The Browns offense did not impress on the whole during the Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but that doesn't mean that there weren't a few bright spots. Dawgs By Nature had some reaction after the opener, and included in that were several positives in the Browns attempt to put points on the board. First, they saw something they liked from the Browns offense:
The highlight of the game on offense, besides Trent Richardson's jarring hit on a defender, was the double reverse to wide receiver Travis Benjamin. I'll try to talk about the specifics of that play at a later time, but how big was Nnamdi Asomugha's hustle from all the way across the field to stop that play? Is he doesn't get to Benjamin, that play turns into a touchdown instead of just a 35-yard gain. Cleveland should have tried to capitalize more on the Eagles in this manner.
There were also positive signs shown by Josh Cribbs on special teams:
With both teams struggling on offense, Joshua Cribbs got plenty of opportunities to return punts and kickoffs. Although he didn't break one for a score, he looked much quicker than he did a year ago and was back to his old self when it comes to fighting off would-be tacklers. He averaged 13 yards per punt return on 6 attempts, and 30.3 yards per kickoff return on 3 attempts.
While Cleveland's defense played very well, the Browns will need more positives on offense if they are going to bounce back with a win against the Bengals on Sunday. Brandon Weeden, the offensive line, and Trent Richardson all had relatively poor showings to start the season. The Bengals defense looked equally poor against Baltimore though, so there is certainly reason to expect the second game to go better than the first.
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday from Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The game can be seen on CBS.
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