Tale of the Tape - Browns @ Texans

[Orion]

 

This is another week of facing a defense that can stop the run.  And with our OL in such a shambles, the offense will probably struggle again.  The Texans appear vulnerable to the pass but our pass offense is still trying to get in sync with one another.  And on the other side of the coin you've got the #2 pass offense against the #1 pass defense.  So, it's up to the defense again.  Can they force the Texans to punt enough for our offense to muster up some points? 

This was not one of my Must Win games (the Bears game was though).  But realistically, if we want to make the playoffs, we've got to win this game.   If we lose, we fall behind the Texans in the Wild Card rankings (tiebreaker).  We'd probably be tied with the Bills, Bengals and Colts too.  Of our 3 remaining games, this is probably the most important one to win.

[Korsou Dawg]

7 hours ago, Orion said:

#2 pass offense against the #1 pass defense. 

They have the #2 pass offense with CJ Stroud under center. Not with our old friend Case Keenum.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39150712/texans-qb-cj-stroud-likely-sunday-vs-browns-sources

[Orion]

2 hours ago, Korsou Dawg said:

They have the #2 pass offense with CJ Stroud under center. Not with our old friend Case Keenum.

Keenum is good enough. IMO

[Flugel]

11 hours ago, Orion said:

 

This is another week of facing a defense that can stop the run.  And with our OL in such a shambles, the offense will probably struggle again.  The Texans appear vulnerable to the pass but our pass offense is still trying to get in sync with one another.  And on the other side of the coin you've got the #2 pass offense against the #1 pass defense.  So, it's up to the defense again.  Can they force the Texans to punt enough for our offense to muster up some points? 

This was not one of my Must Win games (the Bears game was though).  But realistically, if we want to make the playoffs, we've got to win this game.   If we lose, we fall behind the Texans in the Wild Card rankings (tiebreaker).  We'd probably be tied with the Bills, Bengals and Colts too.  Of our 3 remaining games, this is probably the most important one to win.

Here's the reality, injuries have left us with a junior varsity Interior Offensive Line except for Teller.   That's not an ideal situation for matching up on the road with a team 6th overall against the run (that also added a solid DT from the Titans recently).  Having said that, the Browns are 9-5 in spite of reality.  Nothing about that 2nd matchup with Baltimore had our OL looking like we could have a comeback W that day.  This collection of players wins as a team with whatever way they have to end up making it happen. Hopefully that continues.  Maybe I should stop trying to make sense of it all and appreciate what our team is accomplishing.  This seems to be one of the closest bonded groups that has each others' backs  I can recall. Myles Garrett said as much about how close this defense is in comparison to previous years.

[Bob806]

2 hours ago, Orion said:

Keenum is good enough. IMO

Yeah, he's a veteran.

Browns historically haven't played well in Houston, but this team is different. 

Yes, a victory here doesn't lock anything up ( unless all that unlikely stuff happens that we've all read), but it would put them in prime position.

[TexasAg1969]

Browns favored in Vegas by 2.5 points.

[tiamat63]

 Keenum, like Flacco, has a penchant for errant throws that involve spraying them into zone coverage at times.  Schwartz has been playing bigger on the outside against 21 and 12 personnel - Ward wasn't in on quite a few early downs vs Chicago. Likely to protect him being targeted in the run fit with his shoulder issue still lingering.   We went man heavy given the situation.  And With Denzel in, we'll continue to lean man on passing downs.   

 With him out? I'd suspect more zone shells.  Mo and Ogbo out, Texans might turn to Singletary and Pierce to find offense.  Devin is the type of RB we've struggled with this season.   Limit the early downs, likely roll into those zone looks on passing downs and hopefully our pass rush can help to minimize some of the lapses on the back end.

[hoorta]

3 hours ago, Bob806 said:

Yeah, he's a veteran.

Browns historically haven't played well in Houston, but this team is different. 

Yes, a victory here doesn't lock anything up ( unless all that unlikely stuff happens that we've all read), but it would put them in prime position.

FWIW, Nex Gen stats...  Browns win = 99% probability of playoffs...   Loss, the odds fall to 78%..  

Gosh I hate rooting for the Steelers (7% playoff odds) but they can do the Browns an immense favor beating the Bengals Saturday. 

[Bob806]

23 minutes ago, hoorta said:

FWIW, Nex Gen stats...  Browns win = 99% probability of playoffs...   Loss, the odds fall to 78%..  

Gosh I hate rooting for the Steelers (7% playoff odds) but they can do the Browns an immense favor beating the Bengals Saturday. 

Yeah I agree. I'm not anticipating the Steelers winning anyway, seems like there's too much drama towards the SE now (unusual as hell). I'm not a Tomlin fan, but I do think he's a good coach, probably a bit "old school" for some of these players (Pickens, Diontae Johnson). 

Plus, I think we already caught our lifetime break in 1985 when the Browns lost their last game of the season and made the playoffs anyway lol.

[bbedward]

If we beat the Texans losing a playoff spot becomes pretty much impossible.

Keenum doesn’t concern me nearly as much as Stroud, but he can still win games and if he was the browns starter after Watson went down I’d be more confident in him than DTR

[Orion]

6 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

and hopefully our pass rush can help to minimize some of the lapses on the back end.

...and that's what it takes to be #1 against the pass.  It takes both ends.  

[syd]

Joe FlaccoQB

StatusQuestionable

Flacco (calf) is listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated practice report, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

[Dutch Oven]

4 hours ago, Bob806 said:

Yeah I agree. I'm not anticipating the Steelers winning anyway, seems like there's too much drama towards the SE now (unusual as hell). I'm not a Tomlin fan, but I do think he's a good coach, probably a bit "old school" for some of these players (Pickens, Diontae Johnson). 

Plus, I think we already caught our lifetime break in 1985 when the Browns lost their last game of the season and made the playoffs anyway lol.

The Steelers have had an interesting run of head case WRs, haven't they? 

[hoorta]

2 hours ago, bbedward said:

If we beat the Texans losing a playoff spot becomes pretty much impossible.

Keenum doesn’t concern me nearly as much as Stroud, but he can still win games and if he was the browns starter after Watson went down I’d be more confident in him than DTR

For a change, nice to see an opposing team with an injury report as long as ours.  😉  https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/injury-report/

50 minutes ago, syd said:

Joe FlaccoQB

StatusQuestionable

Flacco (calf) is listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated practice report, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

The above = Drama Queen... Flacco is playing count on it.  

[syd]

27 minutes ago, hoorta said:

For a change, nice to see an opposing team with an injury report as long as ours.  😉  https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/injury-report/

The above = Drama Queen... Flacco is playing count on it.  

hope ur right 

edit: edit i forgot to add, what happened to Joes beard,hope he didnt jinx himself.

[syd]

so if Bitonio can't go. Leatherwood instead of Dunn at guard ?

[syd]

Browns Injury Report

• OL Joel Bitonio - Back, Knee - DNP
• OL Geron Christian - Shoulder - Limited
• QB Joe Flacco - Calf - Limited to Full
• RB Jerome Ford - Wrist - Limited to Full
• DE Myles Garrett - Rest, Shoulder - DNP to Full
• OL Nick Harris - Knee - Full
• RB Kareem Hunt - Groin - Limited
• LB Jordan Kunaszyk - Calf - DNP
• TE David Njoku - Rest, Knee - DNP to Limited
• DE Ogbo Okoronkwo - Pectoral - DNP
• OL Ethan Pocic - Stinger - Limited
• DE Za’Darius Smith - Not injury related - Personal - Limited
• OL Wyatt Teller - Rest, Ankle - DNP to Limited
• S Juan Thornhill - Calf - DNP
• LB Anthony Walker - Knee - Limited to DNP
• CB Denzel Ward - Shoulder - Full

Mostly improvements for Cleveland but Walker being downgraded is a concern. Bitonio spoke to the media today and stated his goal was to return to practice on Friday, a good sign.

Texans Injury Report

• DE Will Anderson - Ankle - DNP
• LB Blake Cashman - Hamstring - DNP
• TE Brevin Jordan - Illness - DNP to Limited
• OL Shaq Mason - Calf - DNP to Limited
• WR John Metchie III - Illness - DNP to Limited
• QB CJ Stroud - Concussion - DNP
• OL Laremy Tunsil - Knee - DNP to Full
• S Jimmie Ward - Concussion - DNP to Limited
• WR Noah Brown - Knee - Limited
• DT Maliek Collins - Hip - Limited
• WR Nico Collins - Calf - Limited
• LB Denzel Perryman - Achilles - Limited
• WR Robert Woods - Rest - Limited
• OL George Fant - Hip - Full
• CB Steven Nelson - Hand - Full

[syd]

A DR Seuss reference.LOL

 

[syd]

EREA — Joel Bitonio didn’t practice Thursday but was able to run and stand in front of the media. That’s encouraging news after a back injury forced him from the win over the Bears in the first quarter Sunday.

“I did just get done doing a little run out there and we’re progressing really well,” the All-Pro left guard said. “So we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. But from where I was Sunday, Monday to where I’m now, it’s been a positive, and we’ll kind of take it one day at a time.”

The Browns play the Texans on Sunday in Houston, and the official status report will be released Friday afternoon.

With visions of playoffs dancing in their heads, Browns try to maintain narrow focus

Bitonio said the back spasmed before the game. He started but left during the third offensive series and the pain lingered.

“Monday morning was very difficult for me to get out of bed and make it,” he said. “Just those backs, you never know. But I’m feeling a lot better now and hopefully that continues to progress.”

Bitonio doesn’t take time off. Between the start of the 2017 season and the third series Sunday, the only regular-season plays he missed were when he was inactive against the 49ers in Week 6 this year following arthroscopic knee surgery during the bye week.

Joe Flacco shaves beard, not sure if resurgence counts as comeback, believes can keep getting better

So it wasn’t easy for him to call for help against the Bears but knew he had no choice.

“When I realized they called the play and I was like, I’m going to have to pull on this play to the outside. And I was like, I don’t even think I can get in my stance right now,” Bitonio said. “So at that point I was like, I’m going to hurt the team by being out here.

“If you have back stuff, when it locks up, it locks up pretty good.”

The five-time Pro Bowler turned over his position to Michael Dunn, who earned a game ball for his performance off the bench.

“I have a lot of faith in Dunn,” Bitonio said. “I had told Dunn to be ready and he was ready like always to come in and battle.”

[Dutch Oven]

So happy to see an injury-ravaged Browns team have to play in Houston Sunday, then play in Cleveland four days later on Thursday Night Football. 

[syd]

3 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said:

So happy to see an injury-ravaged Browns team have to play in Houston Sunday, then play in Cleveland four days later on Thursday Night Football. 

Hell ya gonna hit  11-5

[Flugel]

9 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

So happy to see an injury-ravaged Browns team have to play in Houston Sunday, then play in Cleveland four days later on Thursday Night Football. 

And how about the league giving the Browns their bye week right after their 4th game?   Was that the purpose of the bye weeks?  Or, was it more about giving every team one needed week for the rest and recuperation for the health and safety needed by players through a Commissioner that allegedly cares?

I see Houston got rewarded with another home game 7 days after they play the Browns at home.    

There's ways to sock to a franchise like the schedule and all the recent photos of a potential Defensive Player of the Year getting held from changing the outcomes like he was doing early and often this season.  

If it doesn't make you wonder - you're just not drinking enough alcohol...

[Flugel]

10 hours ago, syd said:

The five-time Pro Bowler turned over his position to Michael Dunn, who earned a game ball for his performance off the bench.

“I have a lot of faith in Dunn,” Bitonio said. “I had told Dunn to be ready and he was ready like always to come in and battle.”

That makes me feel better about Dunn that the team thought he played well enough for a game ball for his performance.  I was giving him an alibi of still not healthy after coming off IR and that he played great vrs SF when he had to fill-in/start for Bitonio in mid-October.  This guy always fills in admirably for us.  Maybe if the officials blew off his hold the way they did on all those holds the Bears' OL had on Myles - people might not have worried about him.

[Orion]

15 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

So happy to see an injury-ravaged Browns team have to play in Houston Sunday, then play in Cleveland four days later on Thursday Night Football. 

...not because we're injury riddled...but where's the sense of this being done so late in the season?  These games are too important to be putting teams out there on Thursday nights. Give them the time to heal and prepare for weekend games for cryin' out loud.

[hoorta]

Well here you have it... Bitonio questionable for Sunday...   The Browns also listed LB Anthony Walker Jr. (knee), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral), S Juan Thornhill (calf) and LB Jordan Kunaszyk (calf) as out for Sunday's game against the Texans. Walker was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday with the knee injury but did not participate on Thursday.

[tiamat63]

1 hour ago, hoorta said:

The Browns also listed LB Anthony Walker Jr. (knee), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral), S Juan Thornhill (calf) and LB Jordan Kunaszyk (calf) as out for Sunday's game against the Texans. 

 

 

 Looking at props for Devin Singletary on carries.    I'd suggest everyone who gambles do the same and keep an eye on some magic number like 13.5, give or take.   Won't touch the yards, he's due for regression from last game.  Although we've struggled against smaller RB's this season because of the upfield aggression.   Especially against zone blocking.   Even then, Brownies DEF is havoc oriented.  TFL, TFNG, turnovers.  I wouldn't expect him to grind out consistent yardage, but it wouldn't shock me either.  

 Ika will get more snaps as the grind of the regular season comes to a head.   I'm positive the Texans coaches will have something targeting a young player along the IDL.

[syd]

 

[syd]

he Chargers continue to make dramatic changes in the final days of the 2023 season.

One week after firing coach Brandon Staley, general manager Tom Telesco and defensive line coach Jay Rodgers, the team waived veteran defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day on Friday.

Joseph-Day was a team captain who started 30 games for the Chargers after leaving the Rams to sign a three-year, $24 million contract as a free agent during the offseason of 2022. He also was a locker room leader who had won a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in the 2021 season.

It could be the first of many roster adjustments in the coming weeks and months with the Chargers facing significant salary-cap issues for the 2024 season. They are projected to be roughly $35 million over the cap for next season. Joseph-Day had a $10 million cap hit for next season.

By cutting him before June 1, the Chargers would save $7.5 million in cap space for ’24, however.

The move also means Joseph-Day could sign with a playoff-bound team for the remainder of the season. The Chargers are mathematically alive for the AFC playoffs, but realistically they were eliminated from contention with five losses in their past six games, including a 63-21 loss last week to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chargers (5-9) have three games remaining, including Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills (8-6) at SoFi Stadium. They conclude the season with games against the Broncos (7-7) in Denver on Dec. 31 and at home against the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (9-5) either Jan. 6 or 7.

Joseph-Day was a key acquisition during the Chargers’ flurry of moves to beef up their defense in the offseason of 2022, when they also added outside linebacker Khalil Mack in a trade with the Chicago Bears and cornerback J.C. Jackson via free agency from the New England Patriots, among others.

Related Articles

[Korsou Dawg]

18 minutes ago, syd said:

The move also means Joseph-Day could sign with a playoff-bound team for the remainder of the season.

We are very low on the waiver order, so stand little chance to land him. And if we are going to splash out on an addition before the play-offs, I would prefer strengthening the O-line at this stage.

[syd]

14 minutes ago, Korsou Dawg said:

We are very low on the waiver order, so stand little chance to land him

i believe that a player with that many vested years in the league can turn down, Lets say a team like the panthers. Someone may know the rule. I may be way off.