@tour2ma said:

It will be... in London... but then they all are.

Or if you're a farmer or other working stiff that has to get up at 4 am on Sunday, 9:30 am would be primetime for you.

@medicineman said:

Or do they call the London game a "primetime" game?

It will be... in London... but then they all are.

@medicineman said:

They may regret that decision. Even if they do, they can always "flex" a game into prime time later in the season.

Edit: I could see this coming year being a bit like 1985. Browns have bad previous year...but the rest of the division is really not up to par. (the 2017 AFC North really isn't). They bring a rookie QB in halfway through the season, and go 8-8....which is good enough to win the division.

There you go....that is a Zombo special prediction for you.

@mudfly said:

And yet..with all that... the offense performed better than the defense!!

@mjp28 said:

Right...agreed....and my point wasnt that the QB injuries didnt hurt us....they did.....but that is a convenient fall back excuse, when so many many other issues prevented us from winning.....and just a small piece of the ugliness that was 2016 and preventable with a couple signings(ala this year).(except last year)....

@mudfly said:

but the REAL problem is that nothing was done to patch the massive holes in front of the QB....nothing.....

and there really wasnt a good QB to protect anyway....was there?....lets be honest now....

we've gone 3 straight seasons where we've had 5 different starters.....last year was nothing new...

Yeah a reoccurring problem made worse by your Plan A going down without a real Plan B, C, D.

I've always believed start with the OL, DL (or maybe vice versa) and then plug in your skilled player guys but a lot of that depends on years of successful team building.

@syd said:

The discussion is our battered QB's from last year.....and unless Im confused, we signed no OL last year(even though we lost 2 good ones)....

So...yeah...we just signed 2.....RGIII says thanks for nothing....

@mudfly said:

am I confused here or are you just not making sense but didn't we just add two linemen in f.a

@mjp28 said:

but the REAL problem is that nothing was done to patch the massive holes in front of the QB....nothing.....

and there really wasnt a good QB to protect anyway....was there?....lets be honest now....

we've gone 3 straight seasons where we've had 5 different starters.....last year was nothing new...

@mudfly said:

Which is a big concern...playing below expectation instead of above expectation?.....you'd hope the staff would find a way to win a few, instead of new ways to lose em......

Yes plus a no good reoccurring BROWNS problem losing yet another QB early and scrambling the rest of the season to patch that big hole.

@mjp28 said:

Which is a big concern...playing below expectation instead of above expectation?.....you'd hope the staff would find a way to win a few, instead of new ways to lose em......

@the-gipper said:

Steelers will be mediocre...but that may still be enough to win the division....as the Bengals and Ravens are below mediocre. And then there are the Browns. I predict they will be tougher than people think.

Just thinking back the 1-15 BROWNS almost and should have won a few early games before everything really went kaboom -and- with an A or A+ draft then will be better than a 1 win team.

Plus primetime TV games are almost always determined by past performance and team reputation.

....there I go again with the orange and brown glasses, old habit.

@tour2ma said:

I know it's rather bizarre for a speculation board, but there it is.

Will it be much different in 2017? Hard to say, but it looks to be pretty different... at least where the DC is concerned. Feels like Hue will trust Gregg to run his D leaving Hue to simply communicate the aggression setting he wants for in-game situations. A cursory, game-plan review at the start of every week will occur, but that's not that demanding. So my only diversionary concern is really the degree to which our new QB Coach is freed to coach. If he is, then Hue is freed to HC/OC.

The HC/OC dual role is still not my preferred way to go, but if Hue uses his O-staff to develop game plan details, i.e., delegate a big chuck of the work, then he can largely stay out of the weeds and be more of a weekday HC. Stepping into the OC play-calling role on Sunday. Hopefully long-term, (if Hue lives to see the long-term, then he and we have had success) an OC apprentice grows and assumes more and more of the OC role... but first things first...

@wargograw said:

We're not making the playoffs.

Bold... and not just because it rings true to me...

@texasag1969 said:

I think I will defer on W-L predictions until three things are completed.

1. the draft

2. the final 53

3. the end of the last preseason game

So you actually want a basis for your prediction? Novel approach...

@mudfly said:

I can't disagree on Hue after several boneheaded things we saw last year. We can only hope he learned from those mistakes going forward. But if I see another timeout preceding the 1st play from scrimmage again, "turn out the lights".

@wargograw said:

Well....I do think Hue is the ideal coach to handle a young losing team....he's got that upbeat "we can do it" mentality....though that is sincerely the only "high quality" coaching trait I see....

But.....tactically....and strategically...and as a talent evaluator and game day coach?......I dont see him taking this team to the next level. So, if they get better and become a playoff contender, Id expect the analytics team to decide someone else will be a better option going forward.....

@texasag1969 said:

well....lets hope so.....

Heard this from the gallery all of last preseason and then early season.....that the team would grow - gel - get better - etc....and us guys who predicted a shit season were all wrong......and couldnt see the great things that were about to happen.....and needed to be patient...... and just need to wait to see the miraculous transformation of the great draft class and amazing coaching that were about to dazzle us....

But.....guess what....it never happened....

And then all the sunshine pumpers simply pushed back the agenda to "next year".....or wait till 5 years.....or wait till the next FA class.....or the next draft....

And...here we are.....

For my prediction, Im waiting for the draft....camp.....and preseason too.....but, last year, we were spot on Ags...

1. the draft

2. the final 53

3. the end of the last preseason game

And I will have 2 prediction, the first 8 games and then a second prediction when those are done on the next 8 games. The team we see in Sept. will hopefully be far surpassed by the "second season" team we see in Nov. after the bye week.

@the-gipper said:

They say Spain is pretty though I've never been

Well Daniel says it's the best place that he's ever seen

Oh and he should know, he's been there enough

Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much

It's going to be fun to watch us punch the Steelers in the mouth opening day. Bank it.

@the-gipper said:

I dunno...their offense is one of the best. Dan Rooney passes, Big Ben retirement rumors...those SOBs will make a run at a SB again.