Formulaic football

It’s all about the formula. Winning football games and championships, that is.

Down through the years, with an exception here and there, a formula is the mute explanation for the success of certain teams. The formula is quite simple.

Combine a solid opportunistic defense with solid special teams, an offense that features a strong running game that helps move the chains and a quarterback who plays mistake-free football (manage the game) and voila, you’ve got a winner.

Perfect example . . . the New England Patriots. Ever notice the Patriots rarely beat themselves? They are not spectacular. In fact, they are somewhat boring and maddening (to opponents and fans of all their opponents). All they do is win.

That’s because coach Bill Belichick has adhered to the formula all these years. He has the one weapon that brings it all together in Tom Brady, who wouldn’t be a future Hall of Fame quarterback with any other National Football League team.

Put him on the Browns, for example, and he wouldn’t turn them into instant winners. Too many other important parts missing.

He is with the perfect team and the perfect coach (for him). The Pats always have a solid defense, strong running game (lately with at least two or three different players sharing the load), good special teams and the error-free quarterback.

Of course Brady isn’t perfect from a performance standpoint., but he is still, at 42 years old, smart enough to avoid making the big mistake that puts his team in a bind.

So what does this have to do with the Browns? If you watched – and enjoyed – Sunday’s 40-25 walloping of the Baltimore Ravens, you saw more than a glimpse of the formula.

You saw the Cleveland defense grind the vaunted Ravens offense to a halt with a sorry 102 yards of total offense in the first half. That team was averaging more than 500 yards a game.

You saw that defense create three turnovers, sack quarterback Lamar Jackson four times, completely flummox him and win just about every battle in the trenches. The Ravens had to play desperate football in the fourth quarter just to keep the final somewhat respectable.

You saw rookie placekicker Austin Seibert remain perfect since missing the first extra point of the season with a pair of field goals and four points after. He has connected on all eight field-goal attempts this season and leads the team in scoring with 29 points.

You saw the punt and kickoff special teams units keep the Ravens’ special teams pinned deep in their territory, giving their offense long fields to navigate.

You saw Nick Chubb, with outstanding help from the offensive line, rip off 165 yards and three touchdowns, demoralizing a Baltimore run defense that had limited opposing runners this season to 60 yards a game.

And you saw a quarterback play mistake-free football – the interception Baker Mayfield threw was more the fault of the wide receiver (no names, please) who stopped his route and enabled the defensive back to make the pick. OK, it was Jarvis Landry, who had a pretty spectacular day himself with eight catches for 167 yards.

A substantial amount of Mayfield’s 342 yards was gained after receiving short- to medium-range passes. Tight end Ricky Seals-Jones gained about 45 of his 59 yards on one play, and Landry about 55 of his 65 yards and all of his 29 yards after a shovel pass on two others.

Not once did the Browns try to hit a home run through the air. Instead, they produced several long, time-consuming drives that kept the defense fresh.

In his first three games, Mayfield didn’t let the game come to him. A light must have gone on sometime between the disappointing Sunday night loss to the Los Angeles Rams and Sunday’s game in Baltimore,

The whole package played well in Baltimore. But in order to be effective, all the pieces and parts mentioned earlier must hum together. One phase not performing well can throw it off just enough to make winning that much more difficult.

As long as the Browns do that on a consistent basis, in other words stick to the formula, then all the pre-season forecasts for this team are more likely to become reality after a rough start.

Monday thoughts will be tardy this week. So will mid-week thoughts. Each will be a day late.

A Jekyll-Hyde mystery

Will the real Cleveland Browns please stand up?

Are they the team that looked disoriented, penalty-riddled, offense-challenged and in near disarray in the first three games of the 2019 season?

Or is it the marauding offensive powerhouse that just about everyone expected this season finally showing up on the last Sunday of September in Baltimore and delivering a 40-25 beat down of the Ravens, leaving their fans sitting in stunned silence?

Baker Mayfield racked up another 300-yard passing game -- his third -- against the Ravens, hitting on 66% of his throws. Nick Chubb added to the fun, running for three touchdowns and 165 yards, including an 88-yard dazzler after the Ravens had pulled to within 24-18 early in the fourth quarter.

Jarvis Landry, who has been relatively quiet this season, stepped up with eight receptions for 167 yards, including a beautifully executed shovel pass off a fake pitch, a misdirection play that gained 29 yards and set up a Chubb score midway through the third quarter.

The where-did-that-come-from victory just like that elevated the Browns into a tie at the top of the AFC North at 2-2 with the Ravens, who suffered their second straight loss. It also marked the first time since 1994 that the Browns won their first two road games of the season.

In actuality, the Jekyll-Hyde personality of this team is such that the answer to the original question might not be answered for a while since the only consistency fans have noticed this season with this team is its inconsistency.

The distinct possibility the outcome of this game was an aberration cannot be ruled out. It’s going to take a few more games on the schedule to determine whether this was the real thing.

This was more the norm of what fans saw in the second half of last season with Mayfield locking in on what he does best and Chubb showing why he‘s one of the best young runners in the National Football League.

This team is hard to figure out, but one thing was crystal clear Sunday. The Browns manhandled the Ravens in every phase of the game. At no point did the possibility of losing enter their minds.

They were relentless on defense, wonderfully creative and very much in rhythm on offense and kept the Ravens off balance all afternoon as they easily won the battles in the trenches.

Gang tackling must have been the theme of the day for the defense. Of the club’s 73 overall tackles, 51 were awarded with assists. Middle linebacker Joe Schobert led the way with a ridiculous 17 tackles, nine of them solo. He played like a football-seeking missile.

Only when the game was clearly secured did the Browns drop back into prevent mode on defense, allowing the Ravens’ offense to pile up meaningless statistics and make the final score looked more respectable.

The Ravens bellyached, almost jealously, all week that the Browns had received all the hype during the offseason and couldn’t wait to see what all the hype was about. The Browns, it would appear, took that as a challenge and showed them extremely up close and very, very personally.

The defense, in particular, played snarlingly against a Baltimore offense that had averaged 511 yards a game, 230 of them on the ground, and played near flawless football in the first three games odf the season.

But they hadn’t faced a defense like the Browns’ and were schooled by an aggressive and very disciplined performance with a solid game plan choreographed by coordinator Steve Wilks.

Lamar Jackson, the magician quarterback who put up gaudy numbers in the first three games, was relatively throttled early on by a secondary that made it difficult to spot open receivers and a pass rush that gave him little time to be effective.

It was a serviceable combination of one phase of the defense, the line putting enough pressure on Jackson and helping another phase, taking a different kind of pressure off a banged-up secondary that  played mostly zone.

The Baltimore offense, which hadn’t turned the ball over this season, coughed it up three times, thieving Jackson twice – his first of the season – and sacking him four times.

It enabled Wilks to be more creative with an already creative blitz package and kept Jackson guessing all day where the pressure was coming from. It wasn’t unusual to see safeties Damarious Randall and Jermaine Whitehead crashing from the outside.

Most of the pressure came from the middle, which is where Jackson likes to escape when forced from the pocket. He gained most of his ground yards Sunday running on the flanks, several times on the freeze option.

The offense, meanwhile, cooperated by keeping the chains moving – only two three-and-outs – which in effect allowed the defense to log numerous long periods of rest, a luxury they hadn’t enjoyed in the first three games.

Only one turnover – a Mayfield interception that wasn’t his fault and led to a Baltimore touchdown in the second quarter – and just three Jamie Gillan punts helped make it possible.

The offense piled up 530 yards, looking nothing like the struggling unit that showed up for the first three games. The Baltimore defense had no answers for the firepower the Browns brought for this one.

Mayfield displayed a confidence and poise that has been missing since the final game of the 2018 season. He seems to have discovered how to navigate his way in the pocket and stay patient instead of abandoning it prematurely.

His passes were crisp, on time and delivered – it is worth repeating because of its importance – with a confidence that has been absent this season. Several times he was trapped in the pocket, but stepped up and found an open recover.

Chunk plays played a huge part in the victory. In addition to Chubb’s 88-yard effort and Landry’s 29-yarder, Mayfield took advantage of a blown coverage and found tight end Ricky Seals-Jones wide open for a 69-yard catch and run that set up Chubb’s 14-yard touchdown on the next play on the first drive of the second half.

Seals-Jones also caught Mayfield’s only touchdown pass, a nine-yarder on a drag route on the second possession of the game. It climaxed a 13-play, 84-yard journey that took 8:31 off the clock and served as a preview of what was to come.

Landry added to the chunk total with a stumbling 65-yard reception at the tailend of the first half on a 10-play, 81-yard drive in the final two minutes. Austin Seibert broke a 7-7 tie with a 24-yard field goal after the drive stalled at the Baltimore six and the Browns never trailed after that.

So was this a portent of what the future holds for this enigmatic team? They sure needed a game like this, scoring nearly as many points as they had in the first three games (49).

They desperately needed to eliminate the possibility of a 1-3 start with another nationally televised date -- their third in five weeks -- in San Francisco next Monday night followed by a visit by the Seattle Seahawks in two weeks dead ahead.  

If they can hurdle these two tough NFC West teams, fans will have a much better idea of which Cleveland Browns team is real.

Can good defense stymie good offense?

A quick perusal of the statistics the Baltimore Ravens supply the media on a weekly basis renders one very important observation about the team the Browns meet Sunday.

The Cleveland defense, which has played relatively well since the season-opening loss to Tennessee, will be severely challenged because the Ravens have one hellacious offense.

While the Browns got all the hype during this offseason, the Ravens surreptitiously moved into the scoring realm of the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots.

Known much more for their defense over the years, that has changed dramatically with the arrival and swift maturation of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who entered the National Football League last season known more for his running than his ability to throw a football accurately.

The Browns, who were supposed to have that kind of explosive offense, have staggered and stumbled out of the starting gate. They look nothing like the team that stunned the NFL the second half last season.

The Ravens, meanwhile, do not have the usual intimidating defense, surrendering 20 points a game. No need to be concerned, though, because the offense picks them up big time with nearly 37 points a game. It is so good, Sam Koch has punted only seven times in three games.

The Browns got a rather unsavory taste of what awaits Sunday in the final regular-season game last season when Jackson accounted for 269 yards from scrimmage – the Cleveland defense had no clue how to stop the rookie – en route to clinching the AFC North title with a 26-24 victory.

This season’s Cleveland defense is significantly different with a rebuilt line, a different philosophy with new coordinator Steve Wilks and a secondary, when healthy, that features the kind of pass defenders who can shut down opposing wide receivers.

Problem is that secondary is still not completely healthy, having played the Los Angeles Rams game last Sunday night with all four starters on the sideline. Right now, subject to change, free safety Damarious Randall is the lone returnee.

The Baltimore offense presents problems due mainly to the philosophy of coordinator Greg Roman, who has magically turned Jackson into a 63% passer after a college career that saw him never crack 60%.

The John Carroll University graduate loves to run the football, too, to the point where the Ravens run the ball exactly 50% of the time, which makes defending against that offense, particularly the slippery Jackson, that much more difficult.

The Ravens also picked up Mark Ingram, the bowling ball running back who was forced to share running duties in New Orleans with Alvin Kamara, and turned him into what amounts to a full-time back. He has replied with five touchdowns and a six-yard-per-carry average.

Combine that with the running of Jackson – he says he hates to run – and backup Gus Edwards and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Wilks, who has used a 4-2-5 alignment most of the season, switch to a basic 4-3 front, adding a strongside linebacker to help against the run on certain downs.

The conundrum is how to defend Jackson, his newly found accuracy now a concern. Stack the box, dare him to throw – he averages 288 yards a game through the air – and risk getting trampled by his talented feet? Or respect his arm and get burned by a ground attack that averages 217 yards a game?

Jackson, who has yet to throw an interception this season, lists as his favorite targets a pair of Oklahoma University standouts, both of whom played with Baker Mayfield – tight end Mark Andrews for the short stuff and rookie speedster Marquise Brown for the deep stuff. Each owns a pair of touchdowns.

The Ravens’ defense lost linebacker C. J. Mosley and free safety Eric Weddle, their top two tacklers last season, and sack artists Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith to free agency during the offseason. Earl Thomas III moved east after nine seasons in Seattle to replace Weddle.

The Ravens are not nearly as menacing as in the past and much more vulnerable through the air than on the ground, giving up 291 yards a game. The club’s first three opponents ran the ball only 48 times.

The porous secondary will be without veteran Jimmy Smith, probably their best cover corner, out with a knee, and possibly Marlon Humphrey, the other corner, questionable with a bad hip.

It will be interesting to see whether Freddie Kitchens takes advantage and turns Mayfield and his huffing and puffing passing offense loose or plays it closer to the vest and incorporates Nick Chubb and the ground game more into the game plan.

He said the club has had a good week of practice. Of course he did. Said it for three straight weeks and the Browns have only a 1-2 record to show for it.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh, meanwhile, is no doubt licking his chops awaiting the arrival of the Browns. Now in his 12th season with the Ravens, the older brother of University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is 19-3 against them, 10-1 at home.

Since splitting the first four games of this series, the Browns have won only twice (both in overtime) in the last 18 seasons in Baltimore, the last in 2015 when Travis Coons floated a 32-yard wounded duck between the uprights to win, 33-30. That was the game quarterback Josh McCown set the club record with 457 passing yards.

This is one game where statistics are generally meaningless, the natural rivalry taking center stage, although some fans would argue it hasn’t been much of a rivalry over the years.

But one cannot dismiss the gaudy numbers the Ravens’ offense has produced. But, some would suggest, they have been compiled against weaker defensive teams than the Browns. All of which conjures up the notion that a good defensive team will more often than not knock off a good offensive team.

So are the Browns ripe for an upset? Is this the game where they snap out of their offensive funk? No, not this time, At least not in Baltimore. Maybe in the penultimate game of the season in late December back in Cleveland. Make it:

Ravens 31, Browns 17

Mid-week thoughts

Read recently that the reason the Browns failed to upset the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night was a lack of execution in the final moments of the game. Nothing wrong with the playcalling of Freddie Kitchens.

So it was the execution, not the mind-numbing calls by the head coach/playcaller,.

Painting with a broad brush here.

If I understand this correctly, it’s never the fault of the coach calling the plays if a play fails. He is totally absolved of the blame. It’s the failure to execute them properly that results in the failing. It’s also a weak crutch for explaining a loss.

Sorry. Can’t have it both ways.

Who is mainly responsible for the proper, and presumably correct, execution of plays? The assistant coaches, of course. Isn’t that why teams practice? To hone the execution of plays in the playbook.

And who coaches the coaches? The head coach. That’s who.

Someone has to take the blame for poor execution. That naturally filters down to the assistants. But it starts from up top.

How often have we heard losing head coaches after games say that in order to fix problems, they need to go back to the drawing board? Don't hear that from winning coaches. When teams flawlessly execute plays, don’t give all the credit to the players. Proper coaching is where it all begins.

There was no certainty proper execution would have helped against the Rams. That one rest solely and heavily on the shoulders of the Cleveland head coach, who stubbornly refuses to surrender the job as offensive coordinator.

So when all else fails, fall back to the easiest excuse, blame the execution and move on to the next excuse. In this case, tough, Kitchens owned the entire blame and proper execution would not have changed anything. The awful playcalling made it difficult.

Speaking of execution in football puts me in mind of John McKay, who shepherded the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through their early years of expansion football, losing their first 26 games. After one of those games, McKay was asked what he thought of his team’s execution. “I’m in favor of it,” he was said to have replied.

*       *       *

Juston Burris contributed mightily in the Rams loss after making a circuitous return to the Cleveland roster. The defensive back played all 66 snaps, made four solo tackles, had one quarterback pressure and picked off a deflected pass in the final minutes that led to the unsavory conclusion of the game.

Originally signed off the New York Jets practice squad last November, the 6-0, 212-pounder was with the Browns throughout training camp, but was among those waived on Sept. 1, cut down day. The Oakland Raiders signed him on Sept. 13, but waived him six days later. He did not suit up for the Raiders’ second game of the season.

That’s when the Browns, their entire backfield injured and unable to play against the Rams, signed Burris, who graded out the highest of all the defensive backs and figures to stick around the rest of the season.

*       *       *

Quarterback Baker Mayfield sent the following tweet (all caps) to local fans the day of the Browns national television date with the Rams:

I WANT FIRST ENERGY STADIUM ROCKING TONIGHT. SPREAD THE WORD. CLEVELAND, MAKE THEM FEEL OUR PASSION.

The message was received loud and clear. The fans showed up – filled the stadium to capacity – and did their part, displaying their passion all evening. And were rewarded with yet another jarring loss.

The crowd clearly came through. Held up their end of the bargain. Mayfield did not. And that had to be the biggest disappointment of all because Cleveland is all in on its young quarterback. With Mayfield in charge, the fans no longer hope for a victory. They expect one.

Results so far: Two home games, two losses. The lone victory was achieved against the injury-riddled New York Jets on the road. In the next three weeks, they face teams with a current combined record of 7-2, two of them on the road.

*       *       *

Scraps: Myles Garrett, who logged sack number six against the Rams, finally met his match. Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth got the best of Garrett early. So much so, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks finally moved his prized defensive end around and worked him mostly from side away from the veteran Rams tackle. He found much more success against Rob Havenstein. The best part of his efforts? No penalties. . . . Speaking of penalties, the Browns are slowly getting back to normal. Only eight against the Rams for 60 yards. Believe it or not, that’s an improvement. . . . Another distinct improvement was third-down conversions: Six for 16 after going five for 23 in the first two games. . . . To give you some idea on how bad this offensive line is, Mayfield was pressured on 18 of his 39 dropbacks. All five men up front drew a penalty flag. Right guard Eric Kush was like a turnstile in the pass protection.. Left guard Joel Bitonio was off his game. Probably too much Aaron Donald.

Monday leftovers (continued)

Being the head coach of any football team should not involve on-the-job training. It should not be a work in progress, especially in a multi-billion dollar monster like the National Football League.

But that is precisely how Freddie Kitchens envisions it. The Browns’ rookie head coach is making rookie mistakes with alarming regularity and shows no signs of learning from them.

And those mistakes are filtering down and adversely affecting the other job he commands on the team – offensive coordinator.

“I understand . . . that some of these situations are new for me,” he said regarding several mistakes he made in the 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams Monday night at home

Somewhere within the network of the 22-man coaching staff, (not including the five who comprise the strength and conditioning staff), you would think someone has to push back and offer alternate solutions to what has become a lingering problem of someone who has become a gaffe machine.

“Don’t think that will work, Freddie,” someone should have screamed in his headphone when he called for a draw play on fourth-and-9 at the Rams’ 40-yard line in the fourth quarter when a punt was the more conventional move.

I can’t imagine anyone who is anyone either in the booth above or on the field sanctioning a draw play in that instance. That flies in the face of common sense.

Someone also should have dutifully suggested that at least one run play should be called with the ball on the Rams’ four-yard line in the final minute with three timeouts left. Calling four straight pass plays was the equivalent of committing football suicide.

To second-guess yourself in the post-game news conference, as Kitchens did Sunday night, was an admission he is not the type of coach who is always thinking at least one or two plays ahead. Those types of coaches generally win with a large degree of regularity.

That’s a part of being a head coach Kitchens apparently gave no thought to.

“I also understand I will get better from it and understand our team will get getter for them,” he said. “Our team has not been in that situation before, so our team will get better. The next time that arises, we will be better because of it.”

He went on to say his men ”are not panicking, but we also understand the shortcomings we have had. “And then he repeated himself, almost in a pep-talk sort of way. “I understand the shortcomings I have had,” he said. “I am going to get better. Our team is going to get better.”

Of course the team is going to get better because it can’t be any worse than it is now.

In some way, you almost feel sorry for the guy. He seems to be flailing and grasping for hope. It’s not as though the effort is not being put in. It’s more like he is overmatched for the job.

In an NFL season, you get only 16 chances to get it right and emerge with a victory. Each game is precious because there are so few of them. Each loss compounds the urgency to win.

Reckless coaching, along with ineptitude at putting together a representative roster, has contributed to embarrassingly bad football in Cleveland for the last two decades.

It was believed by many the drought would end this season with an influx of talent the likes of which this franchise hasn’t seen since the days of the team that now calls itself the Ravens.

There is an old expression in the NFL with regard to elevating assistant coaches or coordinators to the position of head coach. Some of them are generals. Most of them are lieutenants.

Right now, although it’s only three games, Kitchens, whose highest coaching position until now was interim offensive coordinator for the Browns’ final eight games season last season, is a lieutenant. The double bars stand no chance whatsoever of morphing into a star.

As is the case with most assistants who fail as a head coach in the NFL, they successfully return to their specialty. That could be the next step for Kitchens, whose meteoric rise in coaching is screeching to an abrupt halt.

As it stands, this appears be one John Dorsey gamble that is not paying off, angering a constituency that eagerly looked forward to finally enjoying their football team after so many horrifyingly bad seasons.

When the players stop listening to Kitchens – and that will happen when, not if, when the losing continues – is the next step in his head coaching career. Unless, that is, he magically uncovers the mystery of why this talented team is struggling.

*       *       *

Mayfield, still searching for his A game, tried to absolve his coach from blame after the Rams loss. “If you’re looking to blame somebody,” he said, “blame me. Don’t blame any of our players; don’t blame any of our other coaches.

“Just blame me because I can take it.  Just go blame me and write your articles saying I messed up the game. Write your article and say it’s my fault that things aren’t looking like last year. ‘Cause it is.”

Mayfield is not where the buck stops. And he knows it. He piles up style points, though, for protecting his coach, the man he recommended to Dorsey, the man who helped him become a star as a rookie last season.

What else did you expect him to say? Keep an eye on that one after the next three games. See if he still backs his coach by the bye week in week seven.

Meanwhile, Mayfield is still exhibiting the same problems that have bedeviled him all season. He still is seeing ghost pressure up the middle on pass plays and exiting the pocket too early.

When in rhythm, the ball leaves his hands quickly and generally results in a positive play. When he deserts the pocket, odds for a positive play plunge dramatically. The way opposing teams study game film, look for that trend to continue until Kitchens and his staff come up with a solution.

*       *       *

Odell Beckham Jr. looks at the latest loss a little differently. “I don’t want to give an excuse that we’re a young team and we’re fresh and new together,” he said, “but were still trying to find ourselves and find our identity.

“We’re going to put it all together. We’re just finding the pieces right now. . . . Once we discover exactly who we are, this team and everyone knows exactly who we are, we’ll be able to close games like that.”

 A voice of reason or hope? Leaning toward the latter.

The wide receiver wound up with six receptions – three in each half – for only 56 yards, more than 100 yards shy of his big total in the victory over the New York Jets a week ago. He has plenty of company all evening against the Rams.

*       *       *

The Cleveland secondary had a strong first half with all four starters on the sideline with injuries. Then Rams quarterback Jared Goff shredded it unmercifully, taking advantage of mostly zone coverage. He hooked up exclusively with Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp for all eight completions (in 15 attempts), all 122 yards and a pair of Kupp touchdowns in the second half.

*       *       *

Finally . . . Nick Chubb had another nice game, compiling 96 yards, but was not in Kitchens’ thoughts in the final minute. Go figure. . . . Mayfield targeted Jarvis Landry and Beckham with half of his 36 passes, completing 18 for only 118 yards. . . . Tight end Ricky Seals-Jones needs to see the football more. The former wide receiver at 6-5 is an inviting target, especially in the red zone with David Njoku out until midseason. . . . The defense held Todd Gurley II to just 43 yards, a significant achievement since the Rams use the ground game to set up the passing game. . . . Middle linebacker Joe Schobert made it three strong games in a row with six tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection that led to an interception. . . . The Browns played mostly nickel defense against the Rams with an occasional dime on obvious passing situations. . . . The Browns won’t be back home until a week six visit from the Seattle Seahawks. Perhaps it’s best to be on the road the next two weeks after dropping their first two home games. They lost only two games at home last season, finishing 5-2-1.

Monday leftovers

Freddie Kitchens has a huge decision to make right now. And he better do it quickly before the 2019 season gets away from him.

He must either step down as head coach of the Browns and concentrate on calling plays for the offense or step down as offensive coordinator and concentrate on being a head coach because he is incapable of doing both jobs simultaneously.

He is hurting his football team, one that is talented enough to be at least 2-1 at this juncture of the season. Instead, they are 1-2 and critics are correctly taking dead aim at him and his club.

He is also staring down the barrel of a brutal schedule that conceivably could see the Browns owning a 1-6 record after seven games with the distinct possibility an “ex” being placed in front of his current position.

This just in: Kitchens Monday said giving up his play-calling duties “is not even being considered.” He added he will “get better for this team and the team will get better. . . . We are going to be fine. I promise you that.”

It’s been only three games, but it sure looks right now as though General Manager John Dorsey made a critical mistake in naming Kitchens head coach with a résumé that did not deserve to be rewarded with such a lofty position.

Calling plays is hampering his ability to be a smart head coach. And being a head coach seems to be hampering an offense that looks nothing like it did the final half of last season when Kitchens was the interim offensive coordinator. He is not thinking straight critically.

Several incidents in the 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night clearly illustrate why Kitchens is not smart enough or savvy enough to handle both jobs. It’s got to be one or the other because they are interfering with each other and having a deleterious impact on the performance of an entire football team.

Critical thinking is not Kitchens’ strong suit. (That right there should have been a warning sign to Dorsey.) He proved that with three awful decisions that significantly affected the outcome of the game Sunday night and theoretically cost his team a chance to win. He has become a brain cramp factory.

The first occurred early in the fourth quarter with the Browns, down 17-13 and on the march in Rams territory when tight end Ricky Seals-Jones was shoved out of bounds attempting to catch a Baker Mayfield pass on second down.

It was clearly pass interference and could have been challenged under the new rules. But the Browns were flagged for an illegal formation on the play and the penalties would have offset had Kitchens challenged the pass interference.

Asked after the game why he hadn’t challenged, that lack of critical thinking went on full display. “I did,” he said, “and was told (presumably by an official) I would have won and they (the Rams) would have accepted the (illegal shift) penalty. They would have been offsetting. It would have been a repeat of the down.

“I just didn’t know if it was worth it. The way the percentages go with getting that call and not getting that call, to have an offsetting (call) and not getting an automatic first down, I didn’t think it was worth it.”

Reminded it would have saved a down, he replied, “Would have gotten a down back, yeah,” and moved on. Hazarding a guess he was already concentrating more on the next play at that point rather than making a critical decision.

That set the stage for blunder No. 2.

The third-down (instead of what should have been a second-down) play, a screen to Nick Chubb, resulted in no gain, setting up a fourth-and-9 at the Rams’ 40-yard line. Cue a second consecutive brain cramp.

Instead of calling on punter Jamie Gillan to pin the Rams back with poor field position at or near their goal line, he kept Mayfield and the offense on the field – again on fourth-and-9 at the Rams’ 40!) – to the amazement to just about everyone.  Draw the Rams offside? On fourth-and-9? Nah.

And that’s when center JC Tretter snapped the ball to Mayfield, who did not drop back to pass.  Instead he handed the ball off to Chubb on a draw play that gained two yards. Of all the possibilities in the playbook to select on that play, a draw shouldn’t have even been considered.

One can only imagine the look on the faces in the huddle when that was called. “Bad call,” Kitchens admitted, adding he “wanted that play call. It just didn’t work. We were trying to win the game.” He sounded like a coach who needed a clue in the worst way.

He saved his biggest gaffe for what should have been a much more rewarding finish. It was provided by a Juston Burris interception with less than three minutes left in regulation and three timeouts.

The offense matriculated its way to the Los Angeles four-yard line with 53 seconds – and the three timeouts – remaining. Three straight incompletions and an end-zone interception later, it was all over.

And that’s when Kitchens launched his woulda-coulda-shoulda reasoning. “I should have run it once,” he said after the game “Should have run it three times,” he added facetiously.

“I should have run it once. I should have. That’s why I’m kicking myself in the ass for it right now. . . . I should have called more of a direct run. That’s all I will say.”

Playcaller mentality at that point took over for the head coach, whose job would have been to look at the situation more clearly and broadly.  Instead, it left the head coach clearly second-guessing himself.

What Kitchens is trying to do is difficult for any head coach, especially someone who is a novice at both. Very few head coaches around the NFL can do both and excel. Sean Payton at New Orleans, Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Sean McVay with the Rams come immediately to mind.

Kitchens’ adamant refusal to concede he can’t do both and succeed is a situation that ultimately will not end up well.

More leftovers Tuesday.

Let down by an offensive offense

If there was ever a case for the Browns being blown out of a game, it was Sunday night’s nationally televised matchup with the Los Angeles Rams in front of the hone folks.

The Cleveland defense was riddled with injuries. The entire starting secondary watched from the sidelines. That side of the football had no business playing as well as they did. And yet, that’s exactly what they did. On one side of the football, that is.

If it wasn’t for the defense, the 20-13 loss would have been a lot worse because the offense, which is becoming more offensive by the game, failed to produce when it needed to, especially down the homestretch when the Browns actually had an excellent chance to send the game into overtime.

This offense, which was supposed to the strength of the team this season, time and again squandered opportunities and looked nothing like the juggernaut that surprised just about everyone in the second half of last season and thus far has fooled us all with its ineptitude..

Baker Mayfield’s inconsistency and inability to come up with big plays is becoming more than a sometime thing. It is becoming a disturbing trend and the likelihood of that changing in the immediate future is looking grim.

He is not the same player who took Cleveland and the National Football League landscape by storm last season. The Mayfield swagger is there in body language and little else. He is becoming annoyingly unreliable.

A perfect example of his slow but steady descent into mediocrity unfolded in the final minutes of regulation with the Rams hanging on after Juston Burris grabbed a deflected (by linebacker Joe Schobert) pass by Rams quarterback Jared Goff at the Cleveland 43 with 2:46 left.

With three timeouts (and a fourth at the two-minute warning) left, the offense lumbered its way downfield, helped immensely by an illegal contact penalty that wiped out a Mayfield sack that breathed life back into the possession.

Mayfield briefly looked like last season’s quarterback connecting two passes to Jarvis Landry that ate up 44 yards. An Aaron Donald roughing call placed the football at the Rams’ four-yard line with 43 seconds left.

With the boisterous crowd sensing something special was about to happen, the Rams ramped up their pass rush and flushed Mayfield out of the pocket on four straight snaps from the four, tipping one throw at the line of scrimmage and picking off the fourth-down pass in the end zone.

It was reminiscent of the disappointment Browns Nation had dealt with when even a shred or two of hope sneaks through and teases them. That something special, as it turned out, was a great defensive stand enjoyed by fans of the Rams,

So close and yet so very far.

Coming close counts in a lot of things in life. Losing football games that had a chance to be won is not one of them.

Mayfield can’t take all the blame. He had plenty of help from an offensive line that manages to get worse by the game and a receiving corps that at times had trouble getting open. Way too often, he had to scramble out of the pocket and either throw the ball away to avoid a sack or force the ball into coverage.

The defense kept the score respectable mainly by controlling the Rams running game, holding Todd Gurley II to just 43 yards on the ground. But it had few answers for Goff, who carved up the secondary with 19 completions to Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp for 214 yards and two Kupp touchdowns.

Rams coach Sean McVay scrapped the original game plan that relied more on the run than the pass and produced just a field goal and a 6-3 halftime deficit and used the passing game to set up the ground game.

Mayfield also had squandered a terrific touchdown opportunity late in the second quarter when Myles Garrett strip-sacked Goff, Schobert running the fumble back to the Rams 17 with 18 seconds left. Three incomplete passes brought on Austin Seibert for his second field goal of the first half.

The possibility of an upset began to dance around in the minds of Browns fans, who probably couldn’t believe the injury-riddled defense was performing so well against one of the elite offenses in the NFL.

It was wounded and it was time to take advantage. Wonder why it took McVay so long to figure it out.

The Rams took the second-half kickoff, shifted into a high gear and easily marched 75 yards in 10 plays, helped mainly by a Cleveland defense that played mostly zone coverage. Kupp scored on an 11-yard throw, beating T.J. Carrie, It was as though the Cleveland defense had forgotten how to play.

The Browns retaliated immediately with their best drive of the night, an 11-play, 75-yard journey of their own, Mayfield connecting with 6-7 tight end Demetrius Harris on a two-yard throw to take a 13-10 lead.

A great Carrie interception on the subsequent possession three plays later gave the offense terrific field position near midfield and  chance to build onto the lead. But Mayfield and his men responded with a three-and-out featuring three incomplete passes. The ground game was momentarily and puzzlingly shelved.

A 21-yard Jamie Gillan punt, by far his worst of the season, allowed the Rams to escape starting a drive deep in their territory.

Using the same tactics that enabled them to take the earlier lead, Goff shredded the Cleveland secondary again, needing only eight plays this time to travel 72 yards, Kupp beating Cleveland safety Jermaine Whitehead to score his second touchdown of the game to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter.

By then, the Cleveland defense had been exposed and began to tire. Even so, there was enough time left for the offense to reach back for whatever it summoned to take the 13-10 lead.

Mayfield advanced the football to the Rams’ 42 with about 11 minutes left, but the drive bogged down. Perfect time to pin the Rams near their goal line  and play the field position game with a Gillan punt. Except Gillan never moved from the bench.

Fourth-and-9 at the Rams’ 40 and coach Freddie Kitchens inexplicably dialed up a play at a time when conventional wisdom dictated a punt. At first, it appeared Mayfield was trying to draw the Rams offside. But that made no sense on a fourth-and-9.  

Of all the plays to run at that point, a draw was the worst. And it’s not even close. The brain fart resulted in a two-yard run by Chubb. The Rams took three more minutes off the clock and pushed the deficit to seven points with a Greg Zuerlein field goal.

And then along came a gift with Burris’ pick to which they said no thanks. This was not meant to be an evening where the Browns, who have struggled out of the gate this season despite a 1-1 record, would finally knock off a very good team and live up to the pre-season hype.

The hole they have dug will likely grow deeper in the next three weeks with visits to Baltimore and San Francisco and a home date with Seattle before the bye. What looked so promising as recently as a few weeks ago now looks more like what Browns Nation has witnessed the last two decades.

Reasoning a prediction

Looking for reasons to pick the Browns over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night at home.

Conventional wisdom says the Rams, three-point favorites to remain unbeaten, are clearly the better football team.

They in a short period of time have become one of the elite teams in the National Football League under coach Sean McVay. The Browns are mere pretenders at this point.

The heart, of course, tugs and hopes the Browns will somehow, some way yank an upset out of their bag of tricks. The head, however, says otherwise. Therein lies the conundrum.

As the search continues, certain factors pop into mind with regard to the Rams, whose roots date back to their birth in 1937 in, of all places, Cleveland, Ohio.

After eight seasons by the lakefront, the last of which ended in an NFL championship and right before the Browns came into existence, they moved to Los Angeles in 1946 and remained until 1995, transplanting to St. Louis for 21 seasons before heading back to L.A. in 2016.

But I digress. Back to Sunday night and the prediction.

Among the many reasons the Rams should be the pick is an array of skilled talent on offense that ranks among the best in the NFL. Quarterback Jared Goff, after a slow start to his career as a rookie, has become one of the league’s most dangerous passers under McVay.

Speaking of passing, isn’t the Cleveland starting secondary in critical (hyperbolically speaking) shape physically? All four starters on the injury report? Yep. More on that later.

Goff, a former No. 1 overall draft choice, loves to play on the road, where he is 14-3 with eight consecutive victories against the AFC. How do you pick against that?

It’s also difficult to pick against a wide receivers corps like Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp even when the Browns are at full strength. Woods and Cooks combined for 166 receptions, 2,423 yards and 11 scores last season. Kupp is fully recovered from ACL surgery last season and looking good this season.

And it’s crazy to suggest the Browns can neutralize brilliant running back Todd Gurley II. But doesn’t Gurley have an arthritic left knee? Yeah, but the right one works just fine and hasn’t stopped him from putting up insane numbers like 3,924 yards from scrimmage and 40 touchdowns the last two seasons.

Overall, he has generated nearly 6,600 yards and 57 touchdowns from scrimmage in four-plus seasons. He just turned 25 and shows few signs of slowing down. The Browns have had, almost historically, trouble taking big runners out of games.

With weapons like that and the innovative McVay calling the shots, is it any wonder most pundits see the Rams returning to the Super Bowl this season with revenge ion their minds?

The hunt for reasons continues.

If there is anywhere the Browns maybe have an edge, it’s in the trenches with their defensive line. Myles Garrett, Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon and Larry Ogunjobi, oftentimes force opponents into numerous third-down situations.

The opposition has converted only four times in 24 opportunities. But that was against Tennessee and the New York Jets, teams that are nowhere as tough on offense as the Rams, who are 14-of-30 on third down.

The Browns have also not faced a good offensive line. The Rams have one. It will be worth watching Garrett and his five sacks up against 37-year-old Andrew Whitworth, one of the best pass-blocking offensive tackles in the NFL.

Starting to lean more toward the Rams here.

And then there’s the Rams’ defense, which can beat you in many different ways.

If it isn’t Aaron Donald doing things a defensive tackle isn’t supposed to, it’s Clay Matthews III and Dante Fowler Jr. making life miserable for offensive tackles on passing downs or a veteran secondary featuring veteran cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and wizened free safety Eric Weddle.

The latter group has picked off 38 passes in the last two-plus seasons, Weddle, playing for Baltimore the last couple of seasons, has pilfered four passes against Cleveland.

Running the Rams’ show on that side of the ball is Wade Phillips, one of the most wily and innovative defensive coordinators in the league. Arguably the best. His schemes routinely flummox young quarterbacks.

More stats time: McVay is 8-0 against the AFC, averaging nearly 35 points a game. The Rams’ secondary has allowed only one pass more than 21 yards this season. The Browns have recorded nine. Advantage Browns.

One more in favor of the Browns: Baker Mayfield is 2-0 in home games against the NFC, throwing for more than 450 yards and four scores with no interceptions.

The key to this game revolves around the Browns’ biggest problem this season – the offense. That is where I begin to lose confidence because I have seen nothing that comes close to resembling the strong and imaginative attack that finished last season.

The Rams will score points. Count on it. If the Browns when healthy can’t stop the Tennessee Titans, who don’t scare anyone, how in the world are they going to stop the Rams? Question is whether they can keep up.

Correct answer: They can’t. Not with the four starting members of the secondary and a starting linebacker either out or questionable for the game with soft-tissue injuries. There is no way the battered Cleveland defense can hold up against the Rams. To do so, the offense will have to lose its limp.

The belief coming out of training camp was the Cleveland offense was strong enough to prevent a team from running away and hiding. Tennessee already blew u that notion in the season opener.

Running out of reasons to even consider the Browns winning this one. And it doesn’t get any better when comparing coaches. McVay has proven without a doubt he is one of the league’s best young (or old) head coaches. He is 26-8 with one Super Bowl appearance already. Freddie Kitchens is still getting his feet wet.

One last hope: The Rams in the last three-plus seasons since moving to Los Angeles are 9-7 while traveling to either the Eastern or Central time zones.

Upsets are extremely rare in the NFL. They take place when you least suspect them. Sunday night’s nationally televised game is one of those games. In order to win, though, the Browns need to play near perfect football in all aspects. The Rams don't.

Mayfield is due for a big game, providing Kitchens’ game plan for the offense features lots of tempo, short- to medium-range passes and zero defects. That includes getting the ball out quickly instead of holding on to it in an effort to make the big play.

OK, the reasoning search is over. Time for a prediction. So can it be done? Can the Browns shock the NFL universe with the first upset of the year? Of course they can. But will they? Uh, no. Couldn't find enough reasons. Make it:

Rams 38, Browns 17

A few more mid-week thoughts

A bold prediction: Baker Mayfield will not start and/or play in all 16 games for the Browns this season.

Not after what his head coach said a few days ago.

Why, Freddie Kitchens was asked, was Mayfield still in the game in the final moments with the 23-3 victory clearly secured Monday night? The quarterback had taken another physical beating and should not have been exposed to more, particularly with the game won.

Seven minutes remained in regulation and the Jets were all but cooked. And yet here comes Baker, who burned all but a minute off the clock before absorbing his third sack (and eighth in two games) on third down when the drive stalled.

 “He’s our quarterback,” Kitchens said in a conference call with the media Tuesday, explaining he didn’t even contemplate sitting Mayfield down.  “I wanted to make that last third down. Not to say (backup quarterback) Garrett (Gilbert) couldn’t. I wanted Baker to do it.”

Why?  “We’re going to finish the game,” he said in defense of his decision. “That’s what we preach . . . finish the game. That’s what we were trying to do. We were trying to get a first down.” Ignorant stubbornness.

Question: What’s more important, a first down or the health of your quarterback? Wonder if that ever crossed Kitchens’ mind, especially with a porous offensive line operating in front of the face of the franchise.

Where is the wisdom of dialing up a pass play at that point on a third-and-8 at the Jets’ 33? What was there to gain with a 20-point lead and a little more than a minute remaining? Where’s the sense in that?

“We have certain things we’re not going to do,” Kitchens said. “I am not going to call a play that has no opportunity to be successful.” As if the playbook contains such plays.

In theory, every play is designed to be successful. Of course that final play was designed to succeed. At that point, though, common sense dictated something involving the ground game, not a forward pass.

And it failed because of bull-headed coaching. It didn’t have to. Hand the ball off to either Nick Chubb or D’Ernest Johnson, pick up as many yards as possible and kick the field goal.

With ex-Browns interim coach Gregg Williams calling the shots on defense for the Jets, it was evident all game that his men were out to punish the Browns as often as possible. Mayfield was exposed to a slice of that on third-and-8 and paid the price.

He hurt his throwing wrist in the season-opening loss to Tennessee, but seems to have escaped serious damage against the Jets.

Kitchens complains his quarterback is taking too many hits. That obvious observation is coming from the man who can do something about it and hasn’t yet.

He is indirectly responsible for many of those hits, not adjusting to the fact he has a mediocre at best offensive line.

The coach got lucky this time. Mayfield is still vertical. Bruised, but vertical. But for how much longer?

If Kitchens intends to plays Mayfield to the end of games regardless of the score, whether it’s a blowout one way or the other, this prediction has a good chance unfortunately of being correct.

Unless, of course, the head coach sees the error of his ways and adjusts. Right now, that seems more unlikely than likely.

*       *       *

The Browns have faced 23 third-down situations this far and have converted only five, an embarrassing 21.7% rate of success. A closer look at the numbers pinpoints the reason for the embarrassing total.

The offense has faced third and long (seven yards or more) on 15 of those occasions. Of those 15, 10 were in double-digit yardage, due in part to penalties. No wonder they are struggling.

*       *       *

Jamie Gillan had quite a day against the Jets, picking up AFC special teams player–of-the-week honors in the process. The Cleveland offense played a large part in helping the Scottish Hammer win the award.

He averaged only 38.5 yards in his six punts, but five landed inside the New York 20-yard line (all fair catches), a factor instrumental in keeping the Jets as far away from the Cleveland goal line as possible.

He punted from the Cleveland 46, midfield, New York 49, Cleveland 35, Cleveland 41 and New York 41 with the five fair catches, Even more remarkable was the absence of a Cleveland penalty on all six punts.

Midweek thoughts

From the files of Captain Obvious: The Browns’ offense, supposedly the strength of the team this season, looks like a wounded bird desperately seeking to fly.

This was not supposed to happen. On paper, the Browns looked as dangerous offensively as any National Football League team not nicknamed Chiefs. It has been anything but.

Why? In some ways, a lot of the blame can be laid squarely at the desk of head coach Freddie Kitchens, who decided his starters, especially the skilled position starters, did not need to play in exhibition games.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw a lot to Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, David Njoku and Nick Chubb in training camp against the team’s defense. But in no way does that prepare that talented group when games take on importance, i.e. the regular season.

It has been said players that practice well usually play well during games. How many times have we heard coaches laud the practice regimens of their teams leading up to a game and then go out and get flattened?

Some players believe it or not play much better in games than in practice. Practice is boring. Too repetitious. But repetition, some coaches ardently believe, translates well to the game itself.

The timing factor, so important for the smooth function of any offense, has not been evident in the first two regular-season games. At best, it has been spotty. Quick glimpses of what fans saw the second half of last season.

Baker Mayfield is not (yet) the quarterback fans saw turn this franchise around last season with sky high hopes for 2019. More than a few are beginning to wonder whether he is (a) experiencing a sophomore jinx, (b) looking normal because defenses have figured him out or (c) merely a one-year wonder.

Opposing teams with mediocre defenses at best have exposed numerous problems on that side of the football. Several much better defenses are on deck, starting with the Los Angeles Rams at home Sunday night.

What is the problem? Without getting too technical, which I can’t do anyway, the eyes see a different Baker Mayfield thus far. He looks unsure of himself, something that belies his confident approach to the game.

He entered the NFL with the reputation of being extremely accurate with his passes and proved it last season. Now, he’s late with his throws. He’s missing wide-open targets. And he is not making pinpoint passes into tight windows.

Whenever trouble lurked last season, especially in the pocket, Mayfield almost always found a way out by moving his feet and exhibiting terrific pocket presence. Not this season.

He’s been sacked eight times already in two games. You can blame the offensive line just so much. A sizable portion of the blame, it appears, is Mayfield’s failure to correctly identify what opposing defenses are doing to neutralize him.

At least half the sacks are of the coverage variety, his receivers failing to get open and make themselves available. Rarely have we seen him break contain in the pocket and connect on the run.

And now with Njoku, his top red zone target, on the shelf for as many as a couple of months because of a broken wrist, one bullet has been removed from his gun belt. Kitchens has to alter his plans now for his red zone offense.

The reason Njoku is on the injured list can be traced back to Mayfield’s problems. The short pass the tight end caught was so high, he had to jump and reach up for it, exposing himself to an undercut tackle, which was what New York Jets cornerback Nate Hairston delivered.

Njoku landed on the crown of his helmet and wrist, trying to brace his fall, simultaneously. The result was a concussion and the fractured wrist.

Far be it for me to even think I could be an offensive coordinator at any level of football. But my goodness, it isn’t difficult to see Mayfield needs to deliver the football faster, a lot faster, than he is now. “He’s taking too many hits,” Kitchens acknowledged. “I don’t like my quarterback to take hits. I need to get the ball out of his hands quicker.”

Why Kitchens doesn’t call more quick-developing pass plays – fewer seven-step drops – is puzzling unless he thinks his smallish quarterback is Superman and can absorb all that punishment and remain vertical. That would thrill the five guys up front.

Mayfield also has to stop being disdainful of his checkdown receivers, the outlet guys who can help bail him out of trouble and avoid sacks. Negative plays have hampered the offense too much in the first two games.

*       *       *

The defense all of a sudden is beginning to look like a small M*A*S*H unit.

The entire starting secondary – cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams (hamstrings) and safeties Morgan Burnett (quad) and Damarious Randall  (concussion) – is on the injured report for the Rams game, as well as weak side linebacker Christian Kirksey (chest).

If they aren’t ready for the Rams game, rookie Mack Wilson will step in for Kirksey, Terrance Mitchell and T. J. Carrie will man the corners with Jermaine Whitehead and Eric Murray at strong and free safety, respectively.

Shaky offense, battered defense. Only two games into the season filled with reasonable hopes. Not exactly the way to begin a 16-game trek through the NFL minefield for a team expecting so much more.