NFL Film Study: How Brian Hoyer Turned Just 8 Completions Into 217 Yards For the Cleveland Browns

Oct 12, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer (6) throws the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Brown’s victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week has a very peculiar stat line. Quarterback Brian Hoyer completed just eight passes, but was still able to wrack up 217 passing yards. Since he only attempted 17 passes, that left him with an aver of 12.7 yards per attempt, and an amazing 21 yards per completion.

Hoyer’s eight completions went for 17, 42, 51, 24, 12, 31, 31, and nine yards. That is a nice collection of big plays, and seven of his eight completions managed to pick up a first down. To see exactly how he did it, we need to look at the coach’s tape.

Right away, a few common elements jump out. The Browns were looking for big plays, and they designed plays that would generate big gains. These weren’t short slant routes or bubble screens that relied heavily on yards after the catch. Brian Hoyer was often throwing the ball deep down the field.

To demonstrate the how the Brown’s worked to generate these big plays, here are the two biggest pass plays from last Sunday’s game. Both were play-action passes designed to get the ball to tight end Jordan Cameron.

Misdirection

The first big play in the passing game came on the misdirection play early in the second quarter.  Cleveland comes out with three tight ends and just one receiver. The formation here screams run, and incorporating play-action adds to the effect. The Steelers bite hard on the run-action which ultimately makes this play possible.

The receiver runs a simple post across the formation, and Hoyer rolls out to the left. These two elements combine to pull three defenders in that direction, which leave a massive hole on the far side the field.

After initially setting up to block the outside linebacker, tight end Jordan Cameron (highlighted in red above) releases upfield and is all alone on the far side of the field.

The play-action gives Hoyer the space needed to set his feet and throw the ball all the way across the field to Cameron. With the safety sprinting away from that side of the field. Hoyer has a huge area where he can drop the ball into for the completion.

This is a brilliantly designed play. If Cameron had been covered, or if Hoyer had been under pressure an unable to set his feet for the long throw across the field, this would still have likely been a big play to the open receiver on the near side of the field.

The play design shows that the Browns were looking for a big play here. There were only two receivers who were legitimate options on this play, and both were deep down the field.

Play-Action

Not all of the the Brown’s big plays against the Steelers were so elaborately drawn-up. Simple play-action was also enough to get the time and space needed to get big chunks of yards in this passing game.  Again, the Browns line up with three tight ends and use play-action to set up the pass. This time though, there is no misdirection used to get Cameron open deep does the field.

Both Cameron and the receiver attack deep down the field. The outside receiver cannot get behind the defense because of the coverage being played, so Cameron becomes the only real option for Hoyer. Cameron initially looks like he is attacking the edge to block, so the defenders allow him to eat up their cushion.

After the snap, Cameron closes the distance to the defender covering him before breaking inside. By the time it becomes clear that this is pass play, it is too late for the defense. Cameron has reached the outside defender who is still flat footed. Ultimately though, this route works because the free safety steps forward for no reason, and lets Cameron get behind him.

The important block here comes from a TE on the right of the formation who has to come all the way across the formation to block the outside linebacker. This isn’t a typical protection, but doing it this way helps sell the run action.

Hoyer has time initially, but there is no one open when he sets his feet. Cameron’s route will take him into the area behind the safeties, but throwing the ball too early in this case risks an incompletion.

Hoyer delivers the ball, and then takes a hit from the back side. He appeared to know the pressure was coming, but needed to wait for Cameron to get clear of the defender before releasing the football.
Again, this play is designed to go deep down the field. The only potential check-down for Hoyer is the back whom the play-fake was to. The Browns were clearly dialing up a shot at a big play and it paid off with touchdown.

Putting It All Together

It is easy to look at the stat sheet and thing that Hoyer didn’t play well, and just got lucky to get all those yards, but that simply isn’t the case here. Hoyer actually played fairly well, and his stat line is entirely the product of the team’s game plan.

Hoyer’s 12.7 yards per pass attempt in this game didn’t happen by accident. The Browns rode their running game (36 carries, 155 yards combined for Tate and Crowell), and then took shots deep down the field in the passing game. The Browns came into this game with a game plan designed to generate big plays through the air, and they were clearly successful in doing so.

This game plan also likely attributed to Hoyer only completing eight passes last Sunday. Not only did he only attempt 17 passes, but most of them were low-percentage passes deep down the field.

This probably isn’t a sustainable method of winning for the Browns. Their running game isn’t consistent enough to lean on to such a degree every week. The Steelers have deficiencies on defense that made this game plan work.