Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The broken record continued to spin Monday afternoon following loss No. 6, and 4 in a row.
On Monday, a day after a 24-19 defeat in Denver, Freddie Kitchens focused on 1 word, and 1 word alone to explain why the most talented Browns team in 30 years can’t win: “execution.”
Maybe the expectations were unfair or the bar was set just too high and too fast for this team and this franchise that has been reinventing how to lose since 1999.
“Honestly, our expectations are on how we prepare and how we play,” Kitchens said. “Our expectations have not met from within on how we play. We truly try not to get into the exceptions outside of this building. That is when you get in trouble. I think our guys have done a good job of that, but what they have to understand – I think that they do – is our expectations on how we prepare. Now, we have to get it to carry over on the Sundays on how we execute.”
Kitchens dipped into the moral victory Monday bag multiple times following the loss to the Broncos starting with their offensive possessions.
“We had 10 drives offensively [Sunday], 7 of them should have resulted in points,” Kitchens said. “We ended 2 drives on fourth down, and we scored on 5 drives.”
True, the Browns made 5 trips inside the 20 and came away with 3 field goals, a touchdown and turnover on downs in Denver.
This season they’ve made 27 trips inside the red zone, scored 12 touchdowns, kicked 10 field goals and made them all, turned it over twice on downs and committed 3 turnovers.
“We just have to execute when we get into the red zone and we have to execute better in critical situations,” Kitchens said. “When you get into the red zone, the field shrinks. You have to be more precise in everything you do, whether it is running, blocking, receiving, running routes, throwing, everything. You have to have a better sense of awareness and instincts so we have to continue to try to get better in those areas.”
Odell Beckham Jr. has been targeted just 3 times this season inside the 20 according to ESPN, ranking him 123rd in the NFL, which is just mindboggling.
Kitchens’ response: “I think we need to execute better.”
Tight end Demetrius Harris couldn’t come down in bounds with a wide-open touchdown in the back of the end zone on a play they run 100 times a week in practice. How that happens is another one of life’s great mysteries.
“It was an uncontested catch. We just have to have better awareness,” Kitchens said.
The Browns committed a season low 5 penalties for a season low 40 yards in the loss to the Broncos. They also didn’t turn the ball over. That is a first this season.
Progress indeed.
But Kitchens is in a win you pass, lose you fail situation, and right now he is failing miserably.
Yes, execution is a problem. It’s on display weekly, but that is not what truly ails the Browns.
What ails the Browns is culture.
The truth is the Browns culture is perfectly reflective of the product they put on the field every single year and Kitchens, with the help of general manager John Dorsey, has done nothing to change it.
Dorsey loves players with red flags and giving them second chances. See former safety Jermaine Whitehead, receiver Antonio Callaway and, set to make his debut this week, running back Kareem Hunt as exhibits A, B and C.
Kitchens, who is the most likable head coach that has rolled through here in recent years, loves his players to love him. He wants their personalities to shine through so long as, “they don’t hurt the team.”
When you win, you can have all the personality and fun you want. When you lose, that right needs to be earned, by winning.
It’s Baker Mayfield popping off at reporters he doesn’t like, or Whitehead’s lack of sense followed by a lack of respect for a team official trying to guide him out of a social media mess he created before being dismissed, or Beckham’s propensity to constantly push the envelope with his visors, watches and cleats while knowing the NFL has their eyes on him and his wallet.
They are all a reflection of a lack of leadership, accountability or respect for the franchise they represent.
While fans brush each of those incidents off and blame the media for making mountains out of molehills, they really are emblematic of the true culture of the Browns, and that is not a compliment.
“I am never going to be satisfied with where it is at,” Kitchens said. “I think it is always an evolving thing where the more and more people understand your expectations you have on them, they end up putting those same expectations on each other, and I think that is where you get culture.
“I think we have made leaps and bounds as far as how we approach our business on a daily basis at practice and how we approach our meetings. I think our guys are pretty prepared on Sunday, and I think they would reveal that same thing. Now, we just have to go out, coaching has to be better on Sundays and execution has to be better on Sundays.”
It's impossible to correct a problem when you can’t admit you have one, but that’s clearly where the Browns are at.
Kitchens seems perfectly fine with the team’s culture.
For a franchise that seems to do nothing but make excuses, coddle their stars, comfort themselves with moral victories and lose football games in bulk, whatever helps Kitchens and the rest of the enablers of constant failure sleep at night, so be it.
Please disperse. Nothing to see here while another season implodes and goes up in flames.
