After the Cleveland Browns’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Deshaun Watson revealed that he told head coach Todd Monken at halftime to trust him with the ball in his hands.
Monken did just that, and Watson delivered by completing 17-of-21 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 18 rushing yards, in the second half.
Monken’s trust in Watson and the quarterback’s execution led Cleveland to its first win of the season. If the Browns want to keep winning games, the head coach will have to trust his quarterback even more.
While Monken has been Watson’s biggest defender this year, it was clear on Sunday that his trust in the quarterback is actually a work in progress.
That was evident whenever the Browns faced third-and-long. Monken was very conservative when facing those circumstances early in the game, and that won’t be sustainable if Cleveland plans to keep winning games.
Browns offense must be better on long third downs
The Browns were 0-for-6 on third downs in the first half of Sunday’s game, and all of them were long third downs. While long third downs are already problematic and played a big part in the lack of conversions, the play calling didn’t do Cleveland any favors.
The only thing the play calling did was make it seem like Monken didn’t have faith in Watson to make a play or protect the ball.
The first third down was a third-and-7, and Cleveland ran the ball for a gain of 2 yards. The Browns then faced a third-and-8, and they threw a quick screen to a running back who was split out wide as a wide receiver. The play only gained 7 yards.
Cleveland’s next third down was a third-and-12, and Watson threw a pass to Harold Fannin Jr. that was well short of the sticks. Fannin dropped the ball, though, so it didn’t even matter. The Browns faced a third-and-11 on their next series, and Watson was sacked.
Cleveland then had a third-and-25, where the team wisely ran the ball to set up a punt, but the Browns ended the half with a third-and-7 where Watson completed a 6-yard pass to KC Concepcion.
So from passive calls to a lack of execution, Cleveland clearly isn’t comfortable in third-and-long situations. Obviously, every team would love to avoid those altogether by being productive on the first two downs, but being successful on tough third downs is a necessity for accomplishing anything meaningful in football.
The good news is that the Browns were 5-of-7 on third downs in the second half. However, they were all relatively short. Cleveland faced a third-and-3, third-and-6, third-and-13, third-and-4, third-and-3, third-and-1, and third-and-2. The problem is that the two third downs that the Browns didn’t convert were the third-and-6 and third-and-13.
This is a clear area of concern for the Browns offense, and something they will have to get better at if they want to win more games.
Add us as a preferred source on Google