Posted on Monday 30 October 2006 by Kenny Roda @ 12:18 pm
Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!
Yes, the Browns were victorious on Sunday, 20-13 over the Jets, but was it really because of the offense and the way they executed the play calls of new offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson? Lets dive into the numbers and facts and you tell me if you agree with what Kellen Winslow Jr. told me: “J.D. is an awesome coach, he did an awesome job!”
- The Browns scored 20 points, which is 5.3 points more than their 2006 season average.
- The Browns gained 267 total yards. That’s 22 more than their season average.
- The Browns rushed for 147 yards against a Jets defense that, on average, gives up 142 yards per game (NFL rank 28th). But the 147 yards by the Browns is 79 more yards than their season average.
- The Browns threw for a net of 120 yards, or 57 less yards than they have been averaging.
- Charlie Frye was 15 of 22 for 141 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for a quarterback rating of 81.8. Charlie’s seasonal QB rating coming into the game was 68.8.
- Rueben Droughns carried the ball 33 times for 125 yards and one score.
- Kellen Winslow Jr. caught 7 passes for 76 yards and 1 touchdown.
- The Browns were 7 of 17 in 3rd down conversions, while last week they were 1 for 11.
- The Browns won the time of possession battle, keeping the ball for a total of 35 minutes and 11 seconds.
- The Browns had a 20-3 lead, but had to hang on for the win and did so, despite going three and out on offense in their final three series (which gained a total of 1 yard) and with getting a favorable call at the end of the game that kept the Jets from forcing overtime.
So when it’s all said and done, and yes the Browns did win their second game of the year, did Cleveland’s offense really perform that much better than it did in the previous 6 games with Maurice Carthon calling the plays? I’m looking forward to your thoughts!
Also listed under: Kenny Roda
I think they performed much better, because they moved the ball very well and scored early. The yardage stats are skewed a little because they were sitting on a lead in th fourth quarter.
In previous games, the Browns had numerous three-and-outs to start the game. Yesterday, the offense was on fire early on and that set things up for them to run out the clock late in the game. They developed a game plan that worked based on the defense they were facing.
Kenny,
Yes and no.
GOOD:
1. The run game was much better, period. Our line was actually openning holes for Droughns who had 125. We all know over 100 yards is good.
2. Winslow was clutch and had a lot of receptions, yardage and a TD a good sign of things to come,
3. Charlie had a good completion percentage and his yards were hurt with sacks.
4. Third down conversions, what are those? At least play action pass had a possibility of actually fooling the defense.
5. Time of possession in our favor, Whats that?
BAD
1. Go for the jugular!!! I HATE PREVENT OFFENSE!!! Go with what got you there!!
2. Some stats were remarkably similar, should we still be concerned, absolutley but remember it’s only been a week.
3. Passing yardage was down which means we still need to get the sacks down and keep throwing in the fourth quarter (see #1 above)
4. NO TURN OVERS. Can we get at least ONE game where we don’t have a turn over?
5. BLITZ, PLEASE BLITZ. I am sick of watching every other team blitz and sack Charlie while we sit back and let them basically catch up by the end of the game.
And last Kenny, I watched that catch at the end from many angles and at slow speed and I will argue with anyone that although you can guarantee that one foot would have come down in bounds, you can not convince me that both WOULD have. The receiver was moving towards the sideline at a sharp angle and I think would have had a VERY HARD time getting both feet in. Lets thank god for no review in that circumstance because as we know the OIC factor would have been factored in and we would have lost the review no matter what I or any of us Brown’s fans thought.
Football is not rocket science. Most Clev fans could readily see that Mo Carthon was clueless when it came to running an offense. So why it took Romeo that long to can him is beyond me. Results from just one game aren’t much to go on, but anybody with any amount of sense could see a difference this week. I have said for a long time that Romeo’s expertise is on the defensive side of the ball. The def held the Jets to 6 points!!!— –IF we could get somebody on the offensive side with similar expertise, we might have something…. This Davidson guy just might be that guy.. We’ll have to give him time though. He’s not going to be able to perform magic in one week.
Our offense was marginally improved. It all comes down to the O line. They looked great in the first half and poor in the second half. We need more consistency there.
Other observations:
Is Ryan Tucker really missed? He was beaten like a stepchild in the last few games he played in and now he’s out with some mysterious illness.
Where was Joe Jurevicius - was he being punished for 2 droped balls the previous week?
What’s up with Joshua Cribbs!?! He’s had two consectuive horrible games!
I agree with Scott - it would be hard to convince me the receiver would have landed both feet inbounds. It could have happened, but it would have been an outstanding catch.
Roadman,
Go Browns… The steelers are officiailly in last place in the AFC North. Browns can beat Oakland and the steelers can’t…hahahaha.. Just poking some fun at ya roadman, keep up the good work on the columns.
I think the question is will he make that much of a difference. I think not.Remember when the Cavs fired Silas and they played great the next game against Detroit and then went to lose every game. Blood and hype-then you revert back to who you really are. We put up 20 points at home against the worst defense. We’ve put up better than that against better defenses this year. Much crisper? Precise? Whatever. We play Chargers(Merriman), Atlanta(Abraham),Pitt(Porter) within the next 4 weeks and the first 2 are on the road. Let’s see what’s happening then.
i don’t ‘expect’ a win this sunday in san diego, but i would like to see them at lease make it a competitive game. that would help solidify the decision to let carthon go and have davidson take over in my eyes.
No Merriman which is huge, So if we can contain LT maybe we have a snowball’s chance in hell of an upset!
Roadman,
The Browns last week as a team were enthusiastic, energetic, and motivated by the Mo’s release. What I saw was a commitment to run the ball (which in our division is key), coordinated player insertions, and a different scheme of using the players on the field (a flanker screen to Edwards, and Cribbs over the middle).
But I also saw an inexperienced team, that made mistakes. I have never in my years seen a punt returner completely miss the ball. But the mistake didn’t cost them.
So as a team they improved, but still need improvement. But at least now the offensive coordinator is in the booth where he can make the needed adjustments, and see the field. I have never bought into the idea that the offensive coordinator needed to be on the field to get a feel for the game. Talk to the head coach through the headset and work together. That I did see.
Kenny,
is it possible that the browns o-line actually played better. as this new offense comes together, the o-line will continue to make holes and give charlie time to get the ball off.
on a better note, why are you not talking about “your” steelers this year on the air. last year you could not get enough of them?
Roadman,
We cant judge J.D. on one game. I think he will do o.k. with what he has to work with. All we need is O. linemen next year and our offense will do fine. We cant win with what we have. Just look at some of the disapointing teams this year, Dallas, Arizona, Tampa Bay, they all have trouble on the O. line its as simple as that. Edgerin James is the same back he was last year but his production sucks, just think if he would have been drafted by Arizona, he would have been a bust.
They went conservative in the 4th quarter, and pulled a win out of their asses. They will not get away with that in San Diego. I don’t expect them to win this one, The Chargers defense is better than the Jets.
That is what happens when you establish a running game and stick with it. Sparky is right in saying we can’t be too quick to judge, but what I saw shows me some promise, and I can’t wait to see if that progress continues.
I see the O-Line continuing to get better, and with Merriman missing in the San Diego D, I truly believe we can move the ball and score some points.
The true question of the game this week will be, “Can we stop Tomlinson?”
Answer: If we are able to keep 8 in the box early and often, yes. Rivers has looked good, but I don’t see him having a big day against the Browns.
I’m not drinking the Kool Aid. They played Carthon like in the 4th quarter, and with the aid of a questionable play, they were able to pull out a victory. I saw shades of Baltimore all over again. But, I will give credit where it is due. All that matters is the Browns won.