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September 12, 2014Tradition, Twitter, Roger Goodell and Josh Gordon – WFNY Podcast – 2014-09-12
September 12, 2014How did the Cleveland Browns offense look during the Week 1 loss to the Steelers?
Before the Cleveland Browns take the field against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, we need to take a final, up-close look at the Browns’ opening game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. In the first half of the game, social media overflowed with self-hatred of Cleveland sports as every felt as though they had been through the monotony of losing too much. But, when the unthinkable happened and the Browns came back from a 24-point deficit to tie the game up, only to lose to a field goal as time ran out.
By now, you’ve seen what the defense did (or didn’t do). So, I am here to unpack what about Cleveland’s offensive performance against Pittsburgh. Let’s get right into it.
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What Happened in the First Half?
The discrepancy between the first- and second-half performance by the Browns’ offense is staggering when looking at it from a purely numerical standpoint. In the first half, Cleveland used 25 offensive plays to gain 108 yards and score three points as opposed to the second half when the offense ran 41 plays, accumulated 308 yards, and scored 24 points. There are many reasons for the results to improve after the half, but one of the main culprits for the Browns’ struggles was their lack of success on third down.
In the first half, Cleveland converted just one of their seven third downs, a serious issue that needs to be corrected if you expect to win in the NFL. Let’s check out a few of these failed third down conversions.
On this play, the Browns have played themselves into a third down and one after a Ben Tate rush for -1 yard and Travis Benjamin’s 10 yard reverse. Although many logical people would draw up a run, especially given Cleveland’s personnel, Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan calls for the play action pass. This may seem like a risk, but the Steelers ran a defense consisting of nine men in the box and a tenth man creeping up closer.
Watch as all the linebackers bite on the run fake and Jordan Cameron is able to free himself coming across the field in the opposite direction and is wide open. Hoyer simply delivers an awful pass which ends the drive on an undeserved three and out. Everyone knows that Hoyer is not a quarterback who will win games single-handedly, so he absolutely must make these types of throws to be a successful NFL quarterback.
Take a look at another example of a failed opportunity on third down.
The Browns are in a third down and four situation and decide to dial up, for the third third down in a row (No joke!), a pass to Taylor Gabriel who is coming across the middle. On this play, Gabriel drops an impossibly easy catch that would give the Browns an easy first down. The two prior third down throws to Gabriel consisted of Hoyer looking for Gabriel too late, nearly throwing an interception, as well as a play in which Hoyer threw a good pass, but Gabriel hesitated mid-route, messing with his timing on the attempted catch.
More often than not, the Browns beat themselves in the first half. On another third down, Hoyer bounce passed another ball to Jordan Cameron which, if completed, would have put the Browns in field goal position. Instead they had to punt. If the Browns convert even half of these third downs, they would have likely won the game. Keep an eye on third down conversion rate heading into the next few games.
Kyle Shanahan: Great Day Calling Plays
Coming into this season with a new regime, one of the coaches I was most excited about was Kyle Shanahan, former offensive coordinator of the Houston Texans and, most recently, Washington. To better understand his offense, I wrote a two-part series splitting the focus between the zone-blocking scheme and plays to exploit the defense keying on the running game. Low and behold, he used every single play that I touched on, outside of the zone read and zone read pass (Thankfully!).
Some people may look at the first and second half scores and wonder why Shanahan called such a poor early portion of the game, but they would be wrong. He was able to expose weaknesses in their defense all night long. Cleveland averaged six yards per carry, an extremely impressive feat made more impressive when you realize it was not just one back having a career day. All three running backs Terrance West, Ben Tate, and Isaiah Crowell ran for over six yards per carry. The credit must be split three ways between the running backs, offensive line, and Shanahan for giving them good opportunities schematically to succeed.
Check out this play on second and seven with 7:05 remaining in the second quarter.
On this occasion, the Steelers used two safeties to play deep, a rarity, as they clearly expected a pass. Instead the Browns hand the ball off to Ben Tate who has room to run. The offensive line and fullback account for six blockers and the Steelers have six defenders in the box to block. Therefore, as long as the Browns’ linemen and fullback complete their jobs, Tate will be able to cut into the open field as he does, picking up twenty-five yards.
In the passing game, Shanahan found holes in the Dick Lebeau defense using play-action to take advantage of the linebackers focusing on the run. He also called plays in which a receiver would get open in the area underneath the safeties, but past the linebackers.
Check out this example from the early third quarter.
As I explained above, the goal of the play action is to draw the linebackers and, if possible, the safeties up to stop the run. Then, the quarterback will have a better throwing lane to his receiver. On this play, the Browns send just three players on routes against seven Pittsburgh defenders in coverage. Despite the Steelers’ numerical advantage, this play works because Andrew Hawkins is able to find the soft spot in the zone defense. He sits right in front of the safety and Hoyer delivers a strike. This happened over and over.
Although Shanahan had a few stinkers (the last series of the game was pitiful), he gave Brian Hoyer and the rest of the unheralded offense every opportunity to put points on the board. I am curious to see how he combats Rob Ryan and the Saints’ aggressive defense.
Terrance West + Browns Offensive Line = A Win For Everyone (Except the Defense)
As I noted previously, all three active Cleveland running backs averaged over six yards per carry. But, no one had a more impressive showing than Terrance West, the rookie out of Towson University. Over and over he looked quick, explosive, and most importantly over all, decisive. As a bigger back, 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds, West cannot afford to dance around in the backfield and miss an opening.
Against the Steelers, he looked like the West that rushed for over 2,500 yards and 40 touchdowns (yes, you read that right) in his senior season. He pushed the pile, made yards when it seemed like he would be tackled for a loss, and used his quickness and jump-cut to make the defense look silly. His cutbacks were so successful that by the middle of the game, Pittsburgh had no idea where he would go when he took the handoff.
This run by West near the beginning of the third quarter is an absolute clinic in the jump-cut. The Steelers linemen clog the middle of the line disallowing the offensive linemen to take care of the linebackers. However, this is not an issue for West as he cuts upfield and gains 22 yards on a play most backs would be happy with a five yard rush. He and Crowell will get the bulk of the carriers in the next few weeks with Ben Tate injured, so he will get an opportunity to lay claim to the starting job he believes should be his alone.
Quick Hitters
- There are not many players more aggravating to watch than John Greco, Cleveland’s right guard. He defines the role of a mauler, a blocker more concerned with overpowering the defenders than technique. Greco whiffed on one too many run blocks for me not to mention him. I love his power and combined with Mitchell Schwartz, the Browns have a solid run blocking right side. But, he makes too many mental mistakes for me to dismiss the issues.
- One player who flashed this past Sunday was Andrew Hawkins, the free agent signing from the Cincinnati Bengals. He looked great performing in his role which is to be the speedy, versatile receiver. I look forwards to seeing more of him.
- The left side of the offensive line, Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, and Alex Mack, is a massive strength for the Browns right now and will only get better as Bitonio develops. He moves well, but needs to get low stop the bull rush better. I believe he will and as a rookie, he has performed admirably.
9 Comments
great break down! I am glad to see that a lot of the criticism of Kyle was misplaced (at least this week).
great breakdown. I agree that our offense was being held back by Hoyer in the 1st half and he settled in to dissect the defense in the 2nd.
the Brown’s running game looked even more impressive after last night. Baltimore was running the same plays and blocking, but had tiny creases where we had canyons for our backs to run through.
first video. If you notice 44 would have picked up the would be tackler but he bolted out to the left. and the first down would have been made. If you cant get a yard you might as well give up in the NFL. I call BS on your defense of Shannahans shotty play calling. Watch the first half film and the game unbiasedly. Watch and report on the last FAILED MEANINGFUL DRIVE. ???? Where is this report? Shanny is that you writing as Samuel Clemmons? The Special teams NON COVER on a punt? Those are the keys. All the coaches stunk up the joint. Like the last 15 years and counting….. If they win 3 games in a row? Then he is a good coach. He hasn’t won ONE yet. They still suck even with a sugar coating. Be REAL. Optimism has no place in C-Town anymore. Produce. Quit running ya suck. Produce. Go Browns!
I kind of got lost in who you were yelling at, but I hope they tighten up indeed. Go Browns?
On the bad pass to Jordan Cameron, Hoyer threw to the wrong man. Look at Travis Benjamin, wide open deep and he would outrun the defender for a touchdown.
Yeah, Shannahan really needs to coach up Special Teams, that bum!
“Greco whiffed on one too many run blocks for me not to mention him.”
Greco may have had issues on a few specific plays you watched but:
“The right side of the offense line was dominating on the ground producing a total of 127 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21 carries while the Browns ran just 5 times for 35 yards behind the left side.”
-Daryl Ruiter
true, but because Hoyer was backpedaling he couldn’t even get an accurate throw to Cameron – no way he hits Benjy 40 yrds downfield.
In further defense of Shanahan, a few big screwups in the first half on O were on players’ mistakes. On one play, Cameron forgets to shift until reminded by someone, causing an illegal shift to wipe out a big gain. On another, Bitonio clearly goes the wrong way when had he blocked the right guy there would have been a huge hole for a long gain with no DB in the area. Etc.