Masterful disguises in the secondary, Watson’s aggressive downfield vision, and a game-sealing defensive pursuit top the list of key plays that lifted the Cleveland Browns to victory over Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Buccaneers in Week 2
They say Week 1 is a liar and that certainly rang true for the Cleveland Browns, who put together a bounce-back effort in a gritty 23-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2.
It was a game that saw embattled QB Deshaun Watson produce one of his best games in a Browns uniform and the defense get back to what it does best, stymieing Baker Mayfield for 60 minutes.
There were plenty of pivotal moments during this game, but here are three plays that defined Cleveland's win.
1) Myles Harden's interception
This one came late in the first quarter, with the Bucs trying to add to a 6-3 lead and gain some momentum as they approached midfield. With so much talk about the Browns getting away from what they do best by playing too much zone coverage in Week 1, this pick actually came via a nicely disguised Cover 4 look.
- Before the snap the Browns have 1 safety back in Ronnie Hickman, but he's standing on the hash, which is a tell that it's probably not Cover 1, still Cover 2 is in play
- Once the ball is snapped, Cleveland actually drops into Quarters with Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell and Grant Delpit all dropping into their respective fourth of the field
- Myles Harden also drops into an underneath portion of the field defending curls and flats, but gets enough depth that he's able to shrink the window Mayfield has to throw into and snares the pick
2) Deshaun Watson's 55-yard TD pass to Denzel Boston
Easily the play of the game and one of the most decisive throws Watson has made during his Browns tenure.
- Denzel Boston revealed after the game that this play came off of an alert, where Watson audibled him into the post route based on what he saw presnap
- Presnap, this looks like Cover 1, with one safety back over the top, but it rolls into a Tampa 2 with the right side corner dropping into the other deep half of the field and a linebacker dropping right in between the two deep defenders
- Watson does a nice job manipulating the shallow linebacker to his left and then anticipating his throw right as Boston is about to clear him
- Boston does the rest, showing nice balance to spin off two tacklers and then flashing his top speed to break it for six
3) Carson Schwesinger shuts down Baker Mayfield
This last one is a straight up effort play, but felt pretty symbolic for the game itself and was a big play in the moment it came in.
- The Bucs are facing 3rd-and-14 here with 33 seconds left in regulation, so this came after the 2 hour and 12-minute lightning delay
- The Browns show blitz with six guys up at the line and bring all 6
- Mayfield is forced to step up with Isaiah McGuire getting around the RT and creating some pressure, he avoids an initial tackle from Maliek Collins and decides to take off to his right
- He escapes and looks like he's got a lot of green up the sideline, but Schwesinger closes on him, avoids the patented Mayfield stiff-arm and drives him towards the sideline and down to keep the gain to just three yards
- One play later Mayfield took a shot to the end zone on fourth down and missed to end the game
