It happens sometimes
November 29, 2021Browns lose ugly in Baltimore: Behind the Numbers
November 30, 2021Where to begin?…
In an early-season run that feels like a whole lifetime ago, the Cleveland Browns were 3-1 and leading the Chargers 42-35 with just over four minutes to play. Things seemed to be exactly where everyone had hoped they would be following a season that saw the Browns a couple of plays short of the AFC Championship game.
Now, sitting at 6-6 following an inexplicable loss to the Ravens where the much-maligned defense picked off Lamar Jackson four (!!!) times, Cleveland, quite literally, limp into their bye week with all sorts of questions.
So…let’s try to parse through this a bit.
- We’ll start with the aspect of the Browns that, surprisingly enough, is the defense. Aside from the debacle in Foxboro, Joe Woods’ unit only allowed 42 points in the month of November and generated nine turnovers in those three games. With two of those games on the road against division opponents, it’s hard to find too much fault with that side of the ball lately. The third downs are still a bit of an issue, and it was again on Sunday night with the Ravens converting on 7-of-15 third-down attempts as well as their one fourth-down attempt, but when you’re able to force Lamar Jackson into, arguably, his worst day as a pro, it’s nearly impossible to blame the defense for the Browns’ loss in Baltimore. The 143 yards they gave up on the ground is even a bit misleading considering they held the Ravens to just 3.4 yards per carry. The only time Baltimore was able to find the end zone in the game came on the back of two prayer heaves by Jackson on the same drive. There are still certainly places that Cleveland’s defense can improve over the final five games of the regular season, especially when it comes to consistently delivering performances like the one on Sunday night, but I think they made more steps forward than backward on the whole in the month of November.
- Before we move on, I want to give some credit specifically to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The matchup with Lamar Jackson is exactly why the Browns drafted the hyper-athletic linebacker in April and it immediately showed on the field. JOK was everywhere for the Browns, making plays in coverage, in the run game, and as an open-field tackler. Hopefully, he’s able to carry that into their next matchup and into the years to come, but Sunday night was a great way to start for the rookie linebacker in what could be one of his most important roles on this team going forward.
- The Browns’ offense is broken. While the defense found some things that worked in November, the offense was seemingly figured out by the entire league and, suddenly, is nearly ineffective. Unfortunately, perhaps the biggest issue with this is the fact that there isn’t just one underlying problem. It’s a multi-layered issue that, seemingly, is too complex for them to solve this season.
- I’m not sure which of the problems is the biggest, but there is one thing that I think we can all point to as the reason the cracks in the foundation of the offense began to form: injuries. While the Browns were fairly lucky with injuries last season, that seemed to flip on them this season. I’m honestly not sure if they’ve run the same starting lineup out there for consecutive weeks all season and the lack of continuity shows. Obviously, we all know how beat up Baker Mayfield is. It’s been well-publicized and well documented. The bye week isn’t going to help his shoulder, but it may help his heel and knee to get better so at least he may not be limping when we see the Ravens again on December 12. The Blake Hance Experience has really limited the ability of Cleveland’s offense to confidently try to air the ball out deep on a consistent basis because you’re essentially trusting a backup guard to be a right tackle. The Ravens attacked that spot with surgical precision once Jack Conklin went down and it really threw off any chance the Browns had at getting the ball downfield. Without that ability, opposing defenses can stack the box and make life hell for a team that just wants to be able to run the ball.
- Speaking of stacking the box, let’s go on a quick journey back to the OBJ times. One of the things he provided to this offense, even when he wasn’t getting the ball, was a reason for defenses to keep the safeties back, giving Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt a little bit more space to find a gap. He might not have been a factor on the stat sheet that he or any of us had hoped, but he certainly changed the way defenses played against the Browns. Losing him, even if it was ultimately the only thing to do, cost the Browns that gravitational player that helped them in other aspects.
- All of these problems also create a hell of a predicament for Kevin Stefanski. I don’t think it’s any secret that his play-calling has come into question over the last few weeks. That just comes with the territory of only scoring 20+ points once in the last six games. As the offense has been figured out, there has been little in the way any adjustments were made to the way the Browns are scheming plays. Is some of that due to injuries? Yeah, probably. Is some of that due to the apparent void they have in WRs that are able to get open? Yeah, probably. Again, there’s a lot of layers to the offensive struggles. I’m not going to be someone that advocates for him to give up playcalling duties at this point. We’ve seen how good he can be when his offense has its full complement of assets at a level of health that is effective. The issue has been how slow he has been to adjust to the fact that he doesn’t have that.
- Needless to say, the bye week is a much-needed respite for the Browns. I think it would have been more helpful, on the health front, a few weeks ago, but that isn’t something they can control. I know I usually close with some kind of optimistic thing every week, and optimism doesn’t seem to be running rampant right now looking through Browns Twitter, but this team is still 6-6 and the playoffs are still within reach. Granted, it’s much more difficult now, with Cleveland likely needing to win at least four of their last five games to have a good chance, but that isn’t impossible. We all watched how the team came out of their bye week last season. Maybe it could happen again. But the truth is, for any of that to happen, they almost need to get revenge on Baltimore on December 12. Enjoy the week off…try not to burn Berea down in the interim.