Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns: Week 5 film room session

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:09 p.m. ET

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Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns did not have the best of days against the New England Patriots as this week’s film room session reveals.

The Cleveland Browns simply cannot catch a break in the right direction this season.

In their 33-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, starting quarterback Cody Kessler left the game in the first quarter with a rib injury. Entering the game was recently acquired journeyman quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, aka Clipboard Jesus. Whitehurst threw for 182 yards and had one touchdown and one interception in his Browns debut.

Whitehurst exited the game late in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury. The Browns released Whitehurst on Tuesday afternoon after reaching an injury settlement with the veteran. The details of the knee injury were not released, but appear significant enough to keep him off the roster. Terrelle Pryor then played the few remaining snaps to finish the game.

However, the story of the day was the return of future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. In his return from suspension, the Patriots quarterback torched the Browns secondary for 406 yards and three scores. Number 12 looked like he hadn’t missed a beat, as he had his way all day long with the Cleveland defense.

Going up against one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, the Browns defense did not play well. They missed assignments, had breakdowns in coverage and could not generate a pass rush on Brady. These factors led to the huge comeback of Brady in the blowout loss for the Browns.

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Cody Kessler played two full series in the first quarter before leaving with a rib injury. Kessler did not return to action, but his play on the Browns lone touchdown drive was impressive. Kessler has shown signs of improvement in each of his first three starts and it was disappointing to see him exit the game following his touchdown drive.

On the drive Kessler orchestrated a nine-play 75-yard drive, capped off by a touchdown toss to Andrew Hawkins. Here we will break down some positives from Kessler and give reasons as to why Kessler should remain the starter (when healthy) for the team moving forward this season.

This first play is Kessler’s touchdown pass to Hawkins. On the play the Patriots use one single high safety and shade him to the right to give help on Pryor. On the left side of the formation rookie Ricardo Louis is to the outside and Hawkins is in the slot. The Patriots are in man coverage and the Browns use a “pick” concept to free Hawkins.

The play design calls for the outside receiver (Louis) running a slant or inside route to get in the way of the inside defender. This allows for the inside receiver to separate and get open on the outside. The Browns executed this play perfectly, as Hawkins runs a corner route and is able to separate from the man coverage. Kessler throws a perfectly timed pass and has an easy touchdown.

This next throw comes on the same drive and is the play before the touchdown. One of Kessler’s biggest knacks is his lack of arm strength. However, on this throw Kessler shows the abilities to make up for an average arm.

On the right side Pryor runs a comeback route. They key to completing this route is throwing on time before the receiver breaks off his route. On the play Kessler throws in rhythm and with anticipation, releasing the ball before Pryor makes his break, giving the defender no chance to make a play on the ball.

Kessler shows he can deliver accurately and make the throws that usually require more arm strength as his anticipation and accuracy make up the difference.

Over the course of a little more than two full games of action, Kessler has done an extremely good job of taking care of the ball. He has only thrown one interception, and that was late in the game against Washington as he was trying to make something happen. At times Kessler has gone to his check down read to quickly, but for a rookie quarterback he has shown poise and smartness to take care of the ball, not forcing anything.

On this play Kessler begins to work his progressions on the left side. Nothing is open and he shifts his eyes back to the middle of the field. This is where Kessler gets “happy feet” on this play. He still has a relatively clean pocket, but he feels like he is out of time to make a decision. With more experience, Kessler will gain a better understanding of how to operate inside the pocket.

Despite shuffling his feet sporadically, Kessler still keeps his eyes downfield and finds Isaiah Crowell coming out of the backfield for a big gain of 18 yards. Many young quarterbacks look to run when they feel like they sense pressure. Despite having bad footwork on the play, Kessler keeps his eyes downfield and is able to dump it off to his running back.

Although Kessler was limited to playing just the first quarter due to a rib injury he showed improvement on the Browns first touchdown drive. Kessler has improved and gained more confidence each and every week. The rookie quarterback has shown leadership and, for the most part, played mistake-free football.

This is why the Browns should continue to start Kessler over Josh McCown.

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

In his season debut, Brady played like he hadn’t missed a snap all season. The performance of Brady was impressive, but the Cleveland defense did very little to help prevent the offensive explosion by New England.

This first play comes from the New England’s opening drive and was the first third down they faced in the game. The Patriots line up with trips on the right and isolate playmaker Rob Gronkowski to the far left. The Browns defense is showing blitz and man coverage on the play.

At the line of scrimmage, Brady picks up on the matchup he wants to exploit. Gronkowski is in man coverage against Browns safety Jordan Poyer to the far left. Brady calls an audible at the line to take advantage of this matchup. The Browns defense should never have allowed man coverage to occur on Gronk, and should always have double teamed him or played him in zone coverages. The Browns defense has no one defender big enough or athletic enough to cover Gronkowski.

On the play, two receivers from the trips right side run crossing routes across the middle of the field and the other runs deep to clear out the entire right side of the field. Meanwhile, Gronkowski runs a shallow crossing route from left to right to the area the Patriots receivers just vacated. In the man coverage, Poyer can’t stick with Gronk running through traffic across the middle and it becomes a huge play to New England’s premier playmaker.

On this next play, Brady and company take advantage of the Browns young secondary for a big gain down the field. Brady is operating under center in a single-back formation and the call is a play-action pass that is executed to perfection. Brady’s play fakes are the best in the game and he catches the Browns defense on the fake to the running back LeGarrette Blount. On the fake the linebackers bite run and go with the play flow toward the running back.

In the secondary, safety Ibraheim Campbell is fooled on the fake and, with his eyes caught looking in the backfield, begins to break on the run. When he realizes it is a pass he gets his feet crossed up and his direction turned around and is in no position to make a play on the receiver.

The receiver, Chris Hogan, is running a deep over route and is able to blow by the out-of-position Campbell for a big play down the field. This is the value of how a solid run game can open things up for the passing game and how important good play fakes can fool a defense.

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