NFL 2020: Beckham and The Brownies

[l2 0 5 5]

Burrow and Baker playing pretty well tonight. Baker's just learning to throw the ball away when nothing is there. Burrow will learn eventually. Cleveland also realizing they have two good running backs and they should focus the offense there and let the passing game grow from that. 

Not a bad Thursday night game. Not peak AFC North football but pretty good.

[KingintheNorth4]

The Browns offense looks competent.

[briantw]

Nick Chubb is a hell of a lot of fun to watch.  I hope the Browns pay him.  Him and Hunt are an insane one-two punch.

[Mexal]

Bengals defense is abysmal but at least it is fun watching Burrow play.

[briantw]

23 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Bengals defense is abysmal but at least it is fun watching Burrow play.

Burrow and Mayfield are both playing really well tonight.

Of course, both opposing defenses are shit, so that probably helps. 

[Mexal]

8 minutes ago, briantw said:

Burrow and Mayfield are both playing really well tonight.

Of course, both opposing defenses are shit, so that probably helps. 

Browns defense just a little less shit. Mayfield has been awesome... annoying.

[l2 0 5 5]

Oh we've got a game! Can't imagine the media tonight/tomorrow if Baker blows this.

[briantw]

Chubb and Hunt on the same team is just unfair.

[l2 0 5 5]

Good rush offense meets bad rush defense and there you have it. Bengals offense is gonna keep them in more games this year than they probably have a right to be.

[KingintheNorth4]

2 minutes ago, briantw said:

Chubb and Hunt on the same team is just unfair.

They make a great one - two punch.

[Nictarion]

Zac Taylor should be working at a car wash. It makes me sick thinking about what Eric Bieniemy could be doing with Joe Burrow...

[l2 0 5 5]

7 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Zac Taylor should be working at a car wash. It makes me sick thinking about what Eric Bieniemy could be doing with Joe Burrow...

Any chance they go after him when the year is over?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Any chance they go after him when the year is over?

They'll be going after someone. Taylor won't survive unless he wins like six games, and I don't think that's going to happen. 

[mcbigski]

I turned on the game just before the start of the second half, I think it was.  It must have been just at the start of the Joe Buck tribute.  It felt at least 4 minutes long, and I had to recheck the cable guide to make sure I was on the right channel and not stuck in some sort of hellish mockery of "A Football Life".  (At least I assume I pretty much got in at the start, maybe there was a montage about his greatness in elementary school at the start that I missed.)   I'm not even sure why I loathe it so much when he's calling games, but really not my favorite.

[Mexal]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

They'll be going after someone. Taylor won't survive unless he wins like six games, and I don't think that's going to happen. 

I'm not sure. I think Taylor probably gets one more year and that if anyone gets the axe, it'll be the DC. I really think the Bengals will give him 3 years knowing how bad the team was when he took over and how much rebuilding needs to go into it.

Over the past 2 seasons, Bengals are 0-10 in one score games. They're not THAT far off but they are definitely off.

[Jace, Extat]

They won't fire Taylor. It's the Bengals.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

7 hours ago, Mexal said:

I'm not sure. I think Taylor probably gets one more year and that if anyone gets the axe, it'll be the DC. I really think the Bengals will give him 3 years knowing how bad the team was when he took over and how much rebuilding needs to go into it.

Maybe, you know the team better than me, but in a vacuum I think it's a fireable offense to have your prize rookie throw that many passes with bad protection. If it's a one off, fine, but if they keep doing it (which they will probably have to) and he gets hurt, I'd fire him. Burrow has it, you can see it, but he's being put in a terrible position and that ultimately falls on the HC.

Quote

Over the past 2 seasons, Bengals are 0-10 in one score games. They're not THAT far off but they are definitely off.

Do you know how many of those were from Taylor last year? I tend to believe the theory that if a team wins a lot of close games one year, they'll probably regress the next year, but if a team loses a lot of close games in a season, coaching may have played a big role in that, unless Felipe Rios is your QB.

[l2 0 5 5]

Late thoughts on the Steelers game.

Thought Ben shook the rust off relatively quickly. Amazing that a 38 yr old QB coming off a year long injury on his throwing arm can make the offense look so much better than what duck and Rudolph could do. Shows you how bad they are. We don't need a 30 ppg offense when we have a top D. Just consistent play and limited turnovers. Juju will have a good sophomore year as the number one. He was bad last year but can't hold that against him due to QB play. I like Diontae Johnson a lot, and James Washington is solid, too. Claypool's gonna struggle for time on the field but he had a good first showing with that sideline catch. Conner already hurt (big surprise), but Benny Snell played very well. Tomlin's gonna run Conner into the ground like he normally does with RBs. Conner looks like a go for this weekend. Injuries and age on the O-line has me concerned. That's my biggest question mark for the offense. That and Big Dumb staying healthy. Guess those two concerns go hand in hand. He has his Lord and Savior on his side so that means all is well.

Defense is beastly. Ton of pressure all night long on Jones. Nelson got beat twice by Darius Slayton which seems to be a favorite for Jones. That's about the only negative I have for the D.

Pretty good opening night. 

[Wilbur]

17 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Late thoughts on the Steelers game.

Thought Ben shook the rust off relatively quickly. Amazing that a 38 yr old QB coming off a year long injury on his throwing arm can make the offense look so much better than what duck and Rudolph could do. Shows you how bad they are. We don't need a 30 ppg offense when we have a top D. Just consistent play and limited turnovers. Juju will have a good sophomore year as the number one. He was bad last year but can't hold that against him due to QB play. I like Diontae Johnson a lot, and James Washington is solid, too. Claypool's gonna struggle for time on the field but he had a good first showing with that sideline catch. Conner already hurt (big surprise), but Benny Snell played very well. Tomlin's gonna run Conner into the ground like he normally does with RBs. Conner looks like a go for this weekend. Injuries and age on the O-line has me concerned. That's my biggest question mark for the offense. That and Big Dumb staying healthy. Guess those two concerns go hand in hand. He has his Lord and Savior on his side so that means all is well.

Defense is beastly. Ton of pressure all night long on Jones. Nelson got beat twice by Darius Slayton which seems to be a favorite for Jones. That's about the only negative I have for the D.

Pretty good opening night. 

When I saw the game, I thought that Nelson was expecting safety help on the one time he was beaten, but that otherwise he was quite strong in coverage.  Overall the defense was sort of plain vanilla in terms of tactics, and yet the individual players seemed to beat their man over and over.  If the defense starts to add more overall complexity to the sharp individual performances, this should be a fine year.  Will it be enough to hold off the Purple Browns?  I think it will definitely be good enough for the Ohio teams.

Did the O-line change their approach after the first half, or was Benny that much better than Conner?  My own preference is Snell's aggressive style of running, so I was happy to see him get more reps once Conner was out.

James Washington's second effort to get into the end zone was terrific to watch, and I think that the "farmer-strong" Washington with Big Ben throwing him the ball will result in more exciting plays.  Most of the receivers had some good moments with Ben on the field, so if the organization can patch together a decent line this season, it should be a good one.  That first half with the razzle-dazzle prior to the snap was not impressive, and the run blocking in the first half was even less good to watch, but it seemed to improve as the game progressed.

[dbunting]

I've watched two plays from the Dallas offense, both lost fumbles! WTF. Maybe I gotta turn it off