Before I get started with this article I am aware that I’m writing about the Cleveland Browns. The same Cleveland Browns who did not post a winning season all decade, but this was supposed to be different. When Freddie Kitchens took over in the middle of last season, it looked like the Browns were finally on the right track to at least not being an embarrassment.
Now with two weeks left in the season, Cleveland has been eliminated from the playoffs. The Browns will finish, at best, at .500. For a team boasting Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham Jr. and record-breaking rookie Baker Mayfield that’s a failure. Let’s break down some of what’s gone wrong this season.
Baker’s Regression
Part of the reason that Browns organization put their faith in Freddie Kitchens was because of how well quarterback Baker Mayfield performed under him. Going into this season, Mayfield was expected to be under center for one of the top offenses in the League. Adding additional offensive weapons, this team looked ready to take home the Lombardi.
Last season, Mayfield made critics eat their words when he broke the rookie record for most touchdown passes in a season. This season, he has been unable to match that success. For the season, he has 17 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions. There’s no exact reason for this progression considering Mayfield threw 19 out of his 27 touchdowns last season while Kitchens was the coach. There’s talent at every offensive skill position and it has to be something that is causing a lack of chemistry.
“We’ve got all the pieces and it’s just going out there and playing as a team and everybody playing hard each and every play and no taking plays off or nothing like that and just finishing,” Kareem Hunt . Hunt, who missed eight games this season, alluded to players taking plays off, not giving their all until the whistle is blown. It’s hard to quantify effort, but it could be the reason for the regression of this offense.
It’s not just Mayfield who succeeded under Kitchens at the helm. The team went 5-3 to finish the season when he took over. They were efficient, scoring on almost 80 percent of their trips to the red zone. Nick Chubb has been a bright light all season, leading the league in rushing yards. Their struggles are baffling to say the least when they added key pieces in the offseason.
The Pittsburgh incident
We can’t talk about the 2019 Browns and not mention the craziest moment of the season. The Browns lost their best defensive player Myles Garrett indefinitely and it was clear all of the team’s frustrations came out in that game. Garrett swung his helmet at Pittsburgh Steelers then-quarterback Mason Rudolph after a fight occurred between the two on one of the last plays of the game. It was ugly and Garrett deserved to be punished, but it was a moment that will define their season.
It was a moment that would either bring them together or let them fall apart. The two teams were scheduled to play each other again just weeks after the huge melee. There was already enough motivation for both teams to win this game, but head coach Kitchens thought it would be a good idea to stir the pot further.
Days before the game and on his birthday, Kitchens was spotted wearing a shirt that said “Pittsburgh Started It”. The Steelers called it a “dumb” move and just added to their “bulletin board material”. The Browns lost the game and their season basically ended there. Kitchens did not regret wearing the shirt and said he would wear it again.
Losing Garrett and pass rusher Olivier Vernon to injury has really affected this defense. Against the lowly ranked Arizona Cardinals, they gave up 445 yards. The NFL is about next man up. Every team has injuries and players out, but the good ones still find ways to get it done.
“Come Get Me”
Jay Glazer has reported that many players are unhappy in Cleveland. So much so that they are allegedly telling teams before and after games to “come get” them. Two of those players just happen to be Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr., the two biggest offensive stars.
Beckham is tired of losing period. He has been in disappointing situations his entire NFL career so it’s not hard to imagine he would want out of Cleveland. He is averaging his lowest yards per game in his NFL career. He is also battling a painful sports hernia. An injury that Baker Mayfield criticized the team’s training staff for mismanaging. He felt that the team could have addressed the injury sooner, comments he later had to walk back in a tweet.
Things really boiled over on the sidelines during the Browns’ game against the Arizona Cardinals. He was one of the players who yelled at Arizona’s sideline to “come get him”. Landry was seen yelling at his head coach during the game as well and it was all caught on camera.
Both Kitchens and Landry downplayed the incident, but it’s hard to say it’s not part of a bigger problem.
The Cleveland Browns play MVP front runner Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens next. Cleveland actually beat the Ravens earlier this season, putting up 530 yards. That was Baltimore’s only loss at home and both teams are in completely different places. The Ravens have emerged as the top team in the AFC while the Browns are looking to lock up a high draft pick.
