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Week 8 Game Recap: Cleveland Browns 23, Jacksonville Jaguars 17
What you need to know
| Cleveland Browns |
The Browns turned in a solid performance in both their passing and running game, and along with a strong effort by their defense, beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Cleveland took their lead from Jamal Lewis, who set the tone by running aggressively. Lewis took Jacksonville's defenders head on, and used his power to deliver hits as defenders approached him and gain extra yards after initial contact. Lewis was stopped for a loss just once, and that was on a goal line play where the Jaguars keyed on him. He gained four or more yards on half of his carries, including three of more than ten yards, against a very good defense. Lewis received all of the red zone carries, and was able to score a touchdown on one of those rushes. Despite the effort he put forth, he still ran with excellent power and appeared fresh in the fourth quarter, delivering blows to the defenders in the fourth quarter with the same drive as he did earlier in the game.
Derek Anderson started the game well by taking advantage of the threat Lewis posed in the running game, and connecting with some of his receivers early. Anderson placed a focus on shorter passes earlier, and proved to be accurate, connecting on nine of his first 13 passes, including a pass to Donte Stallworth for the Browns' first touchdown in a first quarter this season. Anderson did miss open receivers at times, overthrowing them four times, including Braylon Edwards in the end zone. However, he did connect on some timing routes well, where he hit his receivers in stride and they were able to gain considerable yards after the catch. Most of Anderson's passing yards came as a result of three such plays. He threw passes to Steve Heiden and Syndric Steptoe who both ran well after securing the passes down to the one yard line. Braylon Edwards caught a deeper pass in stride along the sideline and had open field in front of him but was knocked out of bounds 20 yards from the end zone. Those three plays accounted for 147 of the 246 yards Anderson amassed passing.
The Browns attempted 14 plays on four possessions in the red zone, and came away with two touchdowns and two field goals. They ran six times, with Lewis getting all six carries including one for a touchdown. Of Anderson's eight pass plays, he targeted Edwards and Stallworth the most, with Edwards receiving four targets and Stallworth two, one of which he caught for a touchdown.
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars could not get their running game going against an inspired Cleveland run defense, despite the return to the lineup of their starting center Brad Meester for the first time this season. Of their 20 combined rushing attempts, Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew only had three carries that gained four or more yards. The vast majority of Jacksonville's running plays were up the middle of the line, and the Browns were very stout in their defense of those plays. Taylor and Jones-Drew both hit the line of scrimmage hard, but were unable to get past the line of scrimmage for any significant gains, and as a result did not have opportunities to use their speed and explosiveness.
As a result of the ineffective passing game, David Garrard had to shoulder most of the responsibility on offense. He was off target initially, as he missed open receivers, but eventually settled down. Garrard's numbers were impacted by some of his receivers dropping passes they should have caught, but he fought through the early inconsistent efforts to post good numbers. In spite of being blitzed frequently, Garrard maintained his poise and showed good touch as well as arm strength on his passes. He led the team in rushing yards, most of which came as he attempted to escape from the Browns' pass rushers. Matt Jones was his favorite receiver by far, being targeted on 15 of Garrard's 42 passes. They were in a good rhythm for most of the game and on a variety of routes, ranging from short, possession-type routes to deep routes. Their numbers and the result of the game would have been even better from Jacksonville's standpoint if Jones had been able to hold onto a deep pass in the end zone. He was defended well, but managed to get his hands on the ball, and while juggling it in an attempt to gain control, was hit by a defender with one second remaining in the game.
The Jaguars ran eight plays on two red zone possessions, and came away with two touchdowns. They passed the ball six times, once to Reggie Williams for a touchdown, and three times to Matt Jones, who caught one of them for a touchdown. Jones-Drew had both of Jacksonville's rushing attempts, but did not score, although he did turn a loss of several yards into a two yard gain.
What you ought to know
| QB Derek Anderson, Pass: 14 - 27 - 246 - 1 TD / 0 INT |
Anderson was solid in this game. He made good decisions in terms of who to throw to, and although he did not attempt many deep passes, showed good touch on intermediate throws, hitting his receivers in stride and enabling them to gain yards after the catch. He tended to be inaccurate when faced with pressure from the Jaguars' pass rush and missed some receivers as a result. Once given time, he delivered the ball with velocity and improved accuracy.
| RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 20 - 81 - 1, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Lewis ran with a lot of power and showed good acceleration to the hole, attacking defenders as they came to tackle him, and gaining yards after contact on most of his carries. He was stopped for a loss once, and that was on a play at the one yard line and Jacksonville's defense keyed on him. Lewis seemed to remain fresh throughout the game, delivering blows to defenders late in the fourth quarter with the same energy as he did early in the game. He would have gained significantly more yardage had it not been for the fact he was playing against a good defense that was keying in on him.
| RB Jason Wright, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (2 targets) |
Wright was on the field in a lot of third and long situations, and caught both of the short passes thrown to him.
| RB Lawrence Vickers, Rush: 2 - 10 - 0, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Vickers was more involved as a blocker but did show good power on his lone reception as he took a short pass and ran through defenders for a first down.
| RB Jerome Harrison, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Harrison had little impact in the game, as he did not get on the field much.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 3 - 13 - 1 (4 targets) |
Stallworth was only targeted in the first half, and only on short routes. He did get wide open in the end zone for a touchdown thanks to good route running in traffic.
| WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 2 - 64 - 0 (7 targets) |
Edwards had his opportunities in the end zone, but was defended well on one play where the defensive back deflected the ball before he could secure it, and was overthrown on another play where he was open. He ran routes well and was able to get open deep several times, but just managed one reception of a deep pass. Edwards had another chance at a touchdown, catching a pass along the sideline, but as he ran towards the end zone, he was forced out 20 yards from the end zone by the only defender who was anywhere near him.
| WR Syndric Steptoe, Rec: 1 - 53 - 0 (3 targets) |
Steptoe was involved in some exciting plays. He caught an intermediate pass and ran it to the one yard line, displaying good speed, before being hit out of bounds. Steptoe was also involved in a play where he was running another intermediate route and got open, but Anderson's pass hit the umpire who was in the area.
| WR Josh Cribbs (1 targets) |
Cribbs was not much of a factor in the passing game, with most of his contributions coming on kickoff returns and kickoff coverage.
| TE Steve Heiden, Rec: 3 - 73 - 0 (5 targets) |
Heiden had a productive game, including a long run after catching a short pass on a 4th and short play. He ran his routes, which were all of the short variety, well and showed good hands after getting open.
| TE Darnell Dinkins, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Dinkins was used mostly as a blocker and on special teams.
| PK Phil Dawson 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Dawson made both of his point after attempts and all three of his field goals, which were from 32, 20 and 43 yards.
| CLE Rush Defense |
Cleveland's run defense rebounded very well from their abysmal showing against Washington the previous week by turning in an inspired performance, led by their defensive line. They clogged the running lanes quickly and swallowed up Jacksonville's running backs before they could get a head of steam. They held the Jaguars' running backs to a 2.65 yards per carry average. Although Garrard ran for 59 yards, the majority of those yards were a result of him scrambling away from the pass rush.
| CLE Pass Defense |
The Browns played the pass aggressively by blitzing frequently, causing Garrard to hurry his throws early and sacking him three times. However they were not as effective responding to the adjustments Garrard made, and ended up allowing close to 300 yards and two passing touchdowns to him. Their overall aggressive defense also resulted in them blocking a field goal attempt and stripping the ball from Jacksonville's kickoff returner and recovering the fumble. The resulting possession resulted in Cleveland taking a six point lead, which forced the Jaguars to have to go for a touchdown at the end of the game.
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 25 - 42 - 283 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 7 - 59 - 0 |
Garrard started slowly, missing some open receivers, but settled down and posted strong overall numbers. He showed soft touches on shorter plays when the route necessitated that type of throw, and also a strong arm to get the ball downfield quickly. Garrard was forced to exhibit his running prowess several times due to Cleveland's pass rush, and he did so in exemplary manner, making defenders miss and running with speed to get by defenders at times. He was in sync mostly with Matt Jones, and targeted him 11 times in the second half alone, as they tried to rally from being down two scores. He did not force too many throws to Jones, and although he clearly favored him, did not lock onto him immediately. Garrard constantly kept surveying the field looking for the best passing option before invariably coming back to Jones.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 12 - 29 - 0, Rec: 3 - 19 - 0 (5 targets) |
Jones-Drew was unable to find any running room and did not fare much better in the passing game. As a result he was unable to generate any big plays.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 8 - 24 - 0 |
Taylor was also stymied by Cleveland's defense and did not have any big plays as a result
| RB Greg Jones, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jones was used mostly for his blocking.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 8 - 117 - 1 (15 targets) |
Jones was used in a variety of ways and played well. He used his size on shorter slant routes to gain short yardage, and also ran intermediate routes very well, managing to get open on most of those routes. Jones displayed good hands, catching most of the passes thrown near him, and running well in traffic after securing the ball. Four of the incompletions thrown his way were thrown out of his reach. He also came close to another touchdown, as he tried tapping a ball thrown to him in the end zone while being well defended, but as he tried to secure it, another defender hit him with one second remaining in the game.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 5 - 49 - 0 (6 targets) |
Northcutt was very effective playing in the slot, running crisp routes and displaying excellent hands on a couple passes where he was well defended.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 3 - 42 - 1 (3 targets) |
Williams caught all of the passes thrown to him, including one for a touchdown. He showed good concentration on the first play of the second half, catching a deep pass in traffic.
| WR Troy Williamson, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Williamson had very little impact in the game.
| WR Jerry Porter (2 targets) |
Porter dropped one of the passes thrown his way and did not get enough separation on his other target, which enabled his defender to deflect the ball.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 3 - 34 - 0 (5 targets) |
Lewis proved adept at getting open both for short and intermediate routes. He did however drop a pass that was catchable.
| TE Richard Angulo, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Angulo's participation in the game was limited.
| PK Josh Scobee 1 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Scobee made both of his point after attempts, had a 38 yard field goal attempt blocked and made one from 53 yards.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville's run defense played hard and aggressively, and because of their effort prevented Jamal Lewis from having a much bigger day running the football. Although the defensive line did not penetrate the backfield on running plays, the linemen and linebackers swarmed to Lewis quickly, although more often than not they gave up some additional yardage after contact. They did have an impressive goal line stand where they forced Cleveland to kick a field goal on a series that began with the all at Jacksonville's one yard line.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jaguars applied pressure to Anderson inconsistently. At times they were able to pressure him into hurried, inaccurate throws, but at other times they were unable to get to him even while blitzing. They also allowed several Browns' receivers to gain significant yards after the catch, in some part due to poor tackling. Overall the pass defense was inconsistent, making great plays at times but allowing some small plays to turn into bigger ones at times. Jacksonville only recorded one sack and did not have an interception, although they did have one called back because of an offside penalty.
