Quarterback Robert Griffin III played a whole half and was a whole lot better.
And wide receiver Terrelle Pryor was pretty good as well.
Again.
Those are the only things you need to know about the Browns’ 24-13 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in the preseason home opener.
After being part of a first-team offense that played barely long enough to break a sweat in the 17-11 loss at Green Bay a week earlier, Griffin and the starters went until halftime, leaving with a 13-10 lead after falling behind 7-0.
Griffin was a big reason for that. He completed six of eight passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, a 50-yarder to Pryor on a fly pattern down the right sideline and a 29-yarder to Pro Bowl tight end Gary Barnidge.
It marked the second time this preseason that Griffin, who won the Heisman Trophy at Baylor, and Pryor, who many thought would win a Heisman when he was recruited to play quarterback at Ohio State, have connected for a long scoring pass. They had a 49-yarder on a fly pattern down the sideline against the Packers on the Browns’ first offensive play of the game.
Just like the home run and strikeout in baseball and the slam dunk and three-pointer in basketball, chicks dig the long TD passes in football, something the Browns have not much of in the expansion era, and have not had at all since 2013 when some guy named Josh Gordon was catchin’ ’em.
Gordon is out of the picture – for now, at least – but Griffin III-to-Pryor is filling that void with a lot of pizzazz to start the year. OK, so it’s the practice game year, but the Browns will take it – they’ll take anything good – as they try to rebuild. And the fans will take it because it diverts their attention from all the rough edges being smoothed out elsewhere on the team.
That the Browns lost again is hardly a concern, just as it wouldn’t have meant much if they had won. These are exhibition games, and RG 3 and Pryor put on a nice exhibition for a second straight time. In addition to his passing, Griffin used his once-lethal legs to rush for 36 yards, including a 22-yarder, in three tries.
Were they perfect? Hardly. Griffin didn’t throw for even 100 yards, and Pryor caught just that one pass. But they had a hand in scoring touchdowns, and the NFL is all about scoring touchdowns.
Next Friday night at Tampa Bay will provide the dress rehearsal for the regular season. If Griffin III improves again, and perhaps throws another long TD pass to Pryor, then those two players will move closer to being ready for the games that count.
Now if they could just make sure to bring a lot of their teammates along with them.
