Cleveland Browns: Instant reactions to Week 15 loss
The Cleveland Browns had a disappointing trip to the desert on Sunday. Neither side of the ball did enough to earn a victory, and the Cardinals were able to pull away in the second half. Here are some instant reactions to the Week 15 loss.
The Cleveland Browns defense did not get the message that Sunday’s tilt with the Arizona Cardinals was a must-win. On the Cardinals’ first drive of the game, they went 90 yards in 9 plays and capped the drive with an option play to Kenyan Drake. It just looked too easy.
The Browns answered with a 10-play drive that ended six straight passes. The last of those passes resulted in a Baker Mayfield interception in the endzone. Not the start the Browns needed to have, especially on the road.
After trading punts, the Cards put together a quick six-play 67-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard Drake touchdown. Things looked like they could get out of hand early if the Browns couldn’t respond.
More from Dawg Pound Daily
- How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
- Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
- 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
- Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
- 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target
If the Browns were going to go down, Freddie Kitchens inexplicably decided to go down doing what they do best, and that running the football. The ensuing drive was seven play and five of them were runs. Nick Chubb was finding his rhythm and gashing the Cardinals. The Browns were showing signs of life.
The 10-play drive was finished off with four straight Chubb runs that covered 59 yards. Chubb’s final run of the drive was a beautiful 33-yard rumble that showed a little bit of all of his elite skills: vision, balance, speed, and power. For the first time all season, Freddie Kitchens was down 14-points and stayed with the run. It was an early-Christmas miracle.
The Cardinals came out and almost immediately gave the ball back to the Browns. Mack Wilson snagged a lofting pass to Charles Clay and gave the Browns excellent starting position. In short, the Browns did next to nothing with it. The short-field drive was salvaged by an Austin Seibert field goal.
The Cardinals answered by executing a near-flawless four-minute drive and scored a touchdown with only 25 seconds remaining in the first half. After seeing the excellent use of game-clock management, it made this writer wonder if Kitchens has ever thought about developing a four-minute offense for the Browns. It might be worth looking into.
The Browns come out of halftime and drive the ball 75-yards in 11 plays and get an easy touchdown to Ricky Seals-Jones. The drive consisted of good runs by Chubb and a couple of Cardinal holding penalties that extended the drive.
Cleveland’s defense forced their second punt of the day, and the offense fails to create any momentum and have to punt the ball right back to Arizona. The Cardinals capitalize on a rare poor punt by Jaime Gillan and drive the 61-yards in only 6 plays and get Kenyan Drake his 3rd touchdown of the contest.
From that point on, it was all downhill for the Browns. Missed FG’s, fumbles, and poor tackling finished out the day for the Browns. In a season of constant disappointment, the Browns manage to keep the theme going. Here are some quick reactions to today’s game.