Well, week 4 is over and I, for one, am upset with everything Browns this week. Especially the refs, but I will touch on that later. I mean for Christ’s sake, blowing a lead in the fourth quarter to a team who forgets how to play football in the second half? Come on. The Browns lost 42-45 in an overtime heartbreaker to the Raiders. There is a lot of good to be taken from this game but also a lot of bad. On the surface, we are no longer a gimme game. You must show up if you want to beat us this year, which is a nice feeling.
I have a friend, a long suffering Browns fan, who has been a season ticket holder for 10+ years now and has been through some SHIT, much like the rest of us, but live. So, he is going to give us a one liner explaining each week’s performance through his eyes from here on out. This week’s quote, “I am speechless.” Yikes. Go Browns.
Once again, we will start with the offense.
Quarterback
Baker Mayfield played well enough to lead to a win, but he had plenty of mistakes as well. Some costly ones at that. But he provides that fire the team has been longing for, watching him sprint down the field after Nick Chubb ripped off his first big run of the game. Awesome to see, lots of energy, the guy wants to win. He had 4 turnovers total, 1 of which was not on him it should have been caught, but nonetheless, it went for a pick 6. He also had 2 fumbles, allowing the Raiders to start a drive within our 30 both times. That hurts. He did throw for 295 yards and 2 TD’s, the TD’s were absolutely beautiful touch throws that Cleveland hasn’t seen in ever. He’s elusive as hell in the backfield and has Brett Favreesque arm angles when he senses pressure while still maintaining velocity and accuracy. He only completed 51% of his passes BUT Hue Jackson said he counted 9 drops so let’s call that 66%. Overall, he played well enough for the team to win, he will have his turnovers, but I can live with them because he takes chances.
Overall: C+
Running Back
HOLY NICK CHUBB. Fun little fact for you from NFL on ESPN, “There have been over 1,200 instances of a player having 100+ rush yards and 2 TD in a game in NFL history. Nick Chub is the ONLY player to ever do it in 3 rushes or fewer.” Feed this man, feed him, 3 carries 105 yards and 2 TD’s…. those are actual statistics in a real life NFL football game. He will be getting more carries moving forward, well Hue Jackson is coach so maybe not.. but he should. Carlos Hyde played pretty well, getting the majority of the carries again for 82 yards. Duke doesn’t seem to know how to run the ball, but he did get some catches for 45 yards, which is what he’s meant to do. It helps having a QB who is not afraid to spread the ball around.
Overall: B+
Wide Receiver
They were head slamming frustration this week. Catch the God damn ball, its what you’re paid to do. Jarvis only had 4 catches, but he did break the ice and get his first TD of the season which was nice to see. Antonio Callaway played awful, no sugar coating it. He was dropping passes and falling everywhere. I know they were on a baseball field, but he looked bad out there. His drop was the reason for the pick 6 which alone could have swung the game the other way. But, I still have confidence he will emerge as Baker’s favorite target, so we will let this performance slide.
Overall: D
Offensive Line
Did not look bad. They’ve been improving week over week. Desmond Harrison looks to be settling in and filling the giant hole left by Joe Thomas. The Raiders had 2 official sacks but towards the end of the game they were all over Baker, which may be something to pay attention to moving forward.
Overall: B-
Defensive Line
The boys up front only had .5 sacks which is generally not good. They were getting little pressure the whole game and if Derek Carr had any accuracy it could have gotten a lot uglier. Myles Garrett is going to be double and triple teamed all year so the other fellas gotta step up. Side note, I never like dogging my own team but Marshawn stiff armed Myles Garrett towards the end of the game and it was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.
Overall: C-
Line Backer
I really like Joe Schobert, he played every snap again. That is going to go without saying moving forward, dude is a workhorse. Christian Kirksey was also all over the field for his game back from injury. Did not have any stand out impact plays but it can ease any nerves that he may not be fully healthy. Marshawn Lynch can make any LB corps look bad, but the tackling must get better moving forward.
Overall: B-
Corner Back
Denzel Ward was quiet, but teams are getting smart and not throwing his way very often. Very bad news though as Terrance Mitchell wrecked his wrist and is probably out for the season… no Bueno. TJ Carrie came in for him and he looked bad, really bad. The Browns should be actively searching for a CB because Carrie aint it, even as a fellow OU alum I cant defend that performance. Give him a week or two to get his legs under him but if he continues to play like that I will be nervous.
Overall: C
Safety
Damarious Randall is good. He is taking advantage of his opportunity and absolutely dominating out there. Another heavy rotation between Kindred and Peppers, that will continue because Peppers is a hitter at the line but cannot defend the pass game. Which is sort of important as a safety, side note, he should not be returning kicks.
Overall: C
Special Teams
Changes must be made. They must get better.
Overall: F
Well, the Browns could arguably be 4-0 but they are 1-2-1. So, problems need to be addressed and they need to improve, no need to lose confidence. I do not like saying this, but the refs had a significant impact on this game. You can’t overturn that first down and you can’t miss that forced fumble, simply cant. That’s all I will say about that, on to week 5, beat the Ravens, 2-2-1 here we come. I will be at the game, so I will make sure to post some pictures on the @UnderCenterPod twitter.
Until next week. Go Browns
