Instant reactions: Browns performance uneven in preseason Week 2

The Cleveland Browns second preseason game saw the battle of the backups as the starters sat this one out.

The Cleveland Browns got the “prime” time preseason game on Sunday. The 1:00 pm start was broadcast on the NFL network with no other games being played simultaneously.

The Browns and Philadelphia Eagles both played their backups from the opening kickoff. Both Deshaun Watson and Jacoby Brissett sat out Sunday’s game. The starters got their work in during joint practices so giving them a rest makes sense and allows the reserves to showcase talents.

Conspiracy theorists could argue that it was aliens. There was something in the air. Is it a full moon? Regardless of what it was, both teams seemingly forgot how to tackle. There were no punts in the first half. Each offense ran over the opposing defense. It was like professional offenses were going up against your kid’s 5th-grade football team.

Browns might have their QB2 behind Jacoby Brissett

That said, the Browns offense looked good because quarterback Joshua Dobbs ran the offense as it was designed. Later, quarterback Josh Rosen would come in and run the offense effectively, although without Dobbs’ speed. The offense found its rhythm fulling one of the 3 ways to gauge success in preseason Week 2.

The Kevin Stefankki version of the outside or wide zone offense relies on a quick passing game. The quarterback needs to get rid of the ball quickly to put the receiver in a position to gain yards. Thus the QB has to be smart and decisive, not looking downfield every play and holding the ball too long.

The running backs had strong performances as the offensive line started to control the line of scrimmage opening large holes. The wide receivers were open on many plays providing the quarterbacks with easy targets. Funny how when the ball is thrown on time wide receivers are open.

The defense looked lost. Eagles quarterback Garner Minshew made them look silly by executing basic RPOs. When the defense adjusted, the Eagles began doing what every team does to the Browns, run the ball right up the middle and dare the defensive tackles to stop them. This proved effective for them. Needless to say, the defense has a lot of work to do in that area.

On the bright side, defensive end Alex Wright and safety Richard LeCounte III looked effective in the game. After the first series, Wright seemed to hold an edge forcing plays back inside. LeCounte looked like the guy on your kid’s 5th-grade football team that you would swear was a 7th grader. He played faster and better than others on the field. But again, this was against the Eagles backups.

Cade York missed a field goal. That needed to be said just in case you thought he was some inhuman, hyper-accurate kicking machine. He’s human. To be fair, he missed a 54-yard attempt.

Beyond that, the man with the golden first name made all his extra point attempts. He even made a 50-yard field goal. So, while he did miss one attempt, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about Cade York this season, even if he is a kicker.