Browns v. Bengals observations

The Browns bounced back to beat the Bengals 41–16 in a game I would define as a blowout. It could have been a lot worse, Browns lost out on about 10–14 points, could have been a 50 pointer so the Bengals should consider themselves lucky. Here goes

• The drama through the week was weird and it seemed like the Browns were trying to navigate their way through carefully and I wasn’t sure how team would respond. Its hard to tell with this team so far this year. I thought they were galvanized from the Broncos game with backups, then they laid a stinker against the Steelers. Then today they just truck the Bengals over the course of the game. It was only two weeks ago the Bengals were talk of league. Maybe this galvanizes the team? We will see next week in New England
• MVPs for me were Troy Hill, Denzel Ward, and Myles Garrett. MG could have had 5 sacks if he wasn’t held every other play. Its getting ridiculous and the NFL is doing themselves no favors not shining light on a star player. If this was NBA the holding calls would double, if not triple against Browns. Garrett is being held on every play even during live action (you don’t need slow motion or Zapruder film). Hill finally played his best game as a Brown. He was everywhere making plays. Denzel with the pick-6 set the tone. He also had some great pass breakups and played his best game all season.
• Plenty of other guys stepped up and played well too — it was a full team effort where both sides (offense/defense) were clicking. Took awhile but if they can do that to some degree every week they can beat anyone, even crush them like they did today.
• The OBJ stuff appeared to be nonsense as the Browns navigated through a weird first quarter where they barely had the ball and still were efficient. Baker was ridiculously effective and he didn’t do anything to hurt the team or look like the guy who would hurt the team. Now if he can do this every week…
• I think the OBJ stuff just ran its course. I think the issues were deeper and beyond state of play on field. There were just unnecessary distractions that we probably didn’t know about and it was something the coaches and management decided wasn’t worth it anymore. Honestly, there were no games where he helped a team win. His best game was early last season. The Browns scored 34 points on offense today and there were only a few hiccups here and there as noted above. I think the team will function better as a team and privately I think more than a few players are happy he is gone. Publicly say the right thing, privately let is loose and know what the end goals are. Its one game, but it was apparent, this is Baker’s team and how he plays will dictate where they go.
• Patriots are next in Foxboro. Should be a decent game and to me a toss up. They are still a good squad and this could bite the team if they aren’t careful. I’m the Browns, I continue to stay aggressive and keep foot on pedal. There needs to be consistency from here on out, team can’t afford to ‘lose itself’ or just have a ‘bad game’. As of this writing team hanging around 2nd place, 2 games back. See what happens with Steelers, but possible Browns sitting in 3rd and right in thick of division. 8 more games to go. GO BROWNS!!