I really like what the Browns did with the offensive play calling and overall scheme today. Having a focus on Chubb, getting Duke involved (second straight week) and giving Baker a lot of shotgun snaps to increase his time through progressions against a weak pass rush (while giving him high percentage looks/route reads) should have been the recipe from the get go. Game plans like this will keep the coaching staff intact for 2019 (probably only takes one or two more wins to guarantee it). I expect Cleveland to continue with this method (work towards strengths/avoid weaknesses, no square peg and round hole) and force defenses to adjust or run the risk of getting caught off balance.
Nice call Irish. Our boys looked good today. Let's not take our foot off the gas. I'll grant Hue reeked as a head coach, but Haley truly wasn't much of a loss either. It can't have been a secret to adapt your O to suit the abilities of your QB. I swear he sabotaged the O thinking he'd get the HC job. Nice call Slam.
Let's talk fantasy land. The battle for the wild card. Any team that reaches 10 wins shuts us out. Houston Texans: 6 and 3 They need 4 of the last 7. We beat them first. At Washington and at Philly look like losses. Now they need to win all 4 games left (Indy, Jets, Jax, Tenn). Tall order IMO Tennesee: 5 and 4 I'd expect Washington to beat them. The Jets are a gimmee. So 1W and 1L making 6 and 5. They need 4 of the remaining 5 games (@IND, @HOU, JAX, @NYG, IND) Can they do that? Miami: 5 and 5 6 left and they need 5 of them. NE = loss, MIN in Minnesota = loss, then BUF twice, @IND and JAX. Nuff said. Baltimore 4 and 5 7 games left. We deal a loss and the best they can do is 10 wins. They'd have to beat KC, ATL, and the LA Chargers in La La land. I don't think so. Indianapolis: 4 and 5 7 left, need 6 to reach 10. Honestly there isn't anyone scary in their schedule, so it's possible, but I wouldn't put any money on it. So all we have to do is run the table. Easy. 3 Divisional games Cinci twice and Balt once at the seasons end. Otherwise we need to Beat HOU, CAR, and DEN. Which games scare you the most. Me? Well I'm looking at Houston. Next game up.
A rock solid convincing NFL victory...That was fun to watch. We've been waiting a long time for a QB like Mayfield. This game was a bigtime team confidence builder. Even at 3-6-1, the Browns are a dangerous team. Our QB actually said that he woke up feeling dangerous yesterday. Then he went out and took it to the Falcons.
Looking at the schedule from the way the team played yesterday... 11/25 @Cincinnati, the only thing that scares me (and this goes for all remaining) is that it's away. We are 3-2-1 at home, 0-4 on the road, but the Bengals are reeling, losing 3 of their last 4...same as Browns ironically, but with this win against the Falcons, the Browns are looking up. **Will be without A.J. Green for this one. 12/02 @Houston, Looking at their schedule at the half way point, their 6-3 isn't very impressive. This one is less scary, the more I look into them.. They are on their bye, so they have to travel to Washington, then have Tennessee at home on Monday night, so we get them on a short week...but again, on the road 12/09 vs Carolina, This one scares me the most. What looks good is that it's at home and the Panthers are 1-3 on the road, yes ALL 3 losses are away 12/15 @Denver, Saturday Prime Time flexed game..Baker shines in the bright lights, I think he will get up for this one. The thin air is the only that can hold them back. 12/23 vs Cincinnati, they should have Green back, but this time it's in our house where we feed off the crowd. IF they were to win the next 4, on a 5 win streak, the crowd should be a huge factor. 12/30 @Baltimore, this might come down to whether the Ravens have quit yet. They are currently in a 3 game losing streak in the bye and Flacco is hurt. We could see a team trying to find itself (and possibly a new coach) when we take the road for the east coast. Every game is winnable, if we continue to see improvement in this team. Yesterday was damn near perfect and with so many rookies, I don't see how we can sustain that every week. But, we also won handily, the game was really never in jeopardy. They scored on a circus play went awry, and even that didn't alter how the team was playing as a whole. They are coming together nicely and with Baker Mayfield coming into his own, we will live and die from here on out with his game play...I think that means more wins than losses, but asking for 7 wins in a row is a bit much and hard to comprehend from the rookie...but Baker has spent his entire life breaking the rules of how things are supposed to happen...
Shouldn't be lost on us the fact that Greggggg Williams did in two games (one win) what Hue did in 34.
I can't say enough... 2016 and 2017 is something everyone should erase from memory. We can't "blame" Hue for those two years...Hue was 0-3-1 against 3 of the top 5 teams in the entire NFL in 2018. He was 2-5-1 with the roster Gregggg Williams is now 1-1 with.. That is what we can grade this year on..Where does Williams get this team to? That is the question I am anxious to find the answer to. Hue beat the Jets and Ravens with Baker, nearly beat the 8-1 (Best team in the NFL) Saints with Tyrod Taylor, probably would have with Baker...That was HIS down fall...not recognizing sooner that Baker Mayfield gave this team the best chance to win and one of the reasons he deserved his demise. This team probably beats the Steelers week one and the Saints week 2 with Mayfield. THAT happens and the rift between Hue and Haley never gets as negative as it did... Because of the environment created by the head coach, Hue Jackson deserved to be fired and he was....3 losses in a row with the discord mounting in Berea and now he is gone. Can we please move on now?
I dunno... that Haley offense left a lot to be desired. Defense played its guts out in those two games, sure... that's the only reason they were close. And who has complete autonomy over the defense? Someone asked a question, I responded in kind. Why are we trying to bury our history so quickly? Some folks sure as s**t had no problem blaming analytics or the front office. And again, why bury it? The Buffalo Bills are about the worst roster in the NFL and they've got three wins thus far after going through a Browns-like number of quarterbacks, including Josh Allen who's trash and Derek Anderson who we all know, love, and remember fondly. To say it wasn't possible to win is disingenuous. Plus, I'll never question the path that got us to Baker Mayfield, John Dorsey, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, Genard Avery, Damarious Randall, et al. There's no deep reservoir of hope had we not gone through that darkness.
Peterman is on the same level as Kizer...How many wins does that guy have? Despite the fact they have the worst roster in the NFL in 2018, it still pales in comparison to the Browns of 2016/2017.. We made a GIGANTIC leap in talent from then to this 2018 season and we still only have 3 wins...That should worry us more than get us so excited...but Baker Mayfield brings that excitement to the surface. Agree 100% As bad as it was, the light is on and only getting brighter!
TBH, I don't know that that's fair to DeShone Kizer... Maybe not the right thread for it, but at what point does Greggggg Williams get legitimate consideration for the Browns' head coaching vacancy?
Assuming he comes with Freddie Kitchens, for me... keeping this team around .500 for his half of the season is the barometer. And after that, the only real question would become "who else is available". Of the reported list of availables, only Matt Campbell gets me legitimately excited as a fan - assuming reports of Lincoln Riley staying put are true. With a near-0.500 record, it would be tough to sell trading Williams for say, John Harbaugh or Jim Schwartz (some rumored candidates). At the very least, give Williams and the staff the bump in salary and another year to prove it.
Assuming Williams and Kitchens stay put . . . The question now becomes who comes in as the Defensive Coordinator? Or would Williams serve in both roles?
To be fair . . . He was part of it and the part he owned (dischord within the coaching staff) cost him his job.
Took the words out of my mouth... I think if Gregggg has a winning record, Hue was 2-5-1 (.313), If Greggg can have a 5-3 record (.625) with the same personnel, I think that wins the job. I would prefer he goes 7-1, which would get him an extension immediately and we won't have to have the "who will be the coach(es) of the Browns in 2019" talk all off season. I would rather just have to worry about, who are we going to lose and who are we going to get to fill holes and add depth. This is a new team with Williams at the helm and it started during the week that Hue was fired, not after the Atlanta win. I am starting to get on the Gregggg bandwagon already. Now that could all change if it is a situation that doesn't last the season and the team is just getting up for the games after the shock of coaches getting fired. Right now, the team has been, one after the other, stating the environment immediately changed for the better and they 100% have the feeling they can beat anyone now. I don't see any confusion on game day from either side of the ball. That says a lot to me... DC is irrelevant imho, if Greggggg stays the HC, whomever is hired will be a Gregggg Williams guy and he will have his thumb on the pulse of the defense. Good, bad or indifferent, if he proves he can do both after taking over the team mid-season, I will not have the same issues with him as I did with Hue, who made it clear from the beginning he couldn't handle all the duties. I'm anxious to see Kitchens the second go around with the Bengals. That will be the test for me...When they have already seen him live once, can he do enough to make it difficult for them to make adjustments to his offense? If he is successful twice against the Bengals, I will be jumping on his wagon as well. Right now, he is an unknown and difficult to know enough to plan for, which is very helpful. Film and live action will help defenses get ready for them. We shall see....
I assume Gregggg would keep the responsibility of at least calling the plays. He could promote his son to the coordinator spot (serves as assistant DC today).
