DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2024 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 17 Cowboys 33 Dallas

I watch every single Dallas game - Lamb and Dak have been on my fantasy team for 4 years.

Here's what you need to know:

- Their offense is high paced and high flying (luckily we aren't playing them in Dallas). They can score in bunches through the air ... but their run game is a big question mark this season with new parts and some injuries.

- The guy I worry about beyond Lamb? Definitely Ferguson - stud TE. Probably going to be a top 3-4 guy in the NFL this year.

- Their kicker is by far the best in the league - he's automatic inside 65 (and he's actually never missed a kick yet)

- Their defense is banged up right now - lost a CB and DE. But Parsons is a game wrecker. That's why our OTs are so important this game.

- I don't have a good feel for how we will guard them or if we'll be able to block them up front ... those will determine our success

I'm not sure how firm the grip is, but I've got some impressions.

They've added some young guys on the OL who are somewhat unproven, but Guyton, Tyler Smith, and Beebe have some throwing guys out the club type clips in the running game. They've looked pretty good in the preseason. I'm slightly concerned Rico Dowdle could have a big game between the tackles, and even Zeke might be able to find room. Of course, Guyton wasn't facing Myles in the preseason.

The defensive interior seems to be a concern as I've seen some bigger Cowboys guys on X wonder if Ika might be an upgrade. Without Chubb, I'm not sure how much we'll be able to take advantage. Our guys we have seem to prefer bouncing it outside. Hopefully, it will mean a firm pocket to step into, and concerns will mean LBs filling hard leaving voids for Njoku on play action.

The Daron Bland injury is pretty big. They might end up starting a rookie opposite Diggs at outside CB. Unfortunately, they've got perhaps the best DB coach in the league in Al Harris.

Parsons and Lawrence vs our tackles is not an ideal matchup. We could need the defense to put some points on the board.

Could be an ugly, low scoring affair. ...or not, you never know in week 1.

I'm not sure that is 100% true for all teams. While there is turnover on every roster, O's that have the same coaching in place, running the same system, with most of the same key contributors on O in place certainly have an element of familiarity and fluidity that teams which do not have all of those elements must face which present a bigger obstacle. I feel that such offenses that I have described only needed some practice to reestablish that timing and are already pretty much "in sync".

It’s going to be a tough game.

I think it will go down to the wire. A true coin toss game.

All I know is myself, wife, Sooga and her fiancee will be there. (he's a cowboys fan)

And I've explained to him if the Browns win, he'll have a very quiet ride home. If the Browns don't win, he'll have a very quiet ride home.

I hope for a good game. With a W for the Browns, obviously.

1.5 weeks gents!

The last time we played them, at their house, OBJ saved us with that end-around as Dak was making a comeback.

This one will be decided by a fg.

Man, I might have to splurge for tix! Gonna be a great one!

Have to edit here… who remembers back in ‘94, E-Rock hitting Jay Novachek on the goal line as time expired.

Even though we’re 10 days away, just reading this thread has gotten me a bit uptight. No joke.

It's mind-boggling how different this Browns team is from that one.

Hell yeah!

Had to go to Dallas to try and beat the 11-2 reigning SB Champs, they were 10+ point favorites. And we did it! Four Stover FGs and the only TD a short pass to Michael "HeeHee" Jackson.

One of my first Browns memories. IIRC it was a Saturday afternoon game. Great ending

Yep. Three weeks later I attended my last playoff game. I remember leaving the stadium talking with other fans -- we all knew there was no way would lose to Pittsburgh three times in one season. Not with that defense. 🤬

Ten months after that -- the ultimate gut punch.

The current spread is Cleveland -2.5 which means Vegas is considering Dallas the slightest of favorites

Don't you have that backwards?

home teams get 3 points regardless ... it means Dallas is a .5 point favorite on a neutral field

Ah, gotcha.

What Browns WR do you think could be the biggest beneficiary with DaRon Bland out?

I would have expected him to cover Jeudy

I'm not sure how it will work. I wouldn't have expected Jeudy (I think Jeudy will be in the slot with Cooper and Tillman outside primarily, with some mixing it up), but it's hard to guess. I haven't paid enough attention to Zimmer's D to know if he has corners follow specific receivers or mainly stick to a particular side. How/if he tries to cover for the replacement could also be a factor. Does he tilt extra safety help that way or play more zone coverage to not expose him to one on one man?

I'm actually kind of wondering if Ford could be the biggest beneficiary. With Parsons potentially applying quick pressure, dump offs and making a depleted CB corps tackle in space could be the play.

Could be the Tostitos offense for our RBs and TEs. Chip and dip. Delayed leaks into the flat.

I think Ford will be a beneficiary simply by how much he might be used. Not only in snaps, but in the passing game referring to your dump offs) as well. I just think they'd prefer to use him as much as possible over Foreman and Strong. That said, I'm curious what the Browns do if they get to goal line situations and if they use Foreman for more for this.

I think Foreman will basically be what Hunt was last year. short yardage/goal line back

I believe Nojku will benefit. The safeties will have issues contending with Moore, Cooper, and Jeudy. Ford is another person if Watson is given time.

We will soon find out how much we miss Bill Callahan.

I think the whole observations on the Cowboys lack of
running game would be valid if it were 1984 or 1977.
But it's 2024. It's a passing 1st league. The running game
is just a complimentary piece
If the running game was everything the Browns would
Have a SB under Stefanski
I think the key is obviously to keep tight coverage on Lamb
Make Prescott hold the ball longer than he wants
I can see a low scoring game on both sides
Dorseys offense is still a work In progress
Conklin will have his hands full with Parsons. He is game
Wrecker. No Deron Bland is a big advantage for the Browns
Jeudy should feast

I really think it comes down to which version of DW shows up vs which version of Prescott shows up. It'll be close if they both can play well, or if they both stink up the joint. If one of them staggers while the other is on par, I think it'll make a decisive victory.

They have the better QB, we have the better defense due to their injuries

Similar run games at the moment

It will be a close game

We have the better defense period. I agree that they have a better QB. I have no idea what Cook has left. If he plays like he did last year we have a better run game. One thing you didn’t mention is oline. They are starting two rookies and a bad RT.

Do we know who we're starting at OT? Or how healthy they are?

Steele might be better than you think, and their rookies could be good.

I do think our D Line should challenge them regardless. My question is just do we give up some big plays.

We'll see how the QBs shake out.

Hopefully Dorsey is a better fit with Watson than AVP.

As expected. Wills did practice today, however.

That's not good news. It seems that once again they may have to depend on Jones to pay dividends like he did last year at one of the OT positions.

JW said he won't be starting this Sunday. I guess he wasn't at liberty to tell us why.

Willis not playing is good news . Why? Cause he on his best day
Is a average LT who lacks fire and love for the Game
He is big cuddlely teddy bear who has been a huge bust

IIRC, Wills was the reason Jack Conklin got hurt last year too. Obviously unintentional but it did happen.

Who on the current roster is a better LT? Now you could argue that Conklin might be but there's no evidence that's true. And if you start Conklin at LT then Jones becomes your starting TR. So the argument then becomes is the combination of Conklin at LT and Jones at RT better than the combination of Wills at LT and Conklin at RT? I think it would be pretty hard to make that argument that the combination of Conklin and Jones is the better option.

It's all fine and well to dislike a player. But you yourself admitted Wills is "an average LT." So who else on the roster is an "average LT"?

Slightly off-topic...

If we start Conklin at LT and Jones at RT with Wills out of the lineup, can that be construed at the FO and coaching staff believing Jones is only a RT?

Unfortunately, he's still significantly better than the backups we'd put out there in his place.

I would conclude that may be what they're saying at this point in time. That would make this his first start in his second season and I doubt they view him as a finished product at this point in time.

I base that on the fact he only played in 11 games last year and only started in 9 of them.

I'd go with Conklin LT and Jones RT. Conklin is a better technician
and he is alot more mobile than Wills.

Have you ranked the LT in the league? You may find that Willis is nearer to the top than you think.

Willis is no Joe Thomes, but Joe spoiled many Browns fans into thinking that is the standard!

All kidding aside, good tackles have, for the most part, become very hard to find. Colleges do not use the tackle position the way the NFL does, making it even harder to evaluate. For those fans who think drafting a left tackle in the middle to the late first round is the better option over Willis, they may want to rethink it.

I would pay/extend Jed and then draft/develop a tackle. You'll need a replacement soon for Zadarius Smith and Bitionio too. LT may not be the highest priority needing replacement.

Or just that Conklin has more experience actually playing on that side? And/or they expect Wills to be back soon? Don't want to disrupt the chemistry?

Hard to tell the exact reason. I'm sure they looked at more factors than we've yet imagined.

I don't think Conklin is more mobile than Jones, though. Jones really surprised the heck out of me last year with the way he moves, and I'm honestly confused why they wouldn't give him reps at LT.

That said, they probably have... maybe it's just a tough switch for him? I wouldn't have expected him to have a problem with it at all, though.

To you and Oober, just my food for thought...

When you have a newly-minted "performed above expected" on your ledger, analytics probably counts that as a win and suggests you don't jerk with the karma. I would guess he's done with those reps for the immediate future. I mean, unless they're confident he can perform at nearly the same spread on the left side.

Not to ever say this can't or won't happen. I just think it would be a bad idea in year two unless disaster strikes.

This came across my Twitter feed. There's a section about biomechanics. Sort of a some guys are "ambidextrous" and some guys are one-side dominant. Some guys can switch sides and some guys can't. One leg noticeably stronger, and the other hip has less range of motion to open, perhaps.



Perhaps having to rehab in a sense resets (tries to "reset"/balance) any imbalance giving Conklin an easier transition. You'd think the training staff would try to keep things balanced for everybody, but some may have more inherent/"developed"/"entrenched" imbalances.

I approve.

that's the best choice IMO

Been thinking that for a while. He doesn't have "it."

I think he has the ability, but he doesn't have the drive. There are ample clips available out there where he dogs it on plays.

On the other hand, the coaches and FO must see something in him. Just being a positivity Pete here.

They see the only starter-caliber LT on the team.

You Canadians are always way too darn nice

I think oober's right. They see something that they can swallow for now. I think he's out the door after the year is over, unless no other team wants him and he comes back at a VERY team friendly deal, and I don't think the chances of that are all that great.

Also, I just want to remind everyone that I was the first to suggest Conklin go to LT and Jones go to RT with Wills out

Wills is SLACK. That's all you need to know.

I'm bummed for Jones that he no longer has access to Callahan. What a blow to our coaching staff.

But the world keeps turning. Wills has had Callahan since he was drafted and really doesn't seem to be moving in any sort of direction. Hope Jones has what it takes between the ears.

JC

No doubt Callahan was a good coach but I think we are acting like he was some sort of god.

I’d wait until after Sunday before making this comment.

does this mean Newsome might be out tomorrow

Why?? I'll make it after Sunday.

No. Ford was brought up for his special teams play

He lacks the desire to be great and he lacks hunger
People should go by what their eyes tell them.
If the Browns had to do that redraft again
They sure as heck wouldn't draft Wills
He lacks the violent physicality to be effective in
The run game and lacks the technique
To be a effective pass blocker