Browns: 5 players who were failed by the coaches against the Patriots

The coaches failed these five Browns players the most against the Patriots.

The Browns are reeling after a brutal beating against the Patriots, and it was without a doubt a coaching problem. It was so bad that even the usual well-mannered Myles Garrett took a pot-shot at the coaching staff, saying outright that the team made no adjustments against the Patriots.

This was something that Kevin Stefani “talked” to Garrett about, though no one has said what was discussed. The fact of the matter is that Garrett wasn’t wrong. Every fan watching on Sunday saw the coaching staff just flail their arms mindlessly as the game went on, making no adjustments.

Stefanski continued to run empty-back sets where Baker Mayfield had one receiver, three tight ends, and a running back to throw to, and the defense didn’t know what to do once their All-Pro defensive ends were negated by a schemed-up Patriots offense.

The coaches failed these five players against the Patriots

Baker Mayfield

It’s a sad turn of affairs but here we are. Despite being one of the better quarterbacks in the league, proving time and time again that he can in fact win games for his team, and playing with more alignments than one can count, he’s getting dog walked by the media. Despite the fact, CBS sports announcers literally pointed out how bad the receiving options were at getting open. Maybe that’s a talent issue, but more than likely that’s a scheme issue. Mayfield is being railroaded for not making mistakes and forcing things. What is 2021 and how can we get this weird year to end?

D’Ernest Johnson

One impressive game made fans think people could actually just plug and play in the offense. Yet, we’ve found that to not be true. The greatest sin that Kevin Stefanski made us believe is that the team could function with anyone in any position. That’s not true. The offensive line is a mess, the receiving corp can’t do their job, and D’Ernest Johnson can only get yards in garbage time.

Myles Garrett & Jadeveon Clowney

It’s baffling that the coaches allowed Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney to get swallowed whole by the Patriots screen passes. Neither man made an impact in any facet and it showed as New England’s backup running back slashed his way through their time and time again.

Troy Hill

This isn’t about the injury, that could’ve happened at any time to anyone. The issue with Troy Hill is how he was, or more precisely, how he wasn’t used. He was a blitzing machine against the Bengals but against the Patriots, he just did the same old thing. The same old thing that didn’t really work all that well before. Hill showed an ability to cause chaos on blitzes and for some reason, Joe Woods thought better against blitzing him. If you only ever gameplan off of what the offense is going to do, then you’ve already lost. A good defensive coordinator will exploit the weaknesses in an offense, and force them into playing a vastly different game. The Browns’ defense catches the offense, they rarely ever force the offense. That’s the biggest issue here.