No Playoffs, otherwise, they won the final game, 8-9 record.
The Bengals game, they swept the Bengals.

Yawn.

Anyone know around where we're pegged to draft?

Right now I think 13th

I missed seeing the last two games live on TV because of work, so I'm glad I got to watch our final game live this afternoon. Happy we won! I know going 8 & 9 isn't what most of us expected, but at the very least we aren't horrible anymore.... and there's always next season. Go Browns!

That was heading into this week.
With our win and the ravens loss we pass them in the standings

yep... when I posted they hadn't lost yet... and I'm going off of https://www.tankathon.com/nfl. which looks like it's updating with today's results... will be some more movement with this afternoon's games

Could be as bad as 16th

FIRE STEFANSKI NOW!!!!!! JUST LET THAT RAPIST INTO PLAYOFFS

We screwed ourselves and the rats screwed us.

Bailtimore went from 8-3 to 8-9. So there is a bright spot.

They have a stronger SOS it looks like - so it has us at 13 and them at 14?

So we will be playing a 3rd place schedule next year:

At Washington
At Houston
Vs Las Vegas/LA Chargers loser tonight

I wouldn't be surprised if the Browns are pegged to draft one spot after the ravens do. But, what I meant to say.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOUR TEAM WON THIS WEEK!

They are missing a TON of players that are coming back. This was the year to take it to the rats. They will be full strength next season and much better. Bengals and rats are gonna rule the north for a long time if Bake doesn’t come back strong.

I saw some report that MKC reported that Baker has hinted at a trade. I don't know how credible that might be....but I'd say the odds are good that Baker won't be here next year.

You must’ve been in a coma the past week.

I wouldn't believe a single thing that comes from that hags mouth. She's a hack and hasn't written a single thing of her own worth reading ever.

We won the game. A win is a win and we don't get enough of them. The win today feels good no matter what. I'll take it!!

j/c...

- Got a thumbs up from Dieken.

- Hope D'Ernest Johnson gets paid by someone this offseason. Great story.

- Clowney is going to get paid by someone. Hope it's the Browns. At the same time an unmotivated Clowney worries me.

- Sat next to Zac Taylor's wife and family and Trent Taylor's wife.

- Borderline had a great time at this meaningless game.

- Grumpy's Cafe in Tremont has a delicious breakfast.

Agreed. Very little chance it will be us. Nor should it be.....no point paying significant $$ for a 3rd RB on the depth chart.

Is he a restricted FA? I forget all these rules....can we get something from him based on a qualifying offer?

Bravo for d'Earnest.

That guy does not fail when given a chance to play. He has way to find a crease and get forward yards.

He has great vision and does not get hit square very often.

I hope he remains with the team.

Thought the effort was good. The defense played very well.

Of course this season was a disappointment but I understand how it happened.

Sometimes things just do not work out.

Stefanski has taken lots of heat. And sure he made his mistakes this season. But I remain in his court. I back him and am glad he is our coach.

He is a smart young coach and I believe he will learn from this years experience.

You have to allow young coaches to learn. It is a hard job. Learning does not come easy.

Chubb and Hunt have missed enough time over the last 2 seasons to warrant signing D'Ernest Johnson if you can possibly do it. I don't care about conventional wisdom re: running backs - he's a keeper.

He is a RFA. Best Browns could do would be to tender him in order to try and get a pick in return.......I think.

I don't know about you all, but I'd rather have d'earnest as our 3rd RB than Felton

?

And the pick is based on the level of contract offered? The fact he was undrafted feels like it plays into the equation. But again, I forget these rules.

Or maybe that relates to the comp pick equation if we lose him.

Restricted free agent (RFA): A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. RFAs are free to negotiate and sign with any team, but their original team can offer them one of various qualifying offers ("tenders") that come with the right of first refusal and/or draft-pick compensation. If the tender is withdrawn by a team, the RFA becomes an unrestricted free agent. In 2021, teams must submit these tenders before 4 p.m. ET on March 17. These amounts change annually; the following numbers are for the 2021 season. Players can choose either (a) or (b) regardless of which is greater in the applicable tenders below.
The RFA tenders are classified as follows:
First-round tender: One-year contract worth the greater of (a) $4.766 million or (b) 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary. If the player's original team decides not to match an offer sheet signed with another team, it is entitled to a first-round draft pick from the player's new team. Unless received two days or later prior to the NFL draft, draft compensation for each tender is due in the same league year as the offer sheet is signed.
A signed offer sheet with a new team includes Principal Terms that must be matched by the prior club. However, if the new team includes terms that waive or limit its ability to designate the RFA a franchise player, the old team will not have to match this term if it has tendered the player with an offer worth $500,000 more than the first-round tender ($5.266 million in 2021).
Second-round tender: One-year contract worth the greater of (a) $3.384 million or (b) 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary. Draft-choice compensation: second-round pick.
Original-round tender: One-year contract worth the greater of (a) $2.183 million or (b) 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary. Draft-choice compensation: a pick in the round the player was originally drafted in.
Right-of-first-refusal tender: One-year contract worth $2.133 million. Team has the right to match any offer sheet signed with another team, but there is no draft compensation tied to this tender.
Upgraded tender: If a team places a first-round tender on a player who was selected outside of the first round, it can only receive a second-round pick as compensation for any of its other RFAs who were first-round draft picks. The same is true for the second-round tender -- if a team uses it on a player drafted in the third round or lower, it can only receive a third-round pick for any other second-round RFA it intends to tender. As an example, the Saints used a first-round RFA tender on QB/RB/WR/TE Taysom Hill during the 2020 offseason. Had New Orleans had any RFAs who were former first-round picks, it could only receive a second-round selection in return for a declined offer sheet.
RFA tender salary increases: Each of the tenders will increase by an additional amount during the 2021 and 2022 league years as follows: Right-of-first-refusal tender ($0), original-round tender ($50,000), second-round tender ($125,000) and first-round tender ($125,000). Due to the reduction in the salary cap in 2021, these tenders will only increase by the fixed amounts set above this offseason. Beginning in 2023, each of these tenders will only increase with this percentage of the salary cap (if any) from league year to league year.


https://www.nfl.com/news/2021-nfl-free-agency-glossary-all-the-terms-you-need-to-know

Congrats on a great win!

Is it really bad to say that I’d trade Hunt to be able to keep Johnson?

We left at least two games on the table.

Ten wins and we would have made the playoffs.

We have a good team. We can come back next year with some good pick ups.

Given where we have been in years past. I don't feel so bad. Getting back to winning 11 or 12 games next season is not beyond question.
I believe the defense will get better if we can add a few pieces.
The offense will need to improve to compete. We shall see how that goes.


So, I will look forward to free agency and the draft.

It depends on the compensation, obviously.

I don’t see anyone giving up much for Hunt.

I’d trade Hunt for a quality receiver.

Then you are not trading Hunt. My guess is the best we’d be able to get is a fourth round pick.

What would you rather have Hunt and no D’Ernest or D’Ernest and a fourth round pick?

Just looked this up:

NicK Chubb - 228 carries, 1,259 Yards, 5.5 avg

d'Earnest - 100 carries, 534 Yards, 5.3 avg

Kareem - 78 carries, 386 Yards, 4.9 avg

Those are damn good numbers for three backs.

Just a question: Did anyone feel Landry played a little harder today? i.e. not going down immediately after making a catch?

meh. maybe but, he and Bake was chatting it up all game. If that is a concern

Injuries are something us fans don't know the whole extent about, he might of been going down early due to his injury.. Landry is a class act !

If the media crosses the line in some way is there a way where the team can just give the media member the cold shoulder so they never answer their questions.

Felton is a receiver, (not in name), and the one thing he can't do well is run the ball from a standard hand off.

Agreed.

Why didn't/doesn't Baker get that same leeway?

Maybe because his play being injured didn't seem to help the team.. Landry and others sat, I feel Baker should of.

Baker is a fighter and loves the city, as we all saw, but when you see a QB fighting a shoulder brace and not playing up to his game, then it's time to sit and heal..


It's the whole idea of having back ups in all positions.. jmo Arch

Got a win for the fans at home. Swept the division winner. The season is over, and the Steelers snuck in the playoffs again. Wasn't it the Colts who kept us out of the playoffs a few years back? Well this year they let the Steelers in. I now officially hate the Colts. I hope Burrow and the Bengals go all the way.

The Browns did not get to WR Anthony Schwartz 170 yards of passes 10 yards through the air, in any 3 game window of the year.
Schwartz was only given 135 yards receiving in all 17.
(So I won't leave the board for a week and change my signature to include "A. Schwartz made a monkee outta me" until next draft.)
Good Luck! and Go Browns!

Browns coma possibly.

If I was in charge I'd keep Johnson and trade Hunt. I expect we will.

No, I just said it.....obviously I am just reading and commenting as I go..so we think alike...like it or not.

I'll put in an argument, then. Yes, IMO. Hunt is the better all-around back, has been a monster for us on 3rd down, and (until 2nd half of this season) has been really good on the availability side. Plus, we already have him this coming season.

people wanting to trade Hunt and keep johnson are silly.. People seem to forget how good hunt is, he's the best overall back on this team. Also the only one with a rushing title, they won't pick Johnson over hunt unless someone comes waving some good compensation and noone is trading for a running back. I think Chubb/hunt are going to be together as long as salary allows. I do however believe that they would part with Felton before Johnson. That is who I believe is competition is. Felton has been a bust after all the hype. Johnson def. deserves a spot before Felton regardless of draft status

I don't think silly at all.

I am pretty sure we can sign Johnson and doubt we can sign Hunt again.

I admit I have broadened the horizon of my thinking past just next year.

Which means we'll trade Hunt and lose Johnson, then still go all 3-TE, leaving Chubb off the field when we just need a yard or two.

I feel you ! But at what point does your bitterness end? If I'm willing to look to the future with Baker - I also have to do the same with KS and hope he learns.

j/c…

There is no end to my bitterness. It ends when they demonstrate change and actually BEING BETTER instead of talking about it.
I don't care what the coach says, I care about what he shows. Actions, not words.

Did they sit half their DLine against us???

As of now we don't have a temper tantrum forum. You may wish to talk to PPE about opening one up.

j/c...

I was just being light hearted - what you say is true but you don't tend to post quite so negatively is all.

Over the last 3 years, we won 25 regular season games and won a playoff game. We haven't had a 3 year span with 25 or more wins since 1992, 93, and 94. So we are actually BEING BETTER...

As much as this year was a huge disappointment, a lot of that is based on preseason expectations and the talking heads making us one of the sexy picks to compete for the super bowl. Which, I think if we had stayed healthy, we could have easily made it into the playoffs and potentially made some noise. So while I share your frustration, there is no need to talk about blowing things up yet where the risk of going backwards is far greater than finding the holy grail.

I share your thinking. We wasted talent this year with coaching decisions and philosophy that were proved wrong and cost us games. The stubborn and stupid refusal to change approach and make adjustments and abandon losing choices persisted and showed up the next game. Way conservative and much too predictable. Addressing this is a priority.
But your post points up an awful truth. We were all hat and no cattle. Whoever took the field, regardless of the talent, and its disappointing underachievement, they were lousier and less than needed to win when we run them through our game plan and our coaching. Ski basically dictated the bar being lowered with his offense, packages, and game judgments. And it bled into BM's play as the year went on. And it showed in the Woods defense as called until it improved somewhat in the last few games.
Regardless of the talent we retain, draft, trade for, or sign, they pass through the prism of HC here that I feel is a demonstrated weakness and liability. We are not controlling everything we can; we are not placing our best people in the best possible situations to win best outcomes, but That is the official line. What we see on paper is not translated to the game plan as seen on the field. A frank discussion needs to be had about our play-calling on both sides of the ball. "We" were allowed to ignore losses without accountability. Our packages and formations choices cost us games, or at least failed to win the closest ones.
I am optimistic we can be better and am confident that it is inexcusable for this group to have this record. Any number of excuses can be made, their validity proven, but that just begs for more of the same. What negative outcomes would you keep and build on and expand next year? This season was upsetting to me because of less than candid and honest judgments of performance in which I include our coaching and fitness. I didn't see much improvement during the season
Go, Browns!

Remember 2020 when Ski had them introduce themselves and tell a story. That BS really seemed to bond them. This year nada, could be what was missing?

I know their entire secondary were backups.

Pretty sure their starting OL and DL were also all backups.

So an injured QB with a messed up shoulder shouldn't change the game plan and how much of the playbook a HC can use? Those two things are not related to one another?

Interesting concept.

Oddly, I think they were, and I think Ski didn't much change. If you relate them, so be it. Don't suggest explaining it away out of hand. The interesting concept is that a QB's injury would monopolize the game plan that didn't work more than once. Many factors I admit. I still feel HC needs to learn from mistakes and adjust. Silly to argue otherwise.

I'm certainly not trying to argue otherwise. Sorry if that was your impression. I'm just saying that a second year HC who had a QB and team healthy enough to pretty much stick to his playbook in his first season had to adjust on the fly during his second season. I don't think that's something an NFL HC is experiencing for the first time is going to find easy or do smoothly. I certainly do hope he learns from the experience.

Interesting to see the PFF grades.

While watching the game I noticed Hudson really holding his own at RT.

I was thinking Callahan must have really worked with him after the beat down he had against Watt.

So that is a good sign that he learned a few things.

I didn't see a ton of difference in playcalling between that Keenum game and the previous Baker games (that could be my eye for football, though). I saw Baker execute QB sneaks until his last game in there (as did Keenum late in this game). I couldn't see any sort of significantly different approach by KS between Baker's last game, and Keenum's.

This is true, Hendrickson, Hill, Reader, Hubbard, Pratt, Gaither, Logan Wilson were all absent in addition to the secondary players...Thus why our Oline shined, especially OT

"Interesting to see the PFF grades.

While watching the game I noticed Hudson really holding his own at RT.

I was thinking Callahan must have really worked with him after the beat down he had against Watt.

So that is a good sign that he learned a few things."



Could also be that he was going against a 2nd string DL vs the DPOY.

In a lot of ways we seemed to stray from what was working last season. Obviously we aren’t in the locker room, but there was a real sense that we had no cohesion

I dunno. I think the way the D kept playing in spite of everything going on on the offensive side is a testament to the coaching staff (or at least some).

I don' think the difference in play calls when Keenum plays and an injured Baker are playing is the issue. Keenum doesn't have the arm strength that a healthy Baker does. Keenum doesn't even have the escapability that a healthy Baker does. Whether Baker is injured or whether Keenum is playing, I think in both cases it limits the playbook.

How many games in the past 2 years, have they been without at least one of Hunt and Chubb, I mean, it's almost all of the games right?
I mean Chubb and Hunt only played together in the same game about how many times? (swag) scientific wild as guess) 4 games last year and 4 games this year??? So about 24, or 25 games out of 33, D'Ernest was the 2nd of 3-4 Rbs on the team. (and (1) or 2 games the starter?)
I'd sure like to see them all back at Running back, sure would, like all 3. (and add that, player from (U. of South Carolina, in the draft but thats' just a dream)

They played together in 12 games last year and 7 games this year.

I'm curious to know what CLE's w/l record was for those 19 games.

I just got home from work, I'm nursing a nice bourbon, and am too lazy to look it up myself.



any Bloodhounds out there who get off on this type of sniffing around?

Nick Chubb has 449 carries for 2,356 yards and has scored 18 touchdowns in 27 games with Kareem Hunt in his career.
Kareem Hunt has 240 carries for 1,086 yards and has scored 17 touchdowns in 27 games with Nick Chubb in his career.
They are 17/10 in those games

Well, let's cut straight to the important part... Watcha drinkin', boss?

Woodford Reserve

Nice. I was half-way down the Rabbit Hole.

Does the ratio carryover from year to year? eg. Is it close to 2.7 wins for every loss in both years?
If so, missing Hunt for much of this year may say a lot.

Lol, that was funny.

IMHO, there are few things more rewarding than sharing good talk with a mate about a common interest, accompanied by a quality brown liquor.
A cigar would be the icing.

And CLE-centric NFL Films videos on the projector wall.
On a loop.

And nachos.

Can't argue with a single word of that.

I guess.Eotsb retired his what I.saw thread.