Browns offense still needs a spark, but these two players stepped up against Ravens

There’s something about the Browns’ offense in the second half that gets clicking. 237 yards of offense on the day doesn’t sound too impressive, but take into consideration that they only had 46 yards of offense in the first half. Ultimately, they actually out-gained the Ravens, thanks to a strong defensive performance. The team playing complete football (i.e. sticking with things to the end) has worked for four close victories, but to take the next step, they have to obviously break out of that trend to the upside.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 6 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Quarterback

• It’s tough to say whether things are processing slower for Deshaun Watson, or if players simply weren’t getting open and he doesn’t want to force the turnover because of that. The announcers kept calling out that players weren’t open, and the few replays that they showed were indicating that as well.
• I think it’s a mixture of both. I don’t see panic from Watson, but at times, he takes off with what looks to be a decent opening to get some positive yardage. That has worked against some teams, but against the Ravens, their defensive front seemed quicker to close the gap and prevent him from escaping. So if that’s the case against a certain defense, Watson has to discover that balance of perhaps hanging in an extra tick and delivering the ball somewhere.
• I feel like part of the problem was the gameplan to try pushing the ball downfield too much early. Watson has been at his most efficient when he mixes in short read passes through his progressions with the intermediate throws, which we saw him get back to in the second half. PFF graded Watson out to a 56.4 on the day.

Running Back

• It was a solid running day for Jaleel McLaughlin, who offers that ability to shift his way through a small gap. Again, it wasn’t anything crazy, but it was something that made me feel like we have a chance on squeezing some extra yards out via the ground. I feel like Quinshon Judkins would’ve been stuck in that 3.0 YPC territory on those same plays, based on how he’s played this year. McLaughlin was the Browns’ second-highest graded player on offense, grading out to a 76.6.
• Audric Estime, just signed, got the team’s lone touchdown of the day down at the goal line.
• Fullback Michael Burton got his first touch of the season, moving the chains on a fourth down play off of a fullback handoff.

Wide Receiver

• Welcome back, Jerry Jeudy, He secured the passes thrown to him well, and they all seemed to come at big moments. His snap count usage ticked up a hair from two weeks ago, and he was the Browns’ top-graded receiver this week by PFF, with a grade of 76.1.
• KC Concepcion also had a big catch late off of a short laser. I liked trying to incorporate him on a jet sweep, but the defensive back played it well. Cleveland was also going to try a trick play with him throwing the ball, but he wisely aborted the play when it was covered.
• It was the first game where Denzel Boston was a relative non-factor, although Watson did try to loft a touchdown pass to him in the fourth quarter (but it was out of bounds).

Tight End

• Not much action for the tight ends again this week. After a relatively hot start for Harold Fannin, it seems unusual to not have him targeted or involved much the past two weeks offensively, despite all the snaps he plays. He ended up being the lowest-graded player on offense by PFF, grading out to a 51.6.

Offensive Line

• The offensive line was healthy and played the whole game.
• Cleveland allowed 5 sacks on the day, but PFF only charged one of those to the offensive line (being on C Elgton Jenkins).
• The Browns’ top-graded player on offense this week? Left guard Zion Johnson, although it was mostly for his run-blocking grade, as his pass blocking grade was below everybody else. Tytus Howard and Austin Barber also received solid grades for their job against the Ravens.