One of the things that were a non-factor yet again in the San Francisco 49ers drubbing of the Cleveland Browns was Odell Beckham Jr. He got the first play early on, completing a catch when Baker Mayfield pitched him the ball on a trick play (a play in and of itself should indicate their confidence since it was their first offensive play from scrimmage) and a couple catches as the night went on, but he was pretty absent. Which is very odd, I expected a bit more after his speech.
See, before the game, back in Cleveland after a practice last Friday, Beckham fielded a question about the 49ers. The question was if the 49ers would copy what the Baltimore Ravens did in covering him during Week 4 (and making him a nonfactor). Here’s his answer:
San Francisco, they are more to what they do. But, with the corner being down (Ahkello Witherspoon) I do expect the same thing I’ve always seen. If teams are going to play us like that, we’ll put up 40. Chubb’s going to rush for 200 yards. I don’t know what he rushed for (against Baltimore), we’re gonna run the ball, Jarvis is gonna...it works for us. We’ll keep putting W’s on the calendar. Put ourselves in position to work towards the playoffs.
Well, Beckham got two catches for 27 yards making him the second best receiver Monday. So Jarvis Landry? Well he got four catches for 75 yards.
Ok, Nick Chubb can rush for 200 right? Nope. 16 carries for 87 yards. Most of those yards in burst plays.
And were 40 put up? Well, close, 34. 34 total points. Three of those 34 are owned by the Browns. I’m no mathematician, but three points is much less than 40.
Safe to say, whatever the 49ers were going to do didn’t work for Beckham or the Browns. It did not put a W on the calendar. And right now, after that beatdown, the Browns may want to get in a position to finish at .500 before they work towards the playoffs.