DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2020 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 35 Bengals 30 Post Game

A fun game - which probably restored a lot of faith to many posters even if it was by no-means perfect. Let's face it this is a game we should have won ... importantly we did. How many games under previous HC's have we said "this is a game we should have won" after we LOST ??

Stefanski on the sidelines never looked ruffled - personally I did not like the decision to go for the 4th down. A FG put us 2 scores up - a no-score and 8 pts to Cinci would have tied the game. Take the points. But even though I didn't like the call - Stefanski was measured and calm, calculated .... I think THAT's the approach and HC we need. I see it already influencing the players. I like, I like, I like.

I think because of the quality of the Ravens edge rushers and D - we didn't see a lot of the offense last week that we saw tonight. Probably by design and because of ability. I'm okay with that, I actually think it's smart.

Okay - so crfs has said multiple times you don't need to establish the run to set up play action .... and based on tonight's game he is right. We had our mst effective play action passing before we ever established the run. . . . And surprisingly I don't think the Play action passing was as much as it felt like. The stats at one time we 5-5 of PA? I wonder where we finished at?

Baker was obviously MUCH better. Just as I expected against an inferior defense to the Ravens. It's like we've now seen him play one of the best and one of the worst D's in the NFL. . . . what can he do with everything else in the middle? What can we do with 10 days to prep for Washington? ... I thought Baker looked very sharp and he made some really excellent throws - the TD to Baker was a beauty, and but for a held jersey that didn't get called, maybe we would have had two? .... BUT - I don't think we answered any questions about reading the D, pre or post snap, or about him going through progressions. We still need to see that. Here's hoping!

OL was very good. All night. Can only get better as Wills gets more game time and Conklin comes back.

Chubb and Hunt - nuff said!

Bryant and Hooper look like a very good couple of TE's to run with this offense.

I don't want to talk about the D. Too many holes and too concerning when we play good teams.

He's on IR

Looking ahead to Washington. That game’s gonna be all about handling their front 4 ... that’s a nasty group. I’m actually glad to have the Thursday night game out of the way early (before we’re worn down) and so that we can really prepare for attacking their front

And Cleveland was winning.

Thank you Mac! Appreciate the warm welcome!

"Joe Buck needs a blow-up doll of Burrow for those lonely nights on the road. Something to spoon with."

He would do more than spoon with it

j/c:

- The Browns did very well in the trenches, both offensive and defensively.

- Vernon didn't play? Shocking/

- Ward had a fantastic game.

- Mayfield looked more at ease and a bit more confident.

- Chubb and Hunt set the pace throughout the game

- Hopefully some of those injured guys on defense come back and make an impact.

Ward, Gustin, Richardson, Hubbard, Garrett all had really really good games. Claybourn in there for another sack. Awesome for him.

Offense looked really good. Baker also looked really good. OL looked like they could do no wrong. No holding calls, right?

I can't speak to the between-the-ears portion of the QB play last night, but Baker's throws looked excellent, overall. Even ball placement was 180 from Sunday. Good to see.

'nuff said on our RBs. Those 2 are the best players on our offense, and I think it's obvious we will establish our identity through them.

Glad OBJ got some stats in the columns, but I'm starting to wonder about his role in this offense. We have a lot of mouths to feed, and I just don't see him fitting. Our offense looks to feature our RB duo and is then complemented by throws to TEs and chunk plays to WRs. When I see OBJ out there, I get a 'which-one-is-not-like-the-other' type of vibe. Baker seemed to prefer targeting Hodge more than OBJ.

Our defense and special teams continued to suck. Dline did a LOT of good things, but we still gave up 30 points to the Bengals. I think you all know, that just aint gonna do it in the NFL. Sendejo is brutal. When he's at his best, he's a non-factor. I struggle to remember a Browns players that sticks out in such a negative way on teh defense. I always seem to see him doing something wrong.

Our defense is weak. Granted, Mixon is real good and has eaten our lunch several times, but when he got the ball and cleared the Dline, he was punishing our defenders. Several tacklers and he was still pushing them back. I hope having Mack will help with toughness and grit on those types of plays.

In case anyone missed it... Sendejo getting pushed out of a starting role can't happen soon enough. (Sendejo is #23).

Special teams continues to be... special. Glad we finally have a kicker that can make XPs, but we are still unable to kick it out of the endzone on KO's, which is a huge issue when you cover kicks as poorly as we do. Prieffer has some serious work to do with his group.

I love our FB. I'm also really impressed with how Wills has played so far. Dude faces an uphill battle this whole season... so far so good, given the situation. Heavy running that's effective makes life soooo much easier for a number of people on this team.


We're not as good as we looked vs Cinci... but we're not as bad as we looked vs Balt (except maybe the secondary).

We let a rookie in his 2nd game on a short week with no preseason throw for over 300 yards and 3 td's

curious to see the snap counts for the DL ..

j/c...

A rookie was the first overall pick and had the best college QB season of all time.

j/c:

Excellent win. Before the game, I said it was a must-win. I know it's only the second game of the year, but the negativity surrounding the team w/10 days off would have been devastating. I'm so glad we won this game. Some observations:

--Baker looked really good. I think it is the best he's looked since his rookie year. He was very accurate, hitting guys in stride all night long. He didn't run into pressure. I think rolling him out helped. It helped w/his vision. However, you still have to make an accurate throw while on the the run, and he did that. I would like to see him step-up in the pocket, but we can win if he plays like he did last night.

--The OL might be the best in football right. I read where we gave Baker more time than any other qb in week one. Last night, Baker had amazingly clean pockets all night long and both of our RBs had good holes to run through.

--I want to give some praise to Hubbard and Tiller because they aren't regarded as highly as the others. Tiller has a mean streak. That's a compliment. Hubbard didn't get beat all night long. I was worried before the game, but he did a great job.

--Like the rest of you, I agree about Hunt and Chubb. Best combo in the league.

--Glad to see OBJ play well. I do want to ask how in the heck did the officials miss the dbs pulling on his jersey. I saw it happen at least twice.

--Glad to see my boy Hodge getting reps and making a play.

--Ward had a very good game. He is in great position even when guys do catch the ball on him. Great technique.

--The DL was very good. I saw the number of pressures Myles had. Richardson was dominant. I like that Gustin guy. He plays w/fire. Did we pick him up during the season last year?

--Not impressed w/the LBers or safeties. Especially Sendejo [spelling?] He's so sloooooowww.

--Kick return unit was an issue. One out of bounds and two long returns. We got rid of a few of our best special teams players. It's probably going to cost us.

--I was very impressed w/Joe Burrow. He's wise beyond his experience. Over 60 passes and not one interception. Unlike Baker, Joe B did not have clean pockets. The Bengal OL is dreadful. I hope they don't get him killed.

--I think we should have went for the FG to put us up by 2 scores. I also think Taylor was dumb for putting Burrow in the shotgun on 4th and 1 when they went for it.

--Overall, I liked the play calling and design by Stefanski. Rolling Baker out was smart. Nice mix of run and pass. I prefer balance.

100% Agree on this. If we can somehow make it through the first half of the season at 500, we will have a shot at a wild card run, but it is a small shot IMHO. I think we are a year away but like what I saw out of the core and coaches last night. We will get better.

I would love for the team to prove me wrong and run the table, but I just don't see that being even remotely possible at this point. We just look like a 8-8 or so team.

One more thing, Burrow is going to be good and a pain in our ass for years to come.

j/c:

Watched the game up until the Baker interception, went to bed. Watched the rest of the game a few minutes ago. That interception really rattled me, but that's football. I'm just happy we won this, what a running game we have!

j/c...

I honestly think they are keeping Higgins fresh as insurance for OBJs spot. I could be wrong, but that's all that makes sense to me for Hodge getting so much PT.

thats fabulous

Give that some perspective.... it took 61 pass attempts. He had only 8.5 yards per completion.

That said, yes, our pass defense really kinda sucked. They just could not get themselves off the field for anything. TE's and whomever ended up covering Tyler Boyd were killing us.

j/c...

Baker had confidence back. He absolutely needs that to be successful. His arm looked great. Passes really zipped and he was accurate.

That INT was terrible. Just horrible coverage reading. The rest of Baker's night was great, though.

The Bengals' RT had multiple false starts that weren't called.

Gustin had a great night, but that face mask penalty CANNOT happen. What a huge play that sack would have been...

The Bengals need to make sure they don't turn Joe Burrow into Andrew Luck.

Hate to see Uzomah get injured. Never like seeing that.

Line was dominant. Callahan is the best in the business.

Chubb and Hunt is by far the best RB combo in the league. On the goal line plays, I actually would have preferred we run Hunt over Chubb. That's not a knock on Chubb either. I just think Hunt hits the hole faster, more decisively with better velocity.

Did they get rid of the challenge for coaches to get PI called? That no call on Beckham was deplorable.

Sendejo might be the worst safety we've started since our return. Every clutch play the Bengals made, you see Sendejo arriving late to his assignment.

Denzel Ward is top notch.

Joe Buck is a Burrow fan, I've realized.

How do we have only 10% fan capacity with everyone socially distanced, and still have a breakout fight in the stands???

I just put together that Landry and Beckham's hair are supposed to represent LSU.

Both AJ Green and Gio Bernard have lost a step.

This is amazing. Hunt being able to come in in the 4th with fresh legs? After a defense has been punched in the mouth by Chubb all day? Good lord.

When Sendejo and Goodson are snapping at 100% you are going to have problems against the pass. We killed it in the run game at least.

Post game thoughts -

--Baker played well minus the pick. The TD throw to Odell was magnificent. He was rolling left. He's right handed. He flicked it Mahomes-esque. Beautiful.

--I'm bummed he didn't get the second TD to Odell on the not called PI. I'm also bummed he threw the pick. I wanted a perfect game for him to get some positive press and his confidence back.

--I somewhat disagree that the interception was a bad read. A better throw gets it done. Lead Harrison to the back of the endzone.

--Baker played with a confident chip on his shoulder, not false bravado. Good sign for the future. False bravado is a turnoff.

--Having said that in the postgame Irvin tried to bait him into saying something dumb by asking him if he had a message for his critics. He said he's done chirping back then said "in the Mayfield household we don't forget." Please stop saying dumb stuff. It makes you a target.

--Ward is back to being the guy we all thought he was after his rookie year. I really believe he's a shutdown corner. And he plays press which I love. I love the competitive fire especially when he threw his hand to the ground after the late TD. He's on the verge of many picks.

--Parkey was down the middle every time. After the first couple of TDs I stopped worrying about extra points.

--I wanted to strangle Parkey after the kickoff out of bounds.

--Myles, two games and no sacks. I think he's feeling his way through post a post punishment playing style. He knows every little hit he makes is going to be scrutinized.

--Porter Gustin is good.

--Nick Chubb and Kareem hunt was a thing of beauty. They're not just good. They play hard and mean. Love it.

--This Browns defense minus the DL and Ward is ugh. Swiss cheese. Please come together better.

--The Cleveland Browns have made rookie QBs look like HOFers since '99. Burrow played well, was poised in the pocket and didn't panic. I think his arm is average and he'll need to start completing some longer passes to succeed. 5.5 yds per completion is pedestrian.

--Win feels great. Let's keep building on this.

--I forgot to mention Wills and the OL. Fantastic.

--Aikman's and Buck's constant drivel about Burrow was nauseating. I get he's the new shiny toy. But geez.

I think Myles problem is playing LE instead of RE, Even when it was vernon they swapped and they are both out of position to where they normally put their hand down...its dumb to me and I think its holding them both back, I will say I like how Woods is using the DE's on delays and stunts alot more than at any time since we've had MG, really makes use of his speed and power, but Garrett loves the speed rush and he will get more one on ones over LT. RT almost always get a TE or RB chip on the way out. Theres some FA help out there to fix the LB and S spots..question is do we do it. I don't think Mack is going to help much, we need alot. Kevin Johnson I think will be huge, by all accounts he was our best CB in camp, so if that puts Thomas back on the bench then we just got alot better.. Sendejo should just be cut outright and sign just about anyone.. I'd take randall back. It's not just Sendejo play thats bad but he's hurting with his dumb penalties. Callahan turned this line into road graders, its crazy how big the holes were and seeing all 5 lineman blocking downfield was crazy, wouldn't want to be a defender. Kudos to Wills for playing tough and playing through injury, Conklin you pansy, better find some intestinal fortitude like Wills and Tretter, Hubbard actually looks decent under Callahan and this zone style. Nice to get a win but this defense will cost us games, offense isn't going to be able to take a single game, drive or play off, luckily its built to be ball control, so use it. Defense should be nice and rested every series.

No sacks but lots and lots of hurries and hits. Also caused the fumble by absolutely abusing his Olineman.

This is the stat that DCs are most concerned about. A fresh Hunt in the fourth quarter, not only running but catching passes.

I also have to add that Hubbard was very good. He seemed to be a dang turnstile last year, so props to him for stepping up

Aikman should be muted. Lots of wandering babble about JoeyB. Obviously he wanted to carry on more about him. Mentions of Mayfield were last year and last Sunday. BM had a decent night, but not evident by Aikman's blather. Was Buck there?

Hate this duet, because of Aikman's noise. Lame broadcast.

He has Erb's Palsy, which leads to nerve weakness in his right arm.

Don't know how much it affects him, but it probably makes it easier to rush from one side compared to the other...

The non pi call on obj let us eat clock time and still score. That worked for us. It was a ridiculous non call. Burrows stats and the score got padded on their last drive. We seemed in control all game. Baker has an arm, Hunt and Chubb have legs wow fun to watch. Garret shows up for game changing plays. Good team win