It wasn’t pretty, but there was improvement and effort. A team effort in all three phases of the game. The offense in the first half had three drives all resulting in points, one touchdown on the opening drive and two field goals. The first drive was a thing of beauty, 89 yards, 16 plays, over nine minutes. QB Deshaun Watson was 7 of 8 for 83 yards and a QBR of 109.8. For the half, he was 11 of 15 for 108 yards and rushed four times for eleven yards. He finished the game 22 of 34 for 186 yards and a QBR of 78.8. The start of the second half is when things started to go bad. Head coach Kevin Stefanski got a little cute with his play calling. In the fourth quarter the Browns kept shooting themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. The coaching staff has to clean up these mistakes.
The defense played like they were playing at home. Very aggressive. What impressed me was the red zone defense. Last year they were the worst in the league. Yesterday, they held the Jaguars out of the end zone two of three times. The Jags had to settle for field goals. They just need to hold on to interceptions. They had two right in their hands. Cleveland harassed Sunshine all game. Jacksonville did have 323 total yards, but most of those came late in the game. The defense had four sacks and seven pressures. The Alex Wright sack for a safety gave the Browns an 18-13 lead and the breathing room they needed. The Wright safety was set up by a great punt by Corey Bojorquez.
Other positives, running back D’Onta Foremen may not have had a lot of yards, but the way he ran the ball punished the Jaguars defense and kept running back Jerome Ford fresh. WR Jerry Jeudy stepped up and looked like a number one wide receiver. On defense, LB Jordan Hicks was a great signing. Made the right calls and had a massive sack. The three corners, Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson and Greg Newsome played very well. Newsome gave up a long pass play, but the Jacksonville WR pushed off on his route and of course it wasn’t called.
The penalties are ridiculous. thirteen for 100 yards, eight on the offense. Last week they had eleven for 67 yards, ten on the offense. Make it stop. This game should have been a blowout. The penalty on kicker Dustin Hopkins cost the Browns points because the Jags return man fumbled the ball. Then to add insult to injury the Jags scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The first drive in the second half was a head scratcher. Cleveland didn’t need to score a point, all they had to do was move the ball, get some yards and kill some time off the clock. Finally, two of thirteen on third down will not win you a lot of games. The coaches will be busy this week cleaning up a few things. Stay safe and Go Browns.