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Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and PFF notes: Preseason Week 2
The passing game went dead, but the running game was more alive than ever.

By Chris Pokorny@DawgsByNature Aug 18, 2018, 11:07am EDT


Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 2 preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.

Quarterback
Pos Player Plays % Stats
QB Baker Mayfield 32 55% 7-of-13 for 75 yards. 4 carries, 9 yards.
QB Tyrod Taylor 24 39% 4-of-7 for 22 yards. 1 carry, 5 yards.
QB Drew Stanton 6 10% 0-of-4 for 0 yards.

Unlike the first preseason game, the preseason home opener against Buffalo wasn’t a banner day for the quarterbacks, despite a strong running game to work with. One thing I like to think about in the preseason, though, is “what did we try and repeatedly fail at in this game, so we know to work on in better in the coming week?
Last week, it was the running game that needed work. This week, it was the timing and blocking of wide receiver screen passes, which led to several penalties that assisted in killing drive. Baker Mayfield had a touchdown pass taken off the board.
Drew Stanton got a little bit of work at the end of the game, but could not complete a pass in four attempts.
PFF says “Taylor didn’t really test any throws downfield, while Mayfield had a decent outing as he protected the ball and made a few nice plays with both his arm and his feet.”

Running Back
Pos Player Plays % Stats
RB Nick Chubb 30 48% 11 carries, 53 yards (4.8 YPC). 1 TD. 2 catches, 0 yards (2 targets).
RB Carlos Hyde 16 26% 9 carries, 64 yards (7.1 YPC). 1 D. 1 catch, -5 yards (1 target).
RB Matthew Dayes 8 13% 2 carries, 3 yards (1.5 YPC). 0 catches (1 target).
RB Duke Johnson 8 13% 4 carries, 27 yards (6.8 YPC).

Now that is more like it!
All three of the Browns’ top running backs averaged 4.8 yards per carry. I predicted a heavy emphasis on Carlos Hyde this week, and that is what we saw: 9 carries for 64 yards. He and rookie Nick Chubb had a touchdown.
Duke Johnson nearly had his own touchdown on a nifty run, but was tripped up by the turf monster. Cleveland is hiding their usage of him as a receiver at the moment.

Wide Receiver
Pos Player Plays % Stats
WR Damion Ratley 34 55% 2 catches, 18 yards (2 targets).
WR Da'Mari Scott 29 47% 2 catches, 31 yards (2 targets).
WR Derrick Willies 24 39% 0 catches (3 targets).
WR Antonio Callaway 23 37% 1 carry, 3 yards (3.0 YPC).
WR Jarvis Landry 23 37% 0 catches (1 target).
WR Rashard Higgins 21 34% 2 catches, 20 yards (3 targets).
WR Jeff Janis 11 18% 0 catches (4 targets).
WR C.J. Board 3 5% 0 catches (1 target).

Considering Tyrod Taylor only connected on 4 passes, it is no surprise that Jarvis Landry went without a catch despite playing 23 snaps.
Overall, it was an uneventful day for the receivers. I like how Rashard Higgins seems to have a good knack for being in the right spot just as the quarterback’s clock is ticking down. Antonio Callaway’s lone touch came on a reverse.
After not playing last week, Jeff Janis played 11 snaps. He was targeted 4 times, but did not catch a pass. His stock is dropping a bit.

Tight End
Pos Player Plays % Stats
TE David Njoku 26 42% 0 catches (1 target).
TE Orson Charles 22 35% 0 catches (1 target).
TE Devon Cajuste 19 31% 1 catch, 26 yards (1 target).
TE Darren Fells 12 19% 1 catch, 7 yards (1 target).
Much like the receivers, it was an uneventful evening for the tight ends. Darren Fells had a catch near the goal line to set up Cleveland’s first score. Hard Knocks hero Devon Cajuste had the longest catch of the day for the Browns at 26 yards.

Offensive Line
Pos Player Plays % Stats
OL Austin Corbett 62 100%
OL Spencer Drango 62 100%
OL Shon Coleman 38 61%
OL Austin Reiter 38 61%
OL Joel Bitonio 24 39%
OL Chris Hubbard 24 39%
OL J.C. Tretter 24 39%
OL Desmond Harrison 22 35%
OL Greg Robinson 16 26%
OL Christian DiLauro 1 2%

The Browns’ offensive line allowed 2 sacks.
Spencer Drango and Austin Corbett played the entire game.

https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2018/8/18/...reseason-week-2

Orchard was really bad last night

I laughed out loud on this one. I actually know Paul Hubbard. We used to work together. He's a Cop in Colorado Springs now.

And here I thought Paul Hubbard was a blast from the past

I'm glad you're still lurking on here.

I thought the Browns looked a lot closer to going 0-16 again than they did look like a team that is closer to going 8-8 this year.

I think Chubb got the ball too often, and Dayes not enough.

I don't know how Hue Jackson, or Anybody can say Drew Stanton should be the #2 Qb ahead of whomever, after this.

Stanton is a seasoned Vet; He went 0 for 4 in the 4th quarter of "preseason game #2 when trailing.
^ Say that out loud.

If this team is 0-16 again I don't know what I'm gonna do.

dont understand people saying the Browns have a "playoff calibur" defense
can someone explain that term to me
and its relevant to 2018.
I thought it more imperative to have "playoff calibur" offense

Offense is more important than defense in 2018. That doesn't mean having a good defense is bad.

Stanton playing with guys likely to be cut in two weeks proves he is a bad QB. How about his winning record as a NFL QB? Guess that means nothing.


Not saying he is a great QB, but to judge him from a 4th quarter of a preseason game is asinine.

At least you know (Vince Young's career record is 31-19, he literally couldn't get a job. Stanton's record is padded, he's 11-6 as a starter, because he played in short stints on very good Cardinal teams.

Drew Stanton has a 52.4% completion rate for his career. He's a poor man's Josh McCown. He is on the team to mentor Baker Mayfield.

Running game was good.

Defense was hard to acccess, since most probably Bills were testing the passing game.

That was it for me.

No one standing out.... and we badly need for players to stand out.

It's the preseason. It's supposed to be uninspiring. For the most part, we are lining up, giving the defense a good hint as to what we're doing, and then seeing if we can execute anyway.

Cowherd was tweeting that the Browns running on 3rd and 10 might be a sign that they are "protecting Mayfield"...

It's the 2nd game of preseason, the Browns have a ton of new/young pieces including a new OC.. I know it's hard to believe, but they could have been trying things or looking at any of a number of things that have NOTHING to do with Mayfield on that play... not every play is designed to test or protect Baker Mayfield, they have a lot of other things to look at.

Haven't read the thread yet, so apologies if these points are redundant...

If this is the sort of game that Tyrod plays a good percentage of the time, I will completely understand why Buffalo wanted to move on. However, for us, I am very pleased. With him in place leading our offense, we're not going to put up 35/game, but going to win several. If Baker is to see the field before December, it will be up to him to really rise above. That's how it really should be, right?

Hyde and Duke are very capable, providing our line comes together and does their job. It's too bad that Zeitler is out for so much of the preseason...between Drango and the rookie, Tretter hasn't been as solid...weird that we've gone from a solid interior line with questions on the outside to solid tackles with a questionable interior.

I know a lot of people are high on our backers, but it is Kendricks that keeps actually making plays. The other guys have been ok, but just kinda there, IMO. From various reports, Schobert is super-intelligent and doing well at running the D calls, so I guess that is valuable. I expected more from Kirko and Collins, though. Ian Rapoport mentioned at one point that Dorsey may not be done with trades. I blew it off at the time I heard it, but could Collins be shipped out for a player or pick? Not advocating, necessarily, just wondering. Also, Avery might be a real find.

I got almost nothing from Baker's time on Friday. Protection was garbage, pass-catchers seemed to struggle to get open. If the plan is to continue to run Baker out with the entire 2nd string, I'd rather they skip him and go right from Tyrod to Brogan next week (nobody wants to see Stanton out there either, right?). If it were me, I'd play Baker with the 1's coming of the halftime for a series or two, provided the starters put up some points in the first half. If the offense really had struggled, I'd leave Tyrod in...don't want to start a controversy.

This is nit-picky, and could be all in my head, but even though Garrett was affecting the Bills quite a bit, he never seems to get all the way home. It's almost like his speed and athleticism take him into AND out of the play. Am I crazy for thinking this?

my friends who like Buffalo are saying FRI night is exactly why they don't want him: he's as vanilla as it gets ... never throws down field, dumps off too much, weaker arm ... he literally will not take a chance.

It won't win us anything of consequence, but it's an upgrade for us

We are not a deep football team.

You know who has a arm like Allen, Kizer.... How did tht turn out?

Mayfield throws the football 60mph which was clocked at the combine. Allen threw it 62mph. Mayfield arm is fine.

Would you rather a guy throw the ball 60mph and complete 65% of his passes or a guy throw it 62 mph and complete 55%? Asking for a friend....

Mayfield has to step it up a lot, both on the throws and completion %, and stop moving like a scared hamster, all plays its like he is running for his life.

So far I've seen BM arm like Colt Mccoy... good enough to have the job done , but I still have to see him throw a good one...

Also that is a good thing when you draft a QB because of the arm , Kizer and Allen already displayed the arm by game 2, while in the case of BM, we still have to see why did we draft him first.

For sure its not decision making, because he's taking a lot of time to get rid of the ball...

so you completely dodge the fact he has the second best arm in football coming out draft, and was by far the most accurate...gotcha.

seems to me we have a troll on our hands, nothing more, nothing less.

2nd best arm? Who Baker?

You are kidding right. BM has hardly better arm than Colt McCoy...

Just take a look at the 2 game highlights from Rosen, Darnold and Allen, or any other QB so far...

Maybe we are hiding is arm...

And so far his completion % has been on the 50's, and that's why I have been bitching about....

I want to see him moving the chains, not running around like an hamster

I already provided the links to you showing you that he was clocked at the combine at 60mph. If for some reason you have failed to learn how to read, that is on you.

Take yourself somewhere else, troll. you are not wanted here.

I couldn't possibly disagree more. Colt could never make a throw on the run like the one to Callaway on the sidelines was. Even if Colt could, there'd be no accuracy in it.

JMO of course

Baker has always reminded me of Colt.. but definitely with a stronger arm.

Oz called, your brain is ready for pickup, Scarecrow.