Browns, Jaguars playing quarterback roulette
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Four downs on Browns (7-5) v. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4)
First down: War of attrition.
If the season ended today, these teams would be ranked fourth and fifth in the AFC playoff field. But with five games to go, anything is possible and nothing is secured. That’s because of the unusual attrition this season is taking on all teams. The Browns are on their fourth quarterback, Joe Flacco. The Jaguars are one of the few teams that haven’t had to go to a second quarterback – yet. The Jaguars will decide 90 minutes before game time whether Trevor Lawrence will attempt to play with a high ankle sprain suffered Monday night against the Bengals. They have prepared C.J. Beathard to take his place. They’re also on their third left tackle and are without star receiver Christian Kirk. The Browns, of course, have had their share of players lost through injury. For this game, they are expected to get back cornerback Denzel Ward, receiver Amari Cooper and receiver Marquise Goodwin. But gone is right tackle Dawand Jones (knee), who was downgraded to out on Saturday. With the finish line five weeks ago, there will be more casualties ahead. The playoff teams will be the ones with the most starting players standing.
Second down: Clocking the quarterbacks.
After two games in a row without a quarterback sack, Jim Schwartz cracked the whip at his defensive linemen this week. “That’s not us,” fumed the defensive coordinator. “We’re not built that way. We put a lot of resources up front. We have a lot of good players up front. We have a lot of talent up front, and we’re at our best when we can generate pressure with four-man pass rush. We got to get back to clocking the quarterbacks and to building everything off of our four-man pass rush. And that’s just not Myles [Garrett], that’s Z [Za’Darius Smith], Ogbo [Okoronkwo], Dalvin [Tomlinson] and everybody else. We play eight guys up front. Everybody gets significant reps up front. So we just haven’t known one guy not to have sacks for a couple of weeks. We’ve had eight guys not have sacks for a couple of weeks, and that’s something that’s definitely on our radar.” Current Browns sack totals: Garrett, 13; Okoronkwo, 3.5; Tomlinson, 3; Smith, 2.5; Jordan Elliott, 2.5; Shelby Harris, 1.5; Alex Wright, 1; Maurice Hurst, .5.
Considering the injuries that have plagued Browns QBs, it was a bit of a surprise the team waived P.J. Walker on Saturday. (Cleveland Browns)
Third down: And then there were two.
One of the roster moves made by the Browns was unexpected – they waived quarterback P.J. Walker. That leaves Flacco and Dorian Thompson-Robinson the only QBs left. Coach Kevin Stefanski declined to name Flacco the starter against the Jaguars. Why not? Who knows. Maybe it was simply gamesmanship and to force Jaguars coach Doug Pederson to spend time preparing for both. That preparation may have been worth it because there is a possibility the Browns actually may play both quarterbacks. That’s right, Flacco as the starter and DTR in some Wildcat or specialty play packages. Why would the Browns do that after Flacco displayed calm, poise, good decision-making and strong throwing in his debut last week? Why wouldn’t the Browns seek to stabilize the quarterback position now? The only answer is because the Browns are the Browns.
Fourth down: Intoxicated by Flacco’s arm.
Contrary to local opinion, the Browns run the ball more than any team in the league. Actually, the Browns and Ravens are tied with 390 rushing attempts -- tops in the NFL. Yet there has always been the sentiment for Stefanski to run the ball more. Well, that may be well-founded with DTR or Walker at quarterback. But the strong-armed Flacco now gives Stefanski a legitimate reason to throw the ball more – especially downfield. This week I asked Stefanski if he has to guard against being “intoxicated” by Flacco’s strong arm. “I’m not intoxicated on game day. That’s a big no, no,” Stefanski chided. “Yeah, I hear what you’re saying. I think for us, you’re always trying to play to the strengths of your guys. And as you know, Joe can push the ball down the field. That doesn’t mean that every time you’re trying to just do that. Defensively, teams are going to have to play him honest and have had to play him honest his whole career in that regard. But, no, I don’t think there’s any desire to have to sling it around all day just because of Joe’s arm talent.”
The pick: Browns 31, Jaguars 21.
My record: 7-5.
