Cleveland Browns: Takeaways from the offense’s performance in Week 13
By Andrew Seibt
FLASH…(ahh ahhhhh)…Savior of the Offense!
For those of you who can catch my Flash Gordon reference, I appreciate you and your 80’s movies knowledge. Here, we’re talking about the best receiver the Browns have ever rostered and boy am I happy to see him back on the football field.
The two aforementioned routes where he burned the corners really brought back that feeling we felt back in 2013 with Brandon Weeden under center. Kizer tried his best, but when he launched the first deep ball to Gordon, I held my breath in anticipation for the big plays we’ve been deprived of this season.
Although they weren’t able to connect, the chemistry will continue and I expect to see some of those big plays actually be converted to points.
Gordon had four catches for 85 yards and was targeted a team high 11 times. David Njoku, who also had a good game, had four catches for 74 yards and the Browns only touchdown and was targeted six times. Corey Coleman didn’t have a catch and did not make a positive impact in this game at all, but let’s get back to Gordon.
Related: Gordon can’t pick up wins on his own
I am really excited to see what the rest of this season holds for him, not only on the field but off the field. If he stays clean, he becomes an asset that the Browns have never had before but he remains as risky as they come from an off the field standpoint.
There’s a lot of speculation that the Browns may try to trade him if he boosts his value over these last four games but I don’t see any team willing to cough up a pick that would match the value that Gordon provides when he is on the field.
Gordon opens up the offense for guys like Njoku and Coleman because he is a guy that other teams actually have to gameplan for. You can’t leave him in single coverage, and even if you bring a safety over we’ve seen him beat that coverage too.
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With an actual game under his belt and another week of practice with DeShone Kizer, maybe we can get a better glimpse at what this offense can be.