DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum AFC North News and Notes 2021

I don't see it but we'll find out come Sunday. It just doesn't seem logical to me that you would try trick plays with someone on the practice squad. I would think if you're going to run any trick plays it would be with players that were on the 53 man roster so that they could be well practiced plays over time.

Just a guess on my part.

Stanton’s been with the team two years and practices everyday.

But being on the practice squad he doesn't practice with the first team. Like I said, we'll find out on Sunday.

Week Six Results:

Ravens 5-1
Bengals 4-2
Browns 3-3
Steelers 3-3

By way of tiebreakers....the Browns are in last place in the AFCN.

Groan.

Schedule lightens up, go get some wins.

The wins better start against Denver or we are screwed

We already need help from other teams to have ANY shot at the post-season.

No, not yet. They just need to beat the Ravens head to head twice and beat the Bengals twice and split with the Steelers. Then win the same amount of remaining non AFC North games as the Ravens, Bengals, and Steelers and they would win the division.

"Just" beat the Ravens and Bengals twice? With the way this team has been paying and the injuries we have? Not likely.

I know this doesn't follow the sentiment on the board right now (and I know why), but I think that we should still do well vs our division (if we can get at least somewhat healthy).

We're working out way through a brutal stretch of the schedule. Other than Chicago and Houston, we've played teams that are LEGIT. I've already said what I think about our performance vs playoff-caliber teams vs the Chicago's of the league, but we're talking about our upcoming divisional games, and trying to predict.

Let’s play the schedule game … this is a plausible scenario IMO … 10-7 and borderline playoffs.

Denver - WIN
Pittsburgh - WIN
at New England - WIN
at Cincinnati - LOSS
Detroit - WIN
at Baltimore - LOSS
Baltimore - WIN
Las Vegas - WIN
at Green Bay - LOSS
at Pittsburgh - LOSS
Cincinnati - WIN

17 games and the AFC is stacked. 10-7 almost definitely isn't going to get it done, not even for the 7th seed.

I tend to agree. I felt the Chargers loss was totally deflating to us and took a big chunk of our postseason chances away. That was a brutal defeat

Probably not as it stands today. We will probably need 11 wins to have a fair shot. We will probably need 12 wins.

Right now we are a win short of where i thought we would be. I really counted on a win against either the Chargers or the Cards. Denver was a toss up game, so the Thursday night game becomes pretty darn important.

It may be a bit too soon to call it a make or break game, but we are pretty near that break point. The ice is pretty darn thin and the temps are getting warmer. If we lose against Denver, which we almost always do, this season may not only be lost as far as playoffs, but it could get down right ugly.

Sadly I agree. I felt we needed to win either of the last two weeks, but lost both. I have a sinking feeling that this ship is going down … lose Baker (even though he hasn’t played well) and we are facing a 6 win season

I recall when the season began alot of people thought a loss to the Chiefs was no big thing
As in the Browns were a automatic shoo in for the AFC Championship game
Well every AFC team the Browns play is a important game.
If the Browns and Chiefs are tied with same WL record at the end of the year
And they fjghting for that last wild card spot, then the Chiefs get in I believe.

The Browns just don't look Hungry this year.

We might split against Pitt/Cinn, but based on what I've seen, no way we split against baltimore and if Burrow is healthy,I don't see splitting that either. Don't think we win against vegas either. The division games are even more crucial at this point now. But I think if you lose Thursday, it becomes almost impossible to make the season salvageable

I feel myself sliding into the rut of depression followed by apathy (you know, the same rut we had for the past 25 years). I was hoping this year would build on last year, but it looks to be the opposite

This is where I'm at. See, unlike some posters I'm not going to make some silly statement that "I think Baker has reached his ceiling" while he's out there playing with a shredded left shoulder. That's just insane.

I'm not going to blame the refs on the last two losses when our roster has been decimated with injuries. Would the results have been closer without bad officiating? Maybe, but we didn't lose those games because of it. I'm not going to fault an OL with both of our OT's out and even Tucker, third on the depth chart at OT out.

What bothers me most is it just looks like the players on the field have given up. As if there's just no hunt left in the dawg. Due to the massive amounts of injuries I really didn't expect us to win either of these last two games. But I expect to see a team fighting like they were trying to.

j/c:

That’s a pretty big deal.

It seems like nobody wants to step up and make a play
This guy is expecting the other guy to make a play.
Outside if Baker and Myles , who is embracing a leadership
Role?

And yet, they may still win the Division

It's only one position.
Even their situation at RB is just one position and that position actually gets fed by the QB's ability to run. Put another QB on that team and their RBs go NOWHERE.

Basically, they're barely banged up, at all.
They aren't even remotely as hurt as our roster.

they would need to lose 8 more positions to be down as many positions as we are. Hell, we even have backups on IR

Yeah, we're not down one OT, we're down 3 OT's. Both starters and Hubbard is on IR. We are at 4th and 5th on the depth chart at the starting OT positions.

I saw the Ravens line up against the Chargers. At one point they lined up with 11 players near the line of scrimmage, 9 on the line of scrimmage, and the Ravens shut down the Qb of Lac.

Now, The Browns, don't seem to benefit from this kind of play calling on defense. The Browns, though ultra talented, ... well whatever,
everything stinks, they lost, 2 of the last 2.

I meant! It seems like the Ravens, were benefiting from gambles, on defensive playcalling, vs. the Chargers, and

It seems like the Browns, never took those gambles, and then... at the end.,

I mean listening to the local media person say, "player x is a really good quarterback who just beat the Browns.

Well, It's the NFL, it's full of "really good quarterbacks" when your defense, is predictable, vanilla, unchangeable, segmented, and unimaginative, and hoping that you are going to win because you have better talent?
Which is fine for most times but,
the NFL doesn't like your city or team, we all know that, and if the league would just call a pass intereference,
well they can't if the qb is so confused he doesn't know where to throw the ball.

ie when the chargers played the ravens, ............

I don't think we are out of the running yet because there is so much football left and literally anything can happen. Lamar and company could get dinged up or hit a losing streak for any number of reasons. Same with every other team in the NFL. Browns came in the best roster on paper AND they still are... we just need them to click and play/coach to that level AND to get healthy and stay that way. But like most of you, I am disappointed at this point too.

First: Thanks, Prp... for giving us a 'quick reply' typing field that tags the target poster instead of the OP. This is great!



OCD: agreed, at this point.
I think Thursday's game will be a "bait & switch" for America's National Audience because the promised team will be on the bench.
I think it will be excruciating for CLE fans who had circled this game on their calendars. They team they expected to see is on the bench.

That said, I'd rather see a cobbled-together M.A.S.H. unit of a Browns team led by backups/fillers if it means getting to see better football in 2 weeks- and beyond. If I'm right, none of our signature players are out for the season to date, correct?


yup...and I also think that the team this FO has built is designed to win in the back half of the season- which is still well ahead of us.
These guys are coming back. All of them. There will be games that still look clunky, even after pieces get plugged in, but I expect >.500 ball during our 2nd third of the season.

_____________

If this team was to experience adversity during the season (and almost every team does), there is no better time to experience it than now. And the adversity CLE is experiencing is due to injury. Of the 3 losses on CLE's record, only one was lopsided... and for the obvious reasons. In the other 2, CLE played the game as (at least) an equal. Breaks in the game decided the final score- not CLE being outclassed. That same team (or much of it) will be back on the field around or before 2021's halftime.

I guess what I'm really saying is this: for once, I'm not jerk-pulling the trigger on "Browns Doom & Gloom."
The same elements that made me feel confident about a playoff run (and Berea culture change) in pre-season are still here. The guys with numbers just need to get back on the field, and the guys with clipboards (tablets) need to remember what worked for them last half of last year.


Then, we'll let the dice roll as they may- and see if Jan in a possibility.
Clemmy's not ready to roll sleeves and grab razors. 2/3 of the season is still ahead.

*edit* and... if they do manage to recover, and mount the campaign that our roster suggests they could mount... won't this dip in the season just add to the final story?


.02

Week Seven Results:

Bengals 5-2
Ravens 5-2
Browns 4-3
Steelers 3-3

I believe the Bengals are now in first place in the division and Ravens are in second.

If you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Bengals would be leading the AFCN going into week 8, I would have laughed you off the board.
Just heard they lead the AFC... ???

Thanks!

Cincin is going to eat Joe Woods for lunch if he doesn't send the House at Burrows .. Non stop pressure from all angles . Yea , you will get burt a couple of times , but if you don't Cin will put up 40 points on us .

Next week's game is the battle to avoid the basement...

I'm not trying to start yet another Baker/QB thread, but people laughed at me last year when, after Cincy got Burrow, I said Cleveland now had the 3rd best QB in the AFC North.

It's hard to rank him over Lamar now, just because Lamar has won more, but Burrow will be the best in this division soon, and it won't even be close IMO.

It's certainly going to be a hellevu 2 game stretch with season implications in both weeks. For all the support Woods has received - I still have major question marks. Hopefully we don't lose anyone else and are nearly full strength on D both games so we can have Woods call the game as he wants instead of forced compromise because of players missing. The way Ward has played this year, Greedy/Newsome starting at CB is not a drop off. JOK is a major missing piece but then I'd be shocked if Pit and Cinci are not dealing with similar issues come game time.

Closer to 60

Having all this talent on the Browns which is unusual, may be teaching me something. Because I have recently had the chance to follow more closely other teams media through selected shows, that I never had in years past. So, all I could be sure of, is even though teams like the Titans, or the Chargers, or the Cardinals, 2 of which were in a group of 5 non browns teams I followed very closely what their folks were saying all summer, and learned
Even though they, some of them, (the titans,) are CLEARLY bringing lesser talented weapons to the kickoffs,
the fact they are all getting more out of their players is teaching me the Browns aren't getting the most out of their players.

Except for Myles Garrett, I can't get behind an argument that the Browns are maximizing any of their other players that come to mind, their big names of talent on the Browns, nobody is getting maximized production.
Not a single one you can think of except maybe Myles.

It's crazy it makes me think, what would a real top group get out of all this talent, if , well it makes me think the Browns coaches are totally overmatched, or something.

Coach of the year is suddenly a bum? I don't believe so.

Woods I still have some concerns with - but I am not giving up.

But as far as max production out of our talent?

The entire OL are amongst the very best in the NFL.
Our Running game and RB's are the envy of every other team in the NFL. Our 3rd stringer just ran for 146 yards in prime time.
We have had spectacular production from "no-name" WR's like Higgins and Peoples Jones. . . . And the 'superstars' who aren't producing like OBJ have dropped critical passes and are oft injured - at this point I don't think OBJ can be considered elite, he might not even meet "Good" by the standards of PFF ?
Njoku and the TE have all been good. Njoku who has been woefully inconsistent from his first day is having a career year and is blocking and catching better than ever.
Before getting injured Baker had two spectacularly accurate games. Since the injury - you can blame bad coaching or you can hate on Baker or you can ponder whether such a debilitating injury just might have a smidgen of an impact?

We have a rookie CB starting and looking every bit the part.
We have 2 cast away DT's on the DL who are performing admirably.
JOK has flashed. Delphit has flashed. Greedy back from a year off looks good.

I think sometimes people see what they want to see, or post in an overly negative perspective - well "just because".

Browns have had horrific injuries (and that IS a concern for whoever the fitness coach is) - but we are ABOVE .500 and we have 6 division games in 10 games against some really good teams. No-one said it was easy or there was going to be any gimmes.