DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2021 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 31 Texans 21 Post game thoughts

We need to have our athletes on the field on 3rd downs and big plays … JOK, Delpit, Garrett, Clowney, Harrison, Johnson, Ward, Newsome.

Realistically we shouldn’t be THIS bad

I think what I get upset about from a DC perspective, is the lack of adjustments. I could be wrong, but my impression is that Woods has a very small comfort zone when it comes to adjusting. He just loves that base-style defense, which I suppose can make sense if the players know what they're supposed to be doing, and can do it well...but for whatever reason, it looked like we had guys missing assignments out there, and we apparently had no plan to adjust to beating a skinny post when Taylor was QB.

Look at Stefanski, on the other hand. He's out there making all kinds of adjustments and doing all kinds of misdirection. Hell, look at other defenses, like the Steelers in Game 1. They are built for the blitz, but decided to dial back because they knew that Allen was good against it. Hell, look at all of Belichick's schemes. I don't know if he still does, but he used to switch even his base-style defenses from game-to-game depending on who they were playing (4-3 vs 3-4).

We had a rookie third string QB yesterday and an OL that was doubling up on Myles. We never adjusted anything, so they knew what to expect. It actually became so commonplace for them, that when we did blitz Delpit, it completely caught them by surprise (to Woods' credit I suppose).

I understand that there are trends, and that a pressure happy defense is not always the best thing (see Jets vs Raiders 2020), but there has to be an ability to be fluid with how you adjust to what the offense is doing. We don't seem to do that, at least very well.

JMHO

Beyond "adjustments" which seem thin (look at Ward's play early), did we look hungry? Aggressive? Scheming to bring more? Especially with a rook.

Just seemed indifferent as I said elsewhere. Amazed how statistically close it was.

Just me - but when your D scheme is giving such a large cushion to their WR's time after time and there is no pressure, you are setting up your secondary to fail. I think these poor grades fall at least partly on Woods.

j/c...

So a " Guy named Blake played LT when Wils left the game ? Do you have the defensive snaps ?

My thoughts:

One, it's a 'W', and that's most important. It wasn't pretty, or the beatdown we all felt it should have been, but we still got the 'W'.

We're one of the good teams, now.... we're one of the teams that the lesser teams get themselves up for. From now until forever, we are going to see the best from every team we face because they're just a little extra focused on beating us. We need to maintain that same high level of focus week in and week out.

OLine and DLine - we were getting beat in the trenches on both sides early on. Our OLine appear to have finally wore them down in the 4th, but early on, it was not good at all.

Ward got picked on a little. Newsome was quiet again. I said it last week and it was felt that it was just because he was on Tyreek Hill, but folks, we have a pair of Shutdown Corners. Teams are still going to get completions because this is the NFL and the rules work in the offense's favor, but we have two LEGIT CB's. We all know how good Ward is, so if QB's are going after him, that tells us what Newsome is doing.

Delpit showed up big. That's a welcome sight; we need more of that.


Offense: there were struggles, and a ton of miscues, but they got past it all. Scary as Hell when Baker went out; that is one tough dude.


Defense: This unit is grossly underperforming. These pass rushers can't get home and they can't contain a QB that wants to move. Yes, Tyrod is a gamer and always has been. When he played for us, that man played his heart out - right into an injury, same as he did yesterday, and he can ball, but he isn't THAT good. We couldn't get home on him.
Even worse, we couldn't do it against a 3rd String Rookie, either. We gave that Rookie all damn day to work and let him get comfortable in the pocket and we made that rookie look good. Joe Woods has repeatedly alluded to this being the Seattle Defense, the one that created the Legion of Boom, etc.... we all know it is predicated on Coverage and Pressure. Well, we aren't covering and we aren't getting pressure. We aren't tackling first, either, we're ignoring tackling to go for the strip, but we aren't getting turnovers. I get what this defense is SUPPOSED TO BE, but we are doing a TERRIBLE job of implementing it. We let guys run wide open through us, we suck at covering the short-to-intermediate, and guys find it way to easy to find uncovered spots in our zones..... all with personnel that is SUPPOSED to excel at coverage. The DLine is rocking at stopping running backs, and Clowney is REALLY showing up in the run game and making a real impact, but holy crap, he and Myles aren't doing much at all in the pass game. Yes, they're getting close all the time and they're getting pressures, but we're through two games and that vaunted duo only has ONE Sack between them? That's pretty sad.

I've been against the `Fire Joe Woods` campaign, and I'm not jumping on that bandwagon right now, but if this defense doesn't start to show some real improvement, well, that bandwagon is beginning to look pretty good. There is just WAY too much talent on this defense for the results - or lack of - that we're seeing. Rookie 3rd stringers playing with cast-offs from the 2018 Browns shouldn't be made to look as good as we made them look.

Good point about the OL purp … our OL FINALLY took control in the last part of the game, but early on we struggled (Conklin especially from my perspective).

As said elsewhere, Houston is a veteran team. Not great players, but definite pros. They had us toe to toe through one half

This is where I'm still at. The sky isn't falling or anything, but that defensive effort vs the likes of Tyrod Taylor and his rookie 3rd-rounder backup? That got some eyebrow raises from me. Houston, from their roster, to the coaching turmoil, the whole thing is a mess and just on talent mismatch we should've been giving them hell all day. This should've been our tune-up game, and instead we're wondering if the result would've been different if Taylor finished out the game. That's scary.

I have to say, I don't recall watching any QB that sells the fake as well as Baker does. He has all but mastered it, and I think this is one of the things that REALLY helps this O hum. When you can add that level of misdirection to the elements of the OLine always looking the same whether it is Pass or Run, and running multiple versions of plays from the same look and even mirroring it, etc... it really, really makes it tough on a Defense to see a play unfold correctly.

Offensive Players of the Week
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...ing/?cid=fmiatw

Wyatt Teller, guard, Cleveland. With the explosiveness missing from the Browns offense (no Odell Beckham Jr., and Jarvis Landry leaving with an injury early), Cleveland’s vaunted run game needed to be great Sunday. Protecting a 24-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Browns leaned on Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt and the offensive line. Cleveland got to midfield, and it was Hunt for six, Chubb for 14, Baker Mayfield for one. And on second-and-nine from the Houston 26-yard line, Chubb took the handoff from Mayfield and headed to the right, behind Teller, the right guard. Now, at the point of contact at the line, Teller, the fourth-year man from Virginia Tech, steamed into Texans defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson and pushed him downfield. Five yards downfield. The immense hole gave Chubb the room to power for the 26-yard TD with 5:40 left to play. That was the final: 31-21, Browns.

Click on the tweet and it has the full list of snaps, including the defense.

I definitely give Baker props … he works his butt of, which is obvious. From two years ago to now is a great transformation. Credit to the staff as well.

His decision making and progressions is also so improved. Last step for him: make us better when things around him are worse.

thank you .

That's dirty.

The power of the short passes and screen game.

j/c...

That's embarrassing

Yeah, it is.

Schwartz isnt going to gain a QBs trust with too many of those plays. Soft.

Baker didn't shy away from his thoughts on Scwartz's effort on that play in his presser.

The rook was adequately punished. He got a good "talkin' to" by coach when he reached the sideline, Baker never threw him the ball again and made a very blunt, accurate statement after the game.

But this staff doesn't play the "doghouse" game without repeated offenses... he'll be given a chance at redemption next Sunday.

Good.
Hold the kid accountable, and ream him a new one. Make sure he understands his role and his job. He's a nice element to have, but he is entirely replaceable.

That's what I heard from people who went to the game, too. Stefanski spoke to him and I heard that Baker did the same when he got back from getting his shoulder popped back in.

j/c...

Browns Offensive PFF grades vs the Texans:

QUARTERBACK

Baker Mayfield: 66.1.

Notable: Mayfield was under pressure on only four dropbacks, although two of them resulted in sacks. His average depth of target was 5.6 yards, much lower than the 10.1 in Week 1. His overall passing grade was 73.2, and he remained perfect on play-action passes, going 7-of-7 vs. the Texans, making him 16-of-16 for the season.

RUNNING BACK

Demetric Felton: 98.7.
Nick Chubb: 76.6.
D’Ernest Johnson: 60.0.
Kareem Hunt: 58.5.
Andy Janovich: 53.3.

Notable: Chubb’s rushing grade was 84.1. He had four runs or 10 or more yards and forced eight missed tackles. Hunt forced four missed tackles. Janovich graded 59.6 in six run-blocking snaps. Texans linebacker Christian Kirksey gave up catches to Felton and Chubb and had a defensive grade of 56.8. Cornerback Desmond King II was responsible for Felton’s touchdown, and safety Eric Murray graded 37.2 against the run with three missed tackles.


WIDE RECEIVER

Jarvis Landry: 86.9.
Rashard Higgins: 64.0.
Donovan Peoples-Jones: 47.9.
Anthony Schwartz: 44.5.

Notable: Landry had one catch and played two snaps. Higgins graded 44.8 in 23 run-blocking snaps. Schwartz (51.7) and Peoples-Jones (46.0) played 17 and 23 passing snaps, respectively, and had the lowest receiving grades among all positions. Texans cornerbacks Tremon Smith (80.1) and Terrance Mitchell (71.4) had the team’s top coverage grades.

TIGHT END

Harrison Bryant: 85.0.
Austin Hooper: 74.9.
David Njoku: 65.1.

Notable: Bryant had the second-best run-blocking grade on the team (70.0, 18 run-blocking snaps). Bryant also had the second-best receiving grade (79.4). All three tight ends played at least 30 snaps.


OFFENSIVE LINE

Wyatt Teller: 72.9.
Jack Conklin: 64.5.
Jedrick Wills Jr.: 63.3.
Blake Hance: 63.2.
JC Tretter: 60.4.
Joel Bitonio: 58.8.

Notable: Teller had the top run-blocking grade (72.6). Bitonio was the top pass blocker (85.8.), followed by Tretter (82.5) and Hance (79.3), who played 18 snaps. Wills (hurry and Conklin (sack) each gave up one pressure. Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill was the Texan’s top pass rusher, earning a 76.9 grade with two pressures and one sack.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/09...eplaceable.html

"The Browns' biggest weakness is still at the second level of their defense. Cleveland allowed Houston to convert seven of 13 third-down attempts largely because they repeatedly failed to tackle the ball carrier in the open field. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods also has some explaining to do, directing a largely vanilla defense that didn't show any significant creativity until a key sequence late in which he sent Grant Delpit on a blitz (resulting in the Browns' lone sack of the day) and then dialed up a well-timed stunt on the defensive line, leading to a quarterback pressure that produced an incompletion. The Browns weren't able to get too aggressive last season because of personnel deficiencies; That's no longer a valid excuse, and they need to be better going forward."

How could Garrett play all of that time with all of his athleticism and experience and never get one pressure?

Seems crazy

After 2 games, all of the Browns WRs combined have 13 catches for about 200 yards.

60 minutes of double-teams

Seems Garrett playing a lot on the left side, lately.

That flea flicker for a TE screen was honestly a GREAT play looking at that angle

And now it’s on film so teams have to prepare for it which opens up the regular flea flicker.