On Sunday the Baltimore Ravens will get another opportunity to beat a poor team on the road when they head to Cleveland. Yesterday, the Browns were outscored 16-3 in the 2nd half, dropping a 23-20 decision to the Bengals to fall to 4-7 overall.
Here are 10 Things to watch with Cleveland:
1) The Browns have been outscored by their opponents 216-165. Yesterday was the first time in the 2011 season that the Browns scored a 1st Quarter TD.
2) The Browns are ranked 6th in Total Defense (1st against the Pass, and 29th against the Run). The Bengals Cedric Benson ran for 106 yards Sunday, averaging 5 yards per carry. Dalton threw for 270 yards against the Browns. With yesterday’s loss, Cleveland has lost 4 of their last 5 games. Yesterday was only the second time all year that Cleveland scored at-least 20 points.
3) The biggest negative with Colt McCoy is the lack of arm strength to beat teams deep. He does typically make good decisions, and not do things that get his team beat. For the year he has thrown for 2,332 yards. He has a completion 58.5%, and his QB rating is 78.1% . His ESPN QBR is 44.4% (Good for 27th overall.) He has been sacked at least twice in all but two games. He has thrown for over 240 yards just twice.
4) After missing the previous 5 weeks, Peyton Hillis returned for the Browns Sunday. Getting more snaps than he anticipated, Hillis finished with 19 carries for 65 yards. He had 2 catches for -4 yards. The 144 yard outing he had in Baltimore last year is seared on my brain, but the Ravens did hold him to just 35 yards when they faced him for the 2nd time last December.
5) The Kickoff Rules have had some interesting impact on Joshua Cribbs. Last year he had 40 KR’s in 15 games, for 814 yards (20.4 per return). This year he has 25 KR’s in 11 games, for 670 yards (26.8 per return). So his Returns per game have decreased, but his yardage per returned has increased (and his above his career average of 25.9).
5a) As a Receiver, Cribbs has had 29 receptions for 358 yards and 4 TD’s.
6) Rookie WR Greg Little (6’2 220 lbs) has had 47 grabs, for 495 yards (10.5 yards per reception, 2.9 yards after the catch), and had his first TD Sunday. The rookie has big physical tools, but currently drops too many passes. Opposite of Little is Mohamed Massaquoi (’09 2nd rounder). Massaquoi has had 20 catches for 258 yards over 9 games. After averaging 18.4 yards per reception as a rookie, Massaquoi is averaging just 12.9 yards per catch here in his 3rd year. TE Benjamin Watson had 68 receptions last year. This year he has spent most of his time on the line blocking. He is averaging 5.4 yards after the catch on his 32 grabs.
7) The strength of the Cleveland offensive line is at LT with Joe Thomas (’07 1st rounder), and at Center with Alex Mack (’09 1st rounder). The Guards are young (LG Jason Pinkston, ’11 5th rounder, and RG Shawn Lauvao, ’10 3rd rounder). The starting RT is former Raven Tony Pashos, with another former Raven (Oneil Cousins) in reserve.
8) Obviously the Browns success against the run is partly a credit to them, and also partly about the success opposing teams are having in passing against Cleveland. At LDE, is the Rookie Jabaal Sheard. The 2nd rounder has had 5 sacks and forced 4 fumbles. Next to Sheard is 2011 1st rounder (and Maryland native) Phil Taylor. Taylor has big size at 6’3 335 lbs, and has had 4 sacks of his own.
9) The Browns LB core has taken a hit with Scott Fujita breaking bones in his hand. MLB continues to be led by former Terp D’Qwell Jackson. The ’06 2nd rounder has 100 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pick, and 3 sacks.
10) The Secondary has issues, but Joe Haden is one of the better young CB’s in the league. The 2010 1st rounder (who is another MD native) went into Sunday leading the league is passes defended.
Bonus: LS Ryan Pontbriand has had issues several times this season with his snaps.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.