That was easy: Takeaways from Ohio State’s dominant 59-31 win over Purdue
November 15, 2021
This Week in North coast Baseball: Rule 5
November 16, 2021
Ugly. Inexcuseable. Embarrassing.
Those are just three of the many words you can use to describe the Cleveland Browns suffering 45-7 loss to the Patriots in Foxborough on Sunday afternoon. It was a wake-up call, to say the least. Will changes or adjustments be made heading into the final seven games of the regular season? Adjustments sure weren’t made during the loss in New England, which could be the reason why Kevin Stefanski might have one less assistant after this week. I mean, when the team’s official Twitter account tweets out Myles Garrett basically calling out defensive coordinator Joe Woods. Things were utterly ridiculous and ugly on Sunday.
The Browns were outplayed, outexecuted, and outcoached in a game that had plenty of playoff implications, even if it was only Week 10. Cleveland decided to just now show up, I guess. In what has been a rollercoaster of a season so far through 10 weeks, the Browns are certainly at the bottom of the hill and hoping to make their way up sooner rather than later.
“That is the frustrating part because we are way, way too inconsistent as a team right now,” Kevin Stefanski said of the team’s inconsistencies on a week-by-week basis. “I have seen it. I have seen some good moments from our offense, from our defense, and from special teams. We just have to put it all together, and that is what we are going to work hard this week to do. We have to identify those things that we are doing well and find those things that we are not doing so well and improve them. I do not think there is any magic wand when it comes to that. I think we just have to identify and then work at it so that we can play to our full potential.”
Before we get even more negative, let’s dig into some of the numbers from the embarrassing loss:
19 for 99 and 7 for 58 – One of the only positives from Sunday’s loss in Foxborough, D’Ernest Johnson had a solid 19 carries for 99 yards. The problem was that after having a little over 50 yards on the opening drive of the game, he wasn’t really able to move the ball much after that, much like the rest of the offense.
Not only was Johnson the team’s leading rusher, but he also led the Browns in receptions and receiving yards as well, finishing with seven catches for 58 yards. Nothing against Johnson, but if he’s leading the team in both catches and receiving yards, it’s probably not a good thing, as Cleveland found out on Sunday.
4 for 189 – The other positive from Sunday: Jamie Gillan punted really well, especially with one punt that landed at the half-yard line and another that landed inside the 10-yard line. The problem: The Patriots were able to score a touchdown on both of those drives. Utterly ridiculous.
7-of-9 – The Browns’ defense (somehow) got even worse in terms of stopping the opposing offense on third down. It’s an area that they have struggled in for much of the season and against the Patriots, Cleveland allowed New England to convert 7-of-9 third-down attempts. The Browns’ defense struggled immensely during the loss in Foxborough and the third-down defense was a big reason for that. When the defense can’t get off the field on third downs, it leads to more points and the defense getting tired sooner, both of which happened.
Joe Woods’ group has now allowed a 44.4% conversion rate on third downs this season, which is the sixth-worst mark in the NFL.
1-of-11 – For as bad as the Browns’ defense was stopping third downs, Cleveland’s offense was just as bad, if not worse, at converting third downs, as they completed just one of a possible 11 conversions. I mean, the offense struggled and looked horrible throughout much of Sunday’s game, not being able to extend drives certainly won’t help that going forward.
“We have to be better on third down,” Johnson said of the team’s third-down struggles on offense. “On third down, we have to capitalize more. That is something that we understand that we need to focus on. Just need to get better on third downs.”
2 – Cleveland made it inside the red zone just twice (compared to New England’s six red-zone opportunities). Not only did they barely make it inside the 20-yard line, but they basically came nowhere near it after the opening drive of the game, which led to their lone touchdown.
133 – Good news: The Browns scored a touchdown to conclude an 11-play, 84-yard drive, one that was very scripted.
Bad news: The offense had just 133 total yards after that opening drive, many of which came in garbage time. It’s also worth noting that on the remaining four possessions in the first half, the Browns had a total of 17 yards. Cleveland clearly didn’t make adjustments.
85 to 73 – While Baker Mayfield got hurt in the second half, the fact that Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer had more yards (85) than Baker (73) tells you all you need to know about how bad the defense was in the loss on Sunday. They also threw for the same amount of touchdowns (one).
56.3 – Not only did Hoyer have more yards than Baker, but No. 6 was completely outplayed by Mac Jones, who put himself in the discussion to win the NFL Rookie of the Year. Mayfield finished with a dismal 56.3 quarterback rating. While the Browns’ defense certainly made it look easier than it should have been for the rookie, Jones also did things that most first-year quarterbacks shouldn’t (or even can’t) do so early on. He put on a clinic at times.
3.7 – The Browns averaged just 3.7 yards per play compared to the Patriots’ 7.3 yards per play. A big oof to that. My goodness.
3.1 – Continuing with averages, the Browns somehow averaged less per play (3.1) than they did per play, the number used above. Cleveland averaged five yards per rush, which certainly isn’t bad, but when an NFL team only averaged 3.1 yards per pass, it’s pretty ugly.
5-5 – The Browns now sit at 5-5. With just seven games to go, it’s likely that they will have to finish the season 5-2 (and have a 10-7 record at season’s end) at worst in order to make the playoffs. Cleveland has plenty of issues but they better figure it out quickly if they want to make the postseason.
Just throw the tape away. The game was that ugly. On to the Lions.
