Browns vs. Buccaneers: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Cleveland
On a muggy night in Tampa, the Cleveland Browns brought the thunder in the trenches en route to a dominant 31-7 preseason win.
Travis Benjamin got the Browns going, taking a punt to the house with a 53-yard return to give them a 7-0 lead before they even took an offensive snap.
Their first offensive drive was just as effective. Josh McCown rolled right and found Brian Hartline streaking to the sideline for a touchdown. It was initially ruled incomplete, but Hartline knew he dragged his feet and petitioned his coaches to take another look.
That 16-play, 80-yard opening drive ate up 9:37 of the first quarter and put the Browns up 14-0 with 1:27 left to play in the first quarter.
It wasn't long before the Browns got on the scoreboard again. Three plays later, Winston was pressured and picked by rookie corner Charles Gaines. He returned the interception to Tampa’s 12-yard line.
After a three-and-out, Carey Spear drilled a 36-yard field goal to give the Browns an early 17-0 edge.
The Bucs got on the board a few minutes later. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter turned up the tempo, leading to a big play-action pass to Vincent Jackson and subsequent Doug Martin 19-yard touchdown run.
Connor Barth had a chance to make it a one-score game, but the Tampa Bay kicker missed wide right from 43 yards out.
The Browns didn't muster much offense after their impressive opening drive, so they trotted their starters back on the field to begin the second half. Led by a few big runs, McCown marched the Browns into the end zone to take a 24-7 advantage. Gary Barnidge made the seven-yard touchdown reception after finding some open space up the seam.
Another stalled Bucs drive signaled the end of the night for Jameis Winston, McCown and relevant football. Thad Lewis and Mike Glennon came on in relief and the backups filled up the rest of the lineups from the remaining quarter-plus of action.
Lewis scored on a seven-yard scramble to extend the Browns’ lead to 31-7 and finish the scoring for the evening.
Position Grades for Cleveland
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Position | Grade |
QB | B+ |
RB | B |
WR | A- |
TE | B- |
OL | B+ |
DL | A- |
LB | B+ |
DB | A- |
Special Teams | A- |
Coaching | B |
Josh McCown effectively managed the Browns offense for two-plus quarters of action. While he had a few shaky moments and took some big hits in the pocket, he made plays with his arm and legs to extend drives and get the Browns in the end zone twice.
Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell were solid but not spectacular again in the backfield, and rookie Duke Johnson received his first limited action of preseason before sustaining a concussion. West looked steady but not explosive on several runs, but he was able to find an opening for 17 yards from a huge hole created by pulling guard John Greco.
Wide receivers Travis Benjamin, Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel all turned in impressive performances. The undersized trio got open and made plays before and after the catch to help sustain drives and get the Browns into the end zone twice.
While the Browns offensive line has been under fire of late, they were moving defenders and creating holes in a Buccaneers defense that was playing on five days of rest.
Defensively, the Browns showed up to play early, limiting the Bucs to next to nothing offensively in the first quarter. Eventually, Jameis Winston found Vincent Jackson a few times. Doug Martin found a crease and broke out for a long touchdown run, but other than that, they were inept against the Browns’ first team.
Standouts on defense include Danny Shelton, Charles Gaines, Paul Kruger and Desmond Bryant.
Gaines made several big plays while starting in place of injured nickel corner K’Waun Williams. He intercepted a hurried Winston pass and nearly took it to the house. He was also in on two other timely pass breakups, including a third-down deflection that forced a punt.
Kruger and Bryant were relentless early on, getting to Winston or forcing him to move around in the pocket. Cleveland’s defense sacked the rookie four times.
Special teams coverage was average, allowing several big Bucs returns—which ended up giving them a high 28.5 kick return average—but Benjamin’s 53-yard punt return touchdown and a made 36-yard field goal by Carey Spear were positive marks.
Browns Lose Duke Johnson and Pierre Desir to Concussions
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In his first preseason game action, rookie running back Duke Johnson took a blow after leaping for a hurried Josh McCown pass. Johnson was observed on the sidelines without his helmet, and then eventually taken to the locker room for a concussion evaluation, per Andrew Gribble of ClevelandBrowns.com.
Gribble also said Pierre Desir suffered a concussion before he was slowly walked off the field by trainers in the third quarter.
Johnson and Desir have both missed significant time this preseason. That's a problem, because both were guys the team appears to have been interested in fielding often this season.
Desir, a fourth-round pick in 2013, was taking first-team snaps from former first-round pick Justin Gilbert earlier in training camp. Johnson, a third-rounder from this past draft, was the first running back on the field for the Browns against Tampa Bay.
Browns head coach Mike Pettine called losing Johnson to a concussion the "biggest bummer of the night" during his postgame press conference.
Charles Gaines Leaves with a Groin Injury
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Rookie Charles Gaines got the start as the Cleveland Browns’ nickel cornerback with K’Waun Williams missing the game. He played well, pulling in an interception and breaking up two passes before leaving with what was described at the time as a hamstring injury.
Kevin Jones of ClevelandBrowns.com updated us that he would not return soon after he left the field.
During his postgame press conference, Mike Pettine said Gaines actually injured his groin.
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Browns Unleash Pass-Rushers
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There is one tried and true method of disrupting most young quarterbacks: sending pressure.
"Jimmy O'Neil called a heck of a game on defense," coach Mike Pettine said during his postgame press conference. "We let our pass-rushers go hunting."
Pettine wasn't joking. Cleveland decided to unleash its pass rush on Jameis Winston, sacking him four times. Mike Glennon was also the victim of two more sacks in just over one quarter of action.
That's a little more like it. Cleveland's defense has been touted for years and Pettine's tutelage and guidance is supposed to be the tipping point that pushes it into the top-half of the NFL.
Six sacks won't be a weekly thing, but it was certainly an encouraging site in the preseason.
That Looked Like the Cleveland Browns Defense
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Last week's defensive improvements against a battered Buffalo Bills offense wasn't a good measuring stick for the Cleveland Browns.
Facing a red-hot Jameis Winston and Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in the ever-important third preseason game was a much better gauge.
“Specifically the first quarter, we were flying around there and playing fearless football,” safety Tashaun Gipson said, via Kevin Jones of ClevelandBrowns.com. “It was something that you could look at and say, ‘Hey, that looked like the Cleveland Browns defense.'"
Playing near full-strength for the first time all preseason, holding Winston and the Bucs to just one scoring drive in nearly three quarters of play was a big stride for the group.
There were still some leaks exposed in the second quarter, when Doug Martin was able to break a few big runs, but overall, the unit was as Gipson described.
Mike Hoag (@MikeHoagJr) covers the Cleveland Browns for Bleacher Report and is the managing editor of Browns Beat. All quotes obtained from postgame press conferences via the official Cleveland Browns iPhone application unless otherwise noted.
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