Freddie Kitchens earning his stripes as Cleveland Browns head coach

Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens didn’t seem ready to be a head coach, but he seems to have adjusted to the job and is learning on the fly.

During his first half season as a head coach for the Cleveland Browns, Freddie Kitchens looked like he was lost in the role. The team was undisciplined and frankly a mess on the field, and Kitchens was constantly making game management mistakes.

With his struggles as the head man, the team floundered to a 2-6 record during the first half of the season. For all of the expectations of the Browns being a playoff team, suddenly the Browns were in such a bad situation they looked like they were ready to fire Kitchens at the end of the season.

But since the four-game losing streak to give the Browns their sixth loss, Kitchens and the Browns have righted the ship. Now riding a three-game winning streak, the Browns find themselves back in the hunt for the second Wild Card.

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Kitchens deserves credit for the turnaround, especially for their recent turnaround from the Steelers game to the Dolphins game. He seems to have finally adjusted to the role and is doing better as a leader of the group and not making mistakes on the field.

With the help of Kitchens, the Browns had one of their best games of the season against the Dolphins on Sunday. Granted the Dolphins have been tanking this season and are not the most talented roster, but the Browns were executing in all phases for almost the entire game.

That has not been the case this season, as the Browns have constantly made mistakes throughout the course of games and either cost them leads or caused them to fall behind in games to where they couldn’t come back. The lack of execution and discipline fell squarely on the shoulders of Kitchens because it looked like he was not doing anything to fix the issues.

But as evidenced in the Dolphins game and over the past couple of weeks, the Browns have gradually eliminated those mistakes. No longer are they constantly making dumb penalties or not executing plays out of the huddle. By eliminating those mistakes, the Browns were able to build a 28-3 lead at halftime, even with a depleted defense. Although they compiled seven penalties against Miami, it is an improvement from the amount of penalties the team was making just a few weeks ago. They are not happening in critical moments and the team is able to bounce back from the penalties.

Kitchens may have finally caught the ear of the players and they have worked out the issues during the week, improving their performance on game days. It appears that Kitchens has earned the trust of the players and they are making the adjustments they need to make. And it seems to have started when Kitchens implemented the “1-0” mentality, the idea of just focusing on the game in front of the team each and every week.

That mentality paid off for the Browns against the Dolphins, especially with all of the noise surrounding the team following their brawl with the Steelers. The Browns were the center of the sports world, as everyone was discussing their actions, especially Myles Garrett‘s actions.

But even though the team was still being asked about the brawl days before their matchup against the Dolphins, Kitchens had the team ready to go. They were focused on the task at hand and he made sure the team did not allow the outside noise affect their preparation for Miami. It resulted in a 41-24 win for the Browns.

Kitchens certainly had his issues at the start of the season and they continued longer than many would have hoped. But now that he has games under his belt as a head coach, Kitchens seems to have finally made the adjustments as the leader of the team that were needed. And it has resulted in the Browns going on a three-game win streak.

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His leadership as the head coach will certainly be tested Week 13, as he has to have the team prepared for the Steelers and not have them worry about the potential actions following their brawl just two weeks ago. If he can have the Browns mentally prepared for the Steelers game and come out of Pittsburgh with another win, Kitchens will continue to earn his stripes as a head coach.

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