Why Can't the Cleveland Browns Consistently Run the Ball?

The Cleveland Browns offense has evolved into one of the most pass-heavy in the league, and it's not entirely by design. Running the ball is simply not an area in which the Browns have had sustained success this year, to the point that they are choosing not to do it much in the second halves of games.

Currently, the Browns rank 31st in the league in rushing, with their 226 attempts yielding just 756 yards and two touchdowns. The team's longest run has been for 32 yards and, collectively, they are averaging only 3.3 yards per carry. 

No Browns back has cracked 100 yards in a game. In fact, their highest single-game rushing total belongs to Isaiah Crowell, with 72 yards, which was earned in Week 2. Crowell had another 63 rushing yards in Week 4. Other than that, Cleveland's leading rushers have routinely earned fewer than 50 yards per game.

Player	Atts.	Yds.	YPA	TD
Crowell	107	328	3.1	1
Johnson	63	189	3.0	0
Manziel	17	90	5.3	0
McCown	18	86	4.8	1
Turbin	18	60	3.3	0
Draughn	2	10	5.0	0
Benjamin	1	-7	-7.0	0
Total	226	756	3.3	2

Cleveland's run game is struggling so mightily that the team has spent the last four games all but abandoning it entirely in the second halves. After running 15 times in the first half and 33 times total in the team's Week 6 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, the Browns have totaled a combined 22 second-half runs in their past four games.

Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10, the Browns totaled only five second-half carries; against the Cincinnati Bengals a week before, they rushed just three times in the second half. Though this can be partially attributable to the Browns playing from behind and leaning on the pass to attempt to play catch-up, this dearth of running, particularly in the game's final two quarters, have made the Browns one-dimensional.

The problem is that, even with more run attempts to go around, it may not produce drastically different results. Despite head coach Mike Pettine's wishes, the Browns may just be inherently one-dimensional, regardless of their opponent or the scoreboard.

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For one, none of the Browns' actual running backs are averaging better than 3.1 yards per carry. Only the quarterbacks (Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown) are averaging more, at 5.3 yards for Manziel and 4.8 for McCown. Secondly, the offensive line isn't helping the run game at all. 

Football Outsiders ranks the run-blocking of Cleveland's line 30th in the league through Week 9 and 29th in open-field yards, or yards which the team's backs earn beyond 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Based on their metrics, teams with a higher ranking in adjusted-line yards and lower in open-field yards means that the offensive line is doing its job blocking for the backs; the opposite means that the backs are doing the heavy lifting behind a struggling line.

That the Browns have low ranks in both means that the line is not run-blocking well, nor are the backs running well. This is further supported by the Browns ranking 23rd in power running—or runs on third or fourth down with under two yards to gain—30th in reaching the second level and dead last in percentage of runs stuffed—that is, tackles for a loss or no gain.

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On top of this, the Browns backs—particularly Crowell and Duke Johnson—aren't doing a good job of creating yards where there wouldn't normally be any. Each back has forced 12 missed tackles as a runner this year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Twelve out of 63 carries for Johnson isn't terrible, but 12 out of 107 for Crowell is, especially when the Browns are continuing to consider Crowell their lead back and when Johnson has recently disappeared in the second halves of games. The offensive line isn't helping the backs, but the backs are not helping themselves, either.

The other problem is that the Browns have often run relatively well in the first halves of these recent games, but because of a conservative approach to the offense when down on the scoreboard, the run is placed on the back burner.

If Cleveland wants to establish the run, they must continue to lean on it, even when conventional wisdom says otherwise. Either that, or the Browns should accept and embrace their one-dimensionality. Passing is working, at least in terms of moving the ball, and it's not as though the run game is producing more touchdowns than the passing game when the Browns reach the red zone, either.

One thing is certain: The Browns' attempts to run the ball this year haven't been fruitful. From giving up the run game when playing from behind, to not running well when given the opportunity, what once seemed poised to be a run-heavy team is anything but. It may be too late to fix it, which means a one-dimensional offense looks like the lay of the land for the Browns' final six games.