As we’ve been doing for many years now, we’ll break down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent each week, telling you what to expect from a scheme and individual player standpoint. Like last year, Josh Carney and I will cover the opposing team’s offense. I will focus on the scheme, Josh on the players. Today, our scouting report on the Cleveland Browns’ offense.
*Important note. For today’s report, we’ll be doing things a little differently. Because the Steelers played the Browns just two weeks ago and there haven’t been significant changes, we’ll have a more abridged version that focuses on the Browns’ Week 12 win. So this report will be laid out a bit differently and provide a more focus analysis since overall scheme and individual are similar.
Alex’s Scheme Report
Browns’ Run Game
RB Jerome Ford and Nick Chubb remain the top two backs. Chubb led the way by dominating the carries against Pittsburgh, recording 20 of them to Ford’s four. Three of Ford’s four carries came on 1st and 10. Chubb wasn’t highly effective but did well in short-yardage, scoring twice and converting on fourth down. No one other than QB Jameis Winston ran the ball.
Against Pittsburgh, Cleveland focused on gap runs and runs to the boundary. They liked pulling guards to gain a gap and be physical between the tackles. Examples of that below.
Sixth offensive lineman Michael Dunn logged seven snaps in this one. Cleveland passed on four of those, attempting to sell the run by their big personnel and then running play-action off it.
Overall, and this will get a mention in the passing game below, the Browns plan was to flip the script. Throw on first down, run on second down. Under the assumption that Pittsburgh’s goal was to stop the run early and create third-and-long.
On first down over the first three quarters (removing the fourth quarter to avoid the noise of game circumstances), the Browns threw the ball nine times and ran it six. So they threw the football early to set up second-and-short and the run game.
Cleveland had plenty of first down success they can’t repeat. They averaged 7.7 yards per play on first down against the Steelers. Across the NFL in Week 12, that ranked fifth best. By contrast, Pittsburgh averaged only 3.4 yards on first down, next-to-last only ahead of the Seattle Seahawks.
On Winston’s successful QB sneak, he did a nice job finding the bubble in the B-gap instead of plowing ahead into the A-gap and converted. Meanwhile, Nick Chubb’s fourth and 1 conversion and both goal line touchdowns came through the C-gap to the left side.
Browns’ Pass Game
Jameis Winston remains the team’s starter. A big arm and lots of confidence, he’s coming off a 497-yard, four touchdown, three interception (including two pick-sixes) in Monday night’s loss to the Denver Broncos. So a lot of good and a lot of bad. WR Jerry Jeudy is a major focal point of the offense, recording 235 yards and one long touchdown in the loss. He has 142-yard and 235-yard performances in his last three games and has 70-plus in five-straight games,
As noted above, they they threw on first down and ran on second down. On first down (in the first three quarters), they called nine passes and six runs. On second down, they called 12 runs to only seven passes (one of those seven ended in a sack).
When they threw, the Browns largely focused on the short game. Especially on early downs. That came in the hopes of slowing down the Steelers’ rush and it was effective. Lots of one and three-step game to get the ball out quick with mirrored concepts and slants.
When they took vertical shots, they went max protect and kept blockers in.
Lots of false-key boots to the left, away from T.J. Watt. One complete in the red zone to TE David Njoku, another in open grass. And on third down, they leaned on three-man concepts and triangle reads for Winston to find open receivers. The first was a ‘spot’ concept (curl/flat/corner) on 3rd and 2 and a mesh/sit on 3rd and 5 later in the game.
Josh’s Individual Report
It’s Browns week, Steelers fans!
For the second time in just a few weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers get set to take on the Cleveland Browns, this time on the North Shore at Acrisure Stadium.
The last time the two teams met, the Browns got the best of the Steelers in surprise fashion, winning 24-19 in a blizzard. This time, though, the Steelers should be prepared.
In that previous matchup, the Browns did some good things on offense, which the Steelers should be prepared for.
It starts with quarterback Jameis Winston, who played quite well in that Thursday Night Football matchup. Winston made some big-time throws against the Steelers, getting the ball out quickly, making great decisions and utilizing his legs to extend plays and make throws down the field out of the pocket.
Though he averaged just 8.1 yards per completion, Winston was very efficient. He has good functional mobility, and he displayed it against the Steelers.
Of course, he ran for a touchdown in the win, using his legs to get out of the pocket and get across the goal line for the score on a broken play. But even later in the game with the snow barreling down, Winston used his legs to extend the play and threw a great pass to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy for 26 yards.
That’s a risky throw on the move in those conditions, but Winston put it where only Jeudy could get it, and he was accurate and on time with it, leading to the explosive play.
He’s not the fleetest of foot, but he’s functional and has a good feel in the pocket, which can be dangerous.
When he’s on time and in rhythm, too, like he was for much of the game, he makes good decisions and gives the ball in good spots to his weapons.
Good job here on the Dragon concept, hitting Jeudy in stride for 16 yards.
Winston felt the rush well in the previous matchup against the Steelers, showing the ability to climb the pocket, keep his eyes downfield and fire strikes. He hit a wide-open Cedric Tillman here, so it wasn’t a hard throw, but the ability to climb the pocket, secure the football and find the open receiver downfield was impressive.
He had a great deal of success on the move, even in the snow. Accuracy never waned, either.
Look at that throw across his body to tight end Blake Whiteheart. He puts the ball where only Whiteheart could make a play, and make a play he did.
The challenge on Sunday will be keeping Winston in the pocket, remaining rush-lane integral, and forcing him to make plays within the pocket time and time again. When he’s in the pocket, that’s where he tends to make those crushing mistakes, as evidenced by his two pick-six game on Monday night against the Broncos.
The Steelers will also have to have a better plan for Jeudy, who is a great route runner and is thriving with Winston under center. Coming off a 235-yard game against the Broncos, Jeudy is riding high. He had a strong game against the Steelers and made some key plays throughout the game.
Pittsburgh will also need to find a way to generate a better, more consistent pass rush against Winston and the Browns. In that matchup, Pittsburgh had just 14 total pressures, though most of them weren’t all that impactful.
T.J. Watt was shut down by Browns’ right tackle Jack Conklin, who helped up extremely well in 1-on-1 matchups throughout the game and didn’t get as much help as originally anticipated. That said, the Browns will have to have a plan for Nick Herbig, who had a game-high four pressures and a key strip-sack of Winston.
Maybe they give left tackle Germain Ifedi more help with a chip from a tight end or a running back and leave Conklin on an island. They have a great deal of faith in their OL, and the unit played good football against the Steelers.
Pittsburgh has the matchup advantage on paper and needs to play like it Sunday.
