Why Browns Rushing Attack is Slowly, but Surely Moving Up in the NFL Rankings
· Yahoo Sports
BEREA, Ohio — Todd Monken has said since the beginning of the season that the Cleveland Browns needed to run the ball effectively, in order to have an explosive offense.
In recent weeks, the Browns have been inching up the NFL ranking in rushing offense. Going into the Titans game last week, the Browns were 24th in the NFL, averaging 94.0 yards a game.
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Against the Titans, the Browns had their season-bests in offensive yardage (491) and rushing yards (183).
The Browns improved to No. 19 and went over 100 yards with an average of 106.7 per game after the win.
Monken was asked if the rushing game is getting to be what he envisioned. As offensive coordinator for the previous three seasons with the Ravens, Monken oversaw the No. 1 ranked rushing offense in the NFL over that period of time.
“It’s been a little bit of an up-and-down challenge,” Monken said. “But that’s part of the NFL, right? That’s part of when you play the best in the world as you’re trying to find your way, your footing, your players, coaches, schematically, to be consistent. Every team’s a little bit different.
“We’ve had moments where we played really good football,” he said. “We have moments where we haven’t played nearly as well as I think we’re capable of. And like I always say, we’re always under construction. And sure, there were certain aspects about what we did last week that you feel a heck of a lot better about.
“Operationally, execution-wise, schematically, it’s always us, and you’re always fighting to clean it up and be able to stack plays,” he said. “And that starts with what we come up with from a schematic standpoint and then how we see it during the week. It allows us to execute at a high level come Sundays.”
Offensive coordinator Travis Switzer doesn’t know if the rushing game had a break through game, against the Titans, but is happy with the progress.
“I think a lot of the things, we have been seeing improvement over the last couple weeks, so it was great to see the production that we had on Sunday,” Switzer said. “As far as breakthrough, I don’t know. I don’t know that any of our guys really look at it that way. I think that the things that we’ve been emphasizing to improve, we’ve been.
“We were a lot better on first and second down, which allowed us to get more runs called,” he said. “The more you’re on schedule, the more you’ll be able to run the ball. As far as breakthrough, I don’t know. We were certainly really happy to see the production that we did, and we’ll continue to try to improve.”
Monken said there is starting to be better cohesion between the running backs and the offensive line.
“I just think we’re being more consistent with our game plans and our consistency there,” Monken said last Monday. “Obviously, I think our players are starting to come together. The more they play together and practice together, I think the more we do the same things, you’re going to see more consistency. I think our guys are running off the ball with more consistency.”
One of the big factors is the Browns were able to pair their projected top two running backs together for the first time this season.
Quinshon Judkins returned after missing a game with an ankle injury and had his best game of the season, rushing for 96 yards on 17 carries for an average of 5.6 yards a carry, including a season long run of 30 yards. He also scored two touchdowns. He was timed running 21 mph, showing the speed that had been missing.
In the first five games that Judkins played, his numbers were down. He had 221 yards, a touchdown and averaged only 3.0 yards a carry.
“We gave him places to run,” Monken said. “It’s hard to look explosive when there’s nowhere to run.
“I thought we did a better job there because he is powerful,” he said. “He’s hard to bring down if you can get him downhill, and I think we’ve been doing a better job the last couple weeks of that.”
Switzer agreed that there was more room for Judkins to run.
“I would say the biggest difference is he was able to get in the open field a couple times, so you could see him, which was awesome,” he said. “But I think he’s steadily improved every week. I wouldn’t say that there’s, you know, a huge difference I noticed on this past Sunday. We were just able to get him some space.”
Dylan Sampson came off of injured reserve after missing five games due to a knee injury suffered early in the season opening game to the Jaguars on a kickoff return.
Sampson had his first rushes from scrimmage against the Titans and had 45 yards on just six carries for a 7.5 average, including a long run of 19 yards.
“You see the diversity he has,” Watson said. “He can run the ball, he can catch it out the backfield and then he brings a versatile dynamic to the offense. You don’t know what we’re going to do, pass or run it. So it’s good to have D-Samp back, good to have Q back, all the guys back.”
Monken was pleased to have Sampson back in the lineup.
“Sure. Explosive players that you can utilize in space,” he said. “And Dylan was even just a shell of himself, you know, the first game back. I expect him to be even a better version of himself this week and next week as he gets back from being off for the better part of six weeks, five weeks.”
Switzer said it’s the versatility that Sampson has that sets him apart.
“It’s versatility,” he said. “He’s got a wide skill set, he can run a lot of schemes, he can help us out of the backfield in the pass game. He’s a pretty savvy guy. I mean, he’s got good understanding, good football IQ and good feel, if you will. So, yeah, I think it’s the versatility, probably the biggest thing he adds.”
Judkins caught one pass for eight yards and Sampson caught three passes for 32 yards, including a long of 22 yards.
The pair accounted for 181 all-purpose yards.
Besides Judkins and Sampson, the Browns were able to get rushing yards beyond Judkins and Sampson and what Monken calls ‘auxiliary’ yardage with runs from the quarterback and receivers.
One thing different against the Titans was the Browns were not relying on Deshaun Watson to make plays with his legs like in other games, where he was the leading rusher or top two.
Against the Titans, Watson had just 19 yards on three rushes, but did have a nine-yard touchdown run.
Monken said to keep Watson from running to a minimum is the optimal idea.
“Oh, for sure. Oh, I think so,” Monken said. “I think every team would want to say that they could gain X-amount of yards without using the auxiliary areas, your quarterback, some of the other pieces that you have. It’s not always possible. It’s week-to-week.
“I do think we started to take steps the week before against Baltimore, albeit a baby step, but I think we’re on the right track at what we feel like we need to do to be able to at least be efficient in the run game and give yourself a chance to take the pressure off the quarterback,” he said. “And we were better last week on run-downs. We were able to stack plays, and that allows you to call the game a heck of a lot more comfortably. "Hopefully, that continues,” he said. “But each team is different. Every team, every week, is different – what their defense poses in terms of what they do well and what we have to do well.”
Another key addition in the rushing game was rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion, who had three rushes for 23 yards, including an 18-yard run that set up a touchdown.
“KC, not only is he quick, he’s powerful, he’s tough, and thinks ‘score’ every time he touches the ball,” Monken said. “So, finding ways to get him the ball is obviously, critical to our offense. It showed the other day.”
Concepcion agreed.
“It's very important,” Concepcion said before practice on Thursday. “It is very important that that we could get the short game going, so that the deeper passes or the play action passes, the defense will be more aggressive to come down and bite on the run.”
Monken said the ‘auxiliary’ plays make a big difference.
“We did a great job with our auxiliary run game,” Monken said. “It’s hard. If you’re going to try to get, say, anywhere to 130-150 yards, it’s really hard to get that on normal run plays. If you’re trying to be one of the better rushing teams, you have to have auxiliary yards, be it by a quarterback, be it by some of your skill players, multiple touches.”
Monken said the scheme and the structure of plays can help create more big plays after catches.
“I think it can,” he said. “I think there’s a combination of scheme, structure as part of that. Players, their ability to separate is a part of that. It’s a collective.”
The Browns used Watson at quarterback under center more and that might have helped in the run game, as well. The offensive line limited the Titans to just one sack after 24 in the first six games.
The offensive line also gave the running backs a place to run, which made a big difference.
Guard Zion Johnson said the line focused on the basics.
“We focused on our technique on hitting double teams, on making sure we’re on the right angles to marry up with the back,” Johnson said last Monday. “And the credit’s got to go to those guys. They ran with excellent physicality. They made great cuts and just being able to block for those guys every Sunday, it’s a blessing and that was on full display on Sunday.”
EXTRA POINTS
Verse, Elgton Jenkins Return: DE Jared Verse (knee) and C Elgton Jenkins (knee) returned to practice on a limited basis on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s practice. DT Mike Hall (ankle) returned to practice for the first time since the first Steelers game on Wednesday and practiced again on Thursday. Hall sprained an ankle in the game, but returned and had a 10-yard sack. However, he has missed the last three games due to the injury.
Howard Still in Protocol: OT Tytus Howard (concussion) was the only player not practicing on Thursday.
If Howard is not cleared, OT Dawand Jones will start at right tackle in place of Howard. Jones took over after Howard left the game in the win over the Titans.