Ohio State makes a statement, and High School Playoff predictions
November 10, 2014Glasses Half Full: The Cavs Offense
November 10, 2014With Thursday night’s victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns now sits in sole position of first place in the AFC North. The Browns outplayed Cincinnati in every aspect of the game under the bright lights of the Thursday Night Football, and put Cleveland back on the NFL map for the first time since 2007. Let’s take a look beyond the 24-3 scoreline and go Behind the Box Score.
7 – Plays in which Paul Kruger impacted the throw of Andy Dalton. In his second year as a Brown, Kruger looks every bit the part of the premier pass rusher Cleveland fans hoped for after being brought over from the Super Bowl winning Ravens two off seasons ago. Although the man with the best mullet in the NFL didn’t record a sack on Thursday, Kruger hurried Dalton off his spot five times, hit him another, and knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage. The former Utah Ute also provided some fantastic sound bites while being mic’ed up telling teammates “It aint gotta be close” and “the Dawg Pound is alive and well”.
6 – Thursday night’s broadcast spent a great deal of time chronicling the lack of weapons at Brian Hoyer’s disposal. The Browns have been without Josh Gordon all season, Jordan Cameron much of the year, and Andrew Hawkins has missed time, but no receiving corp in the NFL has dropped less passes than the six Cleveland’s passcatchers have let get away. The Browns have the least amount of drops in the league and are second in the league in percentage of catchable balls that have been dropped. Cincinnati is worst in the league in that regard, dropping over 6% of catchable passes.
15 – Speaking of drops, former Browns’ fan favorite, and now Cincinnati wideout, Greg Little was penalized midway through the first quarter for his unsportsmanlike headbutt after the whistle. Little chirped and chirped in the days leading up to the Thursday night clash, claiming he was going to go all Tom Misny on the Browns and “make them pay.” Instead, Little must have been feeling the holiday spirit a little early this year and gave the Browns a free fifteen yards.
26-12-10 – The split of carries between Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell, and Ben Tate. The Browns pounded the rock an NFL season high 52 times (counting the four Hoyer rushes) in Cincinnati, imposing their will, and grinding down a Bengals defense that was without their two starting inside linebackers. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has stuck by the run all season long, even when it’s been ugly, and in true Shanahanian form has shown he has no real allegiance to any of his backs. The Browns continue to promote the famous NFL mantra of “next man up” and it’s no truer than with the running back corps. For the first time since Jamaal Lewis, the Browns not only have one legitimate ball carrier, but instead have three who can impact the game.
30% – Much has been made of Andy Dalton’s historically bad outing on Thursday, with his 30% completion percentage the lowest in Bengals history for a quarterback who threw at least twenty-five passes. However, as chronicled last week, the Browns have been forcing opposing quarterback’s into abysmal completion percentages for more than a month now. The last five quarterbacks the Browns have faced have completed a pedestrian 51% of their passes. To put in perspective just how dominant that is, consider that Brandon Weeden’s career completion percentage is 55%.
3.8 – Yards gained on passing plays targeting Joe Haden. Haden shadowed AJ Green for most of the night and completely blanketed the all-pro receiver. Haden has Green’s number, with the former Georgia star only eclipsing the 100-yard mark twice in his seven games against the Browns. Haden challenged Green at the line of scrimmage most of the game, continually getting a good punch on Green, impacting his release from the line. When you have a corner who can shutdown the opposing team’s best weapon one-on-one it gives you limitless options in terms of looks you can show as a defense.
4.8 – Yards per rushing attempt for Terrnace West behind the left side of the Browns’ line. Joe Thomas and Joel Bitonio continued to show why they’ve been the best two lineman for the Browns all year long, and maybe even the best players on the offensive side of the ball. Kyle Shanahan kept the Bengals’ defense honest, balancing runs between the left and right, but the ground game was at it’s best behind the All-Pro Thomas, and the probable Pro-Bowler Bitonio.
0 – Apparently the numbers of players on the Browns’ roster who are capable of returning punts. The punt return game was a strength last season with Travis Benjamin and Jordan Poyer both posting averages of greater than ten yards a return, but this year no returner has a single return greater than thirteen yards. Not only have the Browns’ returners been far from threatening, they’ve been a downright liability. Benjamin, Poyer, and Jim Leonard have all had their chances as return men and all three have fumbles to their name. With Justin Gilbert struggling to make a real impact on defense, perhaps it’s time to let the former return ace at Oklahoma State flash his skills in the NFL.
33 – K’waun Williams saw his first real extended run on defense since suffering a concussion against Pittsburgh, playing thirty-three more snaps on Thursday than fellow rookie Justin Gilbert. Williams has been a real find as an undrafted free agent out of Pitt, giving defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil a viable option to cover the slot. Lining up more than half of his plays as a slot defender, Williams has allowed just four yards per target when covering the slot which is the third best mark in the league.
18% – The Browns defense continually found a way to get off the field on third downs, holding the Bengals to putrid 18% third down conversion rate. The key to the Browns’ defense’s third down success was their success on first and second downs. The Bengals time and time again found themselves in third and long situations, needing more than nine yards on average to get to the sticks.
8 – Jim Leonard’s fumble was just the 8th turnover for the Browns team all season. The only teams with fewer turnovers in the NFL are the 8-1 Arizona Cardinals and the 7-2 New England Patriots. It’s no coincidence, when you take care of the football you’re going to win games. Brian Hoyer’s four interceptions are good for third fewest in the league behind Tom Brady and the quarterback committee in Arizona of Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton.
14 – Keep an eye on the NFL’s Week 14 schedule. The Browns play host to the Indianapolis Colts at 1 PM that Sunday but if both teams keep winning don’t be shocked to see that game flexed to Sunday Night Football. Currently the Chargers hosting the Patriots is penciled in for the Sunday Night spotlight, but if the Chargers get knocked off by Oakland or St. Louis in the next two weeks then the Browns/Colts game may have more sex appeal than the Pats visiting a hobbling Chargers squad. Per the league’s scheduling policy, the game can be moved no later than twelve days prior to the game.
15 Comments
I was wondering if the Browns would be a Sunday night flex possibility.
Imagine if that final week game at Baltimore has a division deciding impact.
Already been imagining it… a friend in NY wants to meet up in Baltimore for that game, but it probably won’t work if it’s flexed, which is a high possibility right now.
I don’t know about that Colts game, primarily because that would be pushing NE/SD out of the slot, which is a pretty marquee looking matchup with teams from either coast.
3–The number of consecutive Sunday evenings that I have been pleasant to my family.
So why is it so hard for Gilbert to get on the field? Williams that much better? Different skill sets since it’s the slot? Does Gilbert lack the work ethic? The smarts? The physical skills? At first, I was willing to accept that he just needed time to learn the position. But getting supplanted by a rookie UFA? Starting to worry.
I’m not going to look up the numbers, but on 3rd downs (especially in the second half) it seemed Cincy was consistently looking to pick up 10 or more yards.
Joe Thomas and Joel Bitonio. The Double-J Expressway.
Gilbert was getting snaps early, left the field with an injury and didn’t play much the rest of the game. I assume we were being cautious with him because Pettine had mentioned before the Raider game he had earned his spot back and he registered 35 more plays than K’Waun in that game.
Northcoast Railway (whole OL – those guys like to be inclusive of everyone and note how they are laying the tracks for the RBs).
great
It looked like Phil Taylor reinjured his knee or hurt the other one in the 4th quarter … has anyone heard anything? Thought his return helped the run defense, a lot.
I like it. And I say Josh Gordon should be the Flying J (axing the original Smoking J nickname).
looks like we will have to wait until Wednesday for an update. I haven’t read anything, which is promising (if it was long-term, then it likely would have been leaked by now)
Browns are super fun to watch this year, looking forward to Sunday, def one of my favorite teams of 2014.
http://www.heater.com/tlw1122/nfl-helmet-heater/clevland-browns-officially-licensed-nfl-portable-infrared-helmet-heater-pre-order.html