The loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles was both encouraging and heartbreaking for the Cleveland Browns.
With team and fan morale slowly dropping as we got further into the season, the Browns went into Philly and put up an excellent fight when no one thought they would. The Browns easily covered the spread against them and were in the game until the end against a healthy and rested Eagles team in their stadium. That type of effort would go a long way for most struggling teams.
But for the Browns frustration is at an all-time high. Quarterback Deshaun Watson continues to play at a replacement level and as head coach Kevin Stefanski emphasized, he’s going to continue to be the starter. In a winnable and close game like this where the defense held up their end, special teams made multiple plays, and backups played admirably for injured starters, losing this because of the severe quarterback disadvantage stings.
Perhaps this is a sign that things will improve sooner than later, it is at least better to be competitive. Here’s another look into what the snap counts told us in Philadelphia.
100% club
iOL J. Bitonio
iOL M. Dunn
OT J. Wills
OT J. Conklin
DB D. Bell
DB R. McLeod
LB J. Owusu-Koramoah
This list will continue to be led by warriors like Joel Bitonio and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah who’ve provided their sides of the ball the spark they’ve needed this season. Providing some aid on the offensive line are both starters, Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills, finally both playing a full game together.
The most surprising name here is D’Anthony Bell who appears to have filled in for Ronnie Hickman who missed this game with an ankle injury. Bell has received very limited snaps, previously playing a season-high of 21 snaps last week against Washington but now has been thrust into a full-time role in which he didn’t come off the field.
Staples
QB D. Watson – 98%
iOL Z. Zinter – 95%
WR J. Jeudy – 91%
WR A. Cooper – 82%
TE D. Njoku – 74%
CB G. Newsome – 97%
DE M. Garrett – 79%
LB M. Diabate – 74%
CB M. Emerson – 73%
DT S. Harris – 61%
DT D. Tomlinson – 61%
The most encouraging sign offensively is that David Njoku played a near full allotment of snaps in his first true return to action after a knee injury took him out of his first return game last week. The timing is nearly comedic as another starter, Elijah Moore, exited early himself with an injury.
Another new name pops up with second-year linebacker Mohamoud Diabate taking a majority of snaps across from Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, supplanting Devin Bush who initially took over for Jordan Hicks. This would be a career-high in snaps for Diabate who only had substantial snaps last year in week 18 against Cincinnati and previously appeared this season in week one against Dallas before landing on the injured reserve.
Others of note
WR E. Moore – 67%
RB P. Strong – 53%
RB D. Foreman – 35%
CB D. Ward – 56%
LB D. Bush – 55%
DT M. Hall – 40%
Interim starting running back Jerome Ford went down with an injury early in the game and while backups Pierre Strong and D’Onta Foreman both saw plenty of action, it would be Strong who took the lead with more snaps and yards, though Foreman would outcarry him ten to eight.
Playing through injury, the Browns opted for a half-in, half-out approach with cornerback Denzel Ward who appeared in just over half of available snaps. Rookie lineman and second round pick Mike Hall was eased into the mix after he made his debut after a lengthy suspension started his NFL career.
