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Cleveland Browns have big opportunity coming off bye week

By Peter Smith

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As disappointing as the Cleveland Browns season has been to this point, they have an opportunity to change the feel of this season after the bye week.

The Cleveland Browns have only won two of their first ten games, but they have a good shot to win two of their next three, potentially upping their record to 4-9. 4-9 does not magically make the season a successful one but it would give fans and the team itself reason to be more optimistic about where this franchise is going.

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The Browns come off their bye week with 3 straight home games – Baltimore, Cincinnati and San Francisco. The Ravens were one of the Browns 2 victories this season and while they beat the Rams this past week, Baltimore lost their starting quarterback and running back for the season. Their season has been arguably even more disappointing than the Browns, but the Ravens go from Joe Flacco and Justin Forsett to Matt Schaub and Buck Allen.

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The 49ers, just like the Ravens, are on their backup quarterback with Colin Kaepernick out for the season. And their starting running back, Carlos Hyde, has been dealing with stress fractures and has missed their past 3 games. The 49ers are hopeful he can start getting back onto the field and working this week, but their current tailback is Shaun Draughn, who was on the Browns earlier this season.

In between those 2 games, the Browns also host the Bengals, where they will be a substantial underdog. The Bengals are one of the best teams in the league and while they have dropped their last two games, they are well on their way to a division title. Nevertheless, even that game offers an opportunity for the Browns to showcase improvement.

One of the reasons that fans are optimistic is the play of quarterback Johnny Manziel. He had the best game of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers in defeat and his current track has him making marked improvements every week. Now with the bye week, the hope is the time off have allowed the coaching staff to increase his comfort level and work to get the players around him clicking better.

The combination of the Ravens and 49ers looking quite beatable is certainly an opportunity for him to create some momentum for himself, but the fact they also host the Bengals, Manziel will have an opportunity to see the same opponent and try to make adjustments and improve upon the previous performance.

It would not be a huge bar to clear for Manziel, but getting to face the same playoff caliber team twice and improving against them could give the team direct tangible evidence of his growth as a player. Obviously if he and the team are able to pull off the victory they failed to do against the then undefeated Denver Broncos, it would add another chapter in Manziel’s football legacy dating back to college.

Beyond Manziel, the bye week provides an opportunity for the Browns to address some major issues and bolster their performance on both sides of the ball. Finding any kind of running game on offense while defensively, finding consistency in both who is playing corner as well as how they are using their defense around them.

The bye week allows for a team to do some install and spending time on trying to address some issues that the normal game week. Both from the standpoint of really being able to figure out what they want to do to address the issue then being able to stop and teach those concepts In the season, knowing what guys are bringing to the table, it is a completely different perspective than in training camp.

As it relates to running the football, the loss of their offensive line coach Andy Moeller was detrimental. They found a replacement, but being able to stop and address some of the issues they have had as it relates to run blocking, finding and isolating where they win and being able to exploit those areas.

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They also need to figure out what, if anything, they can get from the ancillary positions such as tight ends and their fullbacks in the running game. If someone can contribute, they should use them, but if not, they might be better served simply spreading the opponent out than getting bad blocking on the inside.

Their their running backs have to perform better in the running game, take the proper lanes and get more out of them when they do. Duke Johnson is obviously a rookie and they have found ways to get him to produce, but this may have been the time to see if they can get him more comfortable and effective as a runner and blocker. Getting more consistency from Isaiah Crowell and then if they plan to use Glenn Winston, now is the time to get him ready to go.

The last part of this equation and the one that could make the biggest difference is Manziel. Against the Steelers, he showed progress in being able to check into the right play and exploit what he saw in the defense. If he can build upon that and put the running game into the right calls given what defenses are showing, that could be as impactful as anything else they do. This is an area where Josh McCown did not perform at a terribly high level and it is a big opportunity for Manziel to help the team and make his own job easier.

Defensively, so much of this bye week is about the rookies and young players simply feeling more comfortable and being able to react more, feeling confident enough to be aggressive. Specifically, Danny Shelton and Nate Orchard are coming off of their best games against the Steelers and if they can use that as a possible springboard, it could really bolster the defense. That extends to players like Xavier Cooper, Jamie Meder, Chris Kirksey and Ibraheim Campbell.

Sep 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns linebacker Nate Orchard during pre-game at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

If those players feel more confident and are reacting more instead of thinking about their role on a given play, it could yield more production on the run defense but perhaps spur a pulse in the pass rush. Outside of some occasional blips on the radar, the pass rush has largely been nonexistent, which has hurt their secondary.

The secondary has been victimized for two main reasons. First, the pass rush being virtually useless in a number of games and simply having to cover an unrealistic amount of time. And second, how often they are finding themselves on an island without any help over the top. Basically, Defensive Coordinator Jim O’Neil is expecting perfection and not shockingly, the corners are falling short.

The other part of this equation is the Browns need to pick the corners they want to roll with and stick with them. Their bizarre rotations during games are doing far more harm than good. For a position that the defensive backs coach Aaron Glenn preaches is a feel and getting into a flow, his defensive coordinator is doing the exact opposite.

Until Joe Haden is truly healthy, which may not be possible this season, the Browns should roll with Tramon Williams and Pierre Desir on the outside with K’Waun Williams in the slot. If they want to use Charles Gaines, he should be used as the dime back. Stop the Johnson Bademosi experiment. He is an excellent special teams player, but that is where it ends. If they need an outside corner behind Desir and Williams, it should be Justin Gilbert, who has shown he can also contribute on special teams. It really should be that simple.

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The Ravens game is a huge opportunity for the Browns. If they can take full advantage of the bye week and come out looking more confident on defense while adding to what they do well on offense, this team can look substantially better as they finish the season. If that can turn into wins against the Ravens and 49ers, suddenly the team and season has a completely different feel and they may be able to roll that over into a positive ending to the season.

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