October 12th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
Dude. Who gives a flying fuck about that stupid game when we're all still trying to find out when the Minnesota game is going to start?
Until the mystery of the Minnesota game is solved (and hopefully posted) there's really no point in going any further.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:26 PM ^
Wait, we play Minnesota this year? What time?
October 12th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
Who knows? They probably won't announce until kickoff since no one will be there.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
So are the Browns for real, or is their 4-1 record mainly due to schedule?
October 12th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
Schedule, although I will say their schedule the rest of the way is pretty darn favorable. They still have the Steelers twice and Ravens once, granted, and they could easily lose all three of those, but beyond this they have the Raiders, Texans, Eagles, Jags, Titans, Giants, and Jets
I could still see them losing to the Raiders and possibly the Titans, but even if they lose those two and lose the other three with the Ravens and Steelers, they should still win those other games, and I believe that would put them at 10-6 for the year. That would be HUGE for the Browns, and probably good enough to get them into the playoffs.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
I despise dome football, which is one reason why I stopped actively rooting for the Lions back when they moved to the Silverdome. Since the Bears and the Browns play football where it's supposed to be played—outdoors in good weather and bad—I've sort of shifted my midwest rooting interest to them.
October 12th, 2020 at 2:36 PM ^
Dome football with no fans is even worse.
October 12th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
You think so? I don't. The Colts were the #1 defensive unit in the NFL and the Browns put 23 points up on them (not counting the pick 6 and the safety) and that's with Baker playing the worst half of football this year. Outside of the bitch-slapping we took game one the team has looked solid and is showing improvements week to week.
The difference is coaching, specifically the head coach Stevanski and the OLine coach Callahan. The team is virtually the same as last year's but this year they simply aren't making the little, mental errors that crippled them all of 2019. Yesterday they only committed two penalties for example and last year we had SEVENTEEN in the first game alone.
Yesterday they lost six starters on defense and at one point only had two healthy dlinemen available to play-and they shut down the Colts almost completely in the 2nd half. And at the end of the game they were able to run the clock basically out without their starting RG and with our 3rd string RB in the game.
Stevanski is the real deal at HC which is why Depodesta wanted him so badly last year. And our young, Harvard educated GM Berry meshes perfectly with our young, extremely bright and analytically influenced HC Stevanski.
Think Minnesota is missing Stevanski right now? I know Kirk Cousins sure is.
October 12th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
Stefanski
The O line is much improved and Baker is playing within his abilities (probably because he has more confidence in the line). Special teams coverage, LB, and Safety play are the only real weak spots so far.
October 12th, 2020 at 2:19 PM ^
As a very long term and particularly long-suffering Browns fan I would agree with this take. For too many years the Browns did not seem to have any level of a) organizational stability or b) competent coaching. Really, as far back as the post Schottenheimer era. Years of quick fixes, slogans and owner interference. I never thought it would get worse than Modell but there we were.
The hiring of Stefanski was a real surprise to me with a Browns administration that for so many years seemed to openly prize either appearance or the ability to ownership manage the on-field decisions their hires made (see last bunch of head coaches). Who among us didn't expect Josh McDaniels v2.0, Greg Roman or some recycled hire like Jim Schwartz.
The Browns have put together a pretty solid core of talent and have enough to at least compete with Pittsburgh. Week 1 Baltimore might have been a legit beating or it might have been a new head coach with a new system and a new season without a preseason. Dialed down Baker and emotion free Myles Garrett is a plus, as well.
It will be interesting to see, over time, how the Browns might evolve with what appears competent coaching. I haven't seen that in a long time.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
Brilliant. I like today's multi-post sarcasm. It's fun - it's Monday.
Go Blue.
October 12th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
Minny is at 7:30. Now can we care?
October 12th, 2020 at 8:42 PM ^
If care = give a flying fuck then I think you have an approval now.
October 12th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^
7:30 in L8 October? Gonna be chilly. “The game” needs to be in a dome.
October 12th, 2020 at 9:12 PM ^
(Looks at comment.)
(Looks at upvotes.)
(Looks at message board.)
(Looks at time of comment.)
So, just how many breathlessly posted "MINNESOTA KICKOFF AT 7:30" OPs did Seth have to delete today?
October 12th, 2020 at 12:18 PM ^
The benefit of the late date is not having a depressing Thanksgiving weekend again.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
This Thanksgiving is going to feel like the Twilight Zone to me......not sure if there will be a Family Gathering and even if there is, I won't be able to tell any family members that this might be the year we can beat Daddy.
Would be nice for the Lions to find a way to get cancelled this Thanksgiving year to make it completely odd.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
Yeah that's great and all but I'm trying to find the time for the Minn game - does anyone know where I can get that info?
October 12th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
What time is the Minnesota game?
October 12th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Never mind.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
I'll be back I'm going to post the Minnesota game time!
October 12th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
I'm just happy that OSU won't get to ruin my Thanksgiving weekend for the umpteenth year in a row.
October 12th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
SHOCKING given the one time ever this game has been played in every living person's lifetime at a time other than noon (IIRC 3:30 kick in 2006 "Game of the Century")
October 12th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
Harbaugh to Kolesar in 1985! 3:30 start. Already getting dark at kickoff. (Back when all was right with the world in this rivalry.)
October 12th, 2020 at 2:35 PM ^
One of the things I love about that clip is how the end-zone camera starts shaking after Kolesar catches the ball and it's obvious he's going to score... I'm sure it's the fans jumping up and down.
Another thing I love is watching the disconsolate Earle Bruce pacing the OSU sideline, knowing that the game was basically over after that TD.
October 12th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^
Harbaugh stood tall on that play. Knew he was going to get blasted and still waited for the right time to let it go. He took a hit like that more than once, tough as nails.
October 12th, 2020 at 3:22 PM ^
FWIW, both 2001 & 2005 were 1 PM kickoffs.
That's still an early game but from 2001 to 2005 ABC, for some reason, always had 1 PM kicks for any games they showed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
October 12th, 2020 at 6:49 PM ^
I am pretty sure 05 was a noon game and they still played the weekend before thanksgiving back then
October 12th, 2020 at 6:58 PM ^
Pretty sure it was played at 1 pm for a lot longer than Noon.
October 12th, 2020 at 1:31 PM ^
Batter up!
October 12th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
Hopefully some colder weather will slow down OSU's offense.
October 12th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
A fool's hope... but hey, I saw this documentary about how some hobbits destroyed this super powerful ring against all odds back in the olden days, so anything is possible.
October 12th, 2020 at 2:14 PM ^
Official game time announcements... Season preview next week... Fall weather settling in... Folks, we're almost to B1G football!
October 12th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
Can we start referring to it as "A Game"? A Game doesn't have stakes in the outcome and "The" has been trademarked by tOSU for over a decade now.
Or is that "THE"?
October 12th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^
I think our best chance of not losing to Ohio State is a second wave of COVID in Ohio.
October 12th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
That and the fact that there won’t be any fans in the crowd. This will be our best chance to win in Columbus
October 12th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
Well at least I now know what time to go on a trip and/or be far from electronics.
Spent last year’s game walking through the Smithsonian natural history museum’s “outbreak” exhibit...who woulda guessed how relevant that exhibit would become.
October 12th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
With our luck, the Big 10/OSU/DeWine will announce the Sunday before that they are making an exception and allowing full capacity seating for this one marquee event.
October 12th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
This is the weirdest Michigan Osu discussion ever! The Browns are predicted to best the Wolverines by a landslide?
October 12th, 2020 at 3:17 PM ^
I’m amazed at the sad reality that everyone is accepting that we will lose to Ohio state this year. Is this the lowest point we have ever reached since the launch of mgoblog? I don’t know what to expect this year. But if it does happen and we do lose embarrassingly again, does that do it for Harbaugh? 0-6 against osu zero big ten titles zero playoff appearances. I can’t imagine he would get a seventh chance
October 12th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
I think they’d be cool with him going 9-3 forever.
October 12th, 2020 at 3:22 PM ^
That would be a death sentence for the program. Obviously the harbaugh defenders will come up and say no one else can coach Michigan except harbaugh. Although I find that thinking delusional as hell, it is a good question to ask. Who would be a logic replacement? Right now I really don’t know anyone in particular. We could try the random choice. But then we risk turning into Tennessee another program that can’t beat a big rival.
October 12th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
Actually it wouldn't.
If Harbs goes 9-3 for the next N years the program will remain good but not OSU good.
But, it will be good enough for a new person to come in and change the tide.
Basically, if Harbs can't beat 'em, he can keep the team "good enough" so that a new guy could.
This is sad, but it isn't the end of the world.
October 12th, 2020 at 4:19 PM ^
Sadly I feel this is accurate
October 12th, 2020 at 3:33 PM ^
Do you remember peanut butter jelly time?
Or the clapper?
October 12th, 2020 at 5:11 PM ^
I do i really do but does 0-6 against osu sound any better....
October 12th, 2020 at 6:25 PM ^
At this point it is clear that Harbaugh will never beat OSU. Even if the game is close the Big Ten will fix it so OSU wins. I don’t know where Michigan goes from here. There is a much better chance the next coach completely tanks than there is of him getting Michigan over the hump against OSU. At this point I say fuck it and hire Urban Meyer. Unfortunately that isn’t realistic so I am not sure who would actually come to Michigan. Dabo isn’t coming and Dan Mullen probably isn’t any better than Harbaugh.
October 12th, 2020 at 6:52 PM ^
I agree with everything but the comment about the officiating.
In The Game, the officiating has been on the side of the team whose victory would be better for the conference on the national stage. In 2016 and 2017, OSU winning was better for the conference; in 2018 Michigan winning was better. In 2019, OSU had already clinched the division and losing wouldn't have kept them out of the playoffs, so Michigan was favored by the refs again. Now Michigan's problem is OSU's roster is turning The Game into Michigan vs an NFL team.
October 13th, 2020 at 6:34 AM ^
I am still in shock that the refs basically handed us 100 free yards of penalties in 2018 against them and we still got blown the hell out. I've never seen anything like it.