DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2024 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 29 Ravens 24 Post Game Thoughts

- It's amazing how much better the team performs when the stench of Watson is completely removed from the picture. It's unfortunate it took an injury to get him off the field.

- WR's that have always been open were catching passes in stride. Balls were not being dropped.

- The offense puts up it's season high in points.

- Winston is our 2024 Flacco.

- Chubb ran the ball much better.

- Tucker has fallen off. His leg is goo.

- Hat tip to Cedric Tillman. He has really shown something these past two weeks. Maybe there is in fact something there.

- Great job to drive the ball downfield by Winston today.

A win feels nice, especially after the Jim Donovan news. Gameball to him.

Go Browns.

That was a great win!!! Yes, game ball to Jim Donovan.

WE NEEDED THAT!

P.S.

That was high drama, especially towards the end (whew)!

what a Win!!

Winston, so many throws that could've went south. but soooo many throws that were things of beauty! the offense looks totally different with him in the lineup.

Chubb looked better this week.

and i liked seeing Jones at LT. keep Wills away from the starting job, please!

What a game. Defense played good, Hall looked good in the middle. Newsome could be traded, I feel he is a weak spot.

Chubb looks like he is ready to return to form

Winston played good also, and is showing that our WRs are not trash.

Tillman showing up is a nice surprise. Two weeks in a row. Juedy with some nice catches, and even Moore caught some cluth passes.

I think it is apparent now, Watson was the problem.

Time to stack some wins

I would like to see Jones grade at LT today. Seemed to hold his own.

Great win!

Funny that the team looked 100% convinced it could win today, and they played hard with Winston. We haven’t seen that since game 1.

The fact that we won today for JD proves God doesn’t hate us. Playcalling was so much more balanced today and we really attacked downfield. Winston will scare you sometimes with some wtf throws but he has a short memory and that’s the gunslinger mentality. With the exception of a couple calls there wasn’t a lot of plays on offense that were head scratchers. I think Dorsey called plays extremely well suited for what Winston does well. Easily the most enjoyable game of the season. We came into the game a mess and Bal were red hot and we shut that down. I think JD swatted a couple of those Ints out for us

Is that Jim’s wife? Daughter?

What a beautiful woman. Looks like Vanessa Williams.

Great win for the team. Much needed.

I Felt like the effort level was much higher. A new QB was needed obviously. And the O felt much more like the KS offense we've seen before. Winston could have been our Flacco for this year. Good throws/bad throws .. but real NFL throws

There is no way KS would call that last TD play. Dorsey called a great game.

Winston is a lot better than Watson. Addition by subtraction.

I will say the biggest difference is the ability of Winston to throw the long ball.

Tillman stepped up.

Chubb looked good. Teller is not 100% but there was better oline play. Jones was better than Wills.

Gameday Forum can be brutal.. A special shout out to RememberMuni. Enjoy eating crow for dinner.

ocd...the question is...do those in charge have the smarts to leave things alone..?

I think it is safe to say that no one (team or fans) honestly believes that the Browns would have won the game with a healthy Watson at QB.

That was the problem, and now is the problem for ownership.

A win with a TD instead of a field goal. Yep I believe the FO made a huge mistake not starting Winston to begin with. Watson clearly couldn’t perform for whatever reasons. Although I can see some interceptions coming our way. We’ll see. But a great win, with great teamwork. Ski called the time outs at the end to perfection, giving the defense short breaks.

Stefanski would absolutely call that play and has before. He called a very similar play on 4th and 1 when Brissett was at QB. Same results.

Is it any coincidence that we plug in 2 different veteren QBs, and they can throw 300+ yards and lead us to wins right off the couch/bench? Goodbye Watson, we hardly knew ye
Also, our DBs need some extra time on the jugs machine, Ward should have 5 picks at least this year

Winston is our future right now. Browns, if Winston is rolling, keep it going with him. Don't mess this up like you normally do.

KEEP HIM IN! DON'T CHANGE HIM OUT FOR THE SAKE OF IT! DON'T BE DUMB!

The Browns have a tendency to mess with things when they don't need messed with.

That is pretty funny, since a lot of fans have been calling for Ken’s firing because of everything else that has happened this year.

Ken if that is you, great call.

The OL played well, but the best part was Winston dropping back and throwing the damn ball on time. Oh he had some head-scratchers, but he looks like the new Joe. The OL looked better, too.
Funny how that is.
We didn’t have many pre-snap penalties today, which meant I had fewer urges to kick in my TV screen.

Our D did a great job keeping Henry in check for the most part, Hopkins was perfect with his kicks and my boy Ced Tillman is starting to blossom with a competent QB. Same with Jeudy and Moore. Funny how that is.

Victory Monday.

I hope JOK is alright, hope he won’t miss much time.

They mentioned it a lot on the broadcast, but Winston was much more decisive and on time than Watson ever was with us. A few of the passes to Tillman/Moore were: step, step, hit the back foot, ball is out.

Winston looked, basically, like Flacco did for the 2 month stretch. And so did the offense.

Only got to see the second half. Much More enjoyable to watch than most of the horse manure we've seen this season.

Winston wasn't great. Hamilton dropped the easiest of interceptions that would have ended the game. He threw a few passes that could have been taken away. But it was still so much better than Watson. Comparisons to Flacco make sense but I believe JF > JW. And if this offense needs a 3 step drop and throw, or 5 step and throw... And we have to live with the turnovers when JW gets it wrong, so be it.

The question then becomes how the hell anyone in the FO was rolling out DW as the best chance to win week in week out up to his injury.?? Either they are spineless or just bad at their job. Either way it doesn't change my opinion that they need to go.

Was it me? Or was everyone on offense trying harder because we didn't t have Watson back at QB? I don't know if that's because he's a douche bag or because he was mailing it in? Or maybe I'm wrong and it just seemed that way?

Anyway. Victory Monday feels better than the alternative. Very glad no one is posting that we should be tanking for draft picks.

The effort level was definitely geared up from the first play of the game. The players tried harder yesterday than the previous 7 games, for whatever reason (we can all make those assumptions)

That's what you can do when you have a QB who doesn't suck when he throws downfield. Flacco threw downfield a lot last season too.


The same thing that happened last season with Flacco. When you have a QB that can play the position you can let him rip the ball. It opens up the playbook on what plays you can call.

Joe Flacco disagrees.

- Completely different performance from the OL. They played really well.
- It was weird. Yesterday felt like a Stefanski offense being called by Dorsey. Up until yesterday, it felt like we had a Dorsey offense being called by Stefanski. I have no clue what is going on over there but it worked yesterday.
- The defense played well considering a high-powered offense.
- Nice to get a win for Jim Donovan.
- Great game from Tillman. Nice to see Moore getting involved. Njoku is awesome as per usual.

It's because often times men of wealth and power will believe they didn't make a mistake. Sometimes they think they can't afford to admit they made a mistake. In this case maybe a little of both. I'm not sure. But so much investment has been made in watson it would be a total embarrassment if they had to move on from him at this point. Sadly I think that's where we are at. And if they still haven't learned from their mistake we'll see a rerun of this again next season.


There was certainly a different attitude and intensity in what seemed like every facet of the O. The same thing happened last season when Flacco took over at QB. I don't think that's a coincidence.


Give it time.....

I agree that it's hard for some people to admit mistakes .... but this is year 3. We may have had a bunch of missed games and erratic time to evaluate DW but we virtually all saw and agreed he was playing badly.... If you are KS or Berry and your job is to put the team in the best place to win games then there is no way DW should have been starting past week 2 this season. If Haslam was calling the shots and KS and AB chose to tow the line instead of speak up like men - if keeping the job was more important than doing the job properly .... then it is no better than being poor judges of character.

I think we would first have to know who it was that made the call to keep starting watson. That's who I would say is responsible for the mess to keep starting him.

Maybe we just see this differently but for a HC to directly disobey the orders of an owner or their GM would not only impact his current job as a HC but any future possible HC opportunities. If you don't think that private 32 billionaires club talks between themselves and would blackball someone who did such a thing I believe we have a different view of that situation. Direct insubordination to 1 of those billionaires would have consequences from the other 31.

I don't entirely disagree.

But show me any coach who is willing to take orders from the owner when they don't agree with what the owner is saying and I'll show you a pretty weak coach who probably isn't that good. Or put it another way, tell me which of today's leading coaches would do that? Tomlin? McVee? Reid? I don't think so.

If I was an owner I'd rather a HC willing to do what they were convinced was right than a lackey yes man. Jmo

It's just ONE game...but man, what a game it was. This is the first time in the past 6 weeks I was actually "into" the game. I actually showed emotion and was at the edge of my seat cheering and jeering instead of just watching the mindless minutiae of the game.

As others said before, the whole Team had a different energy. You could see it and feel it. It was so incredibly nice to see a QB under center, running the ball and play action instead of shotgun 90% of the time. Still some absolutely dumb play calls in critical situations and we definitely got bailed out by Jim Donovan knocking away all the Ravens easy interception, but I'll take a win against the Ravens ANY day. Chubb looks to be heating up as well, which gives ME a Chubb. Having Teller back made a big difference. Having a QB get rid of the ball quickly helped the Oline as well.

It is only ONE game but if it continues next week and we beat the Chargers, we will have some great momentum heading into the bye week.

My simple explanation of what I saw.

Watson, shotgun, lateral movement into rushing linemen, check down to get out of trouble.

Winston (Flacco) Under center, 5 to 7 step dropbacks, passes further downfield. More time to adjust to rush, Defensive pressure has a longer distance to travel.

Bottom line, being a mobile/athletic QB is not a real advantage if you are always in shotgun.

Obviously no one is as mobile as Lamar Jackson.

A recent example of a coach defying ownership's wishes and quickly getting hired again is former Cleveland Cavs coach, Ty Lue. Gilbert and the FO wanted Lue to play the young guys. Lue refused (played to win rather than develop the young players), was fired and then was hired by the L.A. Clippers.

Reasonable owners, who want to win, recognize a good coach that is put in a tough position and are not put off by a HC that should, by all accounts, be given the latitude to manage anything that happens on the court or field. Another owner would seize this opportunity if they felt the coach was well qualified for what should be his job description. This is not the military where lives are on the line. It's owners trying to gain a competitive advantage over one another by any means necessary.

Owners talk amongst each other, but those conversations are about how to grow revenue, get new stadiums funded and increase profits. Hell, Haslam has said on numerous occasions, no owner was willing to offer them any advice as it related to what happens on the football field due to the competitiveness amongst the owner.

My one major gripe is we are still getting the play calls in late and breaking the huddle with like 10 seconds left on the play clock. It seemed to improve a little but needs to improve a lot to give time for Winston to look at the D and adjust or audible. When things were clicking with Baker, we got the calls in fast and he had tons of time at the line.

“… and we definitely got bailed out by Jim Donovan knocking away all the Ravens easy interception, but I'll take a win against the Ravens ANY day.”

Nice, I liked that post.

Postgame meal for the Winston family. They hit up local treasure, Swenson's (as a local, I have comments about the recent rapid growth issues, I digress, however).

Winston is pushing the, "he gets us meter" to a high level.

Begin at the 7:30min mark.

https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1eaKbaYmknRxX

I hope DW recovers well from his injury. Saying it in public. Even if he can return, I do not want him back out there for us. This team played differently, and JW helped to upgrade those around him. Best of luck going forward. Not a kumbayyah moment, but Dorsey called a solid game overall. I am convinced that DW could not have won Sunday. I don't think that JW is the final answer, but is a major improvement.

Go, Browns! My personal thanks to Donovan for years of Browns football. We lost one for the family. RIP

Winston has always been a guy with a WOW factor.

Sometimes it is a WOW!! Other times it is a WOW? At least he has been able to move the ball throughout his career. I think I would get him on a nice 3 year deal and keep him as the bridge to someone we draft either this draft or the next. This years draft is pretty deep at QB. We won't have to reach at the position if we don't get fixed on one player. There are some guys further down the list who i think can be solid NFL starters.

I agree. Wish Watson well. Hope he heals fully. Never want to see him in our uniform again

Bone you know what the bottom line is and has been forever? We don't have an elite QB. Not since Bernie have we had consistent above average QB play. When we got some from Baker, Joe and Jamius this past game our Browns looked like a real contender. We could use a position upgrade here or there what team couldn't but with us the main perpetual problem is the QB. If we decide to draft one next April in the 1st round, I would bring in people outside the organization for input. Peyton Manning comes to mind and there are others. It's sad because this team when healthy and with above average QB play can compete with anybody. I question our FO trade for DW with all the baggage but from a talent aspect I can understand why it was done. Everyone, including me, felt that he was an upgrade over Baker. We were wrong. I really feel Jimmy Haslam is doing all he can to bring a winner here. He gambled and made a huge mistake.

I hope we can somehow cut him before the off-season even ramps up. I don't want to have any articles, lingering dialogue, questions, etc. Just rip the bandaid off and go in another direction

I don't think he would splinter it. Oddly, Flacco is the one who splintered it. The team finally saw what they were missing.

If he comes back next year things would only splinter if we started to play the guy and he didn't ball out by the 6th play he ran. If he comes back, he will be like the dunce of the class sitting over in the corner.

The more likely deal is we will PUP him or IR him out for the season, then just cut him the next.....maybe work an injury settlement for that season and just let the guy retire rather than set-up and break down meeting rooms..

Funny thing, I was all set to NOT watch this game. I decided that no way would the Browns have a chance in hell to win.

Four primary differences I wonder about.

1. Winston under center

2 Dorsey calling plays

3. Chubb getting more touches ( I do understand bringing him along slowly)

4. Center of the Oline playing better

Not sure if it was one of those things, all of those things, none of those things or just the thought of winning for Jimmy!

But whatever it was, don't stop... That was a tight game but fun to watch. Give me more of that please.

How can we have looked so bad the first 7 games and completely turn it around in a week? We looked like the way we played last season. IMO it's not just DW's bad play. I don't think the team WANTS to play FOR him.

I'm so sick of mid-season "savior" quarterbacks.

I wish we could just have a proper plan in place at the start of a season for once.

j/c

Haven't logged in since the "issue"

Thoughts: It's amazing what even competent qb play can do for a team.

This year, I haven't seen hardly ANY passes completed over 5-10 yards. Until this game.

Amazing to me how our O line suddenly "improved". I guess when a qb can drop back and fire the ball, it makes the o line look better. When a qb can find an open reciever and throw the ball, instead of stand there and then run into a sack - everyone looks better. Weird.

Our receivers. You know, the ones some people said could never get open? Dang, they got open. (of course, as video shows over the first 6 weeks, those guys were open then, to. But the ball never got to them)

Now, we see what even AVERAGE qb play can do for a team. JW is not some savior. He had some picks that, fortunately, weren't picked. Of course, we could say the same about Lamar - let's just say there were a lot of picks that didn't get picked.

Bottom line, the entire TEAM looked different with JW at qb. Take that for what it's worth.

I'm sorry you had an "issue".

You are a BADDDDD MAN

This game exposed the real problem at the core of our struggles and it's pretty much inarguable at this point.

I'm going to try to get around to rewatching both this game and the previous one. As I've said before, I am so very intrigued by this little experiment we've unintentionally run here.

I'm still trying to get over the fact that some felt that the Watson situation wasn't the main source of the team's woes to this point.

you're new here huh..lol That kinda goes for alot of things with this team. Their motto should be "There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over"

The rhythm was just so different. The cadence. Everything was just so much better.

There's a tweet that I'll have to go find, but Gregg Williams mentioned how Winston consistently hit his plant foot. It made it easier on the linemen, and the cadence synced up with the route progressions, too. I'm no football expert, but it's something you do notice when you rewatch the game. Watson really struggled with it.

He also got rid of the ball on time. Another issue Watson had. Now, sometimes Jameis got rid of the ball after misreading the coverage, but luckily he escaped without a pick. You could say the same for Jackson though, too.

I just saw the game on NFL channel; only heard the radio broadcast. Great win again! We looked crisp. Still stupid penalties, but overall it looked like intentional football. Not swooning over JW after one very good enough game, but it was a damned sight better than the crap we have put out to this point. Hard to quantify, but were looked crisp. The sideline was engaged, head in the game. We looked eager. We tries harder. The same non-tacklers showed up. The lazy were not as evident as often. We gave up chunks, but overall survived an opponent on our home turf, won for Donovan, scored more, and looked competitive.
This game was fun to watch. I am eager for this Sunday. Couldn't have cared less for the rest of the season. I would have watched out of habit, loyalty, boredom. And been angry probably.
Great win.

j/c

Anyone hear JW's pregame talk? Play for the name on your back. Play for the name on your helmet. Well, we ain't got no decal." https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3Zo2aPBcdpk

j/c

I'll speak in the most general terms I can:

1. This team looked like a team on Sunday.

a. O players on the sidelines boosted up D players as they left the field.
b. Same was true, the other way.

2. Energy was palpable. Positive vibe was evident to anyone watching the game, whether on TV or in the stands.

3. On D, tackling was crisper, more sure (this has been a pain in my backside all season)

4. Special Teams handled their business.

5. Fan gameday experience: Sunday's Browns made me feel the way 2023 Browns did: no matter what happens next, it's worthwhile to watch the entire game. No game is out of reach, and anything might happen.



________________

After holding back my opinions on the DW acquisition for the last 2 years, I'll speak out now.
I believe that the Deshaun Watson acquisition is about the only thing that could derail a 2024 CLE bid for a deep post-season appearance any more efficiently.

I may not play pro ball, but I do understand 'team psychology.' After all, I've been playing on a 65+ team roster who performs in front of the public for almost 40 years. Players know who helps The Team, and who doesn't. We'll never shirk our professional duties, but we'll prob never give our all for someone who doesn't inspire us to be the best versions of ourselves. Guys who wear NFL uniforms are not so different than guys who wear tuxedoes on Game Day.

On Sunday, I saw a Browns team that looked nothing like the woe begotten bunch that took the field for almost 2 months. A team that looked/played like those 1-15/0-16 years.

All it seemed to take, was one change in the lineup.

I hope the best for Deshaun Watson's health/recovery... but I won't miss him when he's finally off the CLE roster.
After 40 years, I remember guys like him


After all... how can I miss you if you were never really here?

Jameis is a natural born leader and appears to be a great man as well. The type of individual you want at QB representing your team. He is EVERYTHING Watson wishes he could be. You can tell the other guys on the team really care about Jameis and play with an extra effort\zeal when he's in.

I think we should develop him for long term.

"After 40 years, I remember guys like him..." the way I remember players like Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow 2: more hype than help.

I don't know if it was not wanting to play for him, but the lack of play at the QB did bring down the level of play at other positions.

I think we need to cool our jets on Winston. It was 1 game (against a sneaky-bad pass defense, allegedly). I'm hoping he can be a marginal improvement over Flacco (age and arm), but we really caught lightning in a bottle with Flacco last year so I'm really trying to temper expectations of doing that again.

He's not someone you hitch your franchise to - as Tampa learned. He does work hard and puts in his best, for sure, but he's not THE guy. However, the difference going from Watson to him has been astounding, and I don't care if we're just talking about one game.

That's quite true. At this point in his career on any given day you may see "the best of Winston" or the "worst of Winston". What we saw last week may not have been the best of Winston but it was neighborhood adjacent.

We need a bridge QB. JW is as good as anyone in that role.

Bone, in everyone's life problems arise. The next step is how you go about solving those problems. If you can't do it yourself and are not sure about it, you look for help. That's where our FO is at now with the QB position. This organization hasn't been able to get it right at QB for over 30 years no matter who was making the decisions. They should step back, be humble and get the some outside help. That would be the prudent way to go at this point. It's a shame because when healthy and with just decent QB play this team could go far.