Cleveland Browns 2022 Season Thread

posted by BR1986FBThankfully this whole division is garbage and 9-8 or 10-7 might win it.

posted by BR1986FB

Might have helped the run defense if Jurassic Asshole wasn't playing Richard Petty and Papercut Clowney could stay on the field.

No imagination after that deep ball to Peoples-Jones on the 1. Just assumed they could smash it in. 

Thankfully this whole division is garbage and 9-8 or 10-7 might win it.

The defense is bad, and we haven't even played a good offense yet. Not kicking the field goal on the first drive was inexcusable, and he has made that mistake several times before. I also would like to see Hunt and Chubb in the game at the same time more often. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Chubb's long TD run came when they were both in the game.

posted by gut
I think BAL and CIN will end up being pretty good.  Both make the playoffs, and 10-11 wins to take the division will be well beyond what PIT or CLE can manage.

CIN, I definitely can understand, as long as Burrow can stay healthy and be more like 2021 Joe. BAL is a bit trickier for me to gauge because they SHOULD be 4-0, but had two hilariously bad choke-jobs against BUF and MIA. On one hand, those are good teams, but on the other, they had big leads in the second half and for such a run-oriented team to not be able to hold onto double-digit second half leads has to be pretty concerning.

posted by Heretic

 BAL is a bit trickier for me to gauge because they SHOULD be 4-0, but had two hilariously bad choke-jobs against BUF and MIA.

posted by Al Bundy

The defense is bad, and we haven't even played a good offense yet. Not kicking the field goal on the first drive was inexcusable, and he has made that mistake several times before. I also would like to see Hunt and Chubb in the game at the same time more often. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Chubb's long TD run came when they were both in the game.

And what are they losing by when they forego these FG's? Usually 3 points.

I don't mind Stefanski being aggressive if it's 4th & goal from the 1 but when it's 3 yards, or more, just kick it.

Brissett hasn’t been stopped on a sneak all year, he’s a huge dude and thick. Should’ve been a sneak and another sneak at that point.

As for Baltimore, that defense is really bad. I haven’t seen the entire league, obviously, but they seem to be bottom 5-10. They are blowing leads, and I have no faith they can consistently overcome deficits. Bad combo. 

Browns probably best team in division, but without a QB. If they were 4-0, which was possible, I think they could’ve snuck into the playoff race. At 2-2 it’s gonna be another next year unless they really turn it on with the schedule coming up/get injury luck (like Mac being out…though that might not be a bad thing for NE).

Stefanski getting a lot of blowback for his questionable decisions.

posted by BR1986FB

Stefanski getting a lot of blowback for his questionable decisions.

As he should be. This team is 4-0 with an average head coach. He is 3 years in and still making the same mistakes that he made his first year. The Browns best game in the Stefanski era was a playoff game where he was at home in his basement.

posted by Al Bundy

As he should be. This team is 4-0 with an average head coach. He is 3 years in and still making the same mistakes that he made his first year. The Browns best game in the Stefanski era was a playoff game where he was at home in his basement.

Best case he should give up play calling. Will be interesting to see what happens when Watson returns if this continues ("Not my coach. Get someone else.")

posted by BR1986FB

Best case he should give up play calling. Will be interesting to see what happens when Watson returns if this continues ("Not my coach. Get someone else.")

I'm not saying to get rid of the guy now, but he has made mistakes, and some of the mistakes are made repeatedly. The "This one's on me" and "we all have to get better" crap every week is getting old. It's like when Freddie would say "we just have to go 1-0 this week" after every loss.

Bloom Daddy & Co lambasting the Browns on 1100 AM yesterday afternoon; pretty good rant

Stefanski is not regressing, but he is not progressing either. I do think it is vitally important to keep the leaders in place for long term success. Stefanski needs to get better, but he is by far the best coach we have had in a long time, so to think about canning him would be a mistake. Just hope he starts to get better with some of his decisions. I don't have a problem going for it on the 4th downs. But the play calls need to be better, and the defense has to be better (aka, Joe Woods has to go).

posted by Laley23

Stefanski is not regressing, but he is not progressing either. I do think it is vitally important to keep the leaders in place for long term success. Stefanski needs to get better, but he is by far the best coach we have had in a long time, so to think about canning him would be a mistake. Just hope he starts to get better with some of his decisions. I don't have a problem going for it on the 4th downs. But the play calls need to be better, and the defense has to be better (aka, Joe Woods has to go).

Problem is that he continues to repeat his mistakes. I'm not saying fire the guy but he needs to learn & change.

Believe it or not, Woods called a decent game on Sunday. The defense shut them down, with mostly backups, for all of that game except two drives. Mariota only completed 7 passes and two of them were the chunks of his yardage. I think the D-Line finally got gassed after three consecutive 3 & outs. They brought in fresh legs (practice squad RB) and he gashed them. 

With that being said, Woods has been bad. Kept hearing the excuse "once they get the right personnel in place he'll be able to turn this defense loose." I think they have the people now. To quote Judge Smails "Well, we're waiting..."

I wouldnt fire Stefanski but I'd take play calling from him for sure. 

posted by kizer permanente

I wouldnt fire Stefanski but I'd take play calling from him for sure. 

Browns offense has been better than good? Just a guess, but aren't they:

Top 5 in scoring. Top 5 in points per drive. Top 5 in "not punting" etc. Plus, they are a run heavy, methodical offense. That defense gets PLENTY of rest. They are a joke with the gaps they leave for guys to be open.

posted by Laley23

Browns offense has been better than good? Just a guess, but aren't they:

Top 5 in scoring. Top 5 in points per drive. Top 5 in "not punting" etc. Plus, they are a run heavy, methodical offense. That defense gets PLENTY of rest. They are a joke with the gaps they leave for guys to be open.

It's a little misleading to look at league stats 4 weeks in when we have played 4 very bad teams, but I agree the defense has been bad.

posted by Al Bundy

It's a little misleading to look at league stats 4 weeks in when we have played 4 very bad teams, but I agree the defense has been bad.

Sure, but I wouldnt be saying play calling needs to be stripped. We have scored 26, 31, 29, 20 points. All these games we should have won even more comfortably had the defense made stops when needed, versus terrible QBs. Chubb is leading the league in rushing. Jacoby is not turning it over and marching them down the field. He is not good enough to consistently punch it in or make the big plays, but that isn't on the play calling. If anything, the quick reads and gameplan have been very good to set up up for success.

posted by Laley23

Browns offense has been better than good? Just a guess, but aren't they:

Top 5 in scoring. Top 5 in points per drive. Top 5 in "not punting" etc. Plus, they are a run heavy, methodical offense. That defense gets PLENTY of rest. They are a joke with the gaps they leave for guys to be open.

We're also 2-2 and should be 4-0 against those teams though. He's made idiotic decisions like passing up points and passing in short yardage situations when you have the best back in the game. I don't see anything he's done this year too spectacular so far. 

The offense has been very good. Just boneheaded decisions and defensive gaffes at the wrong time.

Brissett is fine when he's in manageable situations (2nd & 2 OR 2nd & 3). Asking him not to lose the game isn't a problem. It's when they're behind and he needs to complete a long 3rd/4th down conversion (7+ yards) that he's screwed. 

He's a backup QB and last Sunday, Stefanski forgot he was a backup and asked him to do more than he should. On that first drive he had two guys wide open in the end zone and completely pulled a "Baker" and didn't see them.

The Jets game is in no way on offensive play-calling — unless you blame him for not calling Chubb to not score (I do, but as an unrelated issue).

Atlanta one can argue offensive play-calling was bad. At the same time, 2nd and ten and Atlanta is backed up inside their own 5, and Marriotta find someone for a 60 yard gain, and I think when he caught it, a jet plane could’ve landed.