Week 5 has come and gone, and the Cleveland Browns are victorious once again. Yeah, you read that right, A VICTORY MONDAY for the city of Cleveland for the first time since December 13th, 2015. Take a second to process how much time that is. Then you can realize why us Browns fans are acting like we just won a Super Bowl. As always, there was good, and there was bad. But the true takeaway from this is there is no quit in this team.
They have proven week in and week out that they are here to compete and have done so in every game. The defense is an absolute wagon. The offense hasn’t been putting up massive point totals, but Baker has continued to point the team in the right direction and put them in a position to win the game. Jabrill stepped up. Baker has the poise to be an NFL QB. E.J. Gaines balled, and our f*****n kicker made a kick.
BrownsFan1 came in with his comment for the week with, “I’ve watch a lot of bad football, so I am nervous to say they are actually good. Time to dive in the deep end… they are actually good.” I agree my friend. Let’s f****n go we have a football team in Cleveland again and they are ready and willing to beat anyone. I went to the game with him and we were on the edge of our seats the entire time.
I think it’s the years of trauma that make it very hard to watch a game in Cleveland without expecting the absolute worst to happen. But, as always, the fans never quit. In fact, the Browns have the 5th highest attendance total in the NFL so far this season. They’ve sold every seat in the joint for all 3 home games. The boys are buzzin’, the fans are buzzin’, and now the Browns are the real “America’s team”. As always, let’s break down the team by position and give the fellas some grades.
Quarterback
Baker is Baker and I will always get great joy from typing that week in and week out. An outside fool may say but they only scored 1 touchdown blah blah blah. Yeah, but if you really dive in he had an excellent game. But, starting with the bad. He did throw a pick early and admittedly, it was ugly. I am hopeful there was a miscommunication in the route being run because no one was close, and it was right over the middle of the field. It looked like Higgins broke off his route early to cause it, but it happened regardless. The good of the bad? He didn’t let it get to his head and start chucking the ball all over the field. He brushed it off and continued to lead the team with the fire he brings.
Baker had 342 yards on 25 of 43 passing. Not as many drops this week but there were still a few, that’s why I am not getting mad at completion percentage. In fact, according to Sam Monson, Baker already has the highest drop rate among any QB in the NFL and he’s only played 2.5 games…. Yikes. Don’t forget that the Browns also started a fair amount of drives pinned deep in their own territory. It is not easy to string together 80-90-yard scoring drives time and time again, I don’t care who your QB is. That’s not something that consistently happens in the NFL.
Some things that really stuck out to me, even being at the game and caught up in the excitement, is his ability to anticipate and stick throws in very tight windows. He knows where his receivers are going to be, and he starts his throws as they start their breaks. He gets the ball there so quickly that I truly think the receivers are caught off guard. I think it’s leading to some of the drop problems we’ve been seeing. As for the tight windows, the throw along the sideline to Rashard Higgins sticks out. I was about to hang my head for another pick but sure as hell he came up with the catch. No clue how he sees what he does but I sure am glad he is on my team.
Overall, according the PFF, Baker had a game rating of 81.1. The highest of any offensive player, again. Something that may have went unnoticed, but built my trust in Baker even more, was after the field goal was made to win the game. As the fans went nuts and players flooded the field, Baker gave a grin and calmly walked on to the field to shake hands. You can tell he is ultra-competitive and expects to win football games. He was not jumping around like he won the Super Bowl, he simply came to do a job and did it. I told you last week I’ll blindly follow our gunslinging leader anywhere, and I will continue to do so.
Overall: B
Running Back
Duke came out from the clouds and played over half of the offensive snaps this week, and he performed. He only had 35 yards, but he also only had five carries. I will gladly take 7 YPC any day of the week. El Guapo only had 63 yards on 17 carries, but he is a bruiser. He sets the tone when he runs the ball. I would like to see him hit holes harder. When he does, and he gets running downhill, I would personally get the hell out of the way because he is seeking contact. Nick Chubb did not follow up his performance last week. Amassed a whopping 0.7 YPC, but we know what he can do when he gets the right opportunities. It will come.
Overall: B-
Wide Receiver
The receivers looked good. I liked what I saw as a collective unit. Jarvis, with all his ability and leadership, is amazing, but he must get out of bounds at the end of the game. I know he was trying to catch the defense off guard, but he didn’t. It cost the Browns 2 plays towards the end of regulation.
Rashard Higgins showed up to play. He had the only touchdown of the game and as I have mentioned every week, he is so smooth as a receiver. His routes are beautiful and although he may not outrun every player on the field, he gets separation through route running which is what is important. Especially with Baker zipping the ball around. Higgins did sprain his MCL though, which is cause for concern. He is emerging as a reliable, talented target so hopefully we can get a speedy recovery for him to get him back on the field ASAP.
As for Callaway, I am starting to wean a bit on him. He is still extremely fast, but he has seemed to have lost his hands. The drops are officially problematic. Everyone is fast in the NFL, you have got to catch the ball to be a difference maker in the game.
The true eye opener from the receiving corps came from Derrick Willies, who had 61 yards on three catches, including a 40-yard catch in OT to get the Browns in field goal range. I asked myself maybe 10 times in the game, “Who the hell is 84?” Something I am used to as a Browns fan, but what’s different is he actually stepped up and performed. The “next man up” mentality is a real thing this year and these guys are eager to step up when their number is called. That’s refreshing to see.
Overall: B
Tight End
Six catches for 69 yards for Njoku, which is a nice stat line on paper; a career high actually. But, he continues to disappoint me with drops. His athleticism, his size, and his speed allow the guy to have the makeup of a superstar. My goodness, though, catch the ball. It drives me crazy every single week. He had the opportunity for an acrobatic catch, but it hit his hands and fell to the ground.
I like to believe he will turn the corner, but those hands have to improve quickly. It is frustrating, a guy with that size should not be dropping balls over the middle of the field week in and week out. But, since this is a weekly breakdown I will say he had a pretty good week and I am happy with the overall performance. Worth noting, Seth DeValve was back from injury and he had a nice catch. Love seeing big bodies like him healthy and catching balls again.
Overall: B
Offensive Line
The line was very ehh this week. They allowed 5 sacks and 8 QB hits, no bueno. I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Baker extends plays and runs around back there a lot but still he was under pressure all day long. I still like Desmond Harrison at left tackle, but he got bullied all day by Terrell Suggs. In his defense, pretty much everyone gets bullied by the future Hall of Famer, but it was ugly to see regardless.
I want to brush the performance of the line as whole off, but it needs to be closely monitored moving forward. Baker is tough, but he cannot be getting abused week in and week out. I do not have faith in them making considerable strides forward, but I do have confidence, barring any injuries, that they will not take any noticeable strides backwards. Small improvements here and there may be just enough to crack the offense wide open.
Overall: C-
The offense sputtered, did not score a lot of points but also did not look bad. I blame it on losing the field position battle for a majority of the game. And, the cool part about having one of the NFL’s elite defenses is the offense can have games like this if mistakes are kept to a minimum and still win.
Let’s transition to D, shall we? My god it’s fun to watch our defense play. They can no longer be a fluke and should not be slept on, because they are elite. I know I have said it a lot but let me be. I have never seen the Browns have an elite unit but here we are, ELITE.
Defensive Line
The boys up front are beasts. I would let out a concerned sigh if I had to go up against these guys as an opposing lineman. The sacks were not there this week, but the pressure was and that is important. Myles Garrett was quiet on paper, but he continues to be double and triple teamed. All eyes are on the big guy, as they should be, and he still had 0.5 sacks. But, as Myles has been getting most of the attention, Larry Ogunjobi has stepped up to apply the pressure. According to PFF, Ogunjobi has the 14th best pass rushing productivity among qualifying DT’s. I think we’re witnessing a breakout season for him. Manny Ogbah had himself a solid game with 5 tackles. He also got a hand on the ball that led to Denzel Ward’s pick.
Overall: B-
Linebacker
Tackling looked like a pain point for the team as a whole, but not for the linebackers. They came to hit, and they did just that. Our middle linebackers had 33 combined tackles, not a bad day at the office. Schobert played every snap again, which is an expectation at this point. Kirksey had 12 tackles. Fun fact about our defensive captain, from Dan Murphy, he has the second most tackles in the NFL since 2016. Wild. The man loves to hit and there is not a prettier position when performed well than a linebacker laying a clean hit.
I have ripped Jamie Collins claiming he’s not the All Pro we traded for, but he shut me up this week. He was all over the field with 12 tackles, a sack, and a TFL. He looked like the Collins of old, and if that carries on, I will be more than happy to shut my mouth about him.
Overall: B+
Cornerback
Holy Denzel Ward. Give him Defensive Rookie of the Year right now please and thank you. I am going to rattle some stats off about him right now, they may not have flow but they easily solidify how good he is. Passer rating in coverage for week 5, who was number 1 in the NFL you ask? I have an answer, Denzel Ward with a 19.9 rating. Five points better than Adoree’ Jackson in 2nd. “But Smitty, one week any DB can have a great week.” Well friend, he has the 2nd best coverage grade among all qualify CB’s on the entire season with an 83.1 grade, according to PFF. Three picks in 5 games. Some guys may set that as a goal for their season. A blocked field goal, I mean ball out young man, ball out.
E.J. Gaines also showed us what we saw when he was in Buffalo. I mean, he was going to start until Terrance Mitchell was going nuts all season. But, now that he has his opportunity, he is showing us what we know he can do. Gaines was lockdown with 2 defended passes.
T.J. Carrie played nickel this week and he looked much better than he did last week. I may have panicked a bit about him last week. Hand up, my bad. But, he looked like a competent DB and played well for the most part. There was a string of missed tackled by the DB’s that must improve as the weeks go on, but the boys back there looked good overall.
Overall: A-
Safety
Damarious Randall continues to play Pro Bowl football. The Packers traded this guy for Deshone Kizer….. yikes. I think I have found a clear winner in that trade as Randall is taking every advantage of the opportunity he has been given and is leading the secondary. He had 6 tackles in the game. Jabrill Peppers also showed up to play. Looks like he took the criticism he was receiving as motivation to step up and ball out. He was all over the field. He played very well in the run game and the pass game. Peppers put together the total package for the first time in a long time… if not ever. Hopefully it’ signs for things to come because he has all the potential in the world. PFF gave him a game grade of 87, the highest of any defensive player.
Overall: A-
Another week come and gone. Another edge of your seat nail biter for us. My heart truly cannot handle all the OT close games. My blood pressure must have gone up 50 points. But, if we’re winning, it is totally worth it. 2-2-1. 1.5 games out of 1st place. We’re in the hunt and we’re not going anywhere. Let’s put together a streak starting this week. Until next time, cheers and Go Browns.
*stats collected from PFF
