Falling to 3-6 on the season, the Cleveland Browns are going to need to win both of their next two games against the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Falling to the Miami Dolphins by a score of 39-17, the Browns could not find any answers to Mike McDaniel’s potent offensive attack.
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished the game with a line of 25-for-32 passing for 285 yards and three touchdowns, the Dolphins rushed for 184 yards on 25 carries between Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, and the Browns could not get off the field. The Browns found offensive success early, but a Nick Chubb fumble and a stalled fourth down attempt killed two productive drives.
What instant reactions come to the top as the Browns drop one in South Beach?
Tyreek and Jaylen Waddle are, well, who they are
We knew coming into the game that Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were going to get theirs.
These two receivers are the best duo in the NFL and they played like it again today. Hill finished with 44 yards and a touchdown on five catches, while Waddle added another 66 yards on four catches. Even on an off day for them as the running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson were able to take baggage off of their shoulders, the Dolphins had no issue moving the football against this Joe Woods-led unit.
Having two receivers who can take shallow crossers and pick up chunks after the catch, run a 4.2 40-yard dash and still can cut on a dime, and win vertically gives McDaniel a plethora of lethal weapons to work with.
And they did more of the same in this one.
There is a reason the Dolphins do not allow pressure
The Browns can get pressure, and it showed last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the Dolphins came into the league bottom of the NFL in pressures allowed. And there is a reason for it.
Huge credit goes to McDaniel and Tagovailoa. McDaniel schemes up and looks every single down, and Tagovailoa does a great job of locating his man and delivering the football accurately and on time. The Dolphins will not drop more than five steps, and these receivers are open frequently.
Myles Garrett was held without a sack today, and that goes back to the timing and scheme of this Miami offense. The number of times Tagovailoa was asked to move off of his first progression could probably be counted on one hand. The pockets Tagovailoa has to step up into were gigantic.
There may not have been an edge rusher on the planet that could have gotten pressure on Tagovailoa today.
Too many 2nd and longs to overcome offensively
The run game of the Browns was crushed early in the game, and it spilled into the second half. It seemed as though every single first down run resulted in a second and long. And with an offense that is manned by a backup quarterback, this is too much to overcome offensively.
The Browns found early success throwing on early downs, but they tended to get away from that to get the ground game working. And it didn’t get going. Half of running back Nick Chubb’s yards came on one long run that resulted in a touchdown, but otherwise averaged 3.1 yards per carry on the day.
This put the Browns in too many obvious passing situations on second and third downs, allowing the Dolphins to pin their ears back. Both tackles in Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills got beat, Wyatt Teller left in the first quarter with an injury, and the Browns got dominated in the trenches.
It was a bit puzzling as to why head coach Kevin Stefanski stuck with the run on first down as often as he did.
Browns cannot ask much more out of Jacoby Brissett
The Browns quite literally cannot ask a backup quarterback who has stepped in as the starter to do more than he has for the Browns this season. Entering the game with just over 1,800 yards passing and seven touchdowns through the air, completing a career-high 64 percent of his passes.
Brissett added another 212 yards and another touchdown through the air today against the Dolphins. He even made quite a few big-time throws in this game when backup up behind the sticks.
We knew the middle part of the schedule would be tough for the Browns this season. They blew a couple of games that have forced them to press against good teams down the stretch. And yet there is no quit in Brissett.
He is soaking in this opportunity to start and has been a genuine guy to root for. Even if the season has not gone as planned for the Browns, this has to be more production and success out of the quarterback position than they could have imagined.
