Skins vs. Browns: The Great, The Good, and the Not-So-Good

By virtue of tie-breakers, the Skins occupy 1st place in the NFC East.  A good day.

The Great

• Kyle Shanahan.  Good game-plan, better adjustments.  The Browns committed to stopping the stretch run play, Shanahan countered by repeatedly faking the stretch run and giving Kirk Cousins time to throw.  
• Kirk Cousins.  After his poor start, Cousins went 25/31, for 300+ yard, and 2 TDs. Cousins is not just a rookie, he's a rookie who didn't get many practice reps with the first team until this past week.  Yet, he looked poised, successfully threw both touch passes and lasers, and made a number of great reads and throws under pressure. He also distributed the ball to 8 different Skins receivers. Impressive.
• Ryan Kerrigan.  Played better than his stats (3 tackles, 0 sacks) with big tipped passes and QB hurries.  
• Rob Jackson.  Showed the hands of a wide receiver on his INT, also picked up a sack and forced fumble.  Not bad for perennial backup.
• London Fletcher.  Playing hurt, he captains a successful defensive effort, making some solid tackles and a huge INT to help put the game away.

The Good

• Skins Defense.  Ok, Brandon Weeden was terrible, indecisive, and overthrew some receivers wide open down-field.  But the Skins D deserves credit for pressuring Weeden, tipping passes, and shutting down the Browns run game.
• Alfred Morris.  The Browns keyed on stopping the run, yet he manages 87 yards and 2 TDs.
• Skins Receivers.  Pierre Garcon, Josh Morgan, Santana Moss, and Leonard Hankerson all with more than 50 receiving yards.  
• Kai Forbath.  Makes his FG and all extra points, but several short kickoffs lead to potentially dangerous returns by Cribbs.  Fortunately the Skins kick coverage has been superb.
• Pierre Garcon.  Mixed feelings on Garcon.  He led the team with 6 receptions despite being held constantly, yet his emotional displays net a 15-yard penalty and put him in danger of penalties nearly every the ball is thrown his way.  
• Sav Rocca.  Good hangtime short returns on many early punts, which was key before the Skins offense got on track.  He also had some lousy punts when trying to pin the Browns inside their 20, but nothing terrible.

The Not-So-Good

• Fumbles.  Skins got a little lucky.  Fumbles by Kirk Cousins and Santana Moss took Skins-friendly bounces and didn't lead to turnovers.  Alfred Morris fumbled in the two games previous to this one.  And RGIII has 11 fumbles on the season.  Ball security drills might be a nice idea.