The Cleveland Browns in the Red Zone – Practicing Putting Points on the Board

In any organization or business having a mission and vision is important. In particular, knowing where you are going, and how you want to get there is crucial. 

After you have determined where you are going and how to get there, implementing a plan and then evaluating that plan are suggested to be extremely important steps in order to move an organization forward in a positive direction. 

Obviously, in professional football, the process of evaluation is quite complex when trying to solve a simple concept such as putting more points on the scoreboard than the other team before 60 minutes of game time runs out.

One area that is often discussed in the success of a football team is how often do they score a touchdown when they are in the red zone (inside the opponent’s 20 yard line)?

Let’s take a look at how the Browns did in the red zone last season and how their red zone performance compared to the Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

The Cleveland Browns in the Red Zone During the 2022 Season

According to data on the teamrankings.com website, the Chiefs were number 2 in the NFL in scoring a touchdown when they had the ball in the red zone.  

In fact, when the Chiefs had the ball last season in the red zone, they scored a touchdown 71% of the time.

In addition, the Chiefs scored a touchdown 65% of the time in the red zone at home and over 75% of the time on the road. 

How did the Cleveland Browns compare?

When the Browns had the ball in the red zone in 2022 they scored a touchdown 53.57% the time. 

At home, the Browns scored a touchdown in the red zone a little over 63% of the time, however, on the road the Browns only scored a touchdown in the red zone 42.3% of the time.

Certainly, it appears that if the Browns are to have a more successful season in 2023, they will need to improve their performance in the red zone this season.

Coach Stefanski Talks About the Red Zone Before Thursday’s Practice

In the pre-practice press conference on Thursday morning, Stefanski discussed his beliefs on the importance of practicing in the red zone early in the pre-season.

“We’ll be back in the red zone again,” said Stefanski. “I think it’s really important early to get red zone work because, number one, it also takes some running off of your receivers the more you get in there. And I just think it’s important for both sides, offensively and defense, to be locked in down there because we know that’s points.”

Browns Practice Red Zone Plays at Greenbrier Resort

Part of Thursday morning’s practice session was spent practicing in the red zone.

So how did the Browns offense do against the Browns defense in red zone drills during Thursday’s practice?

Tony Grossi from ESPN Cleveland reported that the offense scored a touchdown on 4 out of 15 red zone plays. 

Thus, the Browns offense scored a touchdown in the red zone 26.7% of the time in Thursday morning’s red zone drills.

Day 4 of training camp is a wrap and we FINALLY saw some real football things. @TonyGrossi has the scoop on:

– A day DOMINATED by the defense
– 15 red zone plays and only 4 TDs
– Greg Newsome looking for fresh start with Browns
– Injury updates

Presented by @BetMGM pic.twitter.com/u1ezdzQbPY

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) July 25, 2023

 

So Browns fans, this may be something you want to follow as the season progresses. Are the Browns improving in the red zone in 2023 as compared to 2022?

If they are not improving, you may want to determine why that may be the case. Then ultimately what decisions could be made to help improve the Browns red zone performance?

We here at NEOSI would love to hear your opinion about the Browns performance in the red zone and what you think they need to do this year to improve their red zone efficiency.