@texasag1969 said:

I got lucky tonight. We have a redraft every 5 weeks in my FFL and I dropped Hyde and picked up............................................................you guessed it........................Nick Chubb. And this is with 1/3 of our games being against Cincy's D. I'm sacrificing next week just so I can play him the rest of our season. I also got WR S. Smith of NO and since Dez got hurt he gets to play more.

I'm actually not too happy that Cincy got blown out last week.  I feel like whenever a team gets completely ROFL-Stomped, they re-focus and come together in a major way.  I AM glad that we aren't playing the Bengals this Sunday, as I feel they'd really come out fighting after an awful performance against the Saints.  The good news for us is the Bengals play the Ravens this Sunday, and that's always a physical, tough game.  It's unlikely the Bengals will be anywhere near as fresh and healthy as we will be in our game, barring some crazy setback during our week of practice.  My hope?  The Bengals will be physically and mentally beat down by the time they get to play us, and we FINALLY get a road win.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Bengals beat the Ravens Sunday, I really wouldn't.  I think both the Ravens AND the Bengals are kind of in the middle of clusterbomb situations.  

It's no secret the Browns have been better on offense since the departure of our two coaches.  There is now two games worth of film for other coaches to study, and the Bengals now have Hue Jackson, who will obviously have SOME kind of insider knowledge.  What that will be worth is anyone's guess, but it certainly can't help US, that's for sure.  Our offensive coaches will have to continue to get creative and come up with game plans that don't completely resemble our past two games.  Keep them guessing, keep the run game involved, and eliminate turnovers and penalties.  We'll have a good shot if that happens.  I noticed that we've been running a ton of multiple TE sets, even having 3 TE formations that we've ran and passed from.  I really like these formations, and it's good to keep Baker protected, but we're also going to have to take a few more deep shots next week.  During the previous game, we really didn't need to force the issue, but something tells me we're going to need a bit more vertical of a passing game, and I'd like to see one deep attempt per quarter.  

We're going to be healthy, motivated, and eager to grab a divisional road win.  I only hope that we stay sharp during the bye week, and we don't come our FLAT against the Bengals.  I've seen it so many times where the bye week team is supposed to be rested, yet they come out looking sluggish.  Totally excited for the game.  

And your fantasy pick ups make sense to me.  Hopefully Chubb is just getting started!

@jrb12711 said:

Especially because we truly dominated the 2nd half of the game to route to the first "easy" win the Browns have had in seemingly five years. Great ball control, defense playing it exactly right across the board, etc. It's very refreshing to have an honest to goodness complete win that isn't some crazy overtime field goal.

You're exactly right.  To be honest, this game felt a LOT like the New Orleans game that we probably should've won.  Didn't our kicker miss like 2 FG's and 2 XP's or something?  I should remember, after all I was freaking THERE, hahaha.  

We had a similar game plan versus the Saints, where we tried to keep the ball away from them as much as possible, and we put ourselves in an excellent spot, but just couldn't execute the finer details.  Things like kicking a freaking FG!  

Anyways, the ironic thing about all those close losses we endured early is they actually SAVED our team.  If we would've won most of those games, there's a good chance we'd still be stuck with Hue and Todd.  I mean, if we beat New Orleans, Oakland (who we probably DID beat), AND the Bucs, we're looking at...what...6-3-1?  Yeah, there's no way we would've fired our cancerous coaches, right?  And while it's only been two games, I think it's pretty obvious that the team has responded, and more importantly, our QB appears to be getting stronger.  

@tour2ma said:

Maybe I've missed it, but I thought we'd get a little more love from the national media for this win than we have.

Not looking for gushing or anything close to it, but about the only one I've heard give us any love is Tim Hasselbeck.

Most have focused on the Falcons' "disappointing performance" and I get that to some extent, but jeez we played a good game beating them solidly in all three phases

Especially because we truly dominated the 2nd half of the game to route to the first "easy" win the Browns have had in seemingly five years. Great ball control, defense playing it exactly right across the board, etc. It's very refreshing to have an honest to goodness complete win that isn't some crazy overtime field goal.

@texasag1969 said:

Hats off to Dorsey for forcing the hand on Nick Chubb and getting a decent value for the trade.

And to Freddie Kitchens for understanding how to use the talents of the players we have properly. Night & day between him and the double H/H duo of death.

I don't want to start talking like I'm in a cult when I reference Dorsey, but I scoffed at the notion that he traded Hyde to force Hue & Haley to play Chubb ... But he did, didn't he? And then he fired both those guys and anointed Kitchens and we suddenly are protecting Baker, spreading the wealth amongst our receivers and blowing open holes for Chubb.

One thing I noticed on Hard Knocks, is that Dorsey is not only always in the building, he is also at the practices, in the lockerroom, in the coaches den ... He knows what is going on with this football team and what it needs.

Just keep letting Dorsey make the big boy decisions, Jimmy, you finally might have something here.

Zombo

Zombo said:

Hats off to Dorsey for forcing the hand on Nick Chubb and getting a decent value for the trade.

And to Freddie Kitchens for understanding how to use the talents of the players we have properly. Night & day between him and the double H/H duo of death.

@tour2ma said:

Maybe I've missed it, but I thought we'd get a little more love from the national media for this win than we have.

Not looking for gushing or anything close to it, but about the only one I've heard give us any love is Tim Hasselbeck.

Most have focused on the Falcons' "disappointing performance" and I get that to some extent, but jeez we played a good game beating them solidly in all three phases

There was a moment earlier in the season where nationally the Browns were getting some love, then they tanked and lost four in a row, looking pretty uncompetitive vs the Chargers, Steelers and Chiefs. 

Might be a situation where people want to have it proved to them. Beat Cincinnati, and people will notice again. 

Not looking for gushing or anything close to it, but about the only one I've heard give us any love is Tim Hasselbeck.

Most have focused on the Falcons' "disappointing performance" and I get that to some extent, but jeez we played a good game beating them solidly in all three phases

@tour2ma said:

I actually disliked the early, direct-snap, trick play much less than this.

The RB throwback was in the flow of the game off the new formation we sprang on ATL. It wasn't executed well, but it was in the flow.

I go back in forth about the RB pass.  I LIKE the idea of taking a shot there, and it kind of felt like we had them on their heels.  The Falcons defense actually did a tremendous job of somehow sniffing that out.  As the announcer stated, Callaway really didn't sell his route hard enough over the middle, or the passer didn't wait long enough for him to cross, which allowed the safety to play the middle of the field and easily catch the pillow ball that was thrown.  The defender covering Baker made an excellent recovery, and at first he ran at the ball carrier, and then he stopped on a dime and chased after Baker, who had a bit of a step on him, but still a nice recovery.  Had the safety bitten on the crossing route, it would've been REALLY fun to see that pass play out!  It actually appeared that the ball was going to be somewhat on target...it was just a helium pass that stayed up in the air for days, LOL.  

The direct-snap play I like, but it was poorly executed.  For one, Baker was penalized for motion, so even if we got it, it wouldn't have counted.  Two, Chubb had a full head of steam and got stonewalled in the middle of our line.  We have a ton of money invested in that middle, and my RB needs to get a yard when he has full momentum on 3rd and 1.  

Would I have preferred an I-Formation, off-tackle run?  Probably, but I almost ALWAYS want that, LOL.  Ironically, we had another 3rd and 1 in the second half where we DID line up in the I-Formation, and our lead blocker made an excellent block and Chubb used his superior vision and speed to get like a 12 yard run.  

@clevfan4life said:

the rb option to.baker was my only grouse today, and it still bothers me cause if it had gone wrong the rage here would break servers.......so kitch gets a pass this week cause otherwise the play calling seemed balanced and fluid.

I actually disliked the early, direct-snap, trick play much less than this.

The RB throwback was in the flow of the game off the new formation we sprang on ATL. It wasn't executed well, but it was in the flow.

@jiggins7919 said:

I tell you what, if Baker can somehow finish with a 2-1 TD to INT ratio, I think that would be an incredible feat for our rookie. He's closing in on it now, and while we definitely play some tougher defenses on the horizon, it's terrific to see us finding some strengths and playing solid ball. I would like to see us mix in a deep shot now and then, but honestly, we kind of didn't need to. Additionally, I don't like seeing zero points in the 4th quarter, but we relied on our defense, and they came THROUGH. 

I love it! 

Yes, it would be  incredible.    Compare the other rookie QBs in that area:

Darnold  11 TDs  14 Ints

Rosen  6 TDs  8 Ints

Allen  2 TDs  5 Ints

Lamar Jackson....in very limited  QB action  has 1 TD pass  , no ints.

Baker  13 TDs,  7 Ints.

And of course, it was Baker who dealt with the disruption of having his HC and OC  fired.

@atom said:

also i can't believe no one said a word about about robinson he did get burned for one sack but otherwise was solid

Actually l think that was the Baker dribble fumble, recovery, and run where Robinson got beat. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/brownswire.usatoday.com/2018/11/11/studs-and-a-dud-from-the-browns-big-victory-over-falcons/amp/

Saw this article today where the author pinned “dud” status on Robinson for that play and one other, which l think is a wee bit unfair. I guess when you pick a theme for an article you gotta stick with it, but it may have been our best o-line performance all year. Zero sacks allowed, and they were certainly doing their part in the run game.

@flyingfooldoug said:

We do seem to have the phalcons number. 

Now 12-4 all time against them.  

On the other hand, some teams have the Browns number:   Seahawks, Broncos.

@domcucch1994 said:

Very impressed by yesterday's win!

Finally nice to see a coordinator utilize Baker's strengths.

Defense played great, it helped tremendously having Ward and Joe back there.

Higgins is very valuable to this offense when he is out there..

Baker with 13TDs and 7INTs so far.. Good numbers for the rook!

I tell you what, if Baker can somehow finish with a 2-1 TD to INT ratio, I think that would be an incredible feat for our rookie. He's closing in on it now, and while we definitely play some tougher defenses on the horizon, it's terrific to see us finding some strengths and playing solid ball. I would like to see us mix in a deep shot now and then, but honestly, we kind of didn't need to. Additionally, I don't like seeing zero points in the 4th quarter, but we relied on our defense, and they came THROUGH. 

I love it! 

Finally nice to see a coordinator utilize Baker's strengths.

Defense played great, it helped tremendously having Ward and Joe back there.

Higgins is very valuable to this offense when he is out there..

Baker with 13TDs and 7INTs so far.. Good numbers for the rook!

LOL LOL.

great game.

but we should also understand the success of the defense had a major hand in allowing the offense to follow the pre planned gameplan.