The Cleveland Browns had one of their ugliest offensive showings of the season on Sunday against the New York Jets.
How bad was it?
The Browns:
- could not sustain drives (a combined 4-of-18 on third/fourth downs and five consecutive possessions between the second and third quarters that ended with a punt);
- averaged just three yards per play;
- had their leading rusher (Quinshon Judkins) average just 3.1 yards per carry; and
- saw quarterback Deshaun Watson complete just 45 percent of his passes, get sacked a career-high eight times, and take numerous hits.
In a lot of ways, it was reminiscent of the Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, except that the Jaguars are now 4-1 while the Jets came into the game with just one win and fresh off being slapped around by the Chicago Bears.
So what went wrong? Was this the beginning of Watson turning back into the quarterback that filled the Browns with regret from 2022
to 2024? Is Judkins turning into Trent Richardson 2.0? Maybe the offensive line needs to up its game? Should we just blame it on the rain that was falling at MetLife Stadium?
Head coach Todd Monken was asked about it during his media availability on Monday, and he essentially channeled the spirit of the wise Lester Freamon from The Wire and pointed out that all the pieces matter:
“I think that’s always the case. (The sacks are all) not a Deshaun issue. That’s an athletic quarterback issue and trying to make plays. They’re so used to being able to escape and make plays, and you do see it, you see it weekly. So that is the hardest part: when you’ve got to get the ball out. You’ve got to mitigate the loss, because for every big play that you make, it can’t be offset with a sack, because one’s a drive extender and one’s a drive killer.
“We have to do a better job coaching-wise with our protection schemes, our communication up front, and our attention to detail as a group. And then we’ll give ourselves a chance. It’s not all him. There’s a piece of it that is, there’s a piece of it I have to own, and our offensive staff has to own, and there’s a piece that all of our players have to own. That’s part of the pie. The pie that is winning and losing, which is coaching and scheme. (It is there) in terms of attention to detail, in terms of how we do it, how we practice it.
“And then the other part of it is the opponent, what impact they have on it. And they’re all a piece of it, and we all own it. Just like we’re going to all own the wins, we’re going to all own this. And that’s part of what we do. And we’re going to come back and fight like hell to fix everything that we know that we’re capable of. Because I’ve seen our best, and our best is good enough. And now we just got to be able to stack plays, starting with us as coaches and then players. That’s just what you do every week.”
Sounds like the Browns have a lot to work on this week in practice as they prepare to host the first-place Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
What do you think, Browns fans? Just a bad day from the offense, or is this an omen of what the rest of the season will be like? Have your say in the comments!
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