The Browns fell to the Steelers on Halloween.
It was a spooky game for the ages, as the Browns decided to haunt themselves across all four quarters. The Browns may have lost to the Steelers 15-10, but their only foes were themselves. The Browns had a number of dropped passes, and far too many personal foul calls that hurt the team.
The Browns started the first quarter in a defensive slugfest, where the Browns went up 3-0 early in the game.
Cleveland carried that lead into the second quarter, where the Steelers were able to stop Nick Chubb on 4th and 1 to get a turnover on downs. While Chubb would have a few big runs, the Steelers were able to stifle the running game. The Steelers got a field goal to tie it up, sending the game into halftime tied 3-3.
After forcing the Steelers into a three and out, Cleveland marched down the field, setting up D’Ernest Johnson with a touchdown. The Steelers lost their kicker on a trick play, setting up a 4th and 2 that Ben Roethlisberger was able to convert for a touchdown, going up 15-10.
Then in the fourth, down by five, the Browns had two drives to take the lead but on both drives, Jarvis Landry actively harms the team. Landry catches a beautiful pass to him, only to fumble the ball away. Then in a redemption arc of sorts, Mayfield finds him wide open on a fourth-down conversion on the second drive, but Landry just lets the ball bounce off his hands.
That was all she wrote and the Browns would go on to lose the game.
The Good
Baker Mayfield
D’Ernest Johnson carried the Browns to a win against Denver, that’s not in dispute. Baker Mayfield was going to but apparently, the team around him decided they only wanted to half-ass their play today. While not officially stated, you could easily argue there were seven drops on the day. Maybe six, maybe eight. Mayfield was driving for a game-winning drive *TWICE* but a fumble by Jarvis Landry on drive one and a boneheaded drop by Landry on 4th and forever killed the second drive. Mayfield played as well as he could but he can’t make receivers catch things.
The defense (mostly)
The defense played well. Sure they gave up a few big plays but the corners of Greedy Williams and Greg Newsome are for real and the defensive line did everything they could. Heck, even Anthony Walker played a good game. The Browns defense has nothing to be upset about. They did their jobs. You want to see more turnovers but here we are.
Playcalling
The Steelers nerfed the Browns’ running game and Kevin Stefanski adapted. The Browns made a lot of great calls that were either stunted by drops or completely erased due to boneheaded play. The Browns penalties are the reason why this team is 4-4 now.
The Bad
Early season hype
This offense is severely limited by these receivers. They’re not good, or to say, they’re not as good as advertised. Jarvis Landry is not an ace receiver, Odell Beckham can’t make a play to save his life. Rashard Higgins, what was up with him today? Harrison Bryant hasn’t made a big play in who knows how long and Austin Hooper is either going to drop the ball or get four yards. It’s impossible to blame Baker Mayfield when you have six or seven drops in a single game. Not to mention the mental errors these men keep making.
Jarvis Landry
Three drops, and a fumble. Two very catchable balls left on the turf. Hurt or not, his play was borderline pathetic. He’s supposed to be the guy who makes those plays. That’s why he gets paid as much as he does.
Bad coaching
Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefanski, and the rest of the Browns coaches need to be held responsible for the number of penalties this team creates. They’ve brought these guys in, they coached them, and the Browns are somehow still the most dysfunctional, least disciplined teams we’ve seen in some time. They either need to get these guys to stop making these boneheaded decisions or get rid of them.
The Conclusion
We know what needs to change. Firstly, the Browns need new receivers. This is not a good receiving corp and to all those pundits that praised Cleveland and talked about how good they’d be were only doing so because of the name-value that each player had. Secondly, people need to be cut or traded; namely Ronnie Harrison and Rashard Higgins. Discipline is so important for success and Harrison has now had three huge, irresponsible penalties on him this year. Thirdly, either a coach needs to be fired, or replaced because someone has to teach these men accountability and professionalism. These mental mistakes are all about character. If you have it, you don’t make these mistakes.
Either the talent is the problem or the coaches are the problem. Frankly, I don’t think the coaches are (completely) the problem. I think they need a coach whose entire job is to teach the players discipline, not jumping offsides, keeping your cool; stuff like that. Just using the “it’s a violent game, what do you expect” excuse is just that; an excuse. How many times in a game do guys not hit people when they’re out of bounds? Just about every play. For Harrison to do that proved to so many people that he’s too much of a hothead to rely on.
If you can’t rely on him, he shouldn’t be playing.
This Browns team is undisciplined. That’s beyond obvious. That’s on Andrew Berry. He brought these players in. He’s the one who looked past character issues and decided to prove “his culture” can keep people in line. His culture is crap. The Browns are dysfunctional. They’re the most penalized team in the league.
That is not the sign of a well-managed, well-coached team. That is pure evidence that the culture still needs work. This has to change because that lack of discipline is why the Browns are 4-4 and not 5-3.