The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
SIGN OF THE TIMES
A Cleveland Browns fan shows his confidence as he holds up a sign in the first half of a preseason game between the Buffalo Bills and the Browns, Friday, Aug. 17, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. The Browns, however, lost the game, 19-17.
Takeaways from the BillsBrowns preseason game Aug. 17 in FirstEnergy Stadium:
• The Browns had two days off following their 20-10 victory over the Giants in which they rushed for only 50 yards on 33 carries in the preseason opener. They returned to practice Aug. 13 determined to improve their ground attack.
Coach Hue Jackson can check off that box on his to-do list. The Browns scored on their first offensive possession against the Bills, picking up 63 yards on the ground. Carlos Hyde broke off a 26-yard run around the right tackle and finished the drive with a 4-yard run around the right tackle. He went into the end zone untouched. In between, he dashed through a hole at left guard for 9 yards. Duke Johnson ran through a hole on the right side for 18 yards.
The ground success did not end with one drive. With the starters playing into the second quarter, Hyde sliced through a hole at left guard for 19 yards to the Bills 29. The backs had nowhere to run last week. The holes were as wide against the Bills. Hyde and Johnson attacked them decisively. The starting offense finished with 99 yards rushing on 15 carries — a 6.6-yard average.
The Browns had 31 carries for 164 yards and two rushing touchdowns with Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
• Cutting down penalties was another goal after being flagged 13 times for 141 yards in the preseason opener.
The finals numbers might have been down, but the statistics don’t tell the whole story. Offensive pass interference penalties on Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins on Taylor’s last drive as the starting quarterback took the Browns out of field-goal range.
Josh Allen, the second quarterback to play for the Bills, rushed for 3 yards on a third-and-13 play, but an illegal hands to the face penalty on rookie linebacker Genard Avery, just five yards on the stat sheet, gave the Bills an automatic first down at the Buffalo 40. The Bills turned the gift into a 2-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Rod Streater nine plays later.
The third offensive pass interference penalty on the Browns, this one in the third quarter on tight end Devon Cajuste, erased a 2-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Derrick Willies. The Browns had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Ross Martin.
• Myles Garrett had zero tackles, but don’t be fooled by that. Pressure from Garrett forced Bills starting quarterback AJ McCarron to step up into the arms of defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi on Buffalo’s second possession. On Buffalo’s fourth possession, Garrett hit McCarron just as the Bills’ quarterback was throwing the ball. The short pass to the right side intended for LeSean McCoy was incomplete.
McCarron threw one more pass. Later it was announced McCarron suffered a hairline collarbone fracture — apparently on the hard but clean hit by Garrett. The injury was reported by Vic Carruci of the Buffalo News and means Allen is now the Bills starting quarterback.
• Taylor did not get the chance to duplicate the surgical five-play touchdown
drive of last week, in which he completed four straight passes in the hurry-up offense. He completed 2 of 4 passes for 2 yards. One pass to Hyde lost five yards.
The emphasis for the first offense to run the ball on Taylor’s four possessions, so he should not be judged by his meager stats. Next week will be a better test when Taylor and the starters play into the second half in the dress rehearsal game when the Browns host the Eagles on Aug. 23.
• Mayfield had five possessions. Nick Chubb finished off the fifth with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Browns a 17-13 lead with 12:33 to play. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 75 yards and had two touchdown passes taken of the board — one on the Cajuste penalty and
one after an official’s review ruled Willies landed out of bounds on a wouldbe touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Mayfield bought time with his feet and kept his eyes downfield while he was in the game.
•Allen, the quarterback picked by Buffalo with the seventh pick in the first round, displayed the strong arm that earned him fame playing college football at Wyoming. He was on the field for three possessions and posted two field goals to go with his touchdown pass.
Allen finished the night 9 of 13 for 60 yards and a 104.6 passer rating. The Bills are not star-studded at wide receiver.