The Cleveland Browns played their worst offensive game of the season against the Green Bay Packers, and a lot of that gets pinned on QB Brandon Weeden this week. Check out the snap distributions below for the offense, and let us know what your reactions are in the comments section.
Offensive Line | ||||
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Joe Thomas | John Greco | Alex Mack | Shawn Lauvao | Mitchell Schwartz |
100% 70/70 plays |
100% 70/70 plays |
100% 70/70 plays |
100% 70/70 plays |
100% 70/70 plays |
Thoughts: The offensive line yielded three sacks and eight quarterback hits. None of the backup offensive linemen saw action against the Packers, probably because there weren't any early goal line series.
Running Back / Fullback |
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---|---|---|
Willis McGahee | Fozzy Whittaker | Chris Ogbonnaya |
46% 32/70 plays |
30% 21/70 plays |
26% 18/70 plays |
Willis McGahee: 11 carries, 39 yards, 3.5 YPC. 0 catches (1 target).
Chris Ogbonnaya: 4 carries, 15 yards, 3.8 YPC. 0 catches (2 targets).
Fozzy Whittaker: 5 carries, 11 yards, 2.2 YPC. 2 catches, 13 yards (5 targets).
Thoughts: While we're considering sending people to the bench, I think it's time that the Browns consider making Willis McGahee the veteran backup. He is about as average as you can get right now, and if our passing game was better, that might not be a problem. I'd like to try a guy with some more burst, though, and that is what Fozzy Whittaker seemed to show in limited action. Yes, his yards per carry didn't look very impressive, but if there does end up being a hole, I think he is the most likely back to break the big run. Whittaker was used in the passing game quite a bit, so we may actually see his role continue to increase.
Wide Receiver |
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Josh Gordon | Greg Little | Davone Bess | Travis Benjamin |
96% 67/70 plays |
93% 65/70 plays |
67% 47/70 plays |
11% 8/70 plays |
Josh Gordon: 2 catches, 21 yards (6 targets).
Greg Little: 4 catches, 49 yards (9 targets).
Davone Bess: 2 catches, 11 yards (6 targets).
Travis Benjamin: No stats registered.
Thoughts: It was an ugly day for our receivers. I do think people are way over-reacting to the game that Josh Gordon had -- yes, it was a disappointing game overall for him, but it's absurd to go from thinking, "there's no way we can trade him" to "we need to take what we can get" after one lackluster game. A few of the catches he didn't make were contested and broken up by defenders too. I'm more upset about the one drop Davone Bess had early in the game. But the real issue on Sunday wasn't our receivers -- it was the play at the quarterback position.
Tight End |
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---|---|---|
Jordan Cameron | Gary Barnidge | MarQueis Gray |
97% 68/70 plays |
30% 21/70 plays |
7% 5/70 plays |
Jordan Cameron: 7 catches, 55 yards, 1 touchdown (9 targets).
Gary Barnidge: 0 catches (1 target).
MarQueis Gray: 0 catches (1 target). 1 carry, -2 yards.
Thoughts: For what few good throws Brandon Weeden did have during the game, they went to Jordan Cameron, and he did a heck of a job making some heavily contested catches near the sideline and in the end zone. Cameron earned all 55 of those yards -- this was the type of performance that proves that Cameron isn't a fluke, because he persevered despite everything else going on. It seemed like MarQueis Gray misread the read-option twice, but I'd like to see him get a few more reps out of playaction as a receiver.
Quarterback |
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Brandon Weeden |
100% 70/70 plays |
Brandon Weeden: 17-of-42 for 149 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. 2 carries, 20 yards.
Thoughts: There are times when a quarterback stirs up excitement, and you buy in to the hope that he can deliver a good outing more times than not. In Cleveland, that hope seems to quickly phase out -- we've seen it with Kelly Holcomb before, and most recently with Derek Anderson. They get to a point where you are just "done" with them at quarterback. After weeks of giving him chances, that's where I'm at with Brandon Weeden.
The offensive line is back, and the receivers are all here. There are no more excuses. Weeden is not going to magically become a better decision-maker, and he misses too many throws. Most importantly, he cannot put together a complete game.
Prior to the season, I felt that the only way we should bench Weeden is if he was the sole reason our offense was looking pitiful for a string of several games. That's where we're at right now. I didn't think we'd get to this point, but a change to Jason Campbell is necessary; not because I think he'll light the world on fire, but because you have to see if somebody else can stablize things enough to keep you competitive in games.