And even though Baltimore was missing Lamar Jackson, the Browns defense still stepped in allowing only three points and the offense was just good enough to get by as Cleveland scored a mild upset over the Ravens by a score of 13-3.
Nick Chubb rushed for 99 yards and DeShaun Watson threw the game's only touchdown to Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Cleveland improved to 6-8 on the season and will host New Orleans next Saturday on Christmas Eve in their final home game of the campaign.
Brownie Bits
1) This is a little different than usual because I missed the entire first quarter due to the length of the Colts' historic loss to the Vikings in overtime.
The Browns game was the middle of a three-game Saturday, all on the NFL Network which forced fans that didn't live in Cleveland or Baltimore ( Washington is considered our local city) to miss the start of the game.
2) A major key in the win was the sudden arrival of Baltimore's potential Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker appearing human for a change as Tucker missed one field goal and had another blocked.
Tucker's miss from forty-eight yards was the final play of the first half and his second-half attempt was blocked by Jordan Elliott.
Baltimore gains such a large advantage every week in the kicking game with Tucker that it is a surprise and can be a bit demoralizing to the Ravens when Tucker isn't his usual standout self.
3) The snow that would later blanket the Cleveland area began during this game and fell harder in the second half and entered into play for the Browns kicking game as well.
Cade York was drafted to change the Cleveland kicking woes since Phil Dawson's departure and to narrow the above-mentioned gap between Justin Tucker and the previous Browns kickers.
York missed two of four field goals in this game, one of them an awful shank, and while you can use weather as a reason or excuse for the misses, York was drafted to deal with the weather that inevitably will come in late-season games in Cleveland. (Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh as well).
4) Baltimore was without Lamar Jackson in this game and Tyler Hundley under center didn't have the same zip.
Hundley finished with 138 yards and completed seventeen of thirty passes, which is many more than Baltimore would have liked to have seen him throw.
5) Baltimore received a big day from former Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins, who ripped the Browns run defense for 125 yards on only thirteen carries.
Add to Dobbins's total, fifty-five more from Gus Edwards on just seven rushes, and Baltimore's two backs ran for 180 yards on twenty attempts for an average of nine yards a rush.
Andrew Berry may not believe in the value of defensive tackle when he is shopping for personnel but he better grasp the concept in the off-season because if he doesn't, the problem of stopping the run will continue.
6) The Browns defense did manage to bend and not break and even though the two Raven field goal misses hurt Baltimore, forcing them to play from behind and not pound the ball through the run game.
The Browns ended a Baltimore drive with a fourth-down stop and stopped them on the first drive of the game on fourth down.
I thought that was a huge stand as it established that Baltimore wasn't going to out-physical the Cleveland defense and the Browns would fight back.
7) Perhaps the biggest play of the game would occur early in the second half as Baltimore took the kickoff and marched to the Cleveland fifteen.
Tyler Huntley's pass to DeShaun Jackson is taken away from Jackson by Denzel Ward to kill the drive.
If Baltimore punches the ball for six points, the game completely changes as Baltimore would have taken the lead at 10-6 and may have been able to run the football against the Cleveland run defense more often in the half.
8) And then, DeShaun Watson moves the Browns ninety-one yards in twelve plays for the only touchdown that either team would score on the afternoon, ending with a four-yard pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones for the touchdown.
9) With a 13-3 lead to protect, the Browns then force a fumble on the next Baltimore possession, block a Justin Tucker field goal try, and on the final Baltimore try, sack Tyler Huntley twice, both of those sacks by Myles Garrett.
10) For the second straight season, the Browns defense started the season in terrible fashion and finished the season strong after most hopes for the postseason had evaporated.
The question is this- Which is the true Browns defense and have they saved defensive coordinator Joe Woods's job for the second straight year?
As of now, I'd say no but should the Browns dominate each of the final three foes (New Orleans at home, Washington, and Pittsburgh on the road) there could be a chance that Joe Woods could point to the injuries and lack of depth at linebacker combined with Andrew Berry's lack of attention to the defensive tackles to argue that he was handed a short deck.
11) Nick Chubb rushed for 99 yards on the day as the offensive standout and just missed becoming the first back this season to rush for one hundred yards against the Ravens stout defense.
12) I think Kevin Stefanski is doing the right thing with DeShaun Watson in keeping the offense very basic and not throwing too much too soon at the quarterback.
Allow him to use these games to find his sea legs and then open it up next season.
The Browns didn't spend the draft capital that they sent to Houston for Watson to use him as an advanced Jeff Garcia.
I may add more thoughts if I have time to rewatch the game today.
No comments:
Post a Comment