Post-Game Notes Week 5

[MoFlo]

Ups:​

• Nick Chubb: He remains the most consistent and brightest part of this offense. 87 more yards on the ground on 16 carries.​
• Kicking/Punting game: Seibert nailed his only FG attempt and is now 8-8 on the season. Gillan had 4 of his 7 punts end up inside the 20 and continues to prove me wrong on keeping him over Colquitt.​
• Jarvis Landry: Another solid game from Landry (unless I'm forgetting something)​

Downs:​

• Offense: There's so much that went wrong with this offense, I'm just including it all under one category.​

-Baker was back to being uncomfortable in the pocket, quick to escape it, and his throws sailed.

-The OL was problematic, to say the least, particularly Greg Robinson. The "blocking" TE were just as bad.

-The play calling left a lot to be desired yet again, the schemes weren't great, the routing was congested at times, the preparation seemed virtually nonexistent, and the offense once again didn't seem to have a plan.

-Callaway was clearly not ready to come back. That's all I'll say. My brain is starting to hurt.

-Odell simply wasn't good. Two drops (one of those throws wasn't great but he still got both hands on it) and the lost fumble on the punt return (though he shouldn't have been in the game at that point)
​

• Run D: Just awful. The tackling, angles taken in pursuit, guys in over pursuit and taking themselves out of plays, just everything to do with the run D was terrible.​

Niners' Notes:​

• The Niners' 275 yards on the ground were their most since 2014 and 4th most since 1977​
• This is the 9th time in the past 2 seasons the Browns have allowed 400+ yards of total yards​

Brownie Bits:​

• Most Rushing Yards through the first 5 weeks of a season in Browns history:​

-Jim Brown (1958) 815
-Jim Brown (1963) 787
-Jim Brown (1965) 561
-Jim Brown (1959) 559
-Nick Chubb (2019) 485
​

• Chubb has joined Jim Brown, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, and Leroy Kelly as the only Browns RB's to have two separate streaks of 5+ games with 60 or more rushing yards​

Ok, my brain hurts even more after trying to think of any positives at all outside of Chubb, so I'm calling it here. I'll probably add some more tomorrow to fill it out more, but I at least wanted to get it posted tonight.​

 

[Jordan]

Ups:​

• Nick Chubb: He remains the most consistent and brightest part of this offense. 87 more yards on the ground on 16 carries.​
• Kicking/Punting game: Seibert nailed his only FG attempt and is now 8-8 on the season. Gillan had 4 of his 7 punts end up inside the 20 and continues to prove me wrong on keeping him over Colquitt.​
• Jarvis Landry: Another solid game from Landry (unless I'm forgetting something)​

Downs:​

• Offense: There's so much that went wrong with this offense, I'm just including it all under one category.​

-Baker was back to being uncomfortable in the pocket, quick to escape it, and his throws sailed.

-The OL was problematic, to say the least, particularly Greg Robinson. The "blocking" TE were just as bad.

-The play calling left a lot to be desired yet again, the schemes weren't great, the routing was congested at times, the preparation seemed virtually nonexistent, and the offense once again didn't seem to have a plan.

-Callaway was clearly not ready to come back. That's all I'll say. My brain is starting to hurt.

-Odell simply wasn't good. Two drops (one of those throws wasn't great but he still got both hands on it) and the lost fumble on the punt return (though he shouldn't have been in the game at that point)
​

• Run D: Just awful. The tackling, angles taken in pursuit, guys in over pursuit and taking themselves out of plays, just everything to do with the run D was terrible.​

Niners' Notes:​

• The Niners' 275 yards on the ground were their most since 2014 and 4th most since 1977​
• This is the 9th time in the past 2 seasons the Browns have allowed 400+ yards of total yards​

Brownie Bits:​

• Most Rushing Yards through the first 5 weeks of a season in Browns history:​

-Jim Brown (1958) 815
-Jim Brown (1963) 787
-Jim Brown (1965) 561
-Jim Brown (1959) 559
-Nick Chubb (2019) 485
​

• Chubb has joined Jim Brown, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, and Leroy Kelly as the only Browns RB's to have two separate streaks of 5+ games with 60 or more rushing yards​

Ok, my brain hurts even more after trying to think of any positives at all outside of Chubb, so I'm calling it here. I'll probably add some more tomorrow to fill it out more, but I at least wanted to get it posted tonight.​

I know everyone loves Chubb... but I am actually not sure if it is him playing that well or the offensive scheme freeing him up.

Chubb is averaging 2.94 yards after contact per attempt (26th best amongst runningbacks who have been on the field for at least 20% of their team's snaps), avoided 16 tackles after a snap (9th best amongst running backs who have been on the field for at least 20% of their team's snaps), gets rushes more than ten yards on 7.4% of designed runs, and only a 35% success rate (basically, the rushing equivalent to a completed throw - worst in the NFL amongst).

But, what is interesting is he is running against 8+ man boxes only 9.57% of designed runs, 12th lowest amongst all runningbacks.

My broader point is that I think fans have been too critical of the offensive playcalling, especially given how it is creating nice rushing yards. Chubb's played at a level between the 10th and 12th best RB in the NFL, but the offense is helping him look like one who is in the top three.

The bigger problem with playcalling on the all-22 is, as you point out, congestion in the middle of the field. Right now, the only guys consistently creating space is Jarvis, but he is slow to get to his spot. The Ravens tried ignoring Jarvis and doubling Odell because they undersold his agility, and Baker was able to take advantage... the 49ers constantly jammed Jarvis, which created enough of a lag to prevent him from getting open, and only after bringing help on OBJ.

The team is going to need to stop letting slot/center-field coverage drift over to OBJ. They need to start using more corner, out, and comeback routes for the longer plays, and also quick slant routes with a TE and OBJ isolated on one side of the field. If you make clogging the center of the field irrelevant then teams will need to move pressure to follow OBJ. This - combined with the already-strong run schemes - will open up play action and longer developing plays.