When the Cleveland Browns lost Nick Chubb a couple of weeks ago, we said Deshaun Watson had to take more of the offensive burden for the team.
With Watson out last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the offense was without both of their foundations, and the result was a 28-3 loss at home to their division rivals, dropping them to 2-2 on the season.
When GM Andrew Berry traded Josh Dobbs to Arizona before the regular season started, it left the Browns without an experienced back up. It was a gamble, and one that many people would have made, but it came back to bite them against the Ravens.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a rookie fifth-round draft pick, and he played like a…rookie fifth round draft pick, hitting 19 of 36 passes for just 121 yards.
The rook hit a couple of throws early, and then started missing targets resulting in an interception which set the Ravens up for their first touchdown. And with Cleveland in Baltimore territory, tried an ill-advised lateral that went out of bounds and was ruled an illegal forward pass.
We would have considered going to P.J. Walker in the second half had the score remained 14-3 after the second quarter. Someone who has played in the NFL before.
The Kevin Stefanski play calling critics are out again and strangely they only come out when the Browns lose. Weird how that works out, isn’t it?
Here’s what we think happened. The Ravens, knowing Cleveland was starting a QB who hadn’t completed a pass in an NFL game, loaded the box to shut down the run. Stefanski saw this and tried to give Thompson-Robinson some easy throw to keep him out of third and long situations.
The coach tried to do the same thing when Baker Mayfield was at the helm. He doesn’t want to be in third and long. By the way, do you know any coaches who like to be in that situation?
Besides the first offensive play, a 25-yard run by Jerome Ford canceled because of a dubious holding call on Amari Cooper, the Browns couldn’t run the ball before Pierre Strong Jr. ripped off a decent run in garbage time.
Ford had 9 carries for 26 yards, gaining 10 on one carry. Kareem Hunt? Five carries for 12 yards.
And we are pretty sure the coach didn’t tell Elijah Moore to run 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a jet sweep.
Perhaps the offensive line isn’t as good as advertised. The Browns have played two games without Chubb and have had trouble running in both games. And you know what happens if you can’t run the ball and stop the run.
You don’t win.
The defense sprung a leak for one quarter in the loss, allowing Baltimore to gain 206 of their 296 yards in the second quarter, resulting in two touchdowns. The good news? They adjusted in the second half, allowing just 42 yards after halftime.
They are entitled to have a bad quarter every once in a while.
If Watson is healthy enough to play the rest of the season, this is just a blip on the radar.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t things the coaching staff and front office need to figure out. Should they bring in another quarterback? The offensive line has to get better.
The defense is just fine though.
Another tough test comes after the bye week when San Francisco comes to town. If Watson is back, it will serve as a measuring stick to see how good this Browns team is.
We remain optimistic.
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