The Cleveland Browns are 3-1 but the road to that record wasn’t all glorious, and these are the three good and three awful things from Week 3.
The Cleveland Browns are 3-1 for the first time since the Butch Davis era and are riding a three-game winning streak. This is huge for the franchise, the future, and more importantly, the fanbase. While celebrations are in order, the fandom should remember that the three teams the Browns beat, the Bengals, Washington Football Team, and Cowboys, are among the worst teams in the NFL right now.
The Cowboys have no defense. The Washington Football Team has no offense. The Bengals have no…well, they’re the Bengals and have won only nine games in the last three seasons. So let’s make sure our expectations don’t get out of hand. This is a good start and a good team is taking shape but that doesn’t mean the Browns are perfect. In fact, after today’s game, it’s safe to say they are far from it.
The Browns defense is still a huge problem. Even before injuries to Sheldon Richardson and Larry Ogunjobi, the Browns were getting beaten up by Dak Prescott’s passing game. The Cowboys posted nearly 600 yards of total offense. The Browns linebackers are a mess, unable to cover, blitz, or tackle and half of the secondary is unable to do their jobs.
That’s a problem and one that doesn’t look to be getting corrected anytime soon. That said, several things did become obvious about this team on the good end of the spectrum as well. So let’s take a dive into the Browns Week 4 win over the Cowboys.
The Good
The offense as a whole
Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns and completed over 60% of his passes. The running game posted 300 yards rushing and three players had at least 70 yards rushing or more. Kareem Hunt had two touchdowns, while Odell Beckham had four on the day (one rushing, two receiving). Jarvis Landry threw one of those touchdowns to Beckham as well. Austin Hopper stepped up and pulled in his first career touchdown as a member of the Browns. The offensive line kept Mayfield up most of the game, only giving up two sacks and opened up holes os big that a Fox Sports studio booth could fit through with room to spare. These were just some of the players who made big plays during The Browns offensive execution of the Dallas Cowboys defense.
Andrew Sendejo and Denzel Ward making plays
It’s become obvious who the problems are in the secondary and it’s not Andrew Sendejo or Denzel Ward. Sendejo “gave up” a touchdown in the first quarter, but only because he had to cover two men at the same time. Karl Joseph had checked out and drifted away from his place, making Sendejo cover two different options. Ward gave a touchdown to the inside later on but only because there was no inside help from the linebackers as expected. Upon further review, both men seem to be executing their jobs correctly its just their teammates that keep causing issues, leaving both men high and dry. Both Ward and Sendejo had big-time turnovers. Sendejo stripped Ezekiel Elliot to cause a momentum-swinging fumble and Ward had a game-ending interception of Dak Prescott. The hope is that Greedy Williams (if he’s ever healthy) and Ronnie Harrison Jr. can replace the problematic portions of the Browns secondary.
Offensive playcalling from the 1st to 3rd quarters
The Browns were masterful in calling plays in the first three quarters. They ran the ball to the tune of seven-plus-yards a carry and got multiple receivers involved in the passing game. Then the 4th quarter came and…well, not good.
The Bad
Myles Garrett taking key defensive series off
For all the talk of Myles Garrett being a freak of nature, he was the only player that took off the last scoring drive from the Dallas Cowboys. Garrett left the field as the Cowboys were marching on the Browns in what would become an eventual touchdown for the Cowboys. Despite the Cowboys huddling up during the drive in the red zone at least once, Garrett didn’t return until after the Cowboys had already made it a three-point game. Garrett had a monster first-half but was a non-factor in the second as the Cowboys marched down the field. Many times Garrett was getting stood up by TE Dalton Schultz. Garrett had a good first half, but he can’t disappear for an entire half if the Browns are going to win games.
The rest of the Browns secondary
Karl Joseph and Terrence Mitchell are so bad at coverage. Joseph seems to be cheating toward one half of the field all the time to make up for his shortcomings as a safety (a clear reason why Oakland parted ways with him). Mitchell on the other hand had to have his mother call the Dallas Cowboys at half time because of reports of bullying. Prescott apparently wouldn’t stop picking on him. Nor should he have, as Mitchell was giving up big play after big play. It’s no surprise Mitchell led the Browns with 12 tackles on the game, they threw the ball to whomever he was covering.
Offensive playcalling in the 4th quarter
You’re averaging seven yards a carry, and on second and four, you decide to pass the ball? Did Kevin Stefanski get high on some turnovers and think he actually had a defense? Sorry, Stefanski, the Browns lucked into a lot of that first-half goodness, they didn’t ’85-Bears them to death. The gadget play to Beckham was nearly a 20-yard loss and would’ve been if Aldon Smith knew how to wrap and tackle. The Browns got lucky in the 4th quarter and the Browns need to know that. Being lucky isn’t enough. Be good, play to your strengths, and when you have a 24 point lead in the 4th and the ability to get seven yards a carry, YOU RUN THE BALL.
Stop trying to outsmart the other team at that point. Be predictable. It’s ok.
Conclusion
The Browns are 3-1 in one of the strongest divisions in football but they’ll need to be able to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens if they have any hope of making the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Speaking of, the Browns are currently the 6th seed if the playoffs started today. While we’re only a quarter of the way through the season, that’s still something to brag about, because when was the last time you could say “the Browns are a playoff team if the season ended today?”
Kevin Stefanski is the biggest issue as a play-caller. He tries to get too cute and fancy with his trick plays and doesn’t realize that when something works, no matter how boring it is, just keep doing the thing. Stefanski got lucky with his trick plays today, but they won’t always work. The Odell Beckham gadget play in the 4th quarter was a perfect example of a coach trying to be too cute for his own good. Had Beckham gotten tackled at the point of contact, that would’ve been 20 yards and had set up the Cowboys for a big series. Had the Browns just ran the ball like a normal team, they would’ve chewed down the clock and the Cowboys would’ve never gotten another shot to drive down the field.
Yes, those plays worked this week. What about next week, when the Browns play the Indianapolis Colts? They’re the best defense the Browns may play all year, and they damn sure know how to wrap and tackle. Everyone knew the Cowboys defense was bad and they still nearly killed the game for the Browns. Stefanski has got to be more judicious with his play-calling, otherwise, this will be a three-game-win-streak of luck and not skill.
Issue No. 4: Those uniforms this week. Brown on brown? So terrible looking.