Mistakes, Turnovers, And Other Assorted Errors Lead To Yet Another Loss

When you lose the turnover margin 6-0 in an NFL game, we would guess the odds are monumental against winning the game, so perhaps the best thing we can say about the Cleveland Browns is they only lost 21-7 to the defending Super Bowl champs despite that turnover margin.

The game started well with the defense forcing a three and out, but unbelievably, James Proche fumbled the punt and Kansas City recovered and quickly scored a touchdown.

It was the first of several special teams’ errors, mostly penalties, although Proche also caught a punt inside the five-yard line, and fair caught a few more because we assume he was cautious about fumbling another one.

Jameis Winston was benched after throwing three interceptions for the second game in the last three games and has now thrown eight the last three contests. Who starts next week? Our guess would be Dorian Thompson-Robinson, although on a postgame show, both Josh Cribbs (can he come back and return kicks) and Eric Metcalf both thought Winston still is the best option.

Before the game, it was reported that the team could bring back Deshaun Watson next year. We understand Watson is still under contract, but why would anyone in the organization leak that news, especially now? If asked about him, just say “no comment”.

Whether or not the Browns stay with Winston, there is simply no way you can bring Watson into training camp next summer, salary cap hit or not. Seeing his name infuriates most fans, so what is the point of having discussions about him?

Back to the game, another downer was the injury to Nick Chubb, lost for the season with a broken foot. Chubb did lose a rare fumble, but also had 41 yards on nine carries, and seems to be getting some of his explosiveness back. The last two games he has 20 carries for 89 yards, more like traditional Chubb numbers.

The Browns need to bring him back next year.

Also, kudos to Jerry Jeudy who caught 11 passes for 108 yards, his third 100+ game in the last five and we went over the 1000-yard mark on receptions, the first time he accomplished this.

We were concerned about him early in the year, but he has found a rhythm with Winston, so at least there is that.

As happens on losing teams, players seem to play their way off the roster. Last week, we mentioned Kadarious Toney and Dustin Hopkins. This week, we became tired of Germain Ifedi, who can’t seem to get lined up correctly (and picked a dumb unsportsmanlike conduct penalty last week).

Geron Christian started last season for the Browns at left tackle and did a decent job, and he’s with the team. Why not start him for the rest of the year?

We already discussed Proche, but let us add Elijah Moore, who kind of has no role with the team. Moore was supposed to be kind of an all-purpose player who can make big plays, but he’s averaging 8.7 yards per reception on his 55 catches.

Let’s just say, we’d like to see more of Michael Woods II and Jamari Thrash going forward.

Three games left in this dreadful season. Who takes the snaps next week at Cincinnati? The guess would be Thompson-Robinson, but who knows, perhaps it’s Bailey Zappe.

It feels like the season can’t be over soon enough.

Just A Bad Day In Denver For Browns

Even though the NFL has become a passing league over the last 20 years, one thing remains constant, it is still difficult to win when you can’t run the ball and you can’t stop the run.

Last Sunday, the Browns couldn’t stop the run, allowing 169 yards on the ground, and they decided not to run that much, gaining just 107 on only 24 tries. The result was a 29-12 loss to Denver, dropping Cleveland’s record to 7-4.

It wasn’t coach Kevin Stefanski’s best play calling performance, as Denver came into the game with the league’s worst defense against the run, but Cleveland threw the football 42 times, although to be fair, after P.J. Walker replaced an injured Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the third quarter, he threw 13 times as the Browns were behind.

To be fair, at the time DTR left the game, the Browns were very much in it, trailing 17-12 late in the third quarter, and coming off a 13 play, 79 yard drive that ate up 6:24 off the clock. Right after he left came the play everyone is talking about.

Cleveland tried a reverse with the ball handed to Elijah Moore who was to pitch it to Pierre Strong running around the right side. It looked like Strong had a lot of room, but the pitch was mishandled, and Denver recovered on the Browns’ 20-yard line.

We point this out because fans love trick plays, except when they don’t work. How many times have you heard a team’s offense is vanilla, with no imagination. Our point is it looked like a good play call; the execution was just terrible.

As we said previously, it was not a banner day for the Cleveland defense. Denver gashed the run defense, as the Browns allowed the second most yards rushing in a game this season. It was the second straight week they allowed around 170 yards on the ground, and this time, there was no 74-yard run to skew the stats.

There were numerous runs of 10 yards or more, something for defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to fix this week.

They did hold the Broncos to just 134 yards in the air, but mostly because they didn’t force Denver into many obvious passing situations. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah recorded the only sack on the day.

Let’s go back to the quarterback spot though. If Thompson-Robinson can’t go against the Rams this week, it very much looks like Joe Flacco will get the start. We would also go a step further and say Andrew Berry should be on the lookout for another QB to replace Walker, who is unplayable.

He fumbled twice in limited time against Denver, raising his total to four on the season. He simply isn’t consistent enough. He did make a beautiful throw to Moore for 28 yards but plays like that are few and far between.

The way Cleveland has gone through quarterbacks this year, we think you have to find someone else. Walker can’t play another down for a playoff contending team.

Besides the QB situation, the Myles Garrett medical report is key. If Garrett has to miss some time, it will force Schwartz to make some adjustments. We have full confidence he can, but missing a player like Garrett is never a good thing.

Turnovers, Not Coaching Is The Browns’ Problem Right Now.

The knee-jerk reaction for most Browns fans and media alike after a loss is to blame the play calling. And of course, that leads to talking about hiring a new coach.

Kevin Stefanski is no different. Add the losing to his stoic, unemotional demeanor and that he doesn’t scream on the sidelines and grab players by the facemask, and it’s easy to see why football fans in northeast Ohio haven’t embraced the Browns head coach.

Look, we aren’t saying Stefanski is the second coming of Paul Brown or Blanton Collier for that matter. Those two are #1 and #2 on the franchise’s all-time wins list for coaches. But he has won more games than Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel, both of whom have coached more games.

We wish Stefanski would change some things. We would like to see more use of David Njoku in space, and right now, he seems to have fallen in love with his new toy, that being Elijah Moore.

He has tried to make Moore an all purpose offensive threat, but in the first four games of the season, Moore has caught 17 passes for 148 yards, 8.7 per catch, and rushed 7 times for 3 yards, although he lost 20 yards on one attempt in the Baltimore game.

That has led to Donovan Peoples-Jones, who caught 61 throws for 839 yards a year ago, to be virtually ignored so far this year. He’s been targeted just 14 times, catching six passes for 75 yards.

He’s one of only three Browns to average over 10 yards per catch this year, and one of them, Kareem Hunt, has only caught two passes.

From the criticism on sports talk shows and social media, you would think the Browns were 0-4 and headed toward the first overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

Instead, they are 2-2 despite losing the turnover battle in each game they’ve played this season. And as GM Andrew Berry said in his press conference last week, that’s a difficult way to win games in the NFL.

We said before the season started that despite the endless debate on the team all year in the area, the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns depended on the play of Deshaun Watson, who the organization dealt three first round draft picks and paid a king’s ransom in salary for.

If he plays well, the Browns will win and make the playoffs. If he plays like he did in the six games he appeared in last season, Cleveland will struggle, Stefanski will likely be fired and the organization will be going in a new direction.

Again.

The defense is playing at a high level. And if the offense doesn’t hand the Steelers two touchdowns in week two, Cleveland likely wins that game. And of course, last weekend they were forced to play Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a rookie fifth round draft pick, as Watson was injured.

Aaron Rodgers told Green Bay Packers fans to relax a few years ago. Browns supporters need to heed that advice. They are still 13 games left to play. If the brown and orange stop turning the ball over, they will be just fine.