love Myles.

Hilliard has been a nice surprise.

I really like our special teams play.

Our D is solid, They've kept us in almost every game, and seem to come up with the stops when needed.

I like how the secondary has stepped up in the face of losing two starters.

I like Lawrence and Larry O.

I love Shobert.

I really like Mack Wilson.

I really like Randall.

Pharoh Brown has surprised me a couple times, pleasantly.

I find myself looking forward to seeing more of RSJ.

I love Landry.

I love OBJ. (Even though I've been disappointed by misses on what seems like very catchable balls.)

I love there's still hope for a winning season.

I love how there's hope deep in my hearth we will come out of the bye and beat New England.

And I love there are still no cheerleaders.