Joe Flacco is the answer to the Browns' wide receiver inconsistency
Cleveland Browns wide receivers are not touchdown magnets. Through 12 games, Browns receivers have caught three touchdown passes. That is the same amount of touchdowns as the Browns' backup tight end and running back. And it isn't exactly an offensive stat that anyone would expect from an NFL offense in 2023. Joe Flacco, the new-look […]
Cleveland Browns wide receivers are not touchdown magnets.
Through 12 games, Browns receivers have caught three touchdown passes. That is the same amount of touchdowns as the Browns' backup tight end and running back. And it isn't exactly an offensive stat that anyone would expect from an NFL offense in 2023.
Joe Flacco, the new-look Browns quarterback, could finally be the answer to unlocking touchdown catches from Cleveland receivers.
"We’ll take touchdowns, again, any which way we can get them," Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said of the rather unusual stat. "If that number – if we’re leading the league and it’s all tight ends and running backs, we’ll take it. If we’re leading the league and it’s wide receivers, we’ll take it. We don’t think much about who those guys are. We have a ton of faith in our guys. We trust our guys. I trust our wide receiver room and our tight end room. So, we’ll take touchdowns any way we can get them.”
What was impressive about Flacco's performance against the Los Angeles Rams was how the veteran quarterback unlocked Elijah Moore.
Moore stepped into a top receiving option after Amari Cooper went down with a concussion.
Flacco helped propel the wide receiver to the best game he's played this season.
Moore finished the game with 12 targets. He also had four catches for 83 yards.
It was clear that Flacco, out of all the bargain bin quarterback replacements for Deshaun Watson the Browns have gone through, is the best option.
In Flacco's first start, he attempted 19 passes over 10 air yards, marking the first time that has happened for a Browns quarterback in five years, according to Next Gen Stats.
Stefanski took notice.
"Joe can push the ball down the field," Stefanski said. "That doesn’t mean that every time you’re trying to just do that. Defensively, teams are going to have to play him honest and have had to play him honest his whole career in that regard. But, no, I don’t think there’s any desire to have to sling it around all day just because of Joe’s arm talent.”
The veteran quarterback is not perfect, but he could be the answer to finally unlocking a level of production Cleveland receivers have lacked throughout the regular season.
Elijah Moore is the Browns’ answer to Amari Cooper’s concussion uncertainty
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper suffered a concussion in the 36-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams Sunday.
