Cleveland Browns studs and duds from frustrating Week 13 loss

Dud: Freddie’s clock management

One of the biggest issues Freddie Kitchens has had as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns is clock management. Week after week he seems to misuse timeouts and has a real problem with managing the final two minutes before the half.

Those issues reared their head again in Week 13 as Kitchens opened the door for the Steelers to get back in the game with a short drive that wasted no time off the clock. With less than three minutes left before the half, the Browns got the ball and should have tried to run down some clock.

Instead, Kitchens called a couple of passes, even though the running game was on fire at this point in the game. That not only led to a three-and-out, but it took less than 60 seconds off the clock.

Pittsburgh took advantage of this as they got the ball with 1:48 left in the half and marched 69 yards for a score, tying things up at 10-10. Making matters worse, Pittsburgh was set to get the ball back to start the third quarter.

On top of this, Kitchens continued to stubbornly call plays after the Browns got the ball back with 55 seconds left in the half. Not only did the Browns not score, but Baker Mayfield was injured after hitting his hand on Bud Dupree’s helmet on a deep pass. Adding insult to injury, Odell Beckham, Jr. also headed to the half early as he was hobbled.

Thankfully Mayfield and OBJ were both able to return but the Steelers capitalized still. They took the ball 69 yards on the first drive of the second half and ran in a one-yard touchdown to take a 17-10 lead. It was a 14-point turnaround that could have been avoided with better clock management.

The game seemed to turn on that series as the Steelers took full control of the game and Cleveland was never able to get the lead back.