The Cleveland Browns’ offense under Dillon Gabriel is stuck in a spot where they can only seem to manage about 200 yards of offense. It’s crazy that even the Jets were able to manage 500+ yards of offense this
week; can you fathom a Gabriel-led offense doing that? The Browns were hopeless on third down for most of the game, going just 2-of-11. They weren’t even always in terribly long third down situations, and they avoided the penalties this week. And yet, everything still sucked.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 8 game against the New England Patriots.
Quarterback
- This game was the nail in the coffin for Dillon Gabriel and my opinion on whether he can be a starting NFL quarterback. The answer is a clear-cut no. Through four starts now, we’ve seen what he can do — it might be workable for some teams, and manageable for a spot start as a backup. But he can’t throw downfield, his footwork is often bad, and it’s making teams key in on all of the team’s short passing plays. He can’t throw the ball to wide receivers.
- The fact that Kevin Stefanski opted to verbally commit to Gabriel as the starter after the bye is the wrong message. For God’s sake, at least say the standard, “We’ll evaluate all our positions during the bye and see how we can improve things in the second half of the year.”
- Gabriel was the Browns’ worst-graded offensive player by PFF, grading out to a 33.7.
Running Back
- The Patriots’ run defense was as advertised: they did a great job tackling especially. Quinshon Judkins had some OK short runs early, but then was blown up a few times, and the swing passes to him never stood a chance either. Judkins exited early due to a shoulder injury.
- I would’ve wanted to see the Browns try to deploy the screen pass more often.
Wide Receiver
- The final stat line for all of the receivers? 2 catches for 31 yards, both of which went to Jamari Thrash. It’s a bad pairing of lackluster quarterback play with a bad receiving corp.
- I’m looking forward to Cedric Tillman returning after the bye. Even though he had a couple drops, he was the team’s best looking receiver, all things considered. Isaiah Bond has had a few rookie moments that have dropped him down the totem poll.
- It would be intriguing to see Malachi Corley get some more reps. He had an end around that went for 31 yards, showing off some nice moves, but only saw 4 snaps the entire game.
- Jerry Jeudy was held without a catch, and wasn’t targeted until the fourth quarter I believe.
Tight End
- The Browns’ tight ends remain reliable, and this is a unit that would thrive all-the-more on a better offense. Harold Fannin and David Njoku combined for 10 catches and 2 touchdowns.
- Fannin (75.2) and Njoku (73.6) were the Browns’ top-two graded players on offense, per PFF.
Offensive Line
- I know the ground game couldn’t get going, but I didn’t feel like the Browns’ pass blocking was that bad against the Patriots.
- Looking at the PFF grades, for pass blocking, Ethan Pocic and Wyatt Teller did a sound job, while Jack Conklin and Joel Bitonio were a bit below average. Cam Robinson was dinged for an all-around bad day, grading out to a 38.7, second worst on the team. I wish I could say that trade was paying dividends for Cleveland, but it sucks how bad the left tackle position has been this year.
