Browns can seemingly compete with competent QB

Cleveland Browns quarterback Jason Campbell gains enough yards on a run in the fourth to get a first down as Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Brandon Flowers makes the tackle October 27, 2013 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. The Chiefs won the game, 23-17. (John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer) ORG XMIT: CLE1310271715460303

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jason Campbell made all the dropbacks in the Browns’ 23-17 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Mo. Campbell started his first game for the Browns, replacing the benched Brandon Weeden.

Upon DVR review of the CBS telecast, here are some observations:

Numbers don't add up:

The NFL’s official game book listed Campbell as 22-of-36 for 293 yards and two touchdowns. The DVR review had him at 22-of-37 for 294 yards and two touchdowns.

Regarding the additional incompletion, the NFL book does not appear to have included Campbell’s spike at the end of the game, even though it is listed in the play-by-play and replays confirmed it happened with :01 on the clock. (The NFL book listed 35 targets; one incompletion without a target; and the spike.)

Regarding the additional yard, the discrepancy came on Campbell’s final completion. The NFL book listed it as 9 yards to Josh Gordon, giving the Browns second-and-1 at the Cleveland 29. Then came the spike. Replays clearly show the ball from the Gordon completion being spotted at the 30, and the snap before the spike occurring at the 30-plus (or 31). It should have been first-and-10 at the 30, and perhaps first-and-10 at the 31, when Campbell spiked.

Because receivers’ yards need to match that of the QB(s), Gordon was shortchanged. Instead of five receptions for 132 yards, he should be at five for 133.

Campbell played well:

In a vacuum, he more than did his job. Factor in that Campbell was making his first start of the season, on the road, against an undefeated team with a nasty defense, and his performance approaches outstanding territory. The veteran Campbell is not headed for the Hall of Fame, but, for three-plus hours on Sunday afternoon, he and his fans had every right to be thrilled.

Campbell gave his team a chance:

Quarterbacks ultimately are judged by victories and defeats. By that standard, Campbell did not deliver – but he is the last person on whom to pin this loss. A strong case can be made that, if his teammates approached his level of play, the Browns would have won. (Check that: probably would have won, for no Browns victory ever is a sure thing.)

Campbell is no Weeden:

Using the woebegone Weeden as a measuring stick doesn’t serve much of a purpose, given how underwhelming he has been in his career, especially this season (five games, four bad starts, 0-4). Those NFL QBs who are not better than Weeden need to think about converting to tight end. Regardless, the comparison is justified here because Weeden started the previous two games and lost his job.

Imagine if Weeden somehow had been allowed to start against the Chiefs in Arrowhead, against that defense. OK, don’t imagine it. Nobody can say for certain, but … it would have been another mess. Campbell would have been warming up in a hurry.

Campbell at Chiefs looked a lot like Brian Hoyer at Vikings, or Hoyer vs. Bengals, or Hoyer pre-injury vs. Bills. Hoyer happens to be the first quarterback to have beaten out Weeden this season. When not one, but two quarterbacks come off the bench to make the starter look bad, it makes the case for #OIC – Only In Cleveland.

Video:

D-Man on Jason Campbell's performance

Campbell must be awful in practice:

Based on Campbell’s work against the Chiefs, it doesn’t seem possible that he could have lost a legitimate training-camp competition to Weeden, or, not gotten the call ahead of Weeden to start the first game after Hoyer was injured (Detroit in Week 6).

Just as when Hoyer played, Browns fans could be excused Sunday for wondering what the offense would have looked like with a different quarterback against Miami in Week 1, at Baltimore in Week 2, against the Lions and at Green Bay in Week 7.

Campbell secured the ball:

He gave his team a chance by committing zero turnovers. (A strip-sack in the fourth quarter that the Chiefs recovered was negated by their penalty.) All but two of Campbell’s throws were nowhere close to a pick.

Campbell stayed on his feet:

The Chiefs entered with an NFL-best 35 sacks, and they were playing in front of their electric crowd. The best they could do against Campbell was one sack for a loss of 10 yards.

The Browns’ offensive line deserves credit, but, as with Hoyer, Campbell helped his “big uglies’’ immensely with quick decisions and releases. He never seemed confused by what the Chiefs showed at the line. When rushers did have a shot at him, he avoided most of them and managed scrambles or throwaways.

By limiting the turnovers and sacks to a combined one, Campbell ensured that the offense’s tempo and rhythm, on balance, stayed where it needed to be.

Campbell threw the ball well:

The vast majority of his passes, if they weren’t on the hands, were close enough to give his targets an opportunity for a catch. On a subjective rating scale of 1 (lousy) to 3 (standard) to 5 (superb), Campbell posted one 5 and 10 4s. The 5 occurred on the flea flicker that turned into a 39-yard touchdown pass to Gordon in the second quarter.

When the combined total of 4s and 5s is less than 33 percent of attempts, as was the case with Campbell, a quarterback is not dominating. But one of the keys for Campbell on Sunday was avoiding the bad throws. He posted eight 2s and zero 1s. (Four throws were not graded, including the spike.) To not have a truly lousy throw against that defense on the road is an accomplishment.

Running game offered minimal help:

The Browns rushed for 57 yards on 15 carries, including 17 on three by Campbell. This season, in particular, Browns quarterbacks should not expect assistance from the running game.

Davone Bess' drops hurt:

CBS credited Bess with three drops in addition to his fumbled punt. One of the three drops resulted from a pass thrown behind him, but the other two were egregious.

On first-and-10 from the Cleveland 35 in the first quarter, Bess dropped a strike at the Cleveland 46. The Browns ended up with their second straight three-and-out.

On fourth-and-7 from the Cleveland 31 late in the fourth, a sliding Bess failed to secure the ball at the Cleveland 40. Campbell had done a terrific job to throw across his body while under pressure after rolling right. It proved to be the last realistic shot for the Browns, who trailed, 20-17.

Summary:

Campbell was not perfect against the Chiefs. Among the issues: His offense went 3-for-12 on third down (1-for-2 on fourth), and he completed seven of his final 16 passes for 76 yards. His team lost its third straight. But Campbell’s overall performance, coming as it did on the road, against an undefeated team, in his first start of the season, deserves much praise – and more starts.

Overall grade: B+

Analyze it yourself! Here is a database of all the Browns passes Dennis Manoloff and a squad of assistants are tracking this season. You can select criteria in the form below and get all the matching throws

How to use the database

First, choose a quarterback.

After that, choose one or more of the other options for comparisons, such as Receiver, or Pressure, or Direction of throw. (Tip: Don't choose too many.)

Click search. You will need to scroll right and left to see all the matched results.

You can see the pass results as a graph, too.

&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;

Here is all our homework as a spreadsheet:

Key to the abbreviations