Cleveland Browns studs and duds from Week 1 letdown vs. Ravens
By Clay Goodwin
Dud: Odell Beckham Jr.
The Cleveland Browns have one of the best receivers in the league in Odell Beckham Jr., but he had a poor start to the year against the Ravens. Baltimore corner Marlon Humphrey was all over OBJ the entire day — although he did get flagged for it on two occasions — and it showed on the stat sheet. Beckham Jr. had just three catches for 22 yards.
He was the most targeted receiver for Cleveland yesterday with 10 throws coming his way, yet only was able to haul in three catches. He also negated one of his catches as he had an offensive facemask penalty that cost the team 15 yards. On another chance, he stepped out of bounds and never reestablished which resulted in an incompletion.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment from OBJ in week one was a crucial drop as the Browns were driving late in the first half. With under a minute to go, and deep in Ravens’ territory, Mayfield hit OBJ across the middle for what would have resulted in a first down, but Beckham dropped it. It then resulted in the Browns having to attempt a field goal, which Austin Seibert missed.
The Ravens then went down the field in under a minute and scored a touchdown. Had OBJ caught the ball, it could have resulted in a touchdown for the Browns, a closer field goal attempt, or at the very least prevented the Ravens from scoring again before the half. It ultimately was a 10 to 14-point swing.
OBJ is definitely a weapon for Cleveland and is capable of dominating defenses. Hopefully, he puts Week 1 behind him and gets back to the player he usually is. The Ravens probably have the best corner duo in the league, so he will have chances against easier backfields.