Monday leftovers

 

So many thoughts to share, so little space. Unpacking the devastation that took place Sunday in Baltimore as the Browns peel off the remains of the 38-6 scalding beginning with this. . . .

 

Anatomy of how a first and 10 at the Baltimore 29-yard line early in the second quarter became a third and 41 at the Browns’ 40 in just five plays. It was backward march in slow motion.

 

With the Browns trailing, 10-6, the offense drove from the 12 after the defense forced a turnover inside the 5 and landed at the Ravens’ 29 in nine plays and a roughing-the-passer penalty later. No worse than a field goal loomed.

 

And then it turned ugly. Real ugly. Game-changing ugly. It started innocently as Browns fans started believing this season, even in its infancy, just might be different. What followed was a new kind of different, even for this franchise.

 

Wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, lined up in the slot, begins his route a fraction early and is flagged for a false start. Back to the 34, first and 15. Baker Mayfield connects with Odell Beckham Jr. for a one-yard completion, but the receiver is flagged for a facemask. Fifteen yards later, it’s first and 29 at the 48.

 

A Mayfield pass intended for Beckham is tipped by rookie linebacker Malik Harrison and nearly picked off by safety Chuck Clark. A Mayfield sack by Ravens rookie linebacker Patrick Queen loses seven yards.

 

Now it’s third and 36 and back in Cleveland territory at the 45. Adding insult to insult, the bench embarrassingly did not get the next play in on time. Delay of game. Five more yards. There you have it.

 

Third down and 41 yards to go!! The eventual play call resulted in, what else, an incomplete pass.

 

In 13 plays, the Browns covered 28 net yards, took six minutes and 13 seconds off the game clock, accomplishing what was truly a unique and amazing feat. Never saw that before – shocking, I know – and probably will never see it again. Its uniqueness will sustain it in professional football’s Hall of Shame.

 

Adding misery to the moment, the Ravens took Jamie Gillan’s subsequent 59-yard punt that died at the 1 and increased their lead 99 yards later to 17-6 with a flawless 10-play drive, culminated by the first of rookie running back J K, Dobbins’ two touchdowns.

 

Then to make certain the Browns and their fans knew who was in charge, as if it was still in doubt at the time, the Ravens on their next possession moved 69 yards in a snappy 35 seconds in the final minute of the half, all passes against the bewildered Cleveland secondary, to grab a 24-6 lead after Austin Seibert missed a field goal.

 

The bludgeoning was completed with two second-half touchdowns as the Cleveland defense collapsed.

 

If that was a portent of what lies ahead the rest of this already-strange season, it will be nothing more than yet another stern test for a fan base that has to be inured by now to whatever that future holds.

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Kevin Stefanski is close to falling into the rut that hastened Freddie Kitchens’ departure as head coach of the Browns after one season. It’s been only one game for the rookie head coach, but he must fall out of love with Beckham.

 

Stefanski called 41 pass plays against the Ravens Sunday. Ten of them were aimed at Beckham, who caught three passes for a miserable 22 yards. By comparison, the tight ends were targeted eight times total. What’s going on here?

 

Why is Beckham the beneficiary of more targets than a whole position group, especially when that position group is supposedly highly favored by the new head coach? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Is it possible Mayfield and Beckham are not a match made in heaven? It seems the quarterback is more in tune with Jarvis Landry, who was targeted six times Sunday and hauled in five balls for 61 yards.

 

A quick check of last season’s stats reveals Beckham caught 55.6% of his targets for 1,035 yards and only four touchdowns. Landry grabbed 60.1% of his targets for 1,174 yards and six TDs.

 

Even though it’s just one game, it seems to Stefanski is trying almost too hard to make certain his mercurial receiver doesn’t complain about not seeing the football enough. In doing so, he has strayed from his tight-end heavy philosophy.

 

Apportioning the football equally might be Stefanski’s toughest hurdle with great producers like Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Landry, Beckham and tight end Austin Hooper, who the Browns paid a lot of money to leave Atlanta. That situation bears watching all season.

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Is there any question the Browns’ defense will be a trouble spot all season? Yes, it’s only one game against the best team in the conference. But members on that side of the football looked lost out there Sunday.

 

The secondary in particular seemingly had no idea of what they were supposed to do. Lamar Jackson found receivers alarmingly wide open all afternoon. Few passes were contested. Now that’s either the defensive coordinator’s fault or the talent back there is dreadful.

 

Kevin Johnson, M. J. Stewart Jr. and Greedy Williams are too banged up to play and Ronnie Harrison is too new to step right in. Getting them back won’t be soon enough because a secondary that features safeties Andrew Sendejo, Tavierre Thomas and Sheldrick Redwine is like a stick of dynamite waiting to be lit.

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Stefanski, after the game Sunday, sounded a little bit like Captain Obvious: “They deserved to win. They outscored us, they outplayed us. We did a lot of things losing teams do.” He forgot outcoached us.

 

From the department of sound familiar: “We have to take way better care of the ball as a team. Three turnovers are too many.” The captain speaks.

 

With regard to the anemic performance in the passing game: “We have to get to the bottom of it. The passing game requires precision from 11 guys in order to make it go.” That’s what a new system and lack of minicamps and exhibitions can do to that precision.

 

And there’s this on the disastrous fake punt: “That’s my responsibility. It didn’t work out. (Really?!) You can put that right on me.” Okay. Don’t ever do that again from your territory unless it’s near midfield and even then, come up with a better play.

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Mayfield with the line of the day Sunday:” “Sometimes, a wake-up call is pretty good for everybody, a nice punch in the mouth and that’s how we should take it and not dwell on it. Realize we just got beat today. . . . Look at it, get better, move on and go play the Bengals. That’s all we can do.”

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After his pitiful performance Sunday, the Browns almost immediately made Seibert a free agent. (What took them so long?) He has had all offseason to think about his slightly above-average rookie season last year and failed to improve.

 

Missing an extra point and field goal on your only two opportunities to score points Sunday is inexcusable and warranted a ticket out of town. The much more reliable Cody Parkey is no longer on the practice squad. The ex-Brown is back now and has a second chance in Cleveland. He can’t be any worse than Seibert.

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Finally . . . Defensive end Myles Garrett played for the first time since bopping Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph on the noggin with a helmet last season and sort of showed up against the Ravens. He recovered a fumble, hit Lamar Jackson once and made one solo tackle. That’s it. Not to worry. The sacks will come. . . . Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi had a strong game with four tackles, two for loss, and was a general nuisance. . . . The Browns racked up eight penalties for 80 yards, including three facemask flags, which is better, relatively speaking, than last season’s opening game when they committed 18 penalties for 182 yards. But that’s still too many. . . .  Time of possession Sunday believe it or not was just about even with the Browns owning the football exactly two seconds longer. . . . Jedrick Wills Jr. did not embarrass himself in his pro football debut at offensive left tackle. He committed just one holding penalty and played what can be best described as a decent game. Outside of the penalty, nothing negative stood out. . . . Wills (shin bruise), Jack Conklin (ankle and finger), David Njoku (knee) and rookie Jacob Phillips (knee) hit the injured list. Njoku, who scored the lone touchdown Sunday, was placed on injured reserve. Only Njoku has been ruled out of Thursday night’s home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.