Cleveland Browns: 5 Browns whose stock plummeted after Rams’ loss

5. Freddie Kitchens

Putting a coach on this list isn’t a cop out, because in the NFL, winners have two things: Coach and quarterback.

And right now, the Browns have a coach who will be a national joke for the entire week for dialing up a draw on 4th and 9, instead of the great offensive mind we though we all hired following his successful stint as an interim offensive coordinator in the second of of 2018.

Freddie Kitchens said after the game not to blame his players, rather, blame him. OK, Coach, you got it.

Browns’ Twitterati is ready to strip play calling duties, and hand them over to offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Longtime coach Rex Ryan called the draw the worst play call he’s ever seen, and as ESPN’s Jake Trotter pointed out, there has never been a draw play called on 4th and 9 or more since the four-letter network began tracking this type of thing back in 2007.

The real rub? Freddie forgetting that it was fourth down! Not confirmed, but I don’t have a better explanation. Kitchens went to say in the postgame that the play “Just didn’t work.”

There was also the final series at the 5-yard line. Kitchens had four plays and threw every single time with three timeouts in his pocket. Nothing creative. Had he done this last season, John Dorsey would’ve laughed at him during his job interview.

The offense is broken, and there’s no other way to spin it. How was Odell Beckham Jr. not targets on that final series?

Then, there’s the penalties. The Browns don’t mind their home field being littered with dirty yellow laundry while playing in front of their fans.

there were six pre-snap penalties on offense, which screams a lack of preparation. Again, this was on their home field. Inexcusable.

The lack of preparation haunted the Browns in Week 1, and it crept it’s ugly head up once again. If it happens again, then you have a trend and Kitchens stock will be on life support.

Coach and quarterback. That’s what wins in the NFL and the Browns don’t have consistent men in place at either spot.

Bernie Kosar has always told me that the quarterback is a product of the cast around him. Right now, Mayfield’s cast isn’t strong, on the sidelines, or on the field, particularly on the offensive eline.