Well, the season is almost upon us. We now enough active members to support making a weekly game day thread. Everyone is encouraged to take a turn. You can use your own format, or you can follow one like this. I will take week one. I will post a separate sign up thread in a bit. So, here goes.....
Where:
When: Sunday Sept 13th 1:00 pm
TV: CBS TV
Radio: Browns Radio Network with Jim Donovan (PbP) and Doug Dieken (Analyst).
Local Weather: 81° high - 40% chance of showers.
What to look for:
How smooth the Browns offense functions.
I am really looking forward to this. 2019 was long on hype, and short on delivery of expectations. I think think the coaching staff upgrades will go a long way towards fixing that. Gone will be the deep 7 step drops hoping Baker does not get killed by a weak offensive line. It will be replaced by a game plan that accents the skill position players strengths, and finds a way to mask the not so great areas.
I would expect to see a heavy dose early of Chubb around the left side. This lets Wills block straight ahead until the jitters are gone, then followed by Baker with quick play action passes.
Defensively:
It begins and ends with neutralizing #8. He is a weapon that must be dealt with. Lamar claims that he wants to be more of a passed this season, and less of a runner. I want to give him that opportunity. I think our defense will be configured to do just that. The trio of safeties, Joseph, Sendejo, and Delpit will be featured prominently in keeping Lamar contained from the 12 to 20 yard runs that demoralize a defense.
Prediction
Looking at the history of these two teams against one another - I will take the Browns with a key late TD to salt away the win - 35-21.
I'm picking the Browns straight up, which is no shocker because I'm probably never gonna pick the Browns to lose an opener unless they're missing key players. I just can't seem to do it.
But there are a few things that make me legit confident:
- It's early and the Browns offense is likely to still be finding its timing... but there won't be much if any home field advantage for the Ravens. That's especially good for the Browns given the situations.
- The Browns have a great OL and two great running backs. And here, great is kind of an understatement. A great deal of this game comes down to this war, the Browns running game against the Ravens defense (which is getting a little worse today as Earl Thomas departs).
If the Browns can run, they can win. And I think they can. They can reduce Lamar's opportunities.
- I think Lamar comes down to earth. No QB who plays like him has been able to make it work for very long. Teams get wise to it and his health comes into play. The Browns made a concerted effort to add tacklers (BJ and Phillips but also Joseph and... wait for it... Delpit).
I'll defend that last name: The idea that he has bad form or whatever will go away fast. He's very eager and nasty and just needs coaching. The talk about Greedy's tackling lasted like a minute. Delpit is fierce.
- I'm feeling 27-20 for some damn reason.
Our defense gives me the most hope.
Ravens just lost CB Thomas....so their deep D may be in trouble. OBJ might just get 2 TD's week 1. As for Baker and the 'hickups', KS is talking how they are scheming the D to eliminate outs for their QB's...in other words, making it game real.
Hoop mentioned this too. Said Woods' D is disguising everything.
I recently watched a video on Youtube in which the creator discussed whether or not the Ravens had the best secondary in the NFL. One of the interesting points was he felt Earl Thomas, despite being a veteran superstar, was a big part of their success. He felt Clark was just solid and did his job.
It is exciting when a division rival loses a player of Earl's caliber, and this is especially true when many feel he is just as good as he ever was and a major part of the Ravens success.
DeShon Elliot is next on their depth chart, a former 6th round pick who has only recorded six tackles in his two year NFL career, both of which resulted in season ending injuries.
I still don't know what to make of the Ravens on D. Perhaps they'll be the victims of being over-hyped this season. They'll be starting young linebackers, have lost most of their front seven who are now replaced by maybe-type players like Derek Wolfe and a 34-year-old Calais Campbell. Losing Tony Jefferson and replacing him with a young safety is one thing, now you're replacing Earl Thomas and Tony Jefferson with young safeties. That's more difficult to pull off.
Don't get me wrong, I still think they're going to be one of the better teams in the league, but some of the 16-0 predictions (Cowherd) seem a little insane.
Wow, tbh, I didn't realize they had that many defensive personnel losses.
I think the best D in the AFCN is going to be between us and Pittsburgh.
Especially with the news of Kevin Johnson maybe only missing a week or two (with that Thursday night game, I'm betting it the first 2), and Wilson physical-therapy-ing along.
The loss of that D might hurt Lamar, too.
When throwing 30 passes or more, four of those five games were among his worst. Admittedly, in three of those games he rushed for over 100 yards, and twice over 120.
But I still think much of Lamar's success is a product of environment. His interior OL now has questions and their defense has undergone some major changes since he first arrived.
Lamar Jackson is a better quarterback than I anticipated, but can he be an MVP caliber quarterback on a year-to-year basis?
Lamar benefitted from a stellar D and the same situation that led to Michael Vick's early start. People just didn't have tape that mattered in regards to his speed and the type of offense played. They have the tape now...and the D isn't going to be nearly as good. I don't see Lamar being anywhere near pro-bowl territory.
To use the common parlance, DF64, the eye in the sky don't lie....
Good points
Starting to think this has all the makings of an AFCN grunt-fest.
13-10 final.
Ocon, that's a definite possibility with offenses behind defenses after a long layoff, the Browns working out a new offense, and defenses having a year of the Ravens one-of-a-kind offense to watch on film.
I could 100% see one of those "I shaved my balls for this?!" games.
Wait. I'm the only one?!
Everything coming out of Ravens camp is incredibly positive for them. Everyone is getting rave reviews, there are predictions of an undefeated season and they are expecting to contend for a Superbowl. Their culture is so good they can release a guy like Earl Thomas and get praised for it. Their roster is so loaded they're talking about multiple back-ups being in the rotation on game day because they earned it.
I fucking love that shit.
This is such a wonderful opportunity to walk in to their home and smack them in the mouth. Again. Get the season off to the right start. And we start with Baltimore before hosting the Bengals and Washington. We could find ourselves off to a 3-0 start with the narrative changing incredibly quickly.
I'm hyped for this game. These are the scary games, but they are also the games which provide the opportunity to show the team has reached a new level.
I'm guessing Stefanski is going to want that W and throw everything we've got at them. Whatever we're running, he'll make sure we're ready for it. We just have to take the opportunity and execute.
I'm getting bored of waiting. Let's gooooooooooo.
Teams that are seriously good generally only let negatives out of their camp...in other words, I am starting to think Baltimore may be in some trouble...they are trying too hard to sell...they must be trying to sell their players on it.
Baltimore have always been a propaganda machine. They currently have an article up regarding DeShon Elliot bringing swagger to the team, which is basically just literary oral. They talk about him playing days after the Joker came out, and that he has a Joker tattoo, like it was some kind of mark of fate. Congratulations on being one of literally tens of millions who love the most popular villain from the world's most popular super hero series... I guess?
But, hopefully you're right. As much as I want to see us win games, I'm equally happy for other teams to lose them. I do think you're right in some respects - they have made a lot of changes and a lot of new faces are in the building. Changes they had to make to stay clear with the cap.
Could they be worse? I think it's entirely possible with so many new faces. Could they be better? Also possible given they had a good draft and they signed some nice free agents to replace the outgoing talent.
It's hard to say. But either way, the perception exists. Much like how it now looks dumb that Tennessee were so hyped to beat us in week one, we could put ourselves in that same position.
Ravens formidable culture definitely includes message control and relentless positivity. If you can get there, it definitely works. Football is just one of those endeavors where see-it-be-it is real. You can't live in your fear.
Ravens formidable culture definitely includes message control and relentless positivity. If you can get there, it definitely works. Football is just one of those endeavors where see-it-be-it is real. You can't live in your fear.
Now that the roster stuff is in the rear view mirror, let's get back to the game.
You know the Ratbirds are going to be all full of themselves. Especially after the pregame propaganda.
Let them believe that. The best way to throw ice water on their self pontificating party is to take the opening kickoff, and drive it right down their throats. (Yes, if we win the toss - take the damn ball!!)
Put them into a "What just happened?" Mindset.
Piss on them.
I go back to Michael Vick...his first REAL year starting the Falcons go 11-4...they were a .500 team from then on behind him. Lightening in a bottle year 1....then the defenses caught up. I see the same thing for LJ.
Browns win a low scoring slobber knocker...
20-13
I want to go into depth on 2019 vs the Ravens.
In week 4 the Browns actually held a 40-18 lead on them...and 2 of Lamar's 3 TD's came with the Ravens trailing by 14 or more points. Mayfield completed 20/30 passes for 342 yards...and despite only 1 TD, it was because the running game (Chubb) was going off and he didn't NEED to pass it much.
Meanwhile Jackson tossed 2 INT's and the Ravens turned the ball over 3x....and once on downs...as they played the Browns REAL defense.
In week 16 the Browns decimated D held the Ravens offense to ZERO POINTS until 80 seconds remained in the 1st half...then FK turned in the worst 90 seconds in the history of Browns coaching. Any other HC and the Browns at worst are trailing by only 1 point...instead it was 8. Even so, the Browns pulled within 9 early in the 4th...but the D was exhausted by then and couldn't hold. Again..those 7 points at the half may very will have been the difference between winning and losing.
I really don't think the Ravens have the Browns number...I think the Browns have theirs.
As good as the Ravens were last season, they most certainly didn't have the Browns number. And that was the best chance they're gonna have for a long while.
The Ravens are a fantastic team and I don't see a reality in which they miss the playoffs, but I don't think I'm being bias in pointing out three facts.
- Their OL should be worse. Losing an elite player like Yanda hurts, and D.J Fluker is slated to be their starting RG because Ben Powers (4th rounder last year) apparently had a pretty poor camp. Matt Skura is also returning from a serious injury last year. I've also seen people say Orlando Brown is good but the Pro-Bowl is based on who he played for and not necessarily how good he really is.
- Their D should be worse. They're starting two young safeties and have lost Earl Thomas, their DL has been completely overhauled with a 34-year-old Calais Campbell (Whose production has fallen the last three years straight) and journeymen in McPhee and Wolfe tipped to start. They're also relying upon two rookie linebackers who are tipped to start for them.
- I don't see Lamar Jackson being as good as last year. A back-to-back MVP performance is a rarity. As the season progressed, teams got better at defending Baltimore with gap exchange looks and trying to keep the ball in Lamar's hands. As teams develop an understanding of defending him, Not saying he'll be bad, but 43 touchdowns to 6 interceptions and 4,200 total yards kind of good won't be the norm.
It's such an important game for us. I feel like Tennessee punching us in the mouth last year took the wind out of our sails. As I've said, if we find a way to beat Baltimore, we're then up against a Burrow-led Benglas and Haskins-led Washington. It's entirely possible we could open 3-0 before heading in to Dallas for a blockbuster.
It won't be easy, but we can do this.