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| Other Week 15 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at DET | ATL at NYJ | CHI at BAL | CIN at SD | CLE at KC | DAL at NO | GB at PIT | HOU at STL |
| IND at JAX | MIA at TEN | MIN at CAR | NE at BUF | NYG at WAS | OAK at DEN | SF at PHI | TB at SEA |
Week 15 Game Recap: Cleveland Browns 41, Kansas City Chiefs 34
Cleveland Browns
| QB Brady Quinn, Pass: 10 - 17 - 66 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 39 - 0 |
Obviously, the Browns won in spite of Quinn, not because of him. He had two interceptions on terrible decisions, which is uncharacteristic for the usually overly conservative Quinn. He did try some deep balls to Massaquoi, but overthrew him. About the only thing that worked was dump-offs to Jerome Harrison and short route by Chansi Stuckey. Quinn did break out for a long run to set up the game-winning TD, but otherwise the best thing he did was hand off to Jerome Harrison.
| RB Jerome Harrison, Rush: 34 - 286 - 3, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (3 targets) |
Harrison ran over a tackler on his first carry and gained first downs on three out of his first four touches in a harbinger of what was to come. He was setting up his excellent blocking very well (especially blocks by his FB Lawrence Vickers) and also breaking tackles high and low with strong running and good feel around his feet. Harrison was doing damage running inside and outside, and he got to the second level most every time he touched the ball. On his long TD runs, he showed patience getting through the holes and a second gear in the open field, but terrible angles by the Chiefs defense helped a lot. Harrison's vision and decisiveness to cut upfield were perfect against an overpursing Chiefs defense, and he was just as strong at the end of the game as he was at the beginning. The Chiefs defense deserves an assist, but Harrison's performance was every bit of what you expect to see when you watch a record-breaking game.
| RB Chris Jennings, Rush: 7 - 18 - 0 |
Jennings got mixed in on the first drive, but his role shrank with every big gain by Harrison. Jennings failed on a short yardage attempt that basically sealed his fate as a bench-sitter for crunch time. He can be dropped for the fantasy Super Bowl.
| WR Josh Cribbs, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Cribbs barely got to touch the ball on offense, but he did throw a very accurate deep ball out of the wildcat to Chansi Stuckey that was broken up, and he threw his body around to get what yards were there when he ran. Cribbs did affect the outcome of the game with two terrific kick off return TDs, both 100+ yards. On one, four different Chiefs had a shot at him, on the other, none of them touched him. He could be a great sleeper in fantasy leagues next year if the Browns ever give him consistent touches on offense.
| WR Chansi Stuckey, Rec: 5 - 41 - 0 (6 targets) |
Stuckey was the only Browns receiver who seemed to have good timing with Quinn. He caught a handful of short routes and also made a nice sideline catch. Stuckey was targeted deep by Josh Cribbs, but the defender made a nice play to dislodge the ball as Stuckey was falling to the ground in the end zone.
| WR Mohamed Massaquoi, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (4 targets) |
Massaquoi was targeted deep on three occasions, but two were overthrown and one was picked in double coverage.
Kansas City Chiefs
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 22 - 40 - 331 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 10 - 0 |
Cassel's performance showed off the good of his game, but it also highlighted some of his limitations. He moved around the pocket well, faced little pressure, and used all of his receivers. He also was actually able to complete some punt-like deep balls, two that took forever to come down, and one that was actually right on target - all to Chris Chambers. Cassel did overthrow Jamaal Charles when he got open in the end zone, but he also threw a perfect fade to Chambers for a TD. He was victimized by eight drops on the day, but his own terrible deep ball came back to haunt Cassel when he couldn't keep a hail mary in the end zone on the last play of the game.
| RB Jamaal Charles, Rush: 25 - 154 - 1, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (4 targets) |
Charles continues to assert himself as the Chiefs RB of the future. He ran tough inside, falling forward and hurtling himself through the hole for yards after contact. He also had good hands as a receiver out of the backfield, and great patience waiting for the hole to develop. When he did see the hole, Charles turned on that track star burst, and it turned into a 47-yard TD when broke some arm tackles and made a tackler miss in the open field. Charles got small through the hole, never went down easily, and even dragged a few Browns for a ride at the end of runs. He did some damage in the second half on runs out of the shotgun, too. He has arrived as a fantasy RB1 for the playoffs, and maybe for 2010.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 5 - 114 - 1 (5 targets) |
Chambers got a trio of deep ball from Cassel - one jumpball that was more like a punt, one where he was wide open and Cassel actually hit him in stride, and another lollipop that still worked because Chambers was again wide open. After the good deep ball, Cassel went back to Chambers on the fade for a TD. Chambers remained the favored target for Cassel even after the return of Dwayne Bowe.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 4 - 56 - 0 (10 targets) |
Bowe didn't make a big splash in his first game back. He had a bad drop, looked for flags when his targets fell incomplete, and his biggest play of the day was on a ball that deflected off of Chris Chambers hands. He is tough to trust next week vs. the Bengals young, aggressive corner combo.
| WR Mark Bradley, Rec: 3 - 52 - 1 (5 targets) |
Bradley one of the many Chiefs drops, but he did catch the game-tying TD in the fourth quarter, and he also made a couple catches on the desperation drive to get the Chiefs in hail mary range.
| TE Brad Cottam, Rec: 4 - 62 - 0 (5 targets) |
Cottam looked very natural out in routes despite being about 6'7" 270, and he was one of the Chiefs few sure-handed receivers on this day. He was very hard to bring down after the catch, and after a disappointing offseason, Cottam could be staking his claim to be the Chiefs top receiving TE in 2010.