Browns Sign Joe Flacco to Practice Squad

[bbedward]

Per Adam schefter, expected but now confirmed 

 

[bbedward]

People will want DTR to continue to start after beating the Steelers.

My take is DTR isn’t a 2nd round pick, he’s a late round project. He actually played pretty bad against a banged up Steelers secondary.

in win now mode, I’d like to see Flacco transition to the starter. Late season division and playoff push isn’t the time to force developing a late round project QB, imo

[D Bone]

This helps to ease my anxiety a bit, I guess as much as signing any unemployed veteran NFL QB in November is going to do.  

 

[gumby73]

asking for a friend 🤐

Is moving QB PJ Walker to the practice squad closed on Sunday's like Chic'fill-a ?

 

that does it !

I'm eating warm turnovers for Victory Monday breakfast 

Night Merica ! 

 

[Orion]

I'm watching Denver....and of course, Dobbs is lighting it up for the Vikings.  

[bbedward]

6 minutes ago, Orion said:

I'm watching Denver....and of course, Dobbs is lighting it up for the Vikings.  

Pittsburgh has the same regrets 

[Neo]

8 minutes ago, Orion said:

I'm watching Denver....and of course, Dobbs is lighting it up for the Vikings.  

Not trashing DTR, I'm glad he got his first win, but I really want to know what they saw to make them get rid of Dobbs not once , but twice. DTR looks EXTREMELY raw. They had to have known it was only preseason.

 

[nickers]

2 minutes ago, Neo said:

Not trashing DTR, I'm glad he got his first win, but I really want to know what they saw to make them get rid of Dobbs not once , but twice. DTR looks EXTREMELY raw. They had to have known it was only preseason.

 

I'm not gonna bash DTR any.. Kevin put him in good and bad spots.. But the kid made the throws needed to win.. Let's celebrate that!.. I'm ok with Flacco as a back up...

[Orion]

12 minutes ago, Neo said:

They had to have known it was only preseason.

In their defense, Dobbs wasn't lighting it up in the preseason games that he played in.  I remember commenting on how the rookie's stats were as good or better than the veteran's.  (Dobbs & Mond)

...to be clear, I was surprised that either Dobbs or Mond was not kept.

[mjp28]

...... Cleveland fans remember Flacco well from his time with the rival Baltimore Ravens and from his miraculous comeback victory leading the New York Jets to two touchdowns with less than two minutes left in the game.

For his career, Flacco is a 62% passer with 232 touchdowns and 147 interceptions.

It is likely that the team will give the veteran a week or two before deciding to elevate him for games or sign him to the 53-man roster. If concerns linger about Thompson-Robinson's ability to lead the team, Flacco could play similar to how Jacoby Brissett did in 2022......

[TexasAg1969]

1 hour ago, Orion said:

I'm watching Denver....and of course, Dobbs is lighting it up for the Vikings.  

Well that didn't last. I warned on another thread the Broncos have been playing very well lately. We have our hands full.

[nickers]

1 minute ago, TexasAg1969 said:

Well that didn't last. I warned on another thread the Broncos have been playing very well lately. We have our hands full.

Yup.. But I like our defense...

[hoorta]

3 hours ago, bbedward said:

People will want DTR to continue to start after beating the Steelers.

My take is DTR isn’t a 2nd round pick, he’s a late round project. He actually played pretty bad against a banged up Steelers secondary.

in win now mode, I’d like to see Flacco transition to the starter. Late season division and playoff push isn’t the time to force developing a late round project QB, imo

He played BAD?   I see the guys over on NFL.com agree with me about Stefanski's overly conservative er, shit coaching that damn near cost the Browns the game... ahem...   

"Cleveland took a 10-0 lead into halftime, watched Jaylen Warren reduce it to 10-7, then seemingly concluded a three-point advantage would be enough to win. Was that ultimately the final margin of victory? Yes, but the fashion in which Kevin Stefanski approached the third quarter left them vulnerable to a heartbreaking defeat. Stefanski was understandably trying to make life easier for his rookie quarterback and limit risk, but by the middle of the third quarter, Pittsburgh had realized his plan, effectively denying Thompson-Robinson anything underneath, stuffing the run and daring the Browns to take a shot downfield. It was a shame, truly, because Cleveland's defense repeatedly denied Kenny Pickett and the Steelers' offense an opportunity to move the ball, and gave the Browns' offense prime field position on multiple occasions. Yet, Stefanski's conservative approach wasted those possessions, giving the Steelers additional opportunities to tie the game and potentially take the lead. Luckily for Stefanski, the Browns' elite defense shut down the Steelers' last remaining chance to win, and Thompson-Robinson authored a great final drive. But for most of the second half, Mike Tomlin won the coaching battle and nearly won the game because of it. Against better teams, that type of approach could doom the Browns."

PS- If you think Joe Flackoff is going to be some kind of savior bb.... I give you his career stats.  One of the guys at our Sunday Browns\any other team party is a serious Jets fan.... His take... There's a reason why the Jets didn't want him back after Rodgers went down... Because 2022 in particular, and career wise in general- he's been pretty mediocre to downright bad. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FlacJo00.htm

PPS- we're riding the DTR horse until he starts losing games, until just like Walker Texas Ranger proves he can suck with the best of them.  FWIW, I said it in another thread. 7-3 and the Browns are in decent shape to make the playoffs. If you have Browns Super Bowl dreams dancing in your head they're not realistic. Not with Watson and Chubb out for the year. 3-4 should punch our ticket to the playoffs though- and that certainly is a realistic expectation. 

[VaporTrail]

1 hour ago, hoorta said:

He played BAD?   I see the guys over on NFL.com agree with me about Stefanski's overly conservative er, shit coaching that damn near cost the Browns the game... ahem...   

"Cleveland took a 10-0 lead into halftime, watched Jaylen Warren reduce it to 10-7, then seemingly concluded a three-point advantage would be enough to win. Was that ultimately the final margin of victory? Yes, but the fashion in which Kevin Stefanski approached the third quarter left them vulnerable to a heartbreaking defeat. Stefanski was understandably trying to make life easier for his rookie quarterback and limit risk, but by the middle of the third quarter, Pittsburgh had realized his plan, effectively denying Thompson-Robinson anything underneath, stuffing the run and daring the Browns to take a shot downfield. It was a shame, truly, because Cleveland's defense repeatedly denied Kenny Pickett and the Steelers' offense an opportunity to move the ball, and gave the Browns' offense prime field position on multiple occasions. Yet, Stefanski's conservative approach wasted those possessions, giving the Steelers additional opportunities to tie the game and potentially take the lead. Luckily for Stefanski, the Browns' elite defense shut down the Steelers' last remaining chance to win, and Thompson-Robinson authored a great final drive. But for most of the second half, Mike Tomlin won the coaching battle and nearly won the game because of it. Against better teams, that type of approach could doom the Browns."

PS- If you think Joe Flackoff is going to be some kind of savior bb.... I give you his career stats.  One of the guys at our Sunday Browns\any other team party is a serious Jets fan.... His take... There's a reason why the Jets didn't want him back after Rodgers went down... Because 2022 in particular, and career wise in general- he's been pretty mediocre to downright bad. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FlacJo00.htm

PPS- we're riding the DTR horse until he starts losing games, until just like Walker Texas Ranger proves he can suck with the best of them.  FWIW, I said it in another thread. 7-3 and the Browns are in decent shape to make the playoffs. If you have Browns Super Bowl dreams dancing in your head they're not realistic. Not with Watson and Chubb out for the year. 3-4 should punch our ticket to the playoffs though- and that certainly is a realistic expectation. 

Watching the offense in the 3rd quarter was infuriating, but I don't think you can put it all on Stefanski. There were plenty of 5 and 7 step drops that DTR took in the second half that were checked down to the flats. You don't drop that far back unless the first read is an intermediate/deep route. Stefanski had to keep the game plan simple for DTR just because of the heat that was expected from Watt and Highsmith. The damage was limited to 1 sack and 1 interception with how quick DTR was getting the ball out. I'll wait for the talking heads to break down the all-22 to see if that read was open. He also wasn't helped by the drops from Njoku and Moore. 

43 pass attempts when Pittsburgh never had a lead is kind of nuts. I'm excited to see how DTR will do against a lesser defense. But looking at the rest of our schedule, I can see every game going down to the last possession. 

[Dutch Oven]

On one hand, you have a veteran QB with a ton of experience.

On the other hand, you have a QB who fits the offense they remade for Watson much better.

Interesting decision for the coaching staff. 

[tiamat63]

5 hours ago, VaporTrail said:

Watching the offense in the 3rd quarter was infuriating, but I don't think you can put it all on Stefanski. There were plenty of 5 and 7 step drops that DTR took in the second half that were checked down to the flats. You don't drop that far back unless the first read is an intermediate/deep route. Stefanski had to keep the game plan simple for DTR just because of the heat that was expected from Watt and Highsmith. The damage was limited to 1 sack and 1 interception with how quick DTR was getting the ball out. I'll wait for the talking heads to break down the all-22 to see if that read was open. He also wasn't helped by the drops from Njoku and Moore. 

43 pass attempts when Pittsburgh never had a lead is kind of nuts. I'm excited to see how DTR will do against a lesser defense. But looking at the rest of our schedule, I can see every game going down to the last possession. 

 

I'm curious how much of that 43 is inflated by the last drive before halftime and the last two drives of the game. 

[SdBacker80]

6 hours ago, VaporTrail said:

Watching the offense in the 3rd quarter was infuriating, but I don't think you can put it all on Stefanski. There were plenty of 5 and 7 step drops that DTR took in the second half that were checked down to the flats. You don't drop that far back unless the first read is an intermediate/deep route. Stefanski had to keep the game plan simple for DTR just because of the heat that was expected from Watt and Highsmith. The damage was limited to 1 sack and 1 interception with how quick DTR was getting the ball out. I'll wait for the talking heads to break down the all-22 to see if that read was open. He also wasn't helped by the drops from Njoku and Moore. 

43 pass attempts when Pittsburgh never had a lead is kind of nuts. I'm excited to see how DTR will do against a lesser defense. But looking at the rest of our schedule, I can see every game going down to the last possession. 

Many of these “passes” were glorified run plays….designed to make the Steelers back 7 tackle on the perimeter and mitigate their hair on fire pass rush.  So although 43 by number seems like a lot it probably needs some context. 
 

I would have liked a couple max protect lob it deep type passes just to keep the DBs honest and give the safeties something else to think about. I can’t complain too much they had a couple of elite pass rushers chasing our rookie qb. 

[nickers]

Let's not also forget Njoku dropped a lot of key passes that could've sustained drives... I really have to believe TE becomes a big priority next off season.. I really think Njoku is just "Average"

[TexasAg1969]

27 minutes ago, nickers said:

Let's not also forget Njoku dropped a lot of key passes that could've sustained drives... I really have to believe TE becomes a big priority next off season.. I really think Njoku is just "Average"

He certainly was not any Gronk yesterday for sure.

[Orion]

7 hours ago, VaporTrail said:

Watching the offense in the 3rd quarter was infuriating, but I don't think you can put it all on Stefanski. There were plenty of 5 and 7 step drops that DTR took in the second half that were checked down to the flats. You don't drop that far back unless the first read is an intermediate/deep route. Stefanski had to keep the game plan simple for DTR

Nice post.  Stef did what was best for the team.  He tried hard to keep DTR from losing the game for us.  He finally had him throwing downfield in the last minute of the game...but that's what the situation called for.  And lo and behold, the kid delivered with the game winning drive.  

I saw the DTR on-field interview after the game.  He spoke of how he felt that his performance was hurting the team and you could tell that he felt horribly about it.  I'm happy for him that the final drive played out like it did.  He earned the win in that final drive.  He beat the Steelers...in Cleveland...there is no regular season victory bigger than that.  

All that said, the only way to win games with 5th round rookie DTR at QB is to win ugly.  Keep the score low.  Lean on the defense.  Be conservative in the passing game.  Try to run the ball.  You're not going to win a boat race.  

[bbedward]

13 minutes ago, Orion said:

Nice post.  Stef did what was best for the team.  He tried hard to keep DTR from losing the game for us.  He finally had him throwing downfield in the last minute of the game...but that's what the situation called for.  And lo and behold, the kid delivered with the game winning drive.  

I saw the DTR on-field interview after the game.  He spoke of how he felt that his performance was hurting the team and you could tell that he felt horribly about it.  I'm happy for him that the final drive played out like it did.  He earned the win in that final drive.  He beat the Steelers...in Cleveland...there is no regular season victory bigger than that.  

All that said, the only way to win games with 5th round rookie DTR at QB is to win ugly.  Keep the score low.  Lean on the defense.  Be conservative in the passing game.  Try to run the ball.  You're not going to win a boat race.  

Stefanski called a game that was very much to protect against turnovers. And DTR had it drilled into him to be quick at taking check downs even when he had time he was checking it down.

It’s funny that the Steelers call the same game plan for Kenny Pickett, their starter and 1st round QB. Very conservative anti-turnover.

That said, we won’t win many games with 13 points. Gotta get the rookie to open things up or put Flacco in to do it.

[MDDawg]

4 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

On one hand, you have a veteran QB with a ton of experience.

On the other hand, you have a QB who fits the offense they remade for Watson much better.

Interesting decision for the coaching staff. 

I think they keep DTR unless he has a major meltdown.

[Neo]

41 minutes ago, MDDawg said:

I think they keep DTR unless he has a major meltdown.

DTR is officially undefeated against the Steelers. Let's hope that will continue for many years to come.

[MDDawg]

Just been named starter against the Broncos. They have a weak run defense so that should help him with better chemistry with the receivers.

[bbedward]

Flacco will take Watson’s clipboard role since he probably won’t be on the sidelines much after the surgery.

i hope DTR continues to succeed, he’s a very likable QB. Probably will be on a short leash given our season aspirations.

[The Cysko Kid]

20 hours ago, bbedward said:

People will want DTR to continue to start after beating the Steelers.

My take is DTR isn’t a 2nd round pick, he’s a late round project. He actually played pretty bad against a banged up Steelers secondary.

in win now mode, I’d like to see Flacco transition to the starter. Late season division and playoff push isn’t the time to force developing a late round project QB, imo

Yeah that's my feeling on it. I'd start dtr next week so flacco can get some reps but unless he lights it up if he putting flacco in sooner rather than later. All we need is half a season of professional QB play, not spectacular play. This is no time to be leaning on a rookie 

[hoorta]

15 hours ago, VaporTrail said:

Watching the offense in the 3rd quarter was infuriating, but I don't think you can put it all on Stefanski. There were plenty of 5 and 7 step drops that DTR took in the second half that were checked down to the flats. You don't drop that far back unless the first read is an intermediate/deep route. Stefanski had to keep the game plan simple for DTR just because of the heat that was expected from Watt and Highsmith. The damage was limited to 1 sack and 1 interception with how quick DTR was getting the ball out. I'll wait for the talking heads to break down the all-22 to see if that read was open. He also wasn't helped by the drops from Njoku and Moore. 

 

43 pass attempts when Pittsburgh never had a lead is kind of nuts. I'm excited to see how DTR will do against a lesser defense. But looking at the rest of our schedule, I can see every game going down to the last possession. 

As I thought... No passes over 15 yards....  Gee Kev, couldn't you have lobbed one at least once deep to give the Steelers MASH unit secondary something to think about?   

[bbedward]

8 minutes ago, hoorta said:

As I thought... No passes over 15 yards....  Gee Kev, couldn't you have lobbed one at least once deep to give the Steelers MASH unit secondary something to think about?   

I feel like Kevin did have some long developing deep pass plays dialed up. I get the feeling the coaching staff, correctly, ingrained how fast he’d have to release the ball all week and to make a quick check down decision.

DTR definitely did what his coaches asked, he was just a little too quick to check down even when he had a clean pocket.

Combo of conservative play calling and conscious conservative QB play, even when he had a clean pocket and options downfield.

We’ll see against the broncos, they have a solid secondary and worse pass rush. Should lend itself to a bit less conservative play style 

[Orion]

4 hours ago, MDDawg said:

Just been named starter against the Broncos.

Where is that being reported?

[syd]

20 hours ago, TexasAg1969 said:

Well that didn't last. I warned on another thread the Broncos have been playing very well lately. We have our hands full.

denver has the worst rush D in the league. minn put up 5 ypc on em yesterday . play tressel ball, But this time maybe let DTR take a few shots downfield