Every year the landscape changes. Giving a strength of schedule analysis before the mid point of any given season is a useless exercise. As it turns out, we are entering what seems to be a brutal 4 week point of our schedule. week 4 @Vikings 1-2 On the road, the Vikings should give the Browns a much stingier game than we saw last week. week 5 @Chargers 2-1 week 6 Cardinals 3-0 week 7 Broncos 3-0 Then we finally get a break and get to play the Steelers week 8..
Honestly, the only one that worries me at the moment. Kyler Murray is playing at an extremely high level and his mobility is one of those things that even good defenses struggle with. We have, historically, not done well against mobile QBs. The Broncos are 3-0, yes... but that's against: the Giants, the Jaguars, and the Jets. They have the Ravens (L), the Steelers (honestly, probably W because they look awful), and the Raiders (L) before they face us. I expect 4-2 or even 3-3 when they come to town. For the Chargers, if the Browns can find a way to shut down Mike Williams (hasn't been easy for teams so far) that should go a long ways as their running game is poor and run defense (our strength) is one of the worst in the league. Having a healthy Jedrick Wills to keep Joey Bosa off Baker will be crucial.
Who would’ve thought we would be heading into Minnesota with a huge game to keep pace with the Bengals? If Pittsburgh ever gets their shit together, the talk would be which division is the best in football, AFC North or NFC West?
IMHO, The Broncos are Fools Gold. Yes, they are, in fact, 3-0. But thru 3 weeks, their opponents are 0-9.
Agree! But you can only play who they put on the schedule. Regardless of schedule, it’s still not easy to start 3-0 unless you have some meat on the bones. Can’t take anyone lightly, or we will pay for it. I honestly don’t think the Bears are as bad as they looked last week. Hopefully that is a sign they won’t take anyone lightly and are ready to be on top of their game every week after that first week loss…
I know PFF.com is polarizing, but this is pretty shocking. The Browns haven't played a full four quarters of complementary football all season, let alone in a single game. To be the best team (and it's not close) shows how high the ceiling for this team (read: Super Bowl Winners) is and can be.
No...BUT.... The first (2) games the offense shines, the defense was suspect The next game, the offense had a good day, the defense had an elite day The next game, the defense shines, the offense is suspect So, I don't know where the "evening out" falls for either side, but both sides have shown elite performance in at least half of their games. Elite performance gains more traction through PFF than middling units do. The offense has only had one below average day.
RE: 1-3 Steelers... Put me in the group not couting them out yet. They are a historically slow-starting team and have been for years. I imagine that's made worse by a fat, outside-his-prime quarterback playing behind an offensive line starting four new players (five in new spots). The defense is still legit. The surprise loss to me was to Cincinnati. They get the Broncos this week (who've beaten nobodies) and have a chance to start bouncing back. For sure they'll take an L coming out of the BYE (@CLV Week 8) but can start a nice little run after that (CHI, DET, LAC, CIN) and get right back into the mix of it. TL;DR -- the Steelers' 1-3 is under-acheiving versus, say, the Ravens' 3-1 who're over-acheiving.
Or, they hit their wall week 13 of 2020 2020 Started 11-0 Ended 1-4 Lost opening round playoff game bad I’m not ready to count them out, but they sure as hell don’t look anything like the teams of past…. Unless you are counting recent past.
Baltimore has a dud on the schedule tonight, so they should move to 4-1 and first place in the AFC North. That said, they've beat the 2-3 Chiefs, the 0-5 Lions, the 3-2 "Paper Tiger" Broncos. Cincinnati is the sneaky-good team in this division.
The Browns logged 531 yards of offense on a team that was averaging just 332 per game. Their running backs had a career day, 33 rush attempts for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns (6.7 YPC). Their most targeted recievers were: David Njoku (7 of 7, 149 yards, 1 TD) Donovan Peoples-Jones (5 of 6, 70 yards) Kareem Hunt (5 of 6, 28 yards) Rashard Higgins (3 of 5, 29 yards, 1 TD) ... and Odell Beckham Jr. finished 2 of 3 for 20 yards and a crucial fourth-down drop on a "gimme" completion in the redzone. Despite still leading Browns' wide receivers in targets, Odell has been a non-factor positively in the three games he's been healthy for and committed a couple key drops along the way. He's 9 of 19 for 124 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 drops. He's suited up for 26 of 37 contests during his time here, only remaining healthy for the 2019 season which was torpedoed by an inept head coach and in no small part his desire to be "the guy". One could argue that the season regressed Baker enough to materially impact him headed into 2020 where he's just now making up the ground lost. The trade window for the 2021 season closes in three weeks. Time to close the Odell chapter in Cleveland and recoup anything (fourth round selection, maybe?) you can for the player.
SAS we don't agree on Odel, and for me yesterday was a fail in play calling. I don't understand how you don't target Odel til the 4th quarter. I'm beginning to feel like Stephanski is way too timid. He is anxious to "protect a lead" not to "go win the game", and his play calling shows it, IMO. Like Odel or not, you have to admit he's our best reciever, and not using that reciever is not helping us. I don't know what the issue is here, but Odel is a weapon, not a decoy, and we don't seem to act that way. As Quincy said, what would the reaction be if we didn't run Chubb til the 4th quarter.......... Is he trying to protect Baker? Does he just not understand how to scheme the mid to deep passing game. I just don't understand. Is Baker just another Kirk Cousins, who has to be nursed through the game? I don't believe that, and I may be wrong about it, but I feel like Stephanski wants to play the game offensively without risk, and that equals losses, IMO. It feels like Stephanski has over cautioned Baker to "not force it" overall and particularly with Odel. Odel became a star in this league when Eli Manning forced balls to Odel and allowed him to make plays. It's just weird. I think Tom Brady would love to have Odel. Maybe he gets him.
Appreciate the discussion, @kenibals. Truthfully, I dont know that he's in the Top 4 on this team (Landry, Njoku, Higgins, and Hunt for me). I truly believe the 2017 injury prior to his trade took too much off his ceiling, not unlike Kellen Winslow losing 20% of his potential after his crash and staph ordeal. It's wild to give up a superstar name, but right now that's all he is. After having sat through the Chanci Stuckey and Davone Bess' of the world, I was *thrilled* when we traded for Odell. And as I wrote on the CLV/MIN thread -- I cannot explain it, but the chemistry between Baker and Odell simply isn't there. I'd rather see DPJ and Njoku get looks as I think they can be major factors in the passing game and have a longer potential career here with the Browns than Odell at this point. I agree with you, BTW, that Stefanski gets too cute with play-calling somtimes and has shown on too many occassions a very conservative nature in the way he approaches the game. Last night they burned 50 seconds to pick up 11 yards down by a score and with no timeouts. In his post-game, he indicated it wanted to "get to midfield and setup a Hail Mary". Excuse me? You have a potent offense that has been clicking all game, the NFL's best deep passing QB, and a gameplan that has had both Rashard Higgins and David Njoku open all day - he should have called several 15-20 yard strikes and gone for a TD instead of trying to setup a Hail Mary. Completely inexcuseable on his end and something he needs to improve upon if we're going to take that leap to beat the best teams out there.
You guys have the best 2 of the best RBs in the league. If I was coach of the Steelers and I had those two I would run a conservative offense. The Browns are built to run not to air it out. Your offense wasn’t the problem. Your defense gave up 47 points. When you scored 42 points. Anytime you score 42 points your offense was playing above their normal level. No team will run a air raid type offense if they have possibly the best two RBs in the league. You averaged over 6 yards a carry in the game which means every other play is a first down if you run it every play of the game. That’s freaking crazy that you guys lost the game. I was watching the Steelers game and saw the score was like a three score lead for you guys and then by the time the ticker got back to your game the Chargers had the lead. I was counting that as a victory for the Browns.
File under: "Sobering thought" The Browns were the 1st team in NFL history to score 40+ points with no turnovers and lose. The problem isn't Baker Mayfield or Odell Beckham. IMHO, the problem is Joe Woods.
https://firejoewoods.org Also, to clarify my earlier point... I'm not now or previously blaming the loss on Odell. I'm simply saying it's time to cut bait given the returns simply aren't there. They should be listening to offers and taking a decent one, should it arise.
Stephanski, who I really like, is cutting the balls off his QB, IMO. Baker is a leadership guy, a gambler, and a winner, but Stephanski is so afraid he'll turn it over he won't let him loose, and it's hurting the team. Yes Baker wants to be "the guy", and I think he can be, but he' s not going to help the team if he's told to be careful every down. He seems reluctant to air it out, and is checking down too much IMO. Baker needed a coach to rein him in some after the Kitchen's debacle, but I thought we'd gotten past that last year over the second half. This year he seems at least as reluctant to through up a 50/50 as he was at the beginning of last year, and Beckham is one of the best 50/50 guys in the league. Higgins and Njoku are also very good in those situations, but Baker just isn't letting it go. The "drop" by Beckham came after looked for Kareem, who was covered, while OBJ was open, then OBJ took a glance behind him and Baker let it go. OBJ wasn''t looking as Baker let it go, and didn't track a ball he obviously should have had. That is the "lack of connection" in a nutshell. IMO Baker has to be the "star", has to be the man they Offense believes in, but it feels like the coach doesn't believe in him, with the play calls he's making. The coach is anxious to "protect" a lead, and scared shitless the Baker will ruin things if he lets him throw the ball. That lack of confidence in Baker is tricking down and infecting Baker, who's confidence is waning IMO. The coach has to show his confidence in Baker, and if Baker screws it up, then maybe he's not their man, but we won't find out by not trusting him and putting the resposicility on him.
