After the defense suffered its first turnover of the season, K Dustin Hopkins missed a 53-yard field goal early in the third quarter. Two drives later, Watson ran to the New York 36-yard line, but LG Joel Bitonio, who was playing left tackle at the time, was given an offensive holding penalty, rendering the play ineffective.
Third down production was consistently a problem for the Browns, as the team converted only four of its 14 third down attempts. The average distance on third downs was 8.5 yards.
“That’s where we need to be better, and I think you can be better on first and second down to help yourself on third down,” Stefanski said. “I don’t think we were good enough on first and second down, we had some tough downs and yardage, or in this case yardage on third down. So it’s just about us playing better on offense.”
The Browns ran the ball just six times in the first half of Sunday’s loss, with a 33 percent success rate. At the time, they were down 21-7 and the game script called for an increase in passing plays as the Browns attempted to mount a comeback.
Akins said a more developed running offense would create space for the passing attack throughout the game.
“We need to move the line of scrimmage forward and get positive yards, not only in the passing game but in the running game. We need to establish the running game before we can move on to the passing game,” Akins said.
As the Browns look to mount a comeback this week against the Raiders, they will rely on their depth on the offensive line to better protect Watson and establish the running game. Stefanski told reporters on Monday that Teller will be out “several weeks” with a knee injury and is a potential candidate for the injured list.
“It’s the next man up mentality,” Akins said. “Like I said, anybody can step up. We’ve got to get them ready, we’ve got to get them ready for the game and, you know, just play with confidence. You’ve got to be able to rely on the brothers left and right to do their job so (Watson) can get the ball going or we can make big runs and impact the game as much as possible.”
