2018 Season | The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Week 7 @ Tampa Bay

The Good

• Myles Garrett. I think it was one of the Ravens posters (sorry, forgot who) who joked about Steelers fans complaining about James "Head-Hunter" Harrison always being held (he wasn't). Myles Garrett, on the other hand, is. On any given passing play, Myles Garrett is being at least held and it isn't being called. And he's still impacting games in a huge way.
  
  
• Baker Mayfield. QB1 put this team on his back in the second half and put them in a position to win the game. Statistically, he had his best game as a pro yet, but he also displayed that attitude that made him so incredible at Oklahoma. The future is bright, but his development has to be the single-most important thing this season (more on this later).
  
  
• David Njoku. Njoku with Taylor: 7 catches on 14 targets (50.0%), 33 yards, 1 interception, 26.5 QB rating. Njoku with Mayfield: 24 catches on 38 targets (63.2%), 264 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 90.2 QB rating. He's the second-most targeted receiver for Mayfield and one of his most productive receivers. He seems to be developing nicely with Mayfield and this could be a very nice combo moving forward.

The Bad

• Penalties. 14 penalties for 114 yards. Browns, on the season, are tied for most penalties (58) and fourth in penalty yards (459) on offense. Browns are seventh on defense (50) and fourth in penalty yards (467) on defense. Good teams struggle to overcome penalties. Bad teams cannot win by committing so many.
  
  
• Overtime Periods. Browns have now played four overtime periods, almost a full game, more than other teams. They're already facing a number of injuries, and now have to turn around and travel to division rival Pittsburgh. Not an ideal setup for the team.
  
  
• First Halves. Cleveland's first half drives against Tampa: 29 plays, 54 yards, 0 points. Browns first quarter this year (through seven games): 112 plays, 378 yards, 6 points. This team continues to sleepwalk through the first quarter/half of games and doesn't show up until the third or fourth. We can't continue to spot teams a half of football before engaging.

The Ugly

• The Coaches. As mentioned above; penalties, first halves, and ultimately a 2-4-1 record falls back on the coaches. Hue Jackson publicly airing the dirty laundry and his concerns with the offense (he's so bad at this aspect of being a head coach). Todd Haley's scripted series (first three): 8 plays, 19 yards, punt; 3 plays, 2 yards, punt; 3 plays, 2 yards, punt. Gregggggg Williams actually should not be included in "coaches" this week because his unit did enough. Hue Jackson's teams cannot get points off takeaways, cannot get out of their way in penalties, and cannot finish games.
  
  
• The Referees. Three calls: the huge miss on Mayfield being targeted in the helmet, the blatant false start (again) in overtime on Tampa that wasn't called, and *all* the holding against Myles Garrett. The Browns continue to be on the end of the worst officiating in the NFL and I don't want to sound conspiracy theorist here, but what are the odds that multiple different crews have their worst outing professionally whenever Cleveland is in the lineup. I joked about Bottlegate after one of the horrendously-officiated games, but I genuinely do believe there is a something out there now. The players are actively talking about it now. I am watching other NFL games and the atrocious misses aren't there, the inexplicable calls aren't there. This is now an official fact: the referees are 100% out to get the Cleveland Browns. We lead the NFL in 'apologies' from the NFL but that doesn't do us any good.
  
  
• The Offensive Line. They're going to get Mayfield killed. Desmond Harrison is probably a stop-gap, but more concerning is the huge drop off from the guards. Both Bitonio and Zeitler are two of the highest-paid guards in the league and they're playing terrible football. J.C. Tretter has been dealing with injuries, but he's not playing well. Something is up and I don't know if it's scheme or what... but there's too much talent for this unit to be playing so poorly.

 

How else are they gonna make it to the 5th Quarter and get all those extra plays these young players need to develop quicker?

(Snark font off)

 

John Dorsey:

 

Less quick research:

Hue Jackson's point differential in losses is -400 (average of -11.4 per loss).

Hue Jackson's point differential in wins is +10 (average of 3.3 per win).

Hue Jackson has taken a team to overtime eight times with Cleveland. His record in those games is 1-6-1.

Hue Jackson's has no positive overall point differential by opponent. His closest is against the new York Jets (-2 overall, -0.67 per game). His worst is against Dallas (-25). For AFC North opponents, he's got Cincinnati (-65, -16.3 per game), Baltimore (-54, -10.8 per game), and Pittsburgh (-25, -5.0 per game).

 

Huh.

 

Can he play WR? Or OL? And take over at HC?

 

Not really sure where to put these... maybe we need a @beachbum-inspired (because he's excellent at finding and exposing bad takes) thread "Things That Did Not Age Well".

Barnett was just placed on IR, ending his season. He has 7.5 sacks, 30 tackles, 13 TFLs, and 26 QB hits through 21 games.

Myles Garrett has 14.0 sacks, 38 tackles, 14 TFLs, and 32 QB hits through 18 games and is either held, double-teamed, or both on every passing snap.

Dalvin Cook has missed three consecutive games due to injury. In his time in the role, he was ineffective, rushing for 98 yards on 36 carries (2.7 YPA), with no touchdowns. For a career thus far, it's 452 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4.1 YPA.

Kareem Hunt (my guy) has 1,869 yards, 13 touchdowns, and a 4.8 YPA average.

Nick Chubb, who's also infinitely better than Dalvin Cook, this year has 253 yards on 34 carries (7.4 YPA) and 3 touchdowns.

#PostsThatDidNotAgeWell #IsHeStillAlive #DoYouEvenFootballBro

 

We should have this somewhere that everyone on the forum can quote and post each other's missteps.

I could finally have a starring role on my own website, lol.

 

Hey, we've all been there (#Quinn2Win).

I just saw the Barnett news and thought about our favorite anti-Browns Browns fan and couldn't pass up the opportunity.

 

This is a *FANTASTIC* breakdown. If you're not following Jake on Twitter (@jake_burns18 or @BrownsFilmBDN), or reading his articles now, you're missing out.

 

Roster moves.

So now I believe we have five tight ends on active roster (Njoku, DeValve, Fells, Charles, and now Brown).

That would be helpful if we used 12 personnel more often (unless we're #11, this ain't it, chief).

 

I have a question for the podcast that I'm saving for a little closer to the draft that has to do with what I consider my best and worst takes of all-time. It was an interesting trip down memory lane. Not only did I get a chance to review my own material but a lot of stuff from the original owners group and some of the more vocal members (read a couple nice hot takes from some Browns posters ).

I wonder if anyone has had their mind changed yet about Saquon's chances as a pro?

 

Is there any opinions about him different than him being a good RB?

 

Not one iota. Put Saquon in a competent offense and will pay dividends.

 

I was referring to someone labeling him a bust predraft.

Saq received the highest score I have ever given a back and he has not disappointed.

 

I know. Its just that I'm not that right very often.

 

But, the Browns made a good choice to take a CB instead, because you can find guys to run the ball. Good DBs are hard to find. Chubb is a very good RB, so is Michel. The Browns needed a lot more help than Barkley could have provided.

 

I don't think I said "bust", did I? I just didn't see us drafting him.

And I do believe the Giants would have been much better off drafting Sam Darnold who fell into their laps on draft night.

 

^^^^ To wit:

 

lol, you guys are killing me...

I set it up on a tee for the easy drive down the fairway and everyone sliced it into the woods.

It was stopper that claimed he would be a bust. Something about Cook being better and Saquon being the next Curtis Enis.