Week 1 General Discussions - Talk to me about the Browns

[Asaria]

Call me a Optimist, but I think Baker comes out with a fire that we've not seen in a QB since 2015 Cam, our defense stops the run early and forces them to throw against our secondary(Arguably one of the best in the league), and CMC announces his return in a big way.

Panthers: 45

Browns: 14

Book it.

[Aussie Tank]

A lot will come down to our gap control in our run d last year that’s where we were found out 

[Icege]

Huddlers.... WE MADE IT!!!

Week 1 is finally here!!!!

[ncsdawg]

Hello!  I am a long time Browns fan, but as a father I've decided not to support the current team leadership for obvious reasons.  I've lived in NC most of my life, so am going to enjoy rooting for the home team with my kids.  This has nothing to do with Baker, IMHO the jury is still out on him.  Being that this is his 4th offensive system in 5 seasons, and having suffered through brutal injuries last season, he may not hit his stride for a couple more seasons.  Which is unfortunate due to his age.  But on to the Brownies...

The defense should be the strength of this team, SHOULD being the operative word.  They run a 4-2-5, base is a cover 3 or quarters.  The defense is predicated on not giving up big plays in the passing game.  Starting up front, Myles Garrett is a beast and should not be left alone with a rookie.  He has been known to try to do too much, when this happens he can be moved out of position (see the NE game last year).   He is also known for strip sacking QBs, so there's that.  Clowney is also a beast on the other side, much harder to run against that side of the line.  Their DT unit is very much unproven.  The Browns don't ask much of them, mainly just maintain gap integrity and allow the ends to collapse the pocket.  Even with Clowney and Garrett, they have trouble generating pressure against good o-lines.  You will see either 2 or 3 LB's on the field.  JOK and Walker are both exceptional and can make plays in coverage and in the backfield.  Either one could have primary coverage responsibility on a given play.  At corner Ward is as good as it gets on one side, and Newsome is becoming a top young corner as well.  The safeties are Johnson, who is very good, and Delpit who is also very good when he's on the field.  For the defense one big question will be slot.   As dominant as this defense has the potential to be, they have never been consistent enough to live up to their billing.  Last season they were infuriatingly inconsistent, often giving up the big plays underneath.  Or as one poster already pointed out, making career backups look like all pros.   They had some success towards the end of last season, we'll see if it translates to 2022.

On offense the Browns play multiple blocking schemes, but their strength is outside zone.  Starting with the offensive line, they are beastly and fast up front.  Teller and Bitonio are the best guard tandem in the NFL.  Wills has been a solid enough LT, great in the running game, and Conklin is all-pro at RT (though coming off an injury so we'll see).  They will miss Tretter up front, C is unproven.  At running back, Nick Chubb.  Over the last four years he has ranked 1st in the NFL in yards after contact and missed tackles per rushing attempt.  He also has the speed to take it to the house.  His highlight real is full of plays where he ran over someone and then sprinted 50+ yards to the end zone.  And then there's Hunt.  Their best TE is David Njoku who has speed and has big play ability in the passing game, and is also a willing blocker.  Depth beyond that is questionable, with Bryant showing potential but not putting it all together yet.  At WR Amari Cooper is a solid #1 who can lineup just about anywhere, but they are unproven after that.  DPJ has good speed and athleticism and the rookie Bell has looked good in camp.  The Browns run a timing based offense requiring very precise route running.  The lack of experience and depth at WR is likely to rear its head at some point.  At QB there's Brissett, who I admire because of where he started and the fact that he's still in the league.  If the defense plays up to its potential and the run game is working, and they win the TO battle, he's good enough to win. The biggest challenge with the offense has been play calling.  Coach Stefanski will inexplicably stop handing the ball to Chubb with the game on the line.  The best offensive play calling I've seen from that regime was the one game where Stefanski was at home in his basement.

Thanks for reading, I hope at least some of this babbling makes your Sunday viewing more enjoyable.  

 

[joemac]

17 hours ago, NAS said:

I don't have a problem using CMC as the primary back, but you don't need to risk injury in situations where we are just trying to run out the clock.  It's just stupid.

Yeah, I never understood that in previous seasons.  Why still have CMC in the game when we have a lead, or are getting smashed?  If we're just sitting on the ball, running out the clock, let Foreman or Hubbard do it.  And if we are way down in the 4th, the same applies.  Hopefully they've gotten smarter about this. 

[Icege]

4 minutes ago, ncsdawg said:

Hello!  I am a long time Browns fan, but as a father I've decided not to support the current team leadership for obvious reasons.  I've lived in NC most of my life, so am going to enjoy rooting for the home team with my kids.  This has nothing to do with Baker, IMHO the jury is still out on him.  Being that this is his 4th offensive system in 5 seasons, and having suffered through brutal injuries last season, he may not hit his stride for a couple more seasons.  Which is unfortunate due to his age.  But on to the Brownies...

The defense should be the strength of this team, SHOULD being the operative word.  They run a 4-2-5, base is a cover 3 or quarters.  The defense is predicated on not giving up big plays in the passing game.  Starting up front, Myles Garrett is a beast and should not be left alone with a rookie.  He has been known to try to do too much, when this happens he can be moved out of position (see the NE game last year).   He is also known for strip sacking QBs, so there's that.  Clowney is also a beast on the other side, much harder to run against that side of the line.  Their DT unit is very much unproven.  The Browns don't ask much of them, mainly just maintain gap integrity and allow the ends to collapse the pocket.  Even with Clowney and Garrett, they have trouble generating pressure against good o-lines.  You will see either 2 or 3 LB's on the field.  JOK and Walker are both exceptional and can make plays in coverage and in the backfield.  Either one could have primary coverage responsibility on a given play.  At corner Ward is as good as it gets on one side, and Newsome is becoming a top young corner as well.  The safeties are Johnson, who is very good, and Delpit who is also very good when he's on the field.  For the defense one big question will be slot.   As dominant as this defense has the potential to be, they have never been consistent enough to live up to their billing.  Last season they were infuriatingly inconsistent, often giving up the big plays underneath.  Or as one poster already pointed out, making career backups look like all pros.   They had some success towards the end of last season, we'll see if it translates to 2022.

On offense the Browns play multiple blocking schemes, but their strength is outside zone.  Starting with the offensive line, they are beastly and fast up front.  Teller and Bitonio are the best guard tandem in the NFL.  Wills has been a solid enough LT, great in the running game, and Conklin is all-pro at RT (though coming off an injury so we'll see).  They will miss Tretter up front, C is unproven.  At running back, Nick Chubb.  Over the last four years he has ranked 1st in the NFL in yards after contact and missed tackles per rushing attempt.  He also has the speed to take it to the house.  His highlight real is full of plays where he ran over someone and then sprinted 50+ yards to the end zone.  And then there's Hunt.  Their best TE is David Njoku who has speed and has big play ability in the passing game, and is also a willing blocker.  Depth beyond that is questionable, with Bryant showing potential but not putting it all together yet.  At WR Amari Cooper is a solid #1 who can lineup just about anywhere, but they are unproven after that.  DPJ has good speed and athleticism and the rookie Bell has looked good in camp.  The Browns run a timing based offense requiring very precise route running.  The lack of experience and depth at WR is likely to rear its head at some point.  At QB there's Brissett, who I admire because of where he started and the fact that he's still in the league.  If the defense plays up to its potential and the run game is working, and they win the TO battle, he's good enough to win. The biggest challenge with the offense has been play calling.  Coach Stefanski will inexplicably stop handing the ball to Chubb with the game on the line.  The best offensive play calling I've seen from that regime was the one game where Stefanski was at home in his basement.

Thanks for reading, I hope at least some of this babbling makes your Sunday viewing more enjoyable.  

I will gladly take contributions like this over the frail and entitled bitching some of the current Panthers fans exclusively engage in.

Thanks for the write up and welcome aboard!

[joemac]

16 hours ago, Thomas31873 said:

I am.

I'm taking the season off though so this week is entertaining for me even though I won't be watching the game. I can't watch the Browns and root for them so I'm just not going to watch. So I'm a casual fan this year and just take rooting interest in players like Baker and Hollywood. Then next year I'll see where my head is and go from there. Kinda hoping Watson just goes away somehow and I can get back to normal but it seems unlikely.

The Browns are on the hook for a quarter billion dollars for Watson one way or the other, so highly unlikely he just goes away any time soon. 

[ladypanther]

16 hours ago, Jackie Lee said:

 

That hair though.

[joemac]

18 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

That hair though.

Robbie is just an Island Boy at heart

[Panther'sBigD]

19 hours ago, Jackie Lee said:

Going this direction I see

 

Matt Rhule's been watching Ted Lasso...

 

[AlphabetsEnd]

1 hour ago, ncsdawg said:

 The best offensive play calling I've seen from that regime was the one game where Stefanski was at home in his basement.

  

 

Great post. Very appreciated to read a sensible recounting of the Browns from a fellow ex-Brown's fan, especially about the defense, which on paper, should be elite, but...wasn't. 

I quoted my favorite line, and couldn't agree more. How he escaped blame for so many issues last season is  proof to how fixated people can get about Mayfield. I blame his half-beard. 

[TheCasillas]

 

[Jackie Lee]

1 hour ago, joemac said:

Yeah, I never understood that in previous seasons.  Why still have CMC in the game when we have a lead, or are getting smashed?  If we're just sitting on the ball, running out the clock, let Foreman or Hubbard do it.  And if we are way down in the 4th, the same applies.  Hopefully they've gotten smarter about this. 

They force fed him at the end of 2019 so he could hit 1k/1k at rushing and receiving. 

[NAS]

2 hours ago, joemac said:

Yeah, I never understood that in previous seasons.  Why still have CMC in the game when we have a lead, or are getting smashed?  If we're just sitting on the ball, running out the clock, let Foreman or Hubbard do it.  And if we are way down in the 4th, the same applies.  Hopefully they've gotten smarter about this. 

Literally they would stack the box and we’d have CMC running into three defensive players.  Rivera and Rhule both did this