Fans watching the Browns take on the New York Giants often saw as many blue helmets in the Cleveland offensive backfield as the team’s signature orange helmets on Sunday.
Like everyone who follows the NFL, the Giants knew that Cleveland was using an offensive line with no experience playing together for this matchup, and New York took advantage of the opportunity to exploit this unit’s lack of cohesion.
And exploit they did.
According to analyst Daniel Oyefusi, the Giants blitzed on 57 percent of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s dropbacks on Sunday, more than double their season average heading into this Week 3 matchup.
Watson was blitzed on 57% of his dropbacks today, per @ESPNStatsInfo. The Giants entered Week 3 sending blitzes on 25% of opponent dropbacks. https://t.co/VNcOKKvlcC
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) September 22, 2024
While the Browns prepared for New York’s blitzing scheme, neither Cleveland coaches nor Watson forecasted what the Giants’ game plan was heading into this matchup.
“Browns QB Deshaun Watson said the offense expected blitzes but not as much as the Giants sent,” Oyefusi wrote in a prior X post, adding, “New York ranked 14th in blitz rate entering the game, per ESPN Research.”
Browns QB Deshaun Watson said the offense expected blitzes but not as much as the Giants sent. New York ranked 14th in blitz rate entering the game, per ESPN Research.
Watson said New York did a good job of scheming the blitzes, especially off the edge and on early downs.
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) September 22, 2024
The game plan worked on multiple levels.
Foremost, Cleveland surrendered a league-high eight sacks to the Giants, the first time in over a decade New York finished a game with that amount.
Second, the Giants contained Watson inside the pocket by bringing blitzes from the edges and on early downs, the quarterback admitted after the game.
Finally, the Browns never developed a rhythm on offense, especially in the passing game as Watson resorted to bouncing around inside the pocket or looking for an escape route through defenders in an attempt to make something out of the broken play.
NEXT: New-Look Browns Offense Is Missing 1 Key Component
