Monday leftovers

When will John Dorsey come out and admit he made a mistake of disastrous proportions when he chose Freddie Kitchens to be the head coach of his talented football team?

The Browns general manager, who has already dropped the dreaded vote of confidence on his beleaguered head coach, has been eerily silent as the 2019 season falls apart in slow motion on a weekly basis before our eyes.

To say the bloom is off the rose, the wheels are off the bus, or any other idiom that relates to the abject failure of this team when the exact opposite was expected, is dramatically understating the situation.

Dorsey, for the most part, has been spot on in almost totally revamping a roster that ranked as one of the worst in recent years in just a little over a full calendar year. Fans got a taste of it last season with a 7-8-1 record. His only slip up: The offensive line.

A growing number of fans have grown impatient with this team to the point they want to know exactly what it will take to put an ex in front of Kitchens’ current title because whatever he is serving up is not working.

It is a serious test of Dorsey’s resolve in this matter that he has remained relatively mum. That vote of confidence resulted in yet another embarrassing loss in Denver Sunday to a team they should have knocked off.

How much longer will he stubbornly support his coach, whose weekly stumbles are piling up so rapidly the media is having trouble keeping up with them? It has become embarrassing.

It is entirely possible Dee and Jimmy Haslam are key figures behind the decision to maintain the norm for the time being. It is not out of the realm of possibility the Haslams are sick and tired of paying ex-Browns head coaches to not coach their team and do not want Dorsey adding to that list.

The frustration is mounting, however. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches critical mass. This team is not being coached correctly. The results are proof.  The problem needs to be corrected before it gets totally out of hand.

What will it take to convince Dorsey that picking Kitchens was a mistake that caused more puzzled reactions around the National Football League landscape than congratulatory slaps on the back?

In over his head was the predominant cry from numerous pundits at the time. He unfortunately has proved them correct so far. More than a few have said that with proper coaching, the Browns would be no worse than 4-4 today and a legitimate contender for the AFC North title if not the postseason.

Rumors back then suggested Dorsey, based on the club’s success in the final eight games of the 2018 season, did not want to let Kitchens go, figuring the long-time assistant coach would leave if he didn’t get the head job. Those rumors, however, have never been substantiated.

It is entirely possible the GM still clings to the notion his choice to head the talented team he cobbled together is the right man and patience will ultimately be his just reward.

But Dorsey had to see the almost morose news conference Kitchens held following the Denver loss Sunday. The beleaguered coach looked like a defeated man when he spoke to the media Sunday. “I just wanna win a football game,” he said, almost glumly. It’s obvious this is wearing heavily on him.

He used the back-to-the-drawing-board approach, as though practice will eventually make it perfect. The route running, the tackling, the blocking, the stopping the run, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. He frequently mixed in the words precise and execution.

He and offensive coordinator Todd Monken draw up and scheme nice game plans. It’s not their fault if the players don’t execute.

Kitchens said his men “are still fighting. I think they (went) out (against the Broncos) and played well for the most part. I don’t think they’re gonna give up or throw in the towel. We still have eight games left. We need to do something in those eight games. It starts with one game.”

The one-game-at-a-time trope is as inspiring as watching paint dry. The season is so far down the tubes, next season is already coming into focus. The players have to know that. The 2-6 record is not a prevarication.

National pundits with large microphones have weighed in, making the Browns a national punching bag once again,. “This is a team that has overpromised and underdelivered,” said ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky. Inarguable.

Colleague Rex Ryan was even harsher.” You’re getting what you deserve,” the ex NFL coach (Buffalo and the New York Jets) said, apparently directing his barbs at Dorsey and the Haslams.. “You hired a guy who was on the same staff you fired two coaches with. This is what you deserve, Cleveland.”

Chimed in Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders on his NFL GameDay Prime Time telecast Sunday night when asked how did it go so wrong for the Browns this season: “Offseason. Hiring the coach. I don’t think the head coach is prepared to be the head coach.”

Offered nationally syndicated radio host Colin Cowherd, who predicted recently the Browns would beat out the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North championship and is a staunch Baker Mayfield critic, “(Ravens coach) John Harbaugh is excellent and Cleveland coach Freddie Kitchens is a busboy at Applebee’s.”

He later added, “Cleveland’s history: Chapter one, we’re imploding. Chapters two through 19, read chapter one.” On and on it goes. The main theme, though, centers on Kitchens and his ineptitude.

Bad football and Cleveland have been synonymous for the last 20 years. But there is a huge difference between this team and all the others over the last two decades. This one has talent and should not be 2-6.

In a season where Browns Nation truly believed the end of the constant frustration of losing and being the punching bag of the NFL was upon us, their team slips badly and sustains that lingering frustration.

If Dorsey wants to help his bewildered coach save his job, he somehow must convince him to give up his prized play-calling duties on offense in order to concentrate on the big picture, i.e. running an entire football team. He is in position to do that.

If he doesn’t and losing games they should win continues, it will be only a matter of time before the players will stop listening to their head coach and start mailing it in, Losing interest is difficult to stop as the losses pile up. By then, there will be nothing Kitchens can do to correct it.

The buck has stopped squarely at the desk of John Dorsey. Your move, sir.

More leftovers Tuesday