Cleveland Browns: Studs and duds from season finale loss against Ravens

Dud: Gregg Williams

If Gregg Williams wanted to use Sunday’s game as a way of proving that he should be named the Browns full-time head coach, then he failed in doing so. Williams made a couple of questionable decisions late in the game that almost ruined the Browns chances of winning.

With 12 minutes to go in the game and the Browns trailing 23-17, the Ravens offense was facing a 3rd & 4. Dixon rushed to near the first down marker, but he looked like he was down a yard short of converting the first down. However, the line judge gave the Ravens a questionable spot, giving Baltimore a first down.

With the time winding down, it seemed like if Williams would have challenged the spot, the Ravens would have faced a fourth down and put the Browns in a better position to win. Instead, Williams did not challenge the spot, and the Ravens were able to go down the field and convert a field goal, making it a two-possession game.

Then with the Browns in the red zone with four minutes to go, Mayfield threw a pass to Njoku in the corner of the end zone that was ruled incomplete. It was a close play that could have been reviewed.

However, Williams did not manage the moment in an efficient manner, allowing the play clock to wind down. Williams would call a timeout, and then threw the challenge flag. But because he had already called the timeout before he challenged the play, the Browns would have risked losing their second timeout.

Those two game management decisions by Williams hurt the Browns late in the game. The Browns needed every opportunity to stop the Ravens offense and needed to keep every timeout, but Williams decided to not be aggressive on either decision.

And not to mention that Williams’ defense seemed very unprepared for the Ravens offense, allowing them to run all over his defense. Williams had a chance to be in contention for the Browns full-time head coaching job, but his performance against the Ravens hurt his chances.