DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2017 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 7 Bengals 31 Postgame thoughts...

My only thought is disgust.. I can't even watch other games with enjoyment because it makes me mad just to watch competence and competitiveness..

Other teams with rookie QBs, with low draft QBs, with first year coaches, with former Browns players (who weren't good enough to play here) in key positions they all (each and every one of them) seem to be light years ahead of us. They aren't all going to be great, they all won't even be over .500.. but they look competitive.

And all we are left with is the same old excuses of why other teams can do things we can't.

I think there are too many over-emotional fans here. Some of you are whiny little girls.
We knew this year wouldn't be a playoff year.

I'm already close to thinking about other ways to spend my Sunday afternoons. Garrett is potentially the single one reason I will tune into next game. If he sits, as of right now - I think I need a break from watching this team.

This is a shameful product.

Four games in. Talking about Watson, burying our rookie QB, every one wants the coach fired.
I think there are too many over-emotional fans here. Some of you are whiny little girls.
We knew this year wouldn't be a playoff year.

That’s funny considering you’re talking about him playing for Kizer, Kizer hasn’t made any throw worthy of an nfl qb, hogan had three in one drive

Second string QB playing against Cincy's second string D.

that is incorrect, the announcers were idiots

After reading through this thread, I think if Browns fans had been Falcons fans years ago, they would have been overjoyed when the Falcons traded Favre away to Green Bay. QB's take time to develop. Just ask Green Bay how great getting Favre was.

Now I'm not saying Kizer will be the next Brett Favre. What I am saying is that this fan base seems to be giving up on the kid way too soon.

Not disagreeing here...but...no one is saying to trade or cut Kizer...just that he looked so not ready and maybe should sit for awhile. He looked incredibly not ready yesterday.

My concern is that I believe no other aspect of the offense can improve or really jell if the QB play is that off...DK wasn't just a little off...he was truly overwhelmed out there.

When Hogan has been thrown into the game(s) - after not being the #1 QB during practice - and moves the team down the field, one must wonder. Maybe Hogan should take over until after the bye week and see if the O can get something in synch...anything...then go back to DK after two weeks of bye-week-practice to get back in the cockpit.

If you are concerned about his confidence, what do you think benching him will do?

I disagree, no matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, we made this bed by starting him and we need to roll with it. Benching him will do more harm then good. He was not ready, we know that. now its time to see how bad he really wants it and if he has it. I for one, do not want to go into next season with a top 3 pick, wondering if we need to take a qb. Let him play it out this year, if he doesn't improve, we know what we need to do with that top pick.

If you are concerned about his confidence, what do you think benching him will do?

I disagree, no matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, we made this bed by starting him and we need to roll with it. Benching him will do more harm then good. He was not ready, we know that. now its time to see how bad he really wants it and if he has it. I for one, do not want to go into next season with a top 3 pick, wondering if we need to take a qb. Let him play it out this year, if he doesn't improve, we know what we need to do with that top pick.

I think if Browns fans had been Falcons fans years ago, they would have been overjoyed when the Falcons traded Favre away to Green Bay.

If you have to worry about his confidence then he not your guy, case closed!

False. 20 year old kids are touchy, no matter what or how good they may be. Confidence takes place in every sport and every player. Your confidence goes up and goes down. Don't matter who you are or how good.

The choice was Kizer we ride him until he can't go or he brakes thru the other side. If you all don't know rookie QB's have more downs than ups then your not paying attention if he is still playing like this come the end of the year he is trash and we need to move on.

Browns rebuild is no excuse for a loss like Sunday's: Dan Labbe

Updated on October 1, 2017 at 10:27 PM Posted on October 1, 2017 at 9:41 PM

By Dan Labbe, cleveland.com dlabbe@cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns head coach Hue Jackson said it best in part of an answer to a question about whether he was shocked the Browns were off to a winless start in 2017.

"We are 0-4," Jackson said. "We earned the record."

Did they ever on Sunday. The Bengals maintained their Steelers-esque run of dominance over the Browns, winning for the sixth consecutive time. The game didn't feel nearly as close as the 31-7 final score.

The Browns are now 1-19 since blowing up their front office and tearing the team down to the studs, as they've said. Their focus has been about acquiring assets and creating more opportunities in the draft: If you throw more darts, more are bound to hit.

So yes, the Browns are incredibly young, they are focused on the future and their owner specifically pointed to 2018 and 2019 as the years the turnaround would begin.

None of that, though, should hide the fact that the Browns are a worse football team after four games in 2017 than they were after four games in 2016. The embarrassing performances of the last two weeks shouldn't be allowed to be hidden behind talk of the long view and a rebuilding process.

Hue Jackson: 'We got beat pretty soundly' in Browns loss to Bengals
It's easy to write off losses like Sunday's and point to the idea that the Browns have pieces in place to build something successful. It's a disingenuous argument, though.

First, we don't know for sure if the Browns do have enough pieces to point to a potential turnaround. Second, every NFL team has pieces. Certainly a team that has drafted 24 players in the last two years should have some pieces.

What we saw last Sunday was disturbing. What we saw Sunday against the Bengals was alarming. The defense -- albeit a defense missing three key players -- was a sieve. The offense was non-existent.

There was enough bad on Sunday to reach across the building in Berea, from the coaching staff to the front office. Scheme, roster construction, everything led to one of the most embarrassing losses this team has suffered in a two-year span that has been full of them.

There has to come a point where progress is no longer an abstract. It's not an unfair expectation to want tangible evidence that this plan will work. No one is demanding a 10-2 run to finish the season and fight for the playoffs. Most reasonable people looked at this team and saw four to five wins at best.

Now, even that level of faith -- at that low of a bar -- has to be shaken.

Losses against a team like Indianapolis shouldn't be met with a shrug. Pastings like the one on Sunday by the Bengals can't be glossed over by peeking at a mock draft. Players the Browns passed on in the draft having success in other locations should cause concern.

This doesn't have to be an either-or.

You can believe in what this front office is trying to do, and still wonder why things are going so wrong right now.

You can believe that things will change once Myles Garrett is healthy and DeShone Kizer gets more comfortable, and still be confused about the vision on offense and the plan on defense.

You can believe that the mass of draft picks awaiting this team in 2018 will have the arrow pointing up, while still wondering about the overall construction of this current roster.

It's perfectly reasonable to look at this plan and have hope it could still work, just like it's perfectly reasonable to be cynical of the whole idea.

But this 0-4 start; this loss to the Bengals at home; you can't bury them under future draft picks. You can't hide them behind the banner of a longterm process. You should expect better, regardless of what you think of this plan.

The only sign of true progress in the NFL is found in the win column. If we're going to bother keeping score every week, a few additions there every now and again is something any reasonable observer should demand.

I would like to point out that none of the fomer Browns in keh spots are a QB, RB, or WR. Hell, you could add TE on there too.

Not a coincidence. The Browns havent had a good skill player since 2007.