Browns: Coaching failures and 5 other terrible things in loss to Cardinals

The Worst

Injuries

Watching Odell Beckham, Baker Mayfield, and Kareem Hunt get put on the mat as often as they were was awful. Seeing Hunt, in the Browns’ last real drive of the game, get taken off due to an injury is infuriating. Kevin Stefanski had how many active backs? Hunt was already banged up before the game, so injury expectation goes up. Why he didn’t give anyone a real chance besides Hunt to run the ball is mind-boggling. Now the Browns are down three backs, and that’s on Stefanski for relying solely on Hunt.

Pass Defense

Denzel Ward had two very honest and very correct pass interference calls which hurt the team immensely. This isn’t just about this game but Ward’s play has drastically fallen off in recent years and if he’s starting to think he’s worth top-tier cornerback money, it might be time to move on. As for the rest of the pass defense, it’s the same song and dance this week as it’s been since Week 1 in 2020.

Kevin Stefanski’s piss poor play-calling

Kevin Stefanski’s poor play-calling has hurt this team. The Browns could’ve had a chance if Stefanski weren’t playing so aggressively all the time. He’s proving every week that relying on “analytics” isn’t helping or making things better. The Browns need to discuss intelligent play-calling and not leaving points on the field. If you need 16 points late in the third quarter, you play far differently than you would if you were only down by, say 13. One’s a three-score game, the other is a two-score game. You don’t need to be so aggressive. This is the issue with going for it on fourth downs. Statistics mean nothing to the individual and Stefanski continues to prove this time and time again.