Cut sendejo.

Well, got a bit dicey with the fumble. Play call was fine, but gotta hold on to
The ball.

However......

BAKER

FREAKING

MAYFIELD

4 TDs in the 1st half. Should’ve been 5 if PJ didn’t drop a gimme.

But it was utter domination on both sides of the ball. Henry couldn’t do a damn thing against us.

But guys.....BAKER

FREAKING

MAYFIELD!!!

The biggest game of his career. The biggest game in such a long time for this team. Both teams 8-3, national media questioning of we’re a real team. If baker can be that guy. If baker can step up and play when it matters the most.

And what did baker say to those guys? SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!!!

Yes. We are a real freaking football team. We got the run game. We got the OL. We got a good defensive line.

But most importantly, we have the QB!!!

9-3 baby!!! First winning season since 2007!!!

And we’re not freaking done!!!

BAKER

FREAKING

MAYFIELD!!! Let’s go!!!

Myles was being held by Quessenberry!

Game Ball Kareem Hunt for that tackle.

I'm just happy Throw Long can't say anything negative for another week LOL!

best bet I have ever made.

That first half was the most fun I ever had watching a Browns game!

I can't believe we're 9-3. It doesn't feel real.

Bake looked real good. Playcalling was conservative, but we still converted some first downs. So it wasn't necessarily the playcalling...I 100% blame Jarvis and Higgins for second half lull. Both dropped key 3rd down conversions and killed our drives. They make those catches 90% of the time. Straight execution.

We could be dangerous in the playoffs if Baker can turn it on and put the team on his back when the run game isn't as efficient as normal. If we beat the Ravens on MNF, or just play them close it'll 100% confirm we belong and no team will want to play us in the playoffs.

Well, that was fun, although also quite annoying. But after all these years, we have a coach and we have a QB. Time for a whiskey.

All we need to see now is if Baker can carry the team on his shoulders...

9 and friggin 3!

And did I hear the announcers right? We have the potential to lock up a playoff spot by Week 14??!!


I LOVE the fact that even though Chubb and Hunt are the basis of this offense, its not one dimensional. Baker is in the zone... Stefanski and this Offense are in control. The Defense has its short comings, but lack of effort ain't one of them.

Sendejo???

He showed up today, he had a stop on the 2 pt conversion,
teamed up with, Goodson? low, and Sendejo high, hit him high for Titans Rb to not get in on that first 2 pt converson try.

Your team is 9-3 with Sendejo doing, (WHATEVER THE BLANK HE DOES) to stay on the field??

So don't change anything.

Calling for Sendejo to be cut after each game I think has turned in to a good luck charm.

(he did have a pretty good game)

We Win 9-3

Chubb and Hunt are who they are

Mayfield had a great game until the fumble

The defense played great except for the start of the second half and the end wasn't all their fault

Stafanski should have punted at the end

Can you believe this s(tuff), the Browns just won the biggest regular season matchup in several years,

and you are taking personal shots at me.

PRIORITIES, can see where yours lie.

I never thought we would be this good this year given how weak our defense is, brand new system, first time head coach during Covid, with no preseason. It’s actually pretty impressive. Fairly easy schedule, but still gives me quite a bit of hope going forward.

The handful of people in the Gameday thread trashing this team during every play..........

Feels great. Either some of the Baker haters are going to spin it that the Titans were playing to stop the game and Baker had it easy - or they can shut the hell up and acknowledge a great game from him. 4TD in the first half - should have been 5 ... a 3rd down catch dropped into the bargain.

Well done Baker. Well done OL. Well done KS. Well done D. Great Team Win. . . . 1-0 and now we gotta start again next week.

only because we keep winning. LOL It's all in jest

Very Happy about the win. Much to close at the end for my taste. 13 penalties was ridiculous. 9-3 is great but we still have things to work on and I'm sure our coaches know this. Your not going to beat good teams consistently playing like we did in the 2nd half.

I'll be watching that first half all week long.

Baker showed up and showed out today. It was a beautiful sight to see.

I wish the game ended a bit cleaner but i'll never complain about a win. Our 9th win at that.

This is a beautiful day to be a Browns fan.

- Another week, another win.

- This game was all about Baker. Hats off to him for rising to the moment. Outstanding performance today. 5 straight games without a turnover. He was on the money today. They'll have some money to sign him long term after they release OBJ this offseason and free up that cash.

- Stefanski should be in the conversation for coach of the year. What he has been able to do under the circumstances is remarkable. Would have liked to have seen him keep the foot on the gas in the second half.

- Good to have Myles back. He was held early and often today.

- Congrats to Rish, who is probably signing the papers for his new Gulfstream G700 after that Browns win!

- The Browns can win a playoff game this year.

First half was freakin' wonderful! I'm happy we hung on the rest of the game, I expected that dip in play would happen... We won and we beat a good team. 9 & 3!!!

That reminds me, I have to go un-ignore the 3-4 members of our "the-sky-is-falling-club". They make that thread unreadable.

It seems to me that Stefanski is an offensive minded coach with a bit of a defensive coach's mindset.

Get the lead, then play it safe.

That said, I cannot explain the 2 games where we had the lead, and he passed up a late punt to go for it.

All is all, though, 9-3 is a whole lot better than the 4-12 I has this team figured at.

I don’t think the Browns will be changing coaches in the off season.

I hate the prevent. . .

So happy.

Hard to know how to act.

Guaranteed winning season with four games to go.

All the BS talk about us and the schedule etc. Go suck eggs.

Signature game for Baker. I don't believe he missed a throw unless intentionally. Five drops. But who cares?

Only the scoreboard counts.

The first half was surreal. Dreamlike in every way. They could not stop us. We could have put up 50 in this game.

It would really be something "if" the last game was for the division title.

I love this win, I didn't think we'd win today to be honest. I'm thrilled we're 9-3 but we are 7-0 against teams below .500, we are 2-3 against teams .500 and better, that has to change moving forward. We should beat the weaker teams, but we need to beat the good teams as well, you can't win the Super Bowl if you can't beat the good teams.

I don't think we could see a team play better than the Browns did in the first half, just brilliant on both sides of the ball, even ST was good. However, in the second half, we did not look good. We had a 38-7 halftime lead, you DO NOT allow a team to even get within 2 scores of you with a lead like that.

I believe we will make the playoffs, as a wildcard team. I don't know that we can get very far in the playoffs though. I hope I'm wrong and we go to the Super Bolw and win.

Bottom line: Tennessee game plan was "make Baker beat us".

Baker whupped their asses.

1-0

Let's do it again next Monday night!

And let's not forget the great catch Baker made to keep a drive alive.

Even with a 31-point lead at the half, we still found interesting ways -between penalties, failure at fourth down stops, the Baker turnover, key drops, to make it close.

Oh those crazy Browns!

Baker was great in the first half. When the Titans made it obvious they were intent on stopping the run, we decided to go after them through the air. Bake made some high level throws, was decisive and confident with his quick reads, and patient when necessary (the TD to Landry in the first quarter, brilliantly dissected by Charles Davis, showed us how BM manipulated the safety with his eyes).

Game manager my ass. He’s just a gamer.

Colts, Dolphins and Raiders all won, but we kept pace and put a little more pressure on them.

Big win... statement game on the road against a good team. I didn’t think we’d be 9-3. Nobody did.

I noticed a few comments about the game being closer than it "should" towards the end. I initially felt the same way BUT I think we need to give TEN credit where credit is due. Most teams would have mailed it in after being down like that at half time. TEN will play all 4 quarters just as hard regardless. We saw that last year.

I wish. I had to go with the G600.

--Baker was absolutely sensational. Even in the second half when we were playing prevent offense, he was still converting 3rd downs and Landry and Higgins both let him down. And again today he had more third and long conversions. Would love to see a stat on the QBs who convert the most third and long conversions. He's got to be the leader. The fumble was unfortunate. I really want to blast him for it, but I'm not going to. The rest of his game was too good.

--Can't wait for Nick Wright to absolutely destroy his panel on behalf of Baker tomorrow. You want to see some good TV, tune in (or YouTube it). The panel will probably say he didn't play good in the second half. Cowherd said this game was going to decide whether the Browns moved forward with Baker as the future or not. Will be interesting to see what he says tomorrow.

--Myles is the LeBron James of the NFL. Gets held pretty much every play and the refs just won't call it.

--The defense is allergic to getting stops on 4th down, no matter the distance.

--The guys on D play hard, just don't have the ability. Also, not a fan of Woods.

--Berry with a rookie move not to do anything to shore up the defense at the deadline. Borderline egregious by the man in charge. You never play for next year. You always play for the now. You don't know what variables will be different next year. There is no such thing as being "2 off seasons away" unless you know exactly what's going to happen with the other teams in the league. If we make the playoffs, this will likely keep us at one and done. Not to mention we are going to be drafting late first round.

--Scottish Hammer has not been very good this year.

--I never get nervous with Parkey kicking.

--9-3. Wow. I want more.

First few minutes of the Touchdown Montage on Redzone will be good today.

Feels like we didn't learn anything from the Cowboys game. Get a big lead, get conservative, let opponent back into the game.

This was a win we needed. Beating a playoff contender really shows we're for real. Hopefully we can do the same to the Steelers and Ravens.

I think Joe Woods would look better with all our D players healthy and some new additions next year. The D played well today with the injuries at least in the 1st half.

I think it was an execution issue. Dropped balls and the Baker fumble. Otherwise you are looking at a final score of 41-28 at the absolute worst. Browns did their best to Browns it up, even they built a lead too big for that.

I won't judge. You're still getting from point A to point B!

J/C

Excellent win - any win is, but this team cannot have a football hangover next week. They must follow this up with another win vs. Baltimore now.

Yeah, but without the self massaging chairs. Doubt any of my friends will want to fly with me.

GC. I Hope Diams' island of optimism was alive to see this. I hope Diam is alive and well.

The Nanner thread:

So they come out and Nanner Nanner Nanner, 3-0

and then Nanner, He Fumbles in his own redzone and Nanner Nanner Nanner!

Then! Donovan Peoples Nanner!

and Kendall Lamm with a big guy Nanner!

Then, nanner nanner nanner, ..

Then Nanner, and they give them the first down on a catch on the sidelines after review, and Then? edit: Interception on the very next play!

Nanner!

and then in the first half? Jarvis Nanner!

and then Kareem? Nanner Nanner Nanners!

and the Field goal was? Nanner! Browns 41

and Chubb for 29 Nanner!
and Sendejo with the grab plus ? with the onside 2nd chance recovery, Nanner!

Janovich with the Nanner (2nd time onsided kick recovery)

And First down Baker Nanner, OOps, but Hunt with the Tackle Nanner.

And Myles Garrett!
And Holdin- illegal hands to the face against quessenberry on Claybourne around the corner? Nanner

Only non nanner, Penalties on kickoff returns!

( Playing Celebration playlist)
bang the drum all day,
celebrate good times, kool and the gang...

Talent and execution always make a scheme look better.

Getting a lead against TEN is crucial ... it was ideal. Unfortunately, they got a few breaks and we made a few mistakes to even things out too much for our liking.

The first half was basically nirvana

I feel like the Titans DBs got exposed... either that or that that the Browns have an underrated WR corp...

... probably a bit of both

Definitely a bit of both, I think. After OBJ, to the outside world, even Landry gets a little lost.... and the rest are just guys nobody but Browns fans know the name of. For now.

No doubt we felt like we could exploit their secondary

Oh yeah, Ok, so, Let's check this out!
Baker Mayfield, has made,
Antonio Callaway look like a world beater,
Breshad Perriman look like a world beater,

Odell Beckham, as one of the best,
Jarvis Landry as one of the best,

Rashard Higgins look like a world beater +one of the best,
Derrick Willies look great imo!

and Now we can add Donovan Peoples-Jones after today and the cincy game, to the list

AND! That's not even counting Tight Ends! (who did I forget?)

j/c...

He was held all game long. Many of them blatant.

I'm assuming it's a Shaq/LeBron thing.

I don't know how else to explain it.

Hopefully the team is in the NFL's ear.

Last year was complete misery going through Kitchens clock mismanagment, lack of game day preperation, piss poor gameplans and lack of team discipline.

But now it's all worth it to have a solid coach like Stefanski. Thank God we got that out of the way and now we can move on with a coach who knows how to manage the clock, and control his team.

Stefanski's playcalling is pretty on point too... I don't know how... but dude plays matchups so well that guys just are just Wiiide open. All you need is a QB to make the throws to get it to them.

I've never seen this from any previous coach in a long time.

Always felt like there was an amount of cluelessness in playcalling

I noticed that exact same play, in real time.

I'm also an official - ump - and realize some plays are missed, and not everyone has the advantage of replay.

Great win. IMO, they were never going to lose. The long Tennessee drive was let happen and ate the clock to the point that no matter what they wouldn't have time to win. Perfect defense IMO to ice the game. Let them throw to the middle of the field and chew up clock. Baker's fumble made it closer than it should have been, but there was no way they could overcome the lead we had.

The Browns need to file a greivance with the NFL for the lack of holding calls against those blocking Garrett. The last one was so blatant, with the guy basically holding him by the facemask and turning him.

Parkey was an excellent move by Berry. Kevin Johnson played decent, but I think Mitchell had a great game. He made some nice tackles in the open field and his coverage was good. Kudos to the DL and LBs. Stopping Henry is not an easy task.

This team paid the Titans back for the debacle last year's opener was.

9-3, and going to play a Baltimore team that is struggling. Time to test the will of these players. Are they going to ride high on this win and come out flat next week? Or are they a team that is peaking at the right time?

11 wins is very obtainable, that would guarantee a playoff spot. My hope is we ruin Pittsburgh's perfect record in the last game. Can you imagine winning out?

Next year has finally come!!!

Myles responded to this with just "Bruh"

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/brown...-insider-notes/

Browns show why they're a legit playoff team, a nickname for Taysom Hill and more Week 13 NFL insider notes

It made sense not to trust the Browns and Baker Mayfield, but they proved they'll be playing in January

The Cleveland Browns are going to the playoffs.

Yeah, maybe you said that before Sunday. Maybe you would have been right. But I did not trust the Browns heading into Sunday. I thought there was a very real chance the 8-3 Browns would miss the playoffs even after the NFL expanded the postseason to seven AFC teams.

But in the biggest show-me game of Baker Mayfield's young career, the quarterback absolutely showed me—and the rest of the AFC—that the Browns will be playing in January in Cleveland's 41-35 win against Tennessee.

Mayfield had a great four quarters in just a single half, going 20-for-25 for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. One of his five incompletions was a dropped touchdown, by the way. He didn't add much to that in the second half but he didn't need to. He won the game already.

We can pick apart what the Browns didn't do in the second half, but what does it matter? The goal is to win the game, and that's what they did.

The 8-3 Browns came into this game 1-3 against quality opponents. They beat the Colts in Week 5, but lost to the Ravens, Steelers and Raiders by a combined 92-19.

It's not that I thought the Browns are a bad team, but I figured this would be a close game. And which team are you gong to take in the fourth quarter? The one with Mayfield or the one with Derrick Henry that brutalized, out-muscled and out-physicaled the Colts and Ravens down the stretch in the past two weeks?

So the Browns flipped the script. Mayfield was absolutely surgical. He didn't rely on his run game of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Instead he went out there and slung it around to Donovan Peoples-Jones, Rashard Higgins and Jarvis Landry. He made a great catch on a pass from Landry. He carried out a perfect fake to freeze the defense and hit Peoples-Jones for a 75-yard touchdown. He found wide-open receivers throughout the first half thanks to a shoddy Titans defense and head coach Kevin Stefanski's play calls.

Here's what makes the Browns legitimate: they take care of business in the red zone. Going into Sunday the Browns had the seventh-best red-zone offense and ninth-best red zone defense.

At 9-3 the Browns now appear to be assured of their first double-digit-win season since 2007 and first playoff appearance since 2002. A win next week against the Ravens would lock both of those in, but Cleveland also has both the Giants and Jets in consecutive weeks afterward that should confirm their January plans.

We play to win the game

It is great talking about playoffs instead of the draft ..

This is why I moved to the Discord chat. Everyone there is level headed.

To the Browns... We will have a winning season this year. It’s been what, 13 years? Next goal which is attainable is the playoffs.

To the game. What an awesome plan and execution in the first half! Baker was phenomenal! This was his best game as a Brown IMO. The TD to Higgins was my favorite. KS had an answer for everything the Titans threw against us. The defense played well with an exception of the TD drive.

My only criticism of KS is I think he goes into a shell too early. Bottom line is we have won all these close games.

If they are playing this hard and doing as well as they are without ability I think it comes down to Woods doing a great job.

didn't see this

I had visions of that loss to Chicago back in 2001 with what was happening in this game.
I had no problem going for it on 4th and inches, you have to QB sneak that in that situation, can't help it Baker has hands like a girl and can't hold on to the ball
It's alarming that our D gave up big chunks of yards passing, Tannehill almost did beat us.
A win is a win but feels like we would be one and done in the playoffs, hopefully we don't face the titans in the 1st round

The Titan's were 8-3 with that "shoddy" defense. We took it to them.

Lol, love the tweet!

AMEN. WOW, to be 9-3 after being blownout in first game.....Coach S for Coach of the Decade.....GO Browns!!!!

You would like the Gameday thread.

I made 1 negative post myself in there at one point thinking we were going to blow it.

We're fragile and use to losing big leads, you have to excuse some of the posts. We've been through alot.

That dude clearly stepped on Teller on purpose

That drive was not a worry. The Titans used most of the clock and kind of sealed their own fate. Baker's fumble made it appear they were threatening, but the reality was we had to big a lead and they did not have enough time. That whole fourth quarter was nothing but garbage stats for Tannehill. we were up by 20 points.

They were calling anything on Tennessee

Except they were.

I think they probably do have a 50/50 Titans or Bills first round playoff matchup.

I think it is/ could work out to...
Titans
Bills
Raiders
Saints
Parade!

Sounds doable.

Penalties today Cleveland 13-102 (By Far the Most in Any Game This Year) Tennessee 5-52

My take:

- For a while now I have said I wanted to see us beat a good team. Done.

- Before the game, I said that I thought this was going to be a game where we needed Baker to win it for us. Done.

- Sitting at 9-3, the 3rd best record in the AFC, is pretty damn sweet.

- We swept the AFCS. And a chance to sweep the NFCE.

- I can't help but to say this. But why did we have to make it a game? Can we just once take a big halftime lead and then step on their throats in the second half?

- I always love beating TEN. I never liked them. And nice payback for the opener last year. Of course, last year, they took a big halftime lead and stepped on our throats in the second half.

- A lot more penalties than we have been getting.

- It's nice to not have palpitations whenever our kicker comes out onto the field.

- While the running game was not where it usually is, Chubb and Hunt still make plays.

- We kept Henry in check about as well as one could have hoped.

- Baker was on today. On. Target. DPJ with a drop that would have been a 5th TD.

- Our D is aging me unnaturally.

- Coach Kev with some really nice play calls.

this aged well lol

Mayfield was out of his mind in the first half. Need to let loose on the reins a bit with a lead. Dude hasn't thrown an INT since October. Let him throw the ball once in a while with a lead and NOT on 3rd down. Running play action or boot on 1st and 10 or 2nd and 7 would be so effective but we wait until it's 3rd and 12 to let him throw.

And I still say his entire lower body was on the ground before that ball came loose.

Great win, Jets not tanking would have been nice.

Go beat the Ravens.

Last year in our opener against the Titans we had like 18 or 19 penalties. That's more than 30 in 2 games. Doesn't seem right.

It was. And he is.

If Stefanski cannot manage the game at the end then we are going nowhere in the playoffs. He really needs to rethink some decisions.

Hope he gets a hefty fine - he should.

I hate to say it but if Baker doesn’t fumble this conversation doesn’t happen.

J/c
I actually think Stefanski has done a superb job managing games. Think of all of the close out drives, milking the clock, useful timeouts, etc. It’s one area of marked improvement for our team

Fumble would not have happened if we punted like we should have.

Not only that .... WE WON BOTH GAMES.

Personally I like the lesson.

The Browns are 6-0 when games are decided by a TD or less. The team is 9-3 and will finish with a record above .500 for the first time in over a decade and this all during a Covid chaotic season with a shortened offseason

Last week you wanted Stefanski fired.

Stefanski is in the conversation for coach of the year.

Enjoy the ride.

I don't know if he was on the ground or on top of another body, but he was horizontal with a body or two on top of him when that ball came out. In my mind, he was down and the first down was made. If that's not the letter of the rule for being down by contact, then the rule needs to be changed. Forward progress had been stopped, whistle should have been blown.

I agree to an extent, Mayfield is back with his confidience and he had rythem. It felt like he could throw for 500 yards and 7 or 8 TD's the way things were going.

But at the same time I can't blame coach Stefanski for going back to the run game and playing it safe. We had a big lead and it's what we do best.

By the Numbers: Browns set franchise records in historic 1st half

Cleveland hangs 38 on the Titans in the 1st half on its way to 41-35 victory
https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/by-...storic-1st-half

We're breaking down all of the biggest numbers from the Browns' 41-35 victory over the Titans.

38 — Points scored by the Browns in Sunday's first half, their most in a single half in franchise history. Their previous high was 35 in the second half at Cincinnati on Nov. 28, 2004.

4 — Touchdown passes thrown by Baker Mayfield in the first half, marking just the second time in franchise history it's occurred. The only other player to accomplish it was Hall of Famer Otto Graham, who did it in 1951.

147 — QB rating for Mayfield, his best in a game this season and second-best of his career.

9 — Different Browns players who caught a pass in the first half. The group included Mayfield, who hauled in a 3-yard pass from Jarvis Landry, and T Kendall Lamm, who became the first Browns O-lineman to catch a touchdown in 19 years.

156 — Passes thrown without an interception for Mayfield, who last threw a pick on his first pass of Week 7 against the Bengals.

11 — Touchdown passes for Mayfield since he threw his last INT.

21:12 — Cleveland's time of possession in the first half.

7 — Third-down conversions by the Browns in the first half. That's more than they converted in the entire game of all but one of their previous 11 games.

8 — Receptions by Jarvis Landry in the first half, marking his second straight game with eight catches.

75 — Yards on Donovan Peoples-Jones' touchdown catch, the longest touchdown catch by a Browns player since Week 2 of 2019 (Odell Beckham, 89 yards, at New York Jets).

11 — Runs of 20 or more yards on the season for Nick Chubb, who leads the NFL.

3 — Turnovers forced by the Browns. Tennessee came into Sunday's game with just five turnovers on the season.

60 — Rushing yards for reigning NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry, his second-lowest output of the season.

10.5 — Sacks on the season for Myles Garrett, giving him double-digit sacks for a third straight year.

Stefanski is awful at clock management and making dumb decisions like going for it when Baker fumbled. Terrible decision that needs to be addressed by us experts.

Some of the stuff that gets posted on this board!

Pdawg, I think dawgtalkers needs a new policy.?in order to participate in the game day thread you must take 10mgs of Valium before kickoff. That thread is like a support group for bipolar minus the support.

10 mg is not nearly enough.

For a rookie HC, Stefanski is doing 'ok'.

No, not perfect, but good enough to take the talent he inherited and apply some good teaching of the game and produce what so many of us wanted...JUST WIN.

Stefanski will get better and so will the team...fans need to keep that in mind.

Make this point so there is zero mistake about interpretation.

Kevin Stefanski is a front runner for Coach of the Year.

To have this team in this position with a new staff in the year of Covid is remarkable.

I don't think a single soul who make up the fans or the NFL media picked the Browns to be where we are.

We have lost top players for the year. Lost key talent for games all year long. We were 5+ underdogs in this game. We beat every team in the AFC South. If we beat the Giants then we beat every team in the NFC East. That is not easy to do.

Our final record for the season is TBD. But we may win 13 games. We will be the favorites in 3 of the last four games. That would be 12-4.

No matter the contributions of the team it starts with the Head Coach.

And this is Kevin Stefanski's first season as a head coach.


So for all those who think we need to win by more points. Or, that our schedule is easy. Or, they question play calls or game plans.

Please get a grip and enjoy what we have.

It was a great call and worked as it should. Baker fumbled, stuff happens.

Amen Brother!

Question as my internet crapped out the last 2.5 minutes and I watch in Youtube TV ... did Baker fumble? We had a neighborhood beer and friends said Baker was 100% down and it should not have been a fumble?

Doing ok?

He’s got us to a winning record for the first time in how long?

I am happy with the win, and hopeful that the Baker on the hot seat chatter will quiet down.

The objective is to win the game. I can’t stand the mindless idiots (see above) who in one sentence complain about Mayfield middle of the road numbers, and then in the next sentence implies that Chubb and Hunt are bailing him out.

The numbers are not eye popping because the game can be won by running and passing.. The Titans put 9 in the box on the DPJ TD, and were burned.

So the numbers look good for Mayfield today, last week they were not as good. But the Browns are not a one dimensional team, and a victory is better than a loss.

j/c...

Hah too good

Want to add a special shout out to the Cleveland Browns offensive line.

The pass protection today was outstanding. Clearly KS felt we could throw on them. So pass blocking was key to the game plan.

When you are able to game plan run or pass as a way to win a specific game. That speaks volumes about the ability of a team.

Defensively we gave up a lot of chunk plays in the second half. But we will have Ward back. And I sure hope we can get Harrison back before the end of the season.

However, we have been able to get turnovers on defense. And we have done that all year. That is coaching turnovers.

I don't know when this will end but damn it feels good good right now.

Lead left that office pretty pizzed off.

From watching the game it made sense that the Browns would pass the ball today. The Tennessee defense has issues, 53% on third down is not very good.

The Browns attacked the weakness of the other team. That’s how you beat them.

The bad weather games may have obscured some of the Browns capabilities, but you have to play in good and bad weather.

I am not convinced about the defense, they can be ripped apart, but offensively they pose challenges.

A few random guys who seemed to have solid days:

- Sheldon Richardson made a few impact plays and pressures
- Malcolm Smith is one of our more reliable defenders
- Stewart was in on a few key plays


In general our defense was GOOD for the first two quarters ... then just fell off. It’s such a weird spot to be up 38-7 at half. It’s almost an eerie vibe

Eating crow is not enjoyable.

I love watching Sheldon play! He works soooo hard...doesn't take plays off. A guy you can go to war with! I thought Ogunjobi played one of his better games today as well. We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides!

Both combined have an iq of 1, not sure which one it comes from and I love that I live rent free in your heads, talking about me hours after a post I made and later gave credit to same player .. it’s good to be me

If making a fool out of yourself week after week, sport after sport, makes you feel superior to others, then you are indeed a happy man. Congratulations.

Lol this will be his new thing

Today, Baker sealed my belief that he is our franchise QB FINALLY!

That Tenny team was in the AFC Championship game last year and they were playing in their house.

KS had some strange decisions in the second half, but I believe we also have our franchise coach too.

No kidding!!!! First winning record in 14 years... serious chance to get in the playoffs and do some damage... could have closed out the game better... but man... 9-3.... Stefanski has potential to get a statue in Cleveland with the way he's turned this franchise around so fast...

9x this year. I'll take it.

I don't think we have the personnel to properly run the "Prevent" effectively.

and that's what is biting us in the butt.

you have to have cover range like a monster and we don't have enough people who can.

It works to an extent but not as effectively as it could.

Browns made a statement today. They are for real!
Best game of Baker's career!

Well, at least you're admitting you love the fact that your continuous insulting of our coaches and players might affect fellow Cleveland fans trying to enjoy a game. Seriously, is there anyone you know that enjoys watching a game with you while you do that?

I love baldy breakdowns

I have no issues with the coaches in the second half. I think they called it the way almost any coach would with that big of a lead. The mistakes that we didn't make in the first half, we made in the second half and that is why things looked so bad. WE had two bad third down drops. Two bad punts, we had at least one 3rd down stop and one interception overturned because of penalties, and of course, the fumble.

The team has come a long way this season and the big difference is that we have great coaches and we are making fewer mistakes.

Baker has become the game manager that we need him to be (others say it as an insult, in my book, all great QBs are game managers). How about that heads up time out he called? His mental game has been on point lately.

j/c...

DON'T

CHANGE

A

: THING

My brain might need a little more time to process what happened today (I did watch the game, already... insert my usual plug for Gamepass here).

That fumble at the end was really a bummer, because otherwise Baker basically played as perfect a game (if limited) as you're gonna get. Not that I want to restart the "put the team on his back" pissing contest, but while our running game is what it is, he won't be asked to do as much as many other teams ask of his QBs. So that, said, today was an unbelievable game from him. Very very few mistakes, and the vast majority of his throws were on time and on target.
Yes, our receivers were getting absolutely absurd separation from their DBs (the Landry and DPJ TDs... good lord they smoked their defenders), but even still... look at those throws. He hit DPJ with a perfect pass, dude didn't have to break stride at all. The Landry TD saw Baker scanning the field and make the right (obvious) read. If he was completely unable to read coverages, that TD doesn't happen.

Our defense is what it is. No lead will ever be safe. But these guys can make plays, and shutting down Henry is a HUGE feather in their cap. They came out flying today. While Sendejo had his characteristic misses (I think it was the first TD to that one TE that picked up the fumble on the other TD), he also made some plays and was hitting hard.

I think the officiating, much like the field, was consistently bad for both teams.

Our special teams was flying around out there. Tackling was pretty much spot on.

j/c...

4 penalties for 25 in the first half.. 9 for 67 in the second half... seems right.

Mayfield's play-action fakes are absolutely devastating.

I meant to mention this in my post game thoughts.

I think he's the best in the NFL currently.

He is very, very, very good at selling fakes.

whenever he fakes you can see he peels like 1 or 2 defenders

this and his hard counts have drastically improved

...and greatly aided that our running game is devastating.

So this guy just continues to nail his Browns analyses. Look at this breakdown from Friday before the game and tell me he didn't pretty much tell us what was going to happen this weekend.



And I watched his post game for the first time. Enjoyable.

Thanks so much for posting all the stuff you post. I love Baldy's breakdowns. He is one of my favorite analysts.

Why is your franchise QB doing a sneak when even turning it over on downs is survivable? Too much risk having 11 guys piling on your QB because we all knew they were figuring it was going to be Hunt coming through.

Browns Are 9-3 BTW
What I like about the Browns this morning:

Baker Mayfield was legit in a big game. I’ve been negative on Mayfield, particularly his inaccuracy downfield. He was marvelous on those deep balls Sunday in building a huge lead. His TD throws to Donovan Peoples-Jones (45 yards in the air) and Rashard Higgins (33) were both perfect. Forget the numbers, which were very good. This was about Mayfield hitting open receivers in stride, which is vital for the Browns down the stretch. Cleveland now is the fifth seed in the AFC at 9-3. Seeing that they might have to beat explosive teams like Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Kansas City—perhaps in that order—should they make the playoffs having a big-strike offense is almost essential to January success.

The mindset of a team not feeling too good about itself. Coach Kevin Stefanski has been maniacal about the “just go 1-0 this week” ethos, and the players are buying. Really, what else matters? “No one’s playing for stats,” defensive end Myles Garrett told me post-game. “We’re just looking to be 1-0 and to win the day. That’s not just Sundays, that’s every day in practice competing, making sure that we’re there with that one mission in mind. We just go out there and play. Not much thinking, just being out there playing.”

I don’t like the defense barely finishing the job, but credit to the D for holding Derrick Henry to 60 rushing yards. Cleveland got outscored 28-3 in the second half, but not letting Henry take over the game paid off. The assignment, Garrett said, was no arm-tackling but to “show up violently against him, and grab a body part. You gotta ride him and knock him to the ground. For the most part, we did a good job.”

Garrett (10 games, 10.5 sacks) made an effective return from two weeks gone with COVID-19. He had a sack and three tackles, though he didn’t feel a strong as he usually is. “Having COVID,” he said, “is a helpless feeling, and not only being helpless to help my team but being so weak, so tired. Just so sore, that I just don’t wanna move. My body’s just hurting for no reason. Just random body parts, headache, eyes hurt, and you’re just trying to fight for however long this thing’s gonna be up on you.” I asked how he was feeling. “Pretty dang tired,” Garrett said. “But get back home, recover a little bit, get on the Peloton, start getting my wind back.”

He’d better hurry. Baltimore comes to Cleveland on Sunday, and the Ravens will have some desperation, needing three or four wins down the stretch to make the playoffs. “We are Cleveland,” Garrett said, “and we’re gonna try to make them proud.”

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...mia-peter-king/

Offensive Players of the Week

Baker Mayfield, quarterback, Cleveland. Not the best final 20 minutes or so for Mayfield, but four touchdown passes, including two thrown wonderfully to lead receivers in coverage, keyed the Browns’ 41-35 win over Tennessee. Mayfield’s four TDs came over 13 minutes in the first half, on passes of 2, 1, 17 and 75 yards. As importantly, Mayfield’s penchant for throwing high balls wasn’t there in the Browns’ most significant victory of the year. The first pick in the 2017 draft completed 25 of 33 throws for 334 yards with no interceptions. More games like that and the Browns will not only make the playoffs but also be a factor in them. First Cleveland quarterback to throw four first-half TDs since the great Otto Graham in 1951.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...mia-peter-king/
_________________________

NFL Week 13 PFF ReFocused: Cleveland Browns 41, Tennessee Titans 35

If the Cleveland Browns were paying attention to the talk of them being overrated or a fraudulent 8-3 team heading into this week, they evidently weren’t impressed with it. The Browns countered with an absolute beat down of the Tennessee Titans in Week 13 — at least for the first half.

Somehow, with the Browns unaccustomed to holding monstrous leads and turnovers flying in the second half, the Titans were able to claw the deficit back and see the clock tick zero with them just six points behind, but this game was functionally over before halftime.

STORY OF THE GAME
After struggling for much of the season between good defenses, weather and inconsistent play, Baker Mayfield set the Titans' secondary on fire, throwing four touchdowns and 290 yards in the first half alone on his way to one of the best games of his career — and probably the best game that didn’t come against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Browns weren’t really able to restart once the second half began, and Mayfield finished the game with 334 yards and the same four passing scores. He generated a 90% adjusted completion rate for the game, and the team averaged almost an entire expected point per pass attempt.

The Titans kept chipping away, and they made it look close in the end but were blown off the field in their own building with plenty to play for in the first half. Nothing summed up how their afternoon was going more than the play they ran just before the half. Tennessee got the ball into the hands of A.J. Brown — who has shed plenty of tackles and made big plays this season — only to see him fumble it away as the team slumped to the locker room in a deep hole.

We expected this to be a game of two teams with powerful rushing attacks trying to crush each other in the ground game. But they combined for fewer than 200 rushing yards, with the Browns barely topping 100 despite an entire half of game flow in which they would have been looking to chew the clock.

ROOKIE WATCH
Jedrick Wills Jr., Cleveland's top 2020 NFL Draft pick, had another solid day, aided by the complete lack of success from Tennessee's pass-rushers. Wills allowed just one pressure across 36 pass-blocking snaps.

Browns wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones had a big day, reeling in two catches for 92 yards and a score after he got behind a coverage bust for one of Mayfield’s touchdowns. He also had a dropped pass, which will limit his overall grade.

Tight end Harrison Bryant played 38 snaps and blocked well, but he couldn’t catch either of the targets that were thrown his way. Undrafted receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley saw 11 snaps of action, as well.

On defense, both interior lineman Jordan Elliott and linebacker Jacob Phillips played well on limited snaps. Elliott was on the field for 21 defensive plays, whereas Phillips saw 16 snaps.

The Titans have relied little on rookies all season long, and this game was no exception. The only one to see significant snaps on either side of the ball was interior defensive lineman Teair Tart, who played 22 snaps on defense and was little more than a speed bump for the Browns' blockers up front.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-13-pff-refocused-cleveland-browns-41-tennessee-titans-35

No play makes this more evident than the Lamm TD.

Chubb in as FB, Hunt at RB, Lamm as extra (eligible) blocker.

Chubb fakes the dive, almost the entire D reacts like "oh @#$%".
Hunt is running in the flat, Baker looks at him, remainder of the D reacts like "oh #$%@".

Browns player all alone in the EZ receives what's basically an underhand toss from the QB.

I want to circle back to the Kendall Lamm TD. Stefanski subbed him in and out several times before then so that when the play took place the Titans wouldn’t find it odd. Dude is playing chess.

https://twitter.com/dylansolesCLE/status/1335809728417554432

My takes from the game:

- Baker had a great game but the offensive line played a huge part in Baker having the time to make accurate throws.

- I'm glad that it seems like we're seeing more play-action from Baker. I had been screaming this for some time now. Pass to set up the run.

- I think the defensive line did a decent job at containing Henry early on but that became a moot point once the Titans were forced to throw the ball being so far behind. I felt like I heard Richardson's and Ogunjobi's names called a bit. Garrett doesn't get any calls.

- Our secondary is trash right now. I feel like Mitchell's play has diminished recently or it's simply that he is now being asked to cover better WRs and he is struggling. Until we get guys like Ward and Harrison back, I'm guessing the game plan against us will be to expose the secondary unit as much as possible.

- Again, Stefanski continues to prove he is the real deal.

- I love seeing Mayfield running with the play to help block and to celebrate a good run with his players. I think that goes a long way in the locker room that he is right there in the play with everyone else.

1st & 10: Browns Offensive Explosion

https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/an...s-week-13-2020/

Baker found his comfort zone.

The OL was terrific. With pass protection Baker took over. He was really good. Dropping dimes but also reading coverages. There were multiple times he moved his eyes and went to second and third receivers. Ball placement was excellent.

His best game as a Brown.

Coming at the right time.

We all wanted improvement and we got it. Both from Baker but also the team. They have lost key guys throughout the year. Players have stepped up. Bought into the mantra of
1-0.

The defense at the end gave up chunk plays. However, they again won the turnover battle. They held a great runner down. Got a fumble from a guy who does not fumble.
Held a good offense to 7 points in the first half.

The Baker fumble made the game look close. But the game was not close. We took them apart.

I like victory Monday.

j/c:

When does the mock draft thread go up? It's already December!

""Tennessee sold out so hard for the run that even if Borders had stayed with Peoples-Jones in coverage, David Njoku (85) was also wide open on a crossing route with plenty of room to run.""

From your article - that play was a thing of beauty and if you watch - 85 is indeed wide open for at least a 20 yard catch and run.

Monday morning feels good after a game like that.

The Browns do NOT have a losing record this year!!! Damn that's a good feeling... let's hope this is the start to something beautiful year in and year out...

So proud of MG and this group. Some quality people are also outstanding players and growing as leaders! MG, The Chubb, BM, Cleve-Landry, and more. Winning is infectious.

Hats off to Kendall "Hot Hands" Lamm! Love to watch the sea-pigs score! Dude has mad skills.

Nobody will stop him I'm the red zone LOLetc.!

Someone posted it above, but it’s pretty obvious that Stefanski thinks 2-3 moves ahead with a lot of decisions. Formations/substitutions/tendencies that add onto each other. Adding wrinkles and saving stuff for later. It’s just nice to see us have a plan

Unlike guys like Hue who seemed to be a few moves behind on everything.

yeah, make them react to you, not the other way around

Nick went hard at them. They really had nothing to say. And he's constantly bashing them for moving the goalposts on the Browns and Baker. It was great.

Did the safety that we picked up from KC get any time? I didn't see his name on the stat line so I am assuming no.

I don’t think he was active?

I think I remember seeing he wouldn't clear COVID protocol to join the team until Saturday so it makes sense he didn't play.

QB sneaks are literally the least risky plays in football. It was a fluke.

Some people may criticize Kevin Stefanski but the man has brought much needed stability to this team something no one else has been able to do since we've come back.

anybody heard/watch colin cowherd's take on baker mayfield and the browns right now?

god he makes me want to do something really petty like unscrew his license plate off his car.

I have to admit that He took his licks.. He did it better than other talking heads. but I hate how he does it. He'll admit he was wrong... but on his terms.

See the wonderful game day thread crew for unjustified criticism of Berry and KS - mindless.

True. No hand-off means one less thing to go wrong. Ironically, one of the advantages to a QB sneak is reducing the chance of a fumble.

Where was Rex Ryan appalled?

"Hollywoooooood. Hollywood Higgins."

#Browns  snap counts from win over #Titans . Myles Garrett played 52 of 72 snaps in his first game back from COVID-19. Fellow D-end Olivier Vernon played every snap.

Pretty crazy that Njoku is our third tight end.

True. Still as a 3rd TE, getting 42% of the snaps seems wild compared to other 3rd TEs.

That said, not impressed with Hooper so far for what we paid for him.

I agree. Hooper is supposed to be a receiving threat and he hasn’t done much as far as that goes. And he’s not a great blocker. Let’s hope he improves or that contract is going to look really bad during the off-season.

What's a Rex? How does he matter at all?

Just win, baby! Rex will have to deal with it.

carry on.

I've been debating for weeks about sharing this observation, but now seems like a good time.

Know who has spent 20 years winning close games like the recent home games CLE has won?

Patriots, that's who.

Know who is really great at taking away the opposition's strength(s)?

Patriots, that's who.

Know who was able to game-plan to afford the QB some eye-popping aerial assault like yesterday's?

Patriots, that's who.

Observation: we just might be seeing the next Bill Belichick as our head coach. Still early to make confident prefix, but dang- this guy looks promising as all get-out!

First of all, A qb sneak is not safer, it was not a fluke, Bakers' fumble, it was a case of,
The Defense knows it's probably coming and Kenny Vaccaro is a good player under a good coach and they attempted to do exactly what worked out for them, and Kareem Hunt ran them down and kept them out of the end zone, So. Not a fluke, could have happened to anyone. Enough about that.

It's time to move on to the Baltimore upcoming matchup.

The Wu Tang Clan? might say, the Baltimore D ain't nothing to mess with, nothing to mess with.

Balt. has stopped, pretty much shut down OBJ in at least 3 meeetings and taken the Browns biggest offensive weapon, in him, away consistently.

So, What works. Vs Balt,'s defense?

The Browns Tight ends in the last game, the opening day game had a avery high percentage of catches per targets.

From Hooper and Njoku, (trying to remember from looking at the page 2 weeks ago or more),
One was 3 for 3, and another was only missed once.

So, The Tight Ends can get the ball vs Balt's defense.

Why focus on this?
Because When the Steelers played the Ravens last week+, on Wed.
The Steelers limited their offense to basically one thing,
Simple Passes, medium passes, (no rushes) and total quick releases, (quick releases to a hot route every time)

For about 99% of all their offensive snaps, and THEY STILL threw an int in the end zone and left 15 points on the field in the red zone on the day

The Ravens game is even Bigger than the Titans game, because the loser of the Ravens at Browns MNF game would likely end up 3rd place in the division and out of any "3 way" tie breaks for a wild card spot.

(Because the Ravens have the easiest remaining schedule of any playoff contending team, except for "at the Browns" of course,
who,(Browns), weren't thought to going to be good anyway, 6-10 last year, so , seems,
schedule makers gave the Ravens an easy way???
WHOAAA, WHO'D A THOUGHT, friggin NFL doing the smelly raven franchise favors, seems like a pattern.

Works out the 6-5 Ravens remaining schedule is
Cowboys, home
At Browns, MNF

Jaguars, home
Giants, home
At Bengals,
(the Jaguars have 1 win on the year)
( The Cowboys and Giants have lost their Qb's for the year)
(and the Giants have lost their Rb for the year)

And the Browns are going to need beat these son of a guns without OBJ, out for the season.

Put is this way,

If the Browns lose this game, We can assume Balt Jumps them in record and division place,

Whereby, The Browns remaining playoff berth hopes, including (Not the WC spot the lesser of Balt/Pittsburg gets) So, 2 remaining spots.

Rest only on, Browns finishing with a 1 game lead on ALL OF,
(The Raiders/Chiefs lesser)
(The Colts/Titans lesser: because 3 way poison pill won't matter you beat them)

and the
(Bills/Dolphins/Patriots 2 lower) teams.

SO IF THE BROWNS WIN THIS GAME VS THE RAVENS,

They Secure 2nd place in the AFC North, which is paramount,
And pretty much assure they won't have to see the Ravens again until next season.

No what are you watching? On pregame he pretty much said if the Browns lose they should get rid of Baker.

j/c:

Imagine what that number would be without all the holds!

Knowing how they grade, I'm sure they took that into account.

It's still short lived, the sample size is not big enough says,
1999 Browns coach,
and Gregg Williams,
and Mangini,
and Hue Jackson the day he was extended.
and Robiske, the interim coach not wr.

and Butch Davis of course
and maybe a couple of quarterbacks too.

and a Bunch of GM's and directors of pro personel types.

#GridIronNinja

jUzT aNoThER gUy.

The highest-graded #Browns  on offense and defense vs. #Titans  (min. 25 snaps):

Baker Mayfield - 91.1
Malcolm Smith - 91.4

It's unreal.

Nice slide and turn by Baker.

Pretty sweet, but brought back memories of the Vikings QB who injured himself on a celebration a few years back...Ponder? Calm down Baker.

Jim Rome with some serious love

Had to rewatch the game this morning.

A couple things stood out. Defensively we played a 5 x 3, and 4 x 4 which was set up as a umbrella defense to stop Henry. They did that.

Offensively the OL was incredible in pass protection. Baker took full advantage. He was comfortable. Made reads and threw darts.

Njoku has some of the worst blocking technique I have seen.
He is terrible as a blocker. I mean miss and fall on your face bad. He actually fell on his face. On another play his man went around him like his feet were in cement. He will be gone next year.

Titans were given some chunk plays that should not have happened. But really we beat the tar out of them. If we were to play them in the playoffs? They will be better next time.

This is seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

We're currently picking 28th.... go for it

No clue... Rex has been a critic of Baker and the Browns so it's nice to see people come back and give some positivity too.

Watched this one several times today on Gamepass (at least the first half) and it remains one of the best displays of dominant football I have ever seen at the NFL level. It was literally pathetic how bad the Browns beat the living hell out of the Titans in the first half. It was like me trying to play my nephew at Madden with Huecifer's 2016 squad against the 85 Bears.

I went and looked at a couple of Titan boards last night and read the pregame and game threads. Some of the funniest stuff I have ever seen. They are quite the cocky bunch believe it or not, you would think they have been dominating the NFL for 80 years or something. Only a couple posters gave the Browns any respect coming in, and many were downright still in denial after the arse beat. What really gets me is the perception of Mayfield; they think he is a bottom feeder at QB and I am sure this is prevailing wisdom around the league with different fanbases. They also think the Browns are some sort of 1960s running team. Been saying for awhile now, the Browns run the ball the best when they establish it via the pass or the threat of... Tenn paid the price loading the box yesterday and defenses are going to have to deal with the balance moving forward.

The 3 bad weather home games really changed the national perception of the Browns offense for the average, uneducated fans. You don't have probably the best oline in the league across PFF grades and many metrics without being a lethal offense, especially with 2 of the top 7 backs in the league, a deep TE corps and solid, blue collar WRs -- oh, and a QB who is far from terrible.

Myles was still affected by COVID and we got another win without Ward against 2 stud WRs.

Not a bad oline per PFF:
Teller -- 94.0 (1st amongst Gs and 2nd behind A. Rod for all positions)
Bitonio -- 87.0 (3rd amongst Gs)
Conklin -- 83.6 (8th amongst Ts)
Tretter -- 76.6 (4th amongst Cs)
Wills -- 62.5 (81.6 PBLK which is 15th amongst Ts) He will improve the RBLK with a real offseason to bulk imo
--Hubbard -- 72.1 (Best 6th man in league)

Hollywood has serious talent. Makes me laugh every time he does the red carpet waltz.

The surprise slide, reverse spin move, picture snap and then head butt are amazing!

Another thing I was paying attention too in my re-watch.

Offensive play concept and design.

I was loving the play formations and movement.

Baker for a guy who did not play under center in college. He has gotten really good at the fakes in play action. Credit Van Pelt.

The offense is difficult to decipher. Lot of looks. Lots of motion. Excellent route patterns. The long throw to DPJ. He ran a great route.

I don't know if we just "arrived", or if we just got The Whammy put on us.

At some point - if we are actually going to be "good" we have to win when we are expected to win and when the media sing our praises.

I trust KS will keep it simple and each week will be an effort to go 1-0 ... it feels very different than past regimes and HC's

I hear you loud and clear. Now comes all the media talk where they are no longer dismissing us and going into "the Browns are really for real and awesome!!!!" mode. At least we play Bmore and not the Giants or Jets this week, that should keep us grounded.

I looked yesterday and we were +2.5 dogs at home, which is cool with me. Curious to see how the Sharps go the next day or two.

13-3

Looked up the game where Otto Graham threw 4 1st half TD passes. December 2nd 1951 against the Chicago Cardinals. Funny, we took a 42-0 lead in that game before we let them back in scoring 28 points before we finally won 49-28.

Thanks for the info. My takeaway from that is prevent D and clock running O sucked back then just as bad a today.

The Bengals-Dolphins game got really froggy. Ironically, Tenn were the ones who lost their cool yesterday after bragging about baiting us last year.

I read that Bake’s four TD throws in the first half was the first time it happened for a Browns QB since Otto Graham did it in 1951.

And Sunday was Otto’s birthday.

GC. The Field Goal by the Browns in the 2nd half, was a huge play.

Sincerely.

Put you back up 20, allowed for a kickoff instead of a misses' line of scrimmage.

outscored 3-28 in the 2nd half, but that 3 was an answer. That 3 answered one of their drives and put the score back to a 20 point lead. It changed momentum.

That Field goal in the 2nd half, being a good Field goal,
Was
Huge!

#Browns  Baker Mayfield had the highest QBR for week 13: 87.7%

Baker ran a 91.1 PFF grade for the game and was the top scorer on offense.

NFL Week 13: PFF Team of the Week, key takeaways, player awards and more

By Anthony Treash
Dec 7, 2020
This week didn’t look like it would end up one of the most entertaining slates of the 2020 season on paper, but that was far from the case as Sunday went on. We had the two “tanking” teams — New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars — nearly lost by winning, the Cleveland Browns had the best first half of the entire season against the Tennessee Titans, the New York Giants beat the Seattle Seahawks on the road without Daniel Jones as double-digit dogs, Bill Belichick shut down rookie Justin Herbert in the New England Patriots 45-0 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and a heck of a lot more happened in his great week of football.

PFF is here to break down NFL Week 13 in greater detail using advanced data and our unique play-by-play grading. Here, we present to you the PFF Team of the Week, a few big takeaways and player awards from Week 13 of the 2020 NFL season.

PFF TEAM OF THE WEEK

Offense

QB: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
RB: Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
WR: Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans
WR: Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
TE: Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins
FLEX: Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders
LT: Andrew Thomas, New York Giants
LG: Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns
C: Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions
RG: A.J. Cann, Jacksonville Jaguars
RT: Braden Smith, Indianapolis Colts

Defense

DI: Bilal Nichols, Chicago Bears
DI: Shelby Harris, Denver Broncos
EDGE: Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
EDGE: Ifeadi Odenigbo, Minnesota Vikings
LB: Malcolm Smith, Cleveland Browns
LB: Demario Davis, New Orleans Saints
CB: Cameron Dantzler, Minnesota Vikings
CB: Troy Hill, Los Angeles Rams
S: Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City Chiefs
S: Anthony Harris, Minnesota Vikings
FLEX D: Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts



BIG TAKEAWAYS

JALEN HURTS PROVED HE DESERVES TO START OVER CARSON WENTZ

We finally got our wish. After weeks of pounding the table for Hurts to get more than one or two snaps at a time and take over the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback job, the rookie finally saw a handful of series when Wentz was sent to the bench after performing poorly against the Green Bay Packers in Week 13. And Hurts fared fairly well in relief of the former No. 2 overall pick.

Hurts recorded a 77.9 passing grade for the game, the eighth-best mark of the week and more than 25 grading points better than Wentz (played through the first drive of the second half). He dropped in a beautiful big-time throw to fellow rookie Jalen Reagor on his first passing attempt of the game on a go ball and then tossed another on his touchdown pass while on the run. Hurts did have an interception, but he was hit as he was thrown.

He perhaps held onto the ball a bit too long on some occasions (3.73-second average time-to-throw), but Hurts was generally able to find success downfield — something Wentz hasn’t done this season. Hurts earned an 88.3 passing grade on throws over 10 yards downfield, which is a higher mark than Wentz has earned in all but one game this season.

Of the 33 rookie quarterback performances this season, Hurts’ Week 13 effort was the fourth-highest graded. Meanwhile, Wentz is the fifth-lowest graded passer this season. Sure, it’s a small sample, but Hurts proved he is worthy of starting for the Eagles from here on out in 2020.

THE CLEVELAND BROWNS ARE ON A HOT STREAK

Ever since the Browns’ 38-7 blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6, their passing offense has looked exponentially better. In fact, over the course of their past five games, they have managed to produce the two most efficient passing offenses we have seen this season — Week 7 at Cincinnati and Week 13 at Tennessee. Those outings were also the most efficient passing offenses the Browns have had since 2006. That’s helped give Cleveland the second-most efficient passing offense since Week 7, behind only the Green Bay Packers. In Weeks 1 through 6, the Browns ranked 24th in passing efficiency.

Baker Mayfield has improved his passing grade from 57.3 in the first six weeks of the season (fourth-worst) to 90.6 since Week 7 (third-best). He has also gone from third-to-last to sixth in turnover-worthy throw rate, as well as jumping from 20th to second in big-time throw rate. Mayfield is consistently making the right reads while not inviting in pressure as often as before. And he’s making fewer poor decisions under pressure, too.

Most importantly, he has been accurate. Against the Titans in Week 13, Mayfield had the most pass attempts without an uncatchable throw since 2017. The Browns’ offensive line has played a significant role in the success, as well. The unit has cut its pressure rate allowed in half from the early part of the season — 28% in Weeks 1-6 to 12% since then. The latter rate is the best in the NFL by over 5 percentage points.

This Kevin Stefanski-led offense is starting to click, turning Cleveland from the league’s laughing stock to a playoff team.

Tua Tagovailoa will have to play a lot better down the stretch for the Miami Dolphins to secure a postseason berth

After three straight losing seasons, the Dolphins (8-4) now find themselves in the playoff picture with just four games left to play in the 2020 regular season. Their postseason spot, however, is far from guaranteed. They currently have a 51% playoff probability, with their four remaining games forming a fairly difficult stretch (Chiefs, Patriots, at Raiders and at Bills). Asa result, they need their rookie quarterback to step up to ensure a playoff spot.

Tagovailoa did rebound in Week 13 from his disastrous day in Week 11, but it still wasn’t anything spectacular. The No. 5 overall pick recorded a 64.1 passing grade in Miami’s win over Cincinnati, now making it five starts and five sub-70.0 passing grades in his NFL career. Tua has a 58.8 passing grade on the year that ranks fifth-to-last among current starting quarterbacks. On throws of 10 or more yards downfield, he drops to dead last.

Tua’s downfield passing has been far too spotty, and Week 13 was a prime example of that. He had more negatively graded throws than positively graded ones on those downfield passes. I have all the faith in Tagovailoa becoming a franchise quarterback, but that level of play won’t cut it against the Chiefs in Week 14 or against Bill Belichick’s Patriots in Week 15.



OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Rodgers entered Week 13 as our highest-graded quarterback and finished it with an even wider gap between him and second place. The Packers quarterback didn’t just have another elite performance that we have seen from him on several occasions this year. He had one of the best performances we have ever seen here at PFF.

Rodgers earned a 97.1 passing grade in their 30-16 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only is that the best of his entire NFL career, but it tied for the second-best single-game passing grade by a quarterback since we began grading in 2006. He didn’t have a single quarterback-fault incompletion on the day and recorded six big-time throws. Of those five big-time throws, two fell incomplete. One was the first play of the third quarter when Rodgers was under pressure and delivered a dime outside of the pocket to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that was dropped. The other was a potential touchdown to Davante Adams on third down early in the fourth quarter.

After this one, Rodgers now has a 94.7 PFF grade for the season. That’s a full two grading points ahead of Patrick Mahomes in second and just shy of the PFF record set by Tom Brady in 2016 at 95.2. At this point, it’s hard to argue that Rodgers is not the MVP.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK & ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

CB Cameron Dantzler, Minnesota Vikings

Dantzler, like every other starting rookie cornerback, had gotten off to a rough start in his NFL career. In his seven games played through Week 12, Dantzler ranked 64th of 92 qualifying outside corners in coverage grade. This week, though, the third-round rookie had himself a performance he will never forget with a position-leading 93.0 PFF grade.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mike Glennon targeted Dantzler seven times in coverage and the rookie allowed just one to be caught. That reception was set up to result in just a 3-yard gain for the Jags, but instead, Dantzler ripped the ball out of the receiver’s hands for a forced fumble that he recovered. He also came up with an interception and forced incompletion on those seven targets.

Dantzler had gotten beat for an open explosive play in almost every game of his young NFL career prior to Week 13, but that did not occur on Sunday. On none of those targets in coverage did the receiver have ample separation. Dantzler was a flat-out playmaker for Minnesota on Sunday and had a performance that gives the franchise hope that he can effectively lead that group in the years to come.

OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE WEEK

Cleveland Browns

It’s seemingly every other game we see the Cleveland Browns take home PFF Offensive Line of the Week honors. They were the highest-graded group of the week and have been over the course of the whole season in not only pass protection but also in run-blocking.

The Cleveland offensive line allowed just one single pressure for the entire game (a hurry) and a pressure rate allowed was half that of every other team in their 41-35 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 13. Granted, Kevin Stefanski only tasked them with a true pass set on 25% of their pass-blocking snaps (third-lowest of the week), but it was still impressive nonetheless. Then for the run game, it was their guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller leading the way as they posted run-block grades that ranked first and third respectively at their position. Positively graded run blocks are a stable area for interior offensive linemen, and those two led their position in that category.

SECRET SUPERSTAR OF THE WEEK

CB Javelin Guidry, New York Jets

Guidry, an undrafted free agent who was on the Jets’ practice squad to begin the season, had played just nine snaps in his NFL career entering Week 13. With Brian Poole on IR following an injury in Week 9, Arthur Maulet was called into action to replace Poole, but he didn’t perform up to snuff with a 36.3 coverage grade in three games. Guidry got to see substantial game action in the slot on Sunday against the Raiders as a result, and the 5-foot-9 former track star surpassed expectations.

Guidry ranked sixth among 28 qualifying defensive backs in slot PFF grade in Week 13. He forced a fumble after giving up a catch to Henry Ruggs in the middle of the fourth quarter, and the Jets offense capitalized on that by scoring a touchdown a few plays later to take a 28-24 lead. The rookie did have one mental mistake in the first quarter that resulted in a coverage bust and a 28-yard gain to Ruggs, but he didn’t get beat for a first down in coverage outside of that. Guidry also blew up a couple of runs for stops and came up big on two different occasions in coverage for passing stops.

It wasn’t a perfect or elite performance from Guidry, but it was a lot better than one would expect in that situation. The former UDFA rookie is one to keep an eye on after performing fairly well in his first real taste of NFL action.

PLAY OF THE WEEK

While one Jets undrafted defensive back excelled on Sunday, another was on the receiving end of a disastrous play and play call that ultimately cost New York the game. With 13 seconds to go down four points with no timeouts on the Jets’ 46-yard line, it seemed certain that the Las Vegas Raiders would be the first team to lose to the New York Jets in the 2020 season. They needed a miracle to avoid the upset and keep their playoff hopes intact, and (now former) Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams handed them one with the bold decision to play Cover-0. This led Lamar Jackson — an undrafted rookie out of Nebraska who ran a 4.58 40-yard at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine — in a one-on-one scenario with Ruggs. And to no surprise, it ended with an open deep ball that Derek Carr hit for the game-winning touchdown.


For the players themselves, this was a crushing ending. But for the franchise, it’s clearly the best thing that could have happened considering they are still in the driver’s seat for Trevor Lawrence come April 2021. The decision by Williams was an incredibly bad one and actually got him fired, but kudos to Carr and Ruggs for taking advantage of it to keep their playoff hopes alive.

AN EARLY LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK 14…

With just four weeks left to play in the 2020 NFL regular season — the first year of an expanded playoff — the postseason implications are at an all-time high. And next week, there are a significant number of games that will significantly impact quite a few team’s postseason chances as well as potential seeding.

Highlighting the one o’clock slate is the Minnesota Vikings versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Miami Dolphins. Minnesota may currently be in the playoff picture as the seven seed, but according to our predictive model, they have just a 32% to actually reach the postseason. An upset win over the Bucs in Week 14 would, however, significantly impact those odds. It’d also damage the odds of the Arizona Cardinals, who are currently on the outside looking in after losing to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13. As for the Dolphins, they currently sit at the six seed in the AFC and have a 51% chance of clinching a postseason berth according to that same model.

Then in the four o’clock slate we have the Indianapolis Colts versus the Las Vegas Raiders. Indy currently stands at the seven seed with a 63% chance of making the postseason, while Vegas is the first team just outside of the playoff picture at 49%.

For the Sunday nightcap, there is a big matchup between two of the AFC’s top teams that could impact who gets that highly coveted first-round bye in January as the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills. And then to cap it all off on Monday Night Football, there’s another impactful matchup for the AFC Wild Card picture between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. They haven’t clinched a spot yet, but the 9-3 Browns are sitting pretty in the playoff picture despite likely being a Wild Card team with a 97% chance to make the postseason. The Ravens, however, are not as they currently sit outside of the playoff picture and a 47% chance of making the postseason. The good news is that they do have by far the easiest remaining schedule in the league, and a win against Cleveland before facing the Jaguars, Giants and Bengals will certainly help their chances.

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Myles doing Myles things...Like being held by two guys at once.

And he still almost got the sack, being held by two guys coming off having covid... He's a beast.

j/c...

Wills is just a judo master... just using their weight against them.

People asked me all the time why I was happy when we drafted Higgins, I liked him (and Jordan Payton, but we'll forget about that) better than any of the other WRs we drafted. People have given me grief about liking him, and wishing he'd get more playing time.

He just does everything well. He catches almost everything. He runs great routes. He has some ability for YAC. He blocks well. He also does not give up on plays. He is 2nd on the team with 3 TD catches. He has 6 plays of 20+yards. (2nd on the team) He's been called slow by some, but he is 3rd on the team in yards/catch. He's done this despite being inactive for 3 or 4 (IIRC)of his 10 games this year.

I love seeing videos of our OL and blocking schemes. It’s a thing of beauty this year

Really.

All this year there have been plays where you just go "damn."

The play of the OL against the Titans was outstanding.

In other games you will look back and see individual plays and see great hustle and technique.

Now this line is really functioning as a unit.

"The 'I love football drill'"

lol

That seems good

Yes, but I just see it differently when you have a good lead and the first down is not a necessity to victory. Putting your franchise in harms way in such a situation is risky.

If it works, it's a great call because we have a first down and are still up by 13; when something goes wrong it was a terrible idea.

Switching gears here..........GW, the jets, and his d call at the end.

Everyone, myself included, hates the prevent d. As some coach at some time said "It prevents you from winning". Williams took a chance, If it worked, he's a genius. If it didn't? Well, it didn't. And, he's out of a job.



That's how decisions in the nfl, and really in life, go. If they work, great call. If they don't, terrible call.

Florida, I understand what you are saying. But ...this play is a prime example of what Prp and Arch is talking about.


It's 3rd and goal from the 1, we're up 10 to start the 2nd.

Let's say the negative happens....Baker: throws an INT, gets sacked, or Lamm drops the ball. Instead of us all going crazy b/c we scored and what a brilliant play design/call that was....now x amount of people (i.e. fans, media, etc) are now questioning the play call, questioning Step, the players .....

3rd and goal in a big game and you come up with that dumb call?!
Just run Chubb (or Hunt) up the middle!
We only got 3 (or nothing if it was intercepted), we should have had 7 that could (or it did) cost us the game.

In reality, we (fans/media) could really question every play call. Either it's going to work or it's not. My biggest thing is whatever the call is ..as long as I can see the coach's reasoning behind the call, and it's not outlandish (i.e. running a TE up the middle at the goal line in a big moment, when they've never ran the ball in their life).

Prime example: last week on third down...we could've ran it up the middle for the first. Instead, coach called a dump off play to Hunt in the flat. Bad pass/Hunt didn't catch it. I understood coach's intent...and the play was a good call as Hunt had room to work with if he caught it.


i could be wrong and it probably was not be the main reason it was ran. But I think calls like these bring a different kind of morale/confidence boost to the team too. Either way the players are going to be pumped about scoring. I think it adds a little more fuel to the fire when they execute a play like that to perfection AND one of the hogs catch the TD pass.

I mean just think of it as us fans.....what would pump you up more - watching Ward bring back a int or seeing Obi picking off a tipped pass and rumbling down the sideline for a TD?

Disagree Arch. There is a big difference between going "prevent" at the beginning of the 3rd quarter the way we did and allowing a team that had no offensive momentum to start gaining yardage in large chunks... and going prevent on the last play of the game and you KNOW the deep pass/hail mary is coming...

I mean, by your logic, I could take my entire retirement savings, go to a Vegas roulette wheel and put it on "Red 32" for one spin of the wheel. If I'm right the payout is like 35:1... Does that make me a genius? No. Because the odds are very much against me and the results, if I am wrong, are devastating. Not everything fits in the "If it worked it would have been the right call"

Red Right 88

I think some of these plays being sprinkled in are just to keep us crazy unpredictable. Until last week, what DC in the league would have expected that in that situation? Sure it could have backfired but they probably already decided to go for it on fourth if it failed, and Baker never throws the ball to Lamm if he's not out there alone. BTW, Lamm would have drawn the pass coverage off the back (Hunt?) running to the same side if he had been covered in the endzone. This would have left the back open in the flat. It was a decent percentage play that was unexpected.

Who was is who said "A play is not good when it is not executed properly."

I want to say Romeo....

The recorder music was the BEST!

I agree.
It was perfect.

I don't like all the love Cleveland is getting.

It's almost uncomfortable... this is usually when the other shoe drops.


Honestly, this is the REAL test for the "1-0" attitude.

If we can keep it up for just a little while, it will calm down. But if we beat the Ravens, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I'd like to see it get worse. I've already seen what it's like to get the love and then not follow-up with earning it; I want to see how it is to not only start getting the love, but then live up to it.

I feel this... in that. It's easy for the media to overhype the team.

CUrrently no one in the browns organization are talking. But it's easy for the media to zone in on interviews and misinterpret what is being said.

Double edged sword.

I

Just thinking about it 6 days later,,, If we play a whole game like we played the first half of the titans game, nobody can beat us. Big IF however.

You'd think they'd have learned from the last time they gave post-game interviews that said "we need to learn to keep our foot on the gas".
This team needs to learn how to keep its foot on the gas; especially after halftime.

Anyone see this? He is a bit annoying but I like his name for our O line
"The Union".

The Union

I love Baldy! Look forward to his Browns breakdowns every week. Thanks for posting, hadn’t seen that one yet.