Cleveland Browns 2020 Regular Season: What a Ride!

[Vee-Rex]

Agreed - offensively, we have as good of weapons as any team in the league but we will only go as far as our coaching allows. I think Baker's skillset is perfect for this type of offense but if he can't get it going early, Stefanski should be able to adjust much quicker than Kitchens thanks to our RB and TE committees. He has the intelligence to use a playbook outside of NFL Blitz.

Defensively there are some question marks but if we can get the best out of our D-line, everything else will be much easier. I really like our secondary depth and we were a different team when Myles was in last year. Losing him was deflating.

I think we may take some lumps early on and playing the Ravens WK 1 sucks but if our coaches can actually adjust to our play throughout the season, I can see a 9-7 wildcard berth.

I agree that this defense was noticeably different without Myles last year. I think we were middle of the pack somewhere before the head smash.

But yes, I think the Ravens win week 1. Honestly, I think I'd be happy to be 4-4 headed into the bye week. I think this team gets progressively better throughout the year.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

From Mike Clay:

 

[Triplethreat]

11-5

 

[FrontPageNews]

greedy out again. He probably won’t play. He hasn’t practiced in a while. Lamar is gonna go off. Andrews might break a record.

 

[Phills14]

From Mike Clay:

For the love of god we cannot pick #22. Just no

 

[Selby]

For the love of god we cannot pick #22. Just no

Just trade with whoever is picking behind us. 22 for 23 straight up.

 

[red.]

 

[MirORich]

Are the Browns really thinking Mack Wilson or Kevin Johnson could come back by game 2 or 3? Just surprised they haven’t put them both on the short term IR yet? Am I missing something related to roster management or the practice squad?

 

[red.]

Browns CB Greedy Williams (shoulder) has yet to resume practicing.
Egads. Williams has been sidelined since mid-August. He seems all but certain to miss Sunday's opener against the Ravens. The Browns still have Denzel Ward, but Williams' absence will make life easier for Lamar Jackson and Marquise Brown. Having also missed a huge chunk of rookie time with a hamstring issue, Williams' NFL career has gotten off to an injury-marred start.

 

[Surge]

Our defense may get torched. Hope the line can wreak havoc because the LB's and DB's are a weak group.

Also looks like the offense is going to need to score 30/game.

 

[macbdog]

6-10

Team looks in disarray to start year, v the usual injuries pile up, but the team starts to gel enough down the stretch to save Stefanski. Stefanski gets a mea culpa though because of the no minicamps thing. Baker taunts the fans with an up and down performance, piles up yards and stupid INTs. Season turns when the O line starts to find some cohesion, Wills shakes off the rookie haze and Stef goes to a Chubb-Hunt tag team with Baker running a simplified passing attack. Defense also becomes tolerable after early season ass kickings at the hands of our rivals. They get revenge on the Ratbirds in December. The OBJ Passive Aggressive Train continues. Chubb becomes the 'face' of the team.

 

[Chris]

Reeks of 6-10.

 

[gijimbo]

I'm going to say 10-6. I think when we look back, we'll realize that the 2019 offense was historically hamstrung by bad coaching/playcalling. I think this year, the offense is going to be top 10, maybe even top 5 in the league. Baker looks a lot better than last year, but isn't asked to do too much. There's just too much talent, and you could see how underutilized it was last year. Shoring up the O-Line is big, I'm most concerned about Wills, but I think by the second half of the season when the schedule gets softer, he's going to be playing good football. Defensively, the team is slightly below average.

I know people are concerned because of the new coach, new offense, new defense and the COVID-19 offseason, but I have a lot of faith in Stefanski and co. to utilize the talent, for the team to be much more disciplined and for us to maximize our players' strengths. Even with a simple wide zone scheme where we set up the passing game with a steady diet of Chubb/Hunt, there are just too many weapons in this offense to be able to put too much attention on one guy. The offense doesn't have to be complex to be successful, and I think that's why the short offseason won't hurt us as much as some think.

We'll see, but I've got a good feeling about this year.

Baltimore - L
Cincinnati - W
Washington - W
Dallas - L
Indianapolis - W
Pittsburgh - L
Cincinnati - W
Oakland - W
Houston - L
Philadelphia - L
Jacksonville - W
Tennessee - L
Baltimore - W
NY Giants - W
NY Jets - W
Pittsburgh - W

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

Being pessimistic is fine. I guess I put more weight into scheme and preparation than having a couple weak areas on defense. We could have pro bowlers everywhere and still have a bad defense or we could have some gaping holes and still do fairly decently. Coaching schemes and game-planning is ENORMOUSLY overlooked in this league, especially on the defensive end.

I've been a Browns fan for 20 years myself, so I know how exhausting it can be. But there's so many variables at play here and I just think it's kinda dramatic to be making any absolute declarations about this team from any angle.

Scheme plays a big role, but it’s still important to emphasize Stefanski’s never been an HC and in Woods one year as DC in Denver, the team went 5-11 and ranked 23rd overall. The year before they were 4th, the year after he left they were 13th.

I’m optimistic with these guys, but I can be optimistic and not think they’ll be very good. I don’t see how that’s difficult to understand.

Also, a couple weak areas on D is a gross understatement at this point. I suspect we’ll be without Greedy for a while. Who knows on Johnson. No Delpit obviously. So we’re down a starting safety and the #2 & #3 CB’s in a unit that wasn’t super deep and also missing the best LB from a unit that wasn’t very deep. The point is our LB’s weren’t good last year, and of the best two from last year one left in FA and one is hurt. Logic would tell you they’re not going to be good.

 

[The Oi]

Opening day score? Damn, Crackmore laying the wood. Will not watch.

Did someone say Wood?

@MediumBaller @Huber.