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What led most to the Browns' offensive explosion vs. Ravens? 'Everything' | Takeaways
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- What led most to the Browns' offensive explosion vs. Ravens? 'Everything' | Takeaways
CLEVELAND — It's the whole "correlation vs. causation" argument, only on a football field. Whatever it may be, the Browns are more than happy to take the end results.
A quarterback change necessitated by Deshaun Watson 's season-ending Achilles injury last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals led to Jameis Winston's insertion into the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens . That move wasn't the surprising one of the week.
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The one that was came when Browns coach Kevin Stefanski handed the play-calling duties over to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. It was the move that Stefanski, who had called the plays since being hired in 2020, seemed never likely to make until he did this week.
On Sunday, the Browns offense — with Winston at the controls — was the story as the team snapped a five-game losing streak with a 29-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens . They rolled up 401 total yards and Winston threw for 334 yards , both season highs for Cleveland.
To Winston, those two things were the correlation — the changes at quarterback and play-caller — that does not, in fact, imply causation, which was the offensive explosion. To say that, according to the 10-year veteran, discounts so much.
Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman celebrates his fourth-quarter touchdown with quarterback Jameis Winston (5) against the Ravens, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Cleveland.
"Yeah, a lot of people had their factors," Winston said after his first start since Week 3 of the 2022 season with the New Orleans Saints . "Offensive line played great all day. We were efficient in the run game, guys were open, but at the beginning of the week we had this change. Our head coach stopped calling plays, like, why did he do that? Ken Dorsey had stepped up.
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"But that just shows great leadership from the top down with Coach Kevin being certain about this decision to change. And Ken showed up, he put in great work and he did an outstanding job today to lead us."
The change that some in the Browns locker room credit the outcome to is more tangible than just guessing what percentage of a number each of the variables played in the result. It was the numbers they were putting up on the scoreboard.
The Browns had 11 drives against the Ravens, including seven that ended up in Baltimore territory. Of those seven, six ended up with Cleveland scoring points.
"It was everything," wide receiver Elijah Moore said. "I feel like there becomes a certain point where people just become tired of not finishing games. I feel like that's what we did today."
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The offense was most effective in the second half, when four of six possessions reached Ravens territory. Three of those were turned into touchdowns, with wide receiver Cedric Tillman scoring two — including a go-ahead 38-yard TD catch with 59 seconds left — and tight end David Njoku getting one.
Over the five-game losing streak entering the game, Cleveland's offense had produced just three second-half touchdowns combined. It also had a defensive score in Week 4 when Rodney McLeod returned a fumble for a TD against the Las Vegas Raiders .
"We just tried to fight, man," Tillman said. "We've been talking about it all week. Fight, fight, fight, being resilient, and that's what we did today."
Cleveland Browns offensive line coming together against Ravens
The Browns offensive line has been a M*A*S*H unit the entire season. Sunday may have been the closest to complete the group has been, with right guard Wyatt Teller back off the injured list.
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Teller gave the Browns four starters in their normal spots, along with left guard Joel Bitonio , center Ethan Pocic and right tackle Jack Conklin . Dawand Jones , normally a right tackle, started for the first time in the NFL at left tackle in place of the injured Jedrick Wills Jr.
"I think the O-line played better today," Bitonio said. "I'll have to go back and look, having Wyatt and Poe back healthy, Jack in there, Dawand stepped up and played some left tackle for us as well. I thought the receivers were doing well, but obviously Jameis stepped in and played really good. I think that was the main part of it."
Cleveland Browns running back D'Onta Foreman (27) rushes for yards as guard Wyatt Teller (77) blocks a Baltimore Ravens defender Sunday in Cleveland.
Winston was sacked just twice by the Ravens. That likely was a combination of the line playing better and of his ability to get rid of the football quicker than Watson.
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Still, outside of the Kyle Hamilton strip-sack in the second quarter when he came completely untouched on a safety blitz, there were few complete line busts. That was especially true for Jones, who last played left tackle in 2020 while at Ohio State.
"I think pretty good," Bitonio said. "I was trying to communicate with him all game and there's obviously a couple of plays we want to have back. As a lineman, you play 60, 70 plays, but I think it was good. I think the protection especially was very, very solid."
Another step forward for Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb
Nick Chubb played his second game on Sunday since returning from last year's season-ending knee injury. The running back saw a slightly bigger load than the previous week, going from 11 carries to 16 attempts.
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Chubb also went up in yards gained, from 22 yards against the Bengals to 52 yards against the Ravens. He also showed a bit of a burst with a 15-yard run in the second quarter.
"I wouldn't say we took all the pitch count off," Stefanski said. "Still want to be smart with Nick in the second game back, but he's moving well. He feels good. So, we'll continue to monitor that as we go."
That increased usage showed up in the second half. Chubb had just one second-half carry against Cincinnati, but he had six against Baltimore.
All of that was part of a day on which the Browns ran 23 times for 80 yards as a team. That at least allowed for the play-action game to be more effective.
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"Yeah, I think that always opens up run action, play action plays," Teller said. "We had a lot of drop-backs. We protected all right, but we have a lot to go."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' offensive explosion vs. Ravens tied to 'everything': Takeaways
