Analyzing the Snap Counts in Chargers vs. Browns (Offense)

It's time to investigate how many snaps the players on the Cleveland Browns played on offense in the team's 7-6 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Browns had 63 snaps on offense but had a lot of consecutive drives that resulted in punts due to the inclement weather conditions. Perhaps the most important statistic is that they had zero turnovers. Before you look at the snap count distributions, ask yourself the following two questions:

-Not including the quarterback or the offensive line, which player saw the most snaps on offense?
-Josh Cooper was only targeted once in the game -- how many snaps did he actually play?

Check out the snap distributions below, and let us know what your reactions are in the comments section.

Offensive Line
Joe Thomas	John Greco	Alex Mack	Shawn Lauvao	Mitchell Schwartz
100% 63/63 plays	100% 63/63 plays	100% 63/63 plays	100% 63/63 plays	100% 63/63 plays

Thoughts: The entire starting unit played 100 percent of the snaps this week, and there were no substitutes or extra linemen used on offense. The offensive line yielded two sacks and six quarterback hits.

Running Back / Fullback
Trent Richardson	Alex Smith	Chris Ogbonnaya	Montario Hardesty
79% 50/63 plays	35% 22/63 plays	16% 10/63 plays	6% 4/63 plays

Trent Richardson: 24 carries, 122 yards, 5.1 average, 1 touchdown. 1 catch, 12 yards (1 target).
Montario Hardesty: 3 carries, 3 yards, 1.0 average. 1 fumble (not lost).
Chris Ogbonnaya: 1 carry, 4 yards. 1 catch, 9 yards (3 targets).
Alex Smith: 1 catch, 1 yard (3 targets).

Thoughts: I don't know if Trent Richardson is feeling sore this morning, but he certainly played a lot more and a lot better than I expected him to against the Chargers. I'm a little surprised that he wasn't targeted more in the passing game, like the Chargers did with Ronnie Brown. Maybe part of the formula was to have a more balanced attack this week, though, given the weather conditions. Chris Ogbonnaya got a handoff from the fullback position when we were backed up at our own goal line. Alex Smith got the start at fullback with Owen Marecic being inactive.

Wide Receiver
Josh Gordon	Greg Little	Josh Cooper	Joshua Cribbs	Travis Benjamin
94% 59/63 plays	92% 58/63 plays	22% 14/63 plays	10% 6/63 plays	6% 4/63 plays

Josh Gordon: 3 catches, 46 yards (5 targets).
Greg Little: 2 catches, 28 yards (5 targets).
Joshua Cribbs: 1 catch, 7 yards (1 target).
Josh Cooper: 0 catches (1 target).
Travis Benjamin: No stats registered (botched lateral).

Thoughts: For the second straight week, Josh Gordon saw the most snaps at wide receiver. Josh Cooper's reps were down from last week (when he saw 42% of the snaps), but I think that can be attributed to the Browns wanting to go with a heavier package more often -- they utilized two tight ends and a fullback more often than usual. Like Cooper, Travis Benjamin's reps were down significantly as well in his second game back. Unfortunately, both Cooper and Benjamin blew the one opportunity they each had. Cooper dropped a first down pass, and Benjamin botched a handoff that killed an early drive.

Tight End
Benjamin Watson	Jordan Cameron
95% 60/63 plays	44% 28/63 plays

Benjamin Watson: 1 catch, 14 yards (4 targets).
Jordan Cameron: 1 catch, 12 yards (4 targets).

Thoughts: The tight ends were targeted quite a bit (8 times), but only came away with two catches. Weeden missed an opportunity to loft a touchdown pass to Ben Watson on the first drive, but Cleveland still ended up coming away with a score on that drive. To answer the question from the introduction, it was Watson who saw the most snaps on offense (besides Weeden and the offensive line).

Quarterback
Brandon Weeden
100% 63/63 plays

Brandon Weeden: 11-of-27 for 129 yards. 4 carries, 4 yards.

Thoughts: Percentage-wise, Brandon Weeden only completed 40.7% of his passes. As silly as this sounds, though, Weeden was a "good" 40% completion. First off, the dropped passes were back this week. He had passes dropped by Greg Little, Josh Gordon, Josh Cooper, and Chris Ogbonnaya, just off the top of my head. That right there would bring his completion percentage closer to his season average. Weeden also had several intentional throwaways, and rarely risked throws down the field. He understood how this game was going and managed things well. The tipped passes remained his biggest negative, especially since one almost led to a pick six late in the game.

History of Snap Counts on Offense:

-Week 1: Philadelphia vs. Cleveland
-Week 2: Cleveland vs. Cincinnati
-Week 3: Buffalo vs. Cleveland
-Week 4: Cleveland vs. Baltimore
-Week 5: Cleveland vs. New York Giants
-Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Cleveland
-Week 7: Cleveland vs. Indianapolis