It’s not all bad, nor is it all good after the Cleveland Browns Week 1 loss.
The Cleveland Browns looked awful against the Baltimore Ravens in their 38-6 drubbing. The worst part is, every issue that was reported on during training camp was exactly the reason why the Browns got their teeth kicked in. Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling was inconsistent and outlandishly bad at times, calling for pass plays on third and way-short when you have the (supposedly) best running back tandem in the NFL? Forcing plays to Odell Beckham Jr.? Abandoning the run?
Time is a flat circle, apparently.
The game was bad, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some positivity to take away from the game. The Browns, compared to last year, were almost mistake-free with regards to penalties. There were a few, but last year’s season opener saw the team commit 18 penalties. This year, the Browns only committed eight penalties. A huge improvement.
Larry Ogunjobi also looked phenomenal in the first half of the game, he had four total tackles, three solos, and one for a loss. He even stripped the football from Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, which was recovered by Myles Garrett. One of only two times Garrett’s name was called all game.
The Browns looked rough, there’s no doubt about it. That doesn’t mean the team is sunk for the year because there was some good that was seen in this week’s game. So with that said, let’s look at the three best things from Week 1 and the three worst things from Week 1.
Good
The pass blocking
You cannot say that the Cleveland Browns did not look better with their pass protection. The offseason additions made immediate dividends and were even able to help cover up Jedrick Wills’ shotty play. Jack Conklin didn’t just look good in the passing game but the team got most of their best plays running off of him.
Great ability to gain yards on the ground
Between Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, the Browns owned the ground. When Kevin Stefanski wanted to run the ball, that is. Much like with Freddie Kitchens, the “run-heavy” attack that Stefanski and the media hyped up all week was nonexistent. It felt like last year’s Browns all over again with 39 passing plays to 27 rushing plays. Yes, the Browns being in a hole caused some of this but the team went away from the run when it was only 24-6.
Which is baffling considering how easy it was for Hunt and Chubb to cut up the Ravens rush defense. They had 132 yards combined between them, on just 23 carries for a whopping 5.7 YPC.
David Njoku and Jarvis Landry made plays when the team went to them.
Despite having a camp, David Njoku had a good game. Three receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. The only one that was thrown all day. Like Njoku, when targeted, Jarvis Landry had a good game, five passes on six attempts for 61 yards. Clearly this wasn’t just a game where Baker Mayfield struggled, this was also a gameplan that got away from head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Bad
Odell Beckham looked disinterested.
Whether it was a facemask call, a drop pass, or not paying attention to his positioning on the field, Odell Beckham Jr. looked disinterested in playing. Targeted a team-high ten times, Beckham only had three catches, one of which was a drop and another two looked like plays that could’ve been made if he ran his routes with more crispness and effort. This is now year four that he’s looked less-than-what-was-promised.
The Defense looked awful.
Credit where it’s due, Larry Ogunjobi looked good. That was it. Olivier Vernon gave up on tackles whilst in the process of making them, the linebackers were making tackles eight yards downfield (gee, sure glad we got rid of Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey). The secondary was all over the place, letting Lamar Jackson carve them up like ham on Christmas, and worst yet, Myles Garrett wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He had one tackle all game. He’s 4th highest-paid player in the NFL. He no longer gets to have bad games, where he doesn’t show up. He took the contract. Time to show up.
He should send the team his game check from Week 1.
Baker Mayfield fell apart
Baker Mayfield was a tale of two halves. Yeah, he looked good in the first part of the game (save for an interception) but he has got to stop letting Odell Beckham get in his head. At the end of the first quarter, the Browns and Mayfield started calling up Beckham’s number and that’s when everything fell apart. Mayfield needs to know when to tell Beckham to sit down and run with what’s working.
Mayfield also threw behind some guys and threw some ugly looking duck-passes. The offense looked bad all training camp, so hopefully, that’s all this is but it was not something anyone wanted to see unfold in Week 1.
Bonus (Bad)
Bad play calling.
Kevin Stefanski did everything in week one that Freddie Kitchens did. Instead of having faith in the running game, he largely abandoned it in the second quarter. He forced plays to go through Beckham, despite the offense clicking without him even being on the field. He ran a lot of empty sets, which was a bit confusing considering the makeup of his roster. After months of him saying he’s going to run to set up the pass, it feels like he scrapped his entire gameplan last minute because he wanted to do what all the other “cool coaches” were doing.
Take-Aways
There are reasons for panic. The Browns issues are largely expected and have been largely known since free agency opened. The defense was just flat out bad and why wouldn’t it be? They cut or didn’t re-sign their second, third, and fourth-best players from 2019 and replaced them with bargain bin contracts.
The offense has largely been a problem all training camp, with a lot of reporters citing inconsistency and that’s what we got today. Beckham’s attitude popped up and that again took away focus from the game. It’s also time to admit that he’s no longer an elite receiver. Not even close.
The team has hope, however. The offense has all sorts of weapons and when Mayfield wasn’t being forced to include Beckham like an older brother dragging his little brother around, Mayfield looked good. Stefanski needs to make adjustments and needs to stop worrying about if Beckham is happy. Who cares if he is? Worry about running plays that work.
The Browns Week 2 opponent is the Cincinnati Bengals and ugh. Why does this feel like it’s going to be a season of bad blowouts?