DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2018 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 35 Bengals 20 Postgame Thoughts

We scored 7 more points in our win over the Bengals than our 3 wins under Hue, combined.

Hey, look at this way, at least we finally have something different to nit pick about! LOL

I'm actually with you in that I'm not too terribly broken up over the 2nd half performance but I do/did have some concerns. I think if execution was better this wouldn't be as a big deal to as many. As much as I wanted to keep the pedal all the way down, I think it would have required using more of our playbook and we don't need to give up anymore tape than we need to. They say winning out the rest of the season isn't worth hoping for, but I saw earlier that if we do, we have an 84% chance of getting in. Those are odds worth fighting for.

What I didn't like the most about the 2nd half is it seemed we started to loosen up on discipline. I loved the swagger, but I feel like a couple of those penalties against us were due to losing a little focus. I tend to think the performance had more to do with that than it was not trusting Baker. Wondering if the coaches can trust Baker is NOT a problem. Hell, we were pinned deep on one drive and on 1st down Baker was looking to go long from 5 yards in the endzone.

I will toot my own horn a bit though. During the Bye I predicted that this team had yet to play it's best football....

Please read my post above your last comment for a further explanation.

Atlanta has been known as a high powered offense that can score a lot of points quickly.

Each opponent is different. The Bengals, behind by 28 points with a back up QB and no A.J. green is not the Falcons with Matt Ryan at QB and Julio Jones on the field.

Each situation is different and the best process isn't always the same depending on the given situation. IMO there isn't a one size fits all.

With no Dalton and no A.J. Green with a 28 point lead, I felt in that situation we played it smart and safe and with the proper response.

We had an 18 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd against the Falcons, we didn't score another point and I didn't say a word.. we had a nice 5 minute possession, a 3+ minute possession.. we were moving the ball enough, grinding out some yards and a few first downs before punting.. I was fine with that.

Different game though, the run game was working the whole game against Atlanta.. awesome, stick with it, mix in a safe throw every once in a while.. against the Bengals, the run was never really working but we were intent on doing only that...

Against a team in a different situation we may totally agree. A team with their starting QB and a high powered offense would be a totally different situation. As I explained above, a back up QB with no A.J. Green is something different.

In this situation, considering the circumstances, I had no problem with the way our offense play calling in the second half. I would venture to say that with Dalton still playing and a healthy A.J. green on the field the play calling may have been different and I think that situation may have called for it.

Gee ... i wonder of the fact we had a 28 point lead at one point and the FACT the Falcons O is an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ANIMAL than the Dirty Birds O ...

EVERY GAME I DIFFERENT ...

I’m not going to treat an 18 point lead against the Falcons the same as the VERSION of the BUNGLES we played on sunday ....

I personally never felt threatened by them ... NO PROBS with the PROCCESS ...

U can’t boil it down to a ONE SIZE FITS ALL PROCCESS ...

Since you managed to pose a question to me, let me pose one to you in return. Well, actually two of them.



1.Do you believe the way you call plays and the tactics you use in a game should be the same for every opponent or vary depending on the team and the situation?

2. Do you believe the play calling should be the same when you have a big lead over Matt Ryan and a healthy Julio Jones on the field as you do against the Bengals back up QB and no A.J. Green on the field?

That's been my point exactly.

I with you here. We were never in doubt at a single minute of losing this game. It wasn't ALMOST.

Also, we were playing against a backup QB for a 5-5 team with Hue Jackson on the sideline coaching their defense. I don't think the coaching staff was worried of a comeback, at any given moment. The process worked, because we won. As long as we kept a 1point lead and win the game, the process works and the right decision was made

j/c

If, with a 28 point lead, you are successful at running the ball, by all means, do it in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

Regardless of who you are playing. Run time off the clock.

However, if you have a 28 point lead, and can't get first downs by running, what are you doing running? Taking 2, 3 minutes off the clock each possession?

Take what was working. The Bengals still, in the 3rd and 4th, were trying to stop the run. Successfully.

This is the nfl. Mix in some running plays to keep the clock going, of course. But mix in some passes as well, to get first downs, and CONTINUE possession in order to continue the clock.

Absolutely SPOT ON ARCH ... just like the tops to the cups at McDonald’s ... ONE SIZE FITS ALL ...

Opponent ... WHO CARES ....

U won by two td’s and a two point conversion ... WHO CARES ... it worked but it didnt fir the ONE SIZE FITS ALL SCENARIO ...

Pit .. u ready to give up yet or u ready to concede? ...

Hmmm ... wonder what PITdawg may do ... hmmmmm ... a real stumper I tell ya ..

I really don't know what you're saying here. But, you ARE trying to rally some/any ally I see.

Look, running time off the clock is good, regardless of the team you are playing, if you're up 28 points.

However, when being up by 28 was a result of your passing game, and the d hasn't changed and is still trying to stop your running game: What's more dangerous for the opposing team?
A. We continue to stop the run, and not allow a first down.

Or: B. The offense (browns) continues to move down the field with the pass. Scoring points.

Your game plan will vary by team from start to finish, then within the game it will vary based on situation. This was kind of my point. We were running the ball very successfully all day against the Falcons, we kept running the ball, we mixed in some nice throws, just like we had done all afternoon until well into the 4th quarter when we went into a bit of a shell. That's why you didn't hear a peep out of me or anybody else about the way we closed out the Falcons game.

Against the Bengals, we abandoned everything that had worked all day and ran 3 plays that had basically no chance, then we punted. Were we still going to win? More than likely. Did we put a lot of unnecessary stress on our defense by failing to hold the ball more than 90 seconds each time we had it? Yea, I think we did.


No, I think the playcalling should have more to do with what can be successful against the other teams defense rather than who the other teams QB is.... Baker Mayfield and the offense weren't playing against Matt Ryan or AJ Green or any of those guys, they were playing against the other teams defense... they had success against both defenses in different ways. The offenses job is to try to possess the ball for a while to run clock and shorten the game and give the other team less opportunity to come back...

How cool is this.....a discussion on the best way to finish off our opponents.

Exactly. Your offense can't burn the clock if it doesn't get first downs, and it is FAR safer to have OUR offense burning the clock than theirs


This whole thread has me shaking my head because it boils down to one group saying that while things worked out, it could have been done better while the other side is saying it couldn't have been done better because it worked out.

It's a rather nice problem to have.
Very new. But nice, nonetheless.

Instead of run up the middle to get stuffed, I would have liked to see screens to Chubb. He is kinda dangerous when that happens, and he can stay in bounds.

They just needed a little more creativity with safe plays for running out the clock.

U must have not read any of my posts ...

I said EACH SITUATION IS DIFFERENT and its not a ONE SIZE FITS ALL ...

Not sure where that fits into your baskets ... doesnt look like afit at all to me ...

I think more people are agreeing with you than not.

Pit,
Did you TV cut off at the end of the 3rd qtr?? The Browns did not mount much of anything the 4th qtr and BTW, the Browns were ! penalty from being 35-28 with the Bengals kicking off.

SO yes, Kitchens and the Browns have to learn how to control the clock, not go 3 and out and watch the D give up throws the backup QB

...

That first line was funny as heck ... thanks for the *L* ...

I’m with Pit on this one but that was funny ... thanks ..

I agree. They ate up the clock the best they could. They avoided turn overs and made the plays they needed to secure a win. It worked fine. I was good with the game plan in the 4th. It wasn’t like they went into a Rob Ryan style prevent defense in the third being up by only a touchdown. Handing the ball to the running game is what Steelers do all the time with a lead in the second half. It’s the way to win in the AFC north.

Yeah, right after you just finished one off by 15 points.

But you did it the wrong way

Yeah, we really didn't. It kinda seemed that way because we allowed 20 straight points starting with right before halftime.

But we went up 28-0, so it's only natural that a team will inch back into the game. It's the NFL and these teams are more even in talent than people think.

Still though, the lead never dipped below 15. I honestly think Browns fans were freaking out becuase it's been how long since we have been in that spot??

^^This, right here.^^

Browns fans are accustomed to wearing the Bengals' shoes last week- scrambling in 'garbage time' to make up insurmountable leads while opposing teams' fans pop the champagne corks. Having the shoe on the other foot is not yet a comfortable fit for us.

Winning handily (which our team did, BTW) is something Browns fans aren't used to seeing. We should ask the question: would NE fans sweat the results of a game v. the Browns with the same results/game trajectory? Would Stoolz fans? No. They'd just slap themselves some high 5's, and talk s# about how soft the Browns were.

I agree that there is always something that can be improved. A blowout can always be improved into a laffer of a beatdown. But still... there is nothing wrong with taking some satisfaction from a 15-point win, either.

I think much of the kvetching about how the 2nd half unfolded is a secondary symptom of 'Battered Dawg Syndrome,' I really do.


The Browns won a game by 15 points.
Let that sink in for a day or two.


.02

This game was never close, which was a nice feeling.
I think what the people saying "we almost lost the game" mean is that the Bengals were one play or one penalty or whatever from making it a game. So it was almost a game, not almost a lost. But recent history suggest that if it would have turned into a game , then we would have found a way to lose.

We are not that team anymore.

Why just a day or two ...