Even though the Cleveland Browns lost to the Atlanta Falcons in Thursday’s preseason game, the Browns showed marked improvement on offense.
The Cleveland Browns showed improvement Thursday night on the offensive side of the ball against the Atlanta Falcons . Scoring touchdowns on two long passes, the offense excelled in creating big plays. However, the ability to create sustained drives, a strength of last years’ team, is an area that needs improvement.
As is typical of the second preseason exhibition game, head coach Hue Jackson opened up the playbook showing more exotic looks and complex plays. Jackson also showed the All-11 formation, a.k.a. Star Wars formation, on the second play of the game and again later on.
“On offense, I thought Robert Griffin III did some good things with the first offense. I don’t think we’re well-oiled yet, but I see potential of us being what I think we can be,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “I thought he played pretty well, thought he did a good job of taking care of the ball and distributing the ball to some of our playmakers.
“For the most part, early in the game protection was pretty good. The second half, I didn’t think we played as well. To me, there was a huge drop off, and there are some guys that we just have to get better and we have to get them better in a hurry.”
Here are four takeaways about the Browns offensive performance against the Falcons.
Next: An improved Robert Griffin III
Robert Griffin III showed improvement as a quarterback from the first to second games this preseason, especially on the little things.
The long ball continues to shine as Griffin has amazing accuracy and touch when throwing deep. Browns fans should be genuinely exciting about the potential of the vertical passing game this fall.
Against Atlanta, Griffin shortened his pass drops, which were too long against Green Bay as he often ended at the bottom of the pocket. Offensive tackles are taught to push a speed rushing defender around the quarterback at the bottom of the pocket, but Griffin was dropping into the lane where the tackles were pushing the defenders. By shortening the pass drops, Griffin created a cleaner pocket for himself and reduced the hits he took.
Griffin has also learned to slide. During his time in Washington, Griffin would run any time there was an opportunity. Now Griffin runs when there is a lane open, on a called run, or when a run will help open up a passing lane. When running, he also slides to avoid hits, demonstrating a marked improvement in this area from the days of running with reckless abandon.
“I’m fully committed to (sliding). It’s something that coach has emphasized to me,” Griffin said. “It’s something I’ve learned over my career just with situations that I’ve been in. I can’t thank everybody who has helped me get to that point where it’s hammered in. I’ve learned my lesson from mistakes in the past.”
Next: The run game looks better
The running game made an appearance last night at FirstEnergy Stadium as Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell both looked impressive running the ball as the Browns finished with 102 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry, highlighted by Robert Griffin III’s 22-yard run.
Making a name for himself in the running game is tight end Randall Telfer. His strength coming out of USC a year ago was his in-line blocking, and after missing his rookie season with an injury, Telfer is starting to demonstrate those blocking skills at the NFL level. He also had a great reception in the red zone and his stock is rising.
Perimeter blocking was also much improved against the Falcons. Perimeter blocking refers to blocking by the wide receivers and tight ends, and last night the wide receivers had better effort and results in blocking corners and on crack blocks. The tight ends also showed improvement blocking in-line, but more work is necessary.
“Nobody wants to get the ball run on them,” Griffin said. “It’s not just me running, but Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson and Terrell Watson and all these guys are doing a great job of picking up the dirty yards. Everybody sees the sexy run of the quarterback going down the sideline, but they don’t see those nitty gritty runs that those guys make all the time so I’m appreciative of that. I know the offensive line is, too. Those things don’t happen if everybody isn’t on the same page.”
Next: Third down? Not so much
The Browns were an abysmal two-of-eight on third down against Green Bay in the preseason opener, but they somehow managed to top that against Atlanta by converting just one-of-eight on third down. That is not a formula for successful football as third-down futility combined with the defense’s inability to stop the run becomes a major issue.
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Fortunately, third-down issues are solvable. The Browns need to avoid third and long as much as possible, and last night the Browns were put in that position by negative plays and penalties.
Penalties are solvable and negative plays should be expected in the preseason. On several occasions against the Falcons, the Browns ran first- and second-down plays that still need refinement – most notably the perimeter screen game, which needs a lot of improvement.
Another week in camp plus game planning for third downs will improve this situation. However, it is something the Browns and fans should keep an eye on.
Next: Cameron Erving and Terrelle Pryor still progressing
Every year the media and Browns fans fixate on a single player and nitpick their game to death. In years past it was Mitchell Schwartz and Johnny Manziel. This year the baton has passed to Cameron Erving.
There seems to be a misguided belief that this one individual is somehow a major cause of whatever is going wrong with the team. As a corollary, if this one individual could improve their game, things would go better for the Browns.
Erving is a good football player and he played well last night against the Falcons. There were no miscommunications, blocking schemes were set correctly, and he had good pad level while keeping his feet active.
However, he had a few bad snaps, including one that sailed over Griffin’s head resulting in a large loss, which was erased by a penalty. Unfortunately for all the positives, the bad snaps will be all people remember.
But they are also correctable.
“Yeah, and I don’t want to have to coach that, but it’s something we have to fix,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “That was disappointing to have the ball go over the quarterback’s head. I think he gets it. He’s young at the position and we’re going to keep working with him and get him better because I think he has the talent that we want. Obviously, the most important thing is he has got to snap the ball first, and he’ll get that.”
Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor is also a work in progress. He makes good plays, but he also makes a significant amount of bad plays. His positives are on display for all to see – his 50-yard touchdown reception, for example – while his negatives seem hidden from view. Fans give Pryor the benefit of the doubt because they know he is a work in progress.
Next: RG3 shines in loss to Falcons
Erving is a work in progress, too. Except in his case, the negatives are on full display for the fans while the positives seem hidden from view. It is time for fans to give Erving the benefit of the doubt extended to Pryor. They may find that Erving is better than he gets credit for.