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The Browns' offense looked much like it did against the Jaguars and Texans as they went into halftime with a 3-0 lead. When nothing was happening in the second half against the Bills' defense, head coach Mike Pettine made the change at quarterback. Check out the snap distributions below for the offense, and let us know what your reactions are in the comments section.
| Offensive Line | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Thomas | Joel Bitonio | Nick McDonald | John Greco | Mitchell Schwartz | Ryan Seymour |
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| 100% 69/69 plays |
100% 69/69 plays |
26% 18/69 plays |
100% 69/69 plays |
100% 69/69 plays |
74% 51/69 plays |
Thoughts: Center Nick McDonald left in the first quarter with an ankle injury. He was probable to return so I just assumed he did, but based on the snap counts, Ryan Seymour played the position the rest of the game. Overall, the Browns' offensive line allowed two sacks, but LT Joe Thomas was hit with a couple of holding penalties.
| Running Back / Fullback |
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|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Crowell | Ray Agnew | Terrance West |
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| 65% 45/69 plays |
38% 26/69 plays |
35% 24/69 plays |
Isaiah Crowell: 17 carries, 29 yards, 1.7 YPC. 1 catch, 15 yards (2 targets).
Terrance West: 7 carries, 32 yards, 4.6 YPC, 1 fumble. 1 catch, 4 yards (1 target).
Ray Agnew: 1 catch, 0 yards (1 target).
Thoughts: Don't be too enamored with the stat line for Terrance West. On the final play of the game and the Bills not even defending the line, Kyle Shanahan called a run play to pad the team's rushing stats -- it went for 18 yards. Without that, West had 6 carries for 14 yards. In short, the running game was not working effectively, and it was a bit frustrating to see Shanahan use the toss play as often as he did. Ray Agnew finally caught a pass...but it went for no gain. West's fumble was the back breaker that removed all doubt that Buffalo would emerge victorious.
| Wide Receiver |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Gordon | Andrew Hawkins | Miles Austin | Taylor Gabriel | Travis Benjamin |
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| 77% 53/69 plays |
67% 46/69 plays |
55% 38/69 plays |
28% 19/69 plays |
13% 9/69 plays |
Josh Gordon: 7 catches, 75 yards (13 targets).
Andrew Hawkins: 2 catches, 24 yards (3 targets).
Miles Austin: 7 catches, 86 yards (9 targets).
Taylor Gabriel: 0 catches (1 target).
Travis Benjamin: 0 catches (2 targets).
Thoughts: This was not Josh Gordon's finest game, as there were probably at least two passes that he should have caught that he didn't, and he also wasn't on the same page as Brian Hoyer again. Miles Austin was the man of the hour, but there has to be a bit of a concern regarding the lack of involvement for the team's two shifty receivers (Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel).
| Tight End |
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|---|---|---|
| Jim Dray | Ryan Taylor | Gary Barnidge |
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| 97% 67/69 plays |
25% 17/69 plays |
1% 1/69 plays |
Jim Dray: 3 catches, 45 yards (4 target).
Ryan Taylor: No stats registered.
Gary Barnidge: 1 catch, 6 yards (1 target).
Thoughts: Gary Barnidge only saw one snap before he had to leave with a rib injury. Because Jordan Cameron was out, that meant Jim Dray basically played the entire game, which isn't a good sign because you're giving more reps to a guy against a physical front than he is used to having.
| Quarterback |
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|---|---|
| Brian Hoyer | Johnny Manziel |
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| 81% 56/69 plays |
19% 13/69 plays |
Brian Hoyer: 18-of-30 (60.0%) for 192 yards, 2 interceptions.
Johnny Manziel: 5-of-8 (62.5%) for 63 yards. 2 rushes, 13 yards, 1 touchdown.
Thoughts: We saw Brian Hoyer put together a good drive in the first quarter, but it finished without a touchdown. Hoyer's accuracy wasn't an issue against Buffalo, and one of his interceptions wasn't all on him. The problem is that we saw another defense that is molded to beat the Browns' offense, and Hoyer offers nothing that represents an "X-factor" to make things happen in those cases. Johnny Manziel did, and it showed on his touchdown-scoring drive.
While it might be the right decision to start Manziel, something the coaching staff will consider is this: how many more dominant fronts do the Browns face in the regular season? The answer is zero. If Hoyer is 7-2 against those teams that don't physically dominate our line, is it still the right time to bench him?