★ official gameday thread for ★ The BROWNS vs the falcunts ★

syd

hey i just bought a LED ZEPPELIN hot wheels car

nickers

@browns149 said:

Bill Cowher just slammed John Harbutt

Harbutt said he trusted his Def to stop The Bills. Then WHY would you not take the lead? Harbutt said it was analytics.

Note to these analytics people. GO AWAY. Just play to win the game as Herm once said

Thank you!

Browns57

@hoorta said:

Did you even watch the entire game or just come here to bitch over a loss on a totally winnable game? Yeah, Sirius Radio is a real good reference point. :D

IIRC he went for it on 4th down3 times.... Coward he isn't. Briskett showed why he's a career backup. Throwing passes in the dirt, or a mile over the WRs head-with the game on the line, or taking a critical sack pushing York out of FG range. Not the first time he's done something that stupid either.

Brissett played well until the 2nd half. Unfortunately he is exactly what you said, a career backup, but I cannot put all the blame on him. Through 4 games he has done enough to be 4-0. If the defense plays better and Stefanski calls better plays that would be exactly what would have happened. I am of the belief that the coaching is our biggest problem right now. One perfect example was Atalnta running all over us in the 2nd half which 4 RB's. Stefanski has never stopped and thought hey I have a fresh and healthy Ford and Johnson that I could really wear them down with too. SMH.

tiamat63

For anyone wondering - Perrion Winfrey showed up early, and he showed up BIG.

There's a noticeable difference on the field compared to our other IDL between his athletic gifts and his ability to get into/win gaps.

Hoping the little stint in the doghouse was just that. Because he jumped off the screen almost immediately.

MDDawg

I wrote in the AFC North thread I wasn't too confident about our chances. I watched the entire game though. We needed a better pass rush and couldn't overcome Clowney and Myles' absence as Mariota wilts under pocket pressure. Brissett is slightly better than a game manager he wasn't brought here for game winning drives, that's Desean's job. However unsure why Amari wasn't game planned in a bit more to keep the defense honest. As Bill Parcells said "it's not who you play but when you play them"which worked out great for the Falcons today hopefully we'll come out on the positive side of this later in the season.

Edit: who's idea was it to use Njoku for an end around when you have Schwartz?

Dutch Oven

To be honest, by the look of the tone of the convo on here and by the quality of who is making the majority of content at the end of it, looks like I picked a good day to miss the Browns game to go to a Guardians game.

I had this nagging feeling about this game that I had about the Jets game back in the playoff push in 2020. We should win it, but having an entire part of the team gone is going to make it really tough. Pretty much had no WRs in that Jets game in 2020 and lost, pretty much had no DLine today and lost.

Well shit, this season is what it is.

jcam222

@typicalbrowns50 said:

I think Stefanski is a solid play caller. He’s just hot and cold. Today his worst tendencies surfaced. He’s too aggressive early on, just take the points Kevin. And the Njoku fumble was a huge turnover.

He is not hot and cold, he is consistently bad making situational football decisions. He is far to likely to abandon things that work for a whim based on a successful king pass as well. He is not a good OC. He might be a decent head coach IF he gave up playcalling and acted like one.

Browns149

@mddawg said:

I wrote in the AFC North thread I wasn't too confident about our chances. I watched the entire game though. We needed a better pass rush and couldn't overcome Clowney and Myles' absence as Mariota wilts under pocket pressure. Brissett is slightly better than a game manager he wasn't brought here for game winning drives, that's Desean's job. However unsure why Amari wasn't game planned in a bit more to keep the defense honest. As Bill Parcells said "it's not who you play but when you play them"which worked out great for the Falcons today hopefully we'll come out on the positive side of this later in the season.

Edit: who's idea was it to use Njoku for an end around when you have Schwartz?

THE HEAD COACH

Browns149

@jcam222 said:

He is not hot and cold, he is consistently bad making situational football decisions. He is far to likely to abandon things that work for a whim based on a successful king pass as well. He is not a good OC. He might be a decent head coach IF he gave up playcalling and acted like one.

I think the opposite. He could be a GREAT play caller, if he just focused on that

He needs someone to get in his ear and calm him down

Dutch Oven

I didn't see any of the game, but looking at the stats, it appears that the Browns DLine woes were the only reason the Falcons had any shot to do anything offensively.

And I see that Brissett's interception came on a 3rd and 23, not exactly a high probability of success on that.

I'm not calling for Stefanski's firing, but I might revisit this at the end of the season. His in-game decisions deserve some scrutiny, and his coaches under him are not having a super duper year so far.

Doesn't sound like there were any special team gaffes though, possible silver lining! ?

Bob806

@tiamat63 said:

I'm likely not going to go back and read responses from this thread.  But looking at stat lines from avg yards carried per, 3rd down conversions, drive totals, etc etc. It really speaks to where this team is weakest.

QB

DL.

You're starting a backup at QB who is one of the most risk averse passers in the NFL.

Your starting Dline right to left was - UDFA, 4th round tweener backup, 3rd round rotational depth, 4th round rookie.

Where were the Browns worst area's today? (and every week)

Avg depth of target throws (QB)

YPC surrendered and explosive runs given up. (DL)

You really don't have to say anything more than that. I just don't understand some of the bitching when the flaws of this team are evident and easily exploitable. If you believed or were lead to believe this team was somehow supremely talented, then I don't know whose ass your head was up this entire time then? Because it sure wasn't mine.

edit: opening drive though - HUGE problem I have with Stef. I get modern analytics says to be aggressive there on the 4th down call, but you have to read the room and take the points there. Keep the big Mo on your side and reward your opening drive. Because we would have been 2 of 4 getting ANY points on opening drives. That's a big deal when you look at it in percentages.

Yep...on the road, take the points. This analytical age of NFL isn't something I'm grasping.

How could the Browns be fundamentally sound during COVID and 2 years later, ugh.

Korsou Dawg

@tiamat63 said:

Where were the Browns worst area's today? (and every week)

Avg depth of target throws (QB)

YPC surrendered and explosive runs given up. (DL)

You really don't have to say anything more than that. I just don't understand some of the bitching when the flaws of this team are evident and easily exploitable. If you believed or were lead to believe this team was somehow supremely talented, then I don't know whose ass your head was up this entire time then? Because it sure wasn't mine.

I was one of those believers, and while I've come down to earth, I still think the team is pretty stacked. Just some glaring weaknesses, as you pointed out.

Second half of last season, the D really seemed to come together. Combine that to the best O-line and running back combo in football. Our most glaring weakness on the field seemed to be QB, which we addressed in the off-season. We just have to do without him for 11 games. The only thing we didn't address the IDL, and depth across the D-line. That's now coming back to bite us in the ass.

With the exception of that D-line though, it is undeniable the team has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. What has really let us down so far this season IMO, is the coaching. The defense has regressed massively from last year, and Stef is still calling plays that cost us drives and scores. That's what many of us on the board have been calling out, and are getting increasingly fed up with.

SdBacker80

@browns149 said:

I think the opposite. He could be a GREAT play caller, if he just focused on that

He needs someone to get in his ear and calm him down

I’m with you here. He gets too cute at times when he’s got the best backfield and great run blockers. Don’t be afraid to go back and forth to the well.

I don’t mind the aggressiveness. I understand the take the points argument we are on the road we have a backup QB. He had confidence in his team and he was going for haymaker out of the gate. He misses and the Falcons have to drive 97 yards.

we are plagued by stupidity on and off the field and you can point to the very top and/or the coaches but we have some players that need to take accountability too or they need to be benched or replaced.

SdBacker80

The Bills won yesterday and were competitive last week with a second string secondary. The 49ers are going to go toe to toe tonight with the defending champs with their elite tackle out.

There are no perfect rosters in this league.

Adapt…adjust…scheme….accordingly.

MDDawg

@sdbacker80 said:

The Bills won yesterday and were competitive last week with a second string secondary. The 49ers are going to go toe to toe tonight with the defending champs with their elite tackle out.

There are no perfect rosters in this league.

Adapt…adjust…scheme….accordingly.

3 out of 4 D line starters were out, one of whom is elite. The secondary did step up but not enough to compensate. Stefanski didn't have much confidence in his D which made him go for it on 4th down at the goal line in the first quarter a decision I didn't agree with while watching the game.

MDDawg

@browns149 said:

THE HEAD COACH

Rhetorical question, Stefanski getting a little too cute there.

nickers

@mddawg said:

Rhetorical question, Stefanski getting a little too cute there.

A little?

Browns57

@mddawg said:

I wrote in the AFC North thread I wasn't too confident about our chances. I watched the entire game though. We needed a better pass rush and couldn't overcome Clowney and Myles' absence as Mariota wilts under pocket pressure. Brissett is slightly better than a game manager he wasn't brought here for game winning drives, that's Desean's job. However unsure why Amari wasn't game planned in a bit more to keep the defense honest. As Bill Parcells said "it's not who you play but when you play them"which worked out great for the Falcons today hopefully we'll come out on the positive side of this later in the season.

Edit: who's idea was it to use Njoku for an end around when you have Schwartz?

Yes, that is the only thing Swartz is good for. You have to hand him the ball because he cannot catch it. Lol. He might have been inactive yesterday. I didn't notice him on the field. But Cooper would have been better than Njoku.

hoorta

@ghoolie-always-ghoolie said:

Larry, so what you are saying is a blind person listening to the Browns radio broadcast can never be as knowlegable as you?

I had a great description of the game, with analysis you didn't hear watching the game.

It is easy to be brave and go on 4th down, when you have nothing to lose.

In addition, I loved it that on the opening drive, when the announcers were calling for us to run Chubb, we took advantage of their overpursuit of the run, and passed fucked them out of the gun.

That shit is all good Larry, but ShitMyPantski, just like Marty has his asshole tighten up every fucking time he has his foot on the neck of the opponent.

1st and goal from the 1 and w don't smashouth run if necessary?

Sorry man, I hate ShitMyPantski. This is not a guy who knows how to win. He gave both this and the Jets game away.

Problem is, there's no one to take over now. Kev admitted he screwed up by not kicking the field goal on the opening drive. He outsmarts himself too many times.

A healthy Browns team wins that game easily. Atlanta- to their credit ran the ball 14 straight times against our practice squad defensive line. Didn't take rocket science or analytics coaching there. Hey, they can't stop us, let's keep on keeping on. It was sickening to watch. If they had started that strategy from the get-go, it may not even have been as close as it was.

The most discouraging thing to me is the Browns blowing two games against the relatively lightweight Jets and Falcons, the schedule now gets tougher by an order of magnitude- starting this week against the Chargers, and really doesn't get any easier until we play the Texans in December. Wouldn't surprise me in the least Cleveland being underdogs the next seven games.

Canton Dawg

For those who think Watson is going to take us to the promised land, Terry Pluto has some news for you. . .

While Waiting For Watson, can we have a real talk about the Browns?
– Terry Pluto’s Postgame Scribbles

Yes, Deshaun Watson will help the Browns when he returns from his 11-game suspension, but something else is very wrong.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Scribbles in my notebook after the Browns lost 23-20 in Atlanta:

1. Given Jacoby Brissett’s rocky second half and horrendous back-to-back plays near the end of the game, the drumbeat for Deshaun Watson will sound louder than John Adams in his prime banging his drum from the old Cleveland Stadium bleachers. Watson still has seven more games on his suspension.

2. I’ll set aside the question of exactly how well and how quickly Watson will play when he returns on December 4. That will be 23 months since he last played in a regular NFL season game. But the Browns have more problems than Brissett.

3. The Browns defense allowed 13 points in the fourth quarter in Atlanta. Before you bring up the “Browns didn’t have Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney, Taven Bryan” explanation, can we do some research? With those starters, the Browns allowed 17 points in the fourth quarter to Baker Mayfield in Carolina. They allowed 17 points in the fourth quarter (14 in the final 1:55) to Joe Flacco and the Jets. Only against Pittsburgh (3 points) did the Browns defense play a good fourth quarter.

4. It’s not just the QB play. The defense was supposed to be the strength of the team, at least until Watson plays. But what have we seen from Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods and his lads? They can’t make key stops. And they have yet to face an elite QB.

5. Consider this game: Atlanta had scoring drives of 75-73-64 yards. That’s 212 yards in the fourth quarter! Know how many passes Atlanta completed on these drives? One. That pass covered 42 yards (another blown coverage). But the other 170 yards in the final period were on the ground.

6. Atlanta star running back Cordarrelle Patterson had only one carry in the second half. He was dealing with a cranky knee. Undrafted Ball State product Caleb Huntley had only one carry this season. He rushed for 56 yards in 10 carries, including a TD. Backup rookie running back Tyler Allgeier had 84 yards rushing. They even put defensive back/return man Avery Williams into the game and he had a 21-yard run.

7. The point is the guys running over the Browns for 202 yards were mostly backups. So it’s not as if the Browns reserves on the defensive line were facing the best of Atlanta’s roster. QB Marcus Mariota completed seven passes all day. Nothing tricky about Atlanta’s game plan in the second half: Run the ball until they stop us.

8. So this is about more than Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling, which I didn’t like. I also think he needs to look at things differently. Stefanski said on going for it on a 4th-and-3 near the goal line: “We wanted to score 7 (points) in the red zone ... we didn’t come away with points and that’s on me.”

9. Upon Further Review: The Browns have to understand what kind of team they have – and take three points early in the game. Kick the field goal. Yes, analytics lovers will say, “Go for it.” But that all depends on your QB – and your offense. Dating back to last season, the Browns have had problems running the ball into the end zone near the goal line.

10. But the bottom line is the Browns defense has to shape up. It’s up to Woods and Stefanski to make that happen.