DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2017 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 28 Colts 31 Browns Favored to Win!!!

Trap game for the Browns? Dear God, spare us all.

sundays are our trap games

besides thursdays and the ever rare monday

In what sense? Are you driving him? Or are you sitting shotgun and giving him directions to Indy?

Why isn't he taking the team plane?


(come on.........just having a little fun)

right there with you Peen. Steps forward.

IND has given up 9 completions on deep balls (20+yds in air), T-most in NFL

Kizer leads NFL in % of passes being deep

https://twitter.com/PFF_Cleveland/status/911353158731026448

Not so sure i think it is a good idea trying to win your first game on the road

excellent thought and thanks for the stats

I think they should try to win their first game every week, until they do it. Road or home.

If we don't win this game, we will never get about .500 this season.

If we win, we have 2 homes games in a row that we should win.....3-2 after the Jets.

If we lose, we might not win either of the others.

This is the hinge game to this season. That isn't to say we stay atop of the .500 level, but we might be able to stay close

stay hopeful bro!!

excellent thought you not for losing all are games so we can get are choice of qbs?

The Colts Don’t Have a Plan, and Now They’re Home Underdogs Against the Browns

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/21/16345438/indianapolis-colts-cleveland-browns-andrew-luck

The Cleveland Browns are favored in a road game against the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday. Cleveland opened as a 2.5-point favorite and is now down to a 1.5-point favorite, according to most Vegas sportsbooks. But the Browns remain favored on the road. Let that sink in.

It’s not just that Cleveland is an 0-2 team whose rookie quarterback and his second-year backup combined to throw four interceptions and lose a fumble in a 24-10 loss to the Ravens last week. It’s that the Browns haven’t been a road favorite in three years and have been a road favorite only three times in the last 10 seasons. There are significantly more NFL games that now end in ties than games that began with Cleveland being favored on the road.

And it’s remarkable that this comes against the Colts. While Cleveland has had only two winning seasons since its franchise reboot in 1999, the Colts have had just two losing seasons over the same span. They’ve played in an AFC championship game more recently than the Browns have been favored on the road, in the January 2015 matchup with the Patriots that spawned Deflategate. We made fun of the Colts for hanging an “AFC Finalist” banner celebrating that conference-championship loss, but perhaps the franchise knew where things were headed: Indy has been one of the worst teams in the league this season, losing 46-9 to the unspectacular Rams in Week 1 and falling 16-13 in overtime to the similarly hapless Cardinals in Week 2.

There is a simple explanation for the Colts’ steep decline: Quarterback Andrew Luck is hurt. He had surgery in January for a nagging shoulder issue—although the team never explained what the injury was—and has been notably mum about the timetable for his recovery. Colts owner Jim Irsay said Luck’s return was “on the football gods” and Luck’s “gut feeling,” which some interpreted as a shot at Luck. As cryptic as that was, it’s the most elaborate update we’ve gotten. It doesn’t seem like Luck is anywhere near ready to return, as the team continues to rule him out. My personal theory is that Luck will stay out for most of the 2017 campaign, and that the Colts will play coy from week to week.

Sometimes, I’d consider it a bad break when a team struggles following an injury to its star quarterback. But while the Colts are literally un-Luck-y, I think their story has more to do with immense roster mismanagement than it does with misfortune.

I don’t want to say that the Luck situation is the worst-handled injury I can remember. The worst way that a team can handle an injury is by forcing an injured player back into action before he’s ready, and the Colts decidedly have not done that. But the whole thing has been botched. Luck’s injury was not a surprise; the Colts knew he was hurting and presumably gave him the go-ahead to have a nonurgent procedure to fix a problem.

This gave Indianapolis the entire 2017 offseason to plan for the possibility of Luck missing extended time. The Colts could have signed a competent backup, as many were available. (This is the point in the article where I will mention that one of those quarterbacks was Colin Kaepernick, who is still unsigned and—fun fact—has a higher career QB rating than Luck.) They could have used a mid- to late-round draft pick on a quarterback and given the youngster the opportunity to spend training camp and the preseason practicing with a first-team NFL offense.

Instead the Colts rolled with quarterback Scott Tolzien, who at no point has displayed anything resembling competence. He entered this season with two career touchdown passes and seven interceptions in six NFL seasons; after playing for three quarters in Week 1 against the Rams, he now has two career touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Indy scrambled upon realizing it was heading into the fall with such an awful QB and hastily traded for Jacoby Brissett from the Pats a week before the season. Brissett is fine—he’s the greatest preseason quarterback of all time!—but the Colts had to give up 2015 first-round pick Phillip Dorsett to get him and are now starting a player who still might have to use Waze to find the team’s facility.

It’s baffling that the team would fail to plan for the absence of its franchise passer—who, quite frankly, is the only point of strength on an aggressively weak roster. The Colts’ best running back is 34-year-old Frank Gore; their offensive line is piecemeal (although it should get better once injured center Ryan Kelly returns); they have basically no good defensive players other than cornerback Vontae Davis, who is also injured. Stunningly, the Colts’ defensive starting lineup in Week 1 was composed entirely of players who did not start in Indianapolis’s season-opener last year, a feat that’s nearly impossible to pull off. The 2016 Colts defense had four former Pro Bowlers: Robert Mathis (retired), Mike Adams (signed with the Panthers), D’Qwell Jackson (cut and has not signed with a team), and Davis. That unit allowed 6.0 yards per play, the second-worst mark in the league, and struggled to stop both the pass and the run. Take away some of the better players from that unit, and it makes sense that things have gotten incredibly ugly.

Defense is supposed to be the specialty of head coach Chuck Pagano, a longtime defensive backs assistant who took the top job in Indianapolis in 2012 after serving as the Ravens defensive coordinator. And yet, in his five years in charge of the Colts, the team has produced only one top-15 defense.

This is the recent story of the Colts. In the past 20 years, Indianapolis has had two franchise quarterbacks, Luck and Peyton Manning, the latter of whom is perhaps the greatest passer of all time. And beyond that they’ve had little else. Sure, there have been some great players on the team: Wide receiver Marvin Harrison is a Hall of Famer and likely would be even if he hadn’t been paired with Manning; wideout Reggie Wayne is a borderline Hall of Famer as well; running back Edgerrin James was a force of nature; Dwight Freeney is one of the best defensive ends of the millennium; Mathis is a five-time Pro Bowler; safety Bob Sanders was briefly one of the best defenders in the NFL. But for the most part, the Colts’ success has been dependent on having an excellent quarterback. In the 20 years since the franchise drafted Manning, Indy has had 10 seasons in which it’s finished among the top five in points scored or yards gained, and only two in which it’s finished 20th or worse in one of those categories (2011, when Manning missed the full season with a neck injury, and 2015, when Luck played only seven games). Meanwhile, the Colts have had just two seasons in which they’ve finished among the top five in either points or yards allowed: 2005 and 2007, the years before and after they won a Super Bowl. They’ve finished 20th or worse in both categories eight times. The Colts defenses were generally good to average under the direction of former coach Tony Dungy. They’ve been bad to awful under Pagano and his predecessor, Jim Caldwell.

So much of Indianapolis’s period of excellence is a direct result of the team having two no. 1 draft picks in years when top-tier QBs were available. And the Colts’ front office deserves credit for making the right picks both times, nabbing Manning and Luck instead of Ryan Leaf and Robert Griffin III. But a franchise that’s been one of the most consistent in the NFL over the past two decades has relied on a strategy that amounts to having an excellent quarterback and hoping that things elsewhere work out. This week’s line against the Browns shows what can happen when the only ingredient in a recipe for football success is removed.

safe to say the Colts are more mis-managed than us ... I just hope we can squeeze out a win. It's a big game for us IMO. 1-2 with 2 home games that are winnable is a big step

I think this combined w/some of your other posts is where things get dangerous. The Browns were ranked anywhere from 30th to 32nd by almost all independent prognosticators before the season.

Pluto said something about us winning 7 games. Some other posters on here started talking about .500. Diam even had a thread about us winning games. The opinions of homers.

The reality is that those not affiliated w/the team knew it was a squad lacking experience and talent. We do not have a qb on the roster who has won even a single NFL game. Think about that.

I tried to warn some of you about having high expectations but you kept gushing over this supposed talent we acquired. Well, now reality is setting in and the next step is to find someone to blame.

That person will be Hue. I predicted it and it is already coming true.

I am going to fight you every inch of the way, peen. Firing Hue will NOT make this team better.

And everyone can save where did he say "fire Hue." LOL......this ain't my first rodeo.

You give more life to the "Fire Hue" narrative than the two people on here that want it done 100%.

Jesus, we're in the "Browns favored to win" thread and you're bringing it up.

So even you know he didn't say anything close to "Fire Hue" yet you try to pre-emptively say that's what he meant. You talk about others wanting Hue fired all the time, yet a majority of the time it is simply you saying it.

Nothing Peen said is untrue. No one is expecting playoffs, but if we want to progress with a young team, they have to learn how to win. This game, and the next 2, are winnable games. It's up to the team find a way to win, and hopefully build some momentum and confidence. If they don't, it lessens their chances of progress this year.

I guess if you're speaking strictly about the possibility of a .500 season you may have a point. But I don't actually feel most believed a .500 season was a realistic possibility headed into this season to begin with.

Most felt that if we saw progress over the course of the season, that was a realistic gauge of our season. I know people are tired of hearing that but neither of our QB's are capable of producing W's even with a stout D at this point. Our D scheme is brand new and it will take time for that to be efficient as well. Yes, we can see it being more aggressive but if people actually feel it will be hitting on all cylinders by week three, I think they're fooling themselves.

I just feel that with this being the youngest team in the league, total inexperience at the QB position and a new scheme being installed on D, speaking of week three as being the hinge game in our season may be overestimating its value just a bit.

Hey it's not his first rodeo!

[cfrs](I don't know what that means.)[/cfrs]

My prediction was a floor of 2 ... 4 was my prediction .... with a ceiling of 6 ....

You predicted 3 or 4 i believe ... i predicted 4 ... and i QUALIFIED that on more than one occasion with " its not because we improved that much but its how the leagues set up today ... we got better while other teams got worse ... "

How does that make me a homer? ... u predicted 3 or 4 ... i predicted 4 .. it don't make me a homer and u know it .... your painting with a real broad brush to create your scenario of me being on the fire hue train ....

Good Work Vers ... u should be real proud of your work here ....

Neither do I.

well i guess i'm a homer because i predicted 5 wins. And i'm One that wants Hue to be here to finish this build

Do they have Mingo and Sheard?

I think every other NFL team I can think of has some EX-Cleveland Browns on it, that play well and we shouldn'g have got rid of. (except the Bengals, Ravens maybe)

It is a Road game, and the other team has 0 wins at home.

And it's still early in the season.

Pretty sure, there is almost No way the Browns can Win this game.

This would be, what a better Browns team, would consider a trap game.

This is a Trap game for a Cleveland Browns team that should be 1-1 coming into it.

The only problem is the Browns didn't even win any of the 1st 2.

The other only problem is this is a "road" game, and the Browns, apparently haven't won any road games since Bush was President, or something like that.



All that being said.

The Browns should beat the snot out of this Loser Colts team.
If you can't beat em, might as well beat em by a Lot.

If the Browns defense can get some turnovers, they are going to have to score points, because, if the Browns defense can score 21 points,

And we all know the Browns offense won't put up any more than it's 14 point average.

The Browns offense, Stepping on it's own shoelaces

The Browns offense, filled with talented players , but managed by NONE of at least 3, or 4 or 5, or 6, or 7, or 8 different personalities.

And the Browns offense, If they reach the end zone? It's only because they inevitably reached it

after NOT trying to reach it, on about 13 consecutive plays, ONE YARD pass completions, scrambles in the pocket QB runs, draw plays up the middle,

These the "preferred" play calls when the Browns GET INTO scoring position, the opponents 25 yard line and on in.

The only time the Browns have a big play, it goes from their own 10 yard line, to their own 45 yard line, week after week, year after year.

They don't reach the end zone, even the average team, win or lose, the average score of an NFL team, week after week, is 22-24 points for that team.

In this league, the Browns are tying to win games, scoring < Less Than 20 points. Hoping to win 16-3 or something.

Jacoby Brissett, probably has more NFL experience than either Kizer or Hogan.

I'm not Saying I don't want, or think the Browns can WIN THIS GAME!

What I'm trying to say is. DON'T TELL ME THEY ARE FAVORITES! UNTIL THEY DECIDE TO STOP SHOOTING THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT EVERY WEEK!

Fight me all you want. I can take it.

You want to talk about reality, cool. The reality is I don't want Hue fired, but I also know the reality is he better start winning some games or he will.

At what point will it be enough for you? When he is 8-45?

Let's just see what happens tomorrow. We should win the game. Let's see if we do or somehow screw it up.

Not only do the Colts have Mingo and Sheard, but they have Pierre Desir, too!

Run it up on them. I liked Sheard.

I had forgotten about "One-Move" Mingo.

Just a few more guys to whup up on tomorrow.

The Colts and their fans are saying the same thing; that they should win this game because it's the Browns. Until we win a couple we aren't going to get any respect.

And we shouldn't get much respect around the league until we start beating people.

This is a must win game in my mind. I hope Hue knows it is as well.

For the record, I expect the Browns to make the playoffs, This Year!

And if they don't win at least 7 and get in the mix near the end, the season will be a big disappointment.

You must not be able to read. peen has been bashing Hue for a long time. I am pretty tired of you making comments when you have no idea of what you are talking about. Your becoming as bad as Memphis. And that's bad.

Oh, I will keep fighting you despite what the blowhards say.

My thing is this, peen. If you think someone should be fired due our record, the coach would be the wrong guy to fire because the FO and ownership are far more responsible for the poor record than the coach.

So, why do you only talk about Hue and not the FO? They are the ones who blew the roster up. Not Hue.

Agreed. I don't think Bill Belichick could do much better with the talent and youth we have on this team. He certainly didn't walk into a situation like this when he took over the Pats. I don't think he would want to!!

Thanks.

And for the record............I don't want anyone fired. I just don't like it's always about Hue and nothing about the FO or ownership.

I've been around these boards a long, long time. I know what's happening here.

I took the under 41, although I do think it's very realistic we can win this game. Just can't really bet on a team that's won 1 out of it's last 20 games.

That should be a good bet. Then again, I would have taken the under in the Rams/49ers game the other night. LOL

But yeah......the under is probably a better bet than picking either team.

Vers, for what it's worth, I think your one of the better posters on this forum. You have good opinions and you seem to know what you are talking about on football matters. I do enjoy reading your posts and I have to say I agree most of the time.

Thanks Homes. I think you are a good poster, too.

We don't always have to agree. It's not about that. But, I like how you always keep it respectful.

I've been around these boards a long, long time. I know what's happening here.

Yes you have... from the old days. Keep it up.