Week #5 - Baker Bounce Back @ Bolts

Sports Fandom is so tiring.

People pick their narrative and that's it. O matter what happens.

This board still is loaded with OBJ defenders. There's no lack of production that will change that.

No mountain of evidence that will sway their opinion.


So here we have a drive to seal the game wherein KS leaves the best offensive player on the team on the bench, throws on 2nd and 10 but not on 3rd and 9, and puts the game in the hands of the defense, up 1, when they hadn't stopped a soul all day.

And there was still the 2 minute warning and the chargers has Timeouts.



And in the face of all of that, we get "well KS doesn't trust Baker!"

No shit, but that could have been DeShone Kizer back there and you have only one option on 3rd and 10.

I'mWithDan said:

We spend the entire game and gameplan doing whatever we can to keep our QB from having to do something very difficult.

Once a team gets us in a spot where our QB needs to do something other than boot or PA off of a stud run game, we lose.

Is this not an accurate assessment?

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Ding ding ding ding. We have a winner.

buzzdog said:

Holy fuck. Hebert gets 2 free throws for touchdowns gifted to him by the Browns defensive backfield mental mistakes. Then he gets a 3rd TD gifted to him by one of the worst PI calls I've ever seen.

But here you talk about him like he's some kind of fucking god, and Mayfield (who got nothing gifted all game, and was handicapped by KS's play calling) is trash.

You clearly have an agenda against Mayfield.

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Our 2 tackles were out, 7 set drops agianst a good DL would have led to sacks, i dont mind the play calling except the one draw play.

The short throws that wasted clock is on Baker, good game except the last drive, but Baker is horrible so far on last minute drives, no internal clock or sense of urgency.

Defense gave uo 500 yards and 47 points, thats way too many, even against a good defense.

That said the PI call was manumental, completely changed the last 3 minutes of the game.

I'mWithDan said:

We spend the entire game and gameplan doing whatever we can to keep our QB from having to do something very difficult.

Once a team gets us in a spot where our QB needs to do something other than boot or PA off of a stud run game, we lose.

Is this not an accurate assessment?

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Correct. It is not an accurate assessment.

I'mWithDan said:

Imagine being a Browns fan…..watching Herbert, then watching Mayfield…..and thinking the play calling is the issue. LOL.

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Imagine a healthy Baker playing against CB3-5 of a team. Apples and dump trucks for what each QB was up against today.

Don't know why baker or even KS is being blamed for this. We scored 42 goddamit. The D gave up almost 50 points. That is shitty.

Los216 said:

If I was Odell I would ask for a trade

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I mean, if Odell actually had good trade value I’m sure we’d be happy to trade him.

thestatman said:

Mayfield was tremendous today. Put the blame where it belongs...Stefanski. You get the ball oup1 point with 3 minutes to go...you don't run the ball with 10 in the box idiot You let the red hot Mayfield win it fro you. Pathetic.

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Pretty much this.

CBBI said:

Let's just call it what it is.

Baker Mayfield is quite literally in the very best QB situation in the entire NFL. He has the best offensive line in the league. He has the best running game in the league. He has a coach who understands down and distance and when to go for it (for the most part). He has enough talented pass catchers at WR, TE and RB who routinely win 1 on 1 matchups.

The issue is Baker. He's the weak link of the offense.

If the Browns had a better QB, they'd be 5-0 and probably the overwhelming Super Bowl favorite.

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utter trash bullshit post. Mayfield was excellent today and he was damn good against the Chiefs.

Rich said:

Sports Fandom is so tiring.

People pick their narrative and that's it. O matter what happens.

This board still is loaded with OBJ defenders. There's no lack of production that will change that.

No mountain of evidence that will sway their opinion.


So here we have a drive to seal the game wherein KS leaves the best offensive player on the team on the bench, throws on 2nd and 10 but not on 3rd and 9, and puts the game in the hands of the defense, up 1, when they hadn't stopped a soul all day.

And there was still the 2 minute warning and the chargers has Timeouts.



And in the face of all of that, we get "well KS doesn't trust Baker!"

No shit, but that could have been DeShone Kizer back there and you have only one option on 3rd and 10.

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They act like we are not in this position without Stefansky, long rope in my opinion.

Baker needs to be better at last minute drives.

Agreed, i said before the season to cut OBJ next year when we can, not worth the money....but he isnt a headache, just not that good at this point.

We miss Landry more than we want to admit, he is the on worth 8 figures.

SuperSurge said:

Funny no one is talking about the defense in here. LOL

Have a good night fellas.

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Sometimes you gotta win a shoot out and make big plays when it matters. Just the nature of a passing-dominated league.

We just watched our franchise quarterback dump off throws for 50 seconds and 12 yards when he needed to drive 75 yards. We watched them go three and out in crunch time with playcalling so incredibly conservative that Jim Tressel is probably shaking his head.

I won't sit here and argue that the defense was great today, but I'd sooner pin blame on the offense for not being able to execute a game winning drive with 1:31 on the clock.

That's what keeps the Browns in the playoff contender tier instead of moving on up to the Superbowl contender tier.

Quick thoughts:
1. Baker didn’t help with the questions about his clutchness today. 90 seconds with no timeouts requires going downfield. Going short is how you end up with having to throw three Hail Marys from the 50.
2. Stefanski shit the bed. RUN THE BALL WHEN YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO ICE THE GAME. You were lucky to get away with it against the Vikings. Not this week.
3. That PI call was absolute shit. The D did what they needed too, then got fucked by an offensive PI that was somehow on the defense.
4. What were the Chargers thinking of doing anything other than taking knees after getting a first down with 1:30 left? The SD makes dumb decisions occasionally too, I guess.
5. Up two TDs again and take an L. Browns are not good with big leads. Which makes no sense since they should be able to ground and pound.
6. Going back to point 1 - it’s in Baker’s head. He has not been the same since injuring his shoulder. He has not tried to go downfield in normal passing situations. He doesn’t look like he’s progressing through reads. If his first read ain’t there, he looks panicky.
7. Njoku made himself some money today. But for the love of god, DONT EASE UP ON YOUR WAY TO THE ENDZONE. YOU ARENT THAT FAST. Thank good he got in, if the end zone was another yard away, he gets that ball punched out.
8. Hance did well! Don’t remember anything egregious.
9. FUCK.

thestatman said:

Mayfield was tremendous today. Put the blame where it belongs...Stefanski. You get the ball oup1 point with 3 minutes to go...you don't run the ball with 10 in the box idiot You let the red hot Mayfield win it fro you. Pathetic.

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In a two minute drill, our QB was throwing 3-4 yard check downs. I’m sure he would have easily ripped off 10+ on a must make throw.

Some of these responses on that down / distance do not seem to accept reality. At what point has Baker made the throw you are describing in a big spot?

thestatman said:

utter trash bullshit post. Mayfield was excellent today and he was damn good against the Chiefs.

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He was much better against the Chiefs than he was today.

The Browns inability to consistently get chunk plays in the downfield passing game is by far and away their biggest weakness offensively and it generally falls on Baker.

One holding call shouldn't automatically mean a punt, and for teams with a better QB it does not. But for the Browns? A holding is a guaranteed punt basically.

I ask you this... do you often/ever feel confident Baker is going to come through with a big play in a situation where the defense knows the Browns are going to pass? I certainly do not.

Marcus said:

Sometimes you gotta win a shoot out and make big plays when it matters. Just the nature of a passing-dominated league.

We just watched our franchise quarterback dump off throws for 50 seconds and 12 yards when he needed to drive 75 yards. We watched them go three and out in crunch time with playcalling so incredibly conservative that Jim Tressel is probably shaking his head.

I won't sit here and argue that the defense was great today, but I'd sooner pin blame on the offense for not being able to execute a game winning drive with 1:31 on the clock.

That's what keeps the Browns in the playoff contender tier instead of moving on up to the Superbowl contender tier.

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If your team is in position to have to win games with 1:30 on the clock and no TOs, needing a touchdown then you won't be winning most of those.