Still reeling from the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, I had to take another look at the tape for the Cleveland Browns. The all-22 is out and available for consumption, so why not take a deeper look at what went wrong?
It was just as ugly as the first time around, but putting the game under a microscope helps to pull away some more details that were missed when watching the game from a broadcast view.
After diving in, what were five points that stood out the most after getting eyes on this trash heap of a game for a second time?
Jacoby Brissett missed a handful of gimmes
Donovan Peoples-Jones deep, Harrison Bryant on an out route in a high leverage situation, and some questionable eyes and decisions put the Browns behind the eight ball. Despite exceeding expectations over the first two weeks of the season, Brissett came back down to earth.
There were even a couple of screens that were perfectly set up that Brissett was not able to find. These were chunk plays left on the field by the journeyman quarterback. There were even times where he got too spooked and failed to properly work his eyes through his progressions.
Would be interested to hear why Brissett felt the need to get his eyes backside so quickly. 2nd and 9, and looks like his eyes go flat 1, curl 2. Cooper is there. Just unsure what the process was here. pic.twitter.com/ZjwS2DMcpp
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 4, 2022
This ended in Brissett taking a terrible sack, then throwing an interception as he did not show the patience to wait for a receiver to clear through coverage. All-in-all, the Browns are going to need Brissett to play at the highs he saw against the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Falcons came back to a similar concept but picked on a different linebacker
Early in the game, the Falcons came out looking to attack the Browns sitting in Cover-3. Crossers are excellent concepts to push cornerbacks downfield and clear out space underneath for the crosser to find green grass.
Except second-year linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s instincts told him to turn and run and match the crosser. He was able to identify tight end Kyle Pitts and break up the pass. Owusu-Koramoah was a bright spot for the Browns on Sunday.
The Falcons then ran the same concept later in the game, this time putting linebacker Jacob Phillips in conflict. This was called a blown coverage by many, but it was really just Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith calling the ideal play against the ideal coverage.
This time, however, when the cornerback was forced to carry the vertical, Phillips did not have the instincts to get his eyes peeled to the crosser. As soon as Phillips passed off the vertical route, he should have known to get his eyes backside.
compare above to 50 here. Same concept, same coverage. A substantial drop off in ability to sniff out concept and anticipate action behind him.
Not a coverage bust.
A C3 beater beats C3 as hook/curl backer gets locked to assignment over having a feel for the crosser. pic.twitter.com/pZW37UvIAL
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 4, 2022
Instead Mariota was able to find a wide open receiver as the vertical cleared out the boundary cornerback.
Secondary is hitting their stride
After struggling immensely over the first two weeks of the season, the Browns’ secondary is finally playing up to the talent in that unit. Going against Pitts and rookie Drake London, the secondary put the clamps on the Atlanta passing attack.
Turning on the all-22, there was no breathing room for receivers for the majority of the game. They even came away with an interception as Denzel Ward tracked a crosser all the way across the field and fought for the football.
Safety Grant Delpit played his most complete game of the season, Ward was the highest graded defender on the roster on Sunday, and John Johnson III and Greg Newsome played up to snuff as well.
The Browns will need this unit to keep up this level of play as Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and the potent passing attack of the Los Angeles Chargers are next on the schedule.
Redzone playcalling was as egregious as it looked
Stefanski went from calling two gems back-to-back against the Jets and Steelers to calling perhaps his worst game as the head coach of the Browns. Every playcaller has bad games, and Stefanski’s seat is safe, but the redzone woes were tough to watch on tape.
Jake Burns, a film specialist and content creator for The OBR, put it the best:
“While they don’t need to rewrite how they work in these situations, Stefanski needs to do his best to keep it simple when tight to the goal line. He has the horses needed to run through people or drop an easy play-action on defenses. When they are forced to throw from the shotgun looks, though, he would be wise to add more creativity in my opinion.”
It is a tough look to have the football at the one yard line twice and only come away with three total points. This game was certainly there for the taking, and a good amount of blame can fall back onto the head coach in this one.
This is not the game to come after DC Joe Woods for
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods called his most exotic game of the season defensively. He did a great job of bringing disguised pressures, rotating safeties, and keeping Mariota on his toes.
However, at some point, the players that are forced on the field are going to play like they were forced on the field. Missing almost the entirety of their interior defensive line, the Browns were forced to play a second-year day-three pick in Tommy Togiai, a practice squad player in Isaac Rochell, a third round rookie being thrown into a trial-by-fire in Alex Wright, and a couple of day-three rookies in Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Thomas.
anytime you can give a RG free reign to the second level, you just have to do it. pic.twitter.com/pKEbnbXHrq
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 4, 2022
Not to mention the absense of starting MIKE linebacker Anthony Walker. The drop-off between him and Phillips has been steep.
ah yes. Three guys in the A-gap. Just how it was drawn up. pic.twitter.com/3BzQZIf5lN
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 4, 2022
It is really hard to be a productive team against the run for four quarters with this little depth and talent up front. With Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney, and Taven Bryan all potentially back against the Chargers, matched with the rise of the secondary, the Browns may actually match up well this week.
