How the Browns Beat the Bengals
On a short week, which continues to be ridiculous, the Cleveland Browns will face the Cincinnati Bengals as they try to get on track securing their first win. The Browns are a decidedly more talented team than the Bengals and are favored at home, but the performance against the Baltimore Ravens was so poor that it has caused hesitation to believe they will take care of business.
Before getting into how the Browns beat the Bengals, it's critical the Browns stop beating themselves. As good as the Ravens were, the Browns made a number of their own mistakes which prevented them from staying in the game with the Ravens.
They lost the turnover battle with an interception and a fumble. Even on the scoring drive they had, Kareem Hunt fumbled the ball only to have it recovered by the Browns.
The Browns had multiple opportunities on the Ravens side of the field only to waste them. One ended on a dropped pass by Odell Beckham followed by a missed field goal from Austin Seibert, who was cut the following day. The second, the Browns were penalized on a facemask penalty on Beckham (which is a stupid penalty to call in the first place) and ended up on their end of the field, but found themselves with 3rd and 41.
Last but certainly not least, the Browns defense has to play assignment football on the back end. Lamar Jackson is a great quarterback, but the passing windows he often had were simply enormous and there were any number of massive coverage breakdowns.
When the Browns have the ball
The Bengals have major questions at outside linebacker and with Darius Phillips at one of their corner spots. Their defensive line is strong and Jessie Bates is an excellent free safety. William Jackson is a talented corner on the other side.
The Browns should employ mesh combinations, trying to run off corners and attacking those outside linebackers. This should do a few things, which would help Baker Mayfield.
First, it allows the Browns to keep Bates busy down the field with posts or deep crossers. Second, it should create some drag routes for what should be some easy completions to receivers on the run getting the whole offense some confidence. That could be Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry or their running backs. Beckham in particular could benefit, allowing him to get the ball in space.
Finally, it should allow Austin Hooper to attack the defense from a number of angles. Out routes, plays across the middle and just finding holes in the defense, settling and giving Mayfield a target. The Bengals have Vonn Bell at strong safety and it should require multiple defenders to box up Hooper, which should create options elsewhere, particularly out of the backfield.
It's still perplexing why the Browns ran so many three receiver sets against the Ravens. The Browns don't have three good receivers, which means that personnel group takes a better player off the field in order to get a third receiver on the field. In this case, it was KhaDarel Hodge. That would be no less true if it were Rashard Higgins or anyone else.
The injury to David Njoku might change that dynamic slightly, but Harrison Bryant can be an effective wing. More importantly is what staying with a bigger personnel group does to the Bengals. Namely, it forces them to play with more linebackers and restricts how often they can use Mackenzie Alexander, who is a really effective slot corner.
The Browns should play big. If that means putting Hooper inline, Bryant at a wing and Andy Janovich in at fullback, do it. That should help the Browns run the ball, but creates opportunities for playaction against the worst look the Bengals can put out on defense.
This should also be a good game to utilize screens. It's just one more thing to make those outside linebackers account for and the Browns have the personnel to excel in this area.
The Browns were successful in running the ball against the Ravens and should continue to be against the Bengals. The outside zone should be their bread and butter anyway, but it seems like a good look against the Bengals, attempting to get outside and forcing those linebackers to chase and make tackles on Chubb and Hunt.
When the Bengals have the ball
Myles Garrett needs to dominate this game. Bobby Hart struggles at right tackle. He should be getting help in the form of tight end chips and backs all game. Jonah Williams at left tackle is in his second year and talented, but he didn't play his rookie year. Olivier Vernon and Adrian Clayborn can hopefully take advantage of that fact.
Larry Ogunjobi had the best game he's had in years to open the season. If he can keep that up, it's going to create a ton of issues in the middle. Sheldon Richardson was effective in week one, but there's more in him. If they can control the run and put rookie quarterback Joe Burrow in obvious passing situations, the whole unit can focus on pressuring him.
Burrow took three sacks in their opening game against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Browns should have at least that many.
If the Browns can stifle Joe Mixon, it should take significant pressure off of their back seven in pass coverage. They should at least know what's coming, which should hopefully allow them to perform better, because the first game was an absolute blood bath.
It's unclear if the Browns will get Kevin Johnson or Greedy Williams back. The short week makes it far less likely. It's difficult to imagine they will have Mack Wilson out there against the Bengals.
As a result, B.J. Goodson, who is coming off of an awful performance will likely be out there with a combination of Sione Takitaki and Malcolm Smith. Takitaki on running downs and Smith in obvious passing situations. If the Browns need three linebackers, they'll have both.
One player who could start to make an impact this week is Ronnie Harrison. Not a good run defender, he has had some success covering tight ends, which is a featured part of every offense in the AFC North.
As will continue to be a trend this season, the Browns defensive line sets the tone for everything. If they can't find success, the Browns could get picked apart.
Special Teams
The decision to cut Austin Seibert is simply confusing. Yes, he missed two kicks, but the NFL was awful kicking to start the season. The Browns had a day where four kickers came in for a tryout, but Seibert was otherwise unchallenged. He was the plan, then after one game they bailed on him.
It's not as simple as kicking it through the uprights either. The Browns want their kicker to pin kickoffs inside the five yard line, so they can try to tackle them before the 25 yard line and potentially cause a turnover. Is Cody Parkey effective in this area? Are they just going to start kicking touchbacks now?
Meanwhile, the heavily criticized fake punt was there to be had. D'Ernest Johnson was beaten on his block and Andrew Sendejo couldn't get it either. If Johnson secures his block, Sendejo is still a lead blocker for Jamie Gillan, who can easily pick up the first down. It's fine to criticize the decision, but the play was there. They failed to execute.
The Bengals, meanwhile, had their own kicker issues as Randy Bullock connected on two of his field goals, one from over 40 yards and one from over 50 yards, only to miss the game tying field goal from significantly closer. He also appeared to be hurt on the play in what was called a calf strain. Both of his calves were on the injury report, so the Bengals may need to bring in a kicker for Thursday.
