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@Browns - Thursday Night Football


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Interesting note about the Cleveland D: They're the best D in the league when it comes to yards per play at 4.2, 3rd in yards per pass attempt at 5.5 and lead the league in yards per rush at 2.9. They're also 3rd in the league in sacks with 14.

 

That's a solid all around D.

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Thursday night games are usually not good football (shorten week reduces it to the basics). It will come down to line play, which team can run? and which team can stop the run? . . . and for that reason, I like our chances in a low scoring, not too pretty, slugfest.

Edited by CSBill
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I'll be interested in seeing Joe Haden go against Stevie. He pretty much shadowed AJ Green today and shut him down. The guy is a hell of a player.

I'm OK with this if Manuel is able to find his other targets. I'm ready to see some situational substitutions though. Enough trying to throw the ball to Lee Smith. He got his one grab yesterday before the turf monster reared his ugly head. Run out a couple extra WRs on certain downs. You can't let the no huddle be the "be all end all." This team doesn't have enough all around talent to keep the same guys on the field all the time. Feel free to substitute liberally Marrone and Hackett. Give yourselves the best matchups possible in important (third down for instance) situations.
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When I saw this on the schedule I thought this was going to be a gimme. But even when the Brown were 0-2 people were talking about how their defense has improved. With the AFC North being a huge mosh pit right now, them going on a run does not seem outside the realm of possibility. Plus, even if CJ and Fred are willing to tough it out the Browns are (as of right now) top 5 in the league in run defense. Of course, at the time so were the Panthers, Jets and Ravens...

 

Browns have won their last two. I thought after trading Richardson they had given up already. Turns out they are re-invented and pretty good. With all the injuries for the Bills, it suddenly seems like it will be hard to win in the NFL this Thursday.

 

I honestly thought they had given up after Richardson. I mean, they put McGahee in the backfield. Hey Willis, meet some new friends we've made since you've been away!

 

Thursday night games are usually not good football (shorten week reduces it to the basics). It will come down to line play, which team can run? and which team can stop the run? . . . and for that reason, I like our chances in a low scoring, not too pretty, slugfest.

 

The good news then is that the Browns have almost no run game and we've been pretty good at stopping the run (except for unfortunate bursts which mess with stats). McKelvin was a gametime decision and should be back, and Aaron Williams surprised me. If we somehow manage to get Gilmore back, I think our secondary may be good enough to shut Hoyer down.

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Gilmore probably won't be back. He hasn't even gotten medical clearance to practice yet...not to mention Monday is film day and Tuesday is a CBA mandated day off. Which means Wednesday is a walkthrough and Thursday is game day.

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It always makes me nervous when a team gets rid of and/or loses what are considered to be their best players at key positions, and all of a sudden they are playing significantly better.

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I'll be interested in seeing Joe Haden go against Stevie. He pretty much shadowed AJ Green today and shut him down. The guy is a hell of a player.

 

I'd rather have him on Stevie than Woods. Woods is emerging into EJ's favorite WR and is looking his way more and more each game. Talent wise, Woods has all the tools to be a #1. He has great hands (better than Stevie) and has to speed to get behind the secondary.

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That's essentially a push with the browns getting the home field bump

 

That's NOT essentially a push... when its 2.5 on road, THAT's essentially a push, and also where the line will end up by kickoff. The sharks are gonna bet Buffalo at +3.5 all day long till it drops till under a FG when some will see more value in Cleveland.

 

This is a MUST win game for us on so many levels.... If we wanna sniff the playoffs THIS yr and I hoping we can, we must win games like this on road. Cleveland has excellent D, 2 massive weapons in Cameron and Gordon. Hoping MClovin is ready for this game and can shadow Gordon so we can move Williams back to SS where either him or LB (Lawson or Kiko) will be in coverage vs TE. Covering TE's has been a huge weaknes for us over the years due to crappy SS play from George Wilson and LB's who were awful in coverage. Lawson is a BIG boy and plays very fast and will probably have the task of covering Cameron on the shorter routes and leaving him for the SS in deeper situations and that's where we REALLY need Williams at SS over either Searcy or Leonard. Cameron is same size as Chandler but with speed. He is a matchup nightmare and Leonard is like 5'8. Williams is 6'1 and has hops... IF Mclovin isnt ready to go, Williams will probably draw the assignment of Gordon who is a burner with size as well. Rogers would get eaten alive vs him.

 

This game looked alot easier when Weeton was at QB but Hoyer has really played well last 2 weeks and been able to get the ball to those 2 guys who are by far and away their 2 best weapons on O. We played a lot more zone vs Ravens which did very well and thats how Williams got his 1st int. If we dont get Gilmore (highly unlikely till after mini bye after this game) and Mclovin who was a game time decision this past week who may be able to give it a go. Having him back would be absolutely huge for secondary.

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I live in Columbus and outside of OSU, the Browns are the most covered pro team here (see what I did there :)). Do we even have an NHL team? That is a story for another day/forum. Anyway, I have been somewhat forced to watch the Browns every Sunday since 1997 when I moved here. There is always the debate over whether the local CBS affiiate shows the Bengals or Browns when thet play at the same time. Especially of late, the Bengals have been far better but they still air the Browns because the fan base here is so much bigger. The fan base is very similar to the Bills in that they are die-hard and have been through a lot of disappointment. No matter what, they still show up. They stick with their team no matter what the FO/owner does and they can't give it up because it is in their blood. I thought the crowd might not be too bad this week after The Trade (the fans HATED this move) but now that they have won 2 in a row, it is going to be crazy. BUT the Browns are not a good team overall. What they do have is a very talented defense. Lots of people have already mentioned Haden. Likely the best corner the Bills have seen this year. He will lock down Stevie or whoever he is covering. Add to that their front 7 AND Barkevious Mingo, their #1 draft pick of out LSU, is an absolute stud LB. Super fast, athletic... watch out for him. He missed a lot of the PS with a freak lung injury and I think the first 1 or 2 games of the reg season so not a ton of pub yet but mark my words. Also - they picked up Paul Kruger from the Ravens and Da'Quell Jackson is an all-out baller. So all in all, this is going to be a low scoring game IMO because I do think the Bills may struggle against the D. They will really need to try to run the ball they like have been trying to do. I don't think the Browns D is worlds better than Baltimore but I do think it is less "exotic," if you will, than the Jets. On the other side... their offense. I know that they have won 2 games in a row. The Minnesota win didn't impress me too much, they have a pretty bad defense. They do have Josh Gordon, a VERY good WR and Jordan Cameron, a great weapon at TE. But it begins and ends with the OL and Hoyer. The OL has some big names but they have NOT played well this year. They have had problems running the ball. They need to stop the run and force Hoyer to throw - just as they did with the Ravens. Hoyer is OK but should not be starting in the NFL. I watch a lot of Big 10 football and I barely remember him playing at MSU. I think the Bills can manage to confuse the heck out of him. I was not too impressed with the HC hire of Chudzinski - he was the former OC in Carolina and that didn't say much to me. He is an Ohio guy (frw up in Cleveland, I think) and that went a long way toward his hire. Kind of like Marrone - he really wanted to be there because he felt locally connected. With perennial losing teams, sometimes you really need a coach who WANTS to be there. (see Mularkey, Gregg, etc.) But the jury is still out on Chud. They do have Norv Turner as the OC which has helped somewhat. This game can again go either way. My biggest worry is the Bills/EJ on the road. We have only seen them on the road once this year and despite the close score it was such a dramatic game that it seemed much worse. I don't know if we'll see the same type of performance. BUT if we can get McKelvin back that would be absolutely the key to this game.

Edited by YoloInTheBlo
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Like all six of the News beat writers, I was wrong about the Baltimore game. This game is interesting because 1) the Bills usually stink on national TV regardless of the location or opponent, and 2) the Browns are not that bad at 2-2. However, if the Browns win, they will have won 3 games in a span of 12 days, with two coming after they traded their best (although overrated) offensive player. What is the probability of this happening? The Bills are banged up and their game pattern this year has been bad, good, bad, good. Not sure which way to go on this one.

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Like all six of the News beat writers, I was wrong about the Baltimore game. This game is interesting because 1) the Bills usually stink on national TV regardless of the location or opponent, and 2) the Browns are not that bad at 2-2. However, if the Browns win, they will have won 3 games in a span of 12 days, with two coming after they traded their best (although overrated) offensive player. What is the probability of this happening? The Bills are banged up and their game pattern this year has been bad, good, bad, good. Not sure which way to go on this one.

Not last year on TNF! Beat the Fins and CJ lit it up.
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I live in Columbus and outside of OSU, the Browns are the most covered pro team here (see what I did there :)). Do we even have an NHL team? That is a story for another day/forum. Anyway, I have been somewhat forced to watch the Browns every Sunday since 1997 when I moved here. There is always the debate over whether the local CVS affiiate shows the Bengals or Browns when thet play at the same time. Especially of late, the bengals have been far better but they still air the Browns because the fan base here is so much bigger. The fan base is very simialr to the Bills in that they are die-hard and have been through a lot of disappointment. No matter what, they still show up. They stick with their team no matter what the FO/owner does and they can't give it up because it is in their blood. I thought the crowd might not be too bad this week after The Trade (the fans HATED this move) but now that they have won 2 in a row, it is going to be crazy. BUT the Browns are not a good team overall. What they do have is a very talented defense. Lots of people have already mentioned Haden. Likely the best corner the Bills have seen this year. He will lock down Stevie or whoever he is covering. Add to that their front 7 AND Barkevious Mingo, their #1 draft pick of out UGA, is an absolute stud LB. Super fast, athletic... watch out for him. He missed a lot of the PS with a freak lung injury and I think the first 1 or 2 games of the reg season so not a ton of pub yet but mark my words. Also - they picked up Paul Kruger from the Ravens and Da'Quell Jackson is an all-out baller. So all in all, this is going to be a low scoring game IMO because I do think the Bills may struggle against the D. They will really need to try to run the ball they like have been trying to do. I don't think the Browns D is worlds better than Baltimore but I do think it is less "exotic" if you will than the Jets. On the other side... their offense. I know that they have won 2 games in a row. They do have Josh Gordon, a VERY good WR and Jordan Cameron, a great weapon at TE. But it begins and ends with the OL and Hoyer. The OL has some big names but they have NOT played well this year. They have had problems running the ball. They need to stop the run and force Hoyer to throw - just as they did with the Ravens. Hoyer is OK but should not be starting in the NFL. I watch a lot of Big 10 football and I barely remember him playing at MSU. I think the Bills can manage to confuse the heck out of him. I was not too impressed with the HC hire of Chudzinski - he was the former OC in Carolina and that didn't say much to me. He is an Ohio guy (frw up in Cleveland, I think) and that went a long way toward his hire. Kind of like Marrone - he really wanted to be there because he felt locally connected. With perennial losing teams, sometimes you really need a coach who WANTS to be there. (see Mularkey, Gregg, etc.) But the jury is still out on Chud. They do have Norv Turner as the OC which has helped somewhat. This game can again go either way. My biggest worry is the Bills/EJ on the road. We have only seen them on the road once this year and despite the close score it was such a dramatic game that it seemed much worse. I don't know if we'll see the same type of performance. BUT if we can get McKelvin back that would be absolutely the key to this game.

 

Mingo was at LSU not UGA...

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I'll be interested in seeing Joe Haden go against Stevie. He pretty much shadowed AJ Green today and shut him down. The guy is a hell of a player.

Well, since EJ missed Stevie at least 3 time Sunday, I don't have much hope for Stevie haveing a great season. This pattern is something to be concerned about....they do not have a connection.......Fitz Stevie was a connection. Chemistry is part of the game....and those two, who are supposed to be together are anything but....I was there, and saw the really bad throws. Two behind, one long.... Edited by bigK14094
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