Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and notes: Week 17 – Cleveland stacks up the YAC

Yards after the catch were a big thing against the Jets.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 17 game against the New York Jets.

• QB: There are times when PFF grades don’t necessarily correlate with the magic that a player has, and that was the case with Joe Flacco this week. He scored a mediocre 62.2, but everyone knows how incredible that first half was in which he threw for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns. The lone blemish was the pick six off of a pump-faked screen pass, but he essentially negated that by operating the two-minute drill. If I had to guess, Flacco’s grade probably suffered from doing nothing in the second half, and also, a lot of his first half yardage came from yards after the catch by his receivers.
• RB: On the other hand, Jerome Ford had a grade of 77.5, one of his finer efforts. He averaged 5.3 YPC on the ground, but also had two touchdowns on two receptions, fighting through tackles on both of them to reach the end zone. Kareem Hunt powered through on the ground for a touchdown of his own, but it’s a shame that quarterbacks haven’t been able to connect with him much on screen passes this year, a play where he has historically had some big plays on. Pierre Strong was looking strong when he was put in the game, until he fumbled.
• WR: Despite Amari Cooper being out, Cedric Tillman only had one catch, and Flacco showed frustration with the rookie on a failed fourth down attempt in the opening quarter. Tillman did receive a lot of reps, nonetheless. Elijah Moore was having a solid performance before suffering a scary-looking concussion. David Bell saw more action after Moore’s departure, but only had two catches. Marquise Goodwin wasn’t targeted in his limited reps.
• TE: It was a fantastic first quarter for David Njoku, who soared over the 100-yard mark. In the second quarter, he was on his way to doing more damage via yards after the catch, but C.J. Mosley punched the ball out from the side. The reason for the fumble? Njoku was about to begin a hurdle right when the punch happened. I know Njoku loves doing that, but it’s just not worth it, both for ball security and injury concerns. Jordan Akins had a nice 28-yard catch-and-run when he broke free. Njoku (85.3) and Akins (80.3) were the Browns’ highest-graded offensive players by PFF.
• OL: What a job by the offensive line, as Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, James Hudson, and Geron Christian all had above average performances. It was nice to see the ground game come alive for the first time in awhile.