All eyes have been on the future since Hue Jackson was named the Browns' new head coach last week, but it's still early enough in the offseason to reflect.
Over the weekend, we counted down the Browns' top five offensive plays of 2015 on the season's final edition on Inside the Cleveland Browns. That video can be seen at the top of the page. Below, we examine what those plays not only meant for the present, but also the big picture.
5. Nov. 30 vs. Baltimore - Josh McCown's 10-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Moore
- It was a play made by two veterans that should be shown to all football players on the values of never giving up. Moore was knocked down on the play but got back up and continued his route, allowing McCown, who spun back from the line of scrimmage and out of the pocket, to find him for his first touchdown catch since 2012.
The play exemplified the sneaky mobility and elusiveness of McCown, who was subsequently injured and lost for the season two quarters later, and the grittiness of Moore, one of the Browns' most valuable special teamers who was forced into extensive work at wide receiver because of injuries at the position.
4. Oct. 4 at San Diego - Duke Johnson Jr.'s 34-yard touchdown catch
- Johnson is a running back but he made moves and tapped his toes like a wide receiver on the first touchdown of his NFL career. It was his first of two on a season that saw him catch a whopping 61 passes for 534 yards. It was the second largest catch total ever by a Browns rookie and ranked second among all NFL rookies, trailing only Oakland's Amari Cooper.
"It's all about being an athlete as a child. I played anywhere from defensive back to receiver. I kind of did it all and it just stayed with me through the years," Johnson said. "I just made sure I kept touching up on it. Anytime in college we were doing running back drills during the summer, I would just go with the receivers because there's not too many running back drills I don't know how to do."
3. Dec. 13 vs. San Francisco - Isaiah Crowell rushes for 145 yards, two touchdowns
In a frustrating season for the Browns' ground game, Crowell broke out for the best game of his NFL career to kick off what would be a solid finish to his second year. Crowell led Cleveland with 706 rushing yards, up 99 from the 607 he had as a rookie, with 309 coming in the final four games.
Jackson liked what he saw from Crowell against the 49ers and wants to see more of it on a more consistent basis heading into Year 3.
"What I want him to understand he's got to do that all the time. We're not looking for it some of the time," Jackson said last week. "The big time backs in this league, they're able to produce all of the time. That's what my challenge would be to him. Let's take it to the next level and be that player week in and week out."
2. Sept. 20 vs. Tennessee - Johnny Manziel's 60-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin
With the game slipping away from the Browns in the fourth quarter, Manziel and Benjamin connected on what would be the game-clinching play in Cleveland's first win of the season. It was a play that symbolized Manziel's growth on the field and foreshadowed the career season Benjamin experienced.
The touchdown was Benjamin's third of the season in a year that saw him catch 68 passes for 966 yards and five touchdowns. In his previous three seasons, he had 41 catches, 617 yards and five touchdowns.
1. Oct. 11 at Baltimore - Gary Barnidge's wild, no-hands touchdown catch
The play went immediately viral and even earned some mid-season recognition. Even at the end of the year, it's still one of the NFL's top plays of the season.
Barnidge's hands were as reliable as any during his best season -- by a long shot -- but he didn't need them on a key moment in Cleveland's second win of the season. The touchdown gave the Browns their first lead of a game Baltimore controlled in the first half. It was officially classified as a happy memory when Cleveland closed the deal in overtime.
"Honestly, it was a lot of luck, not much skill," Barnidge said. "There's no way you can ever practice a catch like that. I wasn't laughing about it at first but now I can laugh about it because we won the game."
