Cleveland, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The New England Patriots got the win, but the Browns should get a share of the proceeds for once again doing their part to assist their opponent in defeat.
Like a broken record, turnovers and penalties once again put them behind the 8-ball and you can’t do that in the NFL, let alone against the 6-time Super Bowl champions who rarely lose at home.
The lack of discipline and precision in their execution in the Browns 27-13 loss to the Patriots is a direct reflection on Freddie Kitchens as head coach.
In the blink of an eye in the first quarter the Browns, who reminded everyone again Sunday that they are the antithesis of the Patriots, spotted New England a 17-0 lead and that was all she wrote.
It’s one thing to lose to a better team, it’s another to commit turnovers on 3 consecutive offensive plays, commit 13 more penalties to increase your league lead in them, throw away a pair of timeouts on bad challenges while looking discombobulated during the course of the game operation.
It seems to be a weekly occurrence.
Case in point – fourth down and 11 at their own 24 with 6:17 remaining and Kitchens sent the punt unit on the field. They false started turning it into a fourth and 16 from their own 19 and Kitchens sent the offense back on the field to go for it. Baker Mayfield was promptly sacked.
It was reported on CBS and the Browns radio network that the false start by the punt unit was intentional as to preserve the Browns’ final timeout and allow the offense to get back on the field. Kitchens confirmed in his post-game press conference that indeed was the case because he wanted to go for it.
There are no words to describe how dumbfounding and preposterous of a strategy that was. That's as bad of coaching as you'll ever see, and the Browns employed Hue Jackson for 2 1/2 years.
A good coach doesn’t send his punt unit out to begin with, but this is all new to Kitchens as a first-time head coach, and we continue to be reminded of this with each loss.
Kitchens’ first gamble of the afternoon paid off. Unfortunately, it came during the coin flip. He elected to defer for the first time after winning the coin toss this season and it was an interesting decision considering how fast the Patriots start in the first quarter. They entered the afternoon outscoring opponents 70-7. Defensive end Genard Avery, active for just the second time this season, pressured Tom Brady on third down and forced a throw away and punt. Bullet dodged.
With rain falling, Kitchens passed on using Nick Chubb to open the game, instead opting for 3 passes from Mayfield. To no one’s surprise – other than Kitchens – the Browns quickly went 3 and out.
Maybe Kitchens knew something we didn’t because Chubb, who finished with 131 yards on 20 carries, fumbled on his first 2 carries of the afternoon to begin the next 2 drives. The first came when left guard Joel Bitonio appeared to accidentally kick the ball free as he fell to the ground and Patriots linebacker Don’t’a Hightower scooped up the loose ball and ran 24 yards for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead. It was the fourth defensive score for the Patriots this season and the 23rd turnover forced.
On the ensuing offensive series for Cleveland, the Patriots' 24th defensive turnover came when Chubb weaved his way through traffic and into the open field for 48 yards before he got stripped from behind by cornerback Johnathan Jones inside the 10 and New England was given the ball at their own 4.
With just under 7 minutes left in the opening quarter, cornerback Denzel Ward just missed a diving interception in the end zone on a third down throw from Brady to Phillip Dorsett. The good teams make those plays, the bad ones don’t.
Mike Nugent kicked the 20-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead to cap a 12-play, 71-yard drive for New England.
The Browns’ third turnover in 4 possessions came when Mayfield tried to toss the ball to Landry, who came in motion, in front of him but defensive end Lawrence Guy was there to pluck the ball out of midair and rumble to the 11. 2 plays later Brady hit receiver Julian Edelman, who walked through linebacker Joe Schobert’s tackle inside the 5, for an 8-yard score and 17-0 advantage.
Game over.
Late in the second quarter Ward made up for the dropped INT when he flew in from the left side, laid out and blocked Nugent's 29-yard field goal try to give the Browns the ball at their own 16 with 2:19 remaining in the first half. It was a rare bright spot on an otherwise gloomy day for the Browns.
In the third quarter on third and 10 from their own 25, Odell Beckham didn’t see a back-shoulder throw in time from Mayfield and the ball bounced off him incomplete forcing a punt. Again, a play great teams make, and the bad ones don’t.
Beckham caught 5 of 7 targets for 52 yards.
Mayfield finished 20 of 31 for 194 yards with a 21-yard touchdown to tight end Demetrius Harris and the interception.
Myles Garrett registered his 10th sack of the season and Olivier Vernon played his best game of the season registering a sack, 2 tackles for loss and a QB hit.
The bottom line Sunday, and this season, is the Browns are making too many mistakes and too few plays, and now the losses are piling up.
At 2-5, the Browns will need to win 7 or 8 of their remaining 9 games to make the playoffs and even with cupcakes like Miami and then the Cincinnati Bengals, who appear twice on the schedule, there’s no guarantee those are even wins if they play the way they have.
The Browns dug themselves a hole Sunday and it cost them.
The hole they dug for their season might also be too deep for them to climb out of.
