Browns @ Giants
This wasn’t a very entertaining game, especially for any Giants fans who decided to stay up late for their team’s mediocre performance. It looked like it might be a game in the first half, as the Browns went up 7-3 and then New York drove down the field to the red zone. But a failed 4th down conversion ended that drive, and by the time the Giants reached the red zone again near the end of the 4th quarter, the game was already over. Baker Mayfield threw for two touchdowns and Nick Chubb salvaged his performance with a touchdown in the 4th quarter. It was otherwise a quiet night in the Meadowlands, and the Browns escaped with a 20-6 victory.
This is the worst snap attempt I've ever seen pic.twitter.com/qNGTnUbjmG
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) December 21, 2020
Cleveland Browns
Quarterback
Baker Mayfield: 27/32, 297 yards, 2 TD, sack | 4 carries, 11 yards
Efficient, efficient, efficient. Baker Mayfield has really strung together a nice stretch of games, and this one was no different. He spread the ball around and made some really nice throws, coming up three yards short of 300 in the game which would have been a nice boost for some fantasy managers in their championship matchups. His two touchdowns were both on throws to the back of the end zone, and for a moment it looked like he was going to miss a wide-open Austin Hooper who ended up making a nice play on the ball.
Mayfield finds Hooper. #Browns take the lead!
📺: #CLEvsNYG on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/upjRqowLf3 pic.twitter.com/2dX5mZwxMk— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2020
Baker’s second touchdown was to Jarvis Landry, but he actually had David Njoku wide open underneath for what would have been an easier score. Baker decided to throw it to his guy in coverage and Landry bailed him out with a nice toe-dragging catch. The Browns have the Jets next and there’s no reason to fade Baker in that one.
Running Backs
Nick Chubb: 15 carries, 50 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Kareem Hunt: 7 carries, 21 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 7 yards
D’Ernest Johnson: 4 carries, 24 yards
The Giants’ defense did a good job of bottling up this explosive running game, allowing only 106 yards on the ground but nearly a quarter of them came from D’Ernest Johnson in garbage time, including a nice 21-yard burst that ended up being the longest run of the game for either squad. Neither Nick Chubb nor Kareem Hunt received a lot of targets out of the backfield, and it was Chubb who dominated the carries despite only getting 15 of them. He had one nice 15-yard run in the 3rd quarter, but otherwise, this backfield was like watching stop and go traffic. The late touchdown that sealed the game salvaged an otherwise pedestrian effort by Chubb, but Hunt was not so lucky and anyone who started him is likely kicking themselves for it. New York’s run defense has been quietly good this year, so I’m not at all shocked by this result. Hopefully, better things are to come against the Jets.
Nick Chubb powers in for the #Browns TD! His 10th of the season.
📺: #CLEvsNYG on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/upjRqowLf3 pic.twitter.com/X5k8kv41EC— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2020
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Jarvis Landry: 8 targets, 7 receptions, 61 yards, TD
Rashard Higgins: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 76 yards
Austin Hooper: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 41 yards, TD
David Njoku: 1 target, 1 reception, 22 yards
Harrison Bryant: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 19 yards
Donovan Peoples-Jones: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 55 yards
It was nice to see Jarvis Landry continue his resurgence late in the season, and also to see Austin Hooper get involved with a score as well. Hats off to these receivers, as they pretty much caught every ball that came their way. The Browns didn’t go three-and-out once on Sunday night, and this group can be thanked for that. I already mentioned Landry’s touchdown catch above, but he made a few more contested catches that helped keep drives moving that are also worth mentioning. This offense has improved since Odell Beckham Jr. was lost for the season and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
New York Giants
Quarterback
Colt McCoy: 19/31, 221 yards, 1 sack | 2 carries, 3 yards
Colt McCoy was asked to be a game manager in this one and nothing more, even when the Giants were down by 17 in the 4th quarter. He didn’t take very many risks and it wasn’t until late in the 4th quarter when he drove the team down the field to rack up some garbage-time yardage. He did play mistake-free football, which is what you’re looking for out of your backup QB, but it simply wasn’t enough to move the ball against the solid Browns’ defense. One has to wonder what this game would have looked like had Wayne Gallman not been stuffed on 4th and 1 in the red zone…
Colt McCoy… 35 yards on a dime to Darius Slayton! #TogetherBlue
📺: #CLEvsNYG on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/upjRqowLf3 pic.twitter.com/aHyCF1V9dw— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2020
Running Backs
Wayne Gallman: 9 carries, 29 yards
Alfred Morris: 7 carries, 39 yards
Yikes. Wayne Gallman has been a solid option of late for a Giants’ team that has been severely lacking any success in the running game since losing Saquon Barkley early in the season, however, that was not the case on Sunday night. His nine carries led the team but he didn’t really do anything with them besides a 9 yard gain on the first play from scrimmage of the game. The Browns lost Sheldon Richardson in the 3rd quarter to a neck injury, which opened up a few more running lanes for… Alfred Morris, of course. Morris was the back of choice in the 2nd half and he looked better overall, but the game script was not in favor of the run game by that time as the Giants were in a big hole. I don’t know what to make of this development, as I don’t think Gallman was injured, but keep an eye on this over the next few days to see if this was just temporary or something that will stick.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Darius Slayton: 9 targets, 4 receptions, 74 yards
Sterling Shepard: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 51 yards | 1 carry, -3 yards
Golden Tate: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards
Evan Engram: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 46 yards
The entire offense was ineffective on Sunday night, to say the least, but at least Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard got their targets. Unfortunately, they didn’t do much with them and this game was a lost cause for their fantasy purposes. Slayton did have a nice long grab in the 1st quarter, but he was wide open and it would have been more noteworthy had McCoy not gotten him the ball. Evan Engram was targeted seven times as well, but he faced some good coverage and couldn’t find much open space to work with.
— Ben Brown (@FelixTheDog23 on Twitter, iamatechnician on Reddit)