Cleveland Browns vs Denver Broncos
Before tonight, I didn’t know what was worse – being a Cleveland Browns fan or being a QB for the Denver Broncos. Now, I’m certain being a Browns fan wins out. In a game featuring two teams sitting at 2-5, who would have thought a journeyman QB starting his first NFL game would outperform a former Heisman Trophy winner and #1 overall pick and lead his team to victory? That’s exactly what happened as the Denver Broncos outlasted the Cleveland Browns 24-19 despite being outgained 351 yards to 302, fielding no red zone attempts to five for Cleveland, and losing the time of possession battle 35:30 to 24:30. Here’s what I saw.
Cleveland Browns
Quarterbacks
- Baker Mayfield: 27/42, 273 yards, 1 TD, 2 sacks, 12 yards lost | 3 carries, 22 yards
Baker Mayfield looked rusty early on in this game, missing high on most of his early passes and even on those that were completed. Mayfield generally had time in the pocket but never seemed comfortable after his rough start. Mayfield did finally lead his team to a TD in the fourth quarter, but the team struggled mightily in the red zone settling for four FGs and turning the ball over on downs on their fifth trip on a questionable spot following a Mayfield sneak on fourth-and-short.
Mayfield has regressed since flourishing in the second half of 2018. Granted, Cleveland had the toughest schedule in the first half of the season, but this was the first game of the second-easiest second-half schedule. Unless Mayfield can get on the same page with his receivers, he’s hard to trust as anything other than a low-end QB2 in leagues that allow for two starting QBs.
Running Backs
- Nick Chubb: 20 carries, 65 yards | 5 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards
- Dontrell Hilliard: 5 carries, 8 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 6 yards
Nick Chubb entered this game leading the NFL in rushing yards per game (105.4) behind only Raheem Mostert at the RB position in yards per carry (5.58 to 5.51) yet suffered through his worst fantasy performance of the season. Denver has been decent against the run this season and was benefited in this game by their offense building an early lead, forcing Cleveland into a more pass-heavy offense than normal. Despite this disappointing performance, Chubb showed excellent patience and determination throughout the game and showed why he is still a top-tier RB for fantasy owners. As mentioned above, Cleveland will have good matchups for most of the remainder of the season and this should afford Chubb more good games than not assuming the offense can cure its red zone woes going forward.
Dontrell Hilliard is primarily the backup to Chubb, but I found it interesting Hilliard was on the field for Cleveland’s two-minute drive at the end of the first half and was also called upon late in the fourth quarter on a third-and-two to convert in place of Chubb. Hilliard is trusted in passing situations but does not carry any fantasy value unless Chubb misses time.
Wide Receivers / Tight Ends
- Odell Beckham Jr: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 87 yards | 1 carry, -5 yards
- Jarvis Landry: 13 targets, 6 receptions, 51 yards, 1 TD
- Ricky Seals-Jones: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards
- Demetrius Harris: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 25 yards
- Antonio Callaway: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 56 yards
Jarvis Landry was the apple of Mayfield’s eye in this game, more than doubling every other receiving option for Cleveland in targets. Part of the target discrepancy can be attributed to Chris Harris, Jr shadowing Odell Beckham, Jr for most of the game and the injury to Ricky Seals-Jones in the first half. Landry converted fewer than half of his opportunities, but much of the blame has to be on Mayfield as he was missing high on most of his passes. Landry did have an incredible one-handed catch in the third quarter to extend a drive and showed off on an individual effort on his TD reception. Landry sees enough targets to warrant consideration as a solid WR2 but the struggles of Mayfield make him more viable as a WR3.
OBJ made the most of his targets, hauling in all but one and leading the team in receiving yards. The most notable non-target, however, came on Cleveland’s final play of the game. OBJ was lined up to Mayfield’s left and beat Harris off the line down the sideline. Mayfield forced a throw into double-coverage to Landry which was batted down, resulting in a turnover on downs. It was later reported Beckham could be heard on the sideline complaining about how he can never get the ball. Beckham did have a couple of quintessential OBJ catches against very good coverage by Harris but was held out of the end zone for the sixth straight game. OBJ has the talent to be a WR1, but, like Landry above, his QB prevents him from being trusted as anything more than a WR2.
Cleveland seems to be increasing the role of Antonio Callaway as their third WR and he showed off his playmaking ability on his first reception. Callaway’s first reception was a designed WR screen in which he bolted up the field for a nice 41-yard gain. Cleveland tried to scheme open field for Callaway to utilize his game-breaking speed, but it was only effective on that first play. Callaway is no better than a WR5 given his role in this offense and the offensive struggles the team is having.
Seals-Jones has been a nice replacement for the injured David Njoku, but Seals-Jones suffered an injury in the first half and was unable to return. Demetrius Harris may see more action depending on the severity of Seals-Jones’s injury. Njoku won’t be eligible to return until week 12 at the earliest.
Denver Broncos
Quarterbacks
- Brandon Allen: 12/20, 193 yards, 2 TDs, 3 sacks, 18 yards lost | 5 carries, 13 yards
Brandon Allen hadn’t started a football game before today since the Liberty Bowl in 2016 when he was QB at Arkansas. You wouldn’t know it by the way he played in this game. Allen showed incredible trust in his receivers, especially his first TD to Courtland Sutton, and brings a running element to the QB position Denver arguably hasn’t had since John Elway was under center.
Allen did have a couple plays where he took a sack he shouldn’t have but was otherwise very efficient and wasn’t afraid to give his receivers a chance to make a play. On his second drive, Allen tossed a pass to Sutton in which Sutton plucked to ball out of the air just in front of the outstretched hands of Denzel Ward. Allen’s second TD was the result of a ridiculous catch and run from Noah Fant, but Allen diagnosed the defense and hit the open receiver to allow him to make the big play.
Allen can’t be trusted as anything other than a low-end QB2, but if you’re desperate for QB help because of BYEs or injuries, Allen might provide just enough upside in the right matchup to be worthy of a spot start.
Running Backs
- Phillip Lindsay: 9 carries, 92 yards, 1 TD
- Royce Freeman: 5 carries, 15 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, -1 yard
- Devontae Booker: 1 target, 1 reception, 14 yards
It was a rough night in general for RBs, but Phillip Lindsay provided fantasy owners with a nice night thanks to three very nice plays. On the first, Lindsay exploded through a hole in the middle and bolted downfield for a nice 40-yard gain. Next, Lindsay squeezed through a hole off right tackle then picked up nice blocks from Andy Janovich on an LB and Diontae Spencer downfield to spring him for a 30-yard TD run that ultimately provided the winning margin for Denver. Finally, Lindsay took a snap out of the Wildcat formation and scampered around the left end for a 16-yard gain on second-and-nine to seal the victory. Lindsay is still splitting the backfield work with Royce Freeman in nearly a 60/40 timeshare (in favor of Lindsay), which caps his upside. As a result, Lindsay is best viewed as an RB2 or FLEX option.
Speaking of Freeman, he was mostly bottled up tonight due to the impressive defensive line play of Cleveland. Like Chubb above, this was Freeman’s worst fantasy output of the season. Lindsay is still seeing a larger portion of the workload, so Freeman is best utilized as a FLEX option but does provide RB2 upside much like Lindsay.
Wide Receivers / Tight Ends
- Courtland Sutton: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 7 yards
- Diontae Spencer: 3 targets, 1 reception, 0 yards, 1 fumble lost
- Noah Fant: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 115 yards, 1 TD
Courtland Sutton continues to be the most trusted option at WR for Denver and made an incredible TD catch in this game to salvage an otherwise pedestrian performance. Allen through a pass to the middle of the end zone trusting Sutton to use his athletic ability to make a play on the ball. Sutton elevated and extended to get his hands just in front of Denzel Ward to haul in the 21-yard TD. Sutton was mostly held in check outside that one play, but seeing the target volume essentially remain steady with Allen at QB is encouraging. Sutton checks in as a reliable WR3 with WR2 upside.
Noah Fant showed why Denver utilized their first-round pick on him in this game as Fant provided the biggest play of the game with a 75-yard TD reception early in the second quarter. Fant ran a shallow crossing route right-to-left and Allen found him 10 yards downfield after a nice play-action fake. Fant then shrugged off a hit from Jermaine Whitehead (who tried to dislodge the ball as opposed to make the tackle) then ran through an arm tackle and avoided a diving defender as he sped down the sideline for the TD. Fant got an increased opportunity with the absence of Jeff Heuerman and made the most of it. Fant is no better than a low-end TE2 unless we continue to see an increased role for him.
Since the departure of Emmanuel Sanders, Diontae Spencer and DaeSean Hamilton have seen an increased role but neither has been able to take advantage of the extra snaps. Hamilton has seen just one target both last week and this week (this week’s target was nullified by a penalty) and Spencer has seen a combined five targets. Both appear to be well down the pecking order for targets and don’t present any real fantasy value at this time.
–Bryan Sweet