- The defense got owned (minus JOK).
- I don't expect Schwartz will be a HC prospect after that performance.
- We came back down to earth.
- Watson can breathe a sigh of relief after Flacco's two pick 6s.


What an awesome season with a horrific ending.

Great season.
Everything went wrong today. Embarrassing

Great season for the Browns ... embarrassing loss for today

It was fun until today, but it was going likely going to be tough to see this season end, no matter what fashion. If we won today, and lost to the Ravens, it would have sucked. If we beat the Ravens somehow, losing in any other fashion would have sucked.

It was very disappointing though, especially after that clinch game and how great it felt. However, so many times this season, it felt like the ride was over and it just kept on going. Ah well, such is sports. At least I don't have to a post game interview after that! LOL!

Out played, out coached by a rookie Head Coach and a rookie QB. Myles disappeared again. Newsome should never be on an outside WR again JOK played amazing. We didn't establish the run again.

Joe Flacco giveth and Joe Flacco taketh

Embarrassing way to end the season. Defense looked overrated. Losing a playoff game like this isn't going to get the Browns any respect. The staff deserves another year to see what they can do with a healthy team.

If anyone should be fired, it's the refs. Two blatant no calls, PI and hit on Flacco when he slid. Then they call PI on us for barely touching their receiver. Need better quality of officiating for the playoffs.

At least we avoided a qb controversy, only positive I can take from this.

Sheesh what a beat down.

Can't wait to see 2 4 back next year.

In disgust, I turned off the game after the second Pick 6. Our 2 OT's were worse than turnstiles....terrible! Injuries simply killed our chances. Next year will be our year....

Yes, it was a great season and horrible train-wreck of a game today.

At least overall we don't suck anymore, you know? We have a good team.

JOK had a great game.

I am sad as hell now but you get use to it. That's life sometimes.

P.S. Someone have a drink for me, I quit a long time ago. Thanks.

Beat by the coach of the year. Garrett is overrated . Proof that maybe pff isn’t nearly as accurate as the eyes. So many holes because of injuries. Healthy browns team walks this Texans team by 3 tds. We just ran out of gas. Overachieved all year but I truly think taking the week off stopped the momentum. I think if able to do over again, everyone plays the cincy game

Embarrassing end to a crazy season. I really would like to know the defense plays SO badly on the road. I hope Schwartz figures it out. I hope Watson figures it out quickly for 2024. He should study Flacco who sadly will not be back. Another off season to ponder what might have been if the Browns had remained healthy.

- The Browns did not just projectile vomit all over themselves today, but they choked on it in their sleep.

- Stefanski cost himself millions in contract extension negotiations today. Unless Haslam gets a wild hair up his tuchus and goes after Belichick bringing things full circle!

- I'm dumbfounded by what I just witnessed.

- Slowik tap danced on Schwartz's head coaching ambitions.

- Gameballs: David Bell and JOK

On to the 2024 season. What a brutal end to the season.

**curse the Jaguars for losing to the Titans**

- The defense was clearly not prepared for Stroud. Had no answer for him and he was unstoppable.
- Flacco probably played his last game as a Brown.
- Watson needs to play like a Pro Bowl QB next season. Has to stay healthy.
- Need a healthy Chubb next season.
- Stroud and the Texans are good but didn't think the Brown's defense would be dominated like that.
- How Stefanski prepared the team for this game has to be questioned. Looked like the Texans were more motivated and just wanted it more.

Great season that ended with a thud. On to 2024.

We were too weak and Houston too strong to have any positive effect. The run game was never in the cards....

A failure at all levels but especially coaching. We will never, NEVER compete with Kevin as head coach. He always puts the game on his QB's shoulders(no matter if it's Watson or DTR), risking it all on 4th down on our own 30 with a quarter and a half to go only down 2 scores was beyond stupid. 40+ passes vs. what 12 runs, this script has played out too many times. Our defense was a joke, we take the lead back only to get burnt on a screen pass for a TD. I take my hat off to JOK, Flacco, Njoko, Hunt(who only got maybe 6 touches)...guys who actually seen to have heart and will to win...especially JOK. The rest are bums earning paychecks, thier effort was miserable. I'm disgusted, I expected a competative game at the least. I'm ready for a house cleaning, go after BB why not things arent goint to get better the way they are.

The Browns defense has Been beat by TEs all year
Schultz and Jordan ate them alive
Browns defense was fools gold all year.
Great you beat the likes of Trevor Seimien and that Cards QB.

I'm sorry everyone. I was really hoping Cleveland would win today.

Great season and a bad ending. I didn’t know if we would win but I expected a lot closer game. The pick 6,s killed us. Houston got some key players back and Stroud was phenomenal. Our injuries caught up with us today.

Pretty disappointing way to end a really enjoyable season.

Two big concerns moving forward -

Stefanski - starting to have some eerie parallels to Baker. Overachieve when expectations are low; underachieve when expectations are high. Year 1 no expectations, playoffs. Years 2 and 3, high expectations, no coach in the history of the league did less with more. Year 4, low expectations made even lower by the injury situation. The minute the expectations flip, Browns were favored today, you get a nice big thud.

Garrett - I'm not sure there is a bigger poser in the NFL. Always disappears through the last third of every season. Never gets the better of the better tackles. Freelances way too much, vacating his spot all the time resulting in big plays. Made zero, ZERO, impact plays in the biggest game of his career today. In my opinion, he does not deserve the DPOY. 5 straight games with no sacks. The team basically begging the league to give Myles the DPOY when they saw it slipping away during that 5 game stretch. Myles is supposed to be a generational talent. Generational talents are supposed to play their best when the stakes are the highest. Myles was handled one on one almost all game today and when he lined up against Tunsil, he had no chance. Tired of hearing about this guy. Tired of hearing him talk. Dude's a poser.

We have no wide receivers who can break tackles. Wind knocks over Moore and Bell.

Also, it looks like they picked on Newsome and for good reason. In a past post I mentioned he could be a trade candidate....we'll see.

That's BS that our injuries caught up with us. We had every bit of talent on this roster to win this game today or at the very least make it a dog fight. We layed down again like always and let them walk all over us, it was pathetic.

And Nick Chubb.

I agree. We had a good year....just not the way we wanted it to end.

Defence played like garbage, the pick 6s buried us. Enjoyable season, but we wait another year. Thanks Joe, you made things fun until things weren’t.

Embarrassments on the national stage like today result in the following -

Same old Browns.

We had a magical month with Flacco. Pat yourself on the back, because the franchise still blows.

Watson trade looks worse every day.

They lost their winning momentum and Mojo with that ugly defeat in Cincinnati the last game

We're not excited. Been hearing it for 25 years and the results are always the same. Regardless of the injuries our roster is still as good as or better than Houstun's and to get blown out like that is an absolute embarassment.

When the game started, I thought it was gonna be a shootout. Then the back to back pick 6's kinda put us in a hole. The Defense never got on the plane. Stefanski didn't try to run the ball enough so they knew we were gonna throw it. Just an all around crap looking team today. Copper and Njoku were shut down. Newsome can't even come close to thinking he is a shut down corner.This team shouldn't have even been in the playoffs. Why can't we get it together like other teams do? All the hype all week might have went to their head cause they sure laid an egg.

I know the team would never publicly admit it, but injuries really did factor into the outcome. Watson and Chubb, plus out OLine and secondary being healthy, this is a different ballgame. Add in if some of out defensive "stars" actually played like their hype, then we can talk. I'd like to get excited about next year, but I'm waiting for some other disaster to occur

Another year, another embarrassment. Since I was born, I’ve seen Baltimore win 2, Pittsburgh win 2, Elway win 2, and Cincy play in 2. Meanwhile this is what we get. Move the team.

I'm surprised some of the posters like Versatile Dawg Diam Dawg
And Eotab are posting on this playoff game

Diam left the board a while ago. Vers I believe was banned and I fear EO is no longer able

Solid analysis after today's loss.

You should post here more often.

As I said earlier this week in another thread. The texans getting those two defensive ends back would make a huge difference and it did. Also, it's hard to beat a team twice in one season.

I also believe the browns probably came into this game overconfident because of the last game which is foolish. I hope our defense who kept calling themselves the best in the world learned thier lesson. today. They are not the best, and if they want to be the best then they need to stop listening to thier own hype.

Not sure if we have a second round pick this year but I really hope we look at another cornerback and try to trade Newsome. We also could probably use some depth at linebacker.
Garrett has not been the same player since hurting his shoulder against the rams I believe .
would not be Suprised to hear about him having surgery soon.

Are the browns overrated? Probably. How much?..hard to say with all the injuries.

Will Watson save the day next season? No he is a overrated sexual predator who struggles very much to read a defense. He never played in a pro style offense in college and I don't like those kind of guys to play qb. I prefere a pocket passer who comes from a more pro style offense. The predators contract will also put this team in salar cap hell soon

Should stefanski get a extension? I dunno. Honestly I feel like the main reason we even made the playoffs is because of Schwartz more so than stefanski. If stefanski does get a extension it should be under the agreement he gives up playcalling. However I know that won't happen

Yo, where's Steve? I need an update on the salary cap...

Stripperchick... You haven't been here through the entire run, why are you calling out people that haven't posted here in over a year? What's your fascination with calling out Eotab? Dude has been fighting for his life for years and all you can do is come here and bust his balls for having hope in a sports team? Top shelf pathetic.

Stefanski won’t give up play calling. He feels like his play calling gives the team an advantage that no one else could. It would also strip him his identity as a head coach. I don’t think he believes he could bring value to the team as a CEO type head coach.

I've never been a fan of 'Resting' Players when you have clinched a spot.
All Season it was next game up, next game up.... then well OK maybe I was wrong, forget the next one and worry about the one after that.
All the drive seemed to be gone.
Embarrassing!

I don’t think the rest had anything to do with it.

The Browns got out coached and out played. They were not able to adjust intra game. And the Texans just wanted it more.

Whether the team played last week or not I don’t think would have changed any of those things.

When Alex Wright is your vocal leader ripping into the d on the sidelines you probably over achieved during the season.

Post game thoughts: Sad, and disappointed.

And then I got on facebook. Memories. Today, 9 years ago, was the day I had to have the second best cat in the world, put down. I carried her around the house doing the "remember when...." thing. Then took her to the vet.

Man... crazy game... first half we kept it close. Defense gave up that long touchdown late in the first half... and I didn't understand why we didn't try to move the ball with 30 seconds left... I get that you took that big sack, but felt like we should have tried one more play to move it downfield to get some points...

second half...wow... horrible.. nothing worked... those pick 6s were just devastating...

defense felt like a let down... Texans should have put up at least one more long TD if Nico didn't slow down on that long pass... Garrett was completely missing today... on offense, we had no run game and once Cooper got hurt we couldn't do much in the passing game...

rough game all around...

overall though, with all the adversity, it's still impressive to get into the playoffs... I'm still disappointed because this defense should have played better today, but Houston is a tough team that's hot at the right time... not sure if they'll win next week, but they are very tough at home when CJ is playing...

You could see a few guys trying to fight through nagging injuries: Cooper, Bojorquez, Ford kept clutching his hand, Garrett was a shell of himself etc

My take;

This loss lays at the feet of Flacco and the defense. They’re both a large part of why we got to the playoffs in the first place of course. But if you didn’t already know you learned today that they’re both major boom/ bust forces. Both had been booming but you had to know this potential was there.

Flacco is a slinger. If you were playing against him you’d be looking to force mistakes, and they did that very well. Those two pick 6’s meant way more than the points alone. They were spirit killers. I don’t think Ski called a terrible game. It just got away from us. It was very much a comeback potential game right up until the picks.

Swartz is a river boat gambler. He puts players in super aggressive positions but leaves open the big play potential. Usually the big play can’t develop if the QB is running for his life. It was alarming that we couldn’t get penetration but it seemed to me they were overloading the OL with TE’s and backs blocking on most plays. It was a gamble on their part but it payed off. CJ had lots of time and the running game had holes. The receivers could get behind single, man coverage and CJ had the arm to deliver.

Our offense will be very different next year. But the D is going to have to have a big think. It’s fun to have a splashy defense but good teams can game it.

All that said, I think the Texans might be looking at a deep run. I see them as stringer than any team in the AFC other than the Ravens after this one. CJs the real deal.

Disappointed, but not depressed.

When 24 went down in Week 2, and 4 went down a couplefew games after that, every NFL fan/pundit wrote this team off.
Look what they were able to do, since then.

The product we saw at the end of this reg season is the building block upon which most of this team will be built, next year.

Browns have turned the corner.
Expect post-season appearances to come.


.02

We need to address our WRs. Outside or Cooper, who will be 30, we have next to nothing. You can see what a competent pocket passing QB who can read Defenses can do for us. Watson is more of an athlete than Flacco, but I would take Flacco's pocket passing prowess and ability to read defenses over Watson's running ability any day of the week.

We need a complementary LB for JOK. We haven't had decent LBs in such a LONG time. As much as I love Myles, he was a non factor when the team needed him the most. He seems like a "me" type player that doesn't raise his teammates up to his level when needed the most. Z Smith has been a disappointment in the crucial games as well. Being #1 at whatever stat means absolutely ZERO in the playoff. They got too cocky and were exposed and embarrassed BIG time when it counted the most, in the playoffs. Schwartz's game plan against the rookie was his worst.

We will still have a lot of talent on the roster, but our perennial Pro Bowlers like Garrett, Chubb, Bitonio, Teller, Cooper, etc are knocking on 30.

They had 4 sacks, we had 0.

David Bell showed life today. First time I've seen it. Hopefully, carry that into next season to have a more complete wide receiver room. Need to get more out of Tillman, Bell and Moore. This years draft isn't going to do it for us.

Next year!

I'm here fighting for my life and I have to watch this crap.
Biggest joke Stefanski for coach of the year.

🤣

Hi Eotab. Glad you're here.

I thought this after 2020 and we followed it up with two very disappointing seasons.

I'm just sitting in wait and see mode right now. I'm down, but not too down. There is a chance for hope. But my hopes are not too high right now. The disappointing end to season after season has worn on me.

j/c...

Tab? If I may ask what's wrong?

On one hand you want to appreciate the perseverance this season. On the other this stinks of celebrating mediocrity. You just got punked guys. And they're taking our 1st rd pick still as well.

Don't know what is wrong but will be praying for you fellow Dawg.

I have been a Browns fan for most of my life. Used to watch them with my dad. I am 72 years old and have seen the ups and downs. Thought maybe this was going to be our year or at least go deep in the playoffs.

Even though we lost, I am still proud of this team for what they accomplished through all the injuries we had. We are on our 4th QB, lost Chubb in week 2 lost most of our O line playing 2nd and 3rd string in several other positions due to injury.

This year is the first time in a long time where I can say I was excited about our football team. Sure ,we laid an egg today and I'm not sure what happened but it will be corrected and will make for a good start next season. I would like to see them bring Flacco back as a backup next year after all him and the defense is what got us a playoff spot in the first place.

I would like for one major change to happen next year and that is Stefanski hand the play calling over to someone else. There are so many games this year that he had me scratching my head asking "what is he doing that for". Our run game today wasn't to good but I think he gave up on it to soon and that made Houston know we were gonna throw the ball. He put the game on Flaccos shoulder.

Refs didn't help us either. I saw so many holding fouls that weren't called, a couple PI's and after seeing the roughing the passer call that Mahomes got in the Chiefs game, they should have called Unnecessary roughness when Flacco started his slide when he ran the ball. But i have come to accept the fact that the NFL has ref's that stink and they seem to be getting worse every year.

All in all I am proud of this team for the season they had and I will be a Browns fan till they put me in the ground. Told my wife today that I would like to see them win a super bowl before that happens. We are close just not there yet. Got a few more pieces to the puzzle.

I will be rooting for CJ Stroud to win it all because he was a Buckeye and you have to admit....the kid is awesome.

Brutal and disappointing end to a fairly excellent season. Having overcome so many challenges on the way to the wild card game, hopes were high. But we got abused by HOU whose gameplan and execution was 100% spot on.

Not going to cry too much about the manner in which we lost - losing by 1 point or 50 just means our season is over. Worrying about what the media thinks is ego or pride or something. What matters is what the team does in 2024, getting back to the playoffs, winning games.

CJ Stroud was nothing short of spectacular - 157 passer rating... maybe helped by Newsome who had a really bad game. On defense the return of their DE's wrecked havoc on our OT's .... it is what it is. Maybe the refs didn't help. Doesn't matter. We lost. It was a wonderful run while it lasted.

Disappointed.

Hard to believe that the defense played so poorly. Going into the game I felt if we would score 24 we would win.

We gave up big play after big play. Coverage and tackling was horrible.

Credit to the Texans.

Complete opposite of what I expected. I thought that the defense and Flacco would make the difference.

It ended up that they did make the difference in the wrong way.

I don't think he has said his xstripper was a "chick".

Arch I meant to reply when I read this the first time ... a poignant message if anyone wants to heed it!

Well, that was a bit of a let down. Dismal performance by the D... JOK aside of course. He was everywhere.

Flacco fell to earth but I will forever be thankful for his time in Cleveland. What a great job he did that last month of so.

Good luck in the future Joe. I truly wish you well. Great guy.

What an unlikely season this was. 5 starting QB's. Gees. All the other injuries like Chubb and to the Oline. Yikes. How does a team go 11 and 6 with all that happening.

Next year.

One of the best winning seasons in MANY years, despite the MANY injuries to our team.

End of the day, defenses win championships, and minus JOK, the defense stunk it up.

The back to back pick 6's didn't help either (only happens to us).

I look forward to next season and having #4 lead the way.

JC...

-James Hudson does not belong on a football field, absolutely horrible.

-Lack of any running game, Texans didn't have to crash down on the run game...Play action doesn't work, when they are expecting pass happy.

-I don't know what was said or not said during the halftime speech, but we played horrible afterwards.

-Flacco pick 6's broke the team, game over there.

-Defense had none of their swagger they usually carry, partly besides none of them made any plays (exception JOK-who was lights out)

-Our Dline was so quiet all game, Myles with his usual off-sides penalty. DTs, Zadarius, Okro, were all pummeled.

- I'm surely looking for an upgrade over Jerome Ford this off-season, he can stay as a #3 back.

-Imagine having Nico Collins instead of Anthony Schwartz

-Credit to Teller for trying to chase down plays, I know he was not happy.

-Newsome and Emerson had some questionable effort, Hickman had some horrible reads, Thornhill got taken on a tackle attempt.

-Did not expect a blowout...but there she was.

I'm interested to see what happens to Schwartz... wonder if the talk of him getting a HC job cools a bit after getting beat up yesterday...

I can't see Schwartz getting anything now ... he'll be back

We have to answer a few questions:

1. Why is Myles always a shell of himself at the end of seasons?
2. Why was our defense so exposed on the road?
3. Can Watson and KS find a good scheme that works for both?
4. Is Chubb going to be able to return to form?
5. Can we find another WR besides Cooper?

This is a post game thought for more that a few of our games this season. Emerson is a huge liability.....I've seen him get burnt, miss tackles and avoid contact way too many times this year.

this is just my observation about our CBs ... we have one guy who can basically cover anybody (Ward) and then Emerson/Newsome are more fitted to cover slower, more physical guys. Anyone with that ultra-speed or athleticism and they struggle

j/c..

Texans had the better game plan.
Attack our weaknesses .. James Hudson got pushed around all day collapsing pocket.
Newsome was so poor at catching the dump-off guy Stroud was throwing to that they attacked it constantly.
We were slow at sealing the edge on either side, and when we did seal it our guys can't tackle.
We got no real pressure on Stroud. He constantly would boot leg out of the pocket or reverse direction extending
the play which usually ends up with him finding an open man.
Considering all the starters we lost this season I think we did well.

The Browns defense was never as good as its ranking
It's faced some pretty porous QBs this year
Clayton Tune..Case Keenum...Kenny Pickett.
Not to mention QBs that were injured like Burrow and Lawrence
But if you looked closer the Browns did allow QBs like
Mineshew and a 2nd stringer like Browning to move the
Ball at will. Career backups
But CJ Stroud had his way minus Tank Dell.
The Texans OC out schemed Schwartz
Maybe all the Schwartz Kool aid can be stopped being drank now.

Offensively Elijah Moore wasn't all he was hyped up to be.
The Browns need playmakers at WR.
Cooper disappeared vs the Texans which was what his rep
In Dallas. Disappeared in big time games

In fairness, Cooper looked really hobbled still.

Moore just hasn't worked like we hoped ... and, if it weren't for Njoku, our other skill guys would be the worst in the NFL

While I'm not surprised by some of the responses, the thought process behind some of them is mind boggling. No Chubb, no Watson, forced to play the 5th and 6th OT's on the depth chart and it just goes on and on. This team is a patchwork of players that some were lucky to make the practice squad at the beginning of the season. Some of the starters were banged up so badly it's crazy. Like Cooper. You could see he wasn't himself. Much of the game he was more of a decoy than a target. Yet they and this coaching staff took it all the way to the playoffs. That feat in and of itself is amazing.

And the D? Yes they sucked yesterday with the exception of JOK. But they have been awesome all year and were ranked number one going into yesterday. So what's the response? "They were overrated." That's huge bag of cat turds. The anomaly doesn't tell the story. Isolating a single game while ignoring everything else is what hormone unbalanced people do. See a doctor.

The roster that Stefanski and Schwartz had to lead this team to the playoffs was nothing but a hodgepodge of leftovers. I'm not going to allow childish emotions to cast a shadow over that based on one game.

It's as if people think if Martin Scorsese had to make a movie with immigrant workers he picked up at Home Depot you would expect a masterpiece. The fault here lies with your own expectations. Many of us, and even all of us I think if people were being honest, expected this thing to blow up at some point. A QB you picked up off the couch and the fourth starter in a season. An injury report that looked like a bomb had gone off in the locker room.

And through it all, they won 11 games and led this team to the playoffs. No matter what anyone posts here, that's overachieving by any reasonable definition of the word. And all some of you can do is sit here and bellyache about it. Those doing that I don't feel deserve to have their shallow opinions taken seriously.

Now go ahead and tee off. I sure as hell did!

Yes, in game 1 Burrows is a terrible QB. Then there's Purdy. We all know he sucks.

Moore isn’t big enough to be an outside receiver and isn’t quick enough to be a slot guy.

Bell shouldn’t be on the team next year. Both he and Moore go down with fingernail tackles.

Since Tillman is still a huge question mark that leaves a giant hole at WR going into next year.

Great post.... have the exact questions... only one I'd add is can we get a healthy/consistent OL again

Burrow played on 1 leg that 1st game. He didn't have a preseason.
Purdy was not 100% going into the Browns game. Let me know when the Browns
Defense can negate a healthy QB playing at a high level at
The time of the Browns game

Still acting like this D stunk I see. Your alternate reality escapes logic.

I don't think the Browns defense "stinks" but it's not nearly
As good as the rankings suggest. I just never got caught up in the
Hype or drank the Kool aid with the Browns defense
Any defense can look good playing the likes of Clsyton Tune
And Trevor Seimian. If the Browns defense was all that
It would have shut down CJ Stroud

ravenscoughcoughravens

What was it you said earlier about excuses?

Only when they fit the narrative.

Micah Parson's called Emerson out yesterday during the game...

I can't say much

After Njoku got mugged and the ref didn't throw the flag I turned off the game

Then and there I knew the results weren't going to be in the Browns favor

As a player, they are suppossed to just suck up bad calls and move on

As a fan it's not easy to accept, it really takes the energy out of things

I really wonder how much it affects the players energy and mind set

For all of you who say next year or next season, well next year would be 2025

This year starts the 2024 season

Before we know it, it'll be draft day then ota's then camp. It's right around the corner.

A slightly long corner, but it's coming

All the new threads and posts with excitement concerns opinions leading into this season makes for interesting times

Yes I turned off the game, I had to for my mental health and to be able to have some excitement and hope for this team and fans

Lots of things will happen from now til kick off "24"

Hopefully the ride will last longer into the play offs

And the dang snow ! Watching the Bills win today would have been nice !

Always tommorrow !

Great season with incrediable challenges ! Sure was fun !

Learn from it and go get that Lombardi Trophy !

We aint getting no younger round here !

That was your take from this awesome video...

Unless Berry said guys please point the camera at me, which I highly doubt since the cameras will be on anyways.



This is what leadership looks like. This is what builds cultures and family environments starting from the top. It may look like a minor detail at the time, in reality it's a significant detail.

Leaders aren't people that just show up when it's winning, they are there through wins and losses - the best and worst of times. They want to be there to show their support, express their gratitude, and their appreciation in that moment.

A Commander on the airport runway waiting for his Soldiers to exit the plane of a failed mission, just to shake their hand or hug (showing support) and tell them how much he appreciates each and every one of them. That is a leader. That is one step of how an organization shows they care about their employees.

Showing up to give a speech afterwards doesn't hit as hard or sound as genuine as one after being with your employees when they are at their lowest. That is how culture and families form.

Sure. I said the guys deserved praise for their perseverance. Maybe not right after the game. Maybe in exit interviews.

That locker room should have been a lot of quiet and a lot of soul searching.

Please, do share this "culture " that permeates and surrounds the Cleveland Browns organization again.

Unless you mean a culture of desperation, bad judgement, irrational thinking, general chaos and disarray and 3 decades of being utter losers. There is that.

Do you seriously think Berry is going to have an "exit interview" with all of those players?


Are you a sports psychologist? Anyway, you don't know what went on in that locker room.


If you didn't notice a positive change in culture with the team this season, we can't help you.

His sig tells us more about him than it does the Browns.

Gonna quote My Pops (who dropped some great lines during his life:
"Some folks can't be happy unless they're making themselves miserable about something-"

I agree.

I often say "It's not about how things start, but how they end".

How things end doesn't have to mean you won or got what you wanted. It's about what you did along the journey. Not winning doesn't erase what you did to try to reach your goal.

He is not alone.

"Some folks can't be happy unless they're making themselves miserable about something-"

There are others that includes steve.

When we were winning with a roster that had 26% of the cap on the IR. Hid in the dark.

When they lose. He runs out to the light to say KS is the reason.

Clueless to reason why this team over achieved. Clueless to what every player and assistant coach has to say about KS. Clueless to what the media recognized.

Coaching is about what you can do with what you have.

To those empty vessels fill up at the misery pump and stay miserable.

Hey man...seeing this post is better than the Browns winning the game. Take care buddy, and stick around when you can.

Well, we’re not headed to a Super Bowl, so it’s ALWAYS disappointing. But at least we’ve answered the “Is Ski the problem question and we can say, NO, with confidence. This year gave me a little hope going forward. Getting DW to where we need him to be, should be our focus for the off season. We’ve now seen what a baller can do with this talent, time to get DW ballin’.

There it stands getting DW ready.

If we are to win anything it will be on DW. That is where we are.

Every year teams reshuffle the deck. Players come and go. Good teams turn bad. Bad teams turn good.

The offensive tackle injuries really hurt this team. You cannot pay bench players tons of money. When you lose three starting tackles. The result is you have players like
James Hudson and Geron Christian starting. They were really bad. If you have slow feet and poor balance. You are like a dancer with two left feet.

The defense picked a bad day to play like crap. We gave up big plays. Many of them should not have been big yard gains. Coverage on the back end was terrible.

Newsome was isolated on deeper routes and got torched.

I was really confident that we would win this game. The defense outside of JOK was a real letdown.

I am not EO, but I know he has had heart problems for 3-4 years.

Agreed. No Browns fan should rip this team after the wins we got this year, the effort of the players which I feel was exceptional and the way our coaches rose to the challenge dealing with all the injuries. If there's anything to be critical about it's how our D played. They were awful. Picked the worse time to have a bad game. I've got some optimism moving forward. A few good FA signings and some good draft picks and we can duplicate the win total from this season and hopefully go deeper in the playoffs. Less injuries would be welcome also.

Raise your hand if you read that with the narrator's voice from 'Soap' (or 'As the Stomach Turns').

Also, why did Myles crash directly inside so many times with nobody setting the edge outside of him? I feel like I saw that a lot.

Someone was saying today at work who played defense that Tunsil was getting a half step back and it wasn't being called.

Keep up the good fight, tabber.

This season was extremely fun and I'm sorry it ended the way it did. Hopefully KS takes it as a learning lesson on what to do next time. We will be back!!

I noticed this too, on multiple snaps. I guess he figured they may look to call holding on him so he chose to false start as a way of throwing the refs off. Lol

Myles is given the freedom to freelance and it often results in him guessing wrong. He wants the splash plays. He loves the attention. He guessed wrong a lot during the season exposing the edge. In this game, he could not get around Tunsil and was getting frustrated. He consistently tried to bullrush him with no luck. He routinely gets owned by the better LTs in the league.

I think Myles gets special treatment (which was Clowney's argument), then doesn't deliver when it matters most. Interesting that Clowney will get the last laugh.

And when he doesn't perform we have phantom shoulder pops and him dealing with personal issues to explain away poor performances in his pressers. Guy is as fragile as they come, both physically and mentally.

I really think Watt deserves DPOY. He was consistently better all season. The team lobbying for Myles was embarrassing.

I know Myles is royalty around here and above criticism by most. And I admit I am judging him harshly. And I admit I am judging him through way more of a harsher lense than maybe anyone else on the team, but that's the way it goes when you are supposed to be one of the best players in the league. And the leader of our D. Hell, Alex Wright was ripping into the team on the sidelines during the Texans game while Myles just stood there. If Myles could have gotten home just a couple of times in the first quarter it could have been a completely different game. As soon as Stroud realized he had no pressure and they caught Myles cheating inside, the defense literally had no chance. Our best player is supposed to play his best when it matters most.

I'm a fan, just not a big fan and have a lot of concerns for his perpetual decline late in seasons. As soon as the stats start dropping off, he presses and plays poorly.

Clooney may get the last laugh but then he hasn’t won anything either.

Myles will actually get the last laugh. In the Hall of Fame while Clowney is seen as an underachieving journeyman that played on a couple good teams.

I am getting a little tired of Myles. Great player, not maybe not a good team player.

I think he needs to stick more to the scheme and do a little less free lancing. I don't think the scheme is to allow him to crash inside without covering the edge. Defensive ends have edge setting responsibility in any D that actually works.

I think Clowney wasn't just spouting off. I remember reading something where Schwartz said he wants his D guarding against the run while getting to the QB.

I will Homer, just for you.

Agreed. We need to upgrade our WR room. Pronto.

Agreed, as well.

But I'll also say at this point, there hasn't been an offseason since Andrew Berry's arrival when he hasn't aggressively gone after needs. If we dummies in the stands can see it, it's a sure bet that he sees it too.

Another part of the recent fun has been to track Berry's moves, and watch this team get built. I mean, look where we are- compared to 1-31. The Cleveland Browns are now a legitimate NFL team with a foundation, a nucleus of quality players, and a stable FO/Coaching Staff that I'd put up against any other in the league. This bodes pretty well for CLE's future, if our recent past is prologue.

Before this current regime took the reins, the Browns' offseason offered Browns fans two options:

1. Squandered 1st and 2nd round picks in the draft (a.k.a CLE fans' Super Bowl).
2. Drama and dysfunction at 76 Groza, leading to wholesale turnover at the top. Reset. Again.

As disappointed as I am to see this season end as it did, I'm already looking forward to seeing what we'll do in the next 4 months. CLE has built something... and now has something upon which to further build. Let's see what Berry/DePo/StefStaff do next. I can't freakkin' wait. His individual moves have sometimes/oftentimes surprised me, but when I take a drone's eye view from above weeks/months later, I can always see the logic.

Today, even after this weekend's loss, it's actually fun to be a Browns fan.
That's what the NFL experience is supposed to be.


.02

I am with you Clem.

It was a fun year and we do have a bright future.

The loss to the Texans was disappointing. I expected to win that game. The play of the defense was not expected. The truth was the defense played poorly on the road?

I don't have an answer for that. We gave up big plays? The one that Micah Parsons called out on Emerson was real. I don't see how he missed tackling that guy.

When we lost Dawand Jones. It opened the pass rush from both sides. Hudson and Christian as the tackles were open gates of entry.

The run game had ground down to a crawl.

The Texans deserve credit. But the defense did not adapt.

Flacco played well for us. However, turnovers were a problem in all his games. When the defense backed Flacco up we overcame the turnovers. One cannot expect that in the playoffs.

Now the off season begins. Berry has work to do. The 2024 roster will be different. All teams will change personnel.

The Texans will be a new problem in the AFC. CJ Stroud is the real deal and he has just begun.

Deshaun Watson is our quarterback and he will have to be great in order for the Browns to achieve success.

While I certainly agree with the bulk of your post, I have to add something. Even when Baker was here under Stefanski we never had a huge "bottom" like 0-16 or 3-13 season. While we didn't make the playoffs every year we didn't suck. And that creates a scenario with which you can build on. A reason for optimism within the organization. Not so much among some fans as we saw but within the FO and coaching staff it's a foundation to work from. I think that helps create an atmosphere where people aren't fighting for their job. Where cohesion makes sense and pointing a finger doesn't.

It's much easier to pull together when things are going well or even coming together and improving. That's a much more difficult task when you are collapsing and desperate. If this team was having 3-14 or 3-15 seasons I think we would see people pointing fingers and playing the blame game. It's just the nature of the beast.

so after a few days to reflect on our loss, I must say I'm slightly amused by all the talking heads and Browns writers being suprised by our loss. Like, did any of them actually watch the Browns play on the road this season? Our D was ranked nearly last on the road, so while I was disappointed, I wasn't all that shocked.

As for Myles, I'm guessing he was more hurt than he ever let on and that affected his play. He should sit out any Pro Bowl activities and start on rehabbing his shoulder.

I agree about Myles Ever since he hurt his shoulder he wasn’t the same player and that’s understandable. With all the injuries and turmoil because of it we were fortunate to have the record we had and make the playoffs. I don’t understand why others can’t see that. It was excellent coaching by the whole staff and a great team effort from the players that did it. Even with the loss we achieved something good this season and it should help moving forward.

Apparently it wasn’t excellent coaching by the whole staff.

Apparently the players didn't execute worth a damn. I guess they should have coached Falcco how not to throw int's and teach Newsome that he shouldn't blow coverages. Oh wait, I'm pretty sure they explained that to them.

The defensive failure in the Texan game is hard to explain.

The reason is there is no denying the discrepancy in the numbers at home versus on the road.

I guess you could say the crowd and home field advantage. But somehow I cannot buy that.

On offense it is easier to see the truth. Joe Flacco was a great story here however, maybe real Joe was what we ended with. Joe can throw it and look great at times. But Joe throws interceptions. We could have signed him way earlier. But there is good Joe and bad Joe. He showed us both sides.

The tackle play after the losses of Conklin, Wills and Jones finally became too much to overcome. Hudson and Christian were like broken gates.

Kareem is a single purpose back for short yardage and that is ok. Ford is not a replacement for Nick. He is not very good. We need a true number two receiver.

I come back to the defense because it failed so badly in that game. Losing Delpit, Thornhill and McLeod hurt. We were out of position at safety and the tackling was poor.
But that still does not answer for how we played defense in that game. The pass rush never really applied pressure.

I have to credit what the Texans did. They were ready for Myles. Well prepared for loops and stunts. There were quick plays to get the ball out. Traps in the run game.

We did not adapt in game to what they were doing? I expected the defense to play better. Giving up chunk plays was frustrating as hell.

In the end sometimes you play a bad game and it gets away from you. We just got beat. Nothing good to say about it.

1. To me, the Browns were clearly lacking in the speed department - offensively and particularly on defense. The Texans were much faster on both sides of the ball. Playing on turf, that speed discrepancy was magnified. I think that lack of speed showed up in most of our road games and a big reason why the D was so inept on the road this season. See Rams, Colts, and Seahawks - even BAL.
2. The Texans watched tape on the beatdown the Browns put on them earlier in the year and game planned accordingly - both sides of the ball. Schwartz on record saying they would play as they always played on D - Single High safety, man up. That played to the Texans strength vs weakness - Stroud took advantage. Browns got away with that in 1st meeting because Keenum was QB. Same on O as they learned from 1st go round as well and planned accordingly. Shadow Cooper with Stingley, pressure Flacco. Good to go. We did not adjust and they did - game over, Johnny.

We got the Falco from the 1996 Sugar Bowl.

That was a brutal loss for Ohio State fans!

I laughed out loud.

We were awful on defence and offence. Moreso the defence. Blaming coaches for that monstrosity of performance just doesn’t fit.

Clowney would be sitting on IR laughing. Myles has been playing injured since he felt the pop in his shoulder. He has been playing with one maybe 1 1/2 arms since then.Did you hear him make excuses.... Hell no. Did you hear him complain... HELL NO. He shut up, manned up and played every game, yet some folks want to bash him for it.

Unfreaking believable.

He consistently made excuses since Denver when he got stonewalled by a decent, not great, Bolles. That’s when the phantom shoulder pop got introduced. Later it was because of some family stuff he was going through that he makes sure to tell the media instead of keeping private.

Guy fades at the end of every season. It is what it is.

Maybe Myles needs a better strength and conditioning coach so he can finish the season better

Someone put Mac in touch with Myles lawyer.

Let’s see if we can get that video over to him.

Mac is available.

That damned Stefanski should have taught him not to do that!