It is time to move past the loss to the New York Jets. But before we do, we have to at least acknowledge the stars of the game for the Cleveland Browns. One of those bright spots in this one was wide receiver, Amari Cooper.
After cutting apart the defensive backs of the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 with minimal targets, Cooper finally got a high volume of looks in Week 2 against the Jets. And he did not disappoint. On the day, Cooper finished with a total of 101 yards and a touchdown on nine catches for the Cleveland offense.
Taking a look at all nine of his targets in this one, how was Cooper able to take advantage of the New York secondary?
Target #1: Cooper gets the 1st down on third and short
Situation: 3rd and 3 at CLE 46 (11:38 left in the 2nd quarter)
The Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski did an excellent job of using motion to help them diagnose defensive coverages (as every team should). Cooper starts in the slot, then motions into a stacked look underneath of tight end David Njoku.
No defender traveling with Cooper tells Brissett and his receiver they are looking at zone coverage. The Browns are running a simple trail as Cooper comes underneath of Njoku running a drag. This conflicts the linebacker to either sit in the hook zone or match with the drag.
If the linebacker jumps the drag, this leaves the trail a lot of green grass to work with. Should the linebacker sit in his zone and pass off the drag, then Brissett would have hit Njoku as soon as he crossed the defender’s face.
In this case, the linebacker jumps the drag, and Brissett gets his eyes to Cooper on a timely throw as they pick up a clutch first down on a third and short situation.
Target #2: Browns go right back to Amari Cooper on the very next play
Situation: 1st and 10 at NYJ 45 (11:15 left in the 2nd quarter)
The Browns opt to go right back to Cooper after he picked up a key first down just the play before. Now sitting with a first down, the Browns love to get out in front of the sticks and air it out in early situations.
Brissett is given a single-high look in which fourth overall pick Sauce Gardner is squared up in press man coverage. Even if the Jets were to rotate out of this look and into Cover 3, Brissett would have the ability to discern if a flat defender was pressing his window.
From the all-22 angle, it looks like the Jets are running a Cover 3 look, but taking on the single side with…
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