As we’ve been doing for many years now, we break down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent each week, telling you what to expect from a scheme and individual player standpoint. Like last year, Josh Carney and I will cover the opposing team’s offense. I will focus on the scheme, Josh on the players.
Today, our scouting report on the Cleveland Browns’ offense for the team’s Week 6 game.
Alex’s Scheme Report
Browns’ Run Game
Cleveland’s running game that lacked last season has gotten a jolt in rookie Quinshon Judkins. Missing Week 1, he’s quickly become the team’s lead back. His snap count has been above 50 percent each of the past three weeks, and with good reason. He’s averaging a healthy 4.8 YPC and 51 percent success rate. Other backs like rookie Dylan Sampson and Jerome Ford have been frozen out. Ford has just 12 combined carries over his past four games while Sampson has only seven. By comparison, Judkins has picked up 72.
Others get involved, too. Versatile rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr. has two rushes, WR Isaiah Bond has one rush and WR Malachi Corley has one. All have come on 1st and 10 with Bond and Corley’s specifically occurring on “P and 10,” meaning the first play of a drive.
As a unit, the Browns are just 26th in rushing yards per game at 95.8. But falling behind and game circumstance is hurting total volume. Ditto with the team’s only 10 runs of 10-plus yards, tied for 28th. Judkins is responsible for eight of them.
Conceptually, the Browns’ running game hasn’t changed dramatically in the quarterback switch from Joe Flacco to Dillon Gabriel. Cleveland likes to call Man/Duo downhill runs. They ran it a little more often under center with Flacco than Gabriel, that isn’t a surprise, but the scheme is the same.
Like Pittsburgh, Cleveland likes to use multiple tight end sets, especially after losing WR Cedric Tillman to injury. David Njoku and Fannin are frequently used together with Fannin moved all around the formation, including as a fullback.
Gabriel is more mobile than Flacco and the team will use more read/option action with him, though it’s a small part of the run scheme.
When Cleveland pulls, it’s often short traps to the 3-tech rather than kicking out the playside end or working up to the linebacker.
Cleveland will use a sixth offensive lineman and big personnel in short yardage. Alert the likes of No. 98 DL Adin Huntington, a goal line fullback with 18 offensive snaps this season and No. 56 Luke Wypler and No. 74 Teven Jenkins (a former first rounder) as a tackle-eligible.
Here are some other stats. Cleveland enters Week 6 tied for last in points per game at just 14.6. They’ve scored between 10-17 points in all five contests, and it’s a big reason why the team switched to Gabriel. Yards per game isn’t sitting much better, 27th at 288.2.
The Browns have a minus-4 turnover differential with eight giveaways this season. Joe Flacco was responsible for all eight of them, six picks and two lost fumbles, meaning no one the Steelers will see Sunday have turned it over. That’s big, and the Browns didn’t record a giveaway in their Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. A first for the season and something Cleveland hadn’t done since Week 11 of last year.
Browns’ Pass Game
Cleveland pulled the plug on Flacco, who genuinely looked bad on tape. He was staring down reads and making poor decisions. Gabriel played a different style of game in his first start (he received mop-up duty against Baltimore early in the season, throwing his first touchdown). He kept the ball shorter and underneath, completing 14 of his 19 passes to tight ends and running backs. His air yards were more than 1-yard lower than Flacco, finishing with a 19-of-33 for 190 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and two sacks against the Vikings. He held his own.
Gabriel spread the ball around with eight different Browns players catching a pass. Gabriel also got the ball out fast with a 2.44 time-to-throw mark. That’s faster than Aaron Rodgers’ 2.52 on the season.
WR Jerry Jeudy has been the top wide receiver on the season, though he’s been inefficient with just 15 receptions on 34 targets. The youth movement in Cleveland is real. Judkins at running back, Gabriel at quarterback, and WR Isaiah Bond and TE Harold Fannin Jr. as receivers. Bond has 14 targets over the last two games, including seven in Gabriel’s start.
Fannin and Njoku have been highly involved in the short passing game. Fannin’s catches have been more manufactured off play-action and in the flat while Njoku’s route tree is a little more traditional.
Schematically, the Browns like using reduced/tight splits. Cleveland likes using the screen game on 2nd down and packages their plays in inventive ways. Like this quad screen, though Gabriel through to the backside-X.
Gabriel liked getting the ball out to the flats, especially to his tight ends. Alert for the “Dash” concept with Gabriel on the move.
And Cleveland uses a fair amount of empty. Less-so against Minnesota than Detroit, which makes sense with Gabriel, but the Browns are trying to spread the field. The offense did so in the red zone against Minnesota last week, though the offense failed to put the ball in the end zone.
We’ll see if that plans stays the same against the Steelers’ rush. Hard to see it being the case, and it may have been more situational to ward off the Vikings’ pressure looks.
Josh’s Individual Report
It’s Browns week, Steelers fans!
And with it comes the first AFC North matchup of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ll host the basement-dwelling Cleveland Browns, who are fresh off of a difficult trip overseas to London.
They’re also dealing with some adversity as veteran quarterback Joe Flacco was traded Tuesday, and veteran cornerback Greg Newsome II was traded Wednesday, shaking up the roster. Add in the fact that they’re rolling into Acrisure Stadium having never won there in the regular season under Kevin Stefanski, and it could make for a tough week.
There is some hope with the Browns, though, thanks to the rookie class and the contributors on offense.
In his first start, rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel played well. He avoided turnovers and mistakes in London against a good Minnesota defense, taking what the defense gave him while getting the ball out quickly and in the right place.
He has a strong arm, but he didn’t push the ball down the field much against the Vikings and might not moving forward as a rookie as Stefanski and the Browns look to develop him.
Though he’s new to the NFL, Gabriel has a long history in college with plenty of tape from stops at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. He threw for more than 18,000 yards and 155 touchdowns. He also rarely turned the ball over, throwing just 32 interceptions across six seasons.
He can operate within the scheme, plays with good timing and is an accurate passer. He fits well into Stefanski’s scheme.
Gabriel is helped by breakout rookie running back Quinshon Judkins. Since stepping into the lineup, Judkins has been a huge success for the Browns. He’s ninth in the NFL in rushing with 347 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
He’s a power back who runs well behind his pads, but he also has some explosiveness in his game. He hits the holes hard and fast and can run through seams to get to the second level in the blink of an eye.
Judkins doesn’t have that true home run speed, but he can rip off explosive runs and wear down defenses throughout games. As defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Thursday, the Steelers will have to have their big boy pads on against him.
At receiver, the Browns are struggling a bit from a production standpoint. After a breakout year in 2024, Jerry Jeudy is off to a slow start this season. He has just 15 receptions for 197 yards on the season. In his last three games, he has just six catches for 80 yards.
He remains a great route runner and can take the top off of defenses, but with the challenge under center the Browns are dealing with, he’s been limited.
Rookie Isaiah Bond has emerged as a playmaker in recent weeks. He’s a speed threat who can really get deep and create explosive plays. Bond has nine receptions for 114 yards on the season and has broken out for the Browns.
Jamari Thrash is the other wide receiver option for the Browns, who are banged up at the position. He’s more of a special teams piece than anything else at this point.
Tight end is a big part of the Browns’ attack. David Njoku is the go-to weapon, and he showed great chemistry with Gabriel in Week 5 in London.
Njoku can play in-line or can be moved around the formation. He’s a power forward playing tight end, one that can outmuscle defenders as a route runner and win the football, especially in the red zone.
He can jump out of the gym, too, and is a great athlete. The Steelers have had issues covering tight ends this season and have struggled against Njoku throughout his career, too. It will be a tough test.
The emergence of rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. offers another passing game threat for Cleveland that could be a real matchup problem. Fannin already has 21 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown on the season. He hauled in four passes and a touchdown in Gabriel’s first start.
Njoku and Fannin could be real problems for the Steelers in the passing game Sunday.
Up front, the Browns have an experienced offensive line, one that is opening up running lanes, but has had issues pass protecting at times.
Here’s how I expect them to line up left to right on Sunday:
LT — Cornelius Lucas
LG — Joel Bitonio
C — Ethan Pocic
RG — Wyatt Teller
RT — Jack Conklin
Conklin returned from injury in Week 5 and was outstanding against the Vikings. He’s a huge boost for Cleveland’s offensive line and should help provide an answer for T.J. Watt in Week 6.
Joel Bitonio has had some legendary battles with Cameron Heyward over the years, and that should be another great matchup to watch this time around. How the Browns decide to help Lucas against the likes of Nick Herbig and Alex Highsmith will be interesting to watch.
This line is at its best when attacking downhill, so the Steelers have to make Cleveland one dimensional and tee off on rushing the passer.
On special teams, kicker Andre Szymt has been up and down this season. He’s 6-for-8 on field goals with a long of 55 yards, but he missed one kick that would have won them a game. Granted, he also drilled a kick to beat the Packers, but it’s been a rollercoaster season for the Syracuse product.
Punter Corey Bojorquez continues to be a consistent player for Cleveland. He’s averaging 45.9 yards per punt on the season with a long of 58 yards. Plus, 11 of his 28 punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line.
He’s good at flipping the field and pinning teams deep, helping his defense.
With DeAndre Carter on injured reserve, running back Jerome Ford and Bond are handling kick return and punt return duties. Bond was an explosive player in college, and Ford has had some success returning kicks in his career.
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