The Cleveland Browns just can’t get out of their own way
Browns #Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a comedy of errors that have managed to find new ways to lose games that a professional football team should never lose under any circumstances.
The only thing that has prevented the Browns from starting the season 5-0 has been … well the Browns. They are currently 2-3 after losing to the Chargers 30-28 despite Brandon Staley trying his absolute best to give them the game in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Staley went for it on 4th and 2 from the Chargers 45 yard line with 1:14 left in the game.
It would be one thing if the Browns were bereft of talent and overmatched every Sunday, as Browns fans have seen plenty of times since the team came back in 1994, but what makes this particular Browns team special is how they consistently find ways to blow games they should win in spectacular fashion.
You would think after the Browns managed to blow a 13 point lead to the New York Jets with less than two minutes left in the game, that would be the lowest point of their NFL season. However, this is the Browns we’re talking about so of course it’s only the beginning of a season that will undoubtedly be filled with frustration and misery.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the real issue because there seem to be multiple things falling apart simultaneously that snowball into inexplicable and indefensible losses. Against the Jets it was miscommunications in the secondary, a missed extra point and not securing an onside kick that ultimately doomed them.
Against the Atlanta Falcons, the playcalling inside the red zone was simply too cute and it felt like Kevin Stefanski was overthinking everything. The Browns had the ball on the Falcons 1 yard line on 2nd and goal and decided to call a pass play that led to a holding penalty and them eventually settling for a field goal, instead of just giving the ball to Nick Chubb or Kareem Hunt. Combine those missed scoring opportunities with a defense that couldn’t stop the run if their lives depended on it in the second half and that cost the Browns a very winnable football game.
That brings us to Sunday’s Week 5 loss against the Chargers. Kevin Stefanski’s decision to go for it on 4th and 1 within his own 34 yard line in the third quarter with the Chargers leading 24-21 was dangerous as it is, but not allowing Jacoby Brissett to sneak the ball when it’s virtually an automatic conversion was cringeworthy. The Browns defense giving up 238 rushing yards to a team that was statistically one of the worst rushing teams in the entire league coming into today was embarrassing.
Jacoby Brissett’s fourth quarter endzone interception, which was his third pick in the final two minutes of a game this season, completely ruined what would have been another very good performance from him this season. Despite all of this, the Browns had a chance to win the game if Cade York wouldn’t have missed the game winning field goal from 54 yards out, his second miss of the game.
The Browns three losses have been by a combined 6 points. There’s no one thing you can point to that needs to be corrected, because it’s something different every single week, but when an NFL team is consistently losing close games because of self inflicted errors it is just as much a reflection of the entire coaching staff as it is the players on the field.
There are twelve more games left to be played and the Browns are talented enough to turn their season around, but it’s difficult to believe this team can start beating teams like the Ravens, Bengals and Bills when they can’t even stop beating themselves.