I haven't been posting on the Post Game thread the last couple of weeks due to how bad it's gotten. The constant griping, negativity, and agenda pushing is beyond old. I saw recent post from jfan about how tab's What I Saw thread was his favorite because it was more about football and less about emotion. That isn't exactly what he said, but something like that. I also read Clem's post on the Post Game thread that addressed all the negativity.

We all know that tab is having health issues. I don't want to steal his thread, but I thought I would post this thread where we could just discuss what happened during the game. No fire this guy or that guy. No personality clashes. Just football observations from those of us who like to talk football. I think there is room for both the emotional/agenda posts and real football talk in the same forum. I'll start and I hope some of you who like to talk football will respond.

While the game was agonizing at times, I also found it enjoyable. This was a battle of two desperate teams who have been facing a lot of scrutiny from their fans. Baltimore has also faced it from the national media because they have blown 3 double digit leads and Lamar has struggled the last couple of weeks after a torrid start. I thought both teams played hard and neither gave up. The Ravens fought back after we took an early lead. I thought the Browns effort was outstanding even after they fell behind by double digits. There were a couple of questionable calls that perhaps influenced the game, but in the end it was a hard-fought game that wasn't decided until the very end.

Some observations:

Offense:

--JB had a nice game. He still holds the ball a beat too long on deep passes and he probably was responsible for a couple of the sacks. However, he was 22 of 27 for 258 yards. No TDs, no interceptions, and one fumble that was not his fault. He also eluded the pass rush and made some positive plays more than a couple of times.

--Chubb had a nice game against another stacked box. Chubb ran hard and his will on the TD run was nice to see.

--Njoku was having a very nice game and unfortunately had to leave due to injury.

--Cooper and DPJ played well. Cooper probably did not need to push off on what would have been a sure TD. That's tough, but he made some very nice catches. DPJ is getting better and better. I think he has earned a role on this team as either a #2 or # 3 WR.

--The OL had an up and down day. They had some very good plays. However, they weren't their usual self in terms of not allowing penetration. There were a couple of running plays where Queen just shot through the gap and threw Hunt for losses. They also allowed too much penetration on some of the passing plays. I would not say they were bad, though. They did open holes for Chubb and gave JB time to throw much of the time. I do think we missed Teller quite a bit. Froholdt seems to be pretty good at run blocking, but is a liability as a pass blocker. It's too early to put that label on him, though. Just my observation from this game.


Defense:

--Everyone knows this, but once again our DTs are a huge liability. I can't tell you how many times I saw them get turned sideways and contained by a single blocker. It's the biggest reason why we continue to get gashed by the run.

--I think Myles had his usual good game. Wright and Thomas flashed at times. Neither are particularly strong against the run in terms of being strong enough to ward off blockers, but both guys got penetration at times and made some plays. Clowney had a couple of good plays, but I was expecting more.

--JOK also flashed on some plays. He forced that fumble and slashed in to make some tackles. However, he isn't stoudt against the run and he struggles at times to bring guys to the ground.

--D. Jones played primarily on passing downs. Phillips played more on first and second down. The latter is done for the season. Jones should be an upgrade. I noticed Jones a couple of times for his play recognition. We need more of that.

--The secondary as a whole did a nice job. The corners played well. Delpit tries hard, but he is so bad in coverage. It takes him so long to recognize the play. He is good at slicing in and making plays against the run, but I don't think he will ever be a guy who is good against the pass. JJ was late to provide deep help. He did make a couple of plays, but his play doesn't back up his mouth.

Special Teams:

--Once again, this unit was bad. DPJ is better than Felton as a punt returner, but I think he should have let that second punt attempt go instead of chasing it down. We were pinned deep and that led to the two plays by Queen that stifled Hunt. Turning point.

--We also returned one kick off that should have never been run out. We got a holding call on the play and once again, poor field position cost us.


Coaching:

Stefanski: Good game plan that took advantage of Baltimore's strategy on D. I thought clock management was good. I thought 4th down decisions were good. I would have probably run Chubb more in the second half than he did.

Woods: No real complaints in regards to scheme and calls. I also think they did a great job on Lamar. He was just 9 of 16 for 120 yds. Only 59 on the ground. We also sacked him a few times and pressured him into throw-aways.


Priefer: We had at least two kicks sail over DPJ's head where he had to chase them down. I'd blame the coach for that. Their punter has a big leg. Should have moved DPJ back, especially after the first one. It's easier to run forward than chase down a ball over your head. Also, I immediately questioned the decision to move the ball up a half yard on the last FG attempt. It screamed of a possible block.

Officiating:

I typically do not talk about the officials and I probably won't do so much moving forward. I will just say that the PI calls and non-calls didn't quite seem the same. We get flagged for getting handsy. Baltimore didn't. Some qbs get a flag thrown if the defender gets close enough to him and has bad breath. We didn't get the call. The call on Dunn was .....put it this way.......how many times have you ever seen that call in all your years of watching football?

Anyway...........I'm hoping that those who just want to complain about the team will keep that out of this thread and in the Post Game threads. I hope we can actually discuss the actual game in this thread. I look forward to reading your football takes from this specific game.