DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2023 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 20 Bears 17 Postgame Thoughts

I didn't see anyone mention him yet (could have missed it) but what about JOK? He was everywhere on the field yesterday.

It's a possibility. It would be great to get a home playoff game.

I got a notification from the Browns about playoff tickets. In the past if you even had a possibility of the playoffs you had to send in your money which could be refunded or applied to next years season tickets. I guess the positive of digital tickets is you now pay as you play. A much better way. In the past I would just take the credit to my account. I am now at the age where I don't want to pay for things too far in advance..LOL

Not that we would get the home field, but tickets for the AFC championship are set at $546 per seat, for my club seats. Prices are set by the NFL. I guess they just take the teams ticket price for each seat and mark if up X percentage.

So if any of you start looking for playoff tickets and get ticked by the prices and mad at people for charging so much, just understand the starting price is a lot higher.

getting Pocic back and Bitonio healthy-ish is really important. Our OL is literally on the fumes of fumes

Not for nothing, but they held them to 10 points. 7 came off a pick six. Hell, even the other 7 was due to the Bears starting at 1st and Goal.

A great win and sign of the resiliency this team has faced with all of the injuries up to this point, and even, into yesterday's game. Players are really stepping up and having a veteran QB who can remain stoic and focused even after the number of interceptions is an important asset down the stretch.

- Really thought the OL played poorly but because Teller is the only starter left and some positions (C and RT) are down to third stringers. Hopefully guys can get healthy. However, we need to do something about replacing Hudson. I don't know the solution, but it ain't him.
- Njoku continues to play like a stud TE, but we can let people argue about his contract and value.
- JOK was huge yesterday. I don't think Andrew Berry values the LB unit high compared to the DL and secondary, but I'm sure he is making them consider an extension sometime soon.
- Didn't understand the 4th down call using DTR. I think it was a bad call that ended up working out.
- Nice to see effort plays from Mitchell, Hickman and Bell in the secondary. We're going to need that hustle as we close out the season.
- Hopefully guys can continue to get healthier and are able to play these final three games.

Week 16: Houston -2.5; Over/Under 42

j/c

Going through the playoff simulator thing ... we aren't as "sure" to make the playoffs as the surface says. The Houston game is HUGE for both teams. If we lose, we have to win the next two games, unless we want some pretty big help from others.

My doctor says my heart will get back to normal in a few days... Geez, what a freaking win.

What a win! They truly never quit or stopped believing they could win. That's huge in terms of culture. Seemingly trading places with the Steelers...finally...

Harris is better as a roving lineman like he had been used. Didn't help us much on those short yardage situations. Whoever came in for him after he was injured didn't seem terrible. Any reports on that guy, whoever he was?

JOK was an absolute monster.

What happened to Hunt? Did he hit the wall? He used to run like a Tasmanian Devil and now he just seems to have lost the burst. Back in 2020, he could have started for probably most of the rosters. We need another legit RB. Ford ain't it.

We had 2 100 yard receivers.

My thought at the end of the half was that Flacco turned back into a pumpkin, and he did. Then he turned back into a stagecoach in the fourth quarter. My heart can't handle that.

Hope Bitonio is okay. The amount of injuries we have is beyond ridiculous at this point.

DL did a good job of making sure that Fields was always throwing with poor motion.

Garrett once again got royally screwed by the refs.

Can't believe Mooney dropped that ball, but hell if I care.

Njoku is really starting to come into his own. Tillman is also getting some targets, which is encouraging.

I was bagging on Flores' defense against the Bengals, and rightfully so. He showed blitz and dropped back into coverage. It kept failing. He kept doing it. Schwartz truly mixed things up. It was such a juxtaposition watching both of those defenses perform.

Denzel Ward may be our most valuable player on defense. Perhaps even more so than Garrett.

Forgot one thing: Hudson is the "fish" on our OL. He is the worst by far, even with all of the other guys being off the streets, besides Teller.

now we know why Cleveland Clinic is the #1 heart hospital ... tons of practice

Side note of something I've repeated on here.....I'd like to start seeing more Pierre Strong carries and less Kareem Hunt carries.

bingo. Strong has some BURST to him ... just don't trust his blocking or hands as much

To your point and Memphis - yes, JOK had a career day. Not sure if that stats say it was his best game ever for the Browns - but from an impact perspective he was outstanding.

On the Hunt/Strong discsussion - 2 things.

1. Agree I'd like to see more Strong. Whether he takes Ford carries or Hunt carries or a bit of both. 2. I'd like to see Hunt used less in terms of banging it up the middle for 2 yards - we seem to be using him specifially on short yardage runs ... wasn't there a comment the other day by one of the game commentators saying they knew exactly where we were going to run it with Hunt in the backfield?? Seems like it might be a bit too predictable.

Also props to Njoku - made some grabs that were MUCH harder than the drops he mad last week. a little redemption for him. I'd love to see him be that guy for the rest of the season - Capt. Obvious I know.

Yes, but 9 times out of 10 he gets the two yards and a first down. Nothing wrong with that

The Ravens have a hard three games ahead of them. I’m stil for winning the AFCN. Let’s go Browns. Win out baby

I remember one drive in the game where Flacco was almost picked off twice in consecutive plays. I told myself, damn Joe they’re jumping your routes. Gota get out of the pocket and throw over the top of coverage when they do that. that’s what he did. I’m so glad we picked this guy up.

No doubt. I guess there is a trust factor with Hunt that he doesn't fumble, but I have been saying most of the year the guy is nothing more than a plunger at this point. Good for 2-3 yards and that is about it.

I have long felt that the middle 3 are more important than the tackles. Tackles are just harder to find.

As long as a tackle doesn't get beat inside the QB has a wall to step towards and ruin the rush angle. All are important, but I want that wall in front of a QB. If a QB gets bum rushed right up the middle, it's over.

our OTs were really bad yesterday. There was a stretch during the 2/3 quarters where it was basically just a free rush to Flacco

That's one area where he really needed to sync with the wide receivers. He likes to throw before they hit their breaks so that the ball makes it through the tight window. Problem is sometimes they don't break the way he thinks they will and then it goes for the INT. Like you said, start throwing more of it over top, which he thankfully did. Bears were selling out to jump on the "friendly" (as Eli Manning calls them) breaks and started leaving the long plays open.

I'll be honest, some of the Bears coverage schemes really had me scratching my head. I think they had a DE covering Njoku at one point. I get that you have that kind of stuff when you disguise your coverages and even more so with blitzes, but the mismatches there didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Sanchez actually mentioned on scramble plays ( which there were many ) He noticed Flacco waiting for the receiver to turn and look at him before he threw the ball.

If you need a yard, he'll get you 3. If you need five yards, he'll get you 3.

The bad from yesterday -

--I thought the offensive game plan was poor. I get it's hard to run with backup OL everywhere. But Stefanski doesn't play the long game. He's too anxious and antsy. I think it was Chris Simms commenting this morning that he doesn't understand Stefanski's play calls with our defense. Run more than once in a row. Be comfortable going three and out. I don't think Flacco passing 40+ times a game is sustainable. I put way more blame on Stefanski yesterday than Flacco through those first three quarters.

--Myles has to get home. 4 games in a row no sacks. Without looking it up that's probably the longest he's gone without a sack. He needs to finish. He finishes the sack in the first quarter on Fields and Fields doesn't get the TD to Kmet. Stats and attention are important to Myles and he's pressing. Just finish.

--The PI call on Emerson in the first quarter was baffling. That same side judge took her eyes off of Tillman for a split second late as he got thrown out of bounds. How convenient.

--Why is Strong not getting more carries?

--Why has it taken so long to get Njoku involved. Every season this happens.

--Turnovers.

--No defense in the history of the NFL has been given more short fields to defend due to turnovers. And no defense let's up TDs on those short fields like this Browns defense. This is the craziest thing I think I've witnessed with the Browns in twenty years. Teams literally only score on the defense because we always turn the ball over deep in own territory.

--Two games in a row and a ton of empty seats in the stadium. I don't get it.

--I do not like conceding the hail mary. I think that's a terrible decision. Too much can happen. Play your base D, rush 4 or 5, and drop the back end guys back. Why even let a team get the pass off. Ugh. Could have been really bad.

--Flacco through the first three quarters.

--Sanchez's hair.

The good -

--I was lukewarm on Stefanski coming into the season. No coach in recent history had done less with more. Now he's doing the opposite. He's doing more with less. The coaching job this season has been phenomenal. We need to see a few more years in a row of it, but maybe, just maybe the culture is being set from Berry on down and it's all coming to fruition. Play tough, play together (no agendas), play tough within the division, be a place players want to play at, reward your own. You have to extend Stefanski and Berry at this point no matter what happens the rest of the season.

--Although Myles didn't get home he was disruptive. The refs did retaliate for his criticism and would just not call any holds on Myles. It was pretty sickening to watch. If I can see them from my couch...I mean come on.

--I said weeks ago Njoku was one of the only true leaders on the team. Watch the locker room celebration. I think Stefanski feels the same. He's also playing lights out.

--Shelby Harris doing his best Maurice Hurst impression. No drop off. The team is deep and the players believe at all levels...first string, second string, on down. It's pretty fun to watch. Most Browns teams in years past would have packed it in. I think it's a real testament to how Stefanski refuses to acknowledge or hang his head about injuries. Filters down to the rest of the team. Schwartz as well. They expect the backups to play like starters with no drop off.

--Tillman is starting to come on. I had concerns. Since his dad coaches at the high school he played at here in Vegas, his parents come to the local Browns Backers bar here to watch the games. I know the president of this Backers club and she said his parents are awesome and have become big Browns fans. It's got to be exciting watching him start to have some success. Will have high hopes for him next year.

--Alex Wright sighting. That was a nice play. Still undecided on him, but that was a big play at the time.

--JOK. JOK. JOK.

--Flacco in the fourth quarter. It's fun listening to Joe in interviews and pressers. What a great guy. Of course, we thought he was a jerk for ten plus years, but what a great guy now.

I also could not handle the "ebb and flow" of that game. Go ahead and throw me into that group. :-p

One other thing that's irritating to me: Tillman has hurt us quite a few times with his lack of awareness/experience. You can tell he has some physical skills, but he's cost us too

I've got friends hat like the Pats, Giants, Packers etc. and they all sound like me when talking about their teams. Just the way it is when you're a big sports fan.

Happy Birthday!

thanks OCD

I'd like to think that winning this game is huge (mentally) for the D. They were out playing lights out and were able to hang in there until the O got in gear. It's got to be a huge mental charge for all that gritty play to pay off in the end.

I just hope we can keep this group almost completely intact going into next year. I know there is always some roster churn, but now would be a good time to trade away draft picks that we really don’t need to use. Only take premium players if you get the opportunity, or trade those picks for better future picks this off season. Just my opinion, but FA to fill the holes would be smarter going into another uear where you expect to make a run for the SB.

Stefanski never loves to run the ball more unless we are in the lead.

Njoku has always been the super talented TE everyone thought he was. It just took a competent QB to show everyone those skills.

TLDR: I'm used to being negative with the Browns and I still don't trust Stefanski, but I need to enjoy the ride.

So a day later and some introspect, I might qualify as one who has a negative view of the Browns overall. I think a lot of that is the Lucy/Charlie Brown thing - I've been following the Browns probably since 1965/66 when I can say football interested me. I saw the Kardiac Kids, The Drive, The Fumble and idiotic possession calls that determined playoff pictures. Like many here, I suffered through The Betrayal Move and then watched my former Browns win a Super Bowl under some bogus crap that the very city that stole them bemoaned about when the Colts moved to Indy. I've seen a hated coach divest the team of one of the best QBs to play the game, then move on to win 6 Super Bowls. I've seen every year since 99 and as it seems like you get close to kicking the ball, Lucy yanks it away. I'm conditioned to be skeptical; to believe that the team is cursed and will never deliver the sweet satisfaction of making it back to the Championship level. Kvetching is what it means to be a fan in my world.

And then I thought, how is it possible that this team has lost 22% (or more) of it's #1 Players (if you count 11 O & 11 D), that works out to 3 key personnel per side, and then losing the backups is crazier? How can this team be 9-5 with 4 different QBs, and now while he's got some mileage, they have a 38 year old QB playing like he's mid-20's again. How is it they can look so bad, but eek out key wins?

I still don't like Stefanski's play calling and his sometimes questionable clock management, but I do have to give him credit for taking a team that has more walking wounded than the M*A*S*H 4077 and keeping incredulous hope alive for both the team, and the fanbase.

Maybe I just need to accept that the team may not survive all that's befallen, but I need to enjoy the ride knowing that everyone else in NFL-Land can see the Browns have done something magical.

Yeah, I remember him talking about that as well. I think that happened after he got burned on a couple INTs where he spot threw and the receiver went the other way.

Four starting QB's and the Browns are 9-5. On one hand you whine about Stefanski while you compliment him on the other hand. I don't think your harping about him would end even if he coached this team to the SB.

Happy Birthday Buddy!