I knew Odell had a negative impact on Baker's game - the numbers prove that out. I didn't realize he had such a negative impact on Denzel's game.
Denzel saved the day with that pick 6. Without it we likely would have been down 14 - 0. Following that the team really stepped up as a whole, and played their best game of the year. Cinncinati is the cure for whatever ails the the Browns. We caught some good karma in this game, with the Ward pick 6 and Chase failing to catch a couple pretty meaningful passes. Takeaways! We had some! We gave none. Yay! Baker hit two deep balls beautifully. Two or three deep balls will keep the running game rolling. The D was incredible, pressure, sacks, defended passes, what's not to like?
First time we've played complementary football all year and we beat a divisional rival with a winning record in their house by 25. That is the team I think most people expected for the full season. It's a credit to the leaders in that locker room (coaches and players) who were able to focus the team on the goal after a *fairly* tumultuous week.
I credit OBJ's dad for this win. With the drama he added to the locker room, this team was FORCED to focus on football and tune out everything outside that didn't exactly relate to them. It's nice to have a team that is focused, the fact that it takes something like this is what worries me. I can only hope they realize how important it is to have that type of focus be a part of their daily mindset. If so, the sky's the limit. If they take this as just the way it should have been from the beginning, they could lose that focus and back slide. They will need everything they have going into Baltimore to do what they did yesterday. From everything I saw, from tailgating to hearing the "Hoo birds" every time Hooper caught a pass. I think the fan mix was about 60% Bengals - 40% Browns fans in Cincy. They won't have that luxury in Baltimore. There will, as always, be a Browns contingent, but the Bengals are about as fair weather as they come and after the Jets loss, I have friends and family who are Bengals fans and they were already ready to give up on the season. It pains me to see ANY Steelers fans in Cleveland for games. I think Baltimore is similar and it will be a harder ticket to find than it was this past weekend. Enjoy this win today, but get back to work tomorrow with the same laser focus they had dealing with Odell last week.
Oops... Getting ahead of myself... Not sure why I thought we were coming up on the Ravens.. We get to see how they can focus on a couple of lower tiered teams first. I hope they can do just that, focus on the task at hand and not play down to the Patriots and Lions.
You know, if someone had told us that, at the half-way point in the season, the Browns would have the same record as the Chiefs - 70% of Browns' fans would have started to plan the Super Bowl parade.
Would anyone think that at the halfway point 11 out of 16 AFC teams would be above .500? Including two divisions that ALL 4 teams have a winning record. On the other end of the spectrum, only 6 out of 16 have a winning record in the NFC..
That's interesting...I'm sure the mood has shifted, but I found the angst and negativity to be peaking for Browns fans Sunday. More than I cared to listen to. Crazy beautiful Indian summer day , so I decided to ride up to the local pub for the game. I made it until the end of the first quarter.....Surrounded by mostly "Browns fans", I watched as Denzel Ward picked off the pass and ran untouched for 99 yards on the game's first drive. This is no exaggeration, before he even finished the run, these are the comments yelled out in the bar by the "Browns fans"; - "I'm sure there's a flag" - "See how much better off we are when Baker isn't on the field"... - "I can't believe Ward didn't pull a hamstring"... We make the play of the day. One of the greatest defensive plays in team history.... NO JOY! lol! ?? I had to leave...
I agree TD!! It’s like if there isn’t something to bitch about, they will invent something just because they are miserable Browns fans. Fuck that, I don’t have to be miserable anymore, I’m going to enjoy this ride as long as it is available.
Forgive me for saying this, but, I think a lot of Browns fans were super pumped for this season, and up til this game, the team they thought they had, hadn't showed up. Then the game starts with a Cinci drive all the way down to the Browns 5. Not inspiring, especially for a franchise that has been taught to expect disaster. I'll give them a pass on that one, but I'd have liked to be in there when Chubb nailed the coffin shut and drove a stake in their heart for good measure. Now that's the team we have been waiting for. The team that ran off 8 wins and only 3 losses (including the Jets Covid game loss). I'm betting there were some awfully happy and more convinced Browns fans then. Don't blame you for walking though. No one likes watching with Debbie downers. Long live the OBJ less Browns!!
yes They aren’t playing the same schedule. They are in the AFC East…not the North Every team they should have lost to… they have, except for the Chargers who they got during Chargers Herbert fuck up week. He was playing with his hair on fire, then all of a sudden for two games he looked like a lost rookie. Patriots haven’t beat any other team worth noting except them.
Their defense is part of why hebert looked lost. Their defense also made Brady look bad. If they can make Brady and Herbert look bad they can make Baker look bad.
You could be right, all I’m saying is the Patriots have a rookie QB, we have rid our locker of the cancer, similar to last year. Looking forward to the second half of the season.
Im expecting the Browns to clean clocks when it comes to the Patriots and Lions, Pats being the tougher game obviously, but must have a killer instinct and take no one lightly. I was looking at the Browns schedule and saw the back-to-back coming up with the Ravens. I thought, wow, thats unusual... but if you go up vs the Ravens after taking care of the Pats and Lions, you will still be looking real good with a split with the Ravens. One week/game at a time tho... first bussiness is New England, good luck!
This just became a bigger test with Chubb under Covid protocols. D'Ernest Johnson will have to rise to the challenge again, and Baker has to be sharp. I put this game on the D to make the rookie QB feel the heat, and maybe turn him over a couple times. If not it will be a nail biter. Here's hoping there aren't any more Browns testing positive as the week rolls out. I don't want to see a game like last year's Jets debacle.
