Attacking the Magic Number, a Twitter Oral History
September 22, 2016Brady Quinn doesn’t want DeShone Kizer to get drafted by Browns
September 22, 2016The Cleveland Browns lost in a crushing way on Sunday, falling to the Baltimore Ravens 25-20 in the home opener at FirstEnergy Stadium. Cleveland started off hot, leading 20-2 after one quarter of play, but the Browns stalled from there on offense, scoring no more points, while the Ravens scored 23 unanswered points to take the victory. In the loss, as with many contests, there were big plays that changed the game. There were big plays made by both teams that were game-changing at those moments of the game, but it would be the Ravens who would make more of them in more opportune times.
It was an exciting game that ultimately ended in a disappointing and controversial fashion for the Browns. In this week’s Browns film room, I will take a look at the big plays that changed the game, either helping or hurting the Browns chances of winning the game versus the Baltimore Ravens.
Let’s head into the film room and examine the tape of Browns versus Ravens.
Browns Film Room Series: Week 1
31-yard TD pass from Josh McCown to Corey Coleman
This is an excellent play by both receiver Corey Coleman and quarterback Josh McCown. It is a play that has Coleman running a streak route against a corner in man coverage and just one safety deep. McCown uses his head and body to force the deep safety to step towards the right, leaving Coleman in single coverage with no help. When that happens, Coleman runs a great route, using his hands and quickness to swim over the corner and then his speed to separate from the corner. McCown, who is about to get drilled by the oncoming rusher, finishes off the play with a great throw. Coleman is able to make the catch and get his feet in for the big touchdown.
85-yard TD Run by Isaiah Crowell
The Browns are lined up in an I-formation with a tight end lined up on both sides of the line. The run is designed to run to left behind the left tackle. The Ravens defense has eight in the box versus this play. The Browns block the play perfectly. Both left tackle Joe Thomas and left guard Joel Bitonio pinch down the line to open the gap. Right guard John Greco makes one of the most important blocks on the play when he pulls into the hole and takes on the oncoming linebacker on the inside of the hole.
The other important block comes from fullback Malcolm Johnson, who blocks the other linebacker trying to fill the hole. Johnson completely drives the linebacker out of the way, making the hole clean for Crowell to run through. Once the blocks are made, Crowell just uses his speed to outrun the defense for the touchdown.
Joe Flacco 30-yard pass to Dennis Pitta
This was a big play in the second quarter. The Browns defense was one play from stopping the Ravens offense on another drive and keep the score at 20-2. The Ravens, however, were able to convert this 3rd-and-5 play.
They line up with four out wide and one running back next to Flacco in the shotgun. The Browns defense is in man coverage against the four lined up outside with a safety playing deep. The key route to watch is tight end Dennis Pitta versus safety Jordan Poyer. Pitta is running a quick out route right at the sticks. Poyer is in off coverage and Pitta runs a sharp route with Flacco delivering a perfect pass to the outside, allowing only his tight end to catch it.
Poyer does not have much he could have done in the off coverage, but his lunge toward the ball was not smart. He really had no chance at tipping the pass, so he should have kept his feet and gone for the tackle. His dive allowed Pitta to make the play an even bigger one, running up field for 25 more yards and helping the Ravens eventually get their first touchdown. The execution by the Ravens was great, but Poyer could have limited the impact of it.
(First) Interception thrown by Josh McCown
The Browns had just under a minute to go in the half with a 20-9 lead, so the team did not need to force the issue and try to score before the half. This makes the play even more frustrating. The Browns had the ball on their own 30-yard line with just one timeout. They lined up in a shotgun with four wide and running back in the backfield. McCown receives early pressure on the play from his outside, but he makes a smooth move forward that gets him into a clean pocket with time.
McCown is clearly locking on receiver Rashard Higgins, who is running a corner route, giving the deep safety the idea to sink towards the sideline, but Higgins is covered by a corner and the safety over top, leaving very little room to complete the pass. McCown rushes the throw and forces it to Higgins. On top of that, McCown overthrows the ball, giving safety Eric Weddle an easy interception and the Ravens great field position to score more points before the half.
Higgins was not open, so McCown needed to look at his other options. He seemed to rush the pass after receiving the initial pressure. He did not give his other targets any sort of attention. It was just a bad play by McCown and a crushing play for the Browns because it led the Ravens cutting the Browns lead down even more.
Joe Flacco 17-yard TD pass to Mike Wallace
This touchdown pass that cut the Browns lead to 20-19 was just too easy for the Ravens. The Ravens line up with three wide after the running back shifts outside. The Browns defense is in off-man coverage on the outside routes with zone coverage in the center of the field and a deep safety over top on the right side of the field.
The key routes for the Ravens are the two receivers on the left running streaks up field. Jordan Poyer is lined up against receiver Chris Moore in the slot, while Jamar Taylor is lined up against Mike Wallace out wide. The technique by the Browns two defensive backs on the two Ravens receivers were down right horrible. Poyer jams Moore when he gets a few yards in his route, but then lets Moore behind him, playing it like he has help over top, which the safety did not give him. Taylor simply loses track of Wallace. He stays away from Wallace in off-man coverage, never laying a hand on him, but he looks into the backfield and at Moore next to him too much, causing him to lose track of Wallace. Wallace fades into the corner, making ample space for Flacco to throw him an easy touchdown pass.
Josh McCown 20-yard pass to Terrelle Pryor
This could have been the biggest play of the game had Terrelle Pryor not been called for a bogus taunting call at the end of the play1.
With just 27 seconds left in the game, the Browns were at the Baltimore 30-yard line. The Browns lined up with three wide, a tight end on the end of the right side of the line and a running back beside the quarterback in the shotgun. The Ravens defense is in zone coverage on the outside with two deep safeties over top. The key route is the 20-yard out route by Terrelle Pryor. Pryor runs past the corner covering underneath and then, cuts toward the sideline between the safety and corner. Pryor settled in to a open area, allowing McCown to have a place to throw the ball. McCown throws a good pass toward the sideline and Pryor makes a good leaping catch to bring in the pass while receiving contact from the closing safety. It should have been a huge play for the Browns.
(Second) Interception thrown by Josh McCown
After a rough call on the previous play, the Browns were down to just 21 seconds to score a touchdown from the Baltimore 30-yard line. The Browns line up with three wide, a tight end on the right side of the line and a running back beside the quarterback in the shotgun. On the far right, Terrelle Pryor is running a post route to the end zone. Inside of him is Andrew Hawkins, who is run a short out route to the sideline. Gary Barnidge is on the end of the right side of the line running a crossing route. And Corey Coleman is on the far left running a streak route to the endzone. Duke Johnson is the dump off option out of the backfield. The Ravens defense is in a zone coverage all across the field.
The play is pretty well blocked by the Browns offensive line at the beginning, giving McCown time to search the field for an open target. With the little time on the clock, McCown could not throw the ball anywhere besides the end zone or to a receiver on the sideline. McCown surveys the field, but then feels a Ravens defendse getting free in front of him. This pretty much blows up the play.
McCown rushes his throw and decision. He throws off his back foot to Pryor, who is guarded by a safety over top and a linebacker underneath. The throw was just not there and on top of that, he throws a horrible floating pass—even a 6-4 receiver can’t haul this one in.
On the play, McCown had two better options. The best option is Hawkins running toward the right sideline. The Ravens defense had sunk back, allowing Hawkins to run free underneath. He could have picked up yards after the catch and then get out of bounds to stop the clock. The other option is Coleman on the left side of the field, running a streak route to the endzone. Coleman had run past the underneath coverage, giving McCown a slight window to whip a pass to Coleman. The safety was over top, but a pass could have been thrown in the endzone, where only Coleman could have caught it. McCown, however, chose neither of those decisions, deciding to throw to Pryor, which ended in an interception.
Highlight of the Game
The highlight of the game for the Browns was receiver Corey Coleman. In the loss, Coleman caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He showed what made him the Browns first round pick. He used his speed to run past the coverage for a deep touchdown reception. He used his agility and elusiveness to elude tacklers and create yards after the catch. It was an impressive showing for the Baylor rookie. Sadly, it looks like we will not see him in the next few weeks because of his broken hand he suffered in practice.
Lowlight of the Game
The lowlight of the Browns loss to the Ravens was the penalties. The Browns were called for eight flags for a total of 59 yards. Many of the penalties were killers, not counting the bogus one called on Terrelle Pryor because it was not a penalty. One big penalty was on Corey Coleman for unsportsmanlike conduct, which caused the Browns to move back and into tougher field goal position for kicker Patrick Murray, who would miss from the added distance. Other big penalties were on center Cameron Erving on a fourth-down play. He committed a false start on a 4th-and-2, which forced the Browns to punt rather than go far the short yardage first down. He also was flagged for being an illegal man down field on a crucial third-and-long. This Browns team has proven to not have the luxury of committing game-changing penalties if they wish to come out with a victory.
- See the GIF above to see how bogus it really was [↩]
5 Comments
Great with these Joe. Hopefully, the game doesn’t change on you next week with yet another starting QB.
hard to watch some of this again … but it was definitely the big-time penalties & the botched extra point that cost them. they should’ve been lining-up for a game-winning FG on that last drive instead of having to score a TD.
I gotta say, I love these play breakdowns every week. You make it easy to understand what went right and what went wrong during the game.
Those interceptions are so, so frustrating. Morse when they are broken down.
I didn’t realize until reading this how unnecessary the first INT was. That one stings.
Thanks for reading them. I love to do these pieces.