Two Big Errors Sink The Browns In Motor City.

The Cleveland Browns came out of their bye week like they were a different team. After kicking off to start the game, the defense caused a loss on each of the first three plays.

The offense converted the punt into a field goal, and on Detroit’s next possession, Jamie Collins intercepted, and this time, DeShone Kizer got the Browns into the end zone courtesy of a 19 yard TD pass to Kenny Britt.

Then they remembered they were the Browns and were outscored by the Lions 38-14 the rest of the game, losing their ninth straight contest, 38-24.

Actually, Hue Jackson’s crew was quite competitive, outgaining the Lions 413-345 yards for the game, and grinding out over 200 yards (201) on the ground, averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

However, three key mistakes were made by the Browns, and were a huge factor in keeping the team out of the win column.

First was a fumble by TE Seth DeValve with the score 10-10. Nevin Lawson picked up the loose ball and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown to give Detroit a 17-10 lead.

The second was what only can be called a fiasco at the end of the first half. Following the aforementioned fumble, Kizer marched the Browns down the field in ten plays, and when the quarterback scrambled for 18 yards to the Lions’ 2 yard line with 19 seconds left, Jackson’s team looked poised to tie the game going into halftime.

After an incomplete pass on first down, the QB decided to audible to a quarterback running play with no timeouts left, instead of passing where an incomplete pass would stop the clock.

Kizer was stopped, the Lions took their sweet time lining up, and Cleveland came away with no points, where they should have had at least three.

Any chance for a comeback ended late in the 4th quarter when Kizer threw another red zone interception when they could have closed to 38-31 and have a possible onside kick.

Cleveland has not had one game this year where they won the turnover battle. They have lost in this category in seven of the nine games played, with it being even twice, vs. Pittsburgh in the season opener, a 21-18 loss, and in the shellacking (31-7) against Cincinnati.

The defense has had just one game with more than one turnover caused, in week two against the Ravens.

Today, the defense got off to a good start as mentioned above, but they allowed way too many big plays, two runs of over 20 yards and three pass plays over 29 yards. That made it way too easy for Matthew Stafford.

Lions S Glover Quin said after the game that the Browns had more athletes than 24 of the 32 NFL teams, and one of those athletes continues to not get the ball, TE David Njoku.

Yes, the rookie dropped two passes, but he caught just one pass for three yards.

And once again, when the Lions got a touchdown lead in the second half, Jackson abandoned the running game, especially curious because Kizer was out of the game nursing some bruised ribs.

Five out of the six plays following the score which gave Detroit a 31-24 lead where passes. Keep in mind, the Browns ran for over 200 yards in the game.

Next week, one of the surprise teams in the NFL, Jacksonville (6-3) comes to First Energy Stadium. The Jaguars are using the blueprint many thought the Browns would use this season, that is, running the ball and playing defense.

At least the Browns are putting a good half together. Unfortunately, the last two weeks they’ve been outclassed in the second half.

Browns’ Offense Needs To Use Playmakers

Nobody with any common sense figured the Cleveland Browns would be a playoff team, but they did expect some kind of improvement.

We would feel satisfied with four or five wins this year.

However, after a promising beginning at home against the Steelers, confidence for that improvement is beginning to wane for even the staunchest supporters of the organization.

The Browns fell behind one of the teams they should be able to compete with, the Indianapolis Colts without Andrew Luck, 28-7 before rallying but falling short 31-28, and dropping their record to 0-3 on the season.

Offensively, Hue Jackson seems to have a couple of problems.

First, he seems to have a hard time committing to the run. Isaiah Crowell ran the ball four times for 16 yards in the first five offense plays for Cleveland.

That was followed up by seven consecutive passing plays, of which one was completed.

On the Browns’ first touchdown drive, in which they tied the game at seven, Cleveland ran the ball four times for 37 yards, the other 38 came on a pass completion to Kenny Britt

At that point in the game, Crowell had seven carries for 34 yards. He carried the ball just five times the rest of the game, which still had 43 minutes to go.

When the Browns got the ball back down by a touchdown on their next possession, they ran six plays, four of them passes.

Enough of that train of thought, the other problem the offense has right now is they don’t get the ball to the guys who can make plays.

Crowell ran 12 times and caught two passes. Duke Johnson ran the ball twice, yes twice, and caught six passes, accounting for 104 yards, many of them coming in the fourth quarter, although he did score the first TD on a 19 yard run.

We may be in the minority, but Seth DeValve can make big plays. Yet, he caught only two balls for 29 yards. For the season, he has 8 catches, averaging over 16 yards per catch.

Rookie David Njoku, who will frustrate you with drops, has found the end zone twice in three games.

Instead the Browns targeted these three players 22 times in the passing game: Britt, Rashard Higgins, and Ricardo Louis. The trio caught six passes.

Our criticism is that instead of forcing the ball to a mediocre wide receiver group, Jackson needs to get his playmakers involved.

Defensively, the inability to stop WR T.Y. Hilton plagued the Browns. Hilton caught seven passes for 153 yards and a 61 yard touchdown hookup.

Gregg Williams crew held the Colts under 100 yards rushing and a 2.6 average per rush.

But Indianapolis converted 8 of 17 third downs and that allowed them to win the time of possession statistic.

To be fair, the failure to use the running game doesn’t help keep the defense off the field.

Neither does losing the turnover battle, 3 to 1, although one of DeShone Kizer’s interceptions came on the last play of the game.

Joe Schobert continues to impress with eight tackles and a half a sack, and Nate Orchard had a sack as did Emmanuel Ogbah.

There were adjustments made at halftime, and the Colts got just a field goal in the second half, and that score was the result of an offside penalty on 4th and 2 from the Browns’ 40.

That’s something we would like to see from the offense. Adjustments. Use the players who can make plays, and stop getting away from the ground game so early.

Take some pressure off of your 21-year-old rookie quarterback. We thought that was the plan when Kizer was given the job. Unfortunately, as of right now, that’s not the case.

Is Browns’ Plan Working? We Say Yes.

We had a smile on our face last week when the New York Jets released WR Brandon Marshall and CB Darrelle Revis.

Obviously, the grin wasn’t because the players were let go, but rather the report attached to these roster moves, saying the Jets front office were considering going with a full blown rebuilding process, much like the Browns starting in 2016.

That would kind of fly in the face of the critics of Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta’s strategy.

Brown and DePodesta were widely second guessed for what they did with the Browns roster, mostly by the media, and mainly because they weren’t “football guys”, and they were doing something different.

You have to admit it’s kind of funny that another NFL team is said to be considering the plan to strip down the roster and start over.

It couldn’t have been too stupid of a plan then, right?

Today starts the free agency period for the NFL, and we will guess the Browns will be active, signing two or three should be starters with their massive salary cap space.

It has been reported they will sign WR Kenny Britt, who caught 68 passes for 1002 yards for the Rams, another team who had quarterback issues a year ago. In 2015, Britt averaged 18.9 yards per catch.

Britt is 28 years old and presumably will replace Terrelle Pryor, who is a free agent.

It would not be surprising if Britt is the oldest free agent Cleveland signs.

The players the Browns are targeting are coming off their first contract, putting them in the 25-26 year old range. They are experienced, but still in the prime of their careers.

And if you can fill two or three starting spots with free agents, in narrows the focus of the draft, so you can concentrate on specific areas of need.

For example, it would seem that the Browns need two or three starters in the defensive secondary. If you sign a free agent (Johnathan Cyprien from Jacksonville?), then you can focus on cornerbacks and free safeties in the draft.

Or like another free agent, center JC Tretter from Green Bay, 26, who is reportedly signing with the Browns. Tretter bolsters the offensive line, providing an anchor in the middle.

Another thing that humors us is the love from the writers who cover the Browns for Myles Garrett now that they saw the impressive workout from the pass rusher at the Scouting Combine.

You have to ask the question was this the first time they ever saw Garrett? The national guys have been saying the Texas A & M product is the most talented player in the draft since the end of the college football season.

Now that they’ve seen Garrett’s combination of speed and power, suddenly, Cleveland should look for their quarterback with the 12th overall selection, instead of picking one first overall.

This is something we have been saying all along. It would no longer be surprising if Mitchell Trubisky or Deshaun Watson still available when Cleveland’s turn comes up again at #12.

Certainly, fans would be very happy if the Browns could get one of those guys, right?

That’s why the best thing to do is what it appears the front office will do. Take the best player at #1, and get the QB later.