Hi Browns fans welcome to week 2 of the 2024 season. Sunday the Browns travel to Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium to take on the 0-1 Jaguars in an important early season match-up. Historical stats tell us that only 10% of teams who open the season at 0-2 end up making the playoffs. Game time is 12:00 CDT and as usual the ChicagoLand Browns Backer/Northside Dawg Pound will be gathering at Burke’s Public House 5401 N. Broadway to cheer our Browns onto victory.
After last week’s 33-17 beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys almost all of the national media laid blame for the defeat on Deshaun Watson. Matters only got worse for Watson after yet another lawsuit for sexual misconduct was announced which could lead to another suspension for him and another season of uncertainty at quarterback for the Browns. While it’s true that Watson had a terrible game (24 of 45 for 169 yards with 1 TD and 2 interceptions for a 51.1 QB rating) last week’s loss was a total team effort with breakdowns on offense, defense, special teams, and coaching decisions.
A closer look at a replay of the game showed that for both the offense and the defense the game was in many ways a tale of 2 halves. In the 1st half, the offense was a complete mess with Watson completing just 7 of 15 passes for a paltry 31 yards with 1 interception for a miserable 21.8 QB rating. The Browns also gained only 23 yards on 6 carries while scoring just 3 points. In the 2nd half, things got a bit better with Watson completing 17 of 29 passes for 137 yards including 1 TD pass and 1 interception for a marginally better QB rating of 67.7. In the 1st half, the Browns gained 23 yards on 6 carries while in the 2nd half, they rushed 13 times for 70 yards bringing their average for the game up to 4.9 yards per carry. Of their 19 rushes the Browns gained at least 4 yards on 13 of them (68%). It’s a bit of a mystery why the coaching staff abandoned the running game so early in the game.
The lack of production in the passing game, coupled with the abandonment of the running game, resulted in the offense facing third-and-10,11,10,9,10, and 7 during their 7 first-half drives. The Browns faced an average of 9.5 yards to go on third downs in the 1st half.
No offense can succeed facing more than 9 yards to go on every 3rd down attempt.
In the 2nd half, they averaged 3rd and 7 on 3rd downs. Offensive players not named Watson also committed 5 pre-snap penalties and 1 holding to further hinder the offense. The defense gave up 156 passing yards in the first half and only 23 passing yards in the second half along with only 6 points. The less said about the punt coverage team the better. So while the Browns undoubtedly laid an egg last Sunday there are at least a few reasons for optimism going forward.
The Jaguars come into Sunday’s game with their own set of problems after their 20-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins. At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, the Jaguars led the Dolphins 14-0 and then watched Miami outscore them 20-3 in the last 2 ½ quarters to win the game. Starting RB, Travis Etienne Jr., fumbled what would have been the winning touchdown on the Dolphin’s 1-yard line while trying to score a TD in the second half.
Jaguar’s QB Trevor Lawrence completed just 12 of 21 passes for 162 yards with 1 TD; and their receivers were led by rookie Brian Thomas Jr. who had 4 receptions for 47 yards with 1 TD. Last season Lawrence threw for 4,016 yards with 21 TD’s and 14 interceptions. The Jaguars offense, which has averaged 22.2 points per game and 339.5 yards per game, was limited by the Dolphins to 17 points and 267 yards of total offense. The Jaguars defense gave up 400 total yards including 338 passing yards including an 80 TD pass to the Dolphins Tyreek Hill.
The Jaguars have 3 veteran receivers: Christian Kirk who caught 57 passes for 788 yards last season, Gabe Davis who had 45 receptions for 746 yards, and TE Evan Engram who had 114 catches for 963 yards in 2023. RB Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for 1008 yards with 11 TD’s while averaging 3.8 yards per carry last season.
The Browns defense will undoubtedly try to target 2nd year RT Anton Harrison who gave up 2 sacks last week. On defense, the Jaguars feature 3 outstanding defensive linemen, 2023 Pro Bowl DE Josh Hines-Allen who was 3rd in the NFL with 17.5 sacks, 90 QB pressures and 17 tackles for loss (TFL) last season, DE Travon Walker who had 10 sacks with 59 QB pressures and DT Roy Robertson-Harris who had 3.5 sacks in 2023. The Jaguars’ primary defensive weakness is their overly aggressive defensive backs who have been susceptible to double moves and their two CB’s – Montaric Browns who started 6 games last season and Ronald Darby who started 7 games last season – neither one had an interception last season.
See you Sunday GO BROWNS…. GO GUARDIANS!