I was wrong and Pluto was right about the Browns' Special Teams units. Like many fans, I have tendancy to ignore them, unless something gets fumbled or blocked or missed.
Thanks to Micheal Hoag, my eyes are now open. Amos Jones sucks.
When they hired him, I saw his (very bad) record, and wondered why. Thanks to Mike's article, I now know why: NEPOTISM.
I guess Amos is like Hue Jackson, and just a nice guy who everybody likes.
John Dorsey signed off on this guy. Bruce Ariens defended him into retirement. It was always the players, ya no?
They got Jarvis Landry returning punts now? I know he can do it, but why not Callaway? Landry is on the field for every offensive snap. Adding return duties to this will wear him out!
The 2018 Browns have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL. Are we going to blame the players again here?
"Amos is my friend! Quit pickin on him!"
Mike is right: The Browns have to consider firing and replacing Amos Jones in-season if this doesn't get fixed immediately IMMEDIATELY.
And by the way, using your every-down go-to wide receiver to return punts when you have a Callaway on the roster is STOOPID.
Patrick Maks wrote a decent "keys to the game" article on the Browns vs Steelers game, but I need to tweak it a little:
The return of Ogbah means a lot more than the return of Christian Kirksey. PFF grades Kirksey at 28.8.
Meanwhile, Genard Avery is their top-rated rookie passrusher in the NFL (by a wide margin in that category).
I know I know, Chris came out of nowhere and became a starter and made a lot of plays and stuff, and we all love underdogs and familiar faces and stuff, but these numbers really don't lie.
Frankly, I was befuddled when Gregg Williams replaced Kirksey with Burgess instead of Avery (not a criticism: Gregg Williams knows what he's doing. Plus, Burgess is pretty good in his own way).
Anyway, I hope a lot of teams don't believe in analytics, since Dorsey is already probably trying to trade Kirksey.
Ogbah, on the other hand, is underrated. Chris Smith and Chad Thomas looked pretty good filling in for him, but Ogbah vs right tackles is a much bigger mismatch. Ogbah is a little lighter, but just as strong, and significantly more explosive and faster. He's really the poor man's Myles Garrett.
He will make a difference vs this specific quarterback. Derrick Carr has completed 76% of his passes, but this is substantially because quarterback-whisperer John Gruden has him throwing bubble-screens, dumpoffs, and quick slants/crosses.
That's smart, given this quarterback and overall offensive talent.
Derrick Carr (per PFF but what do they know?) hasn't done well vs pressure or outside the pocket in 2018. That's a little wierd, since he did better as a rookie...maybe his injuries messed him up--I dunno).
Amari Cooper is a home-run hitter, but has likewise started striking out (ie dropping passes) at an alarming rate.
Carr is a decent athlete, but nowhere close to a dual-threat, and not nearly as accurate on the move as from the pocket.
Gregg Williams can probably get away with a 4-man rush (including Ogbah) and keep 7 back to cover and swarm for most of the game.
Gruden will try to batter them down with Beast-Mode, but he's not like he was, and (between the 10's) shouldn't do too much damage...err...I don't think (you can't count that guy out).
But the Mayfield-led/thusly-rejuvinated offense should take Beast-mode out of the game with an early lead, plus force Carr to go deeper.
This is why the Raiders have led early, but lost late. The 2018 Raiders simply have a so-so defense and a bunch of holes on offense (which John Gruden is struggling to cope with).
Yeah yeah Khalil Mack and I've called Gruden tied with Marvin Lewis (Jackson doesn't count) the most overrated Head Coach in the NFL, but Gruden is doing the best he has with what he's got.
And he hasn't "got" enough.
My fellow fans: The Cleveland Browns are sigificantly more talented and balanced than the Raiders, and are now led by Baker Mayfield.
Todd Haley is the Offensive Coordinator, Gregg Williams is the Defensive Coordinator, Hue Jackson is irrelevant, and niether of the aforementioned is afraid of the Big Bad Gruden or the Black Hole.
If not for the special teams issues (thanks again Mike Hoag), I could safely predict a massacre here.
But let the best team win t-he.
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