Lack of big plays concerns offense

Assoicated Press

Berea

Colt McCoy has battled the opinion he’s too short to play quarterback in the NFL.

Now, it’s his throws that aren’t long enough.

McCoy is averaging just 5.53 yards per completion this season, the league’s second-lowest average and a stat that perhaps best sums up Cleveland’s woeful lack of big passing plays so far this season. Also, the Browns (2-3) have just eight completions over 20 yards, a league-worst mark and one that has raised questions about McCoy’s arm strength, his grasp of the club’s new offense and whether the team’s front office has given him enough weapons.

“We’d like to try and get it deep a lot,” McCoy said. “I’d like to throw it down field, and throw touchdowns, but I think it’s a collective effort.”

More like a collective failure.

Forced to throw on nearly every down last weekend after falling behind in a loss at Oakland, McCoy completed just 21 of 45 passes, 38 of which were deemed “short” on the official game summary. McCoy, who now has 13 career starts, has opted for the safer dink-and-dunk approach as defenses have been able to drop back and take away the Browns’ ability to throw deep.

First-year Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur has been careful not to publicly criticize his young quarterback, who because of the lockout was forced to take a crash course in the multi-faceted West Coast system, which puts a premium on the QB’s ability to quickly recognize coverages and deliver the ball promptly and on target.

But after five games, McCoy isn’t catching on.

His completion percentage of 55,8 percent ranks him 27th overall, an alarming drop for the former Texas star who completed 60 percent of his passes in eight starts as a rookie and 70 percent during a four-year college career. McCoy is averaging 19 incompletions per game.

“He needs to just get better,” Shurmur said when asked to explain McCoy’s imprecision. “I don’t think there’s any one thing. I go back to footwork all the time. It’s footwork, timing, accuracy and we just continue to work on it.”

With one of the league’s youngest rosters, the Browns are a work in progress. But McCoy’s development is essential for the team to finally make significant strides toward contention. If McCoy isn’t the answer, and it appears the team has committed this season to finding out if he is, then the rebuilding plan will have to start anew.

Shurmur said there’s plenty of blame to go around on an offense starting a rookie guard and waiting for playmakers to emerge. But it all starts with the man behind center.

“If you’re going to win games, the quarterback needs to play well,” Shurmur said. “I really believe that. What ‘well’ means is that he’s got to play well throughout the game or, if he’s not playing well early, find a way to get on track and finish the game strong.”

One of Cleveland’s biggest problems has been starting slowly. The Browns have been outscored 34-3 in the first quarter. They’ve recovered well in the second quarter, scoring 45 of their 91 points.