its about that time already — the espn takes:

 

 

 

Browns (1-0) at Steelers (0-1)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+ | Spread: CLE -2.5 (38.5)

 

Storyline to watch: Since he was drafted by the Browns in 2018, running back Nick Chubb's performance has been a bellwether for this game. The Steelers are 5-0-1 when they hold Chubb to fewer than 80 rushing yards and 0-3 when he gains more than 80. In the Steelers' Week 1 loss to the 49ers, running back Christian McCaffreywent for 152 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry. While Chubb and McCaffrey are different types of backs, the task of slowing Chubb becomes even more difficult with All-Pro defensive lineman Cameron Heyward placed on injured reserve because of a groin injury that required surgery. -- Brooke Pryor

 

Bold prediction: The Browns' dynamic pass-rushing duo of Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith will sack Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett five times. With defense leading the way again, Cleveland will win its first regular-season game in Pittsburgh in 20 years and start 2-0. -- Jake Trotter

 

Stat to know: Since 2007, Mike Tomlin's first season as the Steelers' coach, Browns QBs rank last in completion percentage, last in yards per dropback and fourth lowest in QBR against Pittsburgh of any division matchup (96 total).

 

Matchup X factor: Browns right tackle Dawand Jones. The rookie came in for the injured Jack Conklin in Week 1 and performed well, with a 100% pass block win rate and 71% run block win rate (slightly below average) as a fill-in. But now he has to face T.J. Watt, who had three sacks in Week 1. -- Walder

 

What to know for fantasy: Chubb ran for 100-plus yards for the 30th time in his career against the Bengals last week. Only Derrick Henry (34) and Ezekiel Elliott (30) have had 30 or more 100-yard rushing games in the past 10 seasons. Chubb has averaged 72.6 rushing yards per game in nine career games against the Steelers. See Week 2 rankings. -- Moody

 

Betting nugget: Mike Tomlin is 5-1 ATS against Kevin Stefanski.

 

Moody's pick: Steelers 20, Browns 13
Walder's pick: Browns 23, Steelers 13
FPI prediction: CLE, 59.6% (by an average of 3.5 points)

FML.... so Kareem Hunt was at the Toledo vs San Jose St game Saturday..

Three and outs for the rest of the season?

Danny Cunningham wrote what I feel....

 

"It really feels like none of this matters anymore. Watson looks nothing like a franchise QB to this point and the Browns lost their best offensive player for the rest of the year."

Adam Schefter says that Nick Chubb dislocated his left knee and tore his MCL,PCL,and LCL with cartilage damage on

10/10/15 vs. Tennessee. He injured the same knee tonight. This could be career ending.

This is the equivalent of the Jets losing Aaron Rodgers.   Some franchises are just cursed I guess. 
 

Meanwhile, Watson looks very “average” for a supposed franchise quarterback.  Some nice passes - a lot of mistakes. 
 

Finally, can the special teams coach teach his players how to catch a punted ball?  Same old special teams. 

Edited September 19, 20231 yr by CleveFan

just ugly. so many 3 and out. 3 and out in the first half. and chubb ugh. watson 22/40? although they had a few drops.

 

after the high of last week its right back to being the cursed browns.

1 hour ago, KJP said:

Danny Cunningham wrote what I feel....

 

"It really feels like none of this matters anymore. Watson looks nothing like a franchise QB to this point and the Browns lost their best offensive player for the rest of the year."

It was a HOT mess of a game, for both teams. I warned my Browns fans co workers not to talk too much smack after beating the bengals because Watson and that offense seemed very run/chubb dependent and otherwise looked very flat and tonight proved that. Watson definitely doesn’t look nowhere near 200 Million bucks good. And one more thing I think the browns defense is good but not great last week they played a clearly dysfunctional Burrow offense in the rain at home and this week played a truly horrific Pitt offense. Thats why I always recommend pumping the breaks so early in the season.

Edited September 19, 20231 yr by 646empire

7 minutes ago, mrnyc said:

after the high of last week its right back to being the cursed browns.

The Bengals have started slow the past couple years. On the way to the Superbowl and then again The AFC Champ game last year, I wouldn’t have put too much stock into that week 1 result. But as fans it’s natural to get excited.

And how about that genius Stefanski - the offensive guru?   Sorry but I saw nothing that encouraged me tonight. 

Tonight was the absolute epitome of Cleveland  Browns football. 

Soul killing. 
 

And Watson is terrible. 
 

 

7 hours ago, mrnyc said:

just ugly. so many 3 and out. 3 and out in the first half. and chubb ugh. watson 22/40? although they had a few drops.

 

after the high of last week its right back to being the cursed browns.

Alot of drops were off terrible throws though. Watson literally lost us at that game. You can point to plays he made that were the proximate cause of our loss. Interception for TD, Fumble for TD, lost fumble. Face asking twice, which has never happened before for a QB. Just awful. 

Ugh. Not sure what it is with our sports teams. It seems like they are all cursed.  

Absolutely horrific injury. The crowd gasp was something else.

1 hour ago, LibertyBlvd said:

Ugh. Not sure what it is with our sports teams. It seems like they are all cursed.  

You are only discovering that now?

it all feels worse today.

 

poor nick --- hearts go out to him.

 

and to think with the watson contract we could have baker and/or jacoby now and have gotten cbs stadium a dome.

 

ok j/k and dubious with wildman baker --- but with workman like jacoby this would have been a w.

 

yes i am whining ... as usual by game two ...

2 hours ago, mrnyc said:

it all feels worse today.

 

poor nick --- hearts go out to him.

 

Some silver lining...to see the Steelers fans giving a standing ovation AND chanting his name was moving. A class act on their part. 

 

Also I was on r/nfl late last night and it was heartening to see so many other teams fans pulling for Nick. He is a true fan favorite and despite all the ups and mostly downs he was a real bright spot in Cleveland.  

And in addition to Chubb’s prodigious talent, he is one of the most classy character guys the Browns have had for a number of years - very much in contrast to the quarterback, who did nothing to change that image last night with his TWO personal foul calls. 
 

Now, with this devastating turn of events . Stefanski’s job is clear - put n a system that amplifies Watson’s talents - rather than limiting them - as appeared to be the case last night. 

From The Dawgs Podcast 

 

If it seems like the #Browns offensive line is struggling through the first two weeks, here's why:

 

Run blocking grades (30+ snaps):

- LT Jedrick Wills: 38.7 (54th of 57)
- LG Joel Bitonio: 60.8 (27th of 58)
- C Ethan Pocic: 71.4 (7th of 31)
- RG Wyatt Teller: 72.6 (8th of 58)
- RT Dawand Jones: 33.1 (56th of 57)

 

Pass blocking grades (30+ snaps):

- LT Jedrick Wills: 57.9 (50th of 70)
- LG Joel Bitonio: 78.7 (7th of 68)
- C Ethan Pocic: 64.2 (16th of 33)
- RG Wyatt Teller: 68.3 (23rd of 68)
- RT Dawand Jones: 71.4 (32nd of 70)

 

Overall, the Browns are ranked 11th overall in pass blocking but just 24th in run blocking. Both our tackles are among the lowest-graded run blockers in the NFL. With Nick Chubb gone and the line no longer performing well, the dominate run-game identity of the Browns seems to be gone. 

 

This would explain why the offense looks so lost. They've truly lost their identity. The good news is it's only Week 3, but the pressure is on Kevin Stefanski to unite this offense and figure out its strengths and how to capitalize on them.

I have a busy work-week so this will be brief, but I strongly disagree with a lot of Browns fans/local media analysis... 

 

In short, we'd clearly incorporated a lot of man blocking schemes into the game plan, because Bitonio, Teller, and Pocic excel at it. Expect to see that switch back to zone blocking this week with a lot of wide flowing plays and then naked boots for Deshaun on the back end. Jerome Ford doesn't have the smash mouth gear that Chubb had, he does better in flow situations and I expect that will help his productivity as well. 

 

As someone who's been on a field when our only all-american broke his leg - there is no pivot in a playbook to substitute for a guy giving you 5 yards a pop. 

 

I don't have my emergency bells on for Deshaun yet, but if my thoughts are correct and Stefanski designs calls to give him room to work and he still doesn't play well, then I'll be sounding the alarms. 

He's back.

 

https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/browns/browns-near-deal-to-sign-rb-kareem-hunt-following-nick-chubbs-season-ending-injury

Welcome back the pride of Willoughby South!  

 

I was sad to see him go in the first place--I love a Browns team with a lethal dual threat out of the backfield, like the Byner and Mack days of my youth! 

On 9/19/2023 at 9:16 AM, LibertyBlvd said:

Ugh. Not sure what it is with our sports teams. It seems like they are all cursed.  

The Cavs won the NBA championship in 2016. Also, the Indians/Guardians went to the World Series in the same year. Things aren’t as bad as they initially seem. 

we knew this was gonna happen and i am so glad it did. an immediate, bright spot. we needed it. 👍

16 hours ago, Cleveland Rising said:

The Cavs won the NBA championship in 2016. Also, the Indians/Guardians went to the World Series in the same year. Things aren’t as bad as they initially seem. 

The Cavs ended a 52 year championship drought for Cleveland - the longest of any city. And I think there was some divine intervention in the final minute of game 7 for that to happen. The Browns haven't won a championship since 1964, haven't even been to a Super Bowl.  The Indians/Guardians haven't won a World Series since 1948 - longest championship drought in MLB.  So that's why I think our teams are cursed.  Let's hope we don't have to wait 50+ years for another championship, because I'll be gone by then.

 

Edited September 21, 20231 yr by LibertyBlvd

23 hours ago, LibertyBlvd said:

The Cavs ended a 52 year championship drought for Cleveland - the longest of any city. And I think there was some divine intervention in the final minute of game 7 for that to happen. The Browns haven't won a championship since 1964, haven't even been to a Super Bowl.  The Indians/Guardians haven't won a World Series since 1948 - longest championship drought in MLB.  So that's why I think our teams are cursed.  Let's hope we don't have to wait 50+ years for another championship, because I'll be gone by then.

 

 

 

maybe not  😂

 

Women are increasingly working in the NFL and the highest ranking woman is in Cleveland!

 

 

"Raîche, now the Cleveland Browns assistant general manager and vice president of football operations, is part of an influx of women who have permeated pro football in a relatively short span, taking on the kinds of inside-the-game but outside-an-office roles that had been reserved for men...."

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/24/sports/football/nfl-women-assistant-coach-scouts.html

Too late to bring back Joe Thomas?

 

 

Outstanding Defense and a great win. Hoping they’ll be able to bring the same energy against the Ravens.

1 hour ago, Oldmanladyluck said:

Outstanding Defense and a great win. Hoping they’ll be able to bring the same energy against the Ravens.

The defense has looked stellar all three games. Swartz is my new BFF. Remember when @YABO713used to grace us with his presence with his elite technical evaluation of the game. I really miss those days 😢.

12 hours ago, stpats44113 said:

The defense has looked stellar all three games. Swartz is my new BFF. Remember when @YABO713used to grace us with his presence with his elite technical evaluation of the game. I really miss those days 😢.

Lol. I billed 200+ hours the last few months and have an 8 month old now, so time has been scant. HOWEVER, I have 18 minutes before my first call of the day, so here goes:

 

Special Teams

• Bojo is special. Dude is a GREAT punter and Schwartz and the defense owe at least part of its success to his net punt average. 
• Hopkins is exactly who we need him to be - around 80% from 40 - 45. 
• DPJ - for the love of God.... only field it if you can get your hips under it. 

Defense

• One of my biggest gripes with Joe Woods was that he wouldn't rotate Myles Garrett from 9 technique to 1, 3, and 5. Granted, we have more interior talent this year, but it's so nice seeing him line up on a guard or even center occasionally. As evidenced by the now viral clip, it's VERY hard to scheme Myles Garrett out of a play if he isn't limited on where he lines up. You essentially need to rely on the QB to change the protection, formation, and assign a max protection, which limits the number of skill players available to run routes. 
• Grant Delpit is a f****ng stud. JOK is a f****ng stud. HOWEVER, their studliness is due in part to how effective our 3 and 5 techniques have been at occupying blocks or even commanding double teams. I cannot tell you how important these two will be this week - as they're both extremely quick and able to shed blocks well. Schwartz will likely have them in zone - or at least cover 1/2 - most of the game in order to keep eyes on Lamar, and these two can actually catch him. If we get after him and the secondary stays disciplined, we match up well against Baltimore. Part of Delpit's success, imo, has been Schwartz's willingness to dumb down some of our coverages. For as great as he is, Delpit does not have a high IQ - he's an instinctual player. If he can operate within generalized rules and guidelines versus needing pre-snap and mid-snap reads to adjust assignments, he's better. 
• Juan Thornhill is an unsung hero. He gets in windows and CONSTANTLY forces quarterbacks into their third and fourth reads. He's also very good at man coverage for a safety. 

 

Offense

• For the love of God, back the hell off of Stefanski. There isn't a coach in the NFL that has a secondary gameplan for when they lose their historically good feature back. Yesterday was evidence that the guy can adjust. He knew he couldn't rely on first down runs to get them to second and medium, so he put Deshaun in situations where he could get a rhythm on early downs. Titans actually ran a lot of zone yesterday, and Stefanski smothered them with 2-beaters. At one point, Ford would've had a 30+ yard reception if he'd settled in the SCIF (which was where Deshaun threw it to him), but he missed his read - the fact that Stefanski had a playcall where our 3rd and 4th receivers are coming open is AWESOME. 
• Deshaun showed what he can do. I hope he learns to slide again, though. Some of those hits were brutal and unnecessarily so. 
• Expect to see us work the middle of the field with a LOT of RPO this week. I wish RPO was utilized a little more, because Deshaun is great at reading it and without Chubb, it gives us a an emergency lever to pull when teams have 7-8 in the box. 
• We should've had 30+, and would've if the ref didn't blow the call on Amari's catch. (I'm also sick of Gene Steratore rationalizing every blown call... just say "he's human, he missed it. You all mess up sometimes at your job." I'd get that and understand). 

 

Overall, losing a game the way the Browns did in Pittsburgh would've ended a season for previous Browns teams. It's impressive that they not only bounced back, but did so in a dominant fashion against a decent and well-coached team. This is a big game this week, though. A 3-1 Browns team is in a really good space moving forward. Fortunately, our worst case scenario after next week is moving back to .500, which is a luxury not afforded to our teams often lol. 

4 hours ago, YABO713 said:

Lol. I billed 200+ hours the last few months and have an 8 month old now, so time has been scant. HOWEVER, I have 18 minutes before my first call of the day, so here goes:

 

Special Teams

• Bojo is special. Dude is a GREAT punter and Schwartz and the defense owe at least part of its success to his net punt average. 
• Hopkins is exactly who we need him to be - around 80% from 40 - 45. 
• DPJ - for the love of God.... only field it if you can get your hips under it. 

Defense

• One of my biggest gripes with Joe Woods was that he wouldn't rotate Myles Garrett from 9 technique to 1, 3, and 5. Granted, we have more interior talent this year, but it's so nice seeing him line up on a guard or even center occasionally. As evidenced by the now viral clip, it's VERY hard to scheme Myles Garrett out of a play if he isn't limited on where he lines up. You essentially need to rely on the QB to change the protection, formation, and assign a max protection, which limits the number of skill players available to run routes. 
• Grant Delpit is a f****ng stud. JOK is a f****ng stud. HOWEVER, their studliness is due in part to how effective our 3 and 5 techniques have been at occupying blocks or even commanding double teams. I cannot tell you how important these two will be this week - as they're both extremely quick and able to shed blocks well. Schwartz will likely have them in zone - or at least cover 1/2 - most of the game in order to keep eyes on Lamar, and these two can actually catch him. If we get after him and the secondary stays disciplined, we match up well against Baltimore. Part of Delpit's success, imo, has been Schwartz's willingness to dumb down some of our coverages. For as great as he is, Delpit does not have a high IQ - he's an instinctual player. If he can operate within generalized rules and guidelines versus needing pre-snap and mid-snap reads to adjust assignments, he's better. 
• Juan Thornhill is an unsung hero. He gets in windows and CONSTANTLY forces quarterbacks into their third and fourth reads. He's also very good at man coverage for a safety. 

 

Offense

• For the love of God, back the hell off of Stefanski. There isn't a coach in the NFL that has a secondary gameplan for when they lose their historically good feature back. Yesterday was evidence that the guy can adjust. He knew he couldn't rely on first down runs to get them to second and medium, so he put Deshaun in situations where he could get a rhythm on early downs. Titans actually ran a lot of zone yesterday, and Stefanski smothered them with 2-beaters. At one point, Ford would've had a 30+ yard reception if he'd settled in the SCIF (which was where Deshaun threw it to him), but he missed his read - the fact that Stefanski had a playcall where our 3rd and 4th receivers are coming open is AWESOME. 
• Deshaun showed what he can do. I hope he learns to slide again, though. Some of those hits were brutal and unnecessarily so. 
• Expect to see us work the middle of the field with a LOT of RPO this week. I wish RPO was utilized a little more, because Deshaun is great at reading it and without Chubb, it gives us a an emergency lever to pull when teams have 7-8 in the box. 
• We should've had 30+, and would've if the ref didn't blow the call on Amari's catch. (I'm also sick of Gene Steratore rationalizing every blown call... just say "he's human, he missed it. You all mess up sometimes at your job." I'd get that and understand). 

 

Overall, losing a game the way the Browns did in Pittsburgh would've ended a season for previous Browns teams. It's impressive that they not only bounced back, but did so in a dominant fashion against a decent and well-coached team. This is a big game this week, though. A 3-1 Browns team is in a really good space moving forward. Fortunately, our worst case scenario after next week is moving back to .500, which is a luxury not afforded to our teams often lol. 

 

And one final point. Jed Wills does not like playing football anymore. I hope someone can get through to him because his effort right now is not aligning with his natural ability. 

As long as the D stays healthy and Watson plays like an average QB, they will make the playoffs and likely win the division. 

1 hour ago, YABO713 said:

 

And one final point. Jed Wills does not like playing football anymore. I hope someone can get through to him because his effort right now is not aligning with his natural ability. 

 

I hate to say it, but if Bill Callahan can't get through to him, who can??

6 hours ago, YABO713 said:

Lol. I billed 200+ hours the last few months and have an 8 month old now, so time has been scant. HOWEVER, I have 18 minutes before my first call of the day, so here goes:

 

Special Teams

• Bojo is special. Dude is a GREAT punter and Schwartz and the defense owe at least part of its success to his net punt average. 
• Hopkins is exactly who we need him to be - around 80% from 40 - 45. 
• DPJ - for the love of God.... only field it if you can get your hips under it. 

Defense

• One of my biggest gripes with Joe Woods was that he wouldn't rotate Myles Garrett from 9 technique to 1, 3, and 5. Granted, we have more interior talent this year, but it's so nice seeing him line up on a guard or even center occasionally. As evidenced by the now viral clip, it's VERY hard to scheme Myles Garrett out of a play if he isn't limited on where he lines up. You essentially need to rely on the QB to change the protection, formation, and assign a max protection, which limits the number of skill players available to run routes. 
• Grant Delpit is a f****ng stud. JOK is a f****ng stud. HOWEVER, their studliness is due in part to how effective our 3 and 5 techniques have been at occupying blocks or even commanding double teams. I cannot tell you how important these two will be this week - as they're both extremely quick and able to shed blocks well. Schwartz will likely have them in zone - or at least cover 1/2 - most of the game in order to keep eyes on Lamar, and these two can actually catch him. If we get after him and the secondary stays disciplined, we match up well against Baltimore. Part of Delpit's success, imo, has been Schwartz's willingness to dumb down some of our coverages. For as great as he is, Delpit does not have a high IQ - he's an instinctual player. If he can operate within generalized rules and guidelines versus needing pre-snap and mid-snap reads to adjust assignments, he's better. 
• Juan Thornhill is an unsung hero. He gets in windows and CONSTANTLY forces quarterbacks into their third and fourth reads. He's also very good at man coverage for a safety. 

 

Offense

• For the love of God, back the hell off of Stefanski. There isn't a coach in the NFL that has a secondary gameplan for when they lose their historically good feature back. Yesterday was evidence that the guy can adjust. He knew he couldn't rely on first down runs to get them to second and medium, so he put Deshaun in situations where he could get a rhythm on early downs. Titans actually ran a lot of zone yesterday, and Stefanski smothered them with 2-beaters. At one point, Ford would've had a 30+ yard reception if he'd settled in the SCIF (which was where Deshaun threw it to him), but he missed his read - the fact that Stefanski had a playcall where our 3rd and 4th receivers are coming open is AWESOME. 
• Deshaun showed what he can do. I hope he learns to slide again, though. Some of those hits were brutal and unnecessarily so. 
• Expect to see us work the middle of the field with a LOT of RPO this week. I wish RPO was utilized a little more, because Deshaun is great at reading it and without Chubb, it gives us a an emergency lever to pull when teams have 7-8 in the box. 
• We should've had 30+, and would've if the ref didn't blow the call on Amari's catch. (I'm also sick of Gene Steratore rationalizing every blown call... just say "he's human, he missed it. You all mess up sometimes at your job." I'd get that and understand). 

 

Overall, losing a game the way the Browns did in Pittsburgh would've ended a season for previous Browns teams. It's impressive that they not only bounced back, but did so in a dominant fashion against a decent and well-coached team. This is a big game this week, though. A 3-1 Browns team is in a really good space moving forward. Fortunately, our worst case scenario after next week is moving back to .500, which is a luxury not afforded to our teams often lol. 

 

Ive been a pretty big supporter of Stefanski, he is a good play caller when its within his plan.  Ive seen him call some of the best plays ve ever seen as a Browns fan.  The criticism with him has been with the details (although the details have been pretty good this year so far) and then some of the head scratching stuff like last week in Pittsburgh.  The literal only thing the browns couldve done to lose that game is give up a defensive touchdown.  How anyone is in position (especially with the poor tackle play) to have that ball sniff anything black and yellow was partly on Stefanski.  Hes the best coach weve had i think since the return and Im in his corner, i just hope he criticizes himself hard and learns from mistakes

6 hours ago, YABO713 said:

 

And one final point. Jed Wills does not like playing football anymore. I hope someone can get through to him because his effort right now is not aligning with his natural ability. 

Exceptional write up as usual @YABO713

i love reading your after game posts. Enjoy the newborn. They grow up fast.

Oh boy.

 

https://fox8.com/news/watson-questionable-for-browns-game-sunday/

Oh boy.

 

https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/nfl/browns/cleveland-browns-david-njoku-injury-report-burn-injuries-household-accident/95-cf7c3411-b15c-42fb-9cd2-89708aeb4cf6

Oh boy (part II):

 

No Deshaun today. Decision was announced in the 10 a.m. hour. Instead it's DTR's first start against a top-ranked defense. The upside is that Baltimore likely didn't spend much, if any time preparing for him. I suspect the Browns knew days ago Deshaun wouldn't be starting.

Lol since when do the Cleveland Browns bench an injured starting QB? 

Fire Kevin Stefanski.

6 minutes ago, Ineffable_Matt said:

Fire Kevin Stefanski.

Dude is the dumbest smart guy 

Ugh.

If Watson isn’t ready to go next game, things could get even uglier quickly.  Who’s responsible for this eventuality? You’ve got to have a serviceable backup QB in the NFL - that’s the Browns teachable moment for today. 

Edited October 1, 20231 yr by CleveFan

I'm not crazy about the bye week so early in the season, but it might be a good thing this time. It will give them time to recover and regroup.

3 hours ago, CleveFan said:

You’ve got to have a serviceable backup QB in the NFL - that’s the Browns teachable moment for today. 

Especially if your QB1 is going to go shoulder-first into linebackers instead of sliding. 🤦‍♂️

I wonder if the new Browns "dog" logo was based/copied from the Chicago Bears logo?

 

                  Bears                                                    Browns

 

 

1 hour ago, LibertyBlvd said:

I wonder if the new Browns "dog" logo was based/copied from the Chicago Bears logo?

 

                  Bears                                                    Browns

 

 

I think it had more to do with the new offensive scheme the Browns unveiled against the Ravens.   

The Browns have once again changed their messaging about whatever is going on with Watson. For the last 2 weeks it was just a "shoulder bruise". Now it's a "rotator cuff" issue.

2 minutes ago, KJP said:

The Browns have once again changed their messaging about whatever is going on with Watson. For the last 2 weeks it was just a "shoulder bruise". Now it's a "rotator cuff" issue.

 

I have to say - this is sometimes unavoidable. I know our medical staff is world-class, but sometimes sports injuries only reveal themselves when injuries that involved swelling (like a bruise) subside.