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Click link below to watch videos. Keep in mind this was written by a Browns fan.
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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2581766-browns-vs-rams-whats-the-game-plan-for-cleveland
Browns vs. Rams: What's the Game Plan for Cleveland?
By Mike Hoag, Featured Columnist, Oct 24, 2015
Neither the Cleveland Browns nor St. Louis Rams do anything particularly well, but each has shown glimpses in 2015 of what competitive football teams look like.
The Browns, a defensive-minded team with an aggressive Rex Ryan-inspired defense, have played lights out at times offensively while allowing the most yards per game on the ground in the league.
St. Louis hasn’t done much of anything well, consistently at least, except run the ball. Todd Gurley getting on the field has helped fuel both the Rams' effectiveness and ambition to run the ball down opposing defenses’ throats.
Cleveland’s 150 yards allowed per game is probably looking appetizing for Gurley and the Rams, who are coming off their bye week and playing without starting guard Rodger Saffold for the rest of the season.
What we have here, despite Cleveland’s defensive deficiency, appears to be an evenly matched contest between two teams in similar places.
The Rams (2-3) and Browns (2-4) both badly need wins with Seattle and Arizona both looking like potential playoff teams and Cleveland trailing Cincinnati by four games—already, ugh—in its own division race.
Maybe if we get into a little more detail we can determine if anything separates these two sub-.500 teams.
Offensive Game Plan
The Browns thought they caught a reprieve with DeMarcus Ware missing last week’s matchup, but they didn’t as second-year pass-rusher Shaq Barrett helped Von Miller and the Denver Broncos terrorize Josh McCown. This week for the Rams, Chris Long didn’t practice and was ruled out, along with linebacker Alec Ogletree.
Make no mistake: The Rams can still control the line of scrimmage without Long and Ogletree. Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald are game-changers whom the Browns must account for on each and every play. Offensive coaches and McCown need to minimize his exposure to Quinn off the edge and Donald on the interior. If McCown misreads or fails to identify a pre-snap read with Quinn in a mismatch against a running back or tight end, it could get ugly for the veteran quarterback.
Like the Broncos, although in a 4-3 front, the Rams will rely mostly on their front four for pressure and won’t typically send blitzes unless in longer down-and-distance situations. At least, that’s what they did predominately against Green Bay.
Designing plays to get the ball out of McCown’s hands quickly will again be the biggest help to slowing down another effective defensive front. But ball security and pocket awareness by McCown will be big for the quarterback as well. If he senses pressure, moving up into the pocket may not be an option, as Donald, Michael Brockers and Nick Fairley have all done good jobs of collapsing the interior of the pocket this season. Countering with delayed runs may help find open spaces in that front as they get deeper into the backfield.
Defensive Game Plan
The Rams shouldn't scare the Browns offensively, despite their on-paper matchup advantage with their rushing game. Gurley is an intimidating and still unknown factor, but the Browns still need to focus on Nick Foles and his underwhelming but competent array of passing options.
St. Louis will use receiver Tavon Austin in a lot of different ways. One of them is as a tailback in motion in front of Foles or behind him in the backfield. Here’s a jet sweep that resulted in a score for the Rams in Week 5 against Green Bay:
Source: NFL Gamepass
Nick Foles gets the snap then immediately tosses it to Tavon Austin in front of him.
Keeping outside contain is a problem for the Browns, so they’ll need to focus on not getting sucked inside on counters or jet sweeps to prevent Austin from hurting them on the edges.
Gurley will get his yards—the guy is averaging 5.7 yards per carry and is making it look easy. Attribute that to the team’s willingness to commit to the run but also recognize his ability to find open running lanes and refuse to go down on first contact.
There isn’t any trick to how the Rams will line up to attack the Browns defense. They use a lot of traps and lead blocks to help Gurley get to the next level, and they’re not going to change their power-style running game against a team that hasn’t shown it can stop that type of play.
Key Matchups
Joe Thomas vs. Robert Quinn may be not only one of the best matchups in this game but one of the best league-wide in Week 7. Quinn has four sacks in five games and has already forced three fumbles. Thomas is a pro’s pro and has been solid as ever for the Browns.
Will Quinn be as disruptive as he’s capable of? It’s hard to say, but there’s a chance he makes an imprint on the game at least once or twice, even with Thomas standing in his way.
The Rams’ fastest defensive back Janoris Jenkins will probably draw the task of corralling Travis Benjamin. Benjamin, if you have watched the Browns lately, has turned into a target monster—he's averaging 11 targets and 6.25 catches per game over the last four weeks—and isn’t looking too shabby with his increased involvement on offense.
But he hasn’t captured the magic he conjured with Johnny Manziel behind center. His longest reception has been 47 yards, and his lone touchdown came in Week 3 after having three touchdowns of 50 yards or more with Manziel in Weeks 1 and 2.
Donte Whitner or Jordan Poyer will likely have the assignment of locking down the athletic but underperforming Rams tight end Jared Cook. If you’ve heard fantasy football pundits talking about Cook having a breakout year this season, you know who he is.
Cook is the consummate underperformer, and it doesn’t really make sense as to why. At 6’5”, and with this 4.5 second 40-yard dash and 41-inch vertical, it’s hard to see how he hasn’t become a more dominant tight end. Cook has just 15 receptions for 169 yards in five games but could improve that with Whitner and Poyer struggling lately in coverage.
Jeff Risdon @JeffRisdon
Greg Robinson already on the hook for two QB hits and he whiffed on the down block on the TFL on run
Paul Kruger lining up against Greg Robinson might be another good matchup to watch. The Browns have been rotating personnel in and out of that right outside linebacker spot, but Kruger is a good bet to get the majority of the snaps there again this week.
Now that the team is focused on using him in a more pass-rusher-centric role, we’ll see if he can make an impact by disrupting Foles. Kruger has just one half-sack in 2015 after totaling a career-high 11 last season. Robinson hasn’t really settled into the left tackle position—and may not be cut out for it—so if Kruger is going to make an impact in a game this season, there’s a good chance he erupts this week.
Prediction
As mentioned, this is a good matchup with a lot of similarities between the two teams. Their biggest strengths, though, appear to be their opposing lines. Cleveland’s best unit, the offensive line—at least in pass blocking—will go up against St. Louis' well-renowned defensive line. It’s going to be good football, that’s for sure.
But the biggest unknown is how the Rams’ mediocre offensive line will handle Cleveland’s pass rush, which hasn’t been effective outside of a seven-sack outburst against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. Some of that depends on how quickly Foles can get rid of the ball and how tight Browns corners Pierre Desir and TramonWilliams can keep their coverage off the snap. Joe Haden is out again this week.
Kenny Britt and Brian Quick aren’t going to torch the Browns or anyone for that matter. But keeping track of Austin and Stedman Bailey underneath, along with any running backs out of the backfield, will be a tall task for a Browns defense that has been killed by short passes being turned into big chunk plays.
Given Foles’ propensity to panic and turn the ball over this season, the amount of scrutiny on the Browns' inability to stop the run and their desperation to salvage their season, it’s logical they come out improved this week to slow down Gurley and the Rams. McCown and the offense should be able to move the ball enough to win a low-scoring affair, but it could go either way. Don’t expect a lot of points and don’t take that prediction to the bank.
Final Prediction: Browns 16, Rams 14
Unless otherwise noted, all stats are courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.
MikeHoag(@MikeHoagJr) covers the Cleveland Browns for Bleacher Report and is the managing editor of Browns Beat.
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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2581766-browns-vs-rams-whats-the-game-plan-for-cleveland
Browns vs. Rams: What's the Game Plan for Cleveland?
By Mike Hoag, Featured Columnist, Oct 24, 2015
Neither the Cleveland Browns nor St. Louis Rams do anything particularly well, but each has shown glimpses in 2015 of what competitive football teams look like.
The Browns, a defensive-minded team with an aggressive Rex Ryan-inspired defense, have played lights out at times offensively while allowing the most yards per game on the ground in the league.
St. Louis hasn’t done much of anything well, consistently at least, except run the ball. Todd Gurley getting on the field has helped fuel both the Rams' effectiveness and ambition to run the ball down opposing defenses’ throats.
Cleveland’s 150 yards allowed per game is probably looking appetizing for Gurley and the Rams, who are coming off their bye week and playing without starting guard Rodger Saffold for the rest of the season.
What we have here, despite Cleveland’s defensive deficiency, appears to be an evenly matched contest between two teams in similar places.
The Rams (2-3) and Browns (2-4) both badly need wins with Seattle and Arizona both looking like potential playoff teams and Cleveland trailing Cincinnati by four games—already, ugh—in its own division race.
Maybe if we get into a little more detail we can determine if anything separates these two sub-.500 teams.
Offensive Game Plan
The Browns thought they caught a reprieve with DeMarcus Ware missing last week’s matchup, but they didn’t as second-year pass-rusher Shaq Barrett helped Von Miller and the Denver Broncos terrorize Josh McCown. This week for the Rams, Chris Long didn’t practice and was ruled out, along with linebacker Alec Ogletree.
Make no mistake: The Rams can still control the line of scrimmage without Long and Ogletree. Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald are game-changers whom the Browns must account for on each and every play. Offensive coaches and McCown need to minimize his exposure to Quinn off the edge and Donald on the interior. If McCown misreads or fails to identify a pre-snap read with Quinn in a mismatch against a running back or tight end, it could get ugly for the veteran quarterback.
Like the Broncos, although in a 4-3 front, the Rams will rely mostly on their front four for pressure and won’t typically send blitzes unless in longer down-and-distance situations. At least, that’s what they did predominately against Green Bay.
Designing plays to get the ball out of McCown’s hands quickly will again be the biggest help to slowing down another effective defensive front. But ball security and pocket awareness by McCown will be big for the quarterback as well. If he senses pressure, moving up into the pocket may not be an option, as Donald, Michael Brockers and Nick Fairley have all done good jobs of collapsing the interior of the pocket this season. Countering with delayed runs may help find open spaces in that front as they get deeper into the backfield.
Defensive Game Plan
The Rams shouldn't scare the Browns offensively, despite their on-paper matchup advantage with their rushing game. Gurley is an intimidating and still unknown factor, but the Browns still need to focus on Nick Foles and his underwhelming but competent array of passing options.
St. Louis will use receiver Tavon Austin in a lot of different ways. One of them is as a tailback in motion in front of Foles or behind him in the backfield. Here’s a jet sweep that resulted in a score for the Rams in Week 5 against Green Bay:
Source: NFL Gamepass
Nick Foles gets the snap then immediately tosses it to Tavon Austin in front of him.
Keeping outside contain is a problem for the Browns, so they’ll need to focus on not getting sucked inside on counters or jet sweeps to prevent Austin from hurting them on the edges.
Gurley will get his yards—the guy is averaging 5.7 yards per carry and is making it look easy. Attribute that to the team’s willingness to commit to the run but also recognize his ability to find open running lanes and refuse to go down on first contact.
There isn’t any trick to how the Rams will line up to attack the Browns defense. They use a lot of traps and lead blocks to help Gurley get to the next level, and they’re not going to change their power-style running game against a team that hasn’t shown it can stop that type of play.
Key Matchups
Joe Thomas vs. Robert Quinn may be not only one of the best matchups in this game but one of the best league-wide in Week 7. Quinn has four sacks in five games and has already forced three fumbles. Thomas is a pro’s pro and has been solid as ever for the Browns.
Will Quinn be as disruptive as he’s capable of? It’s hard to say, but there’s a chance he makes an imprint on the game at least once or twice, even with Thomas standing in his way.
The Rams’ fastest defensive back Janoris Jenkins will probably draw the task of corralling Travis Benjamin. Benjamin, if you have watched the Browns lately, has turned into a target monster—he's averaging 11 targets and 6.25 catches per game over the last four weeks—and isn’t looking too shabby with his increased involvement on offense.
But he hasn’t captured the magic he conjured with Johnny Manziel behind center. His longest reception has been 47 yards, and his lone touchdown came in Week 3 after having three touchdowns of 50 yards or more with Manziel in Weeks 1 and 2.
Donte Whitner or Jordan Poyer will likely have the assignment of locking down the athletic but underperforming Rams tight end Jared Cook. If you’ve heard fantasy football pundits talking about Cook having a breakout year this season, you know who he is.
Cook is the consummate underperformer, and it doesn’t really make sense as to why. At 6’5”, and with this 4.5 second 40-yard dash and 41-inch vertical, it’s hard to see how he hasn’t become a more dominant tight end. Cook has just 15 receptions for 169 yards in five games but could improve that with Whitner and Poyer struggling lately in coverage.
Jeff Risdon @JeffRisdon
Greg Robinson already on the hook for two QB hits and he whiffed on the down block on the TFL on run
Paul Kruger lining up against Greg Robinson might be another good matchup to watch. The Browns have been rotating personnel in and out of that right outside linebacker spot, but Kruger is a good bet to get the majority of the snaps there again this week.
Now that the team is focused on using him in a more pass-rusher-centric role, we’ll see if he can make an impact by disrupting Foles. Kruger has just one half-sack in 2015 after totaling a career-high 11 last season. Robinson hasn’t really settled into the left tackle position—and may not be cut out for it—so if Kruger is going to make an impact in a game this season, there’s a good chance he erupts this week.
Prediction
As mentioned, this is a good matchup with a lot of similarities between the two teams. Their biggest strengths, though, appear to be their opposing lines. Cleveland’s best unit, the offensive line—at least in pass blocking—will go up against St. Louis' well-renowned defensive line. It’s going to be good football, that’s for sure.
But the biggest unknown is how the Rams’ mediocre offensive line will handle Cleveland’s pass rush, which hasn’t been effective outside of a seven-sack outburst against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. Some of that depends on how quickly Foles can get rid of the ball and how tight Browns corners Pierre Desir and TramonWilliams can keep their coverage off the snap. Joe Haden is out again this week.
Kenny Britt and Brian Quick aren’t going to torch the Browns or anyone for that matter. But keeping track of Austin and Stedman Bailey underneath, along with any running backs out of the backfield, will be a tall task for a Browns defense that has been killed by short passes being turned into big chunk plays.
Given Foles’ propensity to panic and turn the ball over this season, the amount of scrutiny on the Browns' inability to stop the run and their desperation to salvage their season, it’s logical they come out improved this week to slow down Gurley and the Rams. McCown and the offense should be able to move the ball enough to win a low-scoring affair, but it could go either way. Don’t expect a lot of points and don’t take that prediction to the bank.
Final Prediction: Browns 16, Rams 14
Unless otherwise noted, all stats are courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.
MikeHoag(@MikeHoagJr) covers the Cleveland Browns for Bleacher Report and is the managing editor of Browns Beat.
