The Cleveland Browns did not have a good day against the New England Patriots.
The Cleveland Browns got their faces kicked in by the New England Patriots in a game that could easily be described as the worst effort put forward by the Cleveland Browns all season. The offense was inept, the defense was bad, and the cracks are starting to show.
The Browns’ offense, long been thought of as the best in the NFL by some in Cleveland, showed why that theory was a fallacy. The Browns have no offense when the Browns running game falls apart. If you can contain Nick Chubb, you will destroy the Browns’ offense. Kevin Stefanski proved he can’t win by running the ball, as he opted to pass 45 times with Jacoby Brissett.
Brissett played badly because, as I’ve said all season long, Brissett isn’t a starter. He’s a very average NFL backup. This was yet another example of that. This isn’t to dog on Brissett but to further emphasize that you need to temper your expectations with him.
The defense is a mess and it’s not on Joe Woods. Keep in mind Woods only runs the play-calling. Kevin Stefanski is the one that oversees everything on this team. If the defensive scheme doesn’t work, look at Stefanski. If you don’t like the defensive philosophies, look at Stefanski. It’s not Woods’ job to teach defensive tackles how to shed blockers, that’s the defensive line coach’s job. It’s not Woods’ job to teach defensive backs how to shift their weight into a sprint without falling down. That’s the defensive back coach’s job.
It’s also not Woods’ job to draft defensive players who can play, that’s Andrew Berry’s job. Woods will probably get fired, but that won’t change anything. The scheme is flawed and that takes a full offseason to fix. The players also aren’t very good and that’s all on Berry.
This team is a mess and a losing season is very likely unless the team makes dramatic improvements to the squad before and at the trade deadline. The franchise can’t afford to give up on any season with all the money they invested in current players.
Three Good
Cade York
The entire offense was carried by Cade York, who kicked three field goals, leading the team in points. He should have had a fourth field goal but Kevin Stefanski once again tried to be aggressive and it bit him in the rear.
Myles Garrett had a neat little game
The idea that sacks as a critical stat are starting to be brought up more and more. Joe Burrow pointed out that a third-down sack is pretty meaningless, and he has a point. Whether it’s an incomplete pass or a sack, the end result is the same. Though, Garrett getting a strip-sack, and two tackles for a loss today is a nice stat line to have. It’s fair to say Garrett had a nice deal today, it’s also fair to say he again did not influence the game at all. Either defensive ends are an over-valued position or Garrett just isn’t the game-changer we’re led to believe, because the Patriots scored five touchdowns today, and at no point did Garrett seem like a guy who was affecting the game dramatically. It felt more like he took advantage of breakdowns, not so much that he was disrupting anything. But he probably had the best game of any Browns player, so here we are.
The Cleveland Guardians
They are one game away from going to the ALCS against the Houston Astros and let’s be honest, the fact I found two good things from this game should show you how hard I’m trying here.
The Bad
The Browns Offense
Jacoby Brissett completed just 46% of his passes, threw two interceptions, and couldn’t push the ball downfield. The offensive line couldn’t get separation, with even the announcers pointing out Ethan Pocic’s poor play. Kareem Hunt was taken down by arm tackles and Nick Chubb was made ineffective by the widening lead the Patriots were putting up.
The Browns Defense
Joe Woods calls the plays, Kevin Stefanski implements the schemes and philosophy, while the position coaches train the players. You can blame Woods, but that doesn’t excuse that the players are bad at executing and that the talent the Browns have isn’t good. It’s easier to just blame Woods than admit Stefanski’s philosophy and Andrew Berry’s drafting are actually the issues. This was a system that was a Top 10-ranked team last year. What changed? Players were discarded and replaced, and those players aren’t playing as well as past players. In fact, in 2020, they had one of the best run defenses in the league. Clearly, the scheme can work when it has the players it needs. That’s on the GM.
The Browns Coaching
Just from top to bottom, the coaching is bad. Kevin Stefanski’s offensive and defensive schemes only work well against subpar teams. His play calling is abhorrent, 45 times passing with Jacoby Brissett? Why? Passing up easy points that can change the direction of a game, and after three years of not being a blitzing team, still refusing to blitz. All that’s on Stefanski. We can mention how the defensive position coaches have failed their players. Watching Grant Delpit break out of his back peddle and eat grass is embarrassing and shouldn’t happen. Then again, this is not a very talented team, so what can you really expect? I will say this, and I mean it as much as I can mean anything; this will be the last year Kevin Stefanski and his staff or Andrew Berry is in Cleveland together.
Either Stefanski’s philosophies for the offense and defense are at fault, or Berry’s inability to get this team talent is.