Cleveland Browns: Storylines to watch vs. Washington

The biggest key for the Browns will be how Jackson and the offense utilizes Pryor. A week ago Pryor was the backbone of the offense, recording 200 total yards as a passer, rusher and receiver. The Browns usage of Pryor surprised the Dolphins and Cleveland was able to have success with the formations throughout the entire game.

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The Redskins have had a week to plan for the Browns quarterback packages using Pryor and will expect him to also throw off of read options. The key for coach Jackson will be to keep Washington guessing and change-up the play designs and formations using Pryor. As soon as the Pryor packages get too predictable that is when defenses will be able to shut down Pryor’s utilization. Pryor acknowledged the fact that the Washington defense will be centered around shutting him down this week,

Kessler played a solid game last week and showed potential to build off his first NFL start. The Browns will need to rely on him more this week with the central focus around Pryor. The most impressive thing about Kessler was that after a shaky start he remained poised and eliminated mistakes. Kessler made smart decisions with the ball and most importantly was accurate and on time to his receivers.

The following stat shows how accurate Kessler was in his debut. His accuracy was praised by Jackson as his best skill following the draft and it showed against the Dolphins.

If Kessler can build off last week by continuing to protect the football and delivering accurately to his receivers, the offense will be productive. This will also take away some of the focus on Pryor and give him more opportunities to make plays, rather that is as a quarterback on certain plays, or as a receiver.

“(Head) Coach (Hue) Jackson always has a great gameplan. Our job is to execute the plays the way we did in practice all week,” Kessler said this week. “Terrelle was such a dynamic player that he can do a lot of things. He definitely did a great job last week with a lot on his plate and went out there and executed really well. He really helped me out, too. I was in there and then finding him on some routes.

“Coach Jackson does a great job game planning everything and really gives us confidence in each play and why we are running it, and we go out and execute.”

If Jackson and the offensive staff can continue to find ways to incorporate Pryor it will add a much-needed boost each week to the offense. It also gives Kessler some help as he learns on the fly entering his second career start.