The official Terry Pluto thread
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I might have to pick this book up.
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I might have to pick this book up.
I might have to pick this book up.
EDITOR’S NOTE: In his new book “The Browns Blues,” Terry Pluto analyzes what went wrong for the Cleveland Browns as they compiled the worst record in the NFL over the past two decades. It’s an in-depth look at upheaval in the front office, frustration on the field and heartache in the stands. This excerpt is the third in a series of five.
Bill Cowher.
That’s who Lerner wanted to hire as coach........
It does sound interesting plus Terry is a good writer. And then there's Cowher's tie ins with the BROWNS both as a player and coach, who knows what might have been?
Tackle data unavailable prior to 2001
CAREER STATSMORE Season Team Tackles Interceptions Fumbles G GS Comb Total Ast Sck SFTY PDef Int Yds Avg Lng TDs FF 1984 Philadelphia Eagles 4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- 1983 Philadelphia Eagles 16 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- 1982 Cleveland Browns 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- 1980 Cleveland Browns 16 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- TOTAL 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 0 0
Year Age Level Employer Role 1985 28 NFL Cleveland Browns Special Teams 1986 29 NFL Cleveland Browns Special Teams 1987 30 NFL Cleveland Browns Secondary 1988 31 NFL Cleveland Browns Secondary 1989 32 NFL Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Coordinator 1990 33 NFL Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Coordinator 1991 34 NFL Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Coordinator 1992 35 NFL Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach until the year 2006....we all remember that. -
Frankly I'd like to see the Browns go 4 + 2 or even 5 + 1 at keep Greg Williams. Even three and three should be a consideration. NFL experience , a Mean Streak and has probably learned his lesson in New Orleans.
WSS
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Frankly I'd like to see the Browns go 4 + 2 or even 5 + 1 at keep Greg Williams. Even three and three should be a consideration. NFL experience , a Mean Streak and has probably learned his lesson in New Orleans.
WSS
Frankly I'd like to see the Browns go 4 + 2 or even 5 + 1 at keep Greg Williams. Even three and three should be a consideration. NFL experience , a Mean Streak and has probably learned his lesson in New Orleans.
WSS
I'd be over the moon for 3-3 and retaining our coaching staff. That'd be quite a bit of momentum heading into 2019, AND our QB wouldn't have to learn a new system, which is huge. Our franchise is at a virtually unknown point, in that we can actually start to build AROUND a QB, instead of searching for one. Let THAT sink in.
And like I've said before....I actually LIKE Gregg Williams. He comes across as sincere, and that carries a lot of weight with fans, media, and most importantly....players. When I think of "Cleveland Browns Coaches", I have a vision of tough, no-nonsense type people. Gregg fits that.
All that being said, even going 3-3 is a difficult proposition. We don't play a team like the Giants or Cardinals. We have 6 very tough games, and I think all 6 are firmly entrenched in the playoff race. Not only that, we have 3 division games remaining, AND 4 of the 6 games are on the road. Our road woes are well documented, but we've got to overcome them if we're going to have any semblance of success in the last part of the season.
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Frankly I'd like to see the Browns go 4 + 2 or even 5 + 1 at keep Greg Williams. Even three and three should be a consideration. NFL experience , a Mean Streak and has probably learned his lesson in New Orleans.
WSS
Frankly I'd like to see the Browns go 4 + 2 or even 5 + 1 at keep Greg Williams. Even three and three should be a consideration. NFL experience , a Mean Streak and has probably learned his lesson in New Orleans.
WSS
Somehow realisticallly I think 2-4 would be all that could be expected, 3-3 would be.......incredible.
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If I'm hot I want to play not sit. You can get rusty after a bye even a Thursday game.
Besides what are we die hards gonna do Sunday?

They went ten weeks without a break plus OT games. Not many teams play 10 in a row anymore and with new coaches, the break could be a very good thing. I know what you mean about riding hot. This is a different situation tho and the break could mean big things the rest of the way.
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Hopefully. Not the prototypical AFC North but neither was Brian Sipe.
WSS
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If I'm hot I want to play not sit. You can get rusty after a bye even a Thursday game.
Besides what are we die hards gonna do Sunday?

They went ten weeks without a break plus OT games. Not many teams play 10 in a row anymore and with new coaches, the break could be a very good thing. I know what you mean about riding hot. This is a different situation tho and the break could mean big things the rest of the way.
They went ten weeks without a break plus OT games. Not many teams play 10 in a row anymore and with new coaches, the break could be a very good thing. I know what you mean about riding hot. This is a different situation tho and the break could mean big things the rest of the way.
For a young team I would prefer an earlier BYE to get everyone on the same page maybe around week 6 or 7.
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They went ten weeks without a break plus OT games. Not many teams play 10 in a row anymore and with new coaches, the break could be a very good thing. I know what you mean about riding hot. This is a different situation tho and the break could mean big things the rest of the way.
For a young team I would prefer an earlier BYE to get everyone on the same page maybe around week 6 or 7.
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I think there were two briefly, it was a mess schedule wise......should look that up but I'm too lazy right now.
OK I did.....
........The NFL added the bye week in 1990[5] so as to extend the 16-game regular season schedule to span 17 weeks to increase the number of viewable games for TV contracts. The 1993 NFL season spanned 18 weeks with each team having 2 bye weeks. In the rare case of a game postponement that cannot be made up within the week,[6] a bye week may act as an available date to reschedule the delayed game, with the day of postponement acting as the new "bye week"; although both teams would have to be available on the same bye week; this was done during the 2008 NFL season when the Baltimore Ravensand the Houston Texans had to reschedule their Week 2 matchup in Houston due to Hurricane Ike, which also impacted the Cincinnati Bengals' schedule.[7] Similarly, the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were given a Week 1 bye week due to Hurricane Irma in the 2017 season..........
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I should think that the extra tv money from two bye weeks and extra season time would be lucrative.
I should think that the extra tv money from two bye weeks and extra season time would be lucrative.
As I remember there was grumbling about it I'm not sure if it was NFLPA or what but it went away quick.
I think one bye might be good for the players and team -but- it sure can screw with your FL.

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I should think that the extra tv money from two bye weeks and extra season time would be lucrative.
As I remember there was grumbling about it I'm not sure if it was NFLPA or what but it went away quick.
I think one bye might be good for the players and team -but- it sure can screw with your FL.

As I remember there was grumbling about it I'm not sure if it was NFLPA or what but it went away quick.
I think one bye might be good for the players and team -but- it sure can screw with your FL.

That was what was so ironic with my high score this past week. I had 5 WRs/RBs in bye weeks and had no choice but to play Barkley (NYJ), Lindsey (DEN), Hopkins (Hou), R.Smith (NO) and Hill (KC). Brees at home was a no brainer over Ryan (ATL).
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Back to our friend Terry.......
........ He’s never won a playoff game, but four times his teams have reached the postseason.
Dalton became a starter in 2011, the same year the Browns opened the season with Colt McCoy.
Since then, the Browns' opening day quarterbacks have been Brandon Weeden (2012, 2013), Brian Hoyer (2014), Josh McCown (2015), Robert Griffin III (2016), DeShone Kizer (2017) and Tyrod Taylor (2018).
At the age of 31, Dalton is at his peak. He’s a pretty good NFL quarterback.
Would you trade Mayfield for Dalton?
Absolutely not.
At least, that’s my answer......
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I think that is a pretty safe answer.

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Back to our friend Terry.......
........ He’s never won a playoff game, but four times his teams have reached the postseason.
Dalton became a starter in 2011, the same year the Browns opened the season with Colt McCoy.
Since then, the Browns' opening day quarterbacks have been Brandon Weeden (2012, 2013), Brian Hoyer (2014), Josh McCown (2015), Robert Griffin III (2016), DeShone Kizer (2017) and Tyrod Taylor (2018).
At the age of 31, Dalton is at his peak. He’s a pretty good NFL quarterback.
Would you trade Mayfield for Dalton?
Absolutely not.
At least, that’s my answer......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think that is a pretty safe answer.

Back to our friend Terry.......
........ He’s never won a playoff game, but four times his teams have reached the postseason.
Dalton became a starter in 2011, the same year the Browns opened the season with Colt McCoy.
Since then, the Browns' opening day quarterbacks have been Brandon Weeden (2012, 2013), Brian Hoyer (2014), Josh McCown (2015), Robert Griffin III (2016), DeShone Kizer (2017) and Tyrod Taylor (2018).
At the age of 31, Dalton is at his peak. He’s a pretty good NFL quarterback.
Would you trade Mayfield for Dalton?
Absolutely not.
At least, that’s my answer......
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I think that is a pretty safe answer.

Come Sunday, I’m looking forward to just calling him raggedy. Never cared for him. Sold his soul to the devil to win a few football games. I guess his soul wasn’t worth much though with all his playoff victories.
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Back to our friend Terry.......
........ He’s never won a playoff game, but four times his teams have reached the postseason.
Dalton became a starter in 2011, the same year the Browns opened the season with Colt McCoy.
Since then, the Browns' opening day quarterbacks have been Brandon Weeden (2012, 2013), Brian Hoyer (2014), Josh McCown (2015), Robert Griffin III (2016), DeShone Kizer (2017) and Tyrod Taylor (2018).
At the age of 31, Dalton is at his peak. He’s a pretty good NFL quarterback.
Would you trade Mayfield for Dalton?
Absolutely not.
At least, that’s my answer......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think that is a pretty safe answer.

Back to our friend Terry.......
........ He’s never won a playoff game, but four times his teams have reached the postseason.
Dalton became a starter in 2011, the same year the Browns opened the season with Colt McCoy.
Since then, the Browns' opening day quarterbacks have been Brandon Weeden (2012, 2013), Brian Hoyer (2014), Josh McCown (2015), Robert Griffin III (2016), DeShone Kizer (2017) and Tyrod Taylor (2018).
At the age of 31, Dalton is at his peak. He’s a pretty good NFL quarterback.
Would you trade Mayfield for Dalton?
Absolutely not.
At least, that’s my answer......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think that is a pretty safe answer.

You know what's funny? During the last several years of Dalton's career, there seems to be a large number of haters out there who don't care for him. Now, during that time, we had some real QB specimens, and we would've sold our right arm for Andy Dalton, or at least I WOULD HAVE. Fast forward to now, and I wouldn't even THINK about switching Baker for the Ginger QB. I still think Baker will have a couple games where he somewhat struggles, but he's only a rookie, and I can't wait to see how he progresses.
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Back to Terry and the AFCN.......
I know this is a way-too-early prediction, but Mayfield appears to have given the Browns a chance to compete in the AFC North.
At least, when it comes to quarterbacks.
If you like the confusing QB rating system, here’s how the four QBs rank: Roethlisberger (15th), Dalton (20th), Mayfield (23rd) and Flacco (27th).
The only quarterback in that group likely to take a significant step forward in his career is Mayfield.
Mayfield has thrown 13 TD passes compared to seven interceptions. He’s completing 62 percent of his passes.
In his last two games with new offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, Mayfield has competed 74 percent of his passes: five TDs compared to a single interception.
He has the arm strength to throw the ball through the cold and the wind in this division.
My guess is Baltimore would love to have Mayfield under center right now.
Cincinnati possibly could feel the same way.
Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh, and hopefully Mayfield can become good enough to make those games with the Steelers relevant.........
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I guess the beat goes on Sunday and we'll see just how competitve the BROWNS have become from 0-16 and a 24+ year old team......go ahead, surprise us!

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