Watch: Travis Benjamin returns punt for a touchdown
September 20, 2015Attempting to not be a prisoner of the moment: While We’re Waiting…
September 21, 2015Thank you Travis Benjamin! The first half was a thing of beauty with big plays and hard-hitting defense play by the Browns. The second half for the Browns was a nail-biter and hair-pulling action. But, it ended with a big victory for the Browns in their home opener at FirstEnergy Stadium. Cleveland came away with their first win of the season, beating the Tennessee Titans 28-14.
In the first half, it was the Travis Benjamin show. Benjamin was responsible for two of the team’s three touchdowns in the half. He started the game off with a bang, catching a beautiful 60-yard pass from quarterback Johnny Manziel on the team’s first pass of the game. The speedster ran right past the Titans coverage and was the able to catch the Manziel pass in stride to the endzone. But, Benjamin was not done. To end the first half, Benjamin returned a game-changing punt all the way to increase the team’s lead to 21-0. He ran past and over the punt coverage on his way to a second touchdown of the day. He has been one of a few playmakers for the Browns early on this season.
The Browns defense was also impressive in the first half. They were in the backfield for most of the half, making it tough for Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Browns pass rush battered Mariota all half. The defense was able to force two big turnovers against the Titans offense in their dominating first half performance. But, sadly there is a second half in pro football.
The Browns returned out of the locker room looking like a completely different team from the first half. The Browns were unable to move the ball for most of the half. This allowed the Titans to fight their way back within one touchdown. The defense allowed Mariota to gain confidence and rhythm in the second half. Nothing is easy in Cleveland.
Luckily for the Browns, Travis Benjamin was wearing the white jersey on Sunday. With the team holding on to a 21-14 lead and big 3rd down, Johnny Manziel showed a little bit of his college razzle dazzle in finding Travis Benjamin for the game-clinching touchdown. Manziel avoided a rush by running around in the backfield and then looked down field to find Travis Benjamin running open. Manziel zipped a beautiful 50-yard pass to Benjamin, cementing Benjamin’s amazing three-touchdown day and the Browns first win of the season.
They did it again!
Johnny Manziel deeeep to Travis Benjamin for SIX. #TENvsCLE http://t.co/0uHTNopDuL— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2015
The Browns definitely looked like a completely different team from their horrible season opening loss to the New York Jets. The defense finally played close to their preseason expectations, roughing up Marcus Mariota for a lot of the game. It was fun watching the defense play downhill and getting after the Titans offense. The offense (or pretty much Travis Benjamin) produced big plays and ran the ball better than last week. Johnny Manziel looked good in spots during the game, taking advantage of his opportunities and earning his first career win in the NFL. The special teams may have been the difference in the game, in particular Andy Lee and Travis Benjamin.
But, it was not a perfect performance. The second half was not great. The offense stalled with Manziel unable to move the ball much in the second half. The defense also lowered their performance, letting Mariota get into a rhythm and allowing the Titans come back from the huge deficit. The Browns is still a team who has trouble putting away their opponents. They love to give their fans a lot of stress.
But in the end, the Browns won and are now 1-1 on the season. Hope has returned and some momentum gained. On to the Oakland Raiders next week at FirstEnergy Stadium.
124 Comments
Pett may ultimately agree with you. I am just speculating on what I think he thinks. We’ll see this week….
Mariota does look like in time and with some help he will be a very nice QB. I’m holding off on putting him in the same sentence with Rodgers and the like but the kid showed some moxy yesterday when it was clear the Browns defense was inspired.
you gotta think pettine is smarter than that … i’m pretty sure his only thought is who gives him the best chance to win this week.
mariota threw a perfect high pass on that play …not even desir , or anyone else , would have been able to do anything on that play. sometimes you just have to tip your cap & move on.
Joe Haden’s agent agrees with you the problem for Joe wasn’t the actual catch it’s how badly he was beaten before the actual catch. I guess people don’t pay attention to those little things. We’ll see this week when Amari Cooper lines up for Oakland.
hi GARY … some rush to judgement in less than a season , as what happened to manziel & gilbert last year. i am very proud of manziel , he did what josh gordon could not do … he is starting to figure things out.
some have already posted erving was not worthy of a 1st round pick … still too early.
Tennessee played as bad as the Browns did week 1 in the first half between turnovers and penalties they were lucky to be down just 21-0.
LBs were exposed big time IMO. TEs can feast all day. Upgrade is needed big time for LB corps I’ve been saying it for years.
good post CB … the other thing he is doing well , is when things break down & he has to vacate the pocket , he is looking down the field & still looking to make a throw.
NO WRs and no RB poor Weeden should be feeling a little deja vu right about now.
I’ll be shocked if Pettine goes back to McCown this week against Oakland. I’m still not a Manziel fan but he’s earned another start. Heck if things go horribly make the switch then but at least start the deuce.
hi SCRIPTY … i know what you mean , two games in-a-row … but , i don’t think anyone could have broken-up that pass. it was a perfect high pass … pass interference would’ve been the only option.
and the one against brandon marshall , it looked like haden had good coverage , but didn’t look back for the ball & when he swatted at it , he just missed it.
kirksey , & to a lesser extent , kruger & robertson are making some plays here & there … it seems we should be getting more from dansby & MINGO.
dansby did lead the browns with 9 total tackles yesterday … nobody’s brought up armonty bryant & his 2.5 sacks yesterday.
“Some” being the operative word but that’s being kind IMO. I think part of the problem with not being able to stop the run isn’t just the defensive line it’s the linebackers. This is why last week I said I couldn’t remember the last time the Browns had a legitimate impacting LB. People told me D’Q Jackson and Jamir Miller but that speaks to the problem for me.
at least d’qwell was a tackling machine & was near the top of the nfl in tackles every year.
A lot of those were 5-6 yards downfield though too.
The best part of the Johnny-to-Benjamin part 2 highlight is hearing the crowd react at that very moment you are speaking of, when they realize Rabbit is streaking to the ball in perfect time a full second before he catches it.
Chiming in here 🙂
I didn’t mean to say Pett has a grudge. I don’t think Pett would hold a grudge. My view is that Manziel is substantially behind McCrown on the depth charts because of his very poor play and preparation last year — he has a lot to learn and prove before you thrust him into the #1 spot. I am skeptical that yesterday’s game would vault him ahead of McCown.
And, again, I am not anti-Johnny. I am just trying to be realistic about what will happen in McCown if healthy.
Roger. Didn’t mean to imply that you thought he had a grudge – just that it’s your impression that Pettine got burned last year (which he certainly did).
For what it’s worth, I agree with your assessment. I’m excited about Johnny’s potential, but also think that McCown should start. I’d also be happy with a creative solution that sort of puts McCown in the “tough” games (however the staff makes that determination) but gives Johnny a crack at the “easier” games (again, however the coaching staff might determine that). But I realize this is wholly fantastic and unrealistic.
Agree. This guy is a pass catching back with a huge speed advantage in the open field. A downfield strike like those on Sunday should just open the door for underneath open passes that can burn opponents.
The plus is getting a first round hit on a receiver is easier than QB.
But they also looked completely gassed in the second half.
my associate’s stride close aunty makes $98 an hour on the portable workstation……….Afterg an average of 19952 Dollars monthly,I’m finally getting 97 Dollars an hour,just working 4-5 hours daily online.….. Weekly paycheck… Bonus opportunities…earn upto $16k to $19k /a month… Just few hours of your free time, any kind of computer, elementary understanding of web and stable connection is what is required…….HERE I STARTED…look over here
at………….
➤➤➤➤ http://GoogleBestEasyOnlineProfitableJobsNetworkOnlineCenters/$98hourlywork…. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★