DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum looking ahead...the schedule....

Is it me...or is our schedule just BRUTAL after the Raiders...It takes a few weeks for the horses to start positioning themselves in every NFL season. For example...the 49ers were considered a playoff team with a shot at the Super Bowl. After week 3 they appear out of it and dead in the water...Sure the injuries hurt them (they always killed us)...But they weren't playing overly well when they were healthy.

We knew this schedule was strong...but after week 3 is in the books, I think it looks tougher than it did before the season.

@Oakland
Baltimore
Chargers
@Tampa Bay
@Pittsburgh
Kansas City
Atlanta
@Cincinnati
@Houston
Carolina
@Denver
Cincinnati
@Baltimore

Don't get me wrong...I think if Mayfield is real and is what we saw Thursday, there are definite winnable games here. But by no means do I think we are going to roll through this schedule...(I have hope that we can..and always will have that hope)

I don't see an easy game in that lineup aside from possibly this week. Denver and Houston may be favorable...but far from easy. The good news is, I don't see an automatic loss in any of those games. When was the last time we could say that!!!

Thoughts on the remaining schedule???

It does look tough... But I'm not afraid of any of them.

at Oakland - They're a little worse offensively than I expected
Baltimore - They're just about what I expected
San Diego - They're a little worse defensively than I expected
at Tampa Bay - They're better offensively than I expected
at Pittsburgh - They're just about what I expected
Kansas City - Their offense is way better than I expected
Atlanta - They're a little worse defensively than I expected
at Cincinnati - They're just about what I expected
at Houston - Their offense is worse than I expected
Carolina - They're just about what I expected
at Denver - They're just about what I expected
Cincinnati - They're just about what I expected
at Baltimore - They're just about what I expected


Two things about us:
1. Baker looks like he can close the gap when comparing us to "good" teams
2. Our defense (if healthy) is very good

Taking it one game at a time, I honestly see a very winnable game against Oakland.

I was looking at this the other day, and I agree that there will be some difficult games throughout the rest of the season.

As has beeen pointed out earlier. The Browns defense is GOOD.
There is little doubt that if they can remain healthy and get Kirksey & Ogbah back they should be even better.

There are definitly playmakers on both sides of the ball which leads me to believe for the first time in a long time that The Browns can compete with anyone on their schedule.

In my opinion the only supreme teams in the NFL are the Rams, Eagles and Patriots. Although NE has not looked great, I have little doubt that they turn things around quickly.

I feel there are quite a few solid teams that can win anywhere betwenn 8-10 games. Right now it looks as if only Houston and SD are the only teams that we should feel relatively confident going into the game. Every other game should be a dog fight. But as I said earlier, we have the defense to compete and playmakers that can score.

Without a doubt there is a reason for optimism for the first time in a long time.

GO BROWNS!!!!!!!!

I think two of our toughest games are out of the way and we played well in both of those games.

I don't think the Browns have arrived yet, but we are a better team than we have been. We should be competitive.

I think the line is us getting 2.5. Since it is in Oakland, that means we are pretty much even.

Just beat Oakland this Sunday then look to the next week, every game we can win gives this team more confidence

The only looking forward is to this Sunday.

one thing that nobody knows: injuries

We don't know if we'll be healthy, or our opponents will be, etc.

It always plays a huge role during the season

We should be 100% healthy this Sunday

This schedule provides the team and us as fans, an opportunity to learn a lot about where the team is as a competitive organization. All while getting what I expect to be competent QB play from Mayfield. I'm excited by that. I don't think we'll wreck the league (did I just say that?) but we will find out how good we are and where we need to get better.

I'm excited about the journey but there will be adversity.

@Oakland
Baltimore
Chargers
@Tampa Bay
@Pittsburgh
Kansas City
Atlanta
@Cincinnati
@Houston
Carolina
@Denver
Cincinnati
@Baltimore

We are just now figuring out who we are. I look at this list and the things I've watched or read about and the only one that has not shown a chink in their armor is KC. I'm not saying we will win or lose any particular game, but we should be in them all until the end.

I quoted this part of your post because this is something that I keep trying to remember when I look at the schedule. There are a whole bunch of scary-looking teams, but Pitt and NO were scary-looking too before we played them. If we continue to play these good-to-top-tier teams tough, week in and week out, I will be a very happy camper.

Vers was spot on with that thinking....

Also want to note that there are 13 games left … aka a Baker’s dozen.

https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1044597526198915072

With the way everyone is playing or can play, the schedule looks tough. But None of these games in my eyes are games that I don't think the browns can't be competitive in. The defense is legit and the offense is, not far behind.

Said it before the season, Most of these games are going to be decided within a touchdown IMO.

the good news is we play CAR, ATL, KC, LAC at home ... those are tougher games on the road IMO

I am not seeing a schedule that is the lest bit intimidating if we are playing at the level that I expect. Staying healthy is the key.

Raiders defense has no pass rush and I expect us to really put up a lot of points on them. Most of these guys have already bought homes in vegas, they are just looking to end this season and get out of town.

Ravens feed off pressure, we run the ball on them we win. we have them at home and I think Ogun could have a huge game in this one. I expect a win,

Chargers dont travel well. we complete a 3 game win streak.

next 3 are gonna be tough
@ tampa Our OL beats their DL tossup game however
@ Pitt Steelers tied first one but both teams felt they lost. I just dont see their secondary being able to contain our receivers, tossup but we got a real shot
Chiefs at home, shootout, Chiefs defense cant stop anyone, our defense can get pressure, circle this one, homefield may be the difference but a game could go either way.

I just dont see this last half as all that difficult if we can stay healthy, I see 10 plus as a posasibility. Problem is we just dont have a lot of depth. If our O can put some points up and force teams to throw, its gonna be a fun.

This team believes they are 3-0 with average at best QB play or a kicker that doesnt kill you. Its why they were so excited when Baker completed those first couple. They know ooo they want it for themselves, they want it for the fans and they want it for these coaches. Winning season is there for the taking.

I'm with this... Obviously we aren't going undefeated, but I think we will surprise some teams.

No game in the nfl is easy anymore bro ... minni prolly thought the Jills were easy ... did the pats look past the lions ... how about the jags and the titans ...

With that said ... its a week to week thing ....

I think this weeks opponent is a good match up for us ....

Next weeks shapes up well for us now ... there gonna be coming off a PHYSICAL ASS game with the Stilers .... they’ll be getting Smith back ... ...

We’ll see where both teams are injury wise come next Wednesday ...

As an overall general statement ...

This team will IMPROVE week to week as they play together and work in the system together ... and there not a team on that schedule that has MORE TALENT than we do ... NOT A ONE ...

KC and Pitt definetly do on O ... NOT EVEN CLOSE ... but on the entire team .. i think we have the talent to match any of them ... were still really young and we have a long ways to go ... and it all hinges on Bake ... if he is an above average QB there’s no reason we can’t compete with anyone this year and we should be in real good shape heading into 2019 ...

Teams have to start fearing us .... well OK ... thats a stretch ... *L* ... i know one thing .. they best not take us for granted .. and i highly doubt they do ...

This is DIFFERENT!!!! ...

It looks like a tough run....but, every season we get the schedule, we look at it before any games are played, and we start breaking it down--this could be a win, this is a tough game, this is a tough game, etc.etc.

Then, after a couple few weeks, that schedule changes, games that appeared winnable started to look like for-sure losses and vice-versa.

With the way this schedule appears, I think that our defense is good enough to keep us in all of these games....the question really boils down to whether or not our offense can score enough points to win each game....

The Rams are gonna be w/o Talib and Peters for at least 2 weeks ...

Peters is 2 - 4 ...

Talib has a high ankle that may require surgery ... there HOPING to have him back at some point this year ...

They have so much talent there still a BRUTAL match up .. but there not near as brutal this week as they were last week ...

Mayfeild makes us an entirely different team. I think you're going to see upticks in production from all offensive players.

@Oakland -W
Baltimore -W
Chargers -L
@Tampa Bay -W
@Pittsburgh -L
Kansas City -L
Atlanta -W
@Cincinnati - L
@Houston - W
Carolina - L
@Denver - W
Cincinnati - W
@Baltimore - L

8-7-1.

I'd take it, right now!

For sure some teams are more talented than others, but as they say...

Any given Sunday.

I stopped caring about schedule strength years ago. Every game is winnable and losable. It's not like college ball where you circle TCU, Penn State, Michigan State etc...

Talent is way too close in the NFL. That why I hope the Browns don't fall into this trap of thinking they have arrived. We've seen it with the Browns before. I don't think good teams ever think they have arrived. They pretty much treat every opponent the same.

Obviously, when a team has a crappy QB like we have for years, or they suffer an injury to their starter, like SF, you may see a wounded prey, but even then, we've seen tons of teams get burned by walking into game and thinking the W is just going to fall into their hands.

I think the big thing I can take away from this is that despite how nasty this schedule looks...I don't see any absolute losses. And that is something we haven't been able to say in quite some time.

I'd agree, though at Pittsburgh, at Denver, home against KC, CAR, SD and ATL are TOUGH

One could argue that we should be 4-0. We are 1-2-1. Five of the next six games, before the bye, are very hard opponents (Ravens, Chargers, Steelers, Chiefs, and Falcons; we also play the Bucs in that stretch). If we don't win two out of those six -- things will get ugly quick.

I don't see two that we can win.

Bucs and a lucky win? That's the hope. Being 1-8-1 or 2-7-1 going into the bye is not a good look.

Not sure if you guys have seen them, but Steelers are 100000% beatable. Big Ben looks like he has one foot into retirement, their defense is God awful and their coaching has been suspect.

I think it's likely we fair well against them.

I think that we'll improve, but we'll have ups and downs.

with mitchell going down, the WRs coming up, and what we saw against the raiders, only team that looks remotely beatable is the Steelers.

I think the Ravens game will be tough and we will be big underdogs but it is winnable.
I would give even money on the games vs the Chargers, Bucs, and Steelers

I have very little faith that this team will win many games the rest of the way. I mean, after yesterday's debacle it's tough to have much faith.

Let's be honest: The Raiders suck. Their defense is a sieve and their offense is just mediocre. They'll finish with 4 wins. And the Jets are in the same boat.

We've BLOWN games .. and the Ravens and Bengals look very good IMO.

Man, you are one pessimistic Lil Puppy.

The Browns defense IS NOT going to be giving up 30+ every week.

The only 2 road games are Pittsburgh and Tampa. Both winnable games.

We're PISSED OFF right now and I bet we take it out on Baltimore Sunday.

None of the Chargers, Falcons, Baltimore, Pittsburgh or Tampa scare me.

The KC game should be a blast. That defense doesn't even exist.

You need to LOSE THAT PESSIMISM or you're going to miss some good times coming.