Cleveland Browns Film Room: Scripting the Opening Offensive Series

One of the most telling parts of the gameplan will be revealed to open the game. Those are almost always going to be scripted plays to try and set the tone for the whole game. This week, the Browns were pretty successful to open the game, at least for the first few plays as they grabbed a quick first down. Let’s see exactly what they did and what they might have been telegraphing. The Browns opened in an almost symmetrical formation. Single back with Trent Richardson, a wide receiver out on either side and a tight end capping both sides of the offensive line. The Ravens countered with seven “in the box” and the safeties seemed to read pass as they weren’t overly aggressive toward the line on the first play. In hindsight this would be a successful play because Trent Richardson pushed ahead for seven yards, but the Ravens did make first contact with him only about two yards past the line of scrimmage. (Red arrow is Richardson.) So, thankfully Trent Richardson made the play a succes...