Cleveland Browns strengths anything but in loss to Jets

Coming into the 2015 season, the Cleveland Browns were a team that was built to have a strong defense with a ball control offense that ground out the game and limited mistakes. Against the New York Jets, it started out that way but by the end, the areas that were supposed to be areas of strength and pride looked like question marks with onlookers asking what the team did all offseason.

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The Browns offensive line, arguably the best in the entire NFL, struggled to deal with the Jets powerful defensive line in the running game and Isaiah Crowell was simply not capable of making something out of nothing with a putrid 12 carries for 20 yards in the game and none of the other backs fared much better. In all, running backs amassed just 46 yards on 20 carries.

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Earlier in the week, the Browns shipped Terrance West to the Tennessee Titans for a conditional 7^th round pick, which raised a number of eyebrows. Whether they were simply faking it or putting the best face on a bad situation, the game against the Jets made the deal to ship West raised more questions about the deal as well as the timing. The team picked up Robert Turbin, who was waived by the Seattle Seahawks, but he is battling an injury and may not be available for a few weeks yet, so this is the group the Browns have for the time being.

On the first drive of the game, Josh McCown was leading the Browns to the prototype of drive the team had been saying they wanted. The Browns may not have been gashing the Jets with their running game but the combination of rushing and quick, accurate passes from McCown had them on schedule, moving the chains and controlling the clock.

Everything looked promising until McCown tried to scramble into the end zone on 3^rd down and goal to go from the 14 and launched himself into the air, was hit and spun around which caused a fumble recovered by the Jets in the end zone and resulted in a concussion for McCown, taking him out of the game. It was a situation where a competitor tried to be a hero and make an indelible mark on his new team but instead looked reckless and stupid as he not only failed to score but took himself out of the game in the process just ten minutes into the football game.

In all, the Browns ran 17 plays, gained 90 yards and in 10 minutes; everything they would hope for, but were unable to get any points and were down their starting quarterback for the rest of the game after such a promising start.

Johnny Manziel came in and had some early success, hitting a fantastic pass for a 54 yard touchdown to Travis Benjamin and leading them to a field goal, but after that, penalties and three Manziel turnovers continuously doomed the Browns offense and put their defense in bad situations.

Speaking of the Browns defense, they came out performing according to plan. They were able to contain the Jets run, avoid giving up big plays on the pass. The Jets’ first two drives were 6 plays for 34 yards and 5 plays for 20 yards both ending in punts.

On the third drive, the Browns had a huge opportunity as Ryan Fitzpatrick misread a coverage and threw a ball that was intercepted by Tashaun Gipson. Already up 7-0, A turnover had the opportunity to really discourage the Jets and put Manziel in position to give them a sizable lead.

Unfortunately, after intercepting the pass, Gipson tried running the ball back and did not secure it effectively, allowing Brandon Marshall make a game changing play by stripping and recovering the ball, keeping the Jets alive and putting them in fantastic field position. The Jets were able to score in part because of a blown coverage by Gipson trying to jump a route that was not thrown and allowing Fitzpatrick to hit Eric Decker in the end zone. Coming off of a Pro Bowl season and hoping for a big payday, this was not the start Gipson was hoping to have.

After the Browns forced a three and out, the Jets took control of the game with a 9 play, 72 yard drive with their last drive of the half that resulted in another Jets’ touchdown and giving them a 14-10 lead into the break.

Joe Haden, also coming off of a Pro Bowl year and the team’s cornerstone and top defensive back struggled with Brandon Marshall, who finished with 6 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown as well as giving up a big play to Chris Owusu.

On the whole, the statistics do not look all that bad, but the Browns had some issues setting the edge and making run fits, disrupting Fitzpatrick in the passing game and just were unable to come up with enough big plays in tight spots. Two of the most damning of the statistics were 3rd down where the Jets were 7/13 and 154 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns at 4.3 yards per attempt.

The notable exception where the Browns’ defense came up big was the Jets first drive of the game when the Browns came up big on a 4^th and short play when the defensive line led was able to stop Tommy Bohanon short and get the ball back for the offense, leading to their lone touchdown.

Going forward, the Browns have to clean up some issues in their rushing defense particularly, but getting more production in terms of a pass rush and simply making the plays they should. Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer believe they have the players for this defense to work, which is why there is pressure on the coaching staff to get the players to deliver going forward.

The offense does not have much in terms of answers going forward but obviously the Browns need to avoid the penalties (12 for 109 yards) and at least cut down on the turnovers, having 5 in their debut. Those issues reflect poorly on the coaching staff and will undoubtedly be a focus as they prepare to host the Tennessee Titans, coming off of a lopsided victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The combination of the strength of the Jets defensive line and the talent in their secondary certainly exacerbated the Browns offensive woes but the Browns need to simply execute better with the areas they can control. This week is a big test for the Browns, but particularly head coach Mike Pettine as he seeks to show that he is the man for the job. Pettine owned it, which is good, but now it is time to get back to work and fix it. If this team is going to be competitive this year, the strengths this team has have to indeed be the cornerstones for which this team can build.

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