Fire woods, replace 10 of the 11 on defense, teach Garrett a counter inside move ask if he really wants to be the guy, did I mention fire woods, get a new kicker, touch nothing on the offense, we finally have the offense we have wanted
Meh, loss smosh... Baker is the Franchise IMHO. We played a good close game against a tough team playing for their survival. They got a few more breaks and we didn't. Big deal. Good game.
I wonder what would have happened had Lamar stayed on the field. I also wonder what kind of drugs he was given in that locker room (if any) because his eyes looked glassy. We really need to figure out how to stop him from shredding us with his legs. Take that away and he is a below average QB. Let him run and he is legendary.
This defense is hot garbage. It's hot garbage with spirit that tries hard, but it's still hot garbage. I think the scheme and Woods are fine, but the players we have to trot out there just aren't good enough to run it effectively.
The offense needs work. We couldn't do much at all until their secondary began dropping like flies.... we're good, but we're not as good as many think. We have a long way to go.
Fun game. Terrible telecast. I hate Monday Night Football and hope we never get another game on it as long as ESPN runs it.
it is hard to dethrone the champ...but we are getting close!! Lamar is fantastic, but he's not quite as good as we made him look, defense has to do better than this
Too many missed assignments keeping outside contain...looked like everyone on defense wanted to play hero-ball.
For those blaming Woods...I doubt his scheme called for an inside blitz on 4th down and the DE to crash down inside as well...that mistake cost us the game.
Gutsy performance by Baker against a good defense...we finally have the coach, GM, and QB in place; fun times ahead the next couple of years!
1) The Refs - Blatant hands to the face + Holding on their O-line all game long. FIFTEEN MEN ON THE FIELD, NOT 11, NOT 12, NOT 13, NOT 15, FIFTEEN. And on the same play they ignored a illegal contact.
2) Stefanski. When there was 1:21 left on the clock I was begging with the TV To pleas let the clock run down. You only need 28 seconds to run 4 plays, so we wanted to make sure if we scored it was the last play of the game.
That wasn't the only boneheaded calls he made all game. I think he'll improve in time, but he got outcoached today.
Blaming our kicker is a lazy take, IMO. We had plenty of opportunities to make up for that, but our defense was stupid. Sendejo regressed back to his own mean, and just a lot of really dumb plays out there.
Mack and Johnson trying to give Sendejo a run for his money for biggest liability out there. O brought us all the way back (something I and many others said they couldn't do), and we had the Ravens on the ropes a couple times and we start running at Lamar up front and just lose their biggest receiving threats on the back-end.
I will give Berry some crap for staying put and not getting Sendejo replaced before the deadline. This dude was awful, and had huge misses on like all of their scoring plays in the first half.
I think we also need to find some Lamar kryptonite in the form of a LB or LB/SS. Even if he's just a special teams guy that only gets to play D when we're playing the Ravens is fine.
Man... hell of a game.. heart break of a loss but hell of a game...
That INT really hurt... but Baker is a friggin baller... Offense is amazing. Great moxy and hell of a fight... too bad the defense couldn't contain Jackson... Dude tore our defense up...
we need to upgrade the defense and kicker... I still think we make the playoffs this year but if we upgrade the secondary next year we could be a legit superbowl contender... this offense is legit
we need to run more though... that last offensive drive I really wish we would have used more clock... after that first big compeletition I was hoping we'd run it a few times.
Way too much "I am dissapointed but this is a bright spot in the dogpoo pile" Insert obvious example that changes nothing....PUHLEEZE! We sucked the entire game in the part that mattered most for the situation. If I hear "we battled" one more damn time EVER...... That is all.
All we had to do was run the ball. Thwy couldn't stop chubb or hunt the whole game...and yet we wanted to air it out
This is the part that I didn't understand at all. Why were we so 1-dimensional in the first half? Then, when we're down late in the game we decide to start mixing it up and it's working.
All we had to do was run the ball. Thwy couldn't stop chubb or hunt the whole game...and yet we wanted to air it out
Nick Chubbs two games with the least amount of carries (other than Dallas when he got hurt) were both against the Ravens... only 17 carries today... and Hunt only had 6... that's way too few...
1) The Refs - Blatant hands to the face + Holding on their O-line all game long. FIFTEEN MEN ON THE FIELD, NOT 11, NOT 12, NOT 13, NOT 15, FIFTEEN. And on the same play they ignored a illegal contact.
2) Stefanski. When there was 1:21 left on the clock I was begging with the TV To pleas let the clock run down. You only need 28 seconds to run 4 plays, so we wanted to make sure if we scored it was the last play of the game.
That wasn't the only boneheaded calls he made all game. I think he'll improve in time, but he got outcoached today.
I was kind of bummed when Hunt stretched for the last TD after seeing how much time was on the clock. Would have rather had a fresh set of downs on the 1. But who knows if they would have held or not...
There was nothing wrong with Baker, Stefanski, or the offense tonight.
The D, as has been the case all year, can't get off the field on 3rd and 4th downs.
Then to not double cover Andrews on the last drive is an egregious fireable offense. The whole nation knew that's who he was throwing to, except Woods and the Browns D. You have players running into each other on 4th done. Geesh. Friggin embarrassing. They let a RB beat them with the pass.
I am so proud of this team. I really am. I know we need some pieces, but we have our QB and our coach.
Good to see you post. I agree with you on the coach and QB. We need some more pieces on D but I’m not going to complain about it now. We are in the playoff hunt with three games to go.
Needed to play disciplined and physical on defense and we were anything but. That is how you beat the Ravens. That 4th and 5 for the game was hot garbage. Vernon dropping into coverage - blitz inside leaving Lamar the entire half field to roll out. Absolutely confounding. MJ Stewart is God awful and he is on Andrews at the end of the game. Really. Definitely missed Ward and Harrison.
On to the Giants - hope there is no hangover from this. Need to ramp it back up and beat a better than expected Giants team this Sunday.
Needed to play disciplined and physical on defense and we were anything but. That is how you beat the Ravens. That 4th and 5 for the game was hot garbage. Vernon dropping into coverage - blitz inside leaving Lamar the entire half field to roll out. Absolutely confounding. MJ Stewart is God awful and he is on Andrews at the end of the game. Really. Definitely missed Ward and Harrison.
On to the Giants - hope there is no hangover from this. Need to ramp it back up and beat a better than expected Giants team this Sunday.
yeah... I'm hoping this pisses them off and gets them focused... partically the defense...
I lost it when I saw that play developing ( Vernon dropping into coverage ) Thats what I talk about when I rag on Woods .. Reminds me of Wilks last season.
This defense is hot garbage. It's hot garbage with spirit that tries hard, but it's still hot garbage. I think the scheme and Woods are fine, but the players we have to trot out there just aren't good enough to run it effectively.
The offense needs work. We couldn't do much at all until their secondary began dropping like flies.... we're good, but we're not as good as many think. We have a long way to go.
Fun game. Terrible telecast. I hate Monday Night Football and hope we never get another game on it as long as ESPN runs it.
I agree with you on most everything, except I'm not srue about Woods, itsure seems like he made zero adjustments in the game, Lamar just kept having his way when he'd go to his right, both with the pass and especially him running the ball.
Parkey needs to go, and the D needs some upgrades, LB and the front 7 need a bit of help, need another CB to go with Ward and maybe Greedy if he can hang.
You are also correct in saying this teams record is inflated, by a weak schedule. We've beaten 7 or 8 teams that were below .500 and only 2 teams, I believe, that were .500 or better, Colts and Titans. So that means we're good at beating bad teams, but we have not proven that we can sonsitently beat the good teams, not yet.
There's talent to build around and I don't think were that far away. Just need to do a good job beefing up the D and that should go a long way to making us completely legit.
I don't care about the record being inflated... we've beat 9 of the teams on our scheudle.... we've sucked for years so of course our schedule is easier than some others....
and I'd trade OBJ in a heart beat... we play better without him... Baker can distribute the ball around without having to worry about getting it to OBJ.... trade him for some picks and draft defense...
I don't care about the record being inflated... we've beat 9 of the teams on our scheudle.... we've sucked for years so of course our schedule is easier than some others....
and I'd trade OBJ in a heart beat... we play better without him... Baker can distribute the ball around without having to worry about getting it to OBJ.... trade him for some picks and draft defense...
I think this game desperately showed why we need OBJ. We could not complete a pass against man coverage until their corners started going down. You need a dynamic number one. Hopefully with Baker's growth this year he can learn to play with OBJ. It's a Baker issue, not an OBJ issue.
We do not trade OBJ until week 6 to see if Baker is better with him or if he regressed with OBJ.
I think we've already seen Baker is better without him, when he was in the game, the Browns and Baker would target OBJ way too much and it cost us multiple times.
I'm not saying not to use him, but the ball needs to be spread around, Landry has been doing way better than OBJ has for us, so has Chubb and even Hunt. I even think HOoper would be better if he had not had to have his appendix removed.
Good game, too bad we lost. The offense has arrived. The defense, not so much. Blaming Woods, as some have, makes no sense to me. We all can see he's working with starters who should be back-ups, or in at least 1 case, retired.
The improvement this team has shown is remarkable. It would be a storybook ending to make the playoffs, get to, and win the SB. But realistically, what the Browns have shown is more than most of us reasonably expected.
KS has done a fantastic job, but if he has a weakness, it's clock management. Not stopping the clock before the 2 minute warning, then not burning more clock before scoring, although it's hard to fault Hunt for working so magnificently to score. But Stefanski is a rookie, and allowed to make rookie mistakes.
I don't care about the record being inflated... we've beat 9 of the teams on our scheudle.... we've sucked for years so of course our schedule is easier than some others....
and I'd trade OBJ in a heart beat... we play better without him... Baker can distribute the ball around without having to worry about getting it to OBJ.... trade him for some picks and draft defense...
I think this game desperately showed why we need OBJ. We could not complete a pass against man coverage until their corners started going down. You need a dynamic number one. Hopefully with Baker's growth this year he can learn to play with OBJ. It's a Baker issue, not an OBJ issue.
I will second this. The announcers also talked about it.
That being said, the team doesn't seem to fold up like a tent anymore which is nice to see.
I think we've already seen Baker is better without him, when he was in the game, the Browns and Baker would target OBJ way too much and it cost us multiple times.
I'm not saying not to use him, but the ball needs to be spread around, Landry has been doing way better than OBJ has for us, so has Chubb and even Hunt. I even think HOoper would be better if he had not had to have his appendix removed.
I get the argument that Baker played better both before the OBJ trade, and since his injury. But I'm not sold on the conclusion that it will always be that way. Baker is learning and growing. It could be that when OBJ is healthy and back, the experience of success without relying on OBJ may mean Baker will be better at integrating OBJ rather than relying on him.
I have noticed that Stephanski does not generally use TO’s until under 1 minute. It is a philosophy that has some merit. As we saw with the Hunt TD, a minute can be a lot of time.
One wonders if Hunt does not score if the game goes to OT. Potentially with a different result.
Scoring too early with the game about to end is not a good thing.
One of Stefanski's greatest attributes is clock management.
He's certainly better than Pettine was. Pettine saved timeouts like he planned to give them as Christmas presents. He ended a bunch of games with TO still in his pocket.
I saw Garrett open up huge lanes for Lamar, but didn't notice Vernon.
2 sacks and a pass defense c
I meant regarding allowing Lamar to run (the post I replied to... should've quoted it).
The whole thing was a disaster on defense. The defense played better when Garrett was out. I know that sounds insane, but it is true. When Garrett is in, I think Woods feels like he needs to be creative and call all sorts of exotic blitzes and it gets us in trouble. Both Garrett and Vernon are probably just doing what they are supposed to do, but the results are horrible against running quarterbacks and strong rushing attacks.
We should have came into this game with a similar approach to what worked last week against Tennessee. Five men on the line, each maintaining their gap. If you force Jackson to throw to the outside from the pocket, he is less effective.
Go watch the last touchdown pass by Jackson. They send Joseph on a safety blitz, which forces Vernon to have to run out to try to cover the back coming out of the flat. These crossing paths ends up creating a pick on our own DBs which alows Marquis Brown to get wide open. Did the blitz accomplish anything? no, Joseph runs right into the line, gets pushed into the middle of the field and Lamar is able to cleanly leave the pocket. If he hadnt thrown the ball for a touchdown, he probably could have run for 15 yards.
It is so frustrating to watch this defense. The Ravens are not that good of an offense. Their biggest games were both against our defense.
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
I agree and disagree. The Ravens have a good offense. Jackson is special and requires a special approach. Containing him in the pocket is easier said than done. Limiting him to only outside throws is easier said than done.
The Browns do not have the players to contain Jackson and he is far more of a threat than Tannehill
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
We scored 42. How anyone can criticize Stefanski and/or the offense is beyond me.
I agree and disagree. The Ravens have a good offense. Jackson is special and requires a special approach. Containing him in the pocket is easier said than done. Limiting him to only outside throws is easier said than done.
The Browns do not have the players to contain Jackson and he is far more of a threat than Tannehill
We don't have the linebackers or safeties to contain a player like Lamar Jackson.
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
We scored 42. How anyone can criticize Stefanski and/or the offense is beyond me.
Quoted for truth. The offense did not lose this game.
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
We scored 42. How anyone can criticize Stefanski and/or the offense is beyond me.
Because we should not have had to score that many. The ravens could not stop our run game even when loading the box. Because of that we could have easily scored many more point in the first 2 quarters forcing Lamar to beat us with his arm instead of legs
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
We scored 42. How anyone can criticize Stefanski and/or the offense is beyond me.
Because we should not have had to score that many. The ravens could not stop our run game even when loading the box. Because of that we could have easily scored many more point in the first 2 quarters forcing Lamar to beat us with his arm instead of legs
Although I feel we will lose to the Steelers and either the giants or jets and miss the playoffs, I hope stefanski realizes now that we need to depend on the running game more. Especially with 25mph winds. After airing it successfully against the titans in decent weather he for some reason felt he could come back to Cleveland and air it out tonight in that wind against one of the best secondary in football.
We scored 42. How anyone can criticize Stefanski and/or the offense is beyond me.
Because we should not have had to score that many. The ravens could not stop our run game even when loading the box. Because of that we could have easily scored many more point in the first 2 quarters forcing Lamar to beat us with his arm instead of legs
This coming from the guy who tried to convince me drew brees retired 30 years ago. Whatever.
Lamar won the game, simple has that, he is a winner.
Stefansky miss managed the end of the half and ended up costing us, although I think Lamar would win the game no matter what.
Regarding Baker... love how he plays when he has a chip on his shoulder, hate when he just stands and looks he does not know what to do and his decisions take too much time. Great end of the game for him, he gave us an opportunity to win and that is what you need from a QB.
The Defense... Lamar is special, if you want to win against Baltimore you can't have a close game.
My overall feeling is that Stefansky blunder in the end of the half ended up costing us the game, that was just stupid game management when you have Lamar on the other side.
Bakers decision making on the grounding was atrocious also, he just had to take the sack and let the clock run, the Int was also ugly, but in the end he made up for it, and more. Good 2 games, but he and Stefansky must make sure his performances are more consistent.
Article: Daniel Jones and the offense need to score more points, yada yada yad...
part of the article. " The only team to score fewer points than the Giants on the season are the 0-13 Jets."
Giants are also only giving up 101 yards of rushing a game. With wills and teller having injuries to thier ankles this could be a tough game. For what it is worth. The espn matchup predictor has this game almost at 50/50. Giving the browns a slight edge with a 51% chance to win.
Hopefully the Browns can get Ward or Hooper back to be a part of the active roster..
The Ravens have a talented roster but the Giants also have a talented roster. A quick look at their off. depth chart, ... I tried.
The Browns need to respect the Giants may look just an eeensie, tiny bit less of a star studded roster than the ravens, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to reach out and bite you in the backside if you let up.
Giants have made 26 of 27 Fgs on the year, that is about 2 per game,
They have Dion Lewis, and Wayne Gallman at RB, and Daniel Jones, and Colt McCoy at QB,
Some tough outs at Wr,
They have Jabrill Peppers on defense, and I hated to see him go, They have Jabaal Sheard on defense, and I hated to see him go.
Tough loss. Could've clinched a playoff spot and eliminated the Ravens tonight. Now Browns must beat both N.Y. teams to make playoffs. Browns need to forget this game and get ready to beat the Giants and they better not lose to a winless Jets team!
If you score 42 points you should win the freaking game! Lamar is good but defense was pathetic! The defense and FG/PAT kicker cost us the game.
This sounds strange but we actually scored too quickly near the end of the game. We should have used more time. Gave Lamar and their offense way too much time.
Also, they way our defense was playing should've gone for two instead of kicking to tie the game and playing for OT. We couldn't stop Lamar the whole freaking game. What made Stefanski think his defense could stop Lamar in overtime?
I really hope this loss doesn't cost Browns the playoffs! It shouldn't.
This doesn't have anything to do with how the Browns played or the outcome of the game but the announcers were just as pathetic as our defense. Felt like I was watching a Ravens home television broadcast. Steve Levey was practically gleeful every time Lamar made a play or the Ravens scored.
Louis Riddick said something like the Ravens are going face more explosive teams than the Browns. So according to him the Browns are not an explosive team? Really?
Yea I know Lamar is great and league MVP but Levey saying here comes superman when Lamar was leaving the locker room after what they said was leg cramps, and Riddick trying to sing the Superman theme, was a bit much.
There's no mismanagement at the end of the half for the Browns. I don't understand why I keep seeing this. It's more like poor execution by the offense.
We aren't even remotely in that game without Baker. The last time someone scored 40 on the Ravens was when we did it last year.
Poor defense. Especially on the Marquis Brown TD.
This shouldn't hurt our playoff chances and we don't need to win out. In fact, 1 more win should do it for us. A lot of things need to happen for us to miss the playoffs. We won't.
Honestly, this was a great game. Whomever had the ball last was going to win. I knew when Hunt scored we were done. Shouldn't be that way but we couldn't stop Lamar and they have the best kicker in the history of the game.
As Citizen said, the offense puts up 42 pts and the Browns still lose the game?...that should not happen!
The defensive coaching staff...are they up to the task?
I don't know, but I do know we need to add a few players to that side of the ball to get a good read. Beyond the defensive front, which isn't all that good, we aren't even close to average at LB or backfield.
In the end they have a great field goal kicker and we do not. In a game like this you may not be expected to kick a 55 yard field goal. Tucker can make that kick.
But Parkey needs to make anything 40 yards and under. You can miss extra points.
On defense my pre-game post. on the matchup was protect the middle of the field. We did not.
Not much you can do with a player like Lamar. Especially when he decides I am running this game. To hell with what happens to me. He is so hard to corner and so difficult to tackle. We actually played good defense. We just don't have a player to stop Lamar.
On offense we scored 42 points and left 4 points on the field. Hard to fault that.
Baker played well but the int. hurt bad. Bad mistake that really hurt. But to his credit he came back and we were in position to win. If Lamar doesn't come back into the game we win.
We just could not stop him when it counted most. ====================================================
We will recover from this. The Browns are a good team.
Our offense is a tough ticket to handle for any team.
We are just a few players short on defense. We are missing key players in the defensive backfield. And a player short at linebacker. Ward and Harrison will make a difference. ====================================================
Short week turn the page. Back to 1-0. Take care of business Sunday.
I am dented by the loss. But I believe in this team.
I think we can do damage the rest of the way. Once again I am proud of this team.
The defensive coaching staff...are they up to the task?
I know Woods isn't working with the highest and deepest level of talent, but I think there's more accountability for him to have than what some others are holding him to.
First, I know the field wasn't ideal. A lot of guys were flat footed trying to keep their feet beneath them.
Having said that, the defense as a whole were taking bad angles all night long.
1st half we had what, 4 sacks? I know Lamar was struggling with footing but in each of those sacks the DTs were staying home and the DEs weren't over penetrating. Vernon put up some nice stats, but play after play he kept rushing Lamar as if he had a LB or DB who was going to fill the wide open lane he left in his wake.
We had the game plan to stop/slow Lamar. We saw some evidence of it. The DEF just wasn't disciplined enough to keep with it.
Offensively... I know Nick and Kareem had some rushing TDs, but I think you have to consider this a game where Baker put the team on his shoulders. I know it was a bit choppy for him early on, but his performance that closed a 14pt gap... I know everyone else could feel that moment when the Browns are either going to stay in the game or let it get away from them. Baker kept right at it, and to its credit, the defense did get us a couple stops so we could get right back in it.
Stefanski... I did think we allowed ourselves to get a little 1 dimensional more than we needed to and clock management for the final 2:00 could have been better, but he called a pretty good and gutsy game overall. Going for the 2 pt conversion was risky but it did put us in position to win the game sans Tuckers FG.
The best game plan to defend against a player like Jackson is to keep the ball out of his hands. We did a lot of good things last night but one thing that was not good was running the ball to choke out the clock the way we have in the past. I don’t know why we didn’t run more on 1st & 2nd down of that last drive. I really like Stephanski but I put that one on him. It seems like a no-brainer. They’re out of timeouts and we win with just 2 or 3 more plays.
Our defense is slow. Not as soft as seasons past but slow LB’s and most of the secondary. We have some good pieces but we know exactly what needs to get upgraded this off-season. and the eye is towards speed. I kept wondering why we didn’t employ a spy like player for Jackson but I couldn’t think of anyone appropriate that has the wheels.
We’ll still probably lose but I like our chances much better now against Pittsburgh. I do think our offense can hang with anyone. The defense is our very obvious Achilles. If we had a half decent LB core and top tier safety and we’re clearly in the top 5-6 teams in the league.
This shouldn't hurt our playoff chances and we don't need to win out. In fact, 1 more win should do it for us. A lot of things need to happen for us to miss the playoffs. We won't.
I love reading your stuff but that paragraph is complete craziness. Do the math.
The Jaguars aren't beating anybody, the chargers aren't beating anybody, the Texans aren't beating anybody, the Bengals aren't beating anybody.
fact it's very easy for the Browns to miss the playoffs, I see very little realistic way they get in with 1 more win at 10-6, it's not October, the circumstances have changed. (none of the other teams are stopping at 10 wins and taking a break to miss the opportunity to knock you out and take your spot)(if both the titans and colts finish a game better, then one will take your spot if you beat them or not) (after last night, the ravens now take your spot when they win 3 and finish equal to you if you win 2, if the Browns' had won this would not happen) (last nights game means Browns must now win all final 3 to clinch a playoff spot without help from another teams loss, one at a time beat NYG)
At 11-5 the Browns need help from one of three teams, at 10-6 the Browns would need a miracle 9-7? multiple miracles and Einstein to do the math.
Have to assume the Titans, Colts, Dolphins, Ravens, Bills and Raiders are going to continue feasting on bad teams and Nobody is going to start going on a losing streak. Browns still aren't in, until they're in.
12-4 gets them in without a doubt, but the Ravens game really hurt their chances, in a game of musical chairs it gave a chair away.
Still very reasonable, but hope not, that Browns don't get in, especially if they go 1-2 in the final 3.
Browns can't clinch without help unless they win all 3. There are specific rules for ties at nfl.com.
Man guys, I woke up feeling better about this team more than ever.
Guys, that was the MVP of the league we went up against. Y’all can say whatever about the defense, but how many better defenses has lamar faced that he did the same exact thing to?
Plenty. At the end of the day, our team proved that we can compete in any situation. Whether it’s a shoutout or an old school defensive slobberknocker on the elements.
And more importantly, whatever doubt fans had left about baker being the future got put to rest. He IS the man here in cleveland. Yea, we didn’t get the W, but let’s stop acting like it was a massacre. Bake went toe to toe with one of the better teams in the league, never mind the division. Like it or not, this is what we SHOULD expect for the next 10 years against division rivals: games that come down to the wire.
We just gotta get healthy on the back end, and seriously consider drafting the best LB remaining in the board, if one isn’t available in FA.
I know we hate moral victories and all that, but I’ll take a team that’s 9-4 losing a close game to a division rival over the trash we’ve had the last 10+ years any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
-Defense is bad. Need to add pieces in LB and secondary this offseason. Hopefully Ward will be back soon and Harrison as well (long shot).
- Baker had a phenomenal game. Good to see him continue to flourish in Stefanski's offense.
- Higgins is playing like our best WR at the moment.
- Njoku is our best TE.
- Vernon showed up and earned some credit even with the Lamar field slippage.
- I agree with the person that said we need to add some quickness in the LB core to keep an eye on Lamar. But that goes for Burrow as well as he is no slouch with the legs either. Both are going to be around for awhile.
- This is a playoff team, offensively. Defense will probably cost us in 2020.
I love the feeling of having a bright future and think that we do ... but I also hate the feeling of having a playoff opportunity (A GOOD ONE) slip through our fingers.
- We are who I thought we are. A well coached team with our Offense in shape and able to score a lot of points ... coupled with a bad D that is hamstrung by slow and below average LBers... with out top two DB's out in Ward and Harrison we were ALWAYS going to strugle.
- Team loss - A couple drops, some penalties, an INT, a D that gave up huge plays to their TE, to their QB and to Brown on the TD.
- I think EVERYONE knew - 1:04 on the clock was always going to be dicey whether we could stop them. Does not take away from a pretty magnificent offensive performance, it's a reflection of not being able to fix ALL the problems / holes on the team in one offseason.
- Officiating missed some bad calls - the PI on the sideline streak (Higgins got held?) - that stopped a drive. The phantom holding call on People Jones. Even the intentional grounding where Baker was hit throwing the ball I thought was harsh.
- So glad Willis came back - when he went out I was very concerned. Same with MG. Though MG's impact on the game was disappointing.
- I think this was a game (early) where we really missed an elite WR like OBJ - his ability to get open off the line and NOT get jammed on every single snap would have added an extra element for the Ravens D. . . early on they jammed both our WR's at the line and it totally blew up virtually every pass play.
GAME DAY THREAD:
- People had given up and were stating the game was lost BEFORE the half. Before they went up by 2 scores. - The negativity in that thread is cancerous. Y'all need to step away from the keyboard - or stop watching games.
POST SEASON THOUGHTS:
- 1 game at a time. We still have a very good chance of making the playoffs. - We certainly have an infinitely higher chance of making the playoffs than any sane fan would have given us before the season started ... SO PLZ STOP POSTING LIKE THE WORLD IS ENDING. - Baker has played superbly against Cinci and Titans. He played really well against a TOP defense which is the Ravens and put up 42 points. If we DO get to the playoffs and play a team like the Colts, Titans or Miami ... I believe we have a really good chance of winning a game even with our suspect D. I think if we met the Ravens with a healthy Ward, Hodge and Hooper - we would have a fighters chance.
Sorry. Im still going to contend that 1 more win pretty much assures us the playoffs. I've done the math.
I'm not worried about the Titans or Colts because we've beat them both. We'd win the tiebreaker. They need to win 11 if we win 10. I would even assume the Ravens get in over the Dolphins. The key here is that the Dolphins and Raiders face each other. They both can't win. If we win 1, raiders need to win out to tie us to get in.
Not necessarily in the order. Dolphins and Raiders pretty much need to win out. There's a chance, yes, but unless we lose the final 3 games, we're headed to the playoffs.
Offense was great. I believe Baker has turned a corner. Yes the INT was horrible but he then came right back, against a tough D. They did have a few DBs out but that is progress.
Defense - it is what a lot of folk that it was, a work in progress.
I take back my previous comment about losing meaning the season means nothing. We proved as a team we have improved immensely since the first beatdown. Onto the next game.
Man guys, I woke up feeling better about this team more than ever.
Guys, that was the MVP of the league we went up against. Y’all can say whatever about the defense, but how many better defenses has lamar faced that he did the same exact thing to?
To be blunt, None.
They scored 34 pts against the Cowboys, That means we gave up 13 more points than the next closest team.
Last year he put up more points against the Bengals and Dolphins.
I kept wondering why we didn’t employ a spy like player for Jackson but I couldn’t think of anyone appropriate that has the wheels.
This right here. You can do this exercise for a number of different roles on the defense and get the same result. We have glaring holes at major positions/roles on the D. Can't fix it all in 1 offseason.
- I went to bed after the field goal. I see we somehow gave up a safety in the last 2 seconds.
- Baker really looked shaky at first. But he got it together and got us into the game. Props to him for that.
- I will say that the pick was a horrendous throw. That and the missed FG made a difference.
- I am not blaming the L on either Baker of Parkey. The loss is on the D. All the way. I said before the game that I thought this was a game the D had to win for us. They had the opportunities to make a stop when it counted, and they did not.
- First, how many times can the D be fooled with that option play where Lamar keeps it and cuts up the middle?
- Second, when Lamar comes out of the locker room (looking fine, BTW. What did they shoot him with) and the D lets him throw like he is Joe Montana, then you have a D that does not deserve to be in the playoffs. Inexcusable. A 44 yard TD on 4th and 5? A stop there wins the game. After tying the game, they have it at their own 25 with just over a minute to play. Nothing but 10 and 12 yard completions. This D is hot garbage. Gift wrapped the victory to BAL after the O drags the team back into the game.
- Why does Sandejo not tackle? We're 13 games into the season. At some point he needs to realize that he cannot bring people down with his shoulder. He has been trying it and it just doesn't work. On that 2-pt conversion he met the ball carrier at the 1.5 yard line and doesn't wrap up. He lowers the shoulder and was basically a speed bump.
- Yes, I know we played it close. We came back. We had a better showing than in week 1. I don't care. We lost. At some point we need to stop being pleased with "moral victories." We should expect to win. We had this game and gave it away.
- I agree with the person that said we need to add some quickness in the LB core to keep an eye on Lamar. But that goes for Burrow as well as he is no slouch with the legs either. Both are going to be around for awhile.
- This is a playoff team, offensively. Defense will probably cost us in 2020.
And we face Daniel Jones next week who can run as well.
Starting to not feel so good about making the playoffs now.
I love the feeling of having a bright future and think that we do ... but I also hate the feeling of having a playoff opportunity (A GOOD ONE) slip through our fingers.
“Gather thee rosebuds while ye may”
From your keyboard to Berry's ears.
Rookie mistake by an extremely young GM.
You strike when the iron is hot. You NEVER play for next year.
Every team looks beatable this year if you had a decent defense.
I’m trying to think of one defender who played “well” last night ... None really come to mind as being difference makers for the better
Myles was extremely disappointing. Not sure if the injury was bothering him, but the injury is disappointing in and of itself. 4 seasons and has never played 16 games.
And for crying out loud can this team develop a competent linebacker.
Taki has flashed a little but we need other mid round guys to step up. You can't field an entire team of first round draft picks.
This team had a ton of holes in that unit and Dorsey didn't extend Schobert last season. I assume we will address this position early in the draft and/or FA.
I'll add that I think Mack Wilson has regressed too. Not that he was all that great to begin with, but I think the team was hoping he would take the next step.
Wilson was bad last night from what I saw. He seems like a hard worker, good teammate, cares about winning, etc. But he’s not an answer .. regardless of what he tweets or says, we need to upgrade his spot (and others obviuosly)
I don't think we are playing for next year. I wouldn't consider it a rookie GM mistake. Our defense isn't the greatest but it's tough to foresee all the injuries to Delpit, Greedy, Ward, Harrison, etc.
Injury to OBJ has hurt as well.
I would imagine our top priority was to put Baker in the best possible situation to succeed. At least that's what I would have done. Sign Hooper, Conklin, draft Wills, extend Hunt, etc.
Also, I am sure that our goal at the start of the season was to win it all.
I'll add that I think Mack Wilson has regressed too. Not that he was all that great to begin with, but I think the team was hoping he would take the next step.
I agree. I'm very disappointed in Wilson. I love the guy but he's not progressing as I had hoped.
I'll add that I think Mack Wilson has regressed too. Not that he was all that great to begin with, but I think the team was hoping he would take the next step.
I agree. I'm very disappointed in Wilson. I love the guy but he's not progressing as I had hoped.
Yep - I was uninspired when we signed Goodson ... but I think he may have been the best LB for us this year by some margin.
Parkey and Zendejo can be let go about now. Definitely need to address LB and DB in the draft. Also, attention to tackling TECHNIQUE instead of trying to knock everyone over would help.
Browns played hard but the holes in the defense definitely hurt them. Didn't really understand the scheme at times as the Ravens exploited them badly. Parkey didn't help.
Improving the defense will turn this team into a legitimate playoff contender. Sure hope that is next year.
I think any reasonable person would have predicted this to be a challenging year for the Browns with a new coach/ GM/ coordinators coming off of last year and a greatly abbreviated and crimped off-season due to covid. No one was realistically thinking Browns as playoff maybe in week 13 and I think it was still a stretch to think about it realistically at the trade deadline (soft schedule and division blowouts). I think that goes especially for Barry. I don’t fault him for not taking risks on trades and hefty contracts on D this off-season and at the trade deadline. I love what’s happening but no one would have predicted this to be a deep playoff team this year. Preserve your options, be disciplined with the cap and fire your bullets only when you reasonably believe you can hit the target (Lombardi trophy).
Next year is another story. For the first year in many I feel like we know exactly what we need to do to get this team to the next level. And this off season may very well be the one we spend out and stock up. This is officially not a 2-4yr deal now. Next year is not a maybe any longer.
I don't understand why anyone is being critical of anyone else who despite the loss is having positive feelings about this team and where we've found ourselves at this point of the season. Stop referring to it as a 'moral victory'. Its no such thing. This isn't a 1-15 season where you find one bright spot to hang your hat on and say "at least its something!"
At 9-3 entering this game this team had already exceeded expectations. Most people had us at 4 or 5 wins. The crazies put us at .500 at best. Within that context, this last quarter of the season is icing on the cake.
Now expectations have changed, as they should. Not only are we in the playoff talks but the Cleveland Browns are firmly in control of their destiny.
Let me say this again: The Cleveland Browns are firmly in control of their destiny. Stop and think about that for a moment. I'm 42. You have to be right about my age to remember the last time this was the case. If you are much younger than I am, you likely don't even remember when the Browns were playoff favorites, or really know just how close we came to going to the Super Bowl... more than once!
and if our stars for some reason fall out of alignment and we miss out on the post season, its ok. We'll already know why: we have a defense that can't carry us there (yet) and we have a rookie coach who hasn't figured out the best way to close these games out (yet).
Regardless of whether or not we are playing Wild Card weekend, being happy with this season isn't embracing a 'moral victory'. No my friends, we passed on the 2020 Moral Victory on 12/1/20 when posters weren't begging the Referees to open up the 2021 Draft Day thread.
There are a lot of plays to point to as important... but in my mind, in a game without much defense by either team, somebody had to make a play. They made the INT for the quick TD and that was the difference. Our defense never answered with a play of its own.
I disagree with the announcers, the INT by Baker wasn't him thinking he could rifle it by the LB and it was a bad decision. The pass needed to be to the sideline side of the WR and he threw it back to the inside. That's the only reason the LB was able to get a hand on it. It just wasn't a good accurate throw. Baker made a bad play but he still played a helluva game.
Lamar Jackson is the most frustrating guy to play.. every time you think you have him you don't and he makes things look so effortless in making people miss... and I know he's the MVP and all but the Ravens have scored over 35 points just twice all year, both of them against us. He's good but we need to be better.
That last point was my take away too. I was watching with my dad and we both said ... “Lamar just KILLS us ... but mostly us”. I’ve seen him play other teams and they’re much better at keeping him corralled than we are. We seem so slow and undisciplined
I have to admit I was wrong about Lamar. He still has a suspect at best arm, but man he is a game changer with his legs. He may well go on to the HOF with those legs too. He sure doesn't seem like a Vick 2-3 year thing right now.
Let me say this again: The Cleveland Browns are firmly in control of their destiny.
As much as I wanted to win this game, I'm overall happy with how the team fought and very happy with the way Baker and the offense had an answer for all of the Baltimore scores. We could have folded and we didn't. We are just short on personnel on the defensive side and we can't fix that mid-season, we have to ride with what we have.
Now, the next step in maturity is to not let this one loss snowball into something bigger like coming out flat against the Giants. Bring the same intensity and win that game by 3 touchdowns.
Where is Lamar the most dangerous? Outside of the pocket, particularly to the right side.
Go back and watch film. How many times does Joe Woods overload a blitz off the left side of the oline allowing Lamar Jackson free reign to the right side of the field?
On that last touchdown, he tries to pull some exotic blitz BS, and pulls Joseph out of coverage and has him blitz inside and Vernon has to sprint out to cover the back going on a wheel route. All this unnecessary crossing creates a collision and Vernon ends up creating a pick on our own DBs, leaving Brown wide open. Sadly, if the coverage had not gotten blown, Jackson still could have run for 20 yards because the entire defense was on the other side of the field.
I am disgusted with Joe Woods. Lamar is a good player with a special skills, but the book on how to contain him has been written and he had the defense doing things last night that everybody knows you should not do.
Where is Lamar the most dangerous? Outside of the pocket, particularly to the right side.
Go back and watch film. How many times does Joe Woods overload a blitz off the left side of the oline allowing Lamar Jackson free reign to the right side of the field?
On that last touchdown, he tries to pull some exotic blitz BS, and pulls Joseph out of coverage and has him blitz inside and Vernon has to sprint out to cover the back going on a wheel route. All this unnecessary crossing creates a collision and Vernon ends up creating a pick on our own DBs, leaving Brown wide open. Sadly, if the coverage had not gotten blown, Jackson still could have run for 20 yards because the entire defense was on the other side of the field.
I am disgusted with Joe Woods. Lamar is a good player with a special skills, but the book on how to contain him has been written and he had the defense doing things last night that everybody knows you should not do.
.. and then on the LAST drive that set up the FG ... there’s NO WAY I’d let Mark Andrews beat us. Don’t let him throw it down the middle of the field or run for a big chunk of yards and that game was over
As has been stated multiple times, the D just played with a huge level of sucktitude. And as people have started, there is no such things as a moral victory.
Yet somehow I can't overlook the strides this team has made in just one season. Baker has settled into a new system and seems comfortable in it. I think the best is yet to come from him. The offense as a whole has grown so much since last year.
And as some have stated, I don't think Woods is the problem. Many of us knew going into this season we were lacking at the LB position and I think the season has shown that to be true. Our secondary has been decimated. No Ward, no Greedy and no Delpit. That's not going to bode well for any team.
Do we need to make improvements in order to go where we all want to see our Browns go? Yes we do. Have we grown and become a much better team in a short period of time? Yes we have. I never would have thought it possible to see this team be doing as well as they have as quick as they have and that's given me a lot of hope for the future.
I'm a disappointed over the loss? Yes I am. I'm disappointed any time we lose. As for the season I'm surprised Stefanski and crew has come so far, so soon and can see brighter days ahead. For that I'm happy and thankful.
We lost a tough, hard fought game last night. It was the season for the Ravens. It took a career game from Lamar. And missed short kicks from our field goal kicker.
In the big picture for this year. We have control of what we can do.
KC is obviously the favorites. They were beaten by the Raiders.
We are good enough today to beat any team in football. It would take some doing no doubt. But we could upset any team.
Yes, it is a long shot to win the Super Bowl. But there have way bigger upsets in sports.
Next year we will be better. However, lots can happen to ruin a promising year.
So I am holding on to our chance to win a Super Bowl this year until it is no longer possible.
KC is obviously the favorites. They were beaten by the Raiders.
We are good enough today to beat any team in football. It would take some doing no doubt. But we could upset any team.
Told my son last night that KC is the only team in the AFC that really scares me. That's not to imply that I think we SHOULD beat the Steelers, Bills, Ravens, etc but I'm pretty confidant that, just like last night, we can play with them and would have a reasonable shot to win.
KC and the elusiveness of Mahomes.. it's like playing against Lamar Jackson only if he could throw the ball like a top tier QB, which Lamar can't... If we ended up playing the Chiefs in the playoffs, I would legitimately feel like we had to score a TD on every possession to keep it close.
He didn't have a bum wheel. There was absolutely no evidence in the way he moved after he came back that he was suffering from leg cramps.. I think that was all a lie. I think this is much more likely.
He will never be mistaken for a super accurate passer.
But he is so hard to handle as a runner pass plays will be open.
I remember I went to a Browns game in Atlanta when Vick was the qb. Belichick was coaching the Browns. He took Vick out of the game as a runner. He dedicated one player a DB to always spy on Vick. A guy with matching speed that made Vick hesitate so others could gang tackle.
Lamar at some point will take that one hit that will take him out. Hard to run the ball 20 times a game as a qb and escape injury.
My god Colin cowherd really has a punchable face after his baker take.
Video isn’t up yet but watched it live.
Herd is a hack.
What did he say - other than a couple clips on this board that have been posted I have not heard him for years and years. He's like Skip Bayless ... if I hear them on a radio or TV platform I switch to something else. Won't listen to the contrived nonsense.
My god Colin cowherd really has a punchable face after his baker take.
Video isn’t up yet but watched it live.
That was an all time classic take. He must of been up all night coming up with that angle.
I'll also add that over the years I think Steve A has become less shock jock and more objective. He calls it like he sees it, albeit sometimes with dramatics. He gave Bake a ton of credit this morning.
Yeah, he tweeted that after it was reported that Sendejo is out
As much as people rag on Sendejo, and much of it is deserved, I can only guess that he's better than the next option... and we can't afford to keep losing people in the secondary.
I will give Berry some crap for staying put and not getting Sendejo replaced before the deadline. This dude was awful, and had huge misses on like all of their scoring plays in the first half.
I, too, would love to hear the reasoning behind this. There were a few players to be had that could have helped us a lot, yet we stood pat with what we had... Why?
Originally Posted By: oobernoober
I think we also need to find some Lamar kryptonite in the form of a LB or LB/SS. Even if he's just a special teams guy that only gets to play D when we're playing the Ravens is fine.
Hopefully, we add another Safety AND one or two LBers this offseason. This defense needs some serious bolstering, and we need guys that can stay on the field.... err, actually GET ON the field. Stay away from those soft/fragile LSU players.
I feel that's a rather meaningless conversation to have. If your defense gave up over 40 points and you need to have a conversation about giving a kicker an extra 25 seconds, somehow I think you're missing the forest for the trees.
So why does that make it okay for a team to get a free pass on a game winning FG?
It doesn't make it okay. What is missing is the context when you consider that, without taking other factors into consideration. If our defense hadn't played horrific and gave up over 40 points none of this would be an issue.
I mean if one wishes to overlooked everything that happened in this game up until that point it sounds like a huge deal. But it was well within the power of our defense to have made this a non issue. And just to add, Tucker had been perfect on FG's over 50 yards thus far in the season. So the odds are it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.
Yes, the defense absolutely should have done more up to that point, but at that point there was nothing left to do. You're arguing two separate points in time, both of which affected the outcome. The non-call on the clock was just the last item that mattered.
Neither mitigates or gives a pass on the other. They're both completely valid.
I mean if one wishes to overlooked everything that happened in this game up until that point it sounds like a huge deal.
Yes, this is, in fact, exactly what the job of the officials is.. to take absolutely NOTHING that has happened up to now into account and forget how we got to this point.. and make the correct call.
I don't care if we had given up 90 points, fixing that is for the coaches to worry about... getting the call right in the moment is for the officials to worry about.
"Oh it doesn't matter if they got the call right because we hadn't played a great game defensively" is an absolutely horrible take.
Quote:
And just to add, Tucker had been perfect on FG's over 50 yards thus far in the season. So the odds are it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.
You have no idea what goes on in the mind of a kicker when you move them from 55 yards to 60 yards when your career long is 61.. could he have made it from 60? Yea, he could have.. but that's not even close to the point.
I will edit in, I'm not sure what the right call is.. maybe this guy in his living room is right and maybe he's not... but if the officials were wrong, then they were wrong. We can't change it now and it's of little consequence.
Kind of like them missing 15 guys on the field. Kind of like them calling intentional grounding when Baker had a 280 lb man hanging on his throwing arm and was trying to get the ball downfield to Hunt, who was open. Kind of like when the DB grabbed our WR by the arm as he was trying to accelerate under a pass.
I'm sure the Ravens have their own grips about the officials but on the game winning play, if they were wrong, they were wrong.
My god Colin cowherd really has a punchable face after his baker take.
Video isn’t up yet but watched it live.
The bs about how the browns miss so often on QBs, that Baker is actually a miss, but we're doing everything we can to disguise him as a franchise quarterback making him something he's not because we don't want to look like we missed on Baker...?
My god Colin cowherd really has a punchable face after his baker take.
Video isn’t up yet but watched it live.
The bs about how the browns miss so often on QBs, that Baker is actually a miss, but we're doing everything we can to disguise him as a franchise quarterback making him something he's not because we don't want to look like we missed on Baker...?
That Baker take?
You do know he is just trolling, right? That's his schtick.
We lost because we need better DBs. The Defense is physical but its slow. Need more people to fly around like myles. E Our needs coming off this season better be
DBs, LBs... More DBs
I think another round with the WRs that Baker has... And they become even better. Maybe another physical WR willing to battle with mor DBs with space?
This giants game is going to be crucial
.. Daniel Jones runs... But be doesnt run like Lamar. LaMar makes everyone look slow.
Our Defense is kinda trash but I do think with Vern
Kind of like them missing 15 guys on the field. Kind of like them calling intentional grounding when Baker had a 280 lb man hanging on his throwing arm and was trying to get the ball downfield to Hunt, who was open. Kind of like when the DB grabbed our WR by the arm as he was trying to accelerate under a pass.
I'm sure the Ravens have their own grips about the officials but on the game winning play, if they were wrong, they were wrong.
As I understood it from a discussion of officials a few weeks ago in regards to grounding. It does not matter if there is an influence on the passer, if he is being grabbed and turned, it only matters where the ball goes. So if the ball doesn't go where they think a receiver is it is grounding, even though he was turned.
I think one was pretty ticky-tack though, there was a receiver close enough.
-Goodson had a great powerful tackle at the start of the game, you know the type the Ravens and Steelers make again us every time...then he disappeared and seemed to miss a lot.
-Mack Wilson, not sure what his problem was...But he seemed like he didn't want to engage at all, not sure if he protecting himself from future injury...But he didn't even seem to be trying hard....A lot of plays had me questioning why he is even out there.
-Joseph showed up well at times, least appeared to be our better secondary player...Did whiff on at least two tackles on Lamar...then again, everyone did.
-MJ Stewart is horrid...Had some hope from him as he was a higher draft pick from Tampa a few years ago.
-Kevin Johnson seemed to get picked apart, he had a tackle attempt I was nearly sure he would be concussed.
-Ogi...Has really regressed in this scheme, gap integrity is poor...We obviously needed Billings to be the over tackle...Ogi has tried, but just unable to man that spot.
-Myles is our best defender, though his run defense still needs to improve. Was expecting a bigger game from him...Then again I have no idea how much his elbow was bothering him. Claybourne seemed to over pursuit as well.
-Sendejo I don't question his effort, I just question his ability.
-While I don't think Woods needs fired like 90% of the board, I just think he can't get things done because of personal. He has no two gap DT, No LB that is rangy enough...And his secondary is torn apart with injuries and inadequate personal. He tried different looks, just seems like nothing works with this defense...And I think most of it, is the players aren't capable of the said task.
-Won't say too much on the offense, as they all mostly really looked good. Baker has been playing his tail off, so kudos to him. Wish the costly interception never happened, but he got us back in and over for a bit...He is taking strides to being the QB we all hoped for...which is looking great for our future.
-Wish we won it, but in all honesty knowing the Ravens...I knew it would be one of the ones we'd falter in. Heck of a game nontheless.
I think that's part of the Ravens scheme on designed runs. The OTs let the DE's get upfield quickly. If they cut inside, Lamar takes it and goes outside. If they stay in their lane, it has now opened a giant gap outside of the DT... and they will use motion just before the snap to move the S/LB that would fill that gap out of the way.
What I haven't seen/noticed, yet, is what do they do if you don't follow the motion.
He had a great night but the int was also a 7 point swing.
I have a friend who is convinced that interception cost us the game.
I'm like you do realize we were leading 35-34 late in the game, right?
There was no one thing that cost us this game because all of our mistakes, we still battled back. And using a early missed FG or a pick 6 or something, then you are playing the "all things being equal" game and the 4th quarter plays out completely different if the score was different going in...
But the fact still remains that we missed a chippy FG, an XP, and gave them an easy TD on a turnover (In theory we did earn the missed XP back by going for 2 when we probably wouldn't have)... they missed an XP.. that's 9 or 10 points that we spotted them without really making them "earn it"... and, battle as we did, that's hard to overcome against a good team.
I think we got away from the run a little too early.
Hunt is good in blitz pick up, and runs with wild abandon.
Our DBs not named Mitchell or Ward are horrible.
The whole premise was to take away the middle of the field from Lamar, which we pretty much did until the end.
Lamar crushed us running, but it is ironic, that he actually beat us throwing the ball.
If Baltimore wins out, our playoff hopes are toast. They have it easy and could end up with 11 wins. If we don't win out, bye bye playoffs.
Many here calling for firing coaches(Woods), are foolish. The defense lacks from personnel, not scheme. We need safeties, and Linebackers. Also, a huge DT to plug the running lanes.
I really think this game just shot our playoff hopes.
Not suggesting they cost us the game, but that was some of the worst officiating I have ever seen. How can you have OPI on a guy who the ball is not thrown to? How many more facemask penalties are they not going to call? They were mugging our receivers the whole game.
We have a top 7 or 8 O right now maybe even better. Our D is not there yet. With injured players returning, another draft and FA period we should be legit contenders next year. We are a fringe playoff team right now and if it wasn't for another wild card spot this year we probably wouldn't make it. We still might not.
We have a top 7 or 8 O right now maybe even better. Our D is not there yet. With injured players returning, another draft and FA period we should be legit contenders next year. We are a fringe playoff team right now and if it wasn't for another wild card spot this year we probably wouldn't make it. We still might not.
If they gave an award for most improved team through the season, I don't think anybody could compete with us based on where we started to where we are now. (Even though we were 4-1 in the beginning, the Ravens and Steelers games were UUUUUUGGGGLLLLYYYYY)
But we also benefitted greatly from having probably the easiest possible schedule this year. To our credit, we beat all the teams so far *knock on wood* that we should have beaten and that's a big step in being good, first beat the sub .500 teams.. we've proven in the last 2 weeks that we can compete with and beat the other playoff caliber teams in our conference.. now we just have to prove we can play at that level consistently and keep getting better at finishing.
Right now, if one team has to be down by 3 with the ball and 1:30 to win the game, I hope we are the team that's down with the ball and not the team hoping their defense can hold.
On the NFL reddit, there were a lot of people saying this was the GOTY. (in reference to how thrilling it was)
Even though we came up on the short end, it feels nice to be in such an exciting game, on primetime, relevant to the playoffs, and do very well with it.
It's a new feeling.
Next year we will need to win to keep up that feeling.
And for crying out loud can this team develop a competent linebacker.
Taki has flashed a little but we need other mid round guys to step up. You can't field an entire team of first round draft picks.
A couple of interesting points.
First, I don't believe teams can really develop players at this point. Sure, teams can make them a bit better, but it still falls inside certain parameters. As an example, I don't think we can take Tic Tock to all-star levels. He was a OK player as he came out of college, so he will in all likelihood remain a OK player at best. At least as things stand as they are.
In baseball, hockey, and basketball, players get drafted at a young age and teams have a means to develop players through their minor league programs. NFL teams can't have 4-5-6-7 players who are going to need 4-5 years to gain experience, because experience is what makes most players better.
No doubt, you have your superstars, naturals, whatever you want to call them, but most players aren't that, so don't count the "naturals". By the time a kid leaves college after 3-4, sometimes 5 years, that is like the NFL's minor league program.
Sure, some players surprise, but for the most part, they are basically a finished product. Luck plays as much a role in selecting one of those surprise players.
My second point is that I have stressed for years that team building isn't always from the top down. Building the bottom of the roster is just...or nearly....as important.
No matter how good you are and how good your "worst" player might be, the fact remains that he is the teams worst player. Teams need to seek his replacement as much as they seek to select that future HOF player at the top of the draft.
I suspect the team will be active in bringing in some defensive veterans in FA. That is where you can be very specific in building for team needs. Waiting for the draft can be a big risk because depending on how the draft falls, you may not be able to draft for a specific need unless you want to more or less be drafting a round behind your actual draft position to secure positions of need rather than overall better players.
On this last play and the one before; Mack Wilson what are you doing?
He was terrible. Recognition and tackling. I mean damn Wilson you are a linebacker right?
Play the damn position.
The inconsistent play at linebacker and safety has hurt this team all year.
If the Browns had a true FS that was a pro bowl level talent and one linebacker at that same level; we would be competing for a Super Bowl. And I am not kidding.
For those of you that keep carrying on about this, I received a PM that explains it perfectly. There was nothing improper or nefarious about what happened on the FG kick at the end of the game. Here's a simple and accurate explanation....
The NFL only allows the clock to be pushed back up to 25 if its through no fault of the players/team ...
Tucker and the rest of the FG unit are out their at the 22 second mark ... way more than enough time .... You can see the ump and the white hat still at the LOS when the camera breaks away with 16 secs left on the play clock .. Still plenty of time ...
Then you can see the OLman still standing when Tucker asks to push the clock back up 4 - 5 secs later which means the ref or the ump are still at the LOS with the ump over the ball ... so there’s around 10 secs left on the play clock at that point and the officials have not yet released the ball for play ... so by the time the ump released the ball there would not have been enough time and the Rats were out there in plenty of time to get set ... Hence, no fault of there own ...
That means there was a reason to reset the clock ... The officials for some reason wouldn’t release the ball for play ... The clock would have and should been reset by the officials with or without Tucker asking for it since they were the reason the clock went from 22 when the Rats were ready to go to under 10 seconds when they finally made the ball ready for play ...
won't release the ball for play until the K ball is brought into the game.
I have never understood what the NFL does with their footballs. A ball ia a ball. Whatever ball is out there is the one that should be used. No kicking ball, no set of balls for the home team and a separate set for the visiting team. (No deflate-gate if that was the case). The home Qb does what he does to the balls and that becomes part of the home field advantage.
WE are the only ones allowed to trash talk Sendejo...