Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and notes: Week 3

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 3 game against the Tennessee Titans.

• QB: My assessment of Deshaun Watson is that I’m happier with his accuracy, and he produced a very nice and efficient statistical line. There is still plenty to work on:
  
  (1) The lateral pass while in the grasp was dumb, and a risk not necessary at any point, let alone when the defense was as dominant as it was.
  (2) Ball placement is still an issue. Maybe that’s not the type of quarterback that Watson is. I always praised a guy like Josh McCown for having picture-perfect ball placement.
  (3) The Titans had some lapses in coverage on both of Watson’s touchdown passes. It reminded me of last year’s game against the Commanders, when the touchdown passes weren’t anything spectacular from Watson — any quarterback would’ve gotten six on those plays.

I’m not trying to only levy criticism. He made several solid throws downfield to Amari Cooper, as well as a nice back shoulder throw in the bucket to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Watson also shrugged off several pass rushes early in the game to either throw the ball away, or still gain yardage. This game was a step in the right direction, hopefully. Watson was the Browns’ second-highest graded player on offense, per PFF (74.6).

• RB: We knew the Titans’ run defense was solid heading into the game, so I didn’t expect yardage to come in bunches. I said before the game that I hoped Cleveland would throw more as part of their gameplan. Despite that, 44% of the team’s plays were rushes. I thought it was a nice balance by Kevin Stefanski to not over-do the run, but still use it to help spring a few nice plays along the edge, and shorten some situations — even a 2nd-and-8 helps those passing downs. Jerome Ford scored two touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt was an energetic player for the team and the crowd.
• WR: We are seeing the best of Amari Cooper. My one criticism of him last year was that he was near the league lead in dropped passes, but that hasn’t been an issue thus far. He is using his body position to perfection to shield off defenders; he is using his route running to get free on some plays; and he also was robbed of another touchdown yesterday. Donovan Peoples-Jones was involved more than the previous games, which was good to see that trust factor still preserved. Elijah Moore caught all 9 passes thrown to him. I support the way the team is utilizing him, but I feel like I’m a tad underwhelmed with Moore’s open-field running instincts through three games. He also fumbled, leading to the Titans’ only points of the game.
• TE: Who had Harrison Bryant being 2-of-2 on quarterbacks sneaks on their bingo card? The team is not utilizing Jordan Akins nearly as much as I anticipated, and two tight end sets are not a priority this year. David Njoku had 4 catches for 20 yards, but it still sucks that the team can’t seem to find a way to throw him the ball downfield — everything is a pass at the line of scrimmage, with him running for yards afterward. Bryant (75.1) was the Browns’ highest-graded player on offense.
• OL: According to PFF, Dawand Jones did not allow a pressure in his 37 pass blocking snaps. Jones (65.3) and C Ethan Pocic (64.3) received the fourth- and fifth-highest grades from PFF on offense.