Browns: Recapping the Vikings game with the 3 good and 3 bad of Week 4

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – OCTOBER 03: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns is sacked by Dalvin Tomlinson #94 of the Minnesota Vikings during the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 03, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /

The Bad

The play calling

Kevin Stefanski’s desire to go for it on fourth down is becoming a concern. It may be the “in-thing” to go for touchdowns over field goals but when you’re in the first drive of a game against a defense you know little about, go for the field go and get the points. Stop trying to be cute.

The pass blocking

Jedrick Wills does not need to be in the game if he’s hurt. He’s not better hurt than someone else healthy. We’re seeing this week after week. In Week 4 he got popped for a false start and a holding penalty, which seems to be his weekly reminder that he’s on the team. The rest of the offensive line wasn’t helping much in the passing game, but they all at least tried. So that’s something.

The passing game

The Browns’ passing game was pretty terrible all game. Baker Mayfield did miss some passes but this was far more of a collapse by the unit as a whole. We already talked about the blocking but the Vikings’ defense took down the ability to go to the receivers. Which shouldn’t be surprising, the Browns have no reliable receiving options without Jarvis Landry. Most of the receiver talent on this team was given a big dose of “hype” in the preseason that they didn’t deserve and we’re seeing that now. Couple that with the blocking, play-calling, and utter unit failure and this was almost bound to happen.

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