DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2018 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 21 Jets 17 Post Game Thoughts

We have a D it has been obvious for 3 games. Maybe we had an O for 3 games but didnt know it because we didnt have a QB.

I wanted Darnold In the draft was shocked when we took Baker. I am so glad I dont make picks!

This year is going to be fun!

JC...


Baker did a pretty amazing job last night...Many have already given the details...But praise to him for a job well done (considered I'm sure he didn't get many reps in this week)

Its a win they we needed to come out victorious in...we must continue next week against the Raiders! Some things that need worked on

-Right side of the Oline (Zietler is getting manhandled often, Hubbard has issues keeping his man in front of him...I thought Tretter looked pretty good the first two games, he got blown up a few times last night)

-Special teams...Man even our rock (Colquitt) has declined...Kicker thankfully made his kicks (very lucky), he had that stupid kick off that went out of bounds...that cant happen. Peppers doesn't look comfortable out there...He was supposed to fix our return woes...But has'nt. Denzel Rice had a bonehead penalty on Jarvis solid return. Coverage unit seemed to play a little better tonight. Nick Chubb had another bonehead play.

-Terrence Mitchell has been our best FA pick-up on defense...Been playing stellar out there.

-Higgins and Calloway...I hate to say it, but I think we still need to try to add a weapon here...Imagine if we can somehow add a quick threat as our #2, and have Higgins and Calloway slide as our #3 and 4...drool

-TE's Njoku missed a big block, but luckily caught both his balls...Orsen had a nice block on Hydes bigger run...Was in a tight spot on that sideline attempt to catch...I can't wait for Devalve to return, whenever that will be.

-Jamie Collins made a nice play....Chris Smith had a nice play near the end of the game...I could be wrong, Coley was quiet. Garrett flashed early, Ogui flashed a lot during the game!

That strip by Ward when we were down 14-3 was huge...there was nothing indicating that the Jets O was slowing down until that point.

Just woke up to say, I LOVE OUR FREAKING DEFENSE BABY


Unlike Mayfield, Darnold struggled to spark the Jets. He completed only 15 of 31 passes for 169 yards and two interceptions, both of which came in the final 1:27 of the game.

Concerned about the Browns' blitz, the Jets played extremely conservatively, as Darnold didn't attempt any long throws. In the first two games, offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates took chances, seemingly not worried about Darnold's lack of experience.

That changed on Thursday night.

Darnold struggled whenever he wasn't throwing a screen pass. Darnold was 6-of-8 for 63 yards on screen passes and only 9-of-23 (39 percent) with two interceptions on all other passes, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24748...leveland-browns

And schobert is turning out to be REALLY good. I can’t wait for kirksey to back, because our LB core is legit this season, folks.

no doubt Baker outshined Darnold ... he was really hesitant. Baker wasn't

The timing, field vision, accuracy and zip on the ball from TT and Baker were night and day. Three step drop...the ball was out. Five step drop...the ball was out. I bet our WRs we’re empowered to run crisp routes knowing the ball could actually be in the air when they turned around.

Aside from the obvious baker doing something that hasn't been done since 1961 lol, There was alot to like. I think Hyde ran hard, he's not that explosive but when he gets a head of steam he's a load. Oline came together after baker came in. Not only in PP, but they were opening up some pretty big holes in the run game. Harrison is going to be good. I think early returns on Dorsey are pretty outstanding buddy boy.

On defense, made plays when they needed to. We got gashed on the edges alot. They ran right at Myles and he couldn't set the edge. He's got to clean that up. Myles actually was more effective as a pass rusher when he moved inside. Right now it only appears he has a speed rush and most LT's can handle that. Coley had a good, if quiet game as well. But Larry is the man, he's been the most consistent lineman this season and he had more impact this game than anyone on the Dline.

Special teams...ugh. There isn't much there to like. Its almost as we would be better served not to return anything. We cost ourselves 30-40 yards a game in penalties for idiots that haven't been coached properly on blocking on the returns. I think just about anyone could do a better job than Amos.

Coaching. Looked night and day after Baker came in offensively. I think we see Haley's offense only works if your QB can push the ball down the field. Bakers first pass was more yards than Taylor had accumulated in the game at that point. Defensively, I thought we'd be more exotic in our fronts. Greg sometimes gets too aggressive and its going to lead us to give ups some yards on big plays at times. But he always seems to adjust well as the game goes on. I really think after watching last night with what seems all the right pieces playing, that coaching really isn't an issue, save ST. I think Hue, Todd and Greg are all good at what they do. Amazing what competent QB play will do for an OC.

Final thoughts, given what we saw last night, and honestly if you go back and look, most all of preseason. What could Hue possibly saw out of Taylor that said he was our best chance. I really think they sat Baker for the sake of sitting him. They went with the greatly inferior player just to allow Baker to sit. Not sure if that move is idiotic or admirable. Moving forward, I really hope we establish ourselves as a power run team and do everything we can to minimize exposure to Baker. His best friend will be a good running game.

J/C

1st Quarter:

- I thought Tyrod looked overwhelmed by the D and underwhelming to me. He is SO afraid to push the ball even 10 yards down field. We missed two EARLY WIDE OPEN TDs that about 9/10 guys in the league would have hit.

- I thought the line looked manhandled at first, they were getting beat off the ball and pushed back.

- I thought the defense once again looked like they were ready to win. But I was a little concerned with the run D. And it was freightnening to see them run at our best player on the team and get success EVERY SINGLE TIME. Myles needs to step up his run D. Bigly.

then.........

The second baker came into the game WHAM! Different team. Its almost like they KNEW the second he got under center they had a chance.

- instantly the line started blocking (I think the line doesn't know what TT is going to do, and that affects the way they block)

- the ball was coming out 10X faster and more decisive.

- WR were getting hit in STRIDE

- Balls were being placed where only the WR could get them. Other than the ball where Baker didn't see the defender in the EZ, there was not another throw that was in Jeopardy of being picked that I recall.

- WARD. I cannot say how much I love this kid. He is a feisty shut down corner. We got a great PICK. So glad we didn't draft Chubb right now. THANK YOU JOHN DORSEY

I want people to read this and sit back and take this next comment in.

Our offense looked crap at first. I saw all the comments about Haley and the gameplan. I want you to realize, its not HALEY, its the way the QB was executing the gameplan. They didn't just all of a sudden start to throw the ball the downfield. They didn't just all of sudden want to push. Those plays have been getting called, TT has just not executed them, and he has tucked and run FAR TOO OFTEN.

If Baker is not the starting QB from here on out, we have a problem at the helm.

The Cleveland Browns just won their first regular season game in 635 days, and they did it in dramatic fashion in prime time, no less! To celebrate, we have a brand new T-shirt from you to wear, and it features an awesome design with plenty of Easter eggs in it:

The end zone stripes for Thursday Night Football.
The “Cleveland Special,” along with the X’s and O’s of the 2-point conversion, made all-the-more fun because it was the first rep Baker Mayfield had actually taken of the play.
“Unlock the Fridge,” signifying the Browns’ first win leading to the Bud Light fridges being unlocked.
The possum!!!
Make sure you buy your own “Cleveland Special” t-shirts now while they are hot off the iron!

https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2018/9/21/...s-now-available

WE won it feels GREAT!!! I will temper my optimism. I hope we win another 9 games this year but I am realistic. With a little more help at WR and LB this team could really be special!!!

I was just happy with time ticking off the clock, I didn't feel like we were going to find a way to lose the game.

Awesome win, great game by all. Amazing job by Baker coming in and taking over.

But, before we anoint him as the next Tom Brady, remember how so many thought Derek Anderson was our savior?

Let's let Baker get a few games under his belt before we rush out to get Superbowl LIII tattoos.

I'm probably alone on this thought, and there's no way to prove it, but I really think that sitting Baker those first two and a half games really helped him. He got a chance to see NFL defenses without getting creamed by NFL defenses. You could see in Preseason games that he was still getting used to NFL speed and wasn't quite as decisive as he needed to be with the ball. Just those two games were enough for him to really "get it" and understand NFL-level football, while Tyrod Taylor was taking the bullets for him.

I'm trying HARD to temper by expectations now. After all, Darnold looked awesome in his first game too. But man, oh man, did we look like an entirely different team out there with Baker under center. I really hope Baker keeps studying and keeps adjusting as teams get more tape on him.

I will say this: Baker already has elite-level pocket awareness and evasiveness. I've never seen a Browns QB dance around the pocket and avoid sacks the way Baker has been doing all season now. That's going to pay huge dividends his entire career, if he can buy extra seconds to extend plays.

As for the rest of the team, the Defense continues to look great. Our style seems to be "Super-Aggressive Prevent", which I'm kind of liking. We try to blow up plays in the backfield and look for quick turnovers, while still protecting against the deep throws. It sometimes gets us in trouble in that we give up medium length plays a lot, but we also have just as many 3-and-out shutdown series because of the aggression. Ward and Garrett are going to be superstars. Peppers had a great game on defense too, but I'm also a little glad we took him off of punt-return duty. (Can we not put Calloway there?)

All in all, what an amazing night!

Garrett has 5 sacks already

https://twitter.com/brentsobleski/status/1043112040666161154

I thought he was playing some 3-tech too, but still, what a great season so far!

The offense

Everything looked better when Baker came in the game. Part of this is the energy that was gained everyone is talking about, but part of it was he was so decisive and did an excellent job making his pre/post snap reads......ball came out much quicker than it did with TT. I thought the Jets backed off as well when they saw he could beat them in those 1 on 1 situations. This in turn helped open up the running game.

There is little doubt this team was heading to a skull drugging defeat and then Mayfield showed up. I'm not ready to anoint anyone after one game, but for one night at least he demonstrated what good QB play can do for an offense.......really excited about watching him develop over the years.


Defense

Played another great game. Garrett is the most talented player on defense, but LO might be the most consistent.......really underrated guy. Ward is a stud as well and the secondary is so much better than last year. This defense is going to create a ton of TOs this year (duhh already have) because they have the guys to bring great pressure and an opportunistic back 7.......fun D to watch


STs

Mixed bag here. Colquitt had a couple of amazing punts that really pinned the Jets deep, but of course we had the block that set up the Jets for a TD. The kicker didn't miss any but he didn't look like mister automatic back there by any means. I don't know how accurate it is to blame the kicker alone for the first two losses, but I hope we find a way to get this squared away because I think we can be competitive in every game we play.


Overall

For the first time in a very long time (like a decade) I am excited about the future of the Browns. We aren't perfect by any means but they have a good young core to build around and quality people in the FO to enhance the team in years to come. Buckle up guys the Browns are officially back!!!

And we got a TON of CAP SPACE ...

I agree with you about Baker sitting those first two and a half games. Even on Hard Knocks Baker himself said that things were just starting to slow down for him.

But saying that ruins the narrative for some.

j/c:

Anyone have pictures of empty Bud light coolers at Cleveland bars?

Let's put the whole narrative and agenda crap to bed.

We won, DAWG! And we are going to win lots! Let's hug it out!

Emptying the Bud Light coolers



Can you imagine the reaction to winning a super bowl?!

This city will burn!

And be rebuilt the exact same day!

Heard they they work best when you do them all at once. #BrownsWin


https://twitter.com/ThomaHawkShow/status/1042991810799255555

All of that....for one budlight can lol

Knew Josh Gordon would falter

I can't stop laughing.

jc

whats crazy to believe is that if we keep going like this, rookie of the year award is gonna be a battle between mayfield and Ward.

Good thing there's an offensive and defensive ROY.

my bad i didnt know they were separate.

WTH, win em both...sweep!

All good.... maybe wasn't at one time.


I think either here or somewhere there was discussion about offensive ROY. The answer was Mayfield and there were chuckles... not so funny now.

Bring it in... hugs.

Agreed!
The second-guessing was rampant last night, but Hue himself said it in his post-game presser "I cannot say that he would have played like this in Week 1".

It was CLEAR in pre-season that Baker needed more time. I was personally thinking that time was more in the Bye Week or rest of the season time frame.... apparently, it was more like a month, lol!

Dude is a SERIOUSLY FAST study.
Now.... can he keep it going once defenses start scheming for him??

A win next week and that's called a winning streak.....it has happened before.....

holy crap, I have to change my Sig!!!!

That's a very good question that's yet to be determined.

I've never been one to make claims that a baby is going to be an Olympic tack star after watching him or her take their first few steps. I don't plan to start now.

What I will say is that when a QB is that accurate and can scan the field and let the ball rip, it's hard to defend.

I have not read all the posts, maybe 70% random reading, but I think my take is a bit different. I do agree that Baker was impressive, much more so than I would have expected. I also have been a Browns fan long enough to temper my enthusiasm as I remember far back enough when Mike Phipps was playing pretty well early in his career. Plus I always thought he played better than he is remembered.

So even though Baker looked better than great last night, I am tempering my enthusiasm. Our team seemed to get a shot of excitement when he entered. The team must know something .

My main point is, watching the first half, I must have yelled at the TV 6-8 times "Why are dropping back to pass on every down, when our RB is averaging 7.5 YPC?" Especially when Tyrod was struggling so much. I tend to watch games while following the box score and I am pretty certain about the time Tyrod was 3 for 14 for 2 yards or something like that that Hyde had about 50+ yards on 7 carries.

WE needed to pass last night but I think our run success will help Baker on days when it isn't always working for him.

Certainly was fun last night. I can only see the defense getting better as Ward learns and our young DL gets more experience.

To start the game, and as long as Taylor was in, the Jets were stacking the box. I saw them send 8 multiple times. They have been playing Taylor twice a year for the last 3 years and know his tendencies. They knew he holds the ball too long and looks for the short pass, so they just sent everyone and the OLine couldn't handle the numbers.

One of Mayfield's early plays was a play action to Njoku where the ball was out in less than a second after the fake. That play changed the defense.