Joe Woods: Is the Browns DC as Dumb as he Looks?

 Fans, you need to IGNORE most of Kevin Berry's most recent presser.

Berry is universally positive about every player and position group, and I have learned to ignore him.

No knock intended here, as all GMs are political like that, and what matters is who they draft, sign, release, trade etc:

Everything (especially the Quarterback) is fine always). 

Comrade Stefanski isn't quite as inscrutable as Lord Insideous yet, but his pressers are pretty worthless too.

Blahblah we need to blah blah we didn't blah blah X/Y should be back from injury blahblahblah.

If you are sick of this universal spewtom, and know it's all bullshit, welcome to my club.

As ignorant (or even stupid) as their national critics can be, you should listen to them first, as the Cleveland Browns directly or indirectly pay a lot of local pundit's salaries.

I know this isn't news to most of you since the PD fired Tony Grossi allegedy for critcizing the Browns' Front Office, but there's obviously a lot of positive spinning going on here.

Speaking of Tony Grossi (now with ESPN), I persononally pay extra attention to his Browns' opinions now (even though I still think he's often fulla beans), since I know he's trying to be objective, and is pretty smart...sorta.

I'm getting in the weeds again (sorry) as I've started lecturing you guys about intelligence analysis (grading sources based on--nevermind):

In reality, the majority of us Browns fans have a better handle on the 2020 Browns than Mary Kay (et al) and the national dumb jocks do.

The majority of us wish Baker Mayfield was Pat Mahomes or Joe Burrow, but still think he can keep kicking ass in 2020 and beyond.

(I'm naturally ignoring permabashers and dumb jocks here).

Jimmy Haslam can't get me fired for wondering if DC Joe Woods is screwing up, and I know lots of you (non-spazzes) concur:

Why Sendejo instead if Harrison, or Redwine?

I personally thought I understood why Woods kept using a sub-300 lb 3-tech as the zero-shade (and blabbered to you guys about it), but the Raiders just blasted Ogunjobi out of there and trampled the Browns (*Woods is the COACH, and what I say in his defense doesn't matter*).

In fairness to Joe, he is stuck without a quality nose tackle, and shouldn't be bashed for using his best athletes, and seeking penetration even on run downs.

I just checked the roster: NONE of his Defensive Tackles is over 305 lbs!

I gotta back off on my Woods-bashing here (and go back to several earlier posts):

Joe Woods is like Bud Carson, and all 4 Defensive Linemen attack. 

There is a trade-off for this, and John Gruden exploited it to the max.

My jury is still out on Joe Woods and his scheme, but his fixation with Sendejo and predudice against Redwine is idiotic, so I'm not a big fan...okbye

No Dumbass Unneccessary Trades for the Browns WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!

 As the trade deadline approaches, lots of Browns fans want to get rid of as much cap space and as many high draft picks as possible to rent a franchise tagged star so that...

So that what? Do you think the Browns can overtake the Steelers to win the Division in 2020? Do you think they need a star to nail down a wild card slot?

Get a grip, you people!

As I write this, Lord Insideous, whose Patriots just got annihilated by the Bills, said "We sold out and won (blahblah) and this year we didn't have the money".

Do you think Comrade Mayfield is Tom Brady? Is this team leading it's Division? Are the 2020 Browns 1-2 players away from the Superbowl?

Then why do you want the 2021 Browns not to have high draft picks or money?

It would be great to scoop up a solid Linebacker or good Cornerback or situational edge-rusher for some of those third day picks, and to see if somebody would cough up a veteran or day 2 pick for Njoku, but if Berry doesn't do anything, that's ok too.

Stop ass uming that Berry isn't answering his phone or making calls himself. MKC et al don't have his phone tapped, ya know?

DePoBerry are still building this team. You saw what the Ravens and Steelers did to the Browns, right?

That was a reality check. This is a work in progress.

Here's hoping that Comrade Mayfield continues to play like he has for the last 2 games, gets his option signed, and is ready to rock in 2021.

And put the gdamn shovel down and step back:

Sione Takitaki and Mack Wilson are in their second seasons! Jordan Elliott, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Jacob Phillips are rookies.

DT Andrew Billings and Grant Delpit will be back for 2021 (and we can cross our fingers on Greedy Williams).

Why have you already buried all these players? Why are you so desperate to replace these inexperienced, ascending players with old geezers on the last year of their contracts?

For that matter, a week after Rashard Higgins piles up 120 yards why are you trying to trade draft assets for Marvin Jones (or whoever)?

Redundancy alert Khaderal Hodge clocked under 4.4 and DPJ jumped out of the gym and clocked under 4.5 himself---why do you think they need to get benched (or cut)?

Here's some Memorex Moron bullcrap I need to clear up: Opposing tight ends have caught 47 passes on 63 targets for 418 yards in 2020; the Defense is about average vs Tight Ends in 2020. They've averaged around 53 yards per game.

This is despite Mack Wilson, Karl Joseph, and Jacob Phillips not playing much. Malcolm Smith has done a pretty good job there. Stop reciting last season's bitchery.

Assuming DC Joe Woods isn't fired(?) this offseason, he'll want his nickel base, so they're more likely to draft another Safety than a Linebacker, and their top two priorities are EDGE and Cornerback.

Delpit will be back, Ronnie Harrison is a winner, but Karl Joseph (will be 27) will either re-sign or leave in 2021. He's a good player, but misses too much time to injuries. Forget Sendejo, so they'll need more help there.

They can't count on Greedy Williams, and Terrence Mitchell is in the same situation as Joseph.

Olivier Vernon will be a GMF, and Gustin Porter isn't elite (great rotational depth guy though), so these are the positions the FO will prioritize in the offseason.

DT could come into it, as Larry Ogunjobi's contract expires. Sheldon Richardson has a year left, but releasing him would free up over 9 mil in cap space, and he could also be traded.

You really need four of these guys, and regardless of extentions or anything else, the Browns will be looking for more at this position.

Linebacker (unless it's a Safetybacker), is at the BOTTOM of this shopping list, ok?

DePoBerry will want to USE their top 4 draft picks (two in the third round) to actually draft actual players. They're signed for 4-5 years cheap and have their best football ahead of them!

Starting caliber edge-rushers don't grow on trees, but good strong safeties, run-stopping DTs, and good cornerbacks are often available well into the 4th round (the Browns have two 4th rounders too).

I'll go ahead and predict that Jacob Phillips will be one of the best Linebackers in the NFL in 2021, and Mack Wilson will be average.

2021 is the year DePoBerry might make some more Austin Hooper type Free Agent moves.

The Bengals will be scary, but the Steelers might lose Big Ben, and the Ravens are under stress, and Lamar Jackson has come back down to Earth.

It's 3:42. 18 minutes left til the deadline. Lord Insideous just got Isaiah Ford for a 7th round pick from his rival the Dolphins.  Still hope Berry can pull something like that off for a young Corner or Safety or something.

...Nope.

It's ok. Everybody except Greedy should be back and healthy after the bye (we hope). It Wyatt Teller and Nick Chubb are included, the Offense will be awesome again.

Olivier Vernon showed signs of life vs the Raiders, and now has some time to heal up some more. 

I'm telling you: Jacob Phillips is the real deal, and will make a significant impact.

Ronnie Harrison is just getting started, Joseph has been playing hurt, and Garrett had an ankle issue before the knee thing happened.

I pity the Texans!

Okbye

Bashing Bad Browns Anal ysis by Dumb Jocks; Objectivity 101

 A couple pretty good former pro Football players turned medocre/bad analysts, along with many others (*NOT including Colin Cowherd*) all agree that Baker Mayfield is terminally too inconsistent to be a franchise Quarterback.

They of course had their opinions in the first place, as I've mentioned, based on 2019. (In fairness, the dumber of the two players compared Mayfield's 2018 rookie campaign to a toddler learning to walk: The parents are indulgent; don't expect much.  But now, Mayfield is expected not to "fall down" any more in his third season).

They also dismiss the notion that the OBJ issue had anything to do with Mayfield's regression, and cite the Raiders game as their proof.

This is idiocy.

Mayfield completed fewer than 50% of his passes for 122 yards and a 65.5 passer rating, but his receivers teamed up to DROP over 5 passes, and the referees (pc crap aside) stole Landry's TD catch from him.

Despite rain, sleet, snow, winds at 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, Mayfield managed to deliver 18 of 25 targets on the money, but the zebras and receivers conspired to take 6 of those (including a TD) away from him.

How tf can you blame bad calls and drops on a Quarterback!?!

Derrick Carr completed 15 of 24 passes for a whopping 112 yards and a 90.3 QBR.  HE couldn't do much in those conditions either, but at least his receivers caught his passes.

Hell, didn't these assclown analysts see those crazy knuckleball misses by both kickers (knock-knock: Anybody HOME?)

Comrade Mayfield did more than enough to win this game, and Stefanski and company get it.

The Dumb Jocks are confident that the Browns won't excersize Mayfield's 5th year option, and instead will make 2021 a "prove it" year for him, since they all agree that it's too late for Mayfield to prove himself as a Franchise Quarterback in 2020.

Don't get me wrong here: I worry about Mayfield myself. These clowns could accidentally be correct in their predictions, but could also be fulla crap:

As I mentioned, the Browns' Coaches know who to blame for dropped passes and bad calls, and that Comrade Mayfield Baker Mayfield did a good job in adverse conditions.

While these dumb jocks predictably blame this loss on the easiest target (the Quarterback they've been bashing all along), in reality the jury is still out on Baker Mayfield among real coaches, GMs, and analysts: He's looked good through the last TWO games, to any objective analyst.

I have fun watching lynch-mobs echo eachother and drown out more sentient voices, and Baker Mayfield is the second most perfect example of this there is.

Nevermind that: Mayfield has nine more games (and maybe the playoffs) to earn his fifth year, even though he's playing one of the weakest schedules in the NFL.

The dumber dumb jock (Sam Acho is actually very smart for a dumb jock) said "You're either a truck or trailer", and called Mayfield a "trailer".

He said that Mayfield needed an awesome supporting cast to win, because he is incapable of being more than a "game manager".

Kudos to this dumb jock for his metaphores, but he's still a dumbass:

Baker Mayfield kicked ass as a pre-OBJ/Coach Dorsey rookie with a bunch of guys named Joe. He wasn't an infant, and...jeez this guy is just too dumb to waste time on! He played in the NFL and learned NOTHING above his paygrade (just an expression--disgusting, aint it?)

The OBJ thing was NOT (smirk-chuckle) illegitamate (with few exceptions, dumb jocks rarely admit anything negative about any non-Quarterback).

The Browns enter the bye at the perfect time:

Mayfield himself has a cracked rib (etc). Garrett has an ankle and knee. LB Rodney Phillipsfield should be ready to rock (and make a difference dammit).

Harrison, Joseph, Johnson, Hunt etc can also heal up a little, and Teller and Chubb could well come back to start, just in time for maybe the weakest schedule in the NFL.

I can already hear Mayfield's permabashers telling you people that he hasn't "beat anybody" yet...

His stats won't be "all that" either, since by design he's a game manager with Chubb/Hunt in a ball control offense...you know, 220 yards, a TD or two?

...70% completions and over 9 yards per-attempt won't even register with these dumb jocks!

I'm sick of these clowns: They use wins and losses first, and will get stuck back off their old stand by W/L metric with a slew of "Yabuts" (probably before the bye is over):

Comrade Mayfield should "win" a bunch of games post-bye week. The dumbest "analysts" use wins and losses to grade Quarterbacks, because this is easy.

Stand by for these assclowns to change that rule for Baker Mayfield after the bye.

The Browns will win "in spite" of Mayfield. His W/L record will be illigitimate.

I get why Mayfield-bashers not named Cowherd are down on him (check my posts: I was close to declaring him a bust myself a couple weeks ago!)

But (like I said), if not for the drops and bad calls, Mayfield beats the Raiders and is 6-2. If you are citing this game to justify your prejudice against him, you are a moron (whether you played pro football or not).

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

For that matter, where the hell was this "Browns demanding respect" after beating Cinci coming from? Which coaches or players were spewing locker room material? Who tf in this organization said "we don't get no respect", or anything like that?

These asshole anal lysts read articles (including mine) and attribute our opinions to the players/coaches!

Since Comrade Stefanski was hired as Head Coach, this team has been as socially disciplined as the Patriots, including OBJ and Mayfield!

These ass-hats are just making stuff up! Like with Trump!

But I digress okbye

Assigning Blame for this Stupid Loss Objectively

1: David Njoku, Jarvis Landry, Harrison Bryant, Kareem Hunt, and anybody else I didn't notice dropping at least 2 "on the money" passes (and fumbling).

2: Comrade Stefanski: Couldn't he have called a "hurry-up" offense earlier in the game, while handoffs and inside targets were viable? Couldn't this offensive genuis have locked in an overmatched Raiders position group and wore them down while letting Mayfield, Hunt, Bryant etc do what they do, and wear that defense down?

Professor Stefanski looks more like Marty Schottenheimer game by game (and even down by down).

3: The Defense ( sorta): The Raiders have averaged over 36 points vs their last 3 opponents, and the Browns' Defense held them to 16 points. As ugly as it looked, the Browns' defense didn't suck---but caved in on third downs.

Third and 15 or 12 or fourth and whatever, the Raiders converted.(Broken tackles, mostly).

4: The zebras: Landry obviously caught a TD catch but the refs stole it from him. (Too bad nobody was in the stands to bomard them with empty plastic beer bottles).

Comrade Mayfield was screwed by 6 drops and a blatent bad call; he wasn't perfect, but was close enough to have won this game.

Ok fine: Back to the drawing board.

YOU people only know that the Browns lost (and suck).

The COACHES AND PLAYERS know that they gave this game away, and that it wasn't Mayfield's fault.

Off the bye week...

Well I was about to say "look out" for the healthy Browns, but well...Stefanski is still the Head Coach, so...

 

Bad Browns Punditary Bloviations, the Mayfield Question, and Stuff

 Some guys tend towards hyperbole, and Chad Porto is no exception.

Chad is one of my favorites, but in citing reasons why the Browns need to add more Cornerbacks, he blames the failures of the Safeties (Sendejo etc) on the Cornerbacks blowing coverages, and says "don't even start with Terrence Mitchell and Kevin Johnson".

Well, I just have to "start with" the babies Chad dumped out with the bathwater, as Terrence Mitchell is one of the top Cornerbacks in the NFL.

When a Cornerback is all over a guy, but the pass is out of bounds and high where only the receiver can catch it, it's NOT on the Cornerback!

I know Chad sees one or two plays like this (by Big Ben or somebody, to one of their skyscapers) and throws his foam brick at the Cornerback.

Johnson has been injured and played limited snaps. PFF grades him 98th among Cornerbacks (53.1 replacement level; 13 completions on 17 targets 85th), so Chad has a point in his case, but when Johnson was healthy with the Bills last season he was ranked fairly high.

After grading in the high 70s (top 20) in 2019, Terrence Mitchell is at a so-so 63 and change so far in 2020.

He's been the 2nd most targeted CB in the NFL (47) and has allowed 25 completions (16th) playing opposite Denzel Ward in 2020, so Chad needs to get up off this guy!

The writer has a point about the position group, however. Some of us are starting to wonder if Greedy Williams will ever get healthy, and Mitchell isn't a long-term answer.

Ronnie Harrison and Karl Joseph are here, and 1st rounder Delpit will be back at Safety next season, so Cornerback is the real target for the Browns to address on the back end (Chad says before the trade deadline).

But then he lumps the injured Jacob Phillips in with the other Linebackers (all bumbs per Chad), saying Phillips has made "zero plays"!!!

Talk about a broad brush! Philips has had issues getting and staying healthy, but in what little action he has seen, he's been sensational, both against the run and in coverage! 

Need I say more? I think Chad has to be the only fan who has managed to ignore it, considering Philips just about sealed either the Cowboys or Colts win up with a deflection and two stops on three consecutive plays late in the 4th quarter!

Malcolm Smith has been a wonderful surprise too, especially in coverage.

Takitaki is under development, and I'm not much more impressed by Wilson's upside than Chad is, but Chad is just plain wrong about Phillips, and while they should probably draft a Linebacker or two, actually trading any Draft assets for one midseason is kinda spastic.

I agree that trading for Pegleg Gramps Vernon was a dumbass move, and that the Browns need another Edge guy, but here again MM Chad Porto is ignoring the young guys who are just starting to blossom.

Indeed, he wants to trade a bunch of draft picks for JJ Watt!

Hey, nothing against that mutant (and Chad points out that he'd only cost 4 mil against the cap more than Vernon in 2021).

...But Watt is 31 years old. He has 3 sacks this season...Chad tends to ignore stuff like this, along with young guys like Porter Gustin.

But the kid hasn't done much from deep in the rotation (no sacks but some hurries and stuff) and Chad is right that Garrett needs some help before they run him into the ground again.

Chad is always eager to get rid of as many draft picks and as much cap space as possible, though, and DePodesta and I are not.

The Browns might be able to pry another geezer like Adrian Clayborn loose for a 5th rounder or lower, but David Njoku isn't actually as expensive (or as untouchable) as Chad thinks he is, and could fetch some real value in a player-for-player trade.

The Browns do NOT need to trade for another Wide Receiver! I can't believe Chad even said that!

Redundancy Alert the 2/3 Tight End Offense is integral to the 2020 scheme, when Chubb returns Hunt will go to the slot more often, DPJ is way ahead of schedule, Hodge and Higgins are proven vets, Hodge and DPJ are burners, and all 3 are big strong timing receivers!

Hodge is healthy again, and the reason Higgins took over for OBJ last week was because the more dangerous Hodge was injured.

Come on, man!

 Elliott Kennel answers the Baker-bashers who keep saying that Comrade Mayfield only beats bad teams.

Elliott goes into a lot of detail, but long story short, Mayfield has beaten the Ravens and several other winning teams (these goobers are completely ignoring his rookie season in 2018. It's like it never happened, and his first start was in 2019!)

Here's another thing: When people yammer about teams with "combined records" vs the Browns, they overlook the fact that the Browns themselves accounted for five of those losses.

No doubt, Comrade Mayfield has a lot left to prove after his atrocious 2019 season and pretty crappy performance up until OBJ went down in 2020, and this Raiders Defense isn't going to make him look any worse than the Bengals' did.

The Browns Defense can now start Ronnie Harrison and at least play Karl Joseph. Wilson should play better than he did last week, but Jacob Phillips is out again, and Carr, Ruggs and company are white-hot, and will score lots of points against one of THE worst pass defenses in the NFL.

THAT'S NOT THE QUARTERBACK'S JOB DO YOU U N D E R S T A N D ?

In this offense, the Quarterback distributes the ball to every part of the field when he actually passes, and leans on the run as hard and long as he can to play possession football and keep his crappy defense off the field.

The Browns' Defense has one edge: They get turnovers, and can get inside pressure on Carr; maybe without blitzing.

Ward probably can't take Ruggs off the table completely, but should make Carr nervous about targeting him, and if Woods puts Harrison (NOT Sendejo) in center field, they can force Carr to lean on Darren Waller (which sucks because he's awesome, and Jason Witten is his backup)...

But last year's Karl Joseph was pretty good in coverage, Smith has excelled in coverage, Wilson covered well (in college, anyway), Harrison closes fast, and Myles Garrett can keep Tight Ends in for a second to chip him (and still get home)...sorry in the weeds again:

Anyway Henry Ruggs is the one guy who turned Derrick Carr from a dink-and-dunker into a full-spectrum badass QB, and Denzel Ward might be able to take that away from him, see?

But I digress: It looks like another shootout, despite all this, and the offense might need to score close to 40 points (again/as usual) to fkng win dammit.

The Baker Bashers can't wait to blame a loss on Mayfield, whether it's his fault or not.

But really, what we want to see is that game-winning pass with ten seconds left (instead of a field goal and overtime); that hurry-up march to seal the deal. No fumbles, stupid sacks, or interceptions.

If Mayfield racks up 330 yards and 4 TDs and still loses, only an idiot would blame that on him...

But if he does that and does any of the above at crunch-time, he's...Kirk Cousins.

And Mayfield needs to beat the Ravens and Steelers too...well at least once the Defense doesn't suck so bad:

Rodgers or Brady can rack up points on even the best defenses without a lot of help, and Mayfield needs to get that good; good enough to "carry" a team.

Rodgers is getting bashed for his playoff history--can you believe it!?!

He keeps getting mediocre teams to the post-season mostly by himself, and then when the top teams smother him in the backfield it's his fault!?!

Rodgers is Mayfield's ideal model, however.  Mayfield is all but a clone of Rodgers.

Give Rodgers this Offensive Line, these weapons, and this offensive system, and he might never lose again!

Oh I hear you-Devante Adams? Verily a great player, but Rodgers makes him greater than he'd normally be, like Big Ben did for Antonio Brown.

Mayfield has already started doing that here, with Higgins, Hodge, and Harrison Bryant.

By the way, I'm now 80% certain that the Mayfield-OBJ disconnect was 75% OBJ's freelancing at the end of his routes.

 The two were apparently trying to get on the same page all along, but Mayfield rarely saw what OBJ saw that caused him to break left instead of right (or whatever).

Anyhow, (like Devante Adams) the rest of Mayfield's extant receivers don't freelance, or think they're special, and well...

I expect a steady dose of Landry (of course) but don't know who will play X. I was about to predict a DPJ/Higgins/Hodge rotation, but specific matchups might favor one or two of these guys.

Still think the Browns will win (thanks to Ward and Garrett) okbye

Browns 48, Raiders 47. Ruggs vs Ward. Browns Stuff Like That and Stuff

 Now we've heard Comrades Mayfield and Stefanski, along with Jarvis Landry scoff at the notion that Mayfield/the Browns are better off without OBJ.

Part of this is loyalty; especially to a teammate who's been unfairly bashed personally, but the other part is valid (I quoted what I guessed Pat Kirwan would say about it in my last post).

As Landry partly explained, the passing offense relied on OBJ to "take the lid off" defenses to open short and intermediate patterns up, plus take one potential run defender out of the box.

But (redundancy alert) OBJ isn't an ideal X receiver. He relies on his superb quickness to gain separation in man coverage, but can't be expected to make contested catches on vertical routes.

In my opinion, Comrade Mayfield has stubbornly kept trying to thread that needle, as if OBJ was 6'2", 207 lbs or something.

Bullcrap aside, Baker Mayfield is as accurate as any Quarterback when his mechanics are right (which is almost always). He keeps trying to put it in that tiny space where only OBJ can catch it (maybe with one hand).

But let's get real here: OBJ hasn't caught even half of his targets.

That's partly because of his freelancing (those "what was he thinking?" "dumb" passes, but also because no Quarterback can reliably hit a moving target that small that deep.)

OBJ was the default X here, but is much more effective running the same routes Jarvis Landry runs. He gets separation, catches it in-stride, and gets massive YAC yardage.

Now that OBJ is out, who's the X, and is that going to work?

It's not Landry, ok? Just stop it!

The candidates are Khaderel Hodge, Rashard Higgins, and DPJ (Donovan Peoples-Jones).

Ok long story short: I DARE the Raiders not to respect any of these guys deep with Comrade Mayfield under center. The offense should work fine with any of these "bumbs" as designated deep threats.

OBJ is great but injury-prone and a bad fit at X in a timing offense; all 3 of these guys fill that slot better, and if you put Stefanski on truth serum he'd admit it.

DPJ and Hodge are faster than Higgins, but Higgins averages over 16 YPC and is a football vacuum. Corners can keep up with him, but it doesn't seem to matter.

Mayfield gets much, much bigger windows, and knows his receivers will be there (really, it's that simple).

Raiders writer Kenneth Arthur wrote a terrifying article about Derrick Carr, and how WR Henry Ruggs has brought out his "inner gunslinger", so to speak.

Carr averaged over 11.2 yards per-attempt vs the Chiefs, which is about as aggressive as a QB can get.

Ruggs is a lot like OBJ, except faster.

It looks like Ronnie Harrison is good to go, along with all the CBs not named Greedy. Jacob Phillips is "iffy", but the Defensive Line might actually be at (almost) full strength for a change.

That's all critical, since Harrison can stay on top of Ruggs, and be close enough when he catches it to nail him before he can make a move, and getting in Carr's face (and stifling the run) is how you keep him from throwing those long bombs to him.

Denzel Ward matches up about as well with Henry Ruggs as any CB in the NFL does. At a certain point, tenths of seconds in the 40 don't matter much.

Ward might not be able to catch up with Ruggs if he gains a step, but can probably stay with him.

Woods will almost certainly put Ward on Ruggs in man coverage.

I don't know right now which CBs Ruggs has faced so far, or how defenses have schemed to contain him, but hope that Ruggs hasn't faced anybody like Denzel Ward yet.

With Harrison deep with one eye on Ruggs, Ward can press (bump-and-run) Ruggs. The deep safety knows right away if the CB has forced the receiver outside, so he can come forward to seek and destroy other threats (or "head him off at the pass".)

Dixon and Minnifield (with Felix Wright deep) stifled the best passing attacks in the NFL doing this.

All I'm saying here is that *no research here* maybe Henry Ruggs hasn't faced anybody like Denzel Ward yet, and Carr hasn't faced a defensive line like this one (or if he did they messed him up).

If I could afford to bet, I'd take the "over" here, because the Browns' defense sucks.  But my inner-analyst still thinks the more talented team will win (because they have competent coaching for once, and YES: A legit franchise Quarterback) I HAVE SPOKEN.

...Okbye.

Oh yeah Darren Waller too (oh joy)!

Pray for Phillips.

Browns ARE Better Without OBJ. It's Mayfield Time!!!

 G might take out a contract on me for saying this, but I told you so:

I want to make this crystal clear first: Odell Beckham Jr is an awesome player who gets unfairly lumped in with selfish malcontents like Antonio Browns for his emotional displays. I never bashed him, and he was never disruptive or selfish while with the Cleveland Browns.

However, Baker Mayfield needed a 5'11" X-receiver like he needed a hole in the head. Redundancy Alert: Mayfield is a timing ball-distributor who hits whoever looks open deepest earliest, period.

Most Quarterbacks need a "go-to" "coverage dictator" who draws safety coverage, and can beat it by making contested catches.

Beyond the "go-to" part of that, keeping that safety deep and predictably away from the other receivers makes both pre and post-snap reads easier.

Comrade Mayfield is different.  This is why, as a rookie in 2018, with Jarvis Landry and guys named Joe, he set several NFL rookie records in 14 games.

He made Rashard Higgins a fan favorite, Njoku became a lethal weapon, Hunt integrated seamlessly, and others no longer with the team made significant contributions.

Jarvis Landry was still "favored", but saw his targets decline significantly. He never complained. (LANDRY was never a selfish player either.)

But then Dorsey traded the farm for OBJ and Pegleg Vernon, and screwed everything up.

In 2019, Dorsey kinda took over the coaching side when he fired Zampese and named interim Head Coach Freddie Kitchens the new Head Coach.

I couldn't prove this in court, but Freddie Kitchens lacked the resume to be an OC, let alone Head Coach (but yes I said it was a good move at the time I was wrong).

Dorsey "bought" Freddie Kitchens at that time. Handed him a winning lottery ticket...and said "but you do what I say, get it?"

Having traded 17 overall, a mid third round pick, Zeitler and Jabrill Peppers for Pegleg Vernon and OBJ, the Dorsey Offense of 2019 immediately featured OBJ.

OBJ predictably missed training camp with injuries, then played hurt (and was unmistakably not the same).

Mayfield kept forcing balls to him, instead of spreading the wealth as he had all his life, and through 2018.

I blamed Dorsey for this at the time, as I assumed that the second year QB with the bad rep was trying to be a "good soldier", but here came 2020 with Stefanski and Coach Dorsey gone.

Same deal! Here's Comrade Mayfield still forcing stuff to OBJ instead of spreading it around!

I suspect that Baker knew that OBJ was healthy (sorta) now, and was trying hard to make the most of him; that his failure to do so last season irked him, and was something he needed to fix.

But I've now heard from several legit experts (Quarterbacks and Coaches) who say that OBJ is a bad fit for a timing system, because he freelances.

He HAS TO freelance, because he's a light 5'11", and the better corners and safeties can anticipate his system-imposed breaks.

Possibly, if OBJ hadn't been lost for the season, the two players would have figured this out and rote havoc, but as it is, Mayfield and the Browns are better off now.

As you saw, Mayfield played his best pro game ever starting the instant that OBJ bit the dust. His only incompletion was a spike. 

David Njoku only caught 2 passes (one for a TD), but 5 others caught at least 3 passes.

Kareem Hunt averaged 8.7 yards (with a TD) on his three, but rookie Donovan Peoples Jones (I'll call him "DPJ" from now on) averaged 18.7 (with a TD).

Rookie TE Harrison Bryant caught 4 (average 14) for 2 TDs, Landry caught 5 (average 9.6), and Higgins caught 6 for 110 yards and an 18.3 YPC average.

That's 6 (and 3 TDs) to the Tight Ends, 3 to Running Backs (one TD), and 14 to Wide Receivers.

The Comrades remained aggressive after OBJ went down. They didn't go with dink-passes and screens when Cinci stifled the run, and Mayfield was actually 5-7 steps deep in an actual pocket a lot.

The Offensive Line (and Tight Ends and Hunt) did a great job in protection, by the way.

Anyway, if you think Comrade Mayfield's "breakout game" vs the lowly Bengals was a fluke, and expect him to backslide now, you don't get it.

If you think the Browns need to trade draft assets for a Wide Receiver to bench Higgins, Hodge, or DPJ, you are an idiot.

Comrade Mayfield is liberated now. He will become himself again sans OBJ.

All these receivers are big, physical, and disciplined (don't start with me on Landry here; he's not like OBJ at all).

Some experts will overthink this, like maybe former Jets GM Pat Kirwan:

"The Browns don't have a proven deep threat X receiver now to keep that safety back. Now, opposing defenses can stack the box, sit on the shorter routes, and go after Mayfield more.  And that's how you blow up those wide-zone runs; with inside penetration" (etc) (*I haven't had NFL Radio and am just guessing about what Pat will say here*)

But this is a "formula": Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Trent Dilfer, Drew Brees, and several others have won Superbowls without Randy Moss, Julio Jones, Megatron, or whoever, and a BUNCH of teams have come up short with AJ Green, Megatron, Thomas, etc.

Even Pat Mahomes, who just won the Superbowl, didn't have the X-receiver Kirwan implies is mandatory: Tyreek Hill is 5'10, 185 lbs.

He can't make "contested" catches, or bully his way into staying "on time" on his route...

Reid runs a timing offense too, so we can agree that Pat Mahomes is better than Comrade Mayfield, but not that the Chiefs won the Superbowl without a Pat Kirwan X-receiver.

While I stipulate that Mahomes is better than Mayfield, I also think it's a close contest (ie that Mayfield might be almost as good, now that his head is out of his ass *football-wise*)

But on to the Raiders:

This is a scary team, which beat their rivals the aforementioned KC Chiefs.

The Bucs just dominated them 45-20, but along with the Chiefs, they beat the Saints and Panthers, and have had a tougher schedule than our Browns

Without checking out the rankings or stats, my gut tells me the Browns will win (well ok I accidentally noticed that the Raiders are vulnerable to the pass).

The Browns Offense should be able to score points, but their Defense might be the worst in the NFL so far (except they've been getting turnovers)

I think the calls for DC Joe Woods' head are a tad premature (and spastic), as the loss of Greedy Williams and absences of Ogunjobi, Vernon, Wilson, Harrison, Johnson, and Joseph have had something to do with this.

The lynch-mobs always blame Quarterbacks or coaches, because they're clueless.

Not that I'm all-in with Joe Woods or anything!

I'm just saying give him more of a chance.

Yeah I hear ya: This defense has been the worst since Woods took over.

But take a deep breath and step back for a minute:

Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward are the only studs Joe inheritted (and I'll include Terrence Mitchell here).

Ogunjobi per PFF was less than mediocre.  The Linebackers included 2 rookies, and (get a grip here) Wilson was average at best per PFF

Gramps Sendejo was obviously a HUGE swing-and miss by Berry, and Karl Joseph hasn't been "himself" even when healthy.

I've called Joe Woods a blockhead for playing Sendejo ahead of Redwine, but that's it: None of his fan-bashers can tell anybody what Joe is doing wrong.

Obviously, missed tackles is biggest problem yet again in 2020, but you people are blaming Joe Woods for this, and you're fulla crap.

The Defensive Coordinator puts his people in position to make plays, comprehende? It's s NOT HIS FAULT if the players blow the tackle or otherwise don't close the deal!

You people...

Jacob Phillips and Ronnie Harrison should be healthy for the Raiders game, which matters.

Some of you seem to comprehend that Ronnie Harrison is awesome at either Safety slot, but don't grok that Jacob Phillips is "ready for prime time" way ahead of schedule.

The biggest ding on Phillips pre-draft was his coverage, but (redundancy alert) he was rarely asked to cover in college, and his sample-size was microscopic.

But he's 6'3" and faster than 99% of the Tight Ends in the NFL, so...

Anyhoo, Jacob has lost time to injury (he's a BROWN, after all), but (G by all means take me out) , Phillips can cover Tight Ends, like I predicted he could, and is a well-established sideline-to-sideline tackling machine.

I'm not trying to tell you that these and other guys coming back from injury will turn the Defense around all at once, but on third downs, these guys tend to deliver.

Including/especially TACKLING.

IMNHO, Joe Woods has done ok (except for keeping Redwine on the bench after it was obvious that Sendejo sucked).

It looks like Harrison, Phillips, Ogunjobi, et al might for once be semi-healthy for the Raiders game (and I'll stick my neck out and hope that Woods will actually let Redwine play instead of good ole reliable gramps Sendejo gdammit)...

Don't expect the Raiders D to stuff the Brown running game. Nobody really has (except the Steelers...sorta).

Sans OBJ, they'll go all-out to stuff the run, penetrate, and NOT respect deep threats (trying to put the weight on Mayfield).

That's what I would do, so 'nuff said (😜G). (G can't handle my being smarter than him in any way, at anything. He wants me dead now for saying "I was right" but I digress):

Moving past insanity, I don't think the Raiders will score over 24 points on this iteration of the Browns' Defense.

I  expect the Raiders not being able to run consistently, as the Steelers game doesn't negate the other 6. The 2020 Browns' Defense can stop the run.

The Raiders offense is just kinda "ok" overall. Derrick Carr is having a carreer year, with a passer rating over 100...

Well I can't break this down further without wasting a lot of time, but based on what I've been allowed to see, Carr still throws short a lot (like he always has)

I'm not bashing Derrick Carr here. Brian Sipe, Joe Montana etc match this profile.

But the Raiders Offense shows a mediocre (oh excuse me: that actually means average) running game.

I know that Jonn Gruden won a Superbowl, but overell well...

I know that he's allegedly a Quarteback guru, and had that TV gig for awhile, but Gruden NEVER nurtured or developed a young Quarterback!

Indeed, I've heard from several Quarterbacks that Gruden ignored everybody except the starter---and we all know that Gruden trades draft picks for vets I mean...call him Jon BIDEN, right?

But I digress: Jon Biden Gruden inheritted Derrick Carr (good luck for him; Carr is pretty good).

But Derrick Carr is about as good as he will ever get, and (in reality) Gruden won't make him any better. 

If Joe Woods gets Phillips, Joseph, and Harrison (not to mention Ogunjobi etc) back, the Raiders will confront an adequate (turnover-prone) Defense.

Bashers don't pay attention to this stuff, but Joe Woods has relied on the Defensive Line for pressure, and only blitzed selectively; he's tried to keep 6-7 guys in coverage amap (nevermind that it hasn't worked well; YOU couldn't have done better Einstein).

Anyhoo Carr doesn't handle pressure well (and WILL BE pressured without blitzes.)

Henry Ruggs is his lethal weapon, but he's a shrimp like OBJ. He might well burn the Browns, but Denzel Ward is here for a reason, and Carr will need a couple seconds to deliver...

I'm done here:

The Browns are the more talented team, and should win. (What a difference a Coach makes! I just said that the Browns should win because they're more talented! And BELIEVE it!!!)

Anyhoo Browns 126, Raiders 3.