Monday leftovers

It isn't easy being a Browns fan these days. The teeter-totter, rollercoaster ride that is the 2020 season has some fans wondering just what the hell kind of team they are.

Just when you think they are just about ready to join the elites of the National Football League, they unveil stinkers like the thundering losses in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Getting to 5-2 with a second victory over Cincinnati renewed that notion until the elements and Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland again/Las Vegas Raiders joined to yank them and their fans back down to the land of reality Sunday.

Right now, Browns fans not only can't figure out what makes this team tick, they have no idea what the immediate future holds. It has taken on a Jekyll/Hyde persona that even the coaching staff apparently can't figure out.

Still, 5-3 is not where many pundits and more than a few fans thought the Browns would be at this juncture. Halfway through the season and 5-3? What's wrong with that? That's outstanding for a franchise that has embarrassed itself on an annual basis for most of the last two decades.

If you were told at the beginning of the season the Browns would be 5-3 now, particularly after getting pounded in Baltimore in the season opener, would you have taken it? Of course you would have. Baker Mayfield sees it a little differently, though.

The Cleveland quarterback, licking his wounds after the Raiders manhandled the Browns Sunday, is not the least bit satisfied. "(We're) not anywhere close to where we want to be," he said after the game. "It should be a lot better. We believe that and that's why our locker room is pissed off."

Not sure how much better they can be unless Mayfield meant they figured the Raiders game would wind up in the column on the left. Unfortunately, that did not come even close to translating at all to the actual performance by his teammates in every facet of the game.

As for being "pissed off," they sure did not play like it against the Raiders, who played just about every snap as though they were "pissed off." Saying it is one thing. Demonstrating it is entirely different. 

The Browns and Raiders are taking aim at wild cards in the postseason. One team played like it Sunday. The other took a pass. Care to guess which one took the latter route?

It might be a game halfway through the season, but in the NFL, every game is important. Each one of the 16 is precious. You have only 60 minutes to win. Each loss compounds the situation and makes it more difficult to make up.

It has been a long time since the Browns have been in this situation, The last time they were close was in 2007 when they finished 10-6, but did not make the playoffs. That's because they terribly misplayed the penultimate game of the season in Cincinnati and lost.

A victory for the 9-5 team would have clinched the postseason, but offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski dialed up pass after pass after pass en route to a 19-14 loss on a blustery, windy day in Paul Brown Stadium. Sound familiar?

Chudzinski dialed up quarterback Derek Anderson to drop back 49 times --  remember it was very windy -- that afternoon. Two of his passes wound up in the hands of wide receiver Braylon Edwards in the end zone after the Bengals had taken a 19-0 halftime lead. Four wound up in the hands of Bengals defenders.

With four more home games scheduled this season, including the next two, it behooves Kevin Stefanski and his staff on offense and defense to make certain wind, rain, sleet and snow are not deterrents the next time and that they know how to handle the situation. 

That way, his team won't be "pissed off" because it misses a golden opportunity to create a path to the postseason. This is Cleveland, where that meteorological likelihood could happen at any time, especially  on the shores of one of the Great Lakes.

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Before anyone wonders how Sunday's loss would have turned out had Odell Beckham Jr. had not torn his ACL in the Bengals victory a week ago, know this: The Browns would have done much better if another injured producer had been healthy.

One can only imagine how much better the Cleveland offense would have operated with Nick Chubb in uniform. This was a Nick Chubb game, where running the football was the great dictator. Few in the NFL lug it better than him.

Raiders running back Josh Jacobs demonstrated that with a 31-carry, 128-yard performance that moved the chains and bled valuable minutes off the clock. With Chubb, the Browns' offense would have been able to play keep away from the Raiders' defense, move the chains and bleed the clock.

The Browns' offensive line operates at near peak efficiency with Chubb either behind or alongside Mayfield in the backfield. He sustains drives with his power running that enables him to pick up plenty of yardage after contact.

Kareem Hunt, who did well against the Raiders but is no Chubb, is much better as a change-of-pace back. Chubb's return from his MCL injury, most likely against Houston after the bye week, automatically makes Mayfield a better quarterback. It alters the way Stefanski gameplans.

Chubb and Hunt in their regular roles create more low-risk passing opportunities for Mayfield, who arguably played his worst game of the season against the Raiders. It was more a byproduct of Chubb missing than Beckham. You'll see the difference when the big running back returns

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Here's how bad the defense played Sunday: Of the club's 82 tackles listed on the official stats sheet, only 46 were of the solo variety. That's 56%. In other words, there was a lot of gang tackling, which means the defense had problems dragging down ball carriers. The Raiders, meanwhile, were credited with 40 tackles, of which 32 were solo. That's 80%. 

Tackling has been a problem for the Cleveland defense all season. Taking that one step further, the defense in general has been a problem all season. Dealing on the cheap by General Manager Andrew Berry is at the root of those difficulties.

Players like middle linebacker B.J. Goodson, free safety Andrew Sendejo, cornerback Kevin Johnson, strong safety Karl Joseph, outside linebacker Malcolm Smith and defensive tackle Andrew Billings, who opted out because of COVID-19, are on one-year deals. Most have never been full-time players. Some are on make-good contracts. Play well and you will be rewarded later.

It is sort of a patchwork defense coordinator Joe Woods is forced to work with, especially at linebacker and in the secondary. To be honest, All-Pro candidate Myles Garrett is the only member of the defensive line who is a valuable contributor, Olivier Vernon's two (coverage) sacks against the Raiders notwithstanding. He won't be back next season.

Berry fixed the offense this season. Now it's time to address the other side of the football. And no more cheap signings. This team is a solid rebuild of the defense away from being an annual contender. Thinking otherwise is folly.

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You cannot accuse Stefanski of sugarcoating what happened Sunday. "We got beat," he said. "They came in and beat us. . . . We did not do enough of the things we have to do in these conditions to win. I don't think anyone can use that as an excuse."

It might be a good idea to use those conditions as an object lesson the next time stuff that like roars in off the lake. He can be excused this time because he was used to playing under a dome in Minnesota before coming to Cleveland. This is his one mulligan.

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Finally . . .  Jamie Gillan has punted just three times in the last two games and each has traveled at least 50 yards. He cranked a pair into the gale that whipped around the ballpark Sunday against the Raiders, including a 59-yarder. . . . A closer look at Beckham's injury shows his left knee collided flush with the right knee of fullback Andy Janovich as they attempted to tackle Bengals cornerback Darius Phillips, who had picked off Mayfield on the Browns' second play of that game. . . . Offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. should have no problem forgetting his afternoon against the Raiders. The rookie was flagged once for holding and twice for false starts. That represents three of the seven Cleveland penalties and 20 of the 59 yards. . . . Of Mayfield's 25 passes Sunday, 11 were directed at Jarvis Landry and six to tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant. . . . Hunt after the game perfectly captured the irony of Sunday's loss. "They beat us at our own game," he said, referring to the Browns' prowess at running the ball.