Browns’ Latest Defeat Highlights The Lack Of A Running Game

The Cleveland Browns are not a good football team. That’s the only way you can put it when you have breakdowns in every phase of the game in a 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, dropping them to 2-7 on the season.

The optimism following last week’s win over Baltimore was short lived after another error filled contest heading into the bye week and the trading deadline. We would expect at least one move by GM Andrew Berry before 4 PM on Tuesday.

The special teams had two major gaffes, both of which set up Chargers’ touchdowns. They allowed a 53-yard punt return to provide good field position for Los Angeles’ first TD, and they allowed a blocked field goal to put the Bolts’ in position for their last score.

The defense allowed three big plays, all on third down when they could have forced either a punt or a field goal. Josh Palmer caught a 28-yard TD pass from Justin Herbert and later in the first half, Quentin Johnston got behind the defense for a 66-yard scoring play, both on what appeared to be blown coverages.

They allowed a 16-yard run by J.K. Dobbins who pretty much went into the end zone untouched. The Chargers ran 50 offensive plays, and the defense was very good for about 95% of them. That ain’t good enough.

The communication errors in the secondary overshadowed a three sack performance by Myles Garrett. And Dalvin Tomlinson had 1.5 sacks, as the Browns sacked the LA quarterback six times in the first half.

And they still allowed 20 points in that half.

Offensively? Well, let’s just say getting sacked six times and throwing three interceptions lead to putting a lot of points on the board. The only bright spot was Cedric Tillman, who hauled in six passes for 75 yards and scored the Browns’ only touchdown.

However, perhaps the biggest problem for the offense is the total lack of a running game. Cleveland ran for just 79 yards on 24 attempts, and five those were runs by Jameis Winston after being flushed out of the pocket.

That means the Browns’ running backs gained just 52 yards on 19 carries, which is under three yards a pop.

This means that a huge staple of the offense over the last five years, the play action pass is rendered useless. Defenses don’t have to bite on the fake if you can’t run the ball effectively.

This, of course, is another negative brought about by changing an offensive scheme that has worked in the recent past.

The latest defeat, Browns’ fans being Browns’ fans, have brought the people who want to blow up the roster and accumulate draft picks.

Should the team move some veterans on one-year deals for draft picks? Yes, of course. That makes sense.

Should they move players like Myles Garrett and David Njoku? No.

We understand the Browns will be severely handicapped in terms of the salary cap because of the commitment to Deshaun Watson. But we also understand that a good draft class, adding some good young players, can turn a franchise around quickly.

Look at Atlanta, Washington, and even Arizona. Building around guys like Garrett, Njoku, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Grant Delpit, etc., and Cleveland could be right back in the playoff hunt a year from now.

Besides, the results of the 1-31 two-year stretch were one playoff win in four seasons. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

Solid QB Play Makes A Huge Difference For The Browns

As we watched the Cleveland Browns win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the thought they kept going through our head was it was comical.

After weeks of telling the media and fans that the team’s best chance to win was playing Deshaun Watson, it was clear during the first half that was complete and utter baloney.

Watson didn’t throw for even 200 yards in the first seven games of the season, and his replacement, Jameis Winston reached that figure midway through the third quarter.

In Watson’s three partial seasons with the franchise, he never reached 300 yards in passing. Winston reached that plateau in his first start. And couple that with the fact that Joe Flacco threw for that many yards in last four starts a year ago, and it is pretty clear Watson’s play was a huge problem for the Cleveland offense.

Oh, and another first for the season. The Browns hadn’t scored 20 points or more in 2024 and that surpassed that in the 29-24 victory.

We have been saying for the last week the Browns need to see what Winston can give them for the rest of the season. On Sunday, he looked decisive. He dropped back and threw downfield, and as we have all seen on various tape reviews on social media, receivers were open.

Winston’s style also showed the offensive line wasn’t as bad as some thought. Watson was being sacked on a ridiculous pace this season, but Winston was sacked just twice.

Yes, Wyatt Teller was back, and Jack Conklin is settling in at right tackle, but the protection seemed much better. Dawand Jones played left tackle for Jedrick Wills and outside of one false start, wasn’t noticed.

As for Wills, he might want to look up a man named Wally Pipp.

The much-maligned receiving corps looked much better with a new passer. Cedric Tillman, written off by many as another third round bust, caught seven balls for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Elijah Moore caught eight passes, and Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku each reeled in five.

The dink and dunk attack was gone, at least for that game.

Granted, the Ravens’ pass defense hasn’t been good this year, but frankly, the Browns’ passing game hasn’t frightened anyone outside of their fan base. Cleveland did just enough on the ground, getting 80 yards, with Nick Chubb getting 52 in his second game back and D’Onta Foreman picking up 26 more.

The defense lost two key players (Denzel Ward and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) during the game and still managed to keep the Ravens from scoring after Cleveland secured the lead.

They had sacks from Owusu-Koramoah, Ogbo Okoronkwo, and Za’Darius Smith, and also got a boost for Mohamoud Diabate, who replaced Devin Bush in the starting lineup and had nine tackles.

And while Ravens’ fans will bemoan Kyle Hamilton’s dropped interception on the last TD drive by the Browns, the Cleveland secondary also dropped a few picks, notably one where Myles Garrett couldn’t find a pass batted in the air by Shelby Harris.

Will Winston look like that every week? Perhaps not, but we would expect professional quarterback play out of him. Does he throw interceptions? His career indicates he will, but Flacco threw eight in the five games he started.

But as we have written in the past, the only quarterback who hasn’t thrived under Kevin Stefanski has been Deshaun Watson. Jameis Winston reminded everyone of that last Sunday.

Another Loss And A New QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns’ season just keeps going downhill faster and faster. Last Sunday’s loss started with the Bengals taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and although the defense played pretty well, the Browns fell to 1-6 with a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati.

The other significant event in the game was QB Deshaun Watson apparently tearing his achilles tendon on a non-contact injury in the second quarter thus ending his season. Watson has now been with Cleveland three years and has yet to play in more than seven games in a season.

Inexplicably, that did not give veteran Jameis Winston a shot at playing QB. Winston was demoted to the #3 quarterback, available only if the first two passers were injured. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was designated as the backup and was lackluster at best, completing 11 of 24 throws for a paltry 82 yards.

After the game, we saw a number of media people touting Thompson-Robinson (DTR) as the starter next week, with the opinion that the Browns need to see what they have in him.

We don’t get it. First, he was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was far from highly regarded coming into the NFL. Second, what has he shown when he has been on the field to make anyone think he can be a viable NFL quarterback?

We know he didn’t prepare as a starter last week, but when he comes into the game, he looks like a gimmicky, run first QB. He’s doesn’t seem real accurate, and so far, six of his 136 NFL throws have been picked off.

As a comparison, Watson has had three interceptions in 216 passes this season.

Wouldn’t it be better to see if Winston can have a comeback to his career like Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, or Sam Darnold? And if the losing continues, they can always play DTR in the last couple of games.

Look, more than likely, the Browns are going to draft a QB with their first round pick next spring. Perhaps Winston can be your bridge quarterback to open next season if Watson isn’t ready or another move is made with him.

Anyway, back to the game. There were more mistakes. Motion penalties, illegal shifts, lining up offsides. We know the coaches don’t coach this, but there has to be consequences to habitual offenders. Perhaps the loss of some playing time would allow the message for these players to soak in.

The Browns couldn’t run the ball either, gaining just 77 yards on the ground with 44 of those yards on runs by Thompson-Robinson. The only good thing was seeing Nick Chubb back on the field, getting 22 yards on 11 carries. His longest run was five yards, but still it was great to see him back on the field after his terrible knee injury last year.

The defense played well mostly, although one of the Bengals’ touchdowns was a pass to Ja’Marr Chase with big play magnet Greg Newsome II in coverage. The defensive back just can’t avoid giving up a big play pretty much every week.

We would guess more players who were brought in for this season, veterans on one-year deals will be (and should be if possible) moved for draft picks before the trade deadline. We have no problem with that.

However, we don’t want to hear the word tanking. It breeds a losing environment that is tough to get rid of. Browns fans more than anyone else should understand that.

What needs to be done is getting a victory and getting back to the philosophy that worked for the most part over the last four seasons.

It won’t be easy for sure

Time To Make A Tough Decision On Watson

And the Cleveland Browns thought they were finished with dysfunction when they hired Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry as coach and general manager, respectively.

But we guess a leopard can’t change its spots, and the franchise is back to being talked about by the national NFL media, and not for a good reason.

Of course, all of the controversy and discussion surrounds the team’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson. The Browns gave up a tremendous amount of draft capital, primarily the three first round draft picks, and guaranteed his entire contract when they made the move to get Watson from Houston, and they have received little return on their investment.

This season, Watson isn’t even playing at an average level, ranking 28th in the league in passer rating, ranking ahead of only Jacoby Brissett, Will Levis, Bo Nix, and Anthony Richardson. His QBR rating? Last among qualified passers.

However, there are many people who believe the choice to start Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson for that matter, doesn’t rest in the hands of the head coach. That’s how dysfunctional franchises behave.

That’s amazing to us because of the success Stefanski has had here. We know he hasn’t won any Super Bowls or even advanced to a conference championship game, but he has won the most games since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, winning 38. The next best? Romeo Crennel and Butch Davis with 24.

He’s been the NFL coach of the year twice in his four seasons at the helm.

We know publicly Stefanski has defended Watson, saying every aspect of the team has to get better, and saying it is his decision as to who starts at QB. But we also know he doesn’t say anything in his dealings with the media. He doesn’t criticize his players in the press, so he’s certainly not going to say the front office is holding him hostage.

And if the front office is indeed telling Stefanski he has to make it work with Watson and the new offensive coordinator brought in to improve the quarterback’s performance, maybe they should come down and make it work.

Instead, they should be working on what is the best and least painful way out for the franchise. If the team were to release him right now, they would be stuck with a $200 million bill in dead money on the salary cap.

If they were to tell him to go home and he will be released after June 1st next year, that dead money amount falls to $119 million. That’s the best option.

Why should the Browns bench Watson? The best reason would be to see if the problems on offense are truly because of the quarterback, and to identify any more glaring holes that need to be fixed this off-season.

We understand the problem that could be developed if you bench Watson and have him watching from the sideline, it would be awkward and could be divisive to the team. That’s why you make a clean break.

A trade is out of the question because no one is taking that kind of cap hit.

Look, you have to pay Watson no matter what. You can either pay him to have a negative effect (by his play) or you can send him home and he would have no effect. Which is better?

And the worst thing you can do when you make a mistake is to keep trying to justify the move. Admit you made a bad move and proceed.

Can the season be salvaged? Probably not, but let’s say Winston starts this week and the Browns win, and then they come home and beat Cincinnati. They’d be 3-4 and have hope.

Isn’t that worth making the change?

Browns Use Old Offense To Beat Jags.

Last week, we said it was just one game in referring to the Cleveland Browns’ loss to Dallas in the season opener.

This week, we will reach into the cliche bag and tell everyone a win is a win. The Browns played a very good first half of football and held on to beat Jacksonville 18-13 to raise their record to 1-1.

After hiring a new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey, who was bringing in an attack more friendly to a dual threat quarterback, the Cleveland offense looked much like the same as it had the previous years under Alex Van Pelt.

The brown and orange came out trying to work the running game. After having just 19 running plays vs. Dallas, and some of those were Deshaun Watson scrambles after escaping the pass rush, they ran the ball 29 times for 125 yards.

D’Onta Foreman started and had the most carries, toting the ball 14 times for 42 yards, and had a huge run in the fourth quarter that unfortunately was called back when he grabbed a defender’s face mask. Jerome Ford looked much better than he did in week one to us and seemed to run harder hitting the holes.

He had 64 yards on seven carries, including a big 36-yard on a fourth down play.

The offense looked a lot like the same kind of system used when Jacoby Brissett was behind center. It appeared the coaching staff told Watson to take care of the football, and indeed Cleveland did not turn it over all day.

There weren’t a lot of high-risk throws. Perhaps the one play that stands out was Watson at the end of a scramble throwing the football into a crowd and somehow Jerry Jeudy came down with it on the sidelines.

Watson would up 22 of 34 for 186 yards and ran the ball five times for 20 yards. It was interesting to see Stefanski use Jameis Winston, a bigger QB, in some short yardage situations for quarterback sneaks.

The defense allowed two big plays, the 66-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence to Brian Thomas and Lawrence’s 33-yard run, otherwise, the Jaguars were bottled up all game. The Browns sacked Lawrence four times, including a safety on Alex Wright’s sack, which should have salted away the game.

Ultimately, that sack followed the play of the game, the punt by Corey Bojorquez which went out of bounds on the one-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Stefanski decided to punt rather than have Dustin Hopkins try a 58-yard field goal, and that was the correct decision.

Speaking of Stefanski’s decisions, we also believe the last offensive play was not supposed to end in a pass, he wanted Watson to roll out, gain as many yards as he could, and then go down and keep the clock running.

We are sure some will focus on the penalties, which Cleveland accumulated 13 flags during the game. It needs to be cleaned up, but there seems to be another “point of emphasis” with officials to call motion penalties. And according to people who know football better than us, a few flags against the Browns were not merited.

But again, a win is a win, and the Browns should be expected to win next Sunday at home against the 0-2 Giants. It will be interesting to see what the offense looks like. Will it be run oriented at the start or throwing a lot.

Either way, Cleveland got a win they needed after a terrible first game showing. And that’s a good thing.

No Real Surprises On Browns Roster. Yet.

The Cleveland Browns got down to the 53 man roster needed to open the season, but as coach Kevin Stefanski said, it’s really but first 53, not the final 53.

That’s pretty obvious when you consider the Browns have just two running backs on the current roster and four quarterbacks.

There weren’t many surprises among the players cut on Tuesday. DT Siaki Ika was a third round pick a year ago, so that may raise an eyebrow, but it was pretty clear to most Browns’ observers that he was not going to make the team.

We were a bit surprised that RB D’Onta Foreman was let go given the state of the running game without Nick Chubb. He had three consecutive seasons of 400 or more rushing yards, and frankly we aren’t impressed with the running game right now.

It is easy to be spoiled by Chubb, but we aren’t impressed by Jerome Ford last season even though he gained 813 yards. He still seems hesitant hitting a hole. We know the NFL has become a passing league, but you still have to run the football if you want to be a good team, and we think the Browns are just that.

By all reports, Foreman will be re-signed after the team makes a decision on the quarterbacks, but even still, three running backs seems a little light.

The four quarterbacks are interesting to be sure, but it’s only because GM Andrew Berry values all four of them and didn’t want to let any of them go without getting something in return.

What is curious is that according to reports, both Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley are the name bandied about on the trade rumors. We get it, quarterbacks have value in the league and if you can pick up a draft pick because your organization had the foresight to sign a veteran, that’s a good thing.

We are surprised Winston’s name is being discussed only based on what happened to Cleveland a year ago. If Deshaun Watson has to miss time this season, wouldn’t you want Winston to be the next guy up? He’s a veteran starter with 80 NFL starts under his belt.

Compare that to Huntley’s nine and Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s three. And that’s why it was later reported Cleveland has no interest in moving Winston. But they will not open with four QBs, so either Huntley (probably) or Thompson-Robinson will be traded. NOTE: Huntley was released this morning.

Otherwise, it’s a normal looking roster. An NFL team can never have enough linemen and defensive backs, and the Browns are no exception, carrying 10 on the offensive line, nine on the defensive side, and 11 defensive backs.

One surprise is not all of the draft picks made the roster, as 7th round DT Jowon Briggs was cut, but was added to the practice squad.

And of course, second rounder Michael Hall Jr. is on the Commissioner’s exempt list.

It would be a surprise if there aren’t plenty of roster movement before the Browns take the field on September 8th to take on Dallas. As Stefanski said, it’s not the final 53.

Happy With Baker, But Let’s Ease Up A Bit

There is no question that fans of the Cleveland Browns are looking for things to be optimistic about.

After one win in the last two seasons, having a 2-2-1 record through five games certainly provides a glimmer of hope. There is even talk about playoff contention, and heck, if the Browns can get to Thanksgiving still in the hunt, that would be outstanding.

The rookie class is exceeding everyone’s expectations, with Denzel Ward showing signs he can be a shutdown cornerback, Nick Chubb showing flashes of being a top flight running back, and Genard Avery doing very well as a pass rusher.

And then you have the first overall pick, QB Baker Mayfield, who has been pressed into service quicker than most figured after the acquisition of Tyrod Taylor, brought in so the team could ease the rookie into the job.

Mayfield has completed 58.9% of his passes and has a passer rating of just 81.4, but he is providing football fans in northeast Ohio a reason to tune in the Browns every Sunday.

He put up 42 points in a loss to the Raiders, even though he turned the ball over four times.

He ranks 10th in the NFL in yards per passing attempt, meaning he’s not a dink and dunk type of passer, he’s picking up yardage in chunks

We have heard people in the local media and also fans saying the Browns have found their “franchise” quarterback, the franchise’s first since Bernie Kosar.

We say let’s slow down a bit.

We believe you have to string a couple of very good seasons together to achieve the franchise moniker. And while he like Mayfield a lot, let’s wait until NFL defense have seen the rookie and compiled a dossier on how to combat him.

Let’s look at the two quarterbacks taken with the first two picks of the 2015 NFL Draft, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.

Winston started all 16 games his rookie year, and after 12 games, the Buccaneers were 6-6. In those first dozen contests, he threw 17 TD passes vs. 12 interceptions as Tampa looked much improved from a 2-14 season the year before.

He threw for at least 177 yards in every game, topping out with a 363 yard effort in a 31-23 loss to the Rams in the 14th game of the year.

Three years later, does anyone consider Winston one of the top 10 QBs in the NFL?

Mariota started 12 games his rookie year, with the Titans going 3-9 in his starts. He completed 62% of his passes with 19 touchdowns, 10 picks, and a 91.5 passer rating.

His second year was even better–26 TDs, 9 interceptions and a 95.6 rating as Tennessee went 9-7 for the season.

They made the playoffs last season, but the quarterback’s performance declined. He threw 13 scoring passes with 15 interceptions, and this year they are 1-2 in his starts and he has a TD to interception ratio of 2:4.

Again, he wouldn’t make anyone’s Top 10 either.

And that’s our definition of a franchise quarterback, a guy who is among the top players at the most important position in sports.

Don’t forget Dak Prescott in Dallas, who was hailed as a future All Pro after his rookie year, when the Cowboys went 13-3. Now? He’s showing he may just be average.

So, while we are very excited about the former Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, we aren’t ready to ordain him quite yet. He is playing very well right now, but let’s evaluate him in late November or early December.

By then, we will make more of a sample size to evaluate him. We do like what we’ve seen so far.