Cleveland Browns: Understanding preseason play calling

The Cleveland Browns offensive play calling in preseason can be frustrating, but there is some method to the madness. Well, coaches believe there is anyway.

An issue that has come up with the Cleveland Browns has been their offensive playcalling in preseason. In the first preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, it’s been pointed out the Browns ran the ball 22 times and dropped back for 46 passes, which is reminiscent of the bad formula Hue Jackson had last year, ignoring a productive running game for the sake of an impotent passing game.

In terms of play calling, Hue Jackson’s first year with the Browns was nothing short of a disaster and he’s done absolutely nothing to breed any confidence in that area. How much of that people choose to put on the fact that the Browns were bad and Jackson wasn’t really trying to win after the first month of the season depends on who is asked.

Specifically as it pertains to preseason games or exhibition in general with the game of football, coaches are deceptive, paranoid and trying to work on weaknesses. For Jackson, that may mean showing very little in terms of formations as well as the running game and sticking to basics with the rest of the league watching while trying to improve what is clearly a struggling passing game.

As much as it is a game and a competition teams are trying to win, it’s an opportunity to improve. For the Browns, it’s figuring out who their quarterback is and trying to get something that resembles a competent passing game for the season.

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They run the ball, albeit not enough, but it’s been basic. Almost everything with the starters was up the middle with linemen basically just driving forward. No pulling, very little deception. The times the Browns did pull, it was on a counter action where the quarterback was throwing a quick screen the opposite direction.

Even with coaches who have years and years of data to go back to and know their tendencies, they are always trying to hide what they believe are strengths or play calls they feel can win on the off chance that the opponent doesn’t properly prepare for it and it gives them even the slightest advantage. It might only work five percent of the time, but that is enough for teams to act incredibly paranoid and try to be deceptive.

Bill Belichick is currently attempting to do this with his roster. He’s actually hiding some players from competing in preseason games while having them participate in combined practices with other teams that aren’t filmed for the public or other 30 teams. So they have a handful of players that only the Patriots and the opponent at these controlled practices know much of anything about and with the move to 90-man rosters until the final cut down day, the Patriots may feel they have a slight advantage.

Most teams will default to their draft evaluations on rookies anyway, but the Patriots believe they have find a loophole to hide something from the rest of the league that gives them an advantage. It could work too. It might enable them to stash a player on their practice squad that another team might otherwise want simply because they are more comfortable with other players they’ve had more access to evaluate.

So Jackson has given onlookers no reasons to believe he’s truly evolved his offense this year and plans to really heavily on the running game. He’s not likely to do it either, at least in preseason.

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While Gregg Williams seems more than happy to throw everything he’s got at his disposal at his opponents with no regard to what anyone sees, Jackson is playing this cards close to the vest and the real offense won’t show up until the Pittsburgh Steelers for week one. The hope at that point is that the team will pull out counters and traps to the right while going with some zone concepts to the left, so that Isaiah Crowell can get have the monster season he seems poised to have.

It can be frustrating to watch what is clearly a diluted product when it comes to the running game, because it can simply look ineffective to the untrained eye. The flip side of this is it’s easy to see what the Browns are trying to improve on the offensive side of the ball. The passing game, from the quarterback position, to giving Crowell and Matthew Dayes opportunities to pass protect, to young receivers trying to fight for roster spots, to young offensive linemen that have to show they can pass protect.

In some cases, the results have been positive. Crowell looked good in the debut in pass protection. The young receivers made plays, including a number of those fighting for the last roster spots.

There have also been some major concerns. Deliberately sitting Joe Thomas for multiple preseason games has put the spotlight on the team’s other tackles. Cameron Erving, Shon Coleman and Rod Johnson all struggled in pass protection against the Saints.

The heavy emphasis on the passing game means that opponents can sit on that tendency, putting those offensive tackles in the worst possible position to pass protect. They are trying to see who can really get out there and protect the quarterback. The early results weren’t good. Hopefully ten days and a number of practices will produce a better result against the New York Giants. Thomas is sitting out and Erving is injured so it’s Johnson and Coleman with plenty of opportunities to improve and hopefully showcase the ability to keep a quarterback safe.

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With three preseason games to go, it’s worth keeping these things in mind. The Browns have some strengths they are probably trying to hide from the rest of the league, including just how varied their running game is. Meanwhile, part of the reason the offense is struggling is because they are trying to address weaknesses, particularly in the passing game. Hopefully this improves, but it’s not likely to be a strength and certainly not the driving force on that side of the ball. This season will be critical in evaluating Jackson as a play caller, but those criticms will have to wait until the regular season gets underway.

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