Not ready to predict a W in big-d just yet. Need a little more time to look at this match-up. I do see both offenses having a successful day. Not sure if we can contain Dak. I'm fairly certain he won't throw the ball as haphazardly as Haskins yesterday. That was not a good showing from DH at all. Ward let the easiest pick of the day get swatted out of his hands or it would have been even worse. Maybe the Browns D is starting to come together, and I'm not giving them enough credit. We gonna find out. Dawgs are absolutely going to get a test this weekend, as we all know, the Cowboys offense has been lighting it up. Prediction coming soon! Browns have a winning record....
Side note: It's awesome to see Sheldon Richardson looking like Sheldon Richardson. Dude has been a beast this season....After last year, I started thinking we got another high priced "twilight of career" mistake, but my dawg has been wreaking havoc and knocking people around...
Still thinking this one out but this should be a good test for the Browns. They got roughed up by the Ravens and then took care of business against two teams I thought they could beat. I think the offensive game has steadily improved along the way and they are maybe catching on to the new playbook and hitting their stride. The defense is still a question for me. Sure, 5 turnovers last week was great and helped put the game away......but Haskins stared down his WR's. It's easy to jump a route and make the INT or bat the ball away. Not trying to take anything away from the DEF, I mean 5 turnovers is 5 turnovers. I still think they are a bit shaky at stopping the run (WTF ran for over a hundred yards and a 4.7yd/carry average). And once a team gets ahead, like the Ravens did, we won't be able to stop a good running team and I'm still not sure the offense is able to play catch-up in a hurry (mostly because I haven't seen them forced to yet other than just being out of their league against the Ravens).
5 staff and 3 players from what I just read. The Vikings are shutting full in-person practice down too.
Let's avoid going full on Karen here. That's the reason the NFL increased the number of allowed Practice Squad players. The Vikings could resume full activities if their test results are all negative. Worst case is the PIT / TEN game is rescheduled.
I have been surprised at how the NFL has kept COVID at bay thus far. Now we test their ability to deal with a small breakout. It will act as a reminder to any team/player who hasn't taken the precautions seriously, and hopefully help keep it contained. We are entering the "flu" season, and it's bound to get dicey.
Regarding the game ahead: Baker looks like he's not having fun. I don't mean to say he has to be all smiles and fist pumps, but it looks to me like a QB who is still trying to sort out what his role is meant to be. That makes sense, since this is year one of a new Offensive philosophy, and it clearly doesn't "feature" QB play. I think he likes the spotlight, and is probably reading stories that refer to his role as "game manager", which I'm sure doesn't set well with him. On the positive side, he looks to be taking the Odell position of "whatever the team needs from me" approach. I applaud that mindset in both of them, and credit Stefanski for instilling it in them, which leads me to believe that "buy in" from the team overall is good. Setting aside Baltimore, Dallas may be the game that tests both the Stefanski plan, and Baker's role in that plan. I cannot believe our D is going to shut them down, so the game will rest on the O being effective, and on Baker not to give the ball away. The weekly question of "who's healthy on D" remains a hot issue, and the communication on D has been questionable, so we need them "together" this week to keep the "boys" contained. Here's to that happening, and going 3 and 1.
This by all accounts is a winnable game. Save the watermelon onside kick that baffled the falcons, the Cowgirls would be 0-3. Their offense is certainly able to move the ball and put points on the board. their defense is a tad suspect and if Mayfield can manage the game well with Chubb and Hunt grinding it out with long sustained drives, the Browns just may move to 3-1. the interesting matchup will be Aldon Smith against our O-line. A winnable game but the Browns will have to play smart and mistake free(as always). Hope everyone is doing well. Go Browns
That was meant to be tongue-in-cheek... I don't think the NFL will cancel the season after its first outbreak. I'm just more upset the Steelers get a gimme in their schedule when they were about to have their first, real test of the season.
That's true. Titan's won't even be able to really practice this week. Vrabel said they will just work on gameplan, and he's hoping they get a walk-through on Saturday. That's a tough way to go into a game against any team, let alone the Steelers.
The alternative is worse. If they move the game to the Steelers bye week what happens when that is not available for the next team with COVID? Play it now or forfeit
The only way I would support a forfeit is if the players that tested positive knowingly breached the negotiated protocols (as did a few Raiders players).
Long-game... NFL can see how abnormal nights do and increase the frequency of games of one-a-day in 2021.
