5 Up 5 Down Week 17

[TheeRealDeal]

Downs

1. Myles Garrett wanted nothing to do with getting his nose dirty against that rushing attack.

2. Kevin Zeitler was getting his behind handed to him seemingly all night he was especially having issued in the run game. Michael Pierce toying with him. Baker Mayfield bailed him out in pass protection a few times. I still like Zeitler but I have been noticing him more often than the other lineman lately which is not a good thing and last night was the bottom out. 

3. Defensive Speed its pretty obvious we are still behind the top defensive teams in the NFL when it comes to speed. Not just recognition and getting to the play but we seem to be trailing guys in pass coverage a ton. We don't get to the QB as fast as other teams outside of Garrett. We close on the screen passes/underneath routes after the catch extremely slow. When we do get in position to tackle it seems the receivers are always more athletic to make a move and pick up a few extra yards.

4. Genard Avery not playing him more was a bad move. The thing that stood out about him right away after watching him when we drafted him was how powerful he was with his hands and how well he dominated OTs and even Double Teams to always win the edge. I know the NFL is a different animal but Genard's best skill set to me was his power and hand usage. There was no reason to have him on the bench so much last night.

5. We didn't win and we didn't end the year with a winning record.

Up

1. Breshaud Perriman continues to impress making big plays and having consistent hands. His only drop was an off target throw well behind him.

2. Antonio Calloway looks more and more explosive each week as he gets more comfortable. His early season dropsies look to be long gone now that he is thinking less.

3. Greg Robinson had himself a night, by far his best game as a pro. I have been hard on him since the beginning and I stand by my statement that Harrison looked better despite the numbers but last night Greg Robinson was stellar. I know Terrell Suggs is not the same but Robinson was shutting him down and our only lineman getting movement in the run game. I think he did get his obligatory holding call last night but at least it wasn't as huge as his prior holding calls have been. I hope he works like he has never worked in the offseason and find a good trainer to help him with his footwork. He can be the answer if he gets quicker feet.

4. Baker Mayfield setting the rookie season TD record. The last 20 years has been an era of shattered records in the NFL from rushing TD with Holmes, Tomlinson and Alexander to the transition toward passing and the likes of Brees, Manning and Brady setting record after record. All the receptions records falling like crazy and again this season with a new RB and TE reception record. Tons of rookie records going down the last 20 years. Sack records falling. Not one single Brown has made history of any kind. We haven't even had guys breaking Browns records let alone league records. Seemingly every year someone from the Steelers or Ravens are breaking team or NFL records in games against the Browns and this year we finally got one and it was against a Division Rival. He is a gunslinger to a fault at times and bailed out by some great catches but that same gunslinger mentality is what makes him great. I think he will cut down on the INTs next year and continue his impressive TD rate.

5. WE BATTLED  all game long even when we were getting our doors blown off and inches away from being down 27-7. We never backed down. The players kept fighting and the coaches kept coaching. No one ever let up even though we were not going to the playoffs. We made great half time adjustment especially on defense and Baltimore could never figure out our counter to their offense. The offense made big plays and put on a great display against the #1 defense in the NFL. The defense solved the riddle of the Ravens and dug their heals in with their back against the wall 4 separate times to force FGs and 1 turnover that should have been 6 points then another even more impressive defensive stop at the end of the game to give Baker a chance to win it. Honestly you couldn't have asked more from and effort and resiliency stand point from the team last night. It was clearly a new Browns mentality. The 1999-2017 Browns would have folded early in the game and not had the resolve to continue fighting despite the score and game flow. **** what the National Media, Ravens fans or Steelers fans have to say I was proud to be a Browns fans last night in week 17 for the first time in a very long time.

[bruceb]

Down:

We stumbled out of the gate again across the board and again dug ourselves into a deep hole against a big boy team. This is disturbing, 

Up:

We made adjustments and came back.

On balance I do not think this juxtaposition of play speaks or bodes well for us without changes in the coaching ranks.