A Christmas video gift of the best 2019 Cleveland Indians moments
December 23, 2019Ohio State rises to No. 2 in latest AP Poll
December 24, 2019The Cleveland Browns lost to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game that officially eliminated the Browns from playoff contention. The game was a microcosm of the whole season where the team would show quality play for a stretch, but then be unable to sustain that level, falling into a poor level of play. The Browns and their head coach, Freddie Kitchens, had their season pretty much summed up perfectly in a matter of two and half minutes at the end of the first half. Let’s take a look at this stretch that showed almost everything that has killed this team this season.
2:09 third-and-1: Hunt loses eight yards
This is the epitome of Kitchens’ playcalling this season. In a moment where the Browns need just one yard and had the best running back in the league in the backfield, Kitchens called for a halfback pass for running back Kareem Hunt. He got too cute like he has so many times this season and it cost them a lot. The play was not even close to being successful or working. This set up the entire collapse of the Browns versus the Ravens.
1:18 first-and-10: Jackson throws to Andrews for a 39-yard touchdown
This is a play where the Browns suffered yet another structural breakdown. The team has suffered from breakdowns in execution throughout the season and this is just another one. The Browns were in a Cover 3 defense, but suffered a complete collapse on the right side of the defense. No one accounted for tight end Mark Andrews. Neither of the underneath defenders laid a hand on Andrews, causing him to run freely down the field. Then, safety Damarious Randall for some reason flowed to the left, taking himself out of the play and giving Andrews a free lane to the endzone. These types of problems have showcased themselves far too often for this team. No communication and poor awareness by the defense here.
3-play Browns drive netting no yards in 23 seconds
This short drive had a little bit of everything go wrong. The first play is a glimpse of some of the consistent problems that quarterback Baker Mayfield has had this season. This deep post route is there, but the throw is late and high to the target. Mayfield needs to get rid of the ball earlier, right when the receiver gets out of his break. But, even late, this pass has a chance, but Mayfield throws a high pass over the reach of the receiver. He has shown a tendency this season of leaving passes high.
The second play is another example of a problem that Mayfield and this offense have experienced this season. The protection breaks down quickly, with a free rusher coming on the right edge. This causes Mayfield to rush his throw and almost get picked off by an underneath defender. Mayfield has made numerous mistakes because he rushes his actions due to pressure or assumed pressure. Mayfield also stared down the route from the beginning and allowed the underneath defender to detect where he was going with the pass.
For the third play, I blame Kitchens. After two failed pass attempts on first and second down, Kitchens should have just let the drive go and run the ball. The Ravens had no timeouts left with just over a minute to go. There was too much risk in trying another pass here. This incompletion gave the Ravens the ball back with a minute to go. Had they run the ball here and not gotten the first down, the Browns would have likely given the ball back to Baltimore with just around 20 or 30 seconds. That would have made it increasingly harder for the Ravens to drive down and get any sort of points, let alone a touchdown. Situational awareness is not something Kitchens has been good at this season.
7-play Ravens touchdown drive netting 75 yards in 46 seconds
The first play is another blown coverage by a defense that simply exploded as the season wore on. The defense allowed the tight end to get between the layers of the defense, where he could make the catch and the big gain. The space between the underneath zone defenders and the deep safety is far too big. The lack of communication by the underneath defenders in passing off the tight end is terrible. No one picked him up until he was way too far downfield for any defender to recover and get to him.
In the second play of the drive, Browns linebacker Mack Wilson makes a nice play in zone coverage. He jams the receiver on the top of his route and makes a nice break on the ball to break up the pass.
The third play is a play where the Ravens outsmarted the Browns. The Browns defense makes it far too easy for the Ravens to get a nice gainer here. The Browns rush six rushers, but with the formation of the Ravens, Baltimore had four passing options on the right side of the field with just three Browns defenders to defend them. The Ravens use the bunch formation to create a natural pick for the running back to get open. The Browns defenders are caught up in the traffic of the bunch formation that the running back is able to get an easy lane to the outside. Jackson can quickly get rid of the ball and allow the back to pull off a big gain.
The fourth play of the series is another situational awareness breakdown example. There were just 26 seconds left in the half with the Ravens having no timeouts. With those facts, cornerback Denzel Ward allowed a quick out route where the receiver could get a good gain, while also getting out of bounds to stop the clock. Ward gave way too much cushion. He also should not have given the receiver the sideline. Ward was shading the receiver to inside, all but giving the Ravens this easy completion and stop of the clock.
In the fifth play, the Browns actually make a play and force an incompletion. The Browns blitz works and causes the quarterback to quickly get rid of the ball.
After that play, the Browns once again fail at situational football. In the sixth play of the drive, the Ravens run another out route, this time to the left sideline. The Browns coverage is set up to leave the sideline open once again. The defensive back on the left sideline drops into deep zone coverage, while the defensive back covering the slot corner at the snap has to run to the sideline to cover the underneath area on the left side of the field. This is easily beaten by the out route because the underneath defender cannot retreat to the sideline in time to break up the pass. The play call allowed this easy completion and the stop of the clock.
The final play is the most frustrating one for the Browns. It is an example of the Browns’ struggle to finish in pass rush situations. Cleveland had a free blitzer run right into the face of the quarterback, but Lamar Jackson is able to elude the rusher because the blitzer came in wildly and overran the quarterback. Jackson stepped up in the pocket and then took advantage of a defender lacking awareness. Safety Damarious Randall had tight end Mark Andrews in coverage. But, when Jackson started scrambling in the pocket, Randall looked at the pocket and lost the ball and the defender. He could not spot where the pass was and he allowed the tight end to separate behind him to make the touchdown catch.
This drive showed a cavalcade of problems. Situational awareness, defensive breakdowns, and an inability to finish rushes are just a few of the problems that the team suffered in this drive that they have dealt with for almost all of the season.
Quick Ending Thoughts
I am at the point where I cannot see any way where bringing back Freddie Kitchens makes any sense or is good for this team. Kitchens has lost the team and that is seen in back to back weeks where he was yelled at on the sideline by a receiver. His coaching is not improved and his team lacks basic fundamentals that fall on his coaching. There is no excuse to not let him go.
I loved the hire of Kitchens. I loved what I saw last season and how he related to the players. I was wrong. He has failed and it is time to move on to someone else. John Dorsey must bury his ego and move on.
The expectations of this season have made this one of the tougher seasons to deal with in my lifetime. They completely kicked all the hope and promise out of the window, showing almost no sign of what we expected.
This final game on Sunday should have absolutely no bearing on the fate of Freddie Kitchens or anyone else on the roster. This game is meaningless to the evaluation of the team. They have already made their bed.