Monday leftovers

What better time to look back at the nightmare that has unfolded in the first six weeks of the 2019 season for the Browns than right now during the bye week as they try to figure out what the hell went wrong.

What is inarguable is this franchise is wallowing in a quagmire of ineptitude on a massive level with not nearly enough fingers of guilt with which to point to the problem areas.

No one could have predicted this team, with all its stars and all that talent, would be 2-4 at this juncture of the season with little hope of recovering and make the final record look at least respectable following game 16.

The offense has been terrible. The defense has been worse. The coaching staff can’t plug the leaks quickly enough. As soon as one problem is corrected, another appears.

The play calling of head coach Freddie Kitchens is head scratching. The man is so in love with the forward pass, he seems to have forgotten there’s a pretty good running back on the roster who is particularly effective near the goal line.

A man who never called plays before turning in a half season last year on an interim basis and who was never a head coach at any level is now coaching like someone who had never had the biggest and loudest whistle on the team.

There are times when it appears as though this head coach and his offensive coordinator seem to be in conflict with one another. And it looks as though Kitchens is just stubborn enough to maintain the norm in spite of it.

Coaching the Cleveland Browns should not be a learning-on-the-job situation. But that’s exactly what Kitchens is going through as he makes his share of mistakes. In a sense, that penalizes the players.

This mistake-filled and undisciplined football team has played only one good game this season and is fortunate to be where it is. It is a true reflection of where it should be.

It has become abundantly clear the Browns have no idea how to win a game. They have perfected the art of underachieving that must baffle and frustrate their fans. In most instances, they beat themselves more than the opposition does.

They lead the National Football League in penalties by a wide margin with no signs of letting up. That right there is a direct reflection on the head coach, who says he doesn’t coach that. Wonderful.

They turn the football over with alarming regularity, mostly because quarterback Baker Mayfield is playing worse, much worse, than he did as a rookie last season. The NFL defenses have caught up to him and figured him out. And the offensive brain trust has not adjusted.

The mistakes come in all varieties: Mental, physical, ignorant and downright careless. They all count and frequently draw yellow laundry. Don’t blame the officials. They aren’t looking for infractions.

And how often have we seen a flag thrown after a plus play? Way too many. Their timing, often after such a play, is exquisite.

After 20 years of excruciatingly bad football, fans believed they finally had reason to give thanks to still be around to witness the turnaround. The comeback from futility. The climb back to respectability. Putting Cleveland back on the NFL map in a positive way.

And what have they received in return thus far this season of hope? A rerun of what football has been like on the lakefront. Another slap in the face. Another letdown after a big buildup.

The only things that change are the names on the back of the uniforms and the faces under the helmet. Otherwise, it’s the same old, same old.

After Sunday’s you-just-knew-it-was-coming two-point loss to Seattle, Mayfield put forth the notion in a hypothetical sense that this is not a bad football team.” If we don’t hurt ourselves, this team can go anywhere it wants to go,” he said “ . . . If we eliminate that, we can be a great football team.”

That’s the rationale of a loser. If this, if that. If, if, if, if, if. Winners don’t talk like that. 

Here is an absolute: The record does not lie. And someone on high needs to take responsibility for this mess and do something about it.

The only possible saving grace to all this stuff is a much easier second-half schedule. After the Browns fall to 2-5 following their visit to New England game in two weeks, they face only one team with a winning schedule  (Buffalo) the rest of the way.

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Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t want to lose the confidence of his unit, though it is slowly ebbing, but Mayfield maintains the same confident, cocky, sometimes smug persona he brought to the team.

He doesn’t seem, though, to be learning from his mistakes. He is still trying to squeeze passes into tight windows, the kind with which he had outstanding success last season.

But last season is not this season and Mayfield ‘s accuracy percentage (56.6%) resides in a neighborhood that ranks him near the bottom of the NFL. He sat at 63.8% last season with 27 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions.

This season, it’s five touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, the most in the league. But receivers who had problems holding on to the ball that bounced up and wound up in the opposition’s hands have victimized him on at least four of those picks.

The Browns’ 14 turnovers rank 31^st, while their turnover ratio of -6 is 30^th.  The defense, which was much more opportunistic last season, has only eight takeaways, including four picks. Last season, they had 31 takeaways, including 17 interceptions, and a T/O ratio of +7, tied for sixth overall.

The defense has not been nearly as opportunistic this season and Mayfield has had longer fields with which to operate. But that does not excuse his uneven play and failure to make plays in clutch situations.

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There was a lot of bitching and moaning about the officiating against the Seahawks game Sunday. It centered mostly on three calls against the Browns, two back-to-back midway through the third quarter after the Seahawks had taken a 25-20 lead.

I normally do not criticize officials because they have a tough job. Unless, that is, I see something egregiously wrong. And I saw one in that game.

It took place after Chris Hubbard, who was correctly flagged for being an ineligible receiver downfield on a pass play. The offensive tackle was four yards past the line of scrimmage when Mayfield released the ball and connected with Odell Beckham Jr. on an 18-yard pass. Replay clearly showed it. Good call.

It was the flag on the next play I had a problem with. Mayfield hit Chubb on a short pass that picked up just four yards. But Jarvis Landry, blocking for Chubb, was incorrectly nailed for an illegal blind side block.

The player he supposedly blindsided was Seahawks safety Marquise Blair, who was chasing Chubb. Landry did not move as Blair approached him and absorbed a blow initiated by the safety, who fell as a result of the collision. It was a legal block by the stationary Landry and should not have been flagged.

A third flag, thrown for a horse collar tackle, was thrown after Cleveland safety Morgan Burnett dragged down Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson from behind early on the drive midway through the fourth quarter  that turned out to be the game winner.

Burnett grabbed Wilson’s jersey around his right shoulder from behind and slowly pulled him to the ground. His hand was in the vicinity of the collar, but definitely not on it. Wilson seemed to exaggerate his back-bending fall. It was convincing enough to influence a flag. Iffy, at best, call.

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Finally . . . Once again, the Browns lost the time of possession battle, the Seahawks owning the football for nearly 34 minutes and converting six of 14 opportunities on third down.  A week ago, the San Francisco 49ers hogged the ball for nearly 38 minutes and were six-for-16 on third down. Adding it up, Cleveland has had ball possession for exactly 48 minutes and 36 second in the last two games. That includes punts. . . .  Myles Garrett picked up two more sacks – he cost himself a third by being offside on the play – and now has nine on the season, tying Tampa Bay linebacker Shaquil Barrett for the NFL lead. . . . Chubb has been the Browns’ MVP on offense, averaging 101 yards rushing a game. He has rushed for 470 yards and five touchdowns in the last four games, averaging 5.95 yards a pop. He has logged 75 yards or more in five of the six games. He needs to get the ball more frequently when the Browns have the lead.. . . .Hard to believe the defense has swiped only four passes this season, probably because fragile starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams are still nursing hamstring injuries. Ward has played only one game and Williams has played just two. Whether they’ll be back for the Patriots game in a couple of weeks is anyone’s guess.