Pettine says Johnny Manziel could play Sunday
November 25, 2014Ohio State Doesn’t Need Michigan’s Talent
November 25, 2014Brian Hoyer’s two late, fourth-quarter interceptions nearly gave the game to the Atlanta Falcons as Matt Bryant connected on a 53-yard field goal to give Atlanta the lead with just under 50 seconds to play. But Hoyer rebounded in the final minute, completing four straight passes, and engineering a flawless hurry-up offense to set up Billy Cundiff’s game winning 37-yard field goal. WFNY goes beyond the 26-24 Browns’ win and dives in behind the box score.
2 – Brian Hoyer continues to struggle mightily when under pressure, ranking only ahead of Blake Bortles, Geno Smith, and Eli Manning in terms of completion percentage on throws that are pressured. Last week against Houston, Hoyer was 4-of-17 on passes when he was under duress, and against Atlanta things the Browns’ quarterback continued to struggle. Hoyer saw less pressure against the Falcons and completed a higher percentage of his throws on such plays, going 4-for-9, but threw two near fatal interceptions. Life is difficult for NFL quarterbacks when they’re staring down the gun barrel at an impending rush, but it’s also when the great quarterbacks distinguish themselves from the mediocre quarterbacks. Hoyer doesn’t have to be special when facing pressure for the Browns to win, but he has to eliminate the critical mistakes.
15 – Josh Gordon racked up a team- and Browns’ season-high 15 targets in his return on Sunday. From the early goings Hoyer made it clear he wouldn’t dare dream of being accused of underusing his Pro Bowl receiver. Coach Mike Pettine spoke last week in regards to the need for his quarterback not to force feed the returning Gordon.
“We just have to careful with Brian when Josh is out there so he doesn’t develop tunnel vision, that the ball goes to where the read takes him because, obviously, I think Atlanta’s well aware of Josh and his ability and will set their plans accordingly.”
Pettine’s fears were realized as Hoyer was locked in on Gordon the whole day. On numerous occasions the Browns’ quarterback and his star receiver were clearly on different pages, but can you really blame Hoyer for trying to get Gordon the ball? After throwing to the scat pack of Hawkins, Gabriel, and Benjamin all year long the number 12 on the front of Gordon’s jersey might as well have been a bullseye for Hoyer.
80 – Another reason to throw it to Josh Gordon as often as possible is that he’s really, really good. Gordon’s 120 yards were a season high for any Browns receiver, and what makes Gordon’s contributions that much more special is that 80 of his yards were after the catch. Get the ball in Gordon’s hands and good things will happen. The Browns ran a little rocket screen to Gordon to perfection on several occasions. Hoyer gets it out of his hand quick, Bitonio and Thomas shoot down field to block, and Gordon uses his size and speed to churn up yards and rack up the first down. Look for the Browns to continue to utilize this play until someone proves they can stop it.
8 – Following his two sacks on Matt Ryan, Paul Kruger now has eight sacks on the year, putting him on pace to be the first Browns’ pass rusher in double digits since Kamerion Wimbley’s rookie season back in 2006. Along with his two sacks in Atlanta, Kruger added a hurry and a hit on Matt Ryan. Kruger has split time rushing from the left and right sides of the line, but has found more success coming from the left and thus going up against opposing team’s right tackles. The man with the fluffiest mullet in football ranks 20th among outside linebackers in pure pass rush rating1) from the right side and 12th among outside linebackers from the left. Kruger isn’t consistently dominant week in and week out, but as shown against the likes of Oakland, New Orleans, Atlanta, and during the Ravens’ super bowl run that he possesses the skills to severely impact a game.
19% – Justin Gilbert made one of the biggest plays of the game, batting down Matt Ryan’s pass to Devin Hester on 3rd-and-2 with just 55 seconds to play. Gilbert’s play ensured the Browns’ offense time to retaliate after Matt Bryant’s 53-yard field goal. The Browns’ No. 1 draft pick has steadied his play of late, but in the process has seen his play time drop dramatically. Gilbert has only been on the field for 19% of the defensive snaps in the last three games, allowing the rookie to ease into his role. With Gilbert’s snaps on defense limited, and the Browns lacking a weapon at punt returner, the question remains as to why the return specialist at Oklahoma State has yet to get a chance returning punts in the NFL.
11 – Joe Thomas and Joel Bitonio are Hawaii Phoenix bound. No left tackle in the league has been better in 2014 than Joe Thomas and only the All-World left guard of Baltimore, Marshall Yanda, has been better at left guard than Bitonio. The Browns continue to find success mashing behind their hogs on the left side, piling up eleven yards carry on runs to the left against Atlanta, including both Crowell touchdowns. In addition to his mauling run blocking, Bitonio changed the game with his touchdown saving tackle on the greatest return man of all time, Devin Hester, as Hester attempted to return Bill Cundiff’s missed field goal at the end of the first half.
4th – Brian Hoyer has arguably been the 4th best quarterback in the AFC North. Andy Dalton was disastrous in the Bengals’ loss to the Browns, Flacco was rough in their loss to Cincy, but over the course of the whole season the Red Rocket and Joe Cool may have been more steady than the Cleveland Kid. One thing is clear though, Big Ben has been in a different stratosphere than Hoyer, Dalton, and Flacco.
- (Sacks+.75*hits+.75*hurries)/number of rushes [↩]
3 Comments
That chase-down tackle from Bitonio… holy crap. I get charged up every single time I see that GIF. What a player.
Underrated: Lanning getting in front to slow him down.
Typical writer using his choice of stats to prove a point. Why not use some of BH’s good stats, like wins, completions over 20 yards, etc Also:
A quick observation of quarterback Brian Hoyer and how he played in the Cleveland Browns’ 26-24 win in Week 12:
HoyerThe Bills shouldn’t feel comfortable in the fourth quarter Sunday without a sizable lead. Hoyer can find scoring opportunities late in games, especially on the road. The Browns are 3-2 when Hoyer has the ball in the final three minutes with the chance to win.
Three-and-outs contributed to early-season losses at Pittsburgh and against Baltimore, but Hoyer’s overall stat line in those pressure moments is 16-of-22 for 176 yards and one touchdown pass while setting up two game-winning field goals.
In the past two late-game road chances, both wins, Hoyer completed 3 of 3 passes for 29 yards and a score at Tennessee and 4 of 5 passes for 61 yards Sunday at Atlanta (coming after interceptions on back-to-back drives).
Want to know why Hoyer has kept Johnny Manziel on ice? Those numbers are why. He’s able to shrug off bad play. Let’s not call Hoyer the comeback kid, but he has done enough to make Doug Marrone think twice about giving Cleveland the ball late.