The Pittsburgh Steelers are top contenders for the 2018 Superbowl, and I don't need all your spastic kniption fits here after they (predictably) beat the Browns at home.
As Terry Pluto points out, the last two teams that played the Browns decided that the best way to mess Baker Mayfield up was to "keep him in the pocket"
This was a great strategy, since Todd Haley was already doing that for them!
Well he and Hue are gone now.
Interim OC Freddie Kitchens is a former stud quarterback, and has coached every offensive skill position except wide receiver. He has worked under Ken Weisenhunt and Bruce Ariens.
He doesn't have any meaningful experience calling plays, and has never been an offensive coordinator at any level.
I want Kitchens to get his big break here, and am not freaking out about the playcalling stuff yet.
The first 15-20 plays are scripted, and I hope that Kitchens will accept input from Mayfield (it goes without saying that Haley did not).
"The Wolf" offers some solid insight into Kitchens, stressing his time under Ariens in Arizona, where he helped revive Carson Palmer and turn David Johnson into a monster.
Anyway, I have a hunch that this former quarterback will quit Chris Palmerizing poor Baker and getting him smashed.
While it's important for every NFL quarterback to function in the pocket, and good for them to get used to the pocket, Chris Palmer used Tim Couch exclusively that way.
Now, Tim Couch was a terrific scrambler who could throw on the run. He ran an all-shotgun air-raid offense in college.
Palmer refused to concede any part of a classic drop-back offense to help Couch acclimate whatsoever. If Tim Couch had been Cam Newton, Palmer would have destroyed him, immediately.
Todd Haley was doing this to Baker Mayfield.
When the Chargers and Steelers Head Coaches tell you that "containing" Mayfield in the pocket was an integral part of why they beat the Browns, you need to think about that.
Kitchens might well see that for Mayfield (and with these running backs), a little read-option, run-pass option, and rollout action would help Mayfield out a lot.
Duh:
Mayfield has been swarmed by the Chargers and Steelers, because they know exactly where he will be on every single gdam snap.
Any offensive lineman will tell you, if the quarterback is always in the same place, a defense will find ways to get at him (predictability is bad, see?)
Haley made it worse by stressing deep passes, almost as much as Hue Jackson did in 2017. Haley has not exploited Mayfield's quick release/decision-making, OR the abilities of Duke, Callaway, or Ratley to take short passes deep.
Anyway, it's just COMMON FKNG SENSE to mix in the variables I mentioned to HELP THE OFFENSIVE LINE PROTECT THE QUARTERBACK.
The run-pass option, for example, is blocked as if it's a run; the offensive linemen get to attack. A rollout is a curveball; it deprives the blitzers and gap-shooters of their target-zone (ie where Haley or Palmer will guarantee to put the quarterback).
It gives the offensive linemen a big advantage on a given down, and makes defensive coordinators back off in general.
That's not Kitchens' department, but we can hope that he will listen to Bob Wylie, and arrive at several obvious conclusions which Todd Haley couldn't.
Duh.
I'm okay with Williams as an interim Head Coach, because I don't believe he's as ambitious as other guys, and won't mess everybody else up.
Defensive coaches can come up with some insideously diabolical offensive stuff, however (see Belichick).
They understand offense as well or better than their counterparts.
Anyway, I'm kinda glad both those guys are gone, and will root for the interim guys.
...or Lincoln Riley in 2019.
Cut the crap: Of course Riley is committed to trying to get his Sooners a National Championship this year, and can't reneg midseason.
So he won't say what you want him to say.
But he WILL seriously consider rejoining HIS quarterback in a very attractive situation in 2019.
...I mean assuming the new interim crew doesn't pull the Browns out. Give these underdawgs a chance.
As I've repeated many, many times, the Browns offensive coordinator doesn't need to be a genius. He just needs to be adaptable, and have common sense.
Gregg Williams doen't need to do a whole lot as the new Head Coach:
They have to use Haley's language and playbook for the rest of the season, but Williams is no doubt eager to exploit Baker Mayfield himself.
Most likely, Gregg has been trying to figure out why Haley never made the most of his quarterback, or offense in general.
He was no doubt looking forward to a "chess-match" kinda situation in practice, and well...been dissappointed.
NO DOUBT, Gregg Williams last season knew he could do better than Hue Jackson, and this season knew he could do better than Todd Haley if he were running the offense.
I dream of Lincoln Riley in 2019, but I'm not counting Gregg Williams out just yet.
Don't spazz out over the disruption here: They'll stick with Haley's system and playbook.
I'm just optimistic that they will optimize their offensive skill-talent more intelligently, and of course have more COMMON SENSE. SINCE OBVIOUSLY THEY ALMOST HAVE TO Gdammit.
I know Grossi et al see a huge setback/collapse here, but I think not:
The new guys might unleash the talent which the old guys were suppressing, as of this sunday.
Count on Baker Mayfield getting way more assertive behind closed doors right now (and probably bringing Kosar in for backup).
Just know that this very young but extremely talented team still has a shot at the 2018 playoffs. The sky has not fallen.
Gregg Williams is at least extremely smart, and Kitchens was a quarterback.
I'm confident that the new crew will outperform the old crew, starting this sunday.
And this "power struggle" crap? Jeez get a LIFE! Haley and Hue were mostly on the same page, but the instant Hue talks about getting more involved with the offense, jeezus here comes the fkng pundit-driven melodrama!
Hue and Todd are probably commisserating over how they got screwed over by Haslam and Dorsey.
Big deal. Get over it. They both sucked. Get over it.
I HAVE SPOKEN.
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