Redskins vs. Browns: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Cleveland
The story of the Cleveland Browns’ first real football of 2015 was a disappointing sequel to last year’s rushing disparity.
While it’s only a small piece of the overall pie, the Browns were unable to run the ball effectively and were gashed on the ground as well.
But that wasn’t the only takeaway that describes the Browns’ defensive performance.
With Joe Haden and Pierre Desir sidelined by hamstring issues, second-year cornerback Justin Gilbert was thrust into the starting lineup. Both Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins targeted him repeatedly throughout the first two quarters. Gilbert eventually showed signs of life but got caught out of position several times.
On Wasington’s first drive, Pierre Garcon ran right by the defensive back as he peeked into the backfield. Luckily for the Browns, Garcon dropped what would have been an easy catch-and-scamper into the end zone.
The Redskins punted, giving Josh McCown his first crack at the Browns quarterback job. He had as good a start as you could hope for.
After completing his first four passes, McCown scrambled left, then right, and then found Travis Benjamin wide open and waiting for the easy touchdown pass. Mike Pettine saw enough from that well-executed drive to make the switch to Johnny Manziel on the team’s next possession.
Cleveland forced a fourth down on the ensuing Redskins possession, but Jay Gruden called Alfred Morris’ number, and he broke a Paul Kruger tackle to pick up 18 yards and a first down.
Griffin was pressured on the next third down by Browns cornerback K’Waun Williams, which prompted a 33-yard Kai Forbath field goal.
Then, with a mix of first- and second-teamers, it was Manziel's time. After a pass to Terrance West that was short of the to-go spot, Andy Lee’s punt was stripped from Andre Roberts by Marlon Moore and recovered by the Browns.
Manziel took advantage of the short field, running through the middle of a retreating Redskins defense for a 12-yard touchdown run.
Kirk Cousins entered on the following Redskins drive and marched his team 80 yards on eight plays, finishing with a touchdown scamper of his own to narrow the gap to 14-10.
A booming 52-yard field goal by Forbath finished scoring for the first half, with the Browns ahead 14-13.
Darius Jennings returned the second-half kickoff 54 yards, but Manziel and the offense stalled in the quarterback’s last series of the game. Connor Shaw came on in relief.
Cousins continued for the Redskins well into the second half, driving the team down the field easily to take a 20-17 lead on a one-yard run by Trey Williams.
The Browns got the ball back with 4:42 remaining after forcing a Redskins punt. Thad Lewis replaced Shaw, and the offense stalled. On third down, Lewis’ pass was too high for Vince Mayle and was intercepted. It bounced off the rookie receiver’s hands and into safety Akeem Davis’ lap.
With 1:52 left, Lewis and the Browns got one last shot to win it.
After consecutive sacks on first and second down and a completion to E.J. Bibbs, Lewis airmailed a pass out of bounds to wrap things up.
Position Grades for Cleveland
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | A- |
| RB | C- |
| WR | A- |
| TE | B |
| OL | C |
| DL | C+ |
| LB | C- |
| DB | D+ |
| Special Teams | A+ |
| Coaching | B+ |
Offensively, Cleveland’s first and second teams looked surprisingly better than expected for this early in preseason. Scoring 17 points isn’t representative of the positive things accomplished by the first and second units.
In the trenches, Cam Erving started for Joe Thomas and played the entire game. He didn’t look great at the left tackle spot—hopefully the Browns have a plan for backing up Thomas. The rest of the line seemed to play decently. All that is except for third-year tackle Michael Bowie, who was consistently beaten off the snap. Bowie spent all of 2014 on injured reserve after playing on Seattle’s line during its 2013 Super Bowl run. Notably, Alex Mack was also torched in the first quarter and allowed Josh McCown to take a quick hit.
Coming into the game, we knew the Browns’ running back group was under fire. Running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery called out the group and asked one of them to step up to fill the team’s lead back role. None did in this one, so the competition will continue.
Quarterback play has been a joke in Cleveland—we all know that. But McCown and Johnny Manziel showed some competency at the position and helped the Browns take a 14-3 second-quarter lead.
McCown finished 5-of-5 and looked good scrambling or hitting receivers from the pocket. Manziel looked miles better than he did in his rookie year, seeing the field better and making quicker decisions. He’s still obviously a work in progress, but there are signs of progress from the former Heisman winner. Connor Shaw did have a couple flashes, but overall looked like a third-string quarterback. It didn’t help that Bowie was being manhandled and his pocket was collapsing.
Cleveland's wide receivers were, for the most part, crisp and didn’t have many noticeable lapses. That was a pleasant surprise. While there were no standouts, Taylor Gabriel, Brian Hartline and Darius Jennings made good plays in space to help move the sticks. Vince Mayle dropped a high pass on his fingertips that was intercepted with just 3:47 to play.
Among their tight ends, undrafted rookie E.J. Bibbs continued to stand out. He hauled in a team-high three catches and looked the part of an NFL H-back. He’s the big story in this group. A disappointment continues to be Rob Housler, whose advertised athleticism and playmaking ability was not on display during this one.
The Browns defense was a little bit of a mess. Despite working without Joe Haden—the only starter absent—Washington wasn’t able to do too much in the first quarter. Eventually, they wore down Cleveland’s reserves, but there were some positive signs from the guys who will actually be seeing the field this fall.
On the defensive line, rookie Danny Shelton was too much to handle for the Redskins. He consistently moved the pocket as we heard he could. Rookie Xavier Cooper burst through the defensive line to sack Kirk Cousins to create a 2nd-and-19. Other than that, there wasn’t much notable play from their defensive line, which isn’t surprising for a 3-4 defense. Still, the group didn’t make very many impact plays and was not much of a factor.
The linebackers, at least the starting group, were a bit better. Christian Kirksey looked like one of the team’s most improved players while flying around to the ball and making plays. After Cooper’s sack, he diagnosed a screen pass and blew it up for a six-yard loss to force a punt. Paul Kruger was aggressive and got near Robert Griffin III but wasn’t able to get home. He did whiff on Alfred Morris on a 4th-and-short play that eventually led to a Redskins field goal. The unit had no sacks for the entire game, which is a concern.
And now we get to the cornerbacks. Without Haden, you’d expect there to be some issues, but the group as a whole struggled throughout the game, especially when the backups came in.
Johnson Bademosi looked lost on play action and was beaten by Andre Roberts for what felt like the entire second and third quarters. Justin Gilbert was noticeably behind the curve while starting in Haden’s place. Griffin caught him looking in the backfield and delivered a perfect pass to streaking wide receiver Pierre Garcon. Luckily, the veteran wideout dropped an easy touchdown catch to bail Gilbert out on the stat sheet. His coaches won’t be as forgiving.
Special teams were excellent. Carey Spear hit the team’s only field-goal attempt, and Andy Lee was as advertised, making booming and well-placed punts throughout the game. Darius Jennings had a nice 54-yard kickoff return, and Marlon Moore stripped a punt returner to set up Manziel’s touchdown run.
Browns Lose Marlon Moore to Rib Injury
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Mike Pettine said the team doesn't believe it's serious, but wide receiver Marlon Moore left during the first quarter with a rib injury. He did not return.
After Moore stripped Andre Roberts on a punt-coverage play, Johnson Bademosi recovered and the Browns found the end zone when Johnny Manziel scampered in for a score a few plays later.
Moore's impact play on special teams was exactly why the team re-signed him during the offseason.
He's a guy battling for a roster spot, and plays such as that will definitely stand out when it comes down to deciding on the team's final roster spots.
Moore was the only Browns player injured during this one.
Injury update obtained from on-air broadcast, and Mike Pettine's post-game press conference, via 92.3 the Fan radio coverage.
Browns Outgained 368-170
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The stat of the night is the overall poor performance by the Cleveland Browns rush defense. The offense wasn't very impressive, either.
After allowing the most rushing yards per game in 2014, the Browns got gashed for 153 on the ground by Washington while only crawling for 45 of their own.
It's a preseason game, obviously, and Cleveland's first-team offense was able to move the ball pretty easily. We'll hold off concerns about the the offense until we see more of the players who will actually be playing this season.
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Mike Pettine Not Concerned About Running Game
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During his post-game press conference, Browns head coach Mike Pettine didn't sound too worried about the team's poor rushing performance.
"I'm not concerned about Isaiah Crowell or Terrance West," he said. "I'm not ready to hit the panic button after one preseason game."
That's all well and good for the coach, but there were very few examples of the Browns blockers creating rushing lanes—and even fewer where a running back made a defender miss.
West and Crowell have been under fire for their inability to take the Browns' lead running back position. Their performances against Washington on Thursday will do nothing but fan those flames heading into the next preseason matchup against Buffalo.
Quote obtained from Mike Pettine's post-game press conference, via 92.3 the Fan radio coverage.
Mike Pettine Said Manziel Is Learning
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Johnny Manziel looked better in the pocket and before the snap.
Mike Pettine had good remarks about the improvement his backup quarterback is making, and it wasn't after the snap.
"Johnny did some good things," the coach said. "His headset went out for a play. He didn't call a timeout, he called his own play and it worked."
Besides his improvement seeing the field, Manziel is demonstrating a much better understanding of the quarterback position ahead of his second season in the league.
Josh McCown did look good as the starter, but it's comforting to know his backup is looking more and more like an NFL quarterback every day. After all, a Browns quarterback hasn't started all 16 games of a season for the post-1999 Browns.
Quote obtained from Mike Pettine's post-game press conference, via 92.3 the Fan radio coverage.
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