DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2020 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 24 Steelers 22 What I saw Steeler game #2

I thought Philips and Elliot played pretty well. Made a handful of really nice plays in stretches.

I don't remember who they were, but 2 CBs were very feast-or-famine throughout the game. They'd make great or terrible plays, with little in between.

I made a separate thread about this, but I thought I saw Hunt look less explosive coming out of the backfield. I wonder if he's receiving coaching and is struggling to adapt his running style (don't mean that as a knock against him, just sometimes it's a bigger ask to adapt).

I saw a win, which is all that matters, bottom-line.

I saw Phillips making great plays all over the field. It seems like his recognition has increased. Hopefully he is honing in and developing his football smarts.

I saw Baker go somewhat back into game manager mode and miss some throws. Hope he gets out of that shell. He didn't have a bad game, but he didn't do as well as I had hoped he would.

I saw Chubb on the sideline a lot, which was disappointing. Hope Stefanski had good reason behind that. He's no idiot, so I trust him.

I saw a very opportunistic offensive game plan for the Steelers. It seemed like they had 3 pass plays: 1. Throw to whoever Jackson is covering. 2. Throw it up in the general direction of Claypool or 3. Throw it to the left with either the tight end who releases or the RB out of the back field. Sadly, these strategies were effective.

I saw Rudolph make a boneheaded decision to throw the ball while being tackled. Good for us.

I saw the line blocking really well.

He played a good game overall, but I saw Baker get a WR killed on a bad throw. Previously, those errant throws would persist and drag down the offense, but somehow Baker has been able to get himself back in sync enough to get the offense moving as the season has gone on.

Agree with you on Myles Garrett - he looks to me like he lost a lot of weight, like maybe 20-25 lbs. At least he finally got the benefit of a holding penalty against Villanueva.

Yesterday was for celebrating, so I held back on posting about the Defense, but we have to figure out how to get off the field on possession downs. The Steelers converted 3rd downs of 11, 9, and 8 yards to go, and they converted 4th downs of 6 yards and 10 yards (Touchdown). We also have about a week to figure out how to cover Claypool and JuJu.

Mayfield will never be confused with Lamar Jackson, but he is a good athlete and I think we saw him running more yesterday, maybe by design. On his long run, the field opened up like the seas being parted by Moses, and he recognized it immediately and took off. He's good at sliding to avoid big hits, and I hope he keeps doing what he did yesterday.

Like many others here, I was a little frustrated at seeing Chubb on the bench during a couple of those late drives. I think Kareem Hunt is a very good RB, but Nick Chubb is special and has better vision, power, and a gear that Hunt just doesn't have.

I'm hearing guys on local radio saying that they think Stefanski held back some of the offense because of likely facing the Steelers again this coming week. I'm not sure about that - what do you guys think?

Phillips reminds me of a young Ray Lewis. Sideline to sideline speed and he tackles well. The Covid really took its toll on Myles and it may be awhile before he is back to normal.

Phillips also took great angles and shed blocks - I don't want to anoint him as anything yet - but it's encouraging.

As for the rest of what I saw:

Maybe it was just me - but it seemed to see Stefanski set out his stall to win by the merest of margins while showing as little of what the Browns 'might' do in the next game as possible.

I saw Stefanski have absolutely put the most critical game of the season entirely into Baker's hands. Remember all the BS early in the year when the Baker Haters were saying Baker didn't have KS's trust? I think we can put that to bed.

I saw a backup Steeler QB play really well and hit deep receivers with more accuracy than I think Ben will/would have.

I saw 2 CB's who looked overmatched and lacking ability to cover really good Steeler WR's.

I saw Mitchell play another good game and constantly have pretty good coverage even when he got beat.

I saw what I consider two really average Steeler running backs struggle.

I saw Phillips flash as a rookie LB late in the season.

But basically I saw the same liability on Defense that we've seen all year and you wonder if any lead is ever going to be enough. . . Also with Vernon going down - who had another good game - it makes me very concerned.

I saw the Browns do just enough to win and ant take us to 11-5

1. I liked what I saw from Phillips.
2. Hodge made a couple of big catches on not the greatest throws from Baker.
3. Hopefully OV will be able to play next week - did not look good.
4. Jackson made some nice plays and some not so nice plays. Will be good to get Ward back - will KJ also be available?
5. Money Mitch had perfect coverage on that TD and Claypool just made the catch. It was like are you kidding me - here we go.
6. More Chubb and less Hunt, please. Spell him on passing downs, but damn, when Chubb is rolling, keep it going.
7. Hated that 3rd and 3 call late in the game up 8 points - run the damn ball. Not confident in Parkey but had a decent FG opp at the 31 - get a 1st down or chance to go up 2 scores with about 3.5 minutes left. Take a sack and out of Parkey range. Not good.

GREAT GAME - sometimes winning is surviving

Bitonio is probably beating himself up - but he had some penalties that need to be cleaned up in the playoffs


Go Browns !!! - 2021 Playoffs 6th Seed !!!

I saw a team that seemed to be putting out just enough to win the game, while not having to give up too much game film before next weeks rematch.

I saw a backup quarterback make throws you expect our of your starter several times, and the receivers making the catches for some big gains against our defense.

I saw our D-line not look dominant against that backup QB.

I saw Peeples-Jones get squashed with a helmet lead to a defenseless receiver, and no flag.

Let's hope it wasn't lack of ability, and more about not tipping our hand before next week.

j/c...

As far as the Chubb/Hunt argument.

* Up by 15 in 4th quarter and sticking to the season-long script.

* The more you feed Hunt and the more he gets stifled, the better the chances of him going off in rematch -- mathematics mixed with the heart of a champion. That is just to say that there's upside to the downside.

* I don't want to sound like "that guy", but the Steelers have always been dirty, they've ruined careers in this town... Bell Cow on the sideline is fine by me.

I saw a team that did just enough to win. And really, do you need more than that? It wasn't pretty. It wasn't graceful. But when history looks back on yesterdays game, the focus won't be on how much the margin of victory was. It won't be on the stat line. It will be on the W. And whether you win by 1 or you win by 30, a W is a W. And the bottom line is we came out of the game with a W.

I also saw my wife screaming for Chubb as he was headed for the end zone. And as soon as he crossed the goal line she screamed, "Not today Satan, not today!"

I LOVE HER!

As far as the wife screaming... most awesome thing I've read today!

-While I'm sure I missed a few plays...Despite the secondary missing a lot of players....Was it just me, or did it seem like there was less confusion out there?


-Harrison/Joseph combo I've been waiting to see...Odd as they had Joseph as the more (FS) deeper role, which I thought Harrison would play, as he played FS in college. Harrison I hope is better next week, looked a step slow and stiff. Joseph on that bomb to Diontae Johnson, was never in a position to make a play...Woods had both lined up rather shallow, and no one playing deep...and Rudolph went deep on them.

-Mack Wilson...This guy is playing with his arms and not his body...For some reason he is hesitant to engage...he has been regressing since he came off that injury (maybe he came back too soon)

-Phillips looked to be our best LB, and played more sound...even after whacking himself on Dobbs.

-I'm not hating on Myles, and I'm sure Covid has effected him. But guy was sucking a lot of air even at the beginning of the year...I could be wrong, but yesterday seemed to be the best I've seen him against the run.

-Mason Rudolph tossed the ball in some tight windows...Jackson at CB, actually didn't look as bad as I thought he would...Mitchell gave up a couple huge plays, but man that ball was dropped perfectly.

-After Landrys first catch, I thought for sure he was going to get flagged...anyone else?

-Bakers run was huge...First time I can recall this year he had a nice long run, reminded me of 2018 Baker.

-Alex Highsmith was eating Wills up

-Tuitt is such a stud out there

-Njoku seemed to be getting open easily, from what I saw (obviously the standard broadcast doesn't show the whole picture)

Scott Petrak ct
@ScottPetrak
#Browns coach Kevin Stefanski on RB rotation Sunday: We wanted to make sure we had fresh guys this week



Living on the edge baby

I thought Rudolph quietly had a decent game. I feel he made a strong argument to be kept on as a primary backup.

my thing about Rudolph: he gave them a few chances deep and they paid off. If I were the Steelers, I’d throw it to Claypool and Johnson and Juju like that way more often

Seriously. Risky move considering it wouldn't have mattered if they were fresh or not if there was no "this week."

We’ve seen our staff take this approach a lot of the year ... very calculated. For example, they’ll sit Myles for a drive BEFORE the key drive (if that makes sense) ... go back and watch the Texans game and you’ll see what I mean

2nd Half Rushing
================

Chubb: 7-25 NO 1st downs

Hunt: 4-10 NO 1st downs

Mayfield: 5-45 FOUR 1st downs


In other words - neither back was particularly effective in the 2nd half. The QB, on the other hand, put the running game on his back.


On the series that Hunt took over for Chubb... 10 plays / 38 yards / Clock NEVER stopped. We took 6:30 off the 10 minutes remaining. Mayfield tucked the ball and ran for two 1st downs to keep the clock ticking.

It took two "bombs" and two unlikely 4th and long conversions for Pittsburgh to get back in it.

I'd say the game was managed about as well as it could be... by the QB and the coach. Hard to complain about Hunt staying in for an entire series when we burnt the clock down to "now or never" for the Steelers. Especially since every touch by Karrem Hunt means one touch closer to him busting one - on any given Sunday.

You certainly have a point there. But then one may ask, if you only live for today what will your future look like?

The game we played today told the Steelers nothing about our actual game plan for next week. We did not tip our hand. Unlike some others, I didn't expect that we would. I would much rather have had a very close win today and keep things close to the vest than win in some more decisive victory today and shown them exactly who we would be next week. No risk, no reward.

Yeah, we didn’t show much PA game .. nothing trick-wise ... no bootleg action.

If I were Tomlin, my gut instinct: they’re gonna pound us with Chubb this week

I doubt this is what Stefanski was thinking, but I was of the opinion that if we couldn't handle their backups in a must-win situation then we probably didn't belong in the playoffs anyway.

Good stuff. "Close to the vest" is a great description. We took a vanilla game plan and simply executed. Fanciest play of the game was the quick handoff to Landry for the TD.

We gave them no tape for next Sunday, except maybe "how do we stop Mayfield from escaping the pocket and keeping the chains moving". Next week it will be quick dumps and screen passes instead. I realize Watt was not out there, but we got plenty of tape on how to beat their blitz.

Meanwhile, our defense was forced to match up with a QB(s) we haven't seen all season and a team playing with house money... Different story when they waltz into next week with a noodle-armed QB (yes, I said it), a mortgage to pay, and kids to feed.

I honestly feel like Tomlin made the early decision last week that resting players and letting the Browns into the playoffs was a win-win. Their mentality was keep the Ravens away from them at all cost. Their attitude is that we're still "little brother", and they saw the high probability of a rematch.

I think that all backfires next Sunday night.

I saw the REFS once again give the Steelers 7 points (3 missed penalties, 1 incorrect call, and Njoku robbed of a TD), and our Brownies still found a way to WIN THE GAME!

I saw a team and coach that allows me to finally stop saying "Same Old Browns"(TM). That expression is dead and gone. It's a wonderful feeling.

I saw a young hard nosed team that fought with everything they had to get into the Playoffs and finished the job ...

I don't necessarily disagree with what you and D4L are saying, but I wanted to highlight the risk aspect of it. Takes some brass ones for sure.

We won so don't take the critical things I'm going to say as me not being happy that we won..

I love our running back tandem but it seems to me that Stefanski is pretty inflexible with it. There have been games where on guy seemed to just be "feeling it" a bit more than the other but he won't put them in at crunch time. I've seen him do it with both of them at times. I guess I admire his resolve to stick to the plan, but Chubb looked so much better for most of the game yesterday, to not have in the final couple drives was making me crazy.

3rd and 3 in the 4th quarter on the next to last possession.. if there is any chance at all that you are going for it on 4th down, run the ball. Worst case is you get a yard or two and running again is still on the table.. we get sacked and end up with 4th and 7... didn't like the call even before I realized it didn't work.

Frustrated to see the Steelers main offensive play be mini-Hail Mary's to WRs who just outfought our CBs for the ball.

We had too many self-inflicted wounds that killed drives. Penalties and sacks were killing us.

The play for the first down at the end... don't ever remember seeing us run that play all year with Baker so, if we saved it for this situation, congrats. It worked.

I saw a depleted Browns secondary match up with the Steelers BEST WR's pretty well considering.

CB Robert Jackson had some horrible plays, but he also had some very good plays especially on the 2 point conversion.

Baker put this team on his back with his legs in crunch time.

He is slowly becoming a 2 dimensional QB.

I teared up a bit after we won. It's been 18 years fellas.

WE WILL DEFEAT AN OVERATED PITTSBURGH TEAM!

Eotab and others, its been a long time that we have posted anything about a playoff..

Is saying that, let me admit that i was not happy with how we won. The reason is that i want the Browns to GUT the Steelers. And the Ravens, leave them dead on the side of the road. Why, we have taken years of crap from them and living here in DC, with a large Steeler and Raven fan base.. I want them all beaten badly!

So after 24hrs, I'm happy we won but I want the Browns to be more physical and dominant. WHere is that team that beat up the Titans? Sometimes, Stefanski gets to cute when he should be letting these teams know we will run it down your throat. Once that is established, then we can play action all day.

On D, why are playing alot of press coverage with DBs who were on the practice squad?? Someone needs to get the D riled up and attacking but can we disguise coverages??

Anyway, for some reason, when we BEAT the Steelers this week, 1pt or 100 will do!

J/c why is Mack Wilson so bad?

Tons of missed tackles and he literally ran by a should have been pick.

I think that's fair. I'm hoping that it's true that Stefanski was saving Chubb's best work for next game.

The mini hail mary's that you're referring to were extremely frustrating. Especially at times when our guys were in position, like Mitchell was. If I had to bet, I'd say that Pittsburgh does one of those on their very first offensive play on Sunday.

We definitely have to cut down on the self-inflicted wounds. I feel like those are ghosts of our past. Whenever we play teams like Pittsburgh or Baltimore, the first thing I always think about is that neither one of those teams is going to beat itself, but they are always happy to play fundamentally sound - if unspectacular - football and let the other team (us in the past) go right ahead and beat themselves.

I'm hoping this weekend that we don't overthink anything and that we come out polished. Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the past have beaten us - I feel - in part due to the fact they play relaxed without much of a sense of urgency. They always have this calm confidence. We need to disrupt that, which is easier to do against Baltimore than Pittsburgh. Tomlin, for all his faults, does a very good job of keeping that team grounded.

I agree. Those two teams (against us) play like they expect to win, we play like we hope to win.

The battered Fan Syndrome really had a hold of me .. It took a about a day and half to grasp the playoff spot . Thrilled beyond belief with 11-5 ..

Like most on the board ; have a hard time with Fresh Chubb /Hunt comments . Throw away most of the empty backfield plays , get back to designed rolling Baker out plays... Even when its obvious that the front four cant get pressure ; Woods refuses to blitz. I understand the week backfield , But Ben will pick you apart and suck on your bones if you don't find away to make him move. Oh yea , Air the ball out more.

I think the game plan was based on the situation. We took a lead early, and held on to it, no matter how small, but enough that KS could hold back some.

Had we fallen behind, I bet all the dogs would have been let loose.

No, he's not banned. His name is listed on the user list. When someone is banned their name no longer appears there.

That's the way I see it. Stefanski is a man who is playing chess instead of checkers.