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.

Bad Browns Baloney, Corrections, Prescience, and More Big Words

I have to start by correcting some dumbassitude (the links have been hidden to protect the guilty):

Should the Vikings have a "fire sale" after this season, a 26 year old (affordable) passrushing Defensive End under contract through 2021 would be a great trade target.

Eric Hendricks (Linebacker) is a terrific player, but is rather expensive, and here again the long-term need at Linebacker is being overblown.

Look, DePoBerry aren't the only ones who are de-emphasizing the Linebacker position here, as Joe Woods has a seat at this table.

Gramps (Malcolm) Smith has surprised a lot of us as the best Linebacker on this roster; per PFF top 15 overall, with a 78+ coverage grade. While he's past his expiration date and not a long-term answer, he's been a bargain as a player, and is showing the toddlers how it's done.

Key words: DIRT CHEAP. (Give Berry his props here).

Rodney Phillipsfield was expected to take some time to develop, but in his injury-forced early appearance, he made a huge impact before (predictably) getting injured himself.

In admittedly a microscopic sample size, Jacob Phillips excelled in coverage as well as vs the run, and looks on track to be back vs the Bengals, and the sky is the limit for this physical freak.

Sione Takitaki has been mediocre (55 PFF grade) in his second season so far, but was a converted Defensive End and expected to be a bit of a project in the first place. Quit trying to flush these guys down the terlet before they've had any time to develop!

Mack Wilson was never as good as the majority of pundits seem to think he is. They've all agreed that his bad play since he's been back was due to rust and a lingering injury.

Certainly, this is part of it, but Mack was pretty bad through most of 2019. He did improve during the last few games, but was never very good.

Still, he can cover, and has plenty of upside. He might even be above average at the end of 2020!

But I digress: The Browns' 3 "baby" Linebackers don't need to get kicked to the curb just yet, the Woods Defense is what it is, and if Berry dug up a Malcolm Smith in 2020, he might find another one in 2021.

9 mil/year is too much (can't you count)? Ogunjobi, Chubb, Mayfield (*or potentially an extremely expensive replacement*), Ward, Mitchell (yes duh he's one of the best corners in the NFL), quite possibly an elite bookend for Garrett, Teller, etc all have their Brinks trucks ready to roll, and 9 mil is too much for a Linebacker in this scheme in this situation.

And over 10 mil/year for ANOTHER geezer Safety!?!

With Delpit returning from injury, Rodney Redwinefield still here, and Karl Joseph still in his prime?

This is the MM (Memorex Moron) syndrome again:

Because Delpit was lost for the season, he ceased to exist. Because Redwine hasn't made the Pro Bowl yet, he sucks. Because Joseph hasn't kicked ass in his new Defense yet, and has been injured, he has also disappeared and needs to be replaced, along with any Safety the Browns might draft.

Corey Kinnon does a much better job than the pundit who can't be named, as he looked for how DePoBerry might find 3 players out of a (much more predictable) Jets' fire sale.

Jamison Crowder is a terrific Landry-like WR for a lot less money.  Corey focuses on Landry vs Crowder, but Crowder would be a fine addition when OBJ is traded too.

I'd never call Corey an MM, but Donovan Peoples-Jones is a bigger, taller, deep threat than OBJ who will be entering his second season, and in reality OBJ has never been a consistent deep threat, even for Eli Manning.

Baker Mayfield (as I've said all along) doesn't need a coverage-dictating deep threat in the first place, like most other Quarterbacks do. Mayfield is a "sand-lot" Quarterback (@all rights preserved) but I digress: Jamison Crowder would be a great and affordable addition, whether Landry or OBJ leaves.

LB Avery Williamson would be 2021's Malcolm Smith (except might cost a 3rd round pick per Corey).

Unlike the pundit who can't be named, Corey Kinnon actually considered the possibility that the THREE baby Linebackers on this roster might be average or above by the end of 2020, in which case a 3rd round pick might be too much.

Corey considers trading a second round pick for DT Quinnen Williams next, and as usual backs his case like F Lee Bailey.

Quinnen Williams is both very young and very cheap (salary-wise). He was drafted 3rd overall in 2019, so his contract expires after 2023, with a club option to keep him through 2024...

I'm not sure I get why the Jets would dump him in a fire sale for less than a first round pick; I call this a swing and a miss for Corey: When you commit to a rebuild, you don't dump your youngest players, early in their rookie contracts, period.

But the Editor wants what the Editor wants, and Corey ran out of ammo.

Brains Trump Balls in Football: If You Aren't Better Than Your Backup, You Shouldn't Play (Duh): Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns

The Steelers managed to scrape by the Browns last sunday, but I can't agree with those of you who call this team the "same old Browns" and write them off as 2020 playoff contenders.

Greg Pruitt was on the money when he said that Comrade Mayfield shouldn't have played with his injury. (Greg left out Stefanski, who allowed him to play).

Greg or I can't prove it, but we agree that this injury screwed Mayfield up in this game.

No (f you) we're NOT "making excuses" for a crappy Quarterback (although Mahomes, Allen, and Herbert all look a LOT better than Mayfield right now---and Jackson and Watson too dammit).

But as Terez Taylor brilliantly points out, Mayfield actually spelled out his critical mistakes right after the game, in detail. I was shocked  hear it. 

Taking the blame is always cool for a Quarterback, but going into that much detail in a post-game presser is unprecedented. 

That's responsible and mature. That's real leadership.

But I concur with Greg Pruitt: If you aren't better than your backup, you shouldn't play. Screw the "macho" crap: Case Keenum might have given the TEAM a better chance to win.

Greg Pruitt was talking about EGO. Comrade Mayfield was more concerned about showing the world how tough he was than about his team winning.

Yeah, Baker is a badass! He leads with his FACE dammit!

This macho crap is irrational garbage, and always has been, and the Coaches are generally dumber than the players about it.

I remember laughing at this "heroic" Raiders Quarterback limping badly and valiantly struggling against the Browns and predictably losing because he wasn't very good on TWO legs!

The announcers kept gushing about his guts and heroism and stuff, and I was laughing my ass off, because the Raiders had a chance to win behind their healthy second string Quarterback but I digress:

Randy Gurzi cites some guys (we ignore Colon Cowturd here, of course) who say that Comrade Mayfield is "the problem", and isn't improving.

I admit that I'm very disappointed with this guy, compared to everybody else except Goff, Darnold, and Wentz.

While my confidence in Comrade Mayfield is fading, he was injured, and this was the Steelers' defense.

Nobody else, including the Ravens or Colts, shut down the Browns' running game to this extent, and the Steelers got way ahead at lightspeed.

Mayfield was in shotgun in obvious passing situations almost constantly, and had Haden, Fitzpatrick, Bush and company on his receivers.

All things considered, Baker Mayfield sucked even worse than Aaron Rodgers vs Tampa Bay (but not by much) so get a grip.

Doug Lesmerisis offers perspective on the Little Big Horn losses to two of the five best teams in the NFL in the Ravens and Steelers.

The key is not letting that turn into a "landslide", as Mayfield and Doug say. 

Comrade Stefanski will have the 4-2 Browns focused on the Bengals next week. Last week's massacre won't change how they operate or call plays. They won't panic, or fall apart.

On other issues, OBJ shouldn't demand a trade.

As you know, I wanted to trade OBJ before the ink was dry on Dorsey's dumbass trade for him, but he's the X receiver for an ascending team now, with his LSU bro Jarvis Landry on the other side.

The guys who say this stuff are "never Mayfield"ers, who think Beckham needs to escape from a terrible Quarterback.

But if he starts demanding a trade from a 4-2 playoff contender, which GM will want him? Antonio Brown is much cheaper!

And odds are he gets traded to a worse team!

David Njoku is a different story, as Harrison Bryant appears to remain ahead of him on the depth chart.

Njoku might indeed demand to get traded (again), but Andrew Berry won't accept the chump change some pundits have suggested for him (5th round picks and lower!??#!)

Most likely, OBJ keeps quiet, and Njoku might sqwawk somewhat, but there won't be any bendover trades in 2020.

The 2020 Browns remain on track for a wild card berth, with a snowball's chance at beating the Ravens and/or Steelers for the Division.

There's plenty of time for Njoku and OBJ to shine, and they'll get traded in the offseason (remember the Covid 19 hysteria and what it's done to the cap) for real value.

With all due disrespect to the anti-Sendejo petitioners, you can't bench him until you have somebody better to replace him.

Well, both Ronnie Harrison and Karl Joseph were out vs the Steelers DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Rodney Redwinefield was a bright spot vs the Steelers (HINT. H I N T Joe Woods), but Gramps Sendejo had to start.

Joseph (hamstring) and Harrison (concussion) are both questionable as of tuesday, so one or both could be back vs the Bengals, which would be extremely welcome news.

Rookie Linebacker Jacob Phillips (knee) is also questionable, and he is a "difference-maker", ok?

He was a STEAL in the 2020 draft in the third round: Despite starting for the National Champions and leading his conference in tackles, and jumped out of the gym at the combine.

As I predicted, Jacob started blowing people up in the backfield as soon as he got on the field, and just when us fans got excited about him, predictably, he got injured (sigh).

Ogunjobi looks to be healthy too.

The Bengals are too talented to be the joke a lot of pundits think they are. Go position-by-position over their 22 starting slots, and there it is!

This is what Lesmerisis was talking about: Comrade Stefanski will NOT take the Bungles lightly, nor allow his players to, so the Browns should win.

The Browns are better in the trenches (I left Teller out: He's questionable too). The rest is kinda balanced out between these two teams, and Joe Borrow is what Baker Mayfield was supposed to be and could rack up 30+ points on this Defense if...

...but I concur with Doug: Comrade Stefanski won't let his team to fall into any "traps". The Browns will take the Bengals as seriously as they did the Steelers.

Ahh, shaddap! Mayfield is unlikely to throw a pick 6 on the third play from scrimmage, and the Bengals are probably not going to stifle the run. The Stefanski Offense should work as well here as it did against everybody except the Ravens and Steelers (*and actually it worked vs the Ravens until the score took the run off the table*).

Comrade Mayfield clearly screwed up mentally vs the Stoolers, but was also physically impaired. He sucked even worse than Aaron Rodgers did last sunday, but if you're already sifting through geezer free agents to replace him, you need a brain transplant (no offense intended).

Comrade Mayfield aint "all that", but his FLOOR is a top-notch "game manager" when healthy (better than Kirk Cousins)

By the way, QB Kyle Lauletta (just signed to the practice squad) is no joke. Not sayin just sayin.

Okbye

Browns vs Steelers Bold Predictions and Stuff

 The bad injury news for the Browns is that Karl Joseph, Ronnie Harrison, Wyatt Teller, and Jacob Phillips are all ruled out.

And that IS bad news vs the Steelers especially:

Rodney Redwinefield is one of the next men up (which is good), but the silly-ass petitioners lobbying for Gramps Sendejo's removal will be disappointed (no offense you clowns).

Moffat is a 2020 UFA, and that's all we got left at Safety DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

The good news (from the injury report) is that OBJ looks a-ok, while David DeCastro and WR Diontae Johnson are also out.

Landry, Ogunjobi, and Vernon are questionable. My inner fan wants to call this good news, but my inner analyst is neutral:

The Browns' coverage suckdom at Safety BEFORE Joseph and Harrison went down was pretty extreme, and Big Ben can't wait to throw Smith-Schuster, Washington, and Claypool into that massive breach in the Browns' secondary.

With Mitchell and Ward, Joe Woods can play press/man outside (until one of them also gets injured anyway) on the outside WRs (the Steelers don't have a Njoku or Hunt).

This is good, but the 3 healthy Stoolers’ Wide Receivers are bad, as ANY of them can line up in the slot, and also go deep.

I'm sorry, Browns fans, but this is a terrible matchup for the homies receiver-wise with Big Ben at QB. They will go intermediate and deep between the hash marks all game long, because Sendejo sucks, and Harrison is out.

On the OTHER hand, the Steelers' Offense will no doubt zero in on stifling Myles Garrett even more than they would normally, while Larry Ogunjobi and Olivier Vernon will probably be there, along with Porter Gustin, Adrian Clayborne, and Jordan Elliott;

The Browns can put heat on Big Ben,    and blow runs up in the backfield:

I keep telling you people, Myles Garrett can stunt (or line up) inside. Vernon can stand up and cover, or stunt inside himself.

BS aside, a “run blitze” is really just any inside blitze, and Big Ben aint exactly Micheal Vick or Lamar Jackson here, so...

The Steelers’ running backs are physical, and not good when chased outside (or nailed in the backfield btw).

Joe Woods is as aware of his Defense’s weaknesses as Tomlin and company are, and I expect him to blitze inside a lot to blow up runs and deprive Big Ben of time to throw deep.

If he doesn’t do this, he is a blockhead.

The Squealers’ Defense is more vulnerable to the pass than to the run:

I’m much more confident that Comrade Stefanski will open the Offense up somewhat this sunday (than I am that Joe Woods will adapt his impaired Defense to this opponent).

I expect lots of dink-passes (including screens).

Two Tight Ends can slow the Edge rush, but the Stoolers are happy with that, since Baker Mayfield has been HORRIBLE vs inside pressure this season, and isn’t a major run threat outside.

Expect even more of those long, looping rollouts that I’ve described in pervious Blogs. 

The Defense can expect this, but not when it will happen, and then not if Mayfield will curl forward to his left or right.

Mayfield’s Offensive line does know, so these big uglies can (ah screw it read previous posts if you don’t get this already!)

Err...you get that this works off play-action (from under center or pistol) right?

While the Squealers’ Offense is going to give the Browns’ Defense hell, the Stoolers Defense hasn’t faced this Offense yet.

I hereby predict that the first team to score has a 50% chance of winning, the team whose Defense surrenders the most points has an 87.5% chance of losing, and that whichever team that scores more points will win.

You can quote me on this.  I HAVE SPOKEN.

Dumbass Browns Punditry Corrections, Rodney Njokufield, Hyperbole, and Stuff.

 Bill Barnwell is a guy you wish was the GM of a Division rival, as he thinks trading David Njoku straight up for a third round 2019 backup Safety would be a good idea.

Josh Brown covers my response pretty well, but I want to add this:

Njoku is under contract through 2021 in a 2/3 Tight End Offense. Barnwell et al might consider him worth no more than an untested Safety, but Andrew Berry and other sentient beings can't agree.

David Njoku caught 5 of 5 passes playing 11% of the Offensive snaps since returning from injury, and is by far THE most athletic big-play TE on this roster. He's as freaky as any Tight End in the NFL as a weapon.

Even if the Browns were in "desperate need" at Safety, is this unproven sophomore 3rd round guy better than Rodney Redwinefield and Ronnie Harrisonfield?

Barnwell does this a lot, especially with the Browns: Trade a proven player with no cieling for...nothing...just because.

In point of fact, David Njoku might well be much more active vs the Steelers this sunday...

As the "third receiver", see? The 6'4", 240 lb receiver who Haden and company can't afford to pay attention to with the LSU brothers on the field?

The Steelers are built to stuff the run and blitze (often with 6 or even 5 guys in coverage).

The Steelers obviously want to stuff the run first, and force Comrade Mayfield to try to carry the load.

They'll stunt/blitze inside to evade chips and attack Mayfield where he's weakest (while ideally blowing up handoffs).

Mayfield has been almost half as bad as Aaron Rodgers vs pressure this season!

Anyway, I'm cautiously confident that Comrade Stefanski also sees this coming, and will tweak his Offense/game plan to exploit it.

In-line Tight Ends with nobody to chip either pick up an edge-blitzer or run a deeper pattern (generally vs zone coverage).

Slot (or outside) receivers (in this scheme) block or go out for passes...

Sigh ok you comprehend the difference between in-line blocks and blocks in space (run blocks upfield), right?

...Nevermind (my battery is running out): Long story short: the Steelers can put a lid on Hooper or Bryant, but not on Njoku.

Not while focussing on run-stuffage and inside pressure.

...pearls before G okbye

Ebineezer Bell NO!!! Browns Can Beat Steelers If Stefanski Reads This Blog -blush-blush- and Browns Stuff

 The Village Elliot (Kennel) is wrong again, as he suggests that it would be a great idea for the Browns to sign Ebineezer Bell, who the hapless Jets just kicked to the curb.

As always, Elliot is logical (not spasticly emotional) in suggesting this move:

1: He's just 28 years old, and hasn't been ridden into the ground, so he has plenty of tread left on his tires.

2: He will cost less than he ever has before.

3: He at least was one of the most prolific RB receivers in history from every WR slot.

4: He would love to knock off the Steelers (in game 2 vs the Browns, anyway).

...hmm...well that's Elliot, for you: He had me 75% sold my own self.

But my pre-existing allergy to adding this specific player to any NFL roster is well-founded:

1: Like textbook concussion example Antonio Brown, Bell's head got way too big. The two things these guys had in common were a top notch Offensive Line and Big Ben.

And they (especially Brown) experienced declines in production whenever Big Ben went MIA...which they ignored.

Both of these guys, UNlike OBJ, were "memememoemoemoe" guys.

Bell has publicly complained about the Jets scheme, and how they used him.  Legit or not, he's still disruptive, and at least seems selfish and egotistical.

He might accept a discounted 2020 "prove it" contract, but even here, I expect him to force a bidding war, and threaten to sit out the rest of 2020.

He would NEVER accept a longer-term deal from the Hunt/Chubb team, and why would he even consider going to a team on which he's number 2 and then number 3 in a "prove it" year?

Elliot also assumes that Bell remains the player he was with the Steelers; that his injuries haven't diminished him. Also, that Baker Mayfield is Big Ben. Also, that he wouldn't start raising hell again 2 weeks after he signs.

Elliot is right that Andrew Berry should pick up the phone to kick the tires on Ebineezer Bell on the off chance that a deal could get done, but for both the rational and irrational reasons I just cited, this is likely going to be a very short call, if the Bell camp answers it at all.

There's more to this:

The new Offensive system is now pretty entrenched, and it features two Tight Ends and/or an actual Fullback a lot.

(I'm acutely aware of this, as I was predicting a 2-back Offense and was wrong).

With Rodney Johnsonfield averaging over 5 yards per-carry in the post-Chubb Offense, why would the Browns want to put him back on the bench? Why would they pay a premium for Bell as a slot guy instead of Njoku/Harrison/Higgins/Hodge? Isn't that almost subtraction by addition, on top of welcoming major disruption?

You piss players off, doing stuff like this. D'Earnest Johnson has EARNED something here, and you bench him for it? You put Njoku back on the bench so you can use Bell? You cut Dontrell Hilliard or Higgins loose to make room for Mister Mememe?

So (with all due respect) Elliot Kennel is wrong this time: Ebineezer Bell would be subtraction by addition for the 2020 Browns.

Kareem Hunt has been a great addition to the Browns' locker room. Kudos to John Dorsey for first drafting him late as GM of the Chiefs, and then signing him dirt cheap while under suspension here, but a lot of us were stunned when Andrew Berry actually followed my advice (blush-blush) and extended him (for a lot less than I'd expected it to cost).

Kudos to Kareem Hunt for being the person I suspected he was, and signing that deal rather than waiting to gouge free agency after the 2020 season like 9 out of 10 elite NFL players do.

I seem to have been right (please forgive me for saying that G) that Kareem Hunt thinks about his teammates and winning first and second (in no particular order) and money third.

Ego? I'm not even sure where that fits in!

Certainly, Hunt is supremely confident, and believes in his heart that he is better than Chubb and everybody else, but his freindship with Nick Chubb and the rest of his teammates (and winning) are more important to him than his own status.

I saw this the instant he came back from his suspension in 2019 when I saw him knocking Linebackers and DBs on their asses blocking for Chubb (or whoever else had the ball).

I saw it when he accepted that his pal Nick Chubb was the lead back with sincerity, if not enthusiasm.

Compare that to Ebineezer Bell, or damn near every other elite player for the last decade or so! 

Kids, this Kareem Hunt guy is what we geezers call a "team player".  (You might need to look that up in your thesaurus, as they've been considered extinct for quite some time.)

In the linked article, Kareem says the team has Myles Garrett's back vs the Squealers in Hiney Stadium this sunday.

He was careful not to be inflammatory, but made sure to say that it takes "a lot" of pushing for Garrett to lose his temper, and this is obvious to any objective observer of the incident which led to his suspension (but I digress):

Don't get me started on Hunt's own "kicking a woman" suspension, because he was under attack from all sides himself, and could have killed her (and some of the guys piling on him too).

Anybody who has ever been in a couple fights vs multiple attackers "gets" both the aforementioned incidents before the third rerun of the tape.

I mainly wonder why that woman was in his face in the first place, and what she was saying to him.  He was a dumbass for not getting the hell away from her immediately, but that was...

Sigh Kareem Hunt was raised by wolves.  "Animal Kingdom" might as well have been about his family and the culture he grew up in. 

He naturally defends his mother and stuff, saying "that's not how I was raised", but I'm skeptical about that. I strongly suspect that he was raised not to take shit from anyone, and never to back down, and spent his whole life living that at least til he went to college.

I'm very, very familiar with this culture. It accounts for the majority of "death by cop" killings, and almost every dead cop and murder in Chicago (etc).

"Don't snitch" is part of it. Unsolved murders of blacks feed the agenda---but I digress:

Anyhow Kareem Hunt has outgrown this bullshit, and my money is on him getting socially active and working against the Sociocratic agenda eventually.

Myles Garrett grew up in a much healthier environment, but you can't be a wimp and play football.  So when a guy tries to rip off your helmet after you make sure not to land on top of him and the play is over and...nevermind.

Anyway Myles is misguided, but has great intentions, as he actually spends his own money to help the families of murdered cops as well as "victims" of cops.

Myles will come around because he has not been assimilated or bought off like Comrade LeBron James is...but I redigress again:

Dan Labbe predicts that Austin Hooper (the receiver) will become a bigger part of the Browns Offense game by game, and he's right:

Austin remains the top Tight End, and is on the field at least close to 90% of the time.

He's the best in-line blocker (a little above average per PFF), as well as the most reliable receiver so duh, but there's more to this:

With the Falcons, PFF graded Hooper much lower vs man coverage than vs zone as a receiver.

Well, when a Tight End blocks (including chips, which is a punch/shove/hit-and-release), in an Offense which has a Landry and Beckham (or something), a Defense really can't man cover him (except with a Linebacker) much.

Hooper (when it's a pass) generally doesn't get downfield until at least a full second after the snap (and he isn't Njoku), so Defenses can't waste a quality "man" Safety on him.

They know he's the third or fourth option, and they just try to make sure they can nail him where he catches it while they attack Mayfield and try to make sure niether WR burns them and a RB can't convert 7 yards (tee-hee)...

Comrade Mayfield remains a greedy gunslinger at heart, but seems to be checking down to "clutch" Hooper more often...

The Steelers have promised to try to beat Mayfield up, now that his ribs are tenderized (which almost certainly has much to do with his bad misses in the second half vs the Colts).

He will need to get rid of the ball quickly, and NOT stretch out his ribcage (and yes, G: I'm a bit of an expert on this too my severest apologies).

He'll be shot up with cortisone and probably other local anaesthetics (which I never was) to mask the pain, but these only go so far; the pain is still there, and still screws you up when you extend or compress your ribs.

For a Quarterback, this can be disasterous. A little flinch or twitch throws their accuracy off exponentially, depending on the depth of their throws.

I strongly expect Comrade Stefanski to try to protect Comrade Mayfield from that fierce Steelers passrush with dink-passes, and for Austin Hooper to be a big part of that.

4 yards here, 7 yards there, a TD or so and it adds up after awhile...and are the Steelers EVER going to focus on Hooper in coverage with Landry/OBJ/Njoku on the field!?!

By the way, OBJ is in prime form. He's getting WIDE open a lot intermediate and deep. The Steelers can't ignore this.

Joe Haden is great, but the Steelers will probably put him on Landry (without help) while their free safety tries to put a lid on OBJ...

In general, I'm tired of Permabashers telling us that the Steelers will win because the Browns have only beaten weak teams so far: The Steelers' beat teams with HALF the win totals of the Browns.

I'm also sick of people citing ancient history in re the Steelers vs the Browns. The Steelers are stable, but the Browns beat them in 2019 and tied them in 2018.

I can't predict a Browns victory here, but I can't predict a loss either.

Did the Colts or Washington or Ravens Defenses stop the Browns' running game? Has anybody stopped Myles Garrett? Where do Ward and Mitchell rank? How 'bout Phillips?

Ronny Harrison and Karl Joseph might be back, and Rodney Redwinefield will be.

Mayfield is familiar with (and has beaten) this defense, Njoku is back, his Offensive Line is massively upgraded, the Offensive scheme is built to minimize him (and the pressure on him).

Steven A Smith et al bash Comrade Mayfield as a barely competant "game manager", but I tell you this again:

2019 didn't erase the rest of his carreer, and doing commercials didn't either.

If the Stoolers put his back to the wall, and he needs to come back, he WILL.

...Well here I assume that Stefanski will run some "hurry-up" before it's mandated by a lopsided score (including some in the first quarter) but I digress:

The Browns are a match for the Steelers and can win if Stefanski reads this Blog -blush-blush- okbye

Martonian Coaching, Blockheads, Browns vs Steelers and Stuff

 I must start with a couple self-corrections:

1: Hubbard replaced Teller at RG; Conlin wasn't hurt.

2: The Defense (effectively) scored 9 of the 32 points vs Indi (including the 2-point safety Myles Garrett forced).

The Offense did rack up 23 on that stingy Colts' Defense, which was pretty respectable, but the game wasn't without some red flags, as several other guys have pointed out:

Mayfield does need to get better, as he looked like 2018 in the first half, and worse than 2019 in the second.

There were some mitigating factors there, including Comrade Stefanski's determination to salt the game away by running the ball. The resiliant Colts managed to get some second and third and longs out of this, and pin their ears back.

I'm not criticizing Stefanski. For most teams, going smashmouth that soon would be dumb, but not for the 2020 Browns.

The 49ers are in trouble now, but when Kyle Shanahan got them deep into the playoffs, he sometimes ran the ball 5-10 times in a row (successfully) even early in games, vs a fresh Defense that saw it coming.  These Browns should have been able to do that vs a fatigued Colts Defense.

3rd and longs are no excuse for Mayfield, though. He has to deliver in the crunch. If he screws up like that vs the Stoolers, it'll cost them the game.

But his rib injury undoubtedly messed him up somewhat. I have experience with these injuries. I assume the trainer shot him up with cortisone or something, but still can't imagine this not messing him up.

As the red flags were there for the Browns' second half Offense, the checkered flags were there for the Defense, as the Colts' Offense only managed 16 points against it for the game.

If you want to get technical, it was Colts Offense 16, Browns Defense 9 (and 60 or so yards too), so some of you people might want to get up off the Browns' Defense a little, ok?

Despite the key injuries, the overall Defensive unit seems to be improving.

There are certainly issues at Safety, but this petition to dump Sendejo is really silly (and unneccessarily hateful--not that I want to censor or ban it or personally attack it's sponsors because I'm not a communist but I digress):

The bashing of the 33 year-old is all true.  Father Time has obviously overtaken this formerly pretty decent player, but don't you think Joe Woods and Andrew Berry can see this as well as we fans can?

I'm not sure, but suspect that with SS Karl Joseph down, Woods ran more 2-deep. This splits the field in half vertically between to hybrid Safeties, and may have been a last-ditch attempt to salvage Sendejo.

Sendejo won't start vs the Steelers, obviously, and feels bad enough without you gleefully kicking him in the face.

The Browns hope to get Karl Joseph back for the Squealers' game (He's best in the box), and have their fingers crossed about pick 6 Ronnie Harrison, who's in the concussion protocol, but Rodney Redwinefield is also languishing on the bench (and I've been trying to figure out why).

Redwine was forced into a starting role as a rookie in 2019, and had a tough time for much of the season, until his "light went on" in the last quarter of the season, and he got pretty good pretty fast.

Coaches are blockheads, so it's understandable that Joe Woods wanted experienced geezers first, and proceeded to "dry-dock" Redwine, who was a Dorsey draft pick, but Joe isn't mentally impaired, and must reluctantly force himself to actually allow a player with only just around merely 13 or so NFL starts to actually get on the field...

Ronny Harrison was drafted only one year earlier, and has only slightly more eggzzbeereeunzzz than Redwinefield, so maybe now we see why Woods kept Sendejo on the field, and these two whippersnappers off it for all these games?

Reminds me of Schottenheimer (and most other Coaches not named Belichick): They keep younger players on the bench well past the point that they've surpassed the geezers, because they can't trust the young guys not to screw up...

Comrade Stefanski isn't like this. Rookie Tight End Harrison Bryant has been allowed to step right in, along with Wilks.  Wyatt Teller is in his third season, and he used D'Earnest Johnson extensively after Chubb went down.

Rookie Center Nick Harris is the legit backup for JC Tretter.

Stefanski might need to slap Joe Woods awake behind closed doors:

Gramps Smith and Joseph are the ONLY back 7 Defensive geezers who have prospered in this Defense.

Takitaki and Phillips have outplayed Goodson, but Goodson still monopolizes the snaps.

I don't have enough info on the EDGE guys, but wouldn't be surprised if Porter Gustin was all but benched once Gramps Clayborne came (partly) back from his injury, and Joe Jackson hadn't seen a snap.

I could be wrong about Joe Woods being a Martonian, but he sure looks the part:

Guys like this destroyed Earl Campbell, and drasticly shortened the carreers of a lot of other players.

Was Myles Garrett on the field over 85% of the time? Was Vernon? Goodson? Lawrence?

Will this Defense be exhausted and cave in late in the 3rd quarter vs the Stoolers because Joe Woods is a Martonian blockhead?

Hey KEVIN STEFANSKI: You need to talk to Marty Woods right TF now about Redwine, Jackson, Gustin, Phillips, Jackson, and even Harrison!!!

I would love to play poker with Joe Woods. I'm a "grinder" my own self, but this guy I'd bully all day long!  Fold-fold-fold til he gets a pair of face cards but I digress:

We hope Ogunjobi will be back, as rookie Jordan Elliott had another tough game (it looks like the Offensive Linemen got a bead on him after his first couple games, and he needs another move or something to defeat them)

Greedy Williams to IR why tf not? But stop conflating Safety with Cornerback, you people! These are different positions DO YOU U N D E R S T A N D?

Rodney Mitchellfield has, as usual, been one of the best Cornerbacks in the NFL, and Kevin Johnson was solid starter outside before he defaulted to the slot here! Tavierre Thomas has started and would start for some teams, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

All that is in Zone or Man—sans Williams, the Browns’ Cornerbacks are still above average.

They can hang with the Steelers if Joe Woods rotates his DL depth in and lets his young Linebackers on the field...

Let us pray okbye

The Cleveland Browns Miraculously Manage to Score 32 points on the Best Defense in the NFL

The consensus was that the awesome Colts Defense would shut down the upstart Browns' Offense.

Many smart people expected the Browns to win, but nobody (except me -blush-blush-) thought that the Browns' Offense (which had averaged almost 40 points per-game since game 1) could score over 30 points vs the Colts.

I just watched the Steelers beat the Eagles in a high-scoring shootout.

The Browns' Offense is superior to the Eagles Offense, at every position except Tight End (and YES: Mayfield is better than Wentz).

The Eagles' Defense might be better than the Browns, but not by much on this planet, and it's not as good as the Colts' Defense:

The Steelers blitzed Wentz on nearly every down, but the Eagles made them pay more often than not. If the Steelers try that vs the Browns, it will cost them more...

...ok well I don't know how bad Teller and Conklin are hurt yet...

...okbye

The Browns Offensive Scheme and Punditary Corrections and Stuff

The Village Elliott (Kennel) noticed something I hadn't, and axed "Where is the Browns' 11th man?"

Elliott, as he always does, cited a ton of stats to back up everything he said.  The most important one was that vs Dallas, OBJ and Jarvis Landry were the only true Wide Receivers who were even targeted.

Tight Ends Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant caught 9 passes for 71 yards, while the 2 Wide Receivers caught only one more pass, so part of the explanation is right there.

Elliott also mentioned that Fullback Andy Janovich played (I think) 27 snaps.

So with Hooper playing almost every snap,  and Bryant or Janovich in on the majority of the rest, how are you supposed to get a third Wide Receiver on the field...and why would you?

All this happened after #3 WR Khaderal Hodge was injured pregame (leading to a whole slew of "what about Higgins?" articles).

Elliott called the 3rd Wide Receiver the 11th-best player on Offense. He should have said the 5th best skill-player, but he'd still be wrong here:

Harrison Bryant is the 5th best offensive skill player, unless the freshly activated David Njoku is.

So nothing happened to the "11th man" vs the Cowboys. He was right there, except he was a Tight End or Fullback.

I'm a big Rashard Higgins fan myself, but in this smashmouth scheme a passcatching Tight End is more imortant than a Wide Receiver.

And how 'bout Mayfield's instant chemistry with Bryant? Is Higgins supposed to rank ahead of him because he was here first, or something? This isn't Cuba, ya know.

Along with his premis, some of Elliot's numbers were skewed, as he has Carlson still pegged as the #2 Tight End...while Bryant caught 4 passes.

Bryant appears to have passed up Carlson on the depth chart, and I'm not sure Carlson ever got on the field. 

There are a bunch of misconceptions about both Carlson and Bryant. Carlson is considered the more dangerous receiver (he's a coverted WR like DeValve), so I suspect Elliot defaulted him to the "wing" TE role opposite Hooper (the blocker).

But Harrison Bryant is simply a better player, and being a converted Left Tackle is a GOOD thing. He's bigger and taller, and even shiftier than Carlson, and he averaged almost 10 YPC vs Dallas.

Still, Elliot axed some good questions and made some good points later on:

We still haven't seen the 2018 Baker Mayfield, who slung the ball to 6-8 receivers.

Elliot not only figures it's the Stefanski system, but that maybe vs Dallas checkdowns past 2-3 weren't neccessary.

I just need to mention that four receivers (not two) shared the targets and catches; 2 Tight Ends and 2 WRs, so the checkdowns went at least 3-4 deep most of the time.

Elliot supposed that later in the season (or with their backs to the wall) the Offense might "open up" more, and I concur, but:

It's looking pretty "open" to me already:

Vs the Colts' Defense, especially with Njoku back, the same attack plan makes sense.

The Colts have an answer for Hooper, but can they stop Bryant or Njoku at the same time (and how exactly DO you cover Njoku by the way *rhetorical question*)?

This Colt's Defensive Line (notably DT DeForest Buckner) is terrifying, and most intelligent analysts have zeroed in on Buckner vs Wyatt Teller as maybe THE key matchup in this game, and they're mostly right.

Buckner is 6'7". He's a basketball-player type athlete with great punch and hands (ok I'm guessing no research here):

The intelligent analysts see that Comrade Mayfield sucks vs inside pressure and think Buckner will bring Teller back down to earth and get in Mayfield's face.

It's a LOT more complicated than than that:

Teller pulls a lot here, and in straight man is a match for Buckner. In wide zone, Buckner can beat Teller and penetrate to blow things up in the backfield (if the play is to the strong side, and he reads it quickly enough).

Mayfield will only feel inside pressure from a conventional pocket anyway, and (is any of this sinking in yet?) the 2020 Stefanski Browns Offense minimizes true pass sets, even on 3rd and 8.

In point of fact, Mayfield rolls left on at least 33% of his rollouts, and is (IMO I defer to PFF) as effective on these as he is on rolls to his right.

I "get" this now: 

We think of a "rollout" as a QB running left or right, laterally. A correct-hander has to do all sorts of contortions to throw while running to his left (and ditto wrong-handed QBs running to their right).

But when a QB runs backwards at first, and then loops to his left or right to run forward to either side, it works (well if your QB is a legit athlete, anyway).

I would expect more rollouts vs the Colts (even off play action) to minimize the Colts' passrush, but also (duh) lots of RUNNING...

The Colts Defense has held the teams they have played so far to 2.7 yards per carry.

Vs the Vikings, Jets, JagWIRES, and Bearss.

With all due respect to Dalvin Cook, the Browns' Offensive Line is better than all of those, and Kareem Hunt is a bigger/stronger/slower Dalvin Cook.

The Browns ran on the Ravens, and ran OVER the R E D S K I N S, whose awesome defense was expected to stifle the Browns' overrated Offense...

Why are you writing D'Earnest Johnson and his 7+ yards per carry off as a fluke? 

Verily, the Cowpokers Defense sucks, but analysts go overboard with this stuff, especially when comparing BROWNS' opponents to Colts' opponents...

And listen, kiddies: The Browns healthy Offensive Line + Njoku vs the Colts front 7 minus 2 starting Linebackers = a problem vs a top 4 NFL Offensive Line, let alone the Tight Ends and Fullback and stuff.

Nevermind the blocking scheme and overall talent...okbye.