We enter week 3 tied all around and Chicago is starting their shiney new QB. In years past we've been great at making rookie QBs look like Joe Montana. I would expect something different this time around, given all the focus on Defense this off season, but so far that hasn't born any fruit. I believe there may be some weather this weekend, so what are we thinking????
That's 249 touchdowns. Fields throws 136 of them and runs in another 72. The defense contributes 22 returned interceptions and fumble recoveries while ST also returns 14 punts for touchdowns plus the opening kickoff of the 2nd half. The last 4 touchdowns are thrown by Nick Foles in garbage time.
What ???? You never went for (and got) a single 2 point conversion ??? The Bears' board is right. Nagy is a pussy.
So ........ finally a laugher? Does our Diva; OBJ arrive to save the day, while his BFF is on the mend? Does anyone care? I like OBJ, probably because I watched him in NY for years, and while he certainly did some stupid and juvenile things, he was always considered a true team guy, who just wanted to win. I think he's grown up a lot and hopefully understands it's his turn to "fit in" with an offense that will not be centered around him. I think he's ready to do that, and I'm anxious to see how much that can impact how defenses adjust to him being back.
As a Justin Fields fan, I want him to do great things. As a Browns fan, I want him to look like a lost puppy out there on Sunday. If Joe Woods is going to quiet down the growing chorus of calls for his head, this would be the weekend to do it. You absolutely cannot let a rookie making his first start on the road look like stud.
I think this game will come down to the "OBJ Factor". Not just how he plays but how the offense works around and with him. We've seen Baker in the past force-feed passes his way and look off other, easier reads or completions. He currently sits at #1 in the NFL in completion percentage, despite being #5 in downfield attempts - so he objectively playing some of the best football at the QB position right now. How will Odell's return impact that? I don't expect a blow out, despite Chicago being a team with average talent and starting a rookie quarterback. I think the game's still a 7 point line which I don't know the Browns will cover. I think they walk away with the win, but it will be close and the running game may have to carry this one for us.
National media are soiling themselves over Justin Fields, and making up ways he "could" bring the magic. I think he will ultimately do that for Chicago, but not today. I expect the Browns to force at least one turnover, and to "handle their business" in this one and spoil Justin's first start. I don't expect Stefanski to fluff up the passing game, so Baker will continue to be "just another QB" in the national conversation, until he has to carry the day with his arm. That shouldn't be this game.
Really? Nobody here after a 9 sack game (a Browns single game record of 4.5 by Garret himself)? I thought for sure you guys would be going crazy and bouncing off the walls. Well, I had things to do myself and had to watched the taped game later on, so I ain't throwing rocks at glass houses. I thought for sure that @SAS would be in here looking for an eraser to remove his name from the Fire Joe Woods petition (at least for now ). Now that was the defense I was thinking would show up this season......and it could be a monstrous year for them if this was just a coming out party and they keep getting better from here on in.
@BearsWillWin Wow, sorry man about that beat down. 47 total yards of offense and 1 net yard passing. I think your Bill Swerski Superfan-esque prediction fell just a bit short. Now if only Ditka was still the coach, things would be different. Da Bears....... I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get a very good look at Fields today. That kid is going to take you places someday. That O-line just couldn't keep the Browns out of the backfield. Is your O-line that bad this year or was it just this game? It was a serious question not a snarky comment since I really haven't been following the Bears and their roster very closely.
I think we were a few completions from my prediction being right. Honestly it’s a little of everything. Bears gameplan was obviously horrible. Garrett complained about getting chipping and double teamed last week and Matt Nagy decides to single team him with his offensive tackles and Garrett being the dominant force he is just wrecked the game. All credit due to the guy making plays but that’s a horrible gameplan. Last week Jason Peters played well and this week he looked every bit of being 39 years old plus more. Browns played super tight coverage behind the rush. Just a complete dominance on defense. Bears lost every single battle on that side of the ball. Coming into this season I figured the interior section of the line would be decent and the tackles would struggle. Last week it was the opposite. This week the whole line struggled. Some of that is coaching. Some of it is execution. A lot of it is your opponent being better. Fields doesn’t get a pass but this was his first start…Nagys been in the league awhile. Who in this league thinks blocking Myles Garrett one on one is a good idea? No chips. No max protection schemes. No rollouts. Not sure how he could be surprised at the outcome.
Congrats to @BearsWillWin for correctly predicting Chicago's net passing yards as the Browns' final score.
I mean this completely seriously -- kudos to Jason Peters. Dude had to 1-on-1 Garrett all game and didn't resort to holding him every play like other tackles he's faced. I mean, the results were not good for him but at least he had the integrity not to hold on 100% of Garrett's pass rushing snaps, despite the league-approved memo stating otherwise.
As a Browns fan for more years than I care to remember, I feel for the Bears fans after that embarassment. There will be better days ahead, but that was just totally useless. also as a Browns fan, Wow! That was the kind of domination the 85 Bears would have been proud of. I'd love to expect that kind of D every week, but it feels like fools gold to me. Somewhere above what we saw in week 2 and less than we saw this week fees more genuine, but damn, I'll take it.
Minnesota isn't the pushover that Chicago was yesterday, so that'll be a good road test this week. I felt bad for Fields yesterday. He didn't stand a chance, and I have no idea why they didn't try roll him out and see if he could make plays with his legs. Was Hue Jackson calling plays for the Bears? It sure seemed familiar. Nick Chubb had a workman-like afternoon, and though I wish he could have broke the team record for consecutive games with TD, being in the same company as Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly isn't a bad deal either.....It was nice to see Kareem Hunt provide a spark when needed. He runs with authority and he was making people miss. That's a pretty deadly combination. One other note, I was impressed with McLaughlin. Wouldn't it be nice to have a PK that doesn't make ya nervous every time he walks on the field? In fact, special teams in general were fantastic yesterday. Kudos to that unit. It looks like we found ourselves a punt returner. Demetric Felton has been impressive. On the heels of snagging DPJ in the 6th round the previous year, Berry is on a roll with finding these late round gems. That kid looks dangerous. #25 big play just waiting to happen... Overall that was a rock solid effort by the Browns and victory Monday is feeling good....
I love the different approaches Stefanski takes, varying personnell on O, and working with what he's got. I'd like to Njoku get more targets, but ya can't argue with success. Not one of the O line's better games, but it's good to know we can deal with that too. I don't know if it was the rookie QB, but coverage in the secondary and even at the LB level was excellent. What a difference a week makes. Felton feels like he's going to be a constant: sprinkled in to scare the D, DPJ showed up this game (I think he likes working the sidelines, not the middle so much), OBJ looked good, and in synch with the O and Baker, CHunt is a two headed monster, and Higs just does his thing - catches whats thrown his way. Thus far Newsome is outplaying Ward, and I think he's going to push him to play better. OwusuKoramoa looks like another Berry genius move too, and I loved that Tak got a sack too. Probably the worst performance was Stefanski's play calling, with the fourth down calls early in a game where you might expect to be able to hold down the opponent, so 3 points starts looking awfully big. Can't complain too much, cause I like him to be aggressive. I have to agree that Special Teams was special, and that's been missing from our arsenal for a while. It just was "all good". On to Minnesota with our powder dry and ready for battle.
As convincing as the win Sunday was, the score (26-6) should have been much, much worse for Chicago. It really underscores that through three games, the Browns have yet to play a full 60 minutes of complementary football. Twice on fourth down conversions, the Browns' failed to excute. On the first play, the snap was off and the offensive line was unprepared -- how is that possible on a fourth down try? On the second, Mayfield looks to be either faking a handoff or expecting a handoff to the right when Chubb dives left immediately. Again... how does this happen on a fourth down try? The offensive line was pushed around - and definitely credit is due to Chicago's defense. That is a Top 5 unit and kept them in that game into the fourth quarter. This marks two consecutive games where Jack Conklin has looked downright bad. Joel Bitonio had a very rough game and Jedrick Wills Jr. missed more snaps with injuries. Blake Hance provided zero replacement ability and got Mayfield drilled twice. And speaking of Mayfield... he started off by missing his first four targets. He finished with a pedestrian 61.3% completion rate and took five sacks on the day. While he didn't force any passes to Odell, some of the sacks were on him waiting too long and from what I saw day of and in replays since... he's waiting for Odell to come open. Good that we're not throwing into contested windows for Odell but there are/were easier reads and completions Baker left on the field while trying to buy Odell time. Nick Chubb finished with a similarly pedestrian output - 3.8 YPC and no touchdowns, breaking his streak at seven games. It wasn't until the final quarter when the Bears' defense was gassed and realizing the game was over that he was able to break some longer runs and elevate that number. He entered the fourth quarter with 42 yards on 16 attempts (2.6 YPC). Again... some of this was on the offensive line, too, where Chubb was getting hit several yards in the backfield. That Hunt was able to average 8.1 YPC doesn't help Chubb's case, however. Unlike our first two games, the Defense and Special Teams really did stand out and were major factors in the win. I'm still waiting for this team to play four quarters of complementary football. A test this week against Minnesota may be a good measuring stick - a middle-of-the-pack roster missing their best player (potentially) could be a nice litmus test to see if the defense is for real (probably not, but hopefully improving), if the offense can work out its miscues, and if the special teams can continue to put us in good field position and not lose the game for us, as we saw Week 1.
