Preseason Game #1 Cleveland Browns @ NY Giants

Your CLEVELAND BROWNS @ NY Giants

When: 7:00 PM
Where: MetLife Stadium
Watch: NFL Network


What does everyone want to see tonight?

1) I will personally be watching intently to see how Bitonio is doing at LT. That to me is the most important thing to see off the bat.

2) It sounds like Baker Mayfield will be playing extensively, while Tyrod will be taking the typical first game starters, one or two series and calling it a night.

3) The nice thing is...we will get to see a lot of all of our RBs, I don't think there is a big drop off no matter who is in there.

4) Antonio Callaway made the trip with the team after his hearing was postponed. Will he play?


What you all got?!

 

I'm with you on that as well as seeing the rest of the starting OL. Unfortunately, if they only play 2-3 series, we aren't going to see much to get a good idea of how they're doing. I'm hoping the starting OL will be left in longer.

As for the rest, I'm just expecting the usual "vanilla" display of offense and defense since this is just a walk-through more or less up to the first round of player cuts.

 

Most teams don’t play any starters in the first two preseason games.

 

You haven't watched the Browns in preseason, have you? Or was that just a dig that the Browns don't have any "starter" quality players to start?

(Sarcasm font off)

 

I too am interested in seeing how the O-line comes together.

I am also curious to see if there is anyone else behind Landry at WR that is able to step up and make some plays.
Can Janis, Higgins, make that leap? Can any of the other young guys step up and convince us that the Browns will have any semblance of a passing attack that will take pressure off the run game?


IMHO I don't believe that we can rely on Calloway to stay on the field, as he

a) hasn't given up the left handed tobacco, or
b) has not distanced himself enough from that former life for it to not adversely impact his future as an NFL player.



Edit:

Most importantly NO Injuries!!

 

Well........(surprised nobody posted since yesterday)

I guess we should go along with SAS's patented "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"

The Good
- Taylor looked more competent than any QB we've had for 2 decades (not named McCown).
- Mayfield played well. You could actually see his head turn as he went through his progression reads and then make a decision quickly on who to throw to. He played with good pocket presence and knew when to step up and when to scramble/run. Great throw on the run to Callaway on the sideline.
- Njoku can hang on to the ball.

The Bad
-Callaway apparently found Njoku's dropsies early on. Played well the rest of the way and can be moved up to The Good with his 2nd half performance and that great sideline catch.
-The run game. 33att - 50yds. Bordering on The Ugly.

The Ugly
-Penalties 13-141yds. Surprised that none of them really cost us a score or the game for that matter.



Overall: I'm encouraged by the QB play. It's early and all we know is that our scrubs played better than their scrubs. Gotta get that run game up to at least a competent level.

 

@Duff_Beer_Doug ... I would echo all of your GBU's there (although technically I believe @IrishDawg42 may have been the originator of that).

A couple I had:

The Good

No injuries. Browns came away from the night healthy, which hasn't always been the case.

Brian Baldinger (and the rest of the national media). Heaped some praise on Baker Mayfield (deservedly so).

The rest of the country seems to be finally wising up to what the rest of us already knew - Baker Mayfield was QB1 and has the ability to be a top quarterback in the National Football League.

As good as Baker looked (for a rookie), this is Tyrod's team and I couldn't be happier. 5 of 5 for 99 yards and a score. Looked deadly in the up-tempo.

How about Cody Kessler? 14 of 17 and a touchdown? (This is an obvious troll. I cannot stress this enough.)

The Bad

Gotta be the run game. Line did all right in pass protection (great QB play helped that out, though) but got no movement on the ground. I would blast Chubb for trying to take carries outside, but so many times he was facing a stonewall with little to no movement or holes. Maybe Joe Thomas was right when he said the offensive line needed a lot of snaps to gel.

The Ugly

Me trying to control any overreaction to the first preseason game. Whew. I had to ice down a couple times watching Tyrod and then Baker.

Also me:


Competitive, quality football may be back in Cleveland, boys!!

 

More good:

#myguy #thanksSashi

 

Ill take a go:

THE GOOD
-The Juice is loose!
-Ward can bring the stick
-some encouraging special teams play

THE BAD
-OL/Run game, it may have been 2nd and 3rd stringers, but Chubb looked bad, indecisive, and not-confident

THE UGLY
-JOSH ALLEN

 

The Good

Let's hope that continues throughout the entire season into February.

As long as Landry can keep the smack talk slightly in check and avoid the stupid penalties, he is going to be fun to watch. Played like a leader that is backing up the smack he is talking.
Njoku showed improvement as a receiver. Made some nice grabs in traffic. Very well could turn into a dangerous redzone option.
I liked what I saw from Higgins. He too is growing as a WR.

William's aggressiveness on Defense. I liked how the defense was mostly on the attack all night.

The Bad

Agreed the Run game needs improvement. ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL.

Too much blitzing, the aggressiveness of the defense at times had defenders taking themselves out of plays. Somehow some way the defense needs to be able to apply pressure without sending 5-6 guys.

The Ugly
Njoku and the rest of the TE's in run blocking.

Missed tackles! Most of the giants yardage came from guys missing tackles.


This will be a different team than we saw last year. It might just be fun to watch these guys this year.

 

Whew.

No one throws a prettier 60-yard incompletion than Allen... I'll give him that.

 

A classic Greggggg Williams staple, I'm afraid. He's picking up right where he left off in 2017 - leading the NFL in pressures/blitzes.

 

Here comes an unpopular take -

I thought Allen looked like a future franchise passer in his debut.

Here comes a popular take -

I thought Baker looked like a future franchise passer in his debut.

Here comes a take that no one will give a shit about -

I thought Kyle Lauletta looked like he should pass Davis Webb on the depth chart by the end of the preseason.

 

I've seen a lot of rookie QB debut's, but don't think I ever saw one better that Mayfield last night. Dude played like he was born to do this. Both his TD passes were pinpoint accuracy. The TD pass to Calloway was threaded through a key hole. Pocket presence was outstanding...

My favorite part was in the presser after the game when a reporter asked Mayfield if he was nervous about his NFL debut. He simply said, "No. Nervousness comes when you are unprepared. I knew what I was doing. Anxious would be a better word. Not nervous."...

 

The GBU was started by Jackal on the Steelers board. You guys borrowed it from us just like the Ravens fans did. We had that way back on CBS.

 

Link!!!!!!



Didn't they invent the toothbrush (notice the singular noun) in Pittsburgh too?????

 

Former starting Browns QBs through Thurs.:

Colt McCoy: 13 of 18 (72.2%), 189 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 143.1 QB rating
Brandon Weeden: 9 of 11 (81.8%), 97 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 143.0 QB rating
Cody Kessler: 14 of 17 (82.4%), 139 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 120.3 QB rating
Robert Griffin III: 12 of 18 (66.7%), 146 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 105.3 QB rating

...
...

Kevin Hogan: 7 of 9 (77.8%), 44 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 87.0 QB rating
Brian Hoyer: 16 of 23 (69.6%), 144 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 86.1 QB rating

...
...
...

DeShone Kizer: 9 of 18 (50.0%), 134 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 74.8 QB rating

 

Tyrod Taylor had a perfect QB rating of 158, and Mayfield had a rock solid 125 rating....Browns fans will take that!

 

Cris Carter said he thinks the Browns have among the brightest futures of any NFL team because of Baker Mayfield....I'm in agreement after what I saw last night. He played like a veteran QB. He played with poise and accuracy. He put points on the board. He played like a #1 overall should....

...and yet Colin Cowherd said Baker didn't bring the wow factor like a #1 overall should. Smh. A comment Eric Dickerson ripped him for, saying "what the hell do you want? He couldn't have played much better"....

 

Not Browns-related, but...

That's brutal.