Film Review: Browns Take the Lead With Two-Yard TD Pass From McCoy to Moore

The Browns seemed to come alive in the second quarter of Sundays 27-17 win. After their first scoring drive, they stopped the Bengals on three plays and forced them to punt. The Browns got the ball back on their own 10-yard line and proceded to drive all the way down the field. 

They found themselves in a third-and-goal situation on the Bengals two-yard line with just over four minutes left in the half. At that point, the Browns were trailing the Bengals by a score of 13-7. They wouldn't be trailing much longer.

The Browns were in a shotgun formation with three receivers wide. Josh Cribbs was wide right with Mohamed Massaquoi in the slot and tight end Evan Moore was wide left. Next to Colt McCoy in the backfield was Peyton Hillis. Tight end Benjamin Watson was in a three point stance on the right side of the line.

The Bengals were lined up with Michael Johnson, Domata Peko, Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap on the line from right to left. Thomas Howard and Rey Maualuga were behind the line just inside the end zone. Chris Crocker was across from Massaquoi, Nate Clements was across from Cribbs and Leon Hall was across from Moore. Reggie Nelson was between Hall and Howard, keeping an eye on Hillis and Gibril Wilson was alone deep behind the linebackers.

The play was simple. Massaquoi, Watson and Cribbs ran curl routes on the right side while Hillis ran towards the left pylon, drawing Nelson out. Moore, who stands at 6-6, had a considerable height advantage over the 5-11 Hall. Moore ran a quick slant. Seeing the mismatch, McCoy saw a window and fired a bullet to Moore, who had gotten the inside position on Hall. Moore caught the pass and was taken down immediately by Hall but the damage had been done. 

Phil Dawson came on to kick the extra point for the Browns and put it through, giving the Browns and 14-13 lead over the Bengals with 4:14 left in the first half.