Browns Fans: Calm TF Down. The 2019 Browns are Contenders. NOW.

Since losing to merely just the New England Patriots in Foxboro, all the gloves came off and the 2019 Browns became a piniatta once again.

I don't care much that Baker got into it with Tony Grossi and ended his press conference early, but need to point a few things out:

Mayfield never answered any of Grossi's questions.  Grossi was actually asking why the Browns were so methodical and deliberate with time running out (ie no hurry-up, or even quick huddles).

Baker was stuck on the penalty, as if that explained why the offense was acting like it had all the time in the world.

Now partly, this is Baker catching spears aimed at Freddie Kitchens, and his loyalty is commendable.

But when Grossi asked if he felt good about that whole speaming pile, Baker had a great excuse to storm off the stage.  It WAS an idiotic question.

You'll see: Tony Grossi won't take this personally and turn into Cowturd or anything, and he'll probably even admit that he wishes he could take that question back.

I like both these guys.  I don't think this is a big deal.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports wrote a borderline brilliant article about Baker Mayfield and the Browns.  (Most of it will sound familiar to my readers, naturally--but I'm pretty sure Dan reached his conclusions on his own, instead of ripping ME off).

Dan thinks the Browns should be "alarmed" by this situation, as he senses an imminant collapse.

I hear him, but disagree:

These players know who just beat them.  They GET that.  And next up are the newly Flaccoless Denver Broncos.

If the Browns find some way to lose this game, they should be alarmed...but not after losing to the Patriots.  Not yet.

The Ben Gals just benched Dalton.  They know they're out of it, and need to test-drive their rookie QB.

The Steelers are still in the fight, but diminished. They had to rally to beat the Dolphins.  The perennially-overrated Ravens are kicking ass, but (mark my words) they'll lose the rematch with the Browns in Cleveland.

Being a Browns fan, I instinctively expect disaster (like most of you).  Here we go again, right?

But do you think Baker Mayfield will fail?  Where do you rank this defense?  If Nick Chubb loses a wheel or something, ever heard of Kareem Hunt?

Speaking of which, kiddies, in days if yore, there used to be this thing they called a "2-back offense", with which Freddie Kitchens is familiar (see 2018).

OBJ has been contained so far, and that's partly why Callaway is doing damage and Chubb is wreaking havoc.

The Browns' defense is still coming together, and showed significant growth vs Brady and company.  They stifled the run and harrassed Brady; forced several punts and field goals; gave up just 20 points, despite a turnover at point-blank range.

The Broncos' defense is no joke, of course, and tailor-made to exploit the Browns' soft Offensive Tackles (vs the pass anyway), but Nick Chubb is the monkey-wrench:

Can any of you guys remember any Browns running back like Nick Chubb since Mack and Byner?  Can any of you name a team that has shut this guy down?

Verily, more zone-blocking has helped a lot, but Chubb is still a league leader in yards-after-contact; he's done most of this on his own; Nick Chubb is a STUD.

I haven't checked this out yet (I couldn't watch the last 3 games), but I think that Nick Chubb did the majority of his damage vs 7-8 man fronts.

After Chubb trampled the Patriots, count on the Broncos to prioritize HIM.

The Browns are pairing Chubb with Mayfield in every set, including the (imo too prevalent) shotgun.

Opposing defenses have to respect play-action, even from here.  Chubb is also a really good bodyguard who stones blitzers.  After play-fakes, Mayfield throws to him too.

Nick Chubb messes defenses up.  They can't "sell out" on the edge; they have to treat Mayfield like a running quarterback and stay in their lanes; they can't "sell out" because Chubb is always right there next to the Quarterback...

But I digress: The Browns' defense should stifle the Broncos' offense, and be the main reason why the Browns win.

I suspect that OBJ will make his jailbreak in this game, because if they don't stack to stifle Chubb, they're DOA, and they can't hold that FS deep...

Sorry