Well, they do say it gets better before it gets worse, which is hopefully true because it’s pretty bad right now. The Cleveland Browns fell to 1-4 this Sunday after a 34-13 loss to the Washington Commanders.
This marks the seventh straight game the Browns have failed to score above 20 points and their lowest mark on the season, which is especially concerning when the Washington pass defense was supposed to be an exploitable area that could help the passing game get back on track.
That was not the case. Deshaun Watson was held to 125 yards passing, half of which went to Amari Cooper. The offense as a whole only netted 212 yards, half of the Commanders’ total. Whether it was going one-for-thirteen on third down, or the seven sacks allowed, the Browns didn’t come close to getting out of their offensive funk.
With little option but to move on, let’s take a look at what the snap counts from this game showed up.
100% Club
OT Dawand Jones
OT Jedrick Wills Jr
iOL Joel Bitonio
iOL Zak Zinter
The big guys up front did their parts in one of the most stable games this season from the offensive line. The return of Wills should start to make an impact as the line gets healthier over time.
Staples
QB DeShaun Watson – 92%
iOL Ethan Pocic – 84%
WR Amari Cooper – 82%
WR Jerry Jeudy – 76%
WR Elijah Moore – 69%
RB Jerome Ford – 58%
LB Devin Bush – 93%
CB Greg Newsome – 90%
CB Martin Emerson – 85%
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – 84%
DB Grant Delpit – 81%
DB Rodney McLeod – 78%
DE Myles Garrett – 78%
DL Shelby Harris – 66%
DL Dalvin Tomlinson – 60%
DE Za’Darius Smith – 55%
From this angle, the Browns’ defense is looking pretty healthy with 10 players playing a majority of snaps. Bush has ascended from a special teams backup to carrying a bulk of the snap defensively, replacing the injured Jordan Hicks.
The entire started defensive line continues to play at a solid clip and Myles Garrett leads them as he plays through injuries.
Offensively, a lack of cohesion on that side of the ball is not coming from a lack of reps. Cooper, Jeudy, Moore, and Ford have all been active and consistent this season and that trend continued on Sunday
Notable
TE David Njoku – 42%
RB D’Onta Foreman – 34%
WR Cedric Tillman – 32%
CB Denzel Ward – 49%
DE Isaiah McGuire – 48%
It does not help that David Njoku has had a string of bad luck to open the season, getting injured in the opener and again in his return. With his exit, the Browns returned to a trio of tight ends covering his snaps.
Despite not recording a reception, Cedric Tillman is starting to eat into the snap count, this time playing on a third of offensive snaps. While he only had three receptions on the year it’s clear he’s the favored fourth receiver.
Denzel Ward left the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter, something we’ll have to monitor very closely. Hamstring injuries are tricky but at the time of injury, there was little reason to try to get him back in the game, so the severity is a complete unknown.
Lastly, Isaiah McGuire is the beneficiary of the Alex Wright injury as played nearly half of all defensive snaps. This makes him the top backup lineman by playing time and with Garrett’s injuries it’s very possible he’ll continue to see more and more playing time.