Monday leftovers (continued)

The look on his face said it all at the end of Sunday’s loss in Denver. Baker Mayfield sat on the bench, his countenance displayed an almost trance-like look.

The Browns quarterback had just thrown the last of his 42 passes on the afternoon to a double-covered Jarvis Landry as Odell Beckham Jr. broke open down the left sideline.

It was difficult to determine exactly what he was thinking as he sat alone on the Cleveland bench as the Broncos, the Browns out of timeouts, ran out the clock to send the Browns to their fourth straight loss.

It looked like a combination of hopelessness, frustration and disbelief mixed in with a dash of how in the world is this all happening. He looked defeated, a strange sight for someone who is naturally so upbeat.

In some way, it served as a visual microcosm of how the season has unfolded for the Browns, who now can apply a little home cooking salve with three straight home games against Buffalo, Pitts burgh and Miami.

Virtually nothing has gone right for either side of the football this season. The defense has been spotty. The defense has been unpredictably soft. The best unit thus far is special teams, but only because it hasn’t screwed up majorly.

When you can point to Austin Seibert as the most reliable player on the roster, you know you’re in trouble. The rookie placekicker, who struggled mightily in training camp and the exhibition season, is perfect on 14 field-goal attempts.

Mayfield, meanwhile, is playing quarterback antithetically to his rookie season, when he set an National Football League record for most touchdown passes (27) in his first season.

His confidence, perhaps his greatest attribute, might not be totally shot, but it has taken solid hits on a weekly basis. He keeps getting back up and gamely trying, but what worked last season is not working this season.

The tight windows he successfully penetrated with his laser passes last season are still there this season, but the throws aren’t even close to matching those of 2018. It’s not as though he’s barely missing, either. He’s missing wide-open receivers.

When you have high profile receivers like Landry and Beckham, veterans who are extremely disciplined and adept at running routes, that theoretically should make it easier to succeed.

Strangely, Mayfield has had more success with tight ends, especially in the red zone. Landry became the first wide receiver to catch a touchdown pass in the red zone Sunday in Denver and only the second to a wideout on the season.

Let that sink in. We are eight games into the season – the halfway mark already – and Mayfield has connected for only two touchdown passes to his wide receivers corps. Beckham has the other, turning a 10-yard slant into an 89-yard score.

Of course that is not the kind of production coach Freddie Kitchens and his offensive staff expected. And it wouldn’t be worrisome if it had been corrected after a game or two.

But when this paucity of production lingers for half the season and there does not appear to be any improvement in sight, is it any wonder the Browns are 2-6 and not a strong 2-6.

The only positive they can boast of thus far is the walloping of the Ravens in Baltimore in week four and the farther we get from that game, the more it looks like an aberrant victory. A fluke.

Those weren’t the real Browns. The real Browns have lost six games and failed to score 20 points in five of the eight games, including three of the last four. The real Browns have allowed half their opponents to score 32 or more points.

The real Browns don’t make plays on offense and defense when absolutely needed. The real Browns are undisciplined in general and generous to a fault on offense. Defensively, the real Browns lack the opportunism of last season’s defense.

It is assumed now that the latest loss is a mere memory and Mayfield is well past his Denver malaise, reenergizing his confidence level for at least the next three games at home. He’ll have to be on his game because the Browns are winless in three home efforts this season and have surrendered 95 points in the process.

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It was as thought this season the coaching staff would adapt to the personnel. Draw up game plans that featured the players’ strengths and avoided the weaknesses on both sides of the football.

That obviously has not been the case with the offense struggling through most of the season and the defense, which was supposed to be the strength of the team, failing miserably to live up to those expectations.

The offense sputters, looking good on some series, clueless on others. The defense plays non-aggressive football and tackles like a high school team. The way other teams run on this defense is reminiscent of the bad, old days.

It seems as though Kitchens, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks have failed badly to put their men in a position to succeed. It has been the exactly the opposite, which leads me to believe they stubbornly try to put that square peg in the round hole.

The talents of some pretty good players are being mishandled. That’s too bad because the fans deserve to see the best side of these talented players. They’re getting the opposite.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of hearing Kitchens boast about his men having a great week of practice. Eight great weeks of great practices have yielded two victories. I can only imagine how bad the record would be with fewer great practices.

I’ve always believed how you practice does not always translate into strong performances. Give me a team of players who are much better game players than practice players and I’ll beat you a whole lot more than you beat me.

More than a few players hate practices. They are tedious, last too long and really don’t accomplish that much. You don’t get the adrenalin rush in practice that you get in a game. Hitting a teammate is one thing. Hitting an opponent is quite different.

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What are the odds Kitchens will do something stupid against the Bills this
Sunday? Take a penalty instead of calling a timeout deep in your own territory? Call a quarterback sneak on fourth and one just five yards from the opposition’s end zone with your bulldozing running back on the sidelines?

Can’t believe the front office does not see the rookie mistakes this rookie head coach makes with alarming regularity. Maybe they do and give him the benefit of the doubt. That they tolerate such ineptitude puzzles more than anything.

If this continues and Kitchens is still around, he makes it to the end of the season before he is told to clean out his office. All of which would mean the fans get up the hind flanks once again.

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Finally . . . The Cleveland pass rush looked almost impotent against a Denver offensive line that had given up 27 sacks in the first two games. Journeyman Broncos quarterback Brandon Allen, making his pro debut, was dropped only twice on 40 snaps. . . .  Punter Jamie Gillan made his first tackle of the season, a solo, taking out Denver’s Diontae Spencer with a strong tackle after a 20-yard return. . . . The five penalties and 40 yards assessed against the Browns Sunday were season lows. . . . The loss also was the first time this season Mayfield had not thrown an interception. . . . Nick Chubb checks in at the halfway mark with 803 yards on the ground, a 1,600-yard pace. His 65-yard output against the Broncos was his second-lowest this season, three yards more than his 62-yard game against the New York Jets in game two.