Cleveland Browns: Studs and duds from Week 12 win vs. Bengals
By Randy Gurzi
Stud: Freddie Kitchens
The most shocking move that happened after Hue Jackson and Todd Haley were both fired had to be the promotion of Freddie Kitchens. He went from running back coach to offensive coordinator after Gregg Williams was hired as the interim coach and most people simply asked who he was.
Kitchens joined the Browns this season after spending the past 12 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He had various roles with them including tight end coach, running back coach, and quarterback coach. What he never did was call plays or serve as an offensive coordinator.
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The only time Kitchens ever did call plays was when Cleveland played the Detroit Lions in the preseason this year. That made it a mystery as to what we would get, and what we got was a much better team than we had been seeing.
Kitchens has tailored this offense to what the players do best. He’s running plays that fit Baker Mayfield, rather than trying to get the quarterback to change who he is.
That’s a big reason why Mayfield has nine touchdowns against just one pick in the past three games. He’s also taken fewer hits as the ball is coming out faster than it was during Haley’s tenure. He’s gone from an unknown to a hot play caller, which makes Kitchens one of our studs of the week.