CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Odell Beckham Jr. took consolation in a miss Sunday, a 40-yard deep ball from Baker Mayfield on the first play of the game that landed a yard beyond his grasp.
“We were close,” Beckham said after the Browns’ 19-16 win over Buffalo. “It’s something you could take as a positive to have that opportunity there, and to see it now, and now to know what I need to do to get better, or correct that and not let that happen again.
“But they’re right there. And it just felt good to have that opportunity to do that. I didn’t come away with much of any opportunities. Bake and I were kind of like a long fly ball, or kind of like where you foul one straight back. It means you’re right on, it but you just missed a little bit.”
That’s where the Browns are with their best receiver nine games in -- a near-miss on his only deep shot is progress, and fouling off fastballs is the perfect metaphor.
Sunday, I spent the entire game watching Beckham and the coverages the Bills applied while shadowing him with Tre’Davious White. Here’s where the Browns still seem stuck with Beckham:
There are singles there for the taking all day, but while turning them down, they also aren’t hitting any home runs. The Browns lined up Beckham alone on one side of the field much of the day, and White, while following Beckham around, often played off coverage. He’d press up pre-snap and then fall back just before the snap. The Bills were putting their best corner on Beckham but were fearful of getting beat deep.
In the second half, the Browns seemed to adjust to that. Look at these easy yards as White backs off on three second-half completions. The final one is a 13-yard gain on second-and-9 that kickstarted the final game-winning touchdown drive. (Beckham is easy to spot in the white shoes.)
When I told Beckham postgame that it seemed like the Browns adjusted to that after halftime, he said it was there all day.
“We could have run that all game,” Beckham said. “It’s just the way that defense plays. It’s tough to stop. It’s just timing.”
Beckham was targeted 12 times Sunday but caught just five passes for 57 yards. Those three easy throws amounted to 37 yards. The Browns could have done that more. It wasn’t spectacular, but what if the offense had committed to those routes? Like in an NBA game, if Beckham can go right all day and the defense never forces him left, well, then keep letting him go right.
Look what happened when the Browns tried Beckham on a deeper route on a third-and-9 in the second half. Beckham gains easy outside leverage, and if the route is an out to the sideline around the 48, Mayfield has a lane to make the throw where the safety can’t help. Instead, this is a 20-yard route well past the sticks, which takes Beckham into the safety help, and the pass is nearly picked off.
This is what you saw a lot Sunday. Watch Beckham every play, and he wins off the line of scrimmage far more often than not. He gains inside leverage on slants and outside leverage on outs, and he is often in position for a throw while Mayfield is looking the other way at other receivers. Obviously, not every play design can be for Beckham. If there’s a second defender shading his way before the snap, Mayfield’s directive is to look elsewhere.
But Beckham often still wins in those situations. This third-down play in the first half stuck out to me in the moment. Mayfield completed a pass to Kareem Hunt, but it was short of the first down. While Beckham did have a second defender shading toward him, he created room for a throw that could have been a first down. After Hunt caught this pass, Beckham turned and immediately walked toward the sideline. He didn’t throw up his arms, but his stride let you know he thought he was there for the taking.
That’s the Browns’ world. Beckham wasn’t complaining after the game, but I had watched this unfold, so he didn’t disagree when presented with the idea that more was there. The Browns won, and he focused on that. Actually, he showed his greatest frustration during the game after he failed to land a block on a 16-yard run by Nick Chubb.
“I didn’t make the block and I’ve just been been waiting to pick it up for him,” Beckham told me. “I saw him cut all the way back, and I didn’t want to be in the way, so you don’t know. It’s tough.”
Another foul ball. But Beckham still could get hot. Take more singles, then set up home runs. I still think there are games ahead where he won’t have to settle for being excited about a deep ball that missed.
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