DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2018 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 17 Broncos 16 Post Game Thoughts

Dumb move. You take the 3 and get outta town.

Major show of confidence by Williams.

DAWGS. This is reminding me of Kosar's 1st year. 8-8, playoff heartbreaker in Miami.

And we all know what followed starting the following year.

Winning in the NFL takes 2 things both of which the Browns did to perfection last night.

#1 winning requires that you grind. They stayed focused and continued to grind

#2 You need to make one more impact play then the team you face. Peppers iced the game. Next week it will be someone else.

We are truly on our way could NOT be prouder of the progress this team has shown this year, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or NOT.

Ahhhh man ... that shoulda been my song ... good call dawg ... where were u last night ... *L* ...

Sounds cliche but it was definitely a character building game. Maybe it all went down as it was supposed to...

Going for it on 4th down I agree with. That wins the game if you make it. Take the decision out of the opposition’s hands. GW was playing to win. It comes off more often than not.

Yes. If you don't get a first down, the defense has to make a stop either way.

Congrats to the Browns on another win. People are actually talking about the Browns and playoffs.

Just a few things:
Thank you Peppers for saving the game.

Didn't like the coaching decisions near the end of the game. Trying to draw Denver offsides and calling timeout too early. A deep handoff instead of a QB sneak on 4th and 1.

Baker had a so so game but did just enough to win.

The Browns still won so I'm happy.

Here's how I feel about 4th and 1...

First, as a coach I kick the FG more often than not there. Simple math means they need a TD.

Second, regardless of whether you are actually going or not, this much is predetermined... Team quick to the line, try to draw them offsides, QB calls TO if we do not and we talk it over after seeing their defense. No, ifs ands or buts. WE HAVE 3 TO'S, there is no reason not to take that approach.

I agree. 1 yard to win the game right then and no suspense later. Denver just made a great defensive play. But, I liked the call to go for it. Play to win and not play to not lose.

Good win, as they all are. It's nice for the Browns to be relevant again and playing winning, meaningful football.

I could go either way on the Williams 4th down call. Nice play by the defense there.

Thank you Vance Joseph for the completely inexplicable decision to kick a FG on 4th and 1 from the 6, when down 4 points late in the game. I don't know how you can get paid to coach football and actually think that's a good idea. We'll take it though.

day, I get what you are saying and both views make some sense. But going for the fg is not “playing not to lose”. It is playing to win. Denver only needed 35 or so yards to have a shot at the winning fg after we failed. We already lost a game to a 59 yd fg in Tampa, in mile high stadium we could have lost to a 65 yd fg. I wanted them to have to march 75 yds and score a td to beat us. They had only gotten in the end zone once all night so I liked our odds.

I guess he didn't have confidence his offense could score a touchdown so 2 field goals would suffice for the win. You lose.

diam I was here! good choice with the song, i agree

It was gutsy to go for it on 4th down and shows GW was playing to win but kicking the FG made more sense to me. We would have been up by 4 and they would have had to drive the whole field and score a TD. Either way it worked out. As for Baker he had a so-so game but his only real bad pass was the int. Some of his downfield passes were off but we know he is pretty accurate with them because he's done it before. Some of those passes he had guys more open underneath but he went for a bigger play. I think he missed some of them due to where he was playing and being hyped up for a big game on national TV. He's still learning.

*L* ... i meant where were u with the song goofy ...

WOOF WOOF ...

I’m gonna work it in this week ... thanks for the idea dawg ...

If they moved it up would we have kept our time out?

Looks like Joe Schobert beat you to it.

Baker threw more than one very bad pass in one game. Not sure I have seen that before. He came back. Fun game we got our qb.

Too bad you got into it late, you missed the best part of the game... besides the win itself, that is.

I think baker was not used to the altitude..

Peppers probably played his best game. Props to him for improving ... he looks to be part of our future

Bottom line is we won a game that we could not have won in the past. This Browns team has become aggressive and plays to win. You may not agree with going for it on 4th and 1 but we are not passive like past Browns teams. This team has confidence.

General thoughts on the game.


1. The Browns showed True Grit in a hostil environment. Both offense and defense.
2. Even when the passing game is suffering and their defense stacked the box, we moved the ball effiecently.
3. The refs called a good game and I agreed with all the questionable calls and ball placements.
4. No major injuries I’m aware of.
5. Besides a couple penalties our d played top notch. Holding Denver flat the entire game minus a drive or two.
6. Nobody is talking about the 2019 draft in these forums yet. But that’s not permission to talk about the playoffs.
7. Despite a few drops, We have a fine set of TE’s, RB’s and WR’s sharing the airborne duties nicely with a rookie QB spreading it around and feeding them all perfect spirals.
8. I’ve become numb to these hard games and don’t get exited expecting the let down. It’s tough to win in the NFL. They’re all hard games and I’m in heart saving mode these days.
9. Our kicking game is kicking in now. All phases of the game are coming together.
10. Playoffs?

I would of preferred the field goal, but I have no problem with them going for it on 4th down either. Like others have said, you get a yard, and it's game over. It's telling your offense you have the confidence in them to get a yard and ice the game. For our young team, I kind of like it.

What eventually needs to happen though is more faith, trust and leeway for Baker to do the right thing. This will probably come with time and experience, but on that 4th down play, we need to trust that Baker will audible into a better play, run a hard-count to get them off-sides, or call timeout himself if he knows it's not going to work. Again, I don't fault Williams for calling that time out. It was a huge play, and you have a rookie out there with a play called that is about to be blown up.

Him and Njoku both have improved substantially these last few weeks. They're really starting to look like the first round picks we hoped they would be.

Peppers has had a fantastic season. It's too bad GW played him 30 yards from the LOS last year.

I'm willing to bet its ALL about accountability. GW isn't anyone's buddy. He's about execution. Execute or step aside. Fresh thinking...

But Peppers and Njoku aren't #RealPlayers. Just look at Pitdawg's sig!

I think Randall's emergence has drastically improved Peppers ... we can use him to his strengths

It all helps. Better cover corners, better pass rush. Now Peppers doesn't have to plays so deep to protect us from getting burned by big plays. It's no mystery why GW played so deep, we sucked and that was his attempt at a stop gap.

I think Peppers playing closer to the LOS has helped more.

Staying Alive!

isn't the reason for one the reason for the other?

Lots of things ...

- 2nd year jump ... especially with him making a position switch from college
- having more talent allowed GW to decide he didnt need to play in the lake .. i thought that was IGNORANT last year for many reasons ..
- 2nd year in the system for everyone ...

Kids got a future ...

When he came out .. i knew diddly about him .. only time i really watched for him was his last game against u guys .. and in that game until he got in a fight with a fan when it was over i didn’t even know he played .. *L* ...

The one thing i’d Heard is what a great blitzer he was ... well he sure showed it for the first time last night ... not sure why it took so long this year .... last year it was caue he was coming from 30 yards away ... *LOL* ...

IIRC it was a booth review inside the final 2 minutes, not a Browns challenge.

Man what a finish. Huge road win, keeps the season alive. Hopefully we see the teams we need to lose, go down today.. It'd be fun to keep this thing going.

I have no problem with Greg Williams going for it on 4th. The play call was a little meh, but I like the aggressiveness.

Baker Mayfield did not have his best game, but he fought through it. Both touchdown throws were beautiful throws. This guy is good in every area of the field. Deep in his own territory, in the red zone, and everywhere between.

I thought Nick Chubb ran well.

Von Miller is still a beast.

Antonio Callaway needs to keep himself in check. Dumb penalty. Unnecessary.

Jabril Peppers with the play of the game. If you had an awards show for the Browns he wins most improved player, and there isn't close second. Leaps and bounds with him this year. He's been so good, and it's kinda gotten lost in the mix of Baker Mayfield, and coach changes, etc.. He could be a pro bowl safety down the line.

If the Browns somehow find themselves in the playoffs after all of this, it may be the most remarkable story in the history of the league, and one of the most in the history of sport. It would be on the level of the '69 Mets, and could be even more impressive considering what they were the last 2 seasons, and how they started off, and the fact that their coach was so bad, and such a cancer that they had to fire him a month into the year.

Also, I really can't stand people shutting down other fans for dreaming about the playoffs. Like if you're telling people to "pump the brakes" blah blah blah, you're a knob. It's sports. It doesn't matter. If the Browns lose, or just don't have things work out, what damage has been done by having fun with it? It just seems like people out there love to rain on a parade, and the internet and social media make it really easy to do so.

I say dream big. Have fun with it. It literally doesn't matter. Your life won't change. You're not mortgaging your future, by buying in. It's ok. I promise.

- Huge win in Mile High where the Browns never win

- Perriman has been shockingly outstanding

- Peppers had a huge game and has had a great season

- I like GW going for it on 4th down trying to seal the game. That's a winning mentality.

- Chubb had a nice game and made a huge run when it mattered

- Browns are playing meaningful games in December

I cannot wait to go up to the stadium and watch the Browns beat the Bengals next Sunday!

One thing that I also like: we have a RB that can salt away a game. THat's huge