DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2020 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 48 Steelers 37 Playing With House Money

All the experts are already counting the Browns out this week. They think this will just be another 38-7 rout like in Week 6.

We are a different team than the team we put on the field in week 6. I like how the narrative is shaping up for this game.

Doesn't mean we will win but I think it is going to be a good one.
Remember, the Steelers are 1-4 in their last 5 games. Just because they looked good in the second half against the Colts, doesn't mean they will have that form vs. us Sunday. The pressure is on them and they may be a little overconfident.

This is exactly what I have been saying today ... the ball of pressure was SQUARELY in our court on Sunday ... and we held serve.

Now, they hold all of the pressure. They can’t possibly lose to the BROWNS?!

I’ll be disappointed if we lose, but not nearly like I would have been had we lost yesterday: we’ve had a fun, great season, saw a team really fight for each other, and get into the playoffs, after 18 years of darkness.

We have a chance to pull the upset, though, and yes, there’s more pressure on them. They’ve got a seasoned, winning team and we’re a scrappy, young bunch - with some tremendous talent - and I think we’re hungry.
I don’t believe our team is satisfied with just being there. I think they believe they can do some damage in the playoffs: show up at the party and make some noise when we get there.

Go Browns, you know we love ya!

I think our players want it more than they do. And in sports, sometimes that is enough. That mindset can move mountains.

I love the title of this thread.

Nicely done, sTrife.

Totally agree.

I was just telling my wife how nice it is to have a win/win game as a Browns fan. I'm so used to lose/lose situations being 0-16 whatever other terrible situation we've had over the year.

In this one, if we win, it's gonna be the best day ever.

If we lose, oh well, we made the playoffs, 11 wins, let's build for next year.

I guess 2020 wasn't all bad!

I'll be content with the season regardless of what happens on Sunday night. I'll be honest in that I don't think we win. It could be past experience talking speaking for me, but I feel like Pittsburgh just has more of that expectation to win mentality, and are more accustomed to playing at this level, and we are not quite ready.

That being said, screw the Steelers, and I will still be cheering on my Brownies!

I thought the NFL playoffs were set up that the highest seed gets the lowest seed ... in other words, if we’d win (and Indy loses) then we’d go to KC

I agree I think we have a slim chance of winning but as always I'll be cheering hard for my Browns and hope for the best!!

This. I think it is realistic that they get back in that funk they had against Washington, Buffalo, and Cinci.

We have to play lights out in every facet of our game though.

I have to admit this is solely predicated on HOW we lose...

If it's a back and forth game and Big Ben, with all of his experience, just outduels Baker down the stretch... I'll be disappointed but I'll be ok.

If we don't show up and get blown out or... perhaps worse yet... if we get out to a 17 point lead and then blow it. Either of those will be really hard to take.

i haven't seen a lot of experts picks yet but Willie McGinnest said that of all the underdogs going into the weekend, he thinks the Browns have the best chance to win...

j/c

Whatever happens .... 11-5 and playoffs.

I agree with Bone's ranking of the AFC teams - with the exception that I have Bills ahead of the Ravens and neck and neck with KC.

Even so we need remember that we've got a D that has struggled all year. We lost Vernon. We've had 2 weeks of nightmarish practice opportunity. This isn't a walk in the park for us by ANY means .... but I do like that we are going to be universally viewed as the underdog - and everyone is parroting how we barely beat the Steelers even though they were resting "all their starters" ... while not acknowledging the 2 weeks of atrocious prep and how our own starters were out.

'Playing with House Money' is a good analogy. We've exceeded expectations for the year, we are expected to lose in their house. . . . I really do think we can and will win, but we will need to be "nearly perfect". It will probably come down to KS's play calling, penalties and of course Baker and Chubb - maybe an opportunistic turnover on D.

This is correct.

"The NFL playoffs are not based on a pure bracket system. In the divisional playoffs, the No. 1 seed is assured of playing the lowest-seeded Wild Card survivor."

It appears like Covid has taken our spot on the bracket

Tomlin just said they had no positive results today

And yet contact tracing makes it clear that Tomlin was in close contact with Stefanski, all of their DL were in close contact with Bitonio and that at least some of their secondary were in close contact with Hodge.

So let's watch and see if the Steelers are held to the same standard on contact tracing as we have been.

Yeah, but the 15 minute rule of CONSECUTIVE contact without a mask won’t apply.

We’ll be the only team affected by our own players/coaches

If it was from Sunday's game it wouldn't show up till Friday or Saturday.... we'll see.

I think the House just gave us about 100 times more money than we originally had. This game could get very ugly if the contact tracing takes out a number of guys

Quoting this so others see it. This is the loaded definition that needs to be met for the "close contact" rule to be applied. No opposing players ever meet this definition because of the breaks between plays.

Yeah, it is a cheap cop-out on the definition, but that is what enabled a season to take place.

Except the 11-5 season, and expect a huge loss to the Steelers once again.

I think swapping / inhaling spittle and sweat might trump any other type of "exposure" .... just one laypersons guess.

Don’t touch the house money. It has COVID on it. Use a credit card.

The whole "close contact for 15 minutes" think is a joke. IMO.

All it takes is 1 huff and puff while blocking, or even lining up. I big exhaled breath in a pile, or whatever.

Yet I'm pretty sure that an office full of billionaires and lawyers fully understand that isn't how Covid works.

What about a whole game's worth of huffs and puff while blocking? And ignore that all those guys breathing and sweating all over each other have a bunch of the comorbidities that COVID seems to love.

Nope... just 15 uninterrupted minutes.

People wanted to know why their DLine wasn't a close contact... this is why. Has nobody actually noticed that NO OPPONENT has been a "close contact" for any positive player all season? Guys have been positive every single week from the beginning, but at no point has anyone on an opposing team been one of the affected "close contacts". I mean, loo at New Orleans.... they just had every last RB of theirs go on the list, yet not one player that was tackling them play after play the previous game was a contact.

If the league put the stipulation on it that actual concern would dictate, they would not have been able to field 32 teams for 17 weeks. SO, what we got was them giving the appearance of caring while doing the bare minimum required to keep the train rolling. That's all there is to it.... which is staying completely in line with what we all should have come to expect of the NFL as witnessed by every single other issue they've ever faced.

I'm not saying this isn't what we should have expected. I'm saying that the guideline of "15 minute continuous contact" is negligent at best in trying to allow for any reasonable attempt to control Covid. That with all of the lawyers they have they already know this.

It seems we actually agree. They're trying to give the appearance that they care while in reality they do not.

I would power rank the AFC playoff Browns equal with Miami and only above the Colts.

1 Bills
2 Chiefs
3 Steelers
4 Ravens
5 Titans
6 Browns (= with Dolphins if they were included)
7 Colts

But I think anything can happen, especially if the Browns get healthy.

I base that on, if the Browns had to play against.
So basically I'm saying if the Browns had to play against "the Browns" , that on paper it appears to me it would be the easiest matchup to hope for except for the Colts, and similar to having to play against the dolphins.

Yes, all of that is exactly what I was saying. And, that appearance of caring holds true with literally everything they do from words on the backs of helmets to their responses to drug violations to domestic violence to the stupid Salute to Service thing that they only do because of the money they get from the DoD for it. They are nothing but a facade. Period.

By the way, let this be a lesson to all you NFL franchises. If you have a lot of people in your facility get sick, make sure it coincides with someone on your staff being negligent and not wearing a mask in the facility, as opposed to doing everything right and still getting COVID from "the community." That's the best way to make sure you get your game postponed.

Funny, not funny, and very true.

Someone mentioned postponing the playoffs for a week. It might not be a bad idea the players could use the rest. However, I don't know how feasible it is because in a week you could have an even larger widespread outbreak. Tough call for the ones in charge.

Why does the NFL get to ignore CDC guidelines when every other person in the US has a different standard for close contact? The standard is not 15 continuous minutes....it is 15 combined minutes in a 24 hour day.

Maybe the faunting of that guideline is why there has been a huge outbreak in the US since football started in September...good job Rodger

*everyone* gets to ignore CDC guidelines. They don't make law or policy. It's a guideline, a recommendation.




Not even possible.

I understand the "house money" analogy, because I think fans want to protect themselves from feeling too bad if we lose, but I'd bet the house that the Browns players and coaches don't feel that way. They are fully invested, and have worked hard and long under very adverse conditions to earn where they are. Its the playoffs - yes it will hurt if we lose, but there's no getting away from that, its part of the deal. It will be that much better when we win, whether its tonight or next post season. Screw house money, we paid for this watching 18 years of ineptitude.

If we can somehow pull this off, we will be a much better team next week when we are healthier.