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Speaking of vers i wonder if he's ok he hasn't been on since last nov.
Seems odd since he isn't banned

On paper, we look great.

But the only proven unit is the offense. I still have a lot of concerns on the defensive side of the ball. I just don’t have any reason to believe that just HALF our defensive starters will stay healthy. I get that COVID was a freak year, but greedy and ward were dinged up even before last season. We don’t have a track record of having a healthy D line, either. Our Linebackers seem to stay healthy, but they were kinda trash so I dunno what to say about that unit.

I get that we upgraded our defense overall on paper, but these guys still gotta show up on sundays. We went from an always hurt Vernon to an always hurt Clowney.

I just have a strange feeling that baker is gonna put up MVP caliber numbers, only for us to barely make the playoffs cause of the defense.

Last year even in games we won like the Cowboys. Teams came back and scored.

When you look at how we lost games as well as the ones we won. The common thread was defensive backfield.

Ward missing games. Delpit and Greedy missing the season. We were forced to use guys that were depth players.

Linebacker play was slow and tackles were missed.

In free agency the players that were signed were all upgrades. Greedy and Delpit are on track to return.
John Johnson is a huge upgrade. Hill is a highly ranked slot corner. Walker was a captain and is considered a great tackler.

IMO we will go from a lower third defense to a top ten.

Nothing is guaranteed lots of factors at play.

But this defense should be way better. Coverage and pass rush should be much improved.

On paper, we look great.

But the only proven unit is the offense. I still have a lot of concerns on the defensive side of the ball. I just don’t have any reason to believe that just HALF our defensive starters will stay healthy. I get that COVID was a freak year, but greedy and ward were dinged up even before last season. We don’t have a track record of having a healthy D line, either. Our Linebackers seem to stay healthy, but they were kinda trash so I dunno what to say about that unit.

I get that we upgraded our defense overall on paper, but these guys still gotta show up on sundays. We went from an always hurt Vernon to an always hurt Clowney.

I just have a strange feeling that baker is gonna put up MVP caliber numbers, only for us to barely make the playoffs cause of the defense.

On Paper we look great
but the only proven unit is the defense.
I don't have any reason to belief just HALF the Offensive starters will stay healthy.
Covid was a freak year but Tretter and Hubbard were dinged up even before last season.
We don't have a track record of a healthy (offensive skilled positons) either.
( Our special teamer and 3rd tier Wr's (Natson, Hodge, Taylor,) seem to stay healthy, except for Natson, but they were kinda trash so I don't know what to say about that unit.

I get that we upgraded our Offense overall on paper, but these guys gotta show up on Sundays. We went from an always hurt Chubb, to an always hurt Odell.

I just have a strange feeling that Myles is going to put up MVP caliber numbers, only for us to barely make the playoffs because of the offense.

LB is not, and will not be a position of huge emphasis for this team.

We will only play 2 on the field at most times, and can be situational/rotational type players.

Last year's defense didn't have a huge problem at LB. The problem was that we have to play 3 of them, at the same time, too often.

Agreed and we have enough draft picks and eventual cuts from other teams to round out our roster. We have a better roster this year no doubt but we also have a much tougher schedule. We were helped last year by playing a weak NFC East division and a Steelers team that didn't play a lot of their starters in the last game. To our credit we beat them good in our playoff win and almost beat the Chiefs at their place and may have if the helmet to helmet penalty was called. We need to be better this year if we hope to go farther because of our schedule. Even games we should definitely win like the Denver, Detroit and LA Chargers games aren't givens because we historically have trouble with those teams. We need to stay focused and hope for a minimal amount of injuries. JMO

I have faith that Stefanski will keep this team focused

jc...

I hope the players are smart enough to ignore all of this "unearned" praise and attention by the media.

Games will be won on the field by those players who do the work and make the sacrifices needed when called upon.

Such as, a defense capable of protecting a lead in the fourth qtr would be a good start.

PFF grades are meaningless at this time.

The Freddie Kitchens year should be seared into the team's memory.

[quote]
Yep. Dynasty stuff.
Dare to dream, eh?

You mean the 1964 team?

They won the Championship so that has to be considered. And there were good players on the team for sure. But I do not think top to bottom that roster was as good as this team.

Words of Truth.

That said, I saw something last year that really impressed me. This new regime looks/sounds/smells nothing like the stuff we used to see. We have a group of boring, driven, competent professionals running things with all oars in sync in the water.

I don't think this team's leadership will allow a lax attitude/approach. If you recall, there was almost no trace of controversy during the entire 2020 season, and I think that is directly the result of coaching staff and admin. Our players were disciplined on the field, and that directly led to wins in games we used to lose.

It's a concern of yours that I truly understand. I mean, we've all lived through the years since 1999. PTSD is real. But I really think the Browns will be one of those teams who are on top of rules.

They already know what the stakes are. They lost to KC because of rules. If anything, I expect them to play at a higher level of acumen, based upon the lessons they learned in 2020.

I've been one of the board's biggest pessimists/realists for quite some time. That said, I see a completely different FO model from the usual dysfunctional clustergrunt that has always been 'New Browns Football.' It gives me hope that we are entering a period of CLE history that sees us perpetually in the hunt for the next decade.

Yep. Dynasty stuff.
Dare to dream, eh?

This team has been very smartly assembled, and is also being smartly run. This ain't luck, though it kinda feels like it, given our decades of "Battered Dawg Syndrome."