DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2021 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 14 Vikings 7 What I saw Minn Vikings

I heard her and agreed...lol.

good summary

Well lets begin.

I see Tab is still gifting us with his what I saw, I usually don't have much to say because by the time I see it up everyone has covered it, and what would I do, is say the same thing over.

Not sure what is wrong with Baker I guess will have to wait for the book to come out. I think it's something physical and it's playing with his head.

No way to say it nicely I love the kid his play needs to improve he is missing open receivers and as you mentioned he missed Felton for a 1st.

I don't want this to turn into a OBJ thing this issue lies with Baker, but you simply can't throw the whole OBJ thing over your shoulder. I think it MIGHT be time to think about trading OBJ, not his fault I believe he has been as advertised but Baker just isn't comfortable with OBJ and everything goes sorta sideways for him with OBJ on the field. Easily the strangest thing I have ever seen???

I also truly believe that we need what OBJ brings to the table, sorta makes me sad that our best move with these 2 may be to say bye bye to OBJ. I leave this to Berry and Ski, 2 men I have grown to have tremendous respect for.

I for the 1st time found myself frustrated with Ski's play calling. The wife was mad as hell and I had to remind her and myself how great he usually does and how well the team responds to him. When you have a 1st and goal from the 4 run the ball Ski please. Oh and the clock needed to have a few less seconds on it anyway.

As it was it ended up being a sorta blessing because we got the ball back and added a FG to end the half.

I want to say this. The crew we have running this team is the best I believe in the NFL if they say something or do something I believe it is with a purpose which is to build a program where we win some damned football games. It isn't always going to be perfect but I believe above anything they got this. So take any perceived criticism with that in light when I write.

I also believe in Baker Mayfield we wouldn't be the team we are without him and humans have stretches where things just don't work like he or we would like Baker will be fine.

I saw as did many of you I am sure AVP and Ski approach Baker towards the end of the game, whatever was said had Baker upset. I would think there was a long talk today about what was said, Baker like the rest of us has to believe in these guys who are working with him. I am sure he thought about it and was in today working on what they are asking him for.

The defense is so good it's scary and this team is championship caliper right now today. To think they will get better is unbelievable.

It truly starts up front with Garret, Jackson, McDowell, and Clowney. these guys are all bringing it every single play they are all out. Then they are bringing in Takk on 3rd downs and kicking Clowney inside they are simply unstoppable. Cuz is no joke and they made his afternoon a nightmare.

Jok one of the things that jumps out is how fast he is. I am not a big college football guy so my 1st real exposure to Jok was the pre season he jumped off my TV set with how truly fast he is. In the Bears game a lane opened right in front of him as soon as he saw it he was all over Fields. His instincts are off the charts he is a ball hawk. If he doesn't make the play he blows up the blocker and allows his teammates to finish off the ball carrier. What a great great great daft pick. He is as advertised and in fact I can't even begin to tell you how trilled I am to have this kid in the fold.

Greedy Williams, man oh man the kid hasn't started in 2 years gets his shot and he is all over it, I will be honest I didn't think much of him in his 1st year but while he didn't play he sure was all in on the mental side of the game and more importantly what he has learned while out showed up in this game. Oh and against top shelf talent.

There is no aspect of this defense that isn't well manned and it's so nice to be able to see Baker have an off day and for the defense to pick up the slack and put on a performance like they did. Yup folks there that good.

Will it be like that every week. I doubt it, but lets hope??

Tabber I know you have health issues, I need you to hang in, and congratulations to Evan and his bride.... Great young man I was so impressed with him when I met him. Your poor wife is sent from heaven. Hard for me to believe she was yelling at the TV. Seems so calm and loving the Browns do strange things to people, don't they?

We are on track to win it all folks that's what I see clearest of all............

Gotta get to 1-0 next week. We have some work to do as a team I believe it will get done.... Who is with me?

Good post, Tabber.

I never thought about the aspect of illegal man downfield. I don't know if that was the case, but I sure hope that was what was going through Baker's head, because otherwise, that left my jaw wide open.

as usual, Tab covers everything so well...

I can't figure out what's up with Baker.. I mean, come on young fella.. Get your game on again.. Must be the left shoulder.. I guess. But that just doesn't seem right.. Coach says not, Baker Says no... but damn it, performance says if not that, what?

Anyway,,, On to the Best D in the land.

2 weeks ago, fans were asking/demanding that Joe Woods be fired.. now he's a genius... So much for those that wish to be Jim Rome Clones.. Be brash and mostly wrong

Garrett and Clowney are doing exactly as we thought they would. But they aren't alone.

Newly minted 1st round pick goes down, second round pick that missed a year due to injury comes in and does a terrific job.

Delpit is taking hold... gotta love that..

JOK,,, seriously,, the kid is everywhere.

Irony: the guy we released ended up on the Vikings and ended up committing a penalty that may just have cost them the game. what the hell was sheldon thinking.

All in all, we won. That's all that really matters. But Bakers has to get something going.. SOON

I do not buy this line of thinking for a second. Literally, other than some pretty thin correlations that require you to ignore absolutely everything else, it holds no water at all.

Baker needs to fix Baker.
The rest will fall into place after that.

damn, I never considered that, either..... anyone have the All-22??

I don't necessarily disagree with the idea that Baker needs to fix Baker, and it's hard for me to believe that OBJ could possibly be that big a negative for Baker.

Having said that do numbers lie?

Do your eyes lie? Mine said he played better without OBJ, and now OBJ comes back and here we are again. Logic says it's BS, but eyes and numbers say it's real?

I seriously doubt Baker is counting heads while running??? But hey right?

Anyone can count to two, if they see the OL downfield

If a fat man is running upfield, it's not hard to see.

I always have trouble reading peoples minds on abbreviations. It took me 5 minutes to get that Cuz = Kirk Cousins, though context did give me it meant the quarterback somehow.
Man,
Celine Dion can bring it sometimes.

I saw Ski coach like poop … he’s human, lets hope that’s his yip for the year ….

I saw Bake play like poop, very unBake like, every QB has bad games … Bake will have another one or two … quit making excuses for him tabber, he was bad on a few levels it happens bro … your way way better than device but your excuses bring u down to his level my friend …

I saw analytics have a bad day … the probable outcomes didn’t work out yesterday …. Like with Ski and Bake analytics had a bad day …. It’s gonna happen as there only probable outcomes not guarantees ….. I do hope we start letting our FG kicker get more chances even if analytics says go for it, I’m not sure if he’s hot or good but he’s on fire right now, ride the hot hand while u can and hopefully at the end of the year we’l know he’s good and not just hot …

I saw a D shut down a very good O … after an incredibly rocky start witch was to be expected, there playing better than I thought they could the last two games this early in the season … there gonna have yips but barring injury we could be real good …. Hopefully the D can have a bad game and the dolts won’t be screaming for Woods head …

With Ski, Bake and analytics having a really bad day we still won on the road against a team with a really good O … WOOOOHOOOOOOOoooooooooo

3 - 1 … LETS GOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

Too Funny to not quote.

Offensively That looked similar to the 6-38 loss in the opener last year. With a better score result.
Hopefully Bakers' shoulder and everyone elses injuries heal up soon. (Bench Schwartz for Higgins).

I will say that the Greedy int was a thing of beauty and coaching and recognition. He knew his primary assignment and broke it off and hightailed it to the spot that was recognized and made the int. A slower player does not get there.

Great play by a player who has been injury prone, but healthy on a day when we needed him.

That's a picture I could have done without......

We all agree with that. There was also the play where he was running and did some "high step" move or whatever it was.


Baker....you are a lead foot. You have the speed of Paul Zukaskas. It is the weakness of your game. Don't go out there trying to look like Lamar Jackson, it won't work, it doesn't look good on you.

Hubbard was back in Limited Participation this past week. I'm hoping he can get back to Full Participation by Thursday. Then, we can start Hudson while still giving Hubbard rest, and if need be, we can then put Hubs in while holding Wills out as a last resort.

Here's what I think I saw from the O & STs:

Baker had a bad, bad game;

Baker's shoulder is causing him physical problems. 26 year old pros don't lose their physical attributes (essentially overnight) without some injury issue;

If Baker is too focused on feeding OBJ, then that's on Baker. He's the boss now...OBJ works for HIM;

Both of our OTs are not playing well right now. They are both dinged up and not moving like they can/have/should. The interior OL looks very, very good again.;

I don't think - and got into with "he who's name shall not be spoken" last year - that our "weapons" are all that special outside of Chubb/Hunt.

OBJ might still be special...but we aren't seeing SPECIAL just yet. I think it needs more time.

Landry is very good and the glue to the weapons that we DO have...he's out another week at the minimum. He makes the most out of what he really is.

Higgins is a terrific #3 WR. But when your #1 isn't playing like a #1 yet and your #2 is out...well...you know.

DPJ and Schwartz are young, developmental guys who flash every now and again. DPJ rarely gets separation and Schwartz is still in the doghouse for running his route like an old man instead of a world-class sprinter.

Njoku/Hooper/Bryant are all good TEs. But not one guy is special. I'm not expecting Kelce or Andrews type of special but the guys like the Bengals Ozumoah make plays that NONE of our TEs could hope to make;

I'll put this here again so no heads explode...Baker had a bad, bad game vs the Vikings;

Our Kicker is playing with a great deal of well-deserved/earned confidence right now. Our STs play has been very good...I think Prieffer deserves a lot of credit for that...and YES...having a good roster from 1-53 makes his success much more attainable.

I love KS. Probably our best coach since Marty. I hope he's our HC until he retires. But I lose my mind when we run these empty backfield sets...and regardless of down and distance. Chubb/Hunt/Felton are all weapons to run the ball, run a pass pattern/outlet and/or catch a screen pass. All three of those guys are special players/playmakers...much more so than a 3rd TE on the field or any WR not named OBJ/Landry/Higgins;

The OT's and C are dinged up...Baker is dinged up...and the message to the Defense is that we are going to pass the ball. Hunt - in particular - is a fantastic pass-blocking RB;

Lastly on KS...why the infatuation with the Pistol? Baker is not a statue...but he's no threat to run the ball unless it's some bootleg/mis-direction thing...which you wouldn't run from the pistol anyway. Get Baker under center for play-action options...let Chubb/Hunt line up behind Baker where they can see the OL move in front of them giving them an extra 1/2 second to decide where to go...I know we can throw form the Pistol too...but it just looks clunky when we do so.

Clarification: KS has forgotten more about football than I will ever know.

JMO

Agreed...this is the classic week to take advantage of the new rule for game-day actives when you can have an 'additional' player active if that additional player is an OL.

I think Njoku is that special guy but for whatever reason the Browns don't use him like they should or could.

I know the brass in Cleveland see's him that way and I know Ski must or he would not have had is 5th year option picked up.

It's sorta sad cause I think we are missing out on Njoku he truly has special in him, but he doesn't call the plays nor does he design them.

Perhaps the thing with Bryant is can he do the job? If not do we fall back on Njoku?

Seems to me the Browns have wasted a lot of money on Njoku and likely based on early season returns they might as well have not picked up his 5th...

True enough there is no shortage of weapons on the Browns Njoku I believe could easily add another dimension if only the Browns would use him.

I can understand why you might skip over Njoku and I bet you are shocked at the number of teams that will go after him if he makes it to FA.

I agree about Njoku. I think he could be utilized even more. Plus he’s worked on his blocking

Nobody in this offense is going to get the # of touches to really maximize their impact. There are too many guys that "need" more touches, and for the WRs and TEs, Baker (when he's playing well) likes to distribute the ball. He's not a guy that does well when specific pass-catchers are emphasized. I think this is the same for the offense, in general, where a big staple is many options for plays off of same/similar looks. The unfortunate reality is that a guy like Njoku just isn't going to get the targets he needs/should get.

I have been really impressed with his play, though. In his limited opportunities so far he's done really well. I've kinda done a flip-flop with the TEs this season.... Hooper has the albatross of a contract, but he really doesn't stand out in any particular area. He doesn't have bad hands, but my mind always goes to him being the #1 paid TE whenever he lets ones go through his hands (doesn't happen often, but it happens).

well, if the offense was clicking better the last two weeks, he'd have been used more.

Chicken<->Egg.

Everyone looks underutilized right now because nobody not named Chubb or Hunt was doing anything the last two weeks.
Besides that, in this offense, with this coaching staff, there will never be anyone that is THE GUY. We will spread it around constantly; that is what keeps defenses from being able to say "just take away 'that_player' and you stop them". Defenses can't focus on anyone because we can hurt them with everyone.

Like everything, it's a trade-off. We don't get a player that will be the BSPN stat darling that announcers will ogle on Monday Nights, but we do get a group of professionals that all can hurt a defense at the drop of a hat.

I'm not intentionally skipping over Njoku's potential/value in my critique of our overall 'weapons'. You and I are quite like-minded in what we think he CAN do or be...but...for some reason he just isn't yet. I don't know if that's on him, Baker, KS or just the circumstances...or all of the above.

He's quite valuable even at his current level of production/usage...but as of right now, he's not special...even though I think he could be.

He *is* special. His stats aren't, right now.

And he has been for what seems like 20 years now.

Maybe he needs another year to break out in to the beast some think he can become?

Wait, he will need a new contract. I suppose we need to give him a big contract because he is going to become a beast.

I know this, I’d trade Njoku’s promise for Waller, Kelce, Kittle, or Andrews’ actual production.

I think that is a problem with some fans they don't see talent as an indictor of what they could be...

Njoku has all the tools and I don't see game tape so I can't see if he is or isn't getting open, but when there is a play to be made he displays play making ability.

He is easily one of our most athletic players and has shown good hands.

Having said those things I see him as an almost totally ignored resource.

Not one of those players you named would do better if nobody ever threw them the ball....

But yet, many have posted that Ward played horrible. I thought he was pretty good. Even the best will give up a play to a good reciever.

I think Ward had a rougher game than we are used to seeing, but he certainly earned his paycheck.

There were no offensive lineman downfield. Baker was so locked on OBJ that he never saw Felton wide open for an easy first down.

I gotta admit- this one still has me scratchinh my head.
Dude- what?

A piss poor decision was that.

It was obvious on the play, and even more obvious on the replay.

Is that OBJ at the top outside? Is he looking at DPJ running the Slant from bottom up?

Doesn't matter. Not taking the 1st down with Felton was pure idiocy and inexcusable. Priority 1 is keeping the drive going so that you get to stay on the field.