Cleveland Browns: Takeaways on offense from the Week 5 loss

It’s amazing what a running threat can do

The Browns finally had a productive day on the ground, and boy what a difference it makes. The main reason I selected the Browns to win in the Dawg Pound Daily Pick ‘Em Pool is that I thought this would be the game that Isaiah Crowell got back on track.

The Browns did a nice job running the football in this game, and enabled them to have drives like the Hogan-led, ten-play 75-yard drive taking up five and a half minutes. Even on the drive where the Browns couldn’t convert the 4th and 1 from the Jets two-yard line, the drive itself was 12 plays for 72 yards and ate up nearly six and a half minutes.

This is how the Browns are going to win football games. They need to establish the run to keep the defense honest and utilize the short passing game to move the chains. I know Crowell didn’t have the best game, but if the Browns can keep getting 140 yards on the ground I don’t care who it comes from.

The Browns led in time of possession by nearly nine minutes, thanks to a nice mix of first downs both rushing and passing. Split right down the middle at nine a piece, the Browns had a total number of first downs of 22 (four first downs are from penalties).

Yes, the turnovers are back-breaking, but if you look at what the Browns did on Sunday between the 20s, it provides a slightly clearer image of the identity this offense so desperately needs. Notice how the defense was able to stay nice and fresh for certain parts of the game?

There are so many added benefits to a solid running game that it is amazing that we’ve just now gotten our first taste here in Week 5, but given the poor play of Kizer and the efficiency of Hogan it makes me wonder if a better passing game will actually create more opportunities in the run game.

Next: Defensive takeaways from Week 5

We will find out Sunday afternoon against the Texans.