Four observations from the Cleveland Browns 49-38 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
1. Browns rushing attack is elite
D’Ernest Johnson led the Browns rushing attack with 13 carries for 95 yards as he was thrust into a situation he was probably not prepared for. Nick Chubb left with an injury after only carrying the ball six times for 43 yards, seemingly backing the Browns into a corner. Combine that with the fact Kareem Hunt was limited with a groin injury and things could have gone off the rails. Cleveland was able to lean on their offensive identity by using Johnson, Dontrell Hilliard, and Odell Beckham Jr. to propel their offense to victory, more on OBJ later.
2. Defense still stinks
Myles Garrett had another great day and Denzel Ward sealed the victory with his late interception, aside from that it was another poor performance from the Browns defense. Everyone knew that Cleveland’s defense would be bad this season, but very few realized just how bad they would actually be. The Browns are winning games now, however they will not be able to simply outscore their opponents forever.
3. Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Andrew Sendejo has got to go
Speaking of the defense being a huge liability, Andrew Sendejo is a a whole new level of bad. Week in and week out there is a touchdown scored and it is the result of blown coverage from Sendejo. The Browns have to do something because they cannot keep trotting Sendejo out there. There is no possible way that any other option they have is worse than he is because he is abysmal. The fact that Sendejo continues too see as much playing time as he has is malpractice.
4. OBJ bailed out Kevin Stefanski
This was a spectacular play from Odell Beckham Jr. and a not so spectacular play call from Kevin Stefanski. This was not the first time that Stefanski ran this concept and Aldon Smith was ready. Lucky for the Browns, OBJ was able to make Smith miss and turn what should have been a massive loss into a touchdown.
Yes the play worked, but that is not the point. This was a bad play call by Stefanski and OBJ was able to make something out of nothing. This won’t work every week and the fact that one Dallas defender recognized the play as soon as it started should be a warning sign to the coaching staff to not run this type of play too often.
