Browns vs Jets: Breaking down Kareem Hunt’s touchdown run – Film Don’t Lie

The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Jets by a score of 37-20 on Thursday night football and also clinched a playoff spot for only the 3rd time since 1999.

Despite the Jets having a fairly dominant defense throughout most of the season, the Browns were able to consistently move the ball both through the air and on the ground throughout the entire first half.

It’s no secret that Cleveland’s run game has been pretty bad for the past 5-6 weeks, but they finally got something going against the Jets. Jerome Ford had a great day on the ground and through the air, while Kareem Hunt continued to show his strength and power on interior runs. He was able to score on a quick-hitting “Trap” play at the end of the 1st quarter.

It’s called a trap play because the weak side offensive guard is pulling and “trapping” the unblocked defensive tackle on the play side.

The play began with Cedric Tillman going into pre-snap motion across the formation, and then taking a fake handoff from Joe Flacco at the snap in an attempt to get the linebackers to trigger downhill towards the weak side of the formation.

Elijah Moore (“Z”) free released to the outside of the cornerback. Harrison Bryant (“Y”) and David Bell (“F”) were tasked with blocking the edge defender and strong safety that was walked up inside of the box. They did a great job of turning their defenders away from the ball which essentially took them out of the play.

LT Geron Christian was able to “wall” off the weak side defensive end, while LG Joel Bitonio pulled and trapped the 3-technique defensive tackle. C Ethan Pocic gapped down on the 1-technique defensive tackle which created the initial hole at the line of scrimmage. RG Wyatt Teller and RT James Hudson “swam” over the defensive tackle that Bitonio was trapping and released to block both the MIKE and SAM linebackers.

The offensive line executed their blocks to perfection on this play which led to a wide-open run lane for Hunt to blast through for the touchdown, giving the Browns a 6-point lead.

A little over a month ago, quarterback Joe Flacco was sitting at home — not on a NFL team for the first time since his last year of college at Delaware in 2007. The Cleveland Browns called and wanted to fly him in for a workout. They signed him to the practice squad on Nov. 20.

He was signed to the 53-man roster on Dec. 14. With it came a contract that included incentives that seemed unreachable, but Flacco’s improbable journey has been one of the more compelling storylines of this season.

The 38-year-old has won four straight, including Thursday’s victory over the New York Jets that clinched the Browns’ first playoff bid since 2020.

It also secured an incentive. For every win, Flacco makes $75,000. The total is $225,000 for three wins, because his first win on Dec. 10 was before he signed the new deal.

“This is obviously a very unique situation for me,” Flacco said about his journey this season after the game, “so a lot of different emotions are going through my head.”

The bonuses escalate dramatically the deeper the Browns advance in the playoffs.

He is one of a handful of quarterbacks with contract incentives within reach as the regular season winds down.

Here’s a look at some of the incentives, according to Roster Management System, that will be in play over the final two weeks and all the way up to Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11.

Allen’s been one of the hottest players in the league and has worked his way into the MVP conversation. He’s tied with Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as the third betting favorites, according to ESPN BET. If Allen does win MVP, he’ll get a $1.5 million bonus.

If the Bills win the AFC Championship Game and Allen plays 60% of the offensive snaps, he’ll make an extra $1 million. If the Bills win the Super Bowl and he plays 60% of the snaps, he’ll make another $2.5 million.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), the Bills have a 14.8% chance of making the Super Bowl and 7.4% chance of winning it.

If the Browns win a wild-card game and Flacco plays, he’ll make another $250,000, and he would add another $500,000 for playing in a divisional round victory. Flacco would receive another $1 million for playing in an AFC title game win, and if the Browns win the Super Bowl and he plays, he’ll make an additional $2 million. The most he can earn is $4.05 million.

FPI gives the Browns a 42.8% chance of making the divisional round, a 10.4% chance of making the conference title game and 2.7% chance of making the Super Bowl.

Mayfield is on his fourth team since 2021, but his days of bouncing around may be coming to an end after a strong performance this season. Mayfield has the Bucs one win away from an NFC South title.

Mayfield has played 99.7% of Tampa’s snaps, and he will earn $1 million if he finishes the season above 85%. It will jump to $2 million if the Buccaneers make the playoffs, and FPI has their chances at 84.3%.

If Tampa makes the playoffs, Mayfield will earn $250,000 in every playoff game in which he plays at least 75% of the snaps.

He can also earn $300,000 for each of five passing categories in which he finishes either in the NFL’s top 10 or the NFC’s top 5: passing yards (currently 12th in NFL, seventh in NFC), completion percentage (17th and 8th), passer rating (ninth and fifth), touchdown passes (tied for sixth and fifth), and yards per pass (12th and seventh).