Mind Character

I knew I shouldn't have bet sh^t... please please let that be the last TD they score...

ARE U F-IN KIDDING ME...that Burris call was the most ticky-tac... This penalty drive is insane...

Holding his head after that concussion with blood coming out of his ear is troubling... hope they take him to the hospital asap...

Gruesome helmet shots tonight...

Rudolph is king....

He's been worse than Eric Kush ever was... really disappointing and somewhat surprising giving Dorsey's draft pick investment in him.. We still keep running Chubb off the right side..

apparently a human being can like things like GASP Music and be multifaceted AND contribute positively to the football team...

I remember the olden days back when you knew how to let people have a good time... Got $200 riding on the fact that the Steelers won't score more than 1 TD (they can kick as many FGs as they want).... Rudolph is king!! Join the wave...

@DawgX Embrace it man... Might as well hop on the wave with the rest of us now... Rudolph ain't putting 14 points on the board... before the game I bet my Steelers buddy that they won't score more than 1 TD with Rudolph... That was before JuJu went down.. James Conner out... Nigh is now... Celebrate... "Freddie .. Freddie..."

BALL GAME... That's all she wrote... Steelers offense can't score 14 points... As long as we don't give the ball away for their defense to score TDs... That's ball-game..

We only need 7 more points to guarantee a victory against this offense...

Give me some RB passes.. Let's GOOO Hodge... They're BBQ Chicken...

Mason Rudolph is the hero we've been looking for ... I hope he plays for them forever... The Steelers look ready to spread 'em... 5 yards pass and a cloud of dust...

Can anyone clarify on the Callaway thing.. everything I've found says that 1.) He may have been facing a 10-game suspension and 2.) He has not had a positive test since his positive test that caused him to miss 4 games this season. Doesn't seem to make sense that he'd be suspended from failing a test for which he was already suspended 4 games for. So, did he fail another test or not? Or is the suspension about an old test or what?

Nice.. I haven't seen a single game on him yet. Will add him to the list. If he's a good one, it just goes to show that this WR class just keeps stacking talent. WRs; CBs; OGs; OCs... are the positions with insane depth in the draft pool based on my incomplete understanding thus far... I'm glad we'll have the shot to get a good WR that can help get the offense to another level.

Even with him in the fold, we've needed a reliable WR2 boundary speed threat with slot versatility to unlock our offense. This draft's WR talent pool is insane. So, we'll have options. However, we have to stop Dorsey's obsession with pissing draft picks down the drain unreliable players. That, and getting Dorsey to make better OLine draft decisions.

Facts...

Huge loss for the Steelers tonight. I know all the jokes and how everyone on FF thought Joe was washed or hated him, but he's been playing at a crazy high level this year with the Pittsburgh beat writers singing his praises as a leader and playmaker. He had his best game of the season last week like he was in a time machine teleporting back to himself at the height of his powers. He had a FF; 5 PDs (10 total on the year) and all except 1 were in spectacular fashion and most in critical moments. He was also all over the field making critical tackles. They often use Joe in catch zones when they rotate Minkah down and have him press when Minkah is either in single high spying. With Joe and Steven Nelson out (both have played huge roles in creating a forceful secondary), Mike Hilton, Cameron Sutton, and likely rookie Justin Layne (who's gotten no real snaps despite being this FFs favorite draft prospect of all time) will all be BBQ Chicken. I had us winning before, but I didn't know Nelson was out until now when hearing that Haden is as well.. now we might really get wild on them.

We're 9-10 games in and I think ultimately the bye week and the 2 weeks after broke a lot of people's resolve with Freddie. We went into the bye week the most undisciplined team with re-occurring issues then we came out of the bye week (the time where teams are supposed to put their best effort forward) and the same issues were present in a loss followed by the loss to the Brandon Allen Broncos. I think for a lot of people that was the breaking point having to sit through 8 weeks with not a lot changing for the better. I've said it before but 8 weeks was enough for people to be all in on Freddie last year; 8 weeks was enough for our FO to decide he was ready to be head coach. Few people had qualms like " Oh i don't know... I don't think we have enough data for that decisions yet." So, after 8 weeks and the same presser statements seeming like they were on loop, an unproductive bye week, and more underperforming .. a lot of people thought they have enough data to make a judgment on Freddie in the same way they thought they had enough data to make a judgment on him before he became a Head coach. It made sense to be the most penalized team when the whole roster on the field was 21 year old first year and 2nd year players or off the street free agents. In that context, execution issues, penalties, looking not ready made some sense. It's like we've discussed before: in two or three more wins when people have gotten enough distance from the negative gravity of the earlier part of the season no one is going to care too much about what happened before. After we beat the Steelers tonight, Freddie in the minds of most fans will be stepping into renewed light.

Heck yeah we should be rooting for a playoff run. Yeah, I have no idea how someone could actually root against the team winning and having success. I just like to have some fun with posts about "Kumbaya" or "it is nigh" or whatever, but that's just to pass the time. I might be hyper-vigilant with worries about how winning against bad teams may force us to keep a HC that we shouldn't, but that's just analysis and part of the collective entertainment that is trying to understand what is versus what isn't when it comes to all aspect of a football team. The main thing I root for is for the Browns to play good football; for Baker to remain healthy and to keep progressing, learning, and improving. That, along with rooting for the same thing for the Browns foundational young players and for the rest of the players success even if it's in spite of coaching. I don't really root for coaches like that but I certainly wish Freddie improves because of his influence over the team. --- Ultimately though, whether it's football or historical/political/self-beliefs I'm anti-illusions and anti-misperception for myself and those around me. So, while I'm all for enjoying the bliss of sports team winning (even if it comes against bad teams) I'm against the mindless euphoria and feel-goodisms that whitewash some of what may be the reality of things. If I'm going to ride the mindless euphoria wave and have a good time while we rattle off wins against bad teams (And ride the wave I shall!!) all I want is a moment of clarity (even if it's but a short, quick, and brief moment) where some of us fans look at each other and at least acknowledge that the mindless bliss might be more illusions than based in substance... then I'm all good... with going back to the euphoria; to riding the wave and just having a good time. There's nothing worse than riding the wave and looking around at the people riding the wave with you to only see an eyes glazed over mindless zombie so lost in the euphoria of the moment that the person can't really process or make sense of anything.

Soon we'll see/believe 2 things: 1.) Mason Rudolph will be our favorite player in the league after everyone on here gets to see how truly awful his 4 yard throws and panic backpedal toss up throws are. We'll be wishing he stays their QB for a long time. 2.) 1 more win and it might actually be pretty pretty nigh. --- I've been saying it for 2 weeks, but this is the time. Rudolph has 4 turnovers (2 INTs; 2 Fumbles). We turn 2 into TDs for 14 points. Baker and OBJ finally get wild with Kareem Hunt and Chubb power this offense to new heights. Kareem and Chubb together make it hard for opposing defenses to cue in on what we're doing b/c Freddie is now forced to switch things up and design quick rhythm passes to Kareem because of Kareem's skill set. In the end, it helps Baker establish flow early game. Callaway and OBJ catch deep shots and our offense steps into its new explosive identity. Browns 30; Steelers 10. "Freddie... Freddie.. Freddie..."

On whatever it is your trying to compare with McVay: Come on man...McVay? Really?? Nothing about my comments would suggest anything about McVay needing to be on the hotseat. McVay?? Seriously?? Sometimes I really have no clue where you're coming from in making these comparisons. Sean McVay Went to the SUPER BOWL. That means there is history of success. And Guess what the Rams are 5-4. If you really want to talk about personnel and the Rams, we can. OLine issues are one thing. The real issue for them is that their all-pro RB Todd Gurley is a shell of himself due to no fault of his own but for injury. Beyond that, the Rams WR1 Brandin Cooks has been out with injury, they lost Sammy Watkins, Cooper Kupp is a step slow in some games returning from injury, and Robert Woods is losing a few steps as well. They lost Lamarcus Joyner and Suh as well. The Rams NEVER had a pass rush on the outside even with Dante Fowler and Wade Phillips have been make lemonade from lemons mostly and getting the defense to play above its head and talent for years despite having the best defensive player in the game (Aaron Donald) and a few other good, aging role players. Wade Phillips maximized the defensive talent. What McVay did for that offense was maximize the talent now they have a plethora of issues to overcome and without the illusion of the run game (i.e., what Shanahan and McVay offenses require) they have to re-invent themselves. We'll see if they can. --- On your challenge claim: It's not even close to the main issue... but Dude.. I mean.. just look at your words here before you rationalized the action.. it's wild: Obviously you should never challenge a PI call because they don't overturn them but realistically he wasn't wrong. Same with the Mayfield sneak, he definitely made it to the line to gain they just don't overturn spot penalties unless it's obvious or the Raiders game last year against us. He should know better so he isn't without blame but he also wasn't wrong on most of his challenges. I mean... come on man. Like.. seriously. You have to operate within the parameters of the NFL officiating landscape that means you don't throw a flag based on some idealized way that we all agree officiating should be, but you have to do so based on the fact of where officiating is regarding the "Call Stands VS Confirmed VS Overturned and make challenge decisions in an informed manner: If we were to put our money up on those call remaining as "Stands," they were the very definition of "Call Stands," and anyone that knows football knew they would go that. There's been 3 or 4 challenges in this way. He's was wrong. The Challenges issue has also folded into the Timeouts Usage issue as well as the play-call after a challenge or timeout issue aka the "run the same play with Chubb after the challenge at the goaline issue. ---- On your play-calling claims: I never mentioned one thing about the play-calls at the goal-line this past week. I didn't criticize them at all. After watching the game in-full I put those mostly on the OLine with the thought that maybe there was the opportunity to spread out one of the plays to give a different look but I didn't have a problem with Freddie's play-calls down there at all. I wouldn't have run behind the right side with Teller but that's a player execution hat on hat thing. There are some that will group those play-calls in with other play-calls as bad simply because they don't like the outcome. I try to on this forum be more nuanced, not generalize, and be more specific. It would be too long to specify the issues with play-calling this season as I've detailed them else where (e.g., 3rd and 3 run with Hilliard in the redzone followed by a 4th down QB sneak with Hilliard trying to play 4-D Chess, the lack of play-action passing when our QB is best at it and our RBs success have created the conditions for it to be successful, not attempting deep shots to keep to keep the defense honest, the overuse of trips right or left over and over again with no variation routes, no rhythm throws routes or RB 1st option passes to get Baker going, etc). ----- On execution blame: What came first? The poor player execution or the poor coaching? What came first the chicken or the egg? The best coaches are able to effect change. Maybe the players don't switch up a few weeks but 8 weeks? The way I look at it is that poor execution over the course of a few weeks can be on players but over the course of 7 or 8 weeks? That is on the Head Coach and Coaches as their primary job is to AFFECT CHANGE. They are tasked with training, teaching, and developing winning habits of thought and action. If those things don't change in 2 months or get better, that's a real problem of coaching. That does not however mean that there isn't also a problem with the players as well. The root of execution issues in your mind is the offensive line which then effects how the execution and the play caller looks. The offensive line has been poor in spots but mostly has been fine and blaming the OLine doesn't account for the scheming, discipline and other execution issues we've predominately had all year. -- To me, head coaching is about affecting change; it's about establishing habits of thought and action that lead to winning; it's about managing situational football decisions appropriately; it's about getting the talent level to play at least at but more so above their abilities/talent would suggest. A head coach that has coordinator duties has to scheme, play-call, and affect positive change over his unit. Heretofore, Freddie has been consistently below average at best across and worse than that at times. I can say all that and acknowledge that Freddie gets too much of the blame and is the target of unjust criticisms from those that just want to lay all bad things no matter what at his feet.

Beyond wins and losses, how does one evaluate whether a Head Coach with Coordinator responsibilities is doing well or not? There's a lot of people that will just blame the coach for everything. Blaming the coach becomes an excuse to not think with nuance and thoughtfulness about the reasons for observing certain outcomes. Ultimately though, the HC is a trainer, teacher, and leader who's responsible for training and teaching habits of thought and behavior of those people he leads. Penalties aren't really about the "entire offense not playing together" as tons of offenses don't play together in the preseason. Now, if you're talking about Chemistry you'd have a point. There's individual/player responsibility for the issues we've seen this year for sure; however, when a person is the executive program leader head coach of an organization that means that issues of preparation, play-calling, time-out usage, getting the play in early so the QB can process the defense before snap, situational football decisions, coaching challenges, and player discipline all fall under the purview and control of the head coach's teaching and learning program. We've often been terrible at time-out usage, penalties, getting the play in early so the QB can process the defense before snap, situational football decisions, coaching challenges, player discipline, and preparation (e.g., getting blown out by the Titans). We've been poor in other areas such as offensive game-planning and situational play-calling. All of those things are things the Head Coach is responsible for training to a high standard. Ultimately, while it's okay to want to let Freddie get the full year before evaluating him we've seen a lot of data that suggest some critical/fatal flaws especially given the fact of our team's "talent" and the barometer that is playing against other quality run/coached football teams.

My eyes were burning after my long post foolishness as well, Lol. Indeed, Wilson has the upside that far exceeds Jedrick and I go back on forth on who I'd put ahead of the other. Even without considering potential it is close. What it comes down to for me is that Jedrick's feet, balance, and natural feels of when to punch, how/when to play with length, and when to anchor just made him a prospect that I'd be willing to bet on more. Wilson is the prototype massive, great feet and length, dancing bear that it would be hard to pass on in favor or a lower ceiling steady quality play type of player. Austin Jackson is smooth and has a ton of raw ability.that far exceeds many of the others in the group that I grouped him in. I think you're right in that he'll be seen as a great piece of clay just because of his movement skills and tools. However, his eyes and awareness worries me as a ton of times clear outside blitzers blew passed him without him ever realizing he had the responsibility to kick out and stop helping his guard with his man. When he's one on one on an island he's more impressive but when things are unclear at the line or he has to think through the game his technique, his eyes, his power, and everything just unravels. At LT, there's a ton that needs to be processed mentally and at least at this point based on what I've seen I'm just not confident in his natural feel in that regard. He probably deserves his own tier. I was only been able to watch one game each of Hunt and Peart so I didn't feel comfortable forming an evaluation of them. So far it wasn't anything all that impressive imo. Hopefully after watching more of them they'll look like viable good prospects. I'm also hopeful that there are 8 or so other prospects that have yet to come on my radar of which at least half or so could be viable longterm solutions.