Preseason Game #1 Cleveland Browns @ NY Giants

Indeed...Wow. That sucks.

 

Baldy loves him some Mayfield. But I gotta disagree... we have the most capable veteran quarterback this team has ever had in Tyrod Taylor, who's professionalism and leadership will be invaluable for Baker to watch in Year 1 and learn from.

 

I hear what you are saying SAS, but I do agree with Baldy. Baker can force the issue with his play in the preseason. If Tyrod didn't know it before, than he better know now that he MUST win to keep Baker on the bench....Tyrod had a perfect QB rating last night, and Mayfield gained ground and momentum on him anyway. Such is life when ya got the Heisman winning #1 overall pick on your heels.... I think the team believes in both guys, and all evidence indicates they have good reason for that. Tyrod is good, and he's a true pro. Baker is going to be much better than "good". As I mentioned a couple months ago, it's going to be very difficult for Taylor to keep Mayfield behind him on the depth chart. Baker is crazy accurate, and the dude just gets it. He believes in himself, and I think he's already got these vets believing he is for real. It wasn't about winning the game last night. It was about passing the eye test. Baker did that with flying colors...No knock at all on Taylor. He was great as well. But Taylor has a track record in this league, he's not Mr #1, and it is what it is...

 

FWIW, I thought he looked great at whichever SR game he was in (Shrine game?), and was hoping IF the Browns did take 2 QBs that he would be the latter.

That being said, although it was against future car salesmen (no offense to any car salesmen), Brogan freaking Roback looked poised, confident and to be a capable backup. I hope he can get stashed on the PS and move to the 3 spot next year and either give solid depth or become the next backup QB trade chip.

 

I think it was Chris Carter who pointed out John Dorsey's track record with rookie QBs. He basically has them sit and learn their first year.

That said, what could you possibly have wanted from Tyrod? A perfect QB rating! I'm good.

Let him start and we win some games, and we keep Baker hungry, and we up Tyrod's trade value, all at the same time. What's not to like?

 

GBU

Good: QB Play

Bad: No running game yet again

Ugly: Penalties. really dissapointed in Landry, for allowing the Giants to get under his skin. He should be doing that to them.

Overall: Cleveland has a QB, in fact two of them. I'm in.

 

You guys didn’t do the GBU back on Seebs.

 

Gid, you are correct. Jackal did start GBU back in the CBS days. We borrowed the idea from him (with his permission) and imported in here back on CBS, as well.

 

Just a friendly poke in the ribs Gideon. No nasty intentions on my part. Sometimes I just like to poke the bear. My apologies if you took it the wrong way.

Your next Intrawebs-beer is on me

 

GOOD: The Browns QB's!

BAD: All the penalties, and especially the "taunting" calls on Ward and Landry. I hate that stuff. It makes people look at us and automatically say, "same 'ol Browns."

UGLY: Nick Chubb...Idk wtf that was, but it certainly qualified as ugly. I'm gonna chalk it up to nerves and assume vast improvements are coming in the near future. Typically when the QB's are gashing a defense like Baker and Tyrod were, there will be ample running lanes. Not sure exactly what the problem was, but I think we can safely assume Carlos Hyde is going to be #1 on opening day....

 

Overall, I was pleased after watching it a second time.

Everyone has covered the GBU aspect..so I'll just leave a couple of my thoughts here.

1) The offensive line play MUST improve. They did a fine job allowing the QBs to move around the pocket, that I am pleased with, but there were a lot of missed assignments on running plays. I do agree Chubb needs to get better, but there was no where to go on the majority of his runs.

2) I was extremely happy with the QB play, but I also realize that the vanilla defense that the Giants ran was custom made for QB success. When they put their helmets down(wait, is that legal) to stop the run, in most cases they had their way with us. Pass defense was a whole other animal. So while I am reserved about the outcome, I am still very pleased that they took advantage of just about everything they could. Tyrod showed his professionalism in every snap. He was the perfect mentor for Baker, even though "Stanton is Baker's mentor". Baker can watch how a professional conducts business and emulate it. Speaking of Stanton, I'm kinda glad they are letting the rookies take all the snaps. If Brogan can continue to play fairly well, they may be able to trade him before cut downs. He will never make the practice squad if he continues to look promising. Someone mentioned a Stanton trade...I want a veteran left on this team in 2019, not two second year guys. I am certainly willing to let Brogan move forward with his career elsewhere and keep Drew here as Baker's backup.

3) It must be said... WHAT IF, Tyrod Taylor continues to play lights out and finishes as a top 10, or even top 5, QB with the talent around him? Do the Browns let him go via free agency, or do they pay the man? What if he leads them to, not only a playoff game, but a playoff win in 2018? The meetings on THAT scenario would be very very interesting. I think Baker will take his rookie ass sitting in stride, but I don't think he would stay quiet if they decide to bring Tyrod back for another 3-5 years. The simple answer is, thank you Tyrod for showing him the way and we wish you every bit of good luck we can muster in your future endeavor. Baker is the future, Tyrod starting in 2019 will be 30. So you are talking about a player, that for all intent and purpose seems to be poised to play even better than the 2018 star QB, but 6 years younger and no history of injuries like Tyrod.

4) Does anyone think Tyrod gets extra work week two, simply to hold back those calling for the rookie to start? My hope is, he does the EXACT same thing this week as last week..maybe even getting 10 points on two drives instead of 7. That to me, should quiet all the masses, no matter what Baker does. I personally feel, Baker would be put in the absolute best position possible, sitting this entire year and being named the starter the moment Tyrod walks out the door, to start preparing for 2019.

 

How would NOT playing at all in 2018 put Baker in the best position possible to start in 2019? Assuming he's ready, and from the looks of it so far - he is, don't you think some real game experience at some point this year would behoove Mayfield moving forward into the 2019 season? Of course it would. There is no substitute for the real deal...I think, unless Tyrod is just playing lights out and has us on pace to win 12 or 13 games, it would be a big mistake to leave Baker on the pine all year with the expectation of him being your starter moving forward....

 

I was at the Tribe game Thursday and we stayed in Cleveland that night and I watched the Browns game in the hotel bar. FWIW there was tons of excitement about both Cleveland teams. It was a lotta fun, but unfortunately I forgot to set my DVR at home. So I gotta wait til this evening at 6pm for NFL Ch to re-air the broadcast so I can watch again...

 

One issue that the team had in the running game wasn't necessarily the OL, but it was recognizing the Mike and making adjustments. On one play, the Giants D came out in a basic 4-3 alignment, the Sam dropped down to the line after the teams settled and the SS came down in the box changing it to a 5-3 where the Will was now the Mike and the SS was the WIll. The FB assignment was the Will, but without the adjustment he went to the original Will leaving the SS free for a tackle behind LOS.

One stat that came out after the game was Chubbs yards after contact. He had 11 carries for 15 yds, but 26 yds after contact. On avg he was getting hit >1 yd behind the line. That is bad. The only silver lining I see is that is was mostly with guys that are 2nd 3rd teamers, but it doesn't say anything for depth.

 

Lost in my outrage of Darnold over Mayfield... Greg Robinson at LT?

 

#QB1