The Cleveland Browns won their first game of the season last Sunday, beating the Tennessee Titans 28-14. Even though Johnny Manziel may not be starting this week, he had a very solid game versus the Titans, earning his first career win. The game was determined by big plays from the Browns offense and defense. These plays changed not just the score, but also the momentum of the game.

Let’s take a look at some of these big plays that helped the Browns earn their first victory of the season in this week’s Browns film room.

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Opening Drive Touchdown

The Browns first touchdown of the game gave them the early momentum and confidence to win the game. The rainbow pass from quarterback Johnny Manziel to receiver Travis Benjamin was the second offensive play of the game and Manziel’s very first pass. Here is how the play transpired.

The Browns are in an offset I-formation with one receiver out wide on both sides of the line. The play has Brian Hartline on the left running a dig route and Travis Benjamin running a go-route. The players in the backfield provide two drop off options for Manziel.

The key to the play is the play-action. Manziel fakes the handoff to Isaiah Crowell, causing Titans safety Michael Griffin to bite hard on the run. Griffin takes just a few steps in, but the hesitation is all that Benjamin needs to speed past the secondary. Benjamin is too fast for corner Coty Sensabaugh to guard one-on-one in the go-route. With Griffin biting on the play-fake, Sensabaugh has no help and this leads to the first big play of he game.

First Fumble by Mariota

The Browns second forced turnover was one of the game’s bigger moments. Prior to the play, quarterback Marcus Mariota and the Titans offense were driving to get their first points of the game and cut into the 14-0 Browns lead. In just three plays, the Titans had covered 51 yards. But, a huge sack by Paul Kruger and John Hughes forced Mariota to lose the football, giving the Browns another huge play. Here is how the play went down.

The third-down play starts with Mariota rolling out of the pocket looking to pass. The Browns cover this play perfectly. The Titans had only two real options to throw to on this play because of the rollout cutting out the right side of the field. The Browns have two players covering the deep out route, making him unavailable for Mariota to throw to. That just leaves receiver Kendall Wright as the only realistic passing option for Mariota, but the Browns have him covered. Cornerback K’Waun Williams picks up Wright quickly after the two Titans do a rub route to try and get Wright open. Williams breaks on the route quickly enough to force Mariota to hesitate. When Wright changes direction, linebacker Barkevious Mingo, who is covering the area underneath Wright, then covers him up. These two players cause Mariota to hesitate and hold onto the ball.

The other big aspect of this play is the pass rush, in particular from linebacker Paul Kruger. Kruger is huge on the play, not just for sacking the quarterback, but also for holding his position and keeping Mariota inside the pocket. Kruger sets the edge well on the play, forcing Mariota to try and change directions, which causes him to lose his footing. This eventually leads to the big strip-sack by the Browns defense and fumble recovery that stalls a promising drive for the Titans.

Punt Return Touchdown

This punt return by Travis Benjamin might have been the biggest play of the game for the Browns. It gave them a three-possession lead at 21-0 going into halftime. The play was filled with great blocks from Benjamin’s fellow special teamers. The first block comes immediately from Jordan Poyer, allowing Benjamin to gain his momentum at the start of the return. The other big block comes at the end of the return, when Pierre Desir levels a defender, allowing Benjamin to get to the end zone by leaping over the blocked defender. The rest of it is just due to Benjamin’s elite speed.

Clinching Touchdown

Just as important as the Travis Benjamin punt return was this game-clinching 50-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Manziel to Benjamin. This was one of the plays where Manziel flashed back to his days from Texas A&M. Here is how it happened.

The play starts with all of the receivers running routes only on the right side of the field. This is problematic for Manziel because he is immediately pressure from an unblocked Brian Orakpo, along with another rusher on the other side. Manziel does a great job avoiding the pressure and giving himself and the offense more time. But, all of the passing options are on the other side of the field.

As you can see here, Travis Benjamin caps off his exceptional day by abandoning his assigned route and cutting across the field to provide an option for the scrambling Manziel. Benjamin uses his speed to separate from the corner and goes over the top of the coverage to find the end zone for the third time of the game. Manziel shows great anticipation on the throw to hit Benjamin in stride.

Highlight of the Game

Travis Benjamin is once again the highlight of the game for me. He followed up a good game in the season opener with a career day versus the Titans. He caught three passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns, along with a punt return touchdown. Benjamin was a true playmaker for an offense that sorely needed one to step up for their young quarterback. Benjamin’s speed was unguardable on Sunday, often leaving defenders in his dust.

Lowlight of the Game

The third quarter and most of the fourth were the lowlights of the game. These quarters, the Browns let the Tennessee Titans back in the game after they put them in a 21-0 hole. The offense got conservative and out of sorts, and didn’t move the ball much down the stretch. The defense was also a little too conservative, allowing Marcus Mariota to regain confidence and score 14 unanswered points. The Browns need to learn how to put away an opponent and not let them back into the game.