DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2021 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 29 Chiefs 33 On to Kansas City

I'm not selling the Browns short. I'm simply looking at both sides of the coin rather than only one.

"This game will come down to who wins in the trenches and I think that will be the Browns."

Back in the day of leather helmets when I actually played football. My first head coach said; "games are won or lost on the line of scrimmage."

That is about as old school as you can get.

However, it still rings true. The OL makes it happen for the Browns on offense. Berry came in. It was his first move. He rebuilt the OL.
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Addressing the offense the first year. Berry moved to the defense. He had already secured Myles. He wanted Clowney and Takk. He got them. He wanted more speed on defense.
Signed JJ3 and Hill. Drafted Newsome and JOK. Berry places a premium on pass rushers. And he wants to pressure the quarterback.

Malik Jackson was signed as a inside pressure guy with a reputation as a leader. They were counting on Billings to hold down the center. And they expected developing growth from Elliott.

The X-factor was McDowell. No doubt he was a long shot. They drafted Togiai. Signed the udfa Wilson.

Camp has surprises. And the surprises of the camp were DPJ and Malik McDowell.

MM will rotate into the interior with Elliott. This has the potential to change the entire dynamic of the defensive line. Two edge rushers pinch the outside. Interior pressure up the middle becomes deadly. There is no where to go.

They will have a three man rotation at DE. Three first round picks who really rush. The interior will play down and distance. Run down Billings and Jackson.

If McDowell and Elliott bring hard pressure up the middle?
Look out.

Woods will have the JOK option in his back pocket. He is a crease blitzer or outside of the end RPO stopper. He can shoot for the qb or force the run inside.

I have enormous respect for Mahomes. However, consistent pressure on a quarterback makes HOF'ers look ordinary.

I think we break the spell of first game losses.

PIT,

At least you're just selling the Browns short. I apparently need to become a fan of the Chiefs. L

I'm just trying to be objective. It's not as if I don't understand the enthusiasm. I certainly do. I simply understand that when you add a bunch of new starters to your defense, practice only allows them to learn their assignments. The fluidity it takes to work as units takes actual game time and game snaps.

I'm certainly not trying say we "can't beat the Chiefs". I just know that it would be a much better situation if we faced such a team later in the season once the defense has had time to gel.

Of course somehow that has been taken as "selling them short".

This game reminds me of that baseball saying that you can't make the playoffs in April and May, but you can miss them. I think the 1st quarter will go a long way in deciding whether it will be a competitive game or not. And yes, 1st quarter is always important, but there are many teams on our schedule that we could grind down and overcome poor starts.

There are 3 things that must be overcome specific to the beginning of this game.

• This will be the first time Chiefs have had a full stadium since their AFCC game in Jan 2020. Those fans are annoyed that the Browns and Bills are considered competition for their wunderteam. It will be loud and hostile, which Stefanski's Browns have never faced.
• If you have listened to Mahomes talk about last season, he sounds like he has a bit of a chip following that SB. The best QB in the game today has talked about improving his game, and being better from game 1 onward. We are game 1.
• We have not won an opener in 15 years, and have lost the last 2 by like 30 points each. A back and forth start and that won't matter. A poor start and it will enter players' minds. Obviously not a good thing, as that leads to lack of focus and poor execution

Now, if we come out of the 1st quarter in good shape, we still have to hope Stefanski is up to the level of Andy Reid with weeks of preparation, and that our players, including many new pieces, can execute. I think that all told, this is too tall of an order for this team in game 1. I hope to be very wrong, and by made fun of on Sunday night by all the optimistic posters here.

My biggest worry is that the Browns come out fired up and playing on emotion, but aren't in the right mindset to maintain that top-level effort for 60+ minutes and turn flat when the initial rush of emotion wears off.

It will be competitive .... the first quarter will determine if the Browns will dominate

These aren't the old Browns they are well coached and they still have the bitter taste of last seasons loss to KC in their mouths.

JJIII said as much. Go back and watch the KC game last year the team that started that game and the one that finished that game grew up A LOT .

Sure they lost the game if the team that showed up in the 2nd half of the KC game last season shows up on Sunday the Chiefs will be faced with as determined a group of players as maybe they see all season.

For us Chubb if you watch him in the game with KC was as emotional as I have ever seen him he wanted it bad and he brought it to KC before it was over, if only a few things and a bit better defense had been on our side last year we would have won that game. That isn't some homer belief go and watch the game.

I think the advantage goes to the Browns defensive Line in this game. I think it takes execution on offense to keep a QB clean. Defense is easier to bring together in shorter periods of time then are offenses defensive players regardless of scheme react to what the offense is trying to do.

The Browns are bringing a team to KC that is as well coached as any team in the NFL. Reid is the master of creating new wrinkles no question of that, how the Browns react to the wrinkles will be a big part of how they fair against the chiefs.

We aren't likely to win all of our games and facing the Chiefs to start the year is a tall order no question but if there is a team that is capable of going into KC and putting it on KC it's the Browns. I see and hear a lot of reasons why we shouldn't win or can't win, but the truth, the truth is we can go to KC and dominate them and we can go there and lay and egg and either way it is unlikely to determine the season for either team.

My plan is as I have said repeatedly is to enjoy the ride, Ski and company truly got this will be ready and at the very least will leave KC and KC will know that they were in a dawg fight. I choose to go all in, I have NEVER seen a Browns TEAM so loaded with top shelf talent nor can a remember a better coached Browns team.

Put some on ice, make the popcorn the ride is about to begin.

Shout out to all the old Dawgs on here getting ready for a new year filled with high hopes of getting to the Promise Land. Getting ready to start my 48th year of cheering for my Browns. I get just as excited every year but I think more so this year than another year except for the mid/late 80s.

We all have longed for the Browns to return to become a perennial playoff team. We have the talent and the coaching in place to make it happen. It's up to them to execute. Do or do not, there is no try. Let's do this!

A lot of good posts here.

I believe this game will be a good old fashion shoot-out. Both offenses won't need much to get things rolling.

The Browns offense established its identity, but what is our defense?

KC knows who they are. They are playing at home. Browns have the better talent, but do they know how to use it? Here lies the mystery of whether Browns win Sunday or not.

I am ecstatic we are actually having discussions about whether we can match up with a Super Bowl team. Right now, I simply want to see where this team stands against a proven team.

I want you to know that I used to post just sorta like you. It's not that your posts are off, and I used to do posts like this to temper people's expectations. Reality meets dream posts.

This year I believe like never before I don't have to temper reason with expectations and dreams. What I believe or dream of happening is finally and thankfully within reach. So I have abandoned reason with my hopes and dreams. But I understand where exactly you are coming from and you aren't wrong BTW.

I in the past as I have said used to post like you so in the long haul people would hopefully be more reasonable in their expectations so at seasons end we didn't reboot. In other words there were coaching staffs that I thought were really really good but they lacked the horses to stand any chance at all. That is no longer so, Ski and company are as good as it gets and so is this roster.

It's all good with me Pitt everyone gets to pick how they structure their posts and as I said I don't think you're wrong.

I don't think you or I or anyone else will be shocked if the Browns lay it on KC and it won't be the end of the world for either team if they lose in a good loss or a beat down lose. I expect a hard fought game and if both teams play to ability all the better, in that case I think we can win and if we do win it might set the Browns on a run not all that unlike the Steelers had to start the season last year. I want and hope that is what happens and I am damned sure you do too.

The low point was Manziel laying on his back in the endzone.

I want to see what this chiefs defense looks like.

I think our defense is gonna have a tough time seeing as we got all kinds of new starters. But do we have a better shot of slowing down their offense than they do us?

Once again if you take a guy away it has to be Kelce IMO.

Of more interest to me is can the Browns scheme to take away Kelce and really do it?

Make Kelce the first priority of JOK on every play.
That should do it.

Just as our defense will need time to gel, it is also the case for their Oline. And with the talent and speed of Myles and Clowney, things could get very equalized in a heartbeat. Tampa put tons of pressure on Mahommes and beat him. With the talent we have on the edge, and a proven guy like Jackson inside, I don't see their OLine dominating anybody. Defenses gel faster than Oline.

Don't know what will happen, but I don't see them dominating us. I got a feeling their defense is going to be the wildcard.

I'm even more worried about Hill. Who is going to cover that speed demon?

I never even suggested they would dominate us. I actually believe we have a shot to win the game. I just feel if we understand they are weak at the OL, so do they. There are ways to compensate for that to some degree with a QB like Mahomes.

...and a coach like Andy R.

the way I see it with our new Defense is, wouldn't a learning on the fly Defense be light years ahead of last year's Defense?.... They sucked last year... We were pulling D.Backs off the streets.

The thing that has me the most jacked up is our Coach of the Year is entering his SECOND year, with his offense intact, healthy, and upgraded (Felton).

They’re the ultimate three man show. The other parts are fillers and window dressing .. I’m not sure anyone can stop them unless you just constantly get to the QB

Wasn't saying you said anything. Was a general statement that came from reading many posts and articles. It had nothing to do with you actually

I agree, and think we have the horses to do it, and I think our coverage of Kelce will be better

j/c...

Good opportunity for the DL...

If we were starting 3 rookies on the oline against anyone we would be very worried. Mahomes is going to have a rough. Garret, Clowney, Mcdowell are going to have fun.

Line them all up on the left side

I’ve gone into many games thinking “our DL should feast on their inexperienced/makeshift OL” over the years … and a lot of times it doesn’t come to fruition. I sit during the game and think “WHERE IS OUR PASS RUSH?!”

I’m hoping this won’t be the case Sunday

A big part of how teams climb up the food chain is time in the system and personnel.

That said the Browns have the Offense locked down they are loaded and they are growing as an offense as Baker's play improves and hopefully continues to do so.

That should mean the offense plays much better against the Chiefs IMO then they did last year. It's not just that but the offense moved the ball well against the Chiefs but made stupid mistakes and penalties early in the game that killed drives. Chubb had a few dropped balls as well something he really didn't do all that much last season but for some reason in this game he had trouble with his hands.

The Browns have made huge improvements on Defense they do however lack playing time together, but on the other hand the Chiefs have a re-tooled O Line. I think that it takes longer for an offense to come together and specifically and offensive line because that unit needs near flawless timing and execution to have success. Still the KC O line should be better in the long haul? I give the advantage here to the Browns they have made huge improvements to the defensive line with the addition of Clowney and the addition of McDowell who has all the earmarking's of a stud d linemen.

I see the Browns kicking Clowney inside and bookending him with Takk and McDowell and just to sweeten the pot a little the Browns I think will send JOK on a mission, hit PM. I admit I am salivating at the thought. This new O line is likely facing their toughest test of the season if they can manage the Browns D Line they may just be able to punch their ticket for the SB again.

The Chiefs defense has a advantage over ours they have been together for some time now and they are pretty average leaning towards poor IMO. They seem to do just enough but the Buc's challenged them in the SB and they fell apart. I know that Baker isn't TB but this Browns team has so many weapons it's going to be a real test for the Chiefs defense. The key is can the Browns avoid stupid penalties and simply execute their offense.

I feel confident that the Browns offense will be much better prepared then they were last year in the PO. With the addition of OBJ the Chiefs will be tested at every level this time around. I think our TE's will feast on the KC defense and if I am Ski I take Chubb to the side and remind him of the taste he had in his mouth after that game. Not sure you need to fire up Chubb but he was pissed and showed more emotion in that game then I ever remember him showing and in the second half his intensity level was thru the roof.

I really like the Browns in this game, but KC is very good on the offensive side of the ball the Browns are going to have to play their best ball and this defense may not be quite ready yet?

If I am Joe I keep the game plan pretty simple Double up on Kelso and get after PM on every single play pressure pressure pressure. PM is very pedestrian when pressured. Try with 4 if that don't work try with 5 and mix it up come after them with corners and safeties make his afternoon a nightmare. A few good clean hits would be nice as well.

I think we win going away will be to much for the Chief's new look O Line.

The Chiefs will be starting 5 new offensive linemen, 3 of which are rookies.

Every player in the NFL has supreme talent- the rookies are best players in college and are called rookies cuz they haven't played in NFL games....how'd "rookies" perform in preseason games- Andy Reid wouldn't put chumps out there....I HOPE Clooney's statement about guards aren't athletes doesn't bite him in the buttocks.
Our D line could dominate....time will tell. Go Browns!!!