^^^^^ Let's see... Regressed/slumping quarterback with throwing-hand injury Suspect offensive line, especially in pass protection Toughest defensive lineup of any NFL team *TWO* Top 5 running backs in the NFL So naturally it makes sense to be a 57/43 pass-run team (the exact inverse of Baltimore).
I'm not claiming anything, Glazer reported that during the season OBJ asked players and coaches to "come get him". Glazer is the one true professional in this business. He believes being credible is more important than being first.
Baker is pissing me off with his comments. Grow the F up! Throwing your training staff under the bus in defense of Odel is not what an NFL QB does. Period! This game did nothing to dispel my misgivings about this team. The one good thing is "they won", and that's no small thing. Allowing the Bengals to keep the ball and make one long drive after another..... really? One rare moment when a Referee's call actually helped us, might very well be the difference. I'll take it, but it doesn't wipe away the very possibility that we could have lost that game. How does our HC fail to make running the football a priority? It seems like Freddie hasn't learned yet that when you have the horses, you don't need to "trick" the defense. I'd love to be heading for Arizona feeling like we've got this. I don't.
Dorsey has spent a lot of capital with the Haslam's in naming Freddie HC, and in getting them to agree to remove themselves from the communication chain. Gotta wonder how that is going to play out, as the year comes to an end.
Now there are reports that OBJ was telling players from other teams during games to come get him before the trade deadline. I don't think he wanted to be on the Browns at all. He has looked like he is just going through the motions all season.
I completely disagree with that. OBJ has been a good soldier, and is often the guy making blocks for our RBs down the field. He has been a team player, but something is wrong with him physically. A sports hernia, whatever that is makes sense, since IMO, he's not been able to seperate like he has in the past. In any case he's going to be a Brown. I don't doubt, he's made that comment to guys he's talked with throughout the season, but I think it's mostly just talk, and not a real desire to get out of Cleveland. Just guys shooting the shit. Of course neither of us "know" which way it was said, so I guess we'll just have to see how it works out. Given the contract, and the sub par year, I doubt there will be many ready to pony up the big money for him this off season anyway.
File this under TGW as well, but was this offense doomed from the start? Responding to the Freddie Kitchens thread got me thinking... Baker's leading receivers in 2018 (in terms of targets, 16 games unless otherwise noted) were: 149 - Jarvis Landry 88 - David Njoku 79 - Antonio Callaway 62 - Duke Johnson 53 - Rashard Higgins (13 games) 29 - Nick Chubb 25 - Breshad Perriman (10 games) 20 - Damion Ratley (13 games) 12 - Darren Fells 10 - Dontrell Hilliard (11 games) ... of that group, Callaway, Johnson, Perriman, and Fells are gone; Njoku and Higgins have been injured/blacklisted all year; and Ratley and Hilliard have had their roles marginalized. There's been no consistency, and as I touched on in the Freddie Threadie (missed opportunity there), they tried to replace a litany of names with one big one - Odell - then proceeded to have no offseason work together and then he was limited with injury. Higgins is gone in free agency. That leaves Taywan Taylor (trade from Tennessee), KhaDarel Hodge (picked up after preseason), and Damion Ratley as the only other wide receivers on the roster. Before the season, we were wondering if there'd be enough balls to go around. Now, the problem seems to be no players to spread the ball around to.
Man this kinda mirrors what we've seen politically over the last few years. First it was unlikely he said it (just a media creation), now it was just talk, he didn't mean it?
