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Antonio Callaway will dial it back, Nick Chubb will dial it up and other things the Browns will do to win | cleveland.com
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns had a long flight home from Oakland after losing 45-42 in overtime to the Raiders, and plenty of time to think about what went wrong.

Sure, the game would have been over if the replay official hadn't reversed Carlos Hyde's third-down conversion with 1:38 left in regulation, but there were plenty of other mistakes in that game that cost the Browns a chance for their first back-to-back victories since 2014.

Coming close is no longer good enough. The Browns must learn to close out games and not let it come down to officiating. They were up 28-14 in the third quarter and let the Raiders score four straight times to get back in the game. They turned the ball over four times, and surrendered a 52-yard blast by Marshawn Lynch and a 49-yard punt return.

They dropped nine passes if you go by Hue Jackson's count.

The 3-1 Ravens are coming to town on Sunday, and the Browns must get it together fast:
Here are some things they can and will do:
By Mary Kay Cabot
cleveland.com

1. Antonio Callaway might need to dial it back a bit

Callaway, who replaced Josh Gordon as the starting X receiver, struggled in Oakland and might have his playing time pulled back a bit, coach Hue Jackson said. He played 70% of the snaps in Oakland. On the Browns' second drive, Callaway slipped on the baseball grass and the ball went off his hands and into those of Gareon Conley, who returned it 36 yards for a pick-six.

It was the first of many mistakes for Callaway, who caught only three of his nine targets for 54 yards. He missed a deep ball from Mayfield in the end zone that would've tied it at 7, and dropped a 2-point pass in the end zone after Nick Chubb's 63-yard TD run.

Callaway also dropped an easy pass in the right flat with room to run and the Browns clinging to a 28-21 lead.

Jackson acknowledged that limiting the fourth-round pick's snaps might be wise. He played 57 in Oakland for 70%, and that might too much for a player who sat out all last year at Florida on suspension.
"Maybe not playing as many plays as he plays in a game will help him get to step back, take a look, take a blow come back and do it again,'' Jackson said. "I like him. Obviously, he needs to start faster in games. I think the footing - I think you guys can see I wanted to take the team there on Saturday and why it was so important. They needed to know what that felt like. I watched guys changing shoes on the sideline quite a few times because that needed to happen because it is different when you are going full speed like that. They found that out."

Callaway, who also slipped on the opening play when he went in motion, rebounded with a big 59-yard catch to the 1 that set up Carlos Hyde's TD for a 35-34 lead with 8:07 left in the game. But the Browns need their rookie receiver to be more consistent, and that will take time.

"Just continue to practice,'' Jackson said. "Some of this inconsistency comes with young players. We're going to have to depend on Antonio. He's going to have to make plays for us as we go. We're not going to shy away from that.''

If he limits Callaway's reps, who gets more?

The Browns might have to consider more snaps for six-year veteran Rod Streater (5 snaps, 6%) or determine if sixth-round pick Damion Ratley is ready for some playing time. Ratley was impressive in camp and could be an option.

2. Nick Chubb will get more

Chubb, the Browns' second-round pick out of Georgia, had his first career 100-yard game in Oakland, despite carrying the ball only three times. He scored on a touchdown runs of 63 and 41 yards, the latter putting the Browns up 42-34 with 4:20 left in the game.

Heading into the game, he had only seven carries for 41 yards, and currently, he has only 10 to Carlos Hyde's 83. That will change, beginning Sunday against the Ravens.

"Unbelievable,'' said Jackson. "He has to get some. Hyde is playing well, but this guy is scoring touchdowns from long ways away. I was impressed. I watched those two touchdowns on tape (Monday), and they were even better than they were on the field. He ran away from some people on the first one and ran away from some people on the second one. It just looked natural and easy. He was gone. They could not touch him.
"He made a guy miss, broke a tackle. It was impressive. We have good backs. We know that. Sometimes it is going to be hit and miss where some other guy is making it happen and then the other guy goes in and does it.''

Jackson can use all of his three backs effectively.

"Carlos has been the bell cow,'' he said. "We've handed it to him a lot. Obviously, Chubb has gone in there and made some plays here lately. Duke (Johnson) started catching the ball yesterday. That's a good problem to have. I think that we have three good answers back there. We have continue to find ways to use all three."


Greg Joseph has been a bright spot of the Browns bad special teams. (Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images)

3. Special teams will get a kick in the pants

The Browns will work hard to shore up their woeful special teams, which has already directly cost them two games this season and hurt them in Oakland. They need to evaluate who's returning kicks, and who's on the coverage teams.

Jackson will have to play a bigger role, and maybe coaching intern Josh Cribbs too. They're horrible and there's no excuse. There's enough talent on this team to be good on special teams.
Among other things, they surrendered a 49-yard punt return to Dwayne Harris, which led to a field goal.
"We need to continue to get better,'' said Jackson. "We have to cover better. Obviously, we need to return the ball. The returner has to return it better. We have to get these things better. We know where we need to become a little bit more accountable, responsible and get some things done by taking ownership and fixing it. I think that we'll do that. ''

The rankings are abysmal

The Browns are 27th in the NFL with a 5.0 punt return average and 24th in kickoff returns at 19.6. In coverage, they're 6th-worst in punt coverage t 12.8 yards and 5th worst in kickoffs at 27.6.

They've also had a field goal blocked, a punt blocked, two field goals missed, an extra point missed, some shanked punts and too many penalties, including two more in Oakland. "We're going to work out butts off is what we're going to do,'' said Jackson. Jabrill Peppers is averaging 4.3 yards on punt returns and Callaway 5.0. Callaway lost the ball once, but it was reversed.

"Sometimes let's just play from the 25-yard line, and it might give us the best chance because we sure were not blocking them (Sunday),'' Jackson said.

The good news is that rookie kicker Greg Joseph has made all four of his attempts, but the special teams must stop being a liability immediately.

4. Terrance Mitchell will have to be replaced

The loss of Mitchell for an extended period of time with a fractured wrist is a blow. His biggest contribution this season has come in the way of turnovers. He's forced two fumbles, recovered one and had a pick in 3-plus games. When he broke his wrist in the second quarter, the Browns struggled. They should be better this week with time to prepare, but the loss of Mitchell hurts in the all-important takeaway department.

"That's a tough loss because I truly believe he was playing well,'' said Jackson. "He was one of the guys who created turnovers in our secondary. Once he went out, we kind of had to mix and match a little bit. Move a guy who was playing nickel out to corner and take a guy who was playing safety and play him out at corner from time to time.

"We did a lot of different things in that way to try to slow it down. That did not turn out the way that we wanted it. At the same time, those things are going to happen. That is football. We will have a next man up mentality, and we will get going.

E.J. Gaines, T.J. Carrie and Briean Boddy-Calhoun are all candidates to replace him. Mitchell was ranked only No. 72 among cornerbacks by profootballfocus.com (for comparison's sake, Denzel Ward is No. 10) but the takeaways were huge.


5. More time on the JUGs machine - and turn it up

Jackson counted nine dropped passes in Oakland, which is nine too many. "We had way too many drops,'' he said. "Period. We had nine drops. Nine. That's not winning football." Even receivers such as Landry and Duke Johnson, who normally don't drop balls, let them slip in Oakland.

Landry said last week that he's still adjusting to Mayfield's fastball, but Jackson is in no mood for excuses.

"No, we dropped balls,'' he said. "No, that had nothing to do with it. Those guys have caught balls in games before so no. That had nothing to do with it. We did not play as crisp early. We dropped some balls. That was very uncharacteristic by us. We have to make those plays."

6. The Browns will send questionable calls in for review

We all know about the highly questionable Carlos Hyde reversal that changed the outcome of the game. But there are other calls and non-calls that Jackson will send into the league for an explanation.

"I don't want to say something that I am going to get myself in trouble about up here,'' he said. "You guys are not paying the fine so I am not doing it. I will send a lot of things in [to the league] - the kicking of the football down the field (by Marshawn Lynch) right next to the official, the sack-fumble on a quarterback (that wasn't ruled a fumble by Derek Carr because of a quick whistle)... Do you guys want me to keep going? The spot. It goes on and on and on. We have to do a better job of being in control of it, not the officials being in control of it."

FAIL!

lol, better now.

I somehow had parts of the article repeated 3 times. I still don't know how I managed that.

To rush for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns in a game in the NFL is quite an accomplishment.. to do it with 3 touches makes you the only person to have ever done it.

It's also amazing how we went from thinking our WR group was going to be this great position of strength to it being a bit of a liability.

Landry is Landry.. Callaway is struggling... Gordon is gone... Higgins looks decent...

I love Landry and all he brings to the table. But I kept thinking, I wish he would've worked on fewer acrobatic catches and more on the ones that hit him in the numbers. The mind plays terrible tricks on you when you're a Browns fan. Terrible tricks.

I cannot see how the Browns can not put Callaway in a position to play more. Rod Streater stinks, Ratley is a project and Willies is...a JAG.

Stick with Callaway. I think hes worth the trouble.

Not if he keeps dropping the ball.

But I get ya, he has talent and is still a rookie.
Gotta catch the rock , though.

I don't think they are going away from him.


I think it is more they think he might be burning out playing as much as he has. He was out of the game last year.

He did seem gassed. He was struggling on the long pass play he caught. Had he had more wind he would have scored.

As out vertical threat, guess what, he goes vertical hard on running plays as well. Run your guy out of the play, then block.

I don't know how the plays are designed, but sometimes a player needs a 5 out jog to take his player away from a running play the other way.

You can't run gassers every play.

I'm not sure if I would consider it trouble... He's replacing Gordon... that has to put a lot of pressure on him in a way.. I'm sure he's heard all the hype that has been put on Gordon coming back and utilizing his talent.

He also has been getting most of his reps with TT... Now that Baker is in he probably has to re adjust to a whole new look and feel for the ball.

I like Calloway.. I also like how Hue talked about it.. Would be nice to see what Ratley can do..After all this is a young team.. Be nice to see what the Browns have in other players.

I firmly believe if we can get a legit big WR we'd be SO much better ... make Landry our possession dude, make Higgins and Callaway 3/4

I think that Higgins has to start.

He was the leading receiver in the game, and worked hard on every play. (including runs) Watch his block on the one Chubb run. He blocked #22 from the 20 into the end zone, without holding. Really nicely done.

I liked what Higgins did. I think some of that is a reflection of the chemistry / time Baker and he have had together. He seems to have a knack for getting enough separation at the point where he makes his cut and he uses his body well to shield the ball away from the DB. I love Calloway's speed and he has shown flashes of good hands - but I am happy to see Higgins some more.

Higgins is one of the most improved guys we have ... i give him props

IDK we have a problem.

Hyde gets better, more powerful the more carries he gets.

We saw what Chubb did last game on three carries or whatever it was. Stiff arm, speed, vision, patience... it was nice to see all the above.

Duke is a freak.

How do we get all these guys involved? I think there's been a poor job doing so thus far.

Good points. I think if the starters stink it up, some others have earned a few shots. We have carried on about depth and competition. The real competition that matters and counts is performance in games. It is not much as far as competition if you don't see the field, don't get touches, don't get targets. And if you do earn your taste of those things, you practice better and play hungrier. Coaches can cause there own problems or solutions to varying degrees IMO. Push the guys with dropsy this week.

I've never been a fan of the committee approach...It always seems like none of the backs get enough touches to get going...

Yeah, I would like see us just hammer it via the run game. Just keep interchanging Hyde and Chubb and mix in Duke on 3rd or 2nd sometimes.

Totally wear a defense down then long bomb on a play action.

This is not how the league works anymore.

I don't have anything to support this but the feeling I get/got watching the games so far is that Haley is still trying to sort out our best player combinations.

The slow start with TT doesn't help that. But now it's Baker's show.

Landry is targeted so much IMO because he's just that caliber of a WR, not necessarily because there's a particular chemistry (think Ben to AB)

He has some familiarity with Higgins, but he's not quite ready to be our feature WR.

Callaway? I think he's still trying to figure the game out.

Duke? Let's face it, Baker is so decisive and is so focused on pushing the ball down field (me thinks a touch more than he should) that Duke's role as an outlet has been severely limited.

Carlos may not be getting a ton of yards per carry, but he's putting in a legit days work.

If we have the players, we can execute... who cares what the league "standard" is? I don't, I just want to win, however possible (that's not breaking any rules.)

Next game will be big for me to see what happens. Chubb made a clear cut case, if it's a small dose of run and with Hyde primarily featured, it'll just be a confirmation no one knows what they're doing.

The defense is down IMO. It's down and hurting. We need the offense to execute to keep our D off the field IMO. And I'm not hating on Hyde, I love him and always have since OSU days. He;s just one weapon though, use them all.

I think you may be a tad short sighted here.

As of right now it appears that Chubb couldn't block in a phone booth. And that presents a problem. We have a rookie QB starting and our opponents are going to test him with pressure. Having a willing and able blocker in our backfield in very important.

When you put a guy in the backfield they know is a poor blocker you're telling them that you're going to run the ball. Should Chubb get more carries? Sure. Can we have a feature back that can't block. No. Until such time as Chubb becomes a much better blocker, Hyde will fill the feature back role as he should.

Before someone claims that a coaching staff doesn't have a clue what they're doing, maybe they should be able to actually understand the circumstances of the game. It helps.

Now it's been posted on here many times that blocking is more mental than anything else and I agree with that. Chubb has the size and strength to do the job. He simply has to apply it.

It's also possible that, now that he has had success, he will redouble his efforts at learning to block.

That could be and I certainly hope you're right.

While this is indeed possible, I would hope that his lack of success at blocking would have been enough motivation to redouble his efforts at learning to block.

Blocking is often a combination of desire and confidence, combined with the know how.

I think he has has the desire, but not the confidence to really stick his head in there. I think that he probably know who to block, but Georgia only threw 291 times, and I really don't know how often he was called upon to pass block. This could be a new skill that he needs to fully develop.

I cannot believe I am going to type these words.

Higgins is the #2 receiver on this team, and it is not even close.

I am really amazed and impressed at how much he has changed from last year. There has been time put in, and it shows.

Calloway will be fine, but right now Higgins is a more reliable option.

I liked Higgins when we drafted him. He was a very polished receiver when he came here. He knows how to get open. He also is an absolute beast when blocking.

I agree ... I am impressed by Higgins and am kinda proud of him. He's risen above a TERRIBLE draft class and situation.

I agree w/you. Right now, Higgins is a lot more refined than Callaway.

I've actually been hoping we would add a veteran WR to help out, but I doubt that happens now.

I hope we see more of Ratley. He's looked good through camp and preseason. Has great size and plus level speed, especially for a dude 6'3. Plus Baker has been throwing to him all season since rookie camp. There has to be some familiarity there

Callaway is going to be very good IMO, but he needs time. We need to mold him. I think we are putting too much on him right now. I would give Higgins more of a role and dial him back a bit and let him get his feet wet and more acclimated to the pro game.

I cannot believe I have seen posters saying we need to cut him, smh.

Chubb needs more touches - I hate it will be at the expense of Hyde, because he is such a hard runner. But Duke already is not involved much so they have to come from somewhere. A good problem to have, but still hard to figure out when you have 3 talented RB's.

Other notes - If selecting Baker, brining in Harrison, drafting Avery and others, trading for juice, etc doest show people that Dorsey is the best GM we have had - idk what to tell people.

I don't disagree on Chubb needing more touches. The question is how many more? As of now he can't block. So when he comes in you're either telegraphing the run or your severely hampering your pass protection.

To increase his playing time by a lot, the kid is going to have to do a better job of blocking.

I'm good with Chubb getting three touches a game til he learns to block. Make 'em count tough guy!