Coaching: F
It may not be fair. After all, head coach Hue Jackson and his staff kept the Browns within twenty points against a far superior Patriots team with Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback. Doesn’t Hue deserve any credit for that?
Well, once again, moral victories do not contribute to the grading of these position groups. As good of a guy coach Jackson may be, even if he is the coach to finally turn the Browns around, he did not have them prepared for the Patriots.
Not to mention, the play calling was atrocious. Sure, the running game wasn’t working, but he really didn’t give it a legitimate chance to succeed. It has been proven time and time again that large comebacks are fueled by balance on offense, not a predictable shotgun pass on every play. The Browns threw the ball 35 times and ran it just 19, a ratio of almost 2:1. For a team who dominated on the ground last week, and is playing a career backup at quarterback, this just isn’t going to get it done.
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton also called a miserable game. Just when the team was finding pressure, he mixed everything up dropped everyone back into coverage. Due to this, the Browns watched haplessly as Brady threw for 400 yards.
Jackson and Horton knew what they were getting into when they came to Cleveland for the 2016 season, the first year of this rebuilding process. This isn’t to advocate for their removal in any way. But the coaching staff must take responsibility, have their team prepared better in the coming weeks, and call the game more effectively in order to truly turn the Browns around.