Film Room: Will Joe Haden get the best of A.J. Green again?

The expectation in Cleveland was if anyone could do the job, it was Joe Haden. He was the Browns' best defender and a top-flight cornerback. He had man-cover skills that the rest of the Browns cornerbacks didn’t, leaving him to cover Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green in both 2013 meetings.

The two had different styles. Without long speed, Haden relied on short, choppy steps and technique that enabled him to play various coverages.

Green was faster, with speed to blow the lid off of the defense even though it didn’t look like it. He played faster than the 4.48 40-yard dash he ran when he was drafted, gliding in and out of cuts in what seemed slow motion. There are few like him, especially at his size. He is 6-foot-4, 207 pounds. Haden is smaller at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, but he plays taller because of his 35-inch vertical leap. The two are a good test for each other.

In both games, Haden was in Green’s grill with bump-and-run coverage and other techniques that sometimes changed right before the snap. Green couldn’t adjust to them, particularly when Haden ran off like he was afraid of the showdown and then punched him in the mouth.

On one play, in Cleveland, midway through the second quarter in Week 4, Green stood outside the numbers while Haden was rolled up in press coverage. The ball was equidistant between the hashes. The Browns were in single-high coverage. It wasn’t just any kind of single-high, though. If you looked close, you could see the deep safety cheated away from Green. They trusted Haden.

Haden bailed from the line and opened his hips to the middle of the field. Green jabbed inside and cut outside to run a fade route. It's what the top receivers run because it shows how good they are, how confident they are in going up for a jump ball.

Haden shuffled and spun his hips around and outside. He ran to Green’s inside hip and surprised him with a straight-arm above the heart. It slowed Green, letting Haden work over the top of the route and turn his head around to make a play on the ball. He missed it as it flew over his head, out of bounds.

With Green’s skills, there wasn’t a question if he would be shut out. It was a matter of how much he would get.

By the fourth quarter, Green was frustrated. He took the field again, lined up well outside the numbers, in front of Haden, who stood a yard off. Haden was in press coverage until the snap, when he bailed and played man. It was Cover 4 (Quarters).

Green pressed Haden onto the cornerback’s heels and, five yards later, extended his arms to punch Haden, get open and hook back to the quarterback for a quick throw. He caught it with arms that were as wide as a vulture’s wings and gripped it as Haden suplexed him.

Green struggled against Haden the entire game. He dominates cornerbacks, even the better ones, because of his speed and athleticism and length. Despite not being the bulkiest, it doesn't stop him from slapping them around. He really is one of the league’s best, even though Haden had his number in the game.

The two matched up again seven weeks later, in Cincinnati. It was hyped up, with some wondering if Green would get revenge. Not much changed for Haden, however. He studied Green’s film with a 12-inch eye and picked up more tendencies. One of them: Green’s willingness to sacrifice route-running technique and rely on his athleticism.

Early in the game, in the first quarter, Green lined up outside the numbers in the wide side of the field. There, he had more room to set up his route and fool Haden, who was buffered deep, 10 yards, in Cover 3. The technique was the same as on the play Green beat him on.

When Green ran vertically, Haden backpedaled with his feet fast like pistons and hips square and opened up to the sideline. His back was to the middle because he had safety help.

Peering, he noticed Green ran a shaky route and was slow to sink his hips, taking too many choppy steps to run a curl route. The choppiness played to Haden’s advantage.

Green became lazy and opened his shoulders early and looked back early. He veered off to the right and backward, away from the throw. It was like he didn’t want it. Haden planted his foot and jumped acrobatically in front of Green to two-hand the throw and run past the 30, 20, 10 and into the end zone for a pick-6.

By the game’s end, Haden caught two interceptions and had quieted Green. In the two games combined, Green was targeted 12 times and caught six for 44 yards against Haden, according to Pro Football Focus. He didn’t score, either. The second game wasn’t revenge, it was a burial.

A year later, the two meet again, in Cincinnati, on Thursday Night Football. They’re both at the top of their game again. Green’s scoring downfield after coming back from a toe injury and Haden’s turning receivers into ghosts. The assignment for Haden is expected to be the same as last year, and for the Browns, the expectations are, too.