What is the story about?
The
Cleveland Browns’ offense looked better against the Bills this week, managing things even with their offensive line full of reserves. The Browns out-gained the Bills 294 yards to 259 yards, and won the time of possession battle 35:23 to 24:37. Cleveland also converted on 8-of-14 (57.1%) of their third down conversions.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 16 game against the Buffalo Bills.
Quarterback
- Despite Cleveland’s offensive success, the two interceptions off of tipped passes — one a little behind Quinshon Judkins and bouncing off him, and one tipped by a defensive lineman up into the air — helped stall one effective early drive, and the other led to a field goal going the other way.
- Besides those unfortunate plays, I thought it was another decent game by Shedeur Sanders. I see degrees of calmness and confidence in him that still make me believe that I see the tools of a guy who can be an NFL starting quarterback. However, you’re still *hoping* that he’ll improve on the quickness of his decision-making, and I don’t know if the body of work over these past two games are enough to forego the top quarterback in the draft.
- Sanders graded fairly well with PFF, having a grade of 64.0 (seventh best on offense).
Running Back
- It sucks to see Quinshon Judkins’ come to an end with an ankle injury and broken leg, but at least it appears that his knee was OK, which provides some hope that he could be ready for the 2026 season.
- With all three of the Browns’ running backs on the shelf, that allowed Trayveon Williams and Raheim Sanders a chance to get some reps in. Sanders showed some physicality with his runs, and Williams showed some nice receiving ability. Williams has also been a pretty decent pass blocker for a couple of games. He was the team’s fifth-highest graded player on offense this week, grading out to a 68.0. Judkins was the second-highest graded player, grading out to a 71.0.
Wide Receiver
- The Browns’ wide receivers are making bigger contributions as runners. The Browns finally stuck with the jet sweep to Malachi Corley more often this week, and it continued to have success. Corley was the Browns’ third-highest graded player on offense, grading out to a 69.8.
- There was also a big reverse that Isaiah Bond had for 21 yards. The stat book is a bit confusing, but it sounds like it was actually a forward shuffle pass to Corley for -6 yards, and then the lateral to Bond, which goes down as receiving yards instead of a rush.
Tight End
- Even though he had fewer catches and targets, Harold Fannin still led the Browns and ended up with two touchdowns, including one via a rushing attempt at the goal line. Fannin was the Browns’ fourth-highest graded player on offense from PFF, grading out to a 68.7.
Offensive Line
- Even though Teven Jenkins’ pass blocking grade (33.0) was the worst on the team, his run blocking grade (84.0) was the best, which made him the Browns’ top-graded player on offense this week, per PFF, grading out to a 73.6.
- It continued to be a mixed bag for the linemen, though. Joel Bitonio and Luke Wypler has solid days in pass protection, but were lackluster in run blocking. Cam Robinson and KT Leveston were bad in pass protection, but a little more stable in run blocking. Robinson was beat on the Browns’ 4th-and-2 attempt that basically sealed their fate.
