Week 5: Positives and Negatives
Positives: The Browns won their first road game since a 31-27 win over the Vikings in week 3 of last season.
Brian Hoyer: Johnny who? Brian Football was 21-for-37 throwing the ball, he had 292 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. With his team down 28-3 late in the second quarter, Hoyer remained calm and led the Browns on a 9-play, 90-yard drive to cut the lead to 28-10 going into halftime. Coming out of halftime, Hoyer lead the Browns on a 5-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a field goal, making the score 28-13. After a Titans safety, Hoyer led the Browns down the field again, throwing a 17-yard touchdown to Travis Benjamin, cutting the lead to 28-22. Then, with one minute left in the game, Hoyer threw another touchdown to Travis Benjamin, this time giving the Browns a 29-28 lead, and the win. The way Hoyer leads this offense, means the team never quits. Hoyer has been so good this season, that Johnny Manziel is an after thought in Cleveland.
Ben Tate: What a return for Ben Tate. After sitting out the past 2 games with a knee sprain, Tate returned in a big way. Tate finished the day with 123 yards on 22 carries, good enough for an average of 5.6 yards per carry. I honestly thought the Browns should have run the ball more with Tate in the game. That being said, the Browns totaled 175 rush yards on the day, with Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell combining for 50 yards on 13 carries. Tate is clearly the lead back, and when healthy, he has the ability for run all over teams.
Travis Benjamin: It looked like Benjamin may have cost the Browns the game, when he fumbled a punt. Luckily a penalty nullified the fumble and forced the Titans to re-punt. Benjamin was not on the field for the next punt. However, it was Benjamin who was able to reel in two Brian Hoyer passes in the 4th quarter, both for touchdowns, and the latter giving the Browns the win. Talk about zero-to-hero.
Special Teams: No bad snaps, and no missed field goals, so that already gave the Browns a better special teams unit than in week 3. Except for a Travis Benjamin muffed punt that was called back on a penalty, there was nothing really special about the Browns special teams. Except for the fact that the Browns were able to block a Titans punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The Safety cut the Titans lead to 28-15, and the Browns were able to score on the ensuing drive. Had the Browns not gotten that safety, they would have most likely have lost.
Run Defense: This can’t be right, how can a defense that gave up 149 rushing yards be a positive? Well, take away wide receiver, Kendall Wright and quarterback Jake Locker, and the Titans running backs combine for 73 yards on 22 carries, as they averaged a paltry 3.3 yards per carry.
Negatives: Had the Browns lost, this list would have leaned heavily in the negative category, but a miraculous 25-point comeback gave the Browns the win and a ton of momentum as they head back home to exact revenge on the Steelers.
Excessive Penalties: Fights broke out on multiple occasions, and on a play early in the 2nd quarter, when Jake Locker took a shot to the head from Chris Kirksey, a total of 5 penalty flags flew on the field. The Browns had 7 penalties on the day for a total of 74 yards. Penalties have been an issue all season, and the Browns need to work on that in practice.
1st Half: There’s a reason the Browns had to come back from a 28-3 deficit, and that’s because they did not play like a professional football team for most of the 1st half.
My Blood Pressure: Do the Browns have to play in last second, down-to-the-wire games every week? I don’t think my heart can take much more of this, and my finger nails have been whittled down to the bone.
Turnover(s): For those of you who didn’t know, coming into the game, the Browns were the only team in the NFL who had not committed a turnover. Travis Benjamin fumbled a punt, which was then called back on a penalty, then Brian Hoyer threw his first interception of the season, as the pick was returned to the Tennessee 1-yard line, only to have that called back on a penalty. The Browns, despite some close calls, had yet to turn the ball over. Finally, Hoyer actually threw an interception in the 4th quarter, but it actually didn’t really hurt the team. It happened on a 3rd-and-10, and basically worked as a punt. Either way, the Browns should have had 3 turnovers. They got lucky and the turnovers will come eventually.
— Chris Sladoje (@CST_Doje)
