Browns at Redskins: 3 things we learned

On Sunday, the Washington Redskins exploited the Cleveland Browns’ mistakes for a 31-20 win at FedEx Field. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this Week 4 game.

Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins improved to 2-2 on the season to stay alive in a competitive NFC East early on. On Sunday, Cousins had multiple weapons at his ready including a better ground game from the running backs.

In addition, cornerback Josh Norman came through with a big play late in the game, a play necessary to quiet his naysayers for at least another week. However, all of this credit, while still admirable, came against a team still in search of itself. They may be searching all season.

Here are three takeaways from today’s Redskins win over the Browns.

1. The Redskins offense can put together a complete effort when needed.

On Sunday, Cousins started off this game looking extremely confident and consistent. He managed to find tight end Jordan Reed on the first two drives of the game to give the Redskins a 14-0 lead. Later, Cousins tossed another TD pass to running back Chris Thompson. Speaking of running backs, Matt Jones really showed what he’s capable of, with 22 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown. Basically, the Redskins were able to use multiple ways to attack.

Two knocks against Washington coming into this game were their rushing attack and their inefficiency in the redzone. Both of those issues seemed to be addressed on Sunday. Cousins found Reed within the redzone as well as Thompson, while Jones punched one into the endzone in short distance.

With all that said, the Redskins faced one of the weaker defenses in the league and took full advantage of that. However, today’s performance may show that if Cousins gets adequate protection and plays better under pressure, the team is a threat in both the passing and rushing aspect of their game.

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2. This Browns offense is capable, but turnovers and penalties are killing their chances to win.

Through most of the first half and three-quarters of this game, rookie quarterback Cody Kessler appeared to be putting his name in the conversation with the Eagles’ Carson Wentz and Cowboys’ Dak Prescott. Kessler helped guide his team comfortable down the field against the Redskins. Isaiah Crowell also came up big for his team today, racking up over 100 yards on the ground, while Pryor seemed neutralized.

For the day, the Browns finished with 380 yards of total offense, which actually was 79 yards more than Washington. However, they literally gave the game away in the second half. Keeping hold of the ball that hurt this team, as well as penalties. Two fumbles on back-to-back scoring drives certainly hurts, as does an interception on the next play. A total of seven penalties for over 100 yards doesn’t help either.

The Browns have the offensive weapons for sure. If Cleveland can find a way to protect the ball better and make fewer mistakes that lead to penalties, they might just grab that first win of the season.

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3. Josh Norman will pay dividends for his newest team.

With the Redskins starting out the season at 0-2, a lot of issues were being called out. Through several games, there was also a spotlight being put on Josh Norman and whoever he was defending against. Last week, he played defense on one of the league’s top receivers, Odell Beckham. This week, he helped out on Terrelle Pryor, another major talent in the league.

After two tough losses, it seems Norman is waking up though. He admitted he was worn out from covering Beckham in the team’s first win of the season against the Giants during Week 3. However, in today’s game, he snatched his first interception of the 2016 NFL season. He grabbed the INT as Cody Kessler was trying to help start his team down the field in the fourth quarter to try to close the score some.

The pick was snatched at just the right moment. While Norman was penalized for his “bow and arrow” display after the play, he set his team up right in scoring territory. They would go on to add a touchdown to make the lead 11-points. Had Norman not grabbed that Kessler pass, this game may have been a different story.

As they say, talk is cheap, but actions speak louder than words. As the Redskins have no won two-straight games, look for Norman to do more of the same in the season ahead. That could translate to successful entry by his team into the postseason.