The Joe Flacco experience looked good for the Browns for about three and a half quarters. He directed a touchdown drive on the first possession, and overall played well, completing 23 of 44 throws for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter, he threw a critical interception on the first play of a drive where Cleveland could have taken the lead.
The Browns lost to the Los Angeles Rams 36-19 in a game that was very much in doubt midway through the fourth quarter and dropped to 7-5 on the season.
It might have been the most disappointing defensive effort of the season by Cleveland, allowing the second most total yards of the season as the Rams put up 399 yards (Indianapolis had 456), but unlike the Colts games, the defense had no sacks and no turnovers.
The defense simply had no answer for Puka Nacua and his speed. He accounted for 105 of the Rams’ 279 passing yards, 70 coming on a first quarter strike to put LA on top 10-7, and he also ran two jet sweeps to make up 34 of the Rams’ 120 yards on the ground.
He was the problem the defense had no answer for. Having the Browns’ fastest defensive back, Denzel Ward, on the field would have made a difference we think.
If Myles Garrett is the defensive unit’s best player, then Ward is a close second and having him out, and Garrett obviously limited due to his shoulder issue, it shouldn’t have been a surprise the defensive had perhaps its worst game of the year.
Cleveland also had trouble running the ball for the second straight week, although it wasn’t as notable as last week because Flacco was moving the football through the air. Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong started to get it going in the second half, but overall, they had just 87 yards rushing.
Now, we need to point out they only tried 23 running plays. We feel Kevin Stefanski has done a great job navigating yardage with four different quarterbacks, but perhaps the Browns need to lean on their ground attack more often.
Because Sunday’s contest will be one of the last games Cleveland will play in nice weather (Houston is on the road), perhaps the offensive staff will go back to establishing the running attack.
Back to Flacco. We have advocated playing Dorian Thompson-Robinson over P.J. Walker in recent weeks, but we would stay with the veteran going forward. Why? Because he gives you professional play at the position. We understand he’s not mobile, but he can still deliver the ball on time and with accuracy.
If Stefanski and the coaching staff want to have a functional offense for the rest of the year, and you can’t continue to depend on the defense, then he needs to play Joe Flacco.
And hopefully, Garrett will be healthier next week, and Ward can return to the field. That would help the defense greatly. We were bothered that no one else stepped up to make a big play though. We thought there was more depth added.
We still aren’t concerned about the season. Cleveland simply needs to win the game they should win (Bears, Jets, Bengals) and they should return to the playoffs.
However, they need the defense to get healthy. And it would help if it were cold and windy for Jacksonville this coming Sunday.