Competition is Good. Competition Works. Browns vs Browns=Success in 2019

As usual -sigh- I have to link to yet another -sigh- Jake Burns Film Room article; this one on Denzel Ward's defending the fade route.

Jake is holding Ward to the highest of standards, as the rookie Denzel actually excelled at defending this route, and (as Jake himself stipulated) learned instantly from each mistake he made, and improved throughout his first season.

Another (blatently obvious) improvement Denzel needs to make is on his tackling technique, as this is how he (at least twice) rang his own bell trying to take down much bigger guys high.

Personally, I loved his aggression and guts, but he needs to learn that discretion is the better part of valor.

Ward no doubt already understands this intellectually, but in the urgency of the moment, the warrior takes over.  Denzel got away with stuff in college he can't in the pros, and has to practice to overcome those wired-in bad habits.

Denzel Ward is, as Jake Burns recognizes, a very smart cookie, and that's why Greg Williams felt free to sorta call him a dumbass in public for leading with his face vs a guy that had 50 lbs on him.

...Oh some of you don't get that:  It's ok for a Coach to pick on a smart guy for acting like a dumbass, because the smart guy knows the Coach is correct and just trying to motivate him.

This PC crap is so rediculous...

Anyway, Jake points out that a shut-down cornerback might be even more important than that Julio Jones or Micheal Thomas (or OBJ for that matter).

Jake is very conservative, and never even mentioned Greedy Williams by name as he addressed the "under construction" Browns' secondary.

Greedy has his own issues with tackling, but for different reasons (I'll keep my foot away from my mouth and let Jake break that down later), but is a natural-born M A N Corner who can do most of what Ward does already.

One could normally expect Greedy to make all the same mistakes the rookie Ward did, but I don't think so:

Greedy should earn first team reps opposite Ward early, and find himself challenged by Rashard Higgins, Njoku, OBJ etc as KitchensMonken move these guys all over the place, and Baker Mayfield hitting every micro-window.

Denzel Ward practiced against Tyrod Taylor and less experienced and talented players in general than Greedy will face.  

Generally speaking, most of you people undervalue competition and balance between a given team's Offense and Defense.

Most Superbowl teams (both winners and losers) have at least decent Defenses and Special Teams to go with their Offenses.

This is one of the reasons we see the insufferable Patriots nearly annually.

The Chargers made a strong run, and the Chiefs were phenominal, but...there you go, right?

I'll tell you what: If the Browns meet the Chiefs in the 2019 playoffs, OBJ, Beckham, Njoku and company will be used to duking it out with Ward, Williams, Randall, etc., and the Chiefs Defense will feel like "butter" to them.

Meanwhile, Pat Mahomes and his great skill players won't look much different to Ward and company than Mayfield and his weapons.

The Saints have had a juggernaut offense for like a decade now, but (until recently) their defense sucked.  The Chargers are similar.  The Steelers have sputtered of late because their normally above average defense has failed them.

The 2019 Browns have a good chance to win in the playoffs because Greg Robinson practices against Myles Garrett (and Olivier Vernon), Denzel Ward practices against OBJ, and the Browns' safeties and linebackers practice against Jarvis Landry and Njoku.

While the rest of these unReality Show fans question Freddie Kitchens ability to manage all these "big personalities" and "inflated expectations", etc...

Well YOU get it.

I'm glad OBJ at least temporarily dumped his goldy locks, even though it's purely a PR thing.

Drew Rosenhaus meeting with John Dorsey does NOT mean that Duke won't be traded before the regular season, Virginia.

It most likely means that John Dorsey wants to let Rosenhaus to "market" Duke to 31 other teams for him, so that he (Dorsey) can officially "not be interested".

Two knuckleheads on NFL Radio agreed that Duke is worth a conditional 6th or 7th round pick.  Well, one was and ex-player and the other a professional urinalist, and niether should be allowed within 20 miles of any NFL front office.

The knuckleheads also agreed that Duke is exclusively a 3rd down back who can catch passes but never run inside.

Ok these are dumbasses, ok?  Duke Johnson (check with PFF) runs between the tackles just fine, thank you, is one of the better slot receivers in the NFL (could do it full time), and is ok as an outside wide receiver too "stictly a third down back" really?

I can't take this idiocy anymore okbye