Cleveland Browns instant reactions: Freddie Kitchens seals fate in ugly loss to Ravens
By Randy Gurzi
Cleveland had some calls go their way for a change
Penalties bailed them out three on their opening scoring drive. First, was a holding call on 4th-and-2 where Baker Mayfield had thrown a pick to L.J. Fort. That play was nullified due to a hold by Marcus Peters, which gave the Browns a free set of downs.
Just a few plays later, they were going to go for it on 4th-and-1, but a hard count from Mayfield caused Matt Judon to jump and get called for encroachment. Again, Cleveland was bailed out three plays later when Mayfield threw it too high for Odell Beckham but a penalty on Jimmy Smith for pass interference put the ball on the 1-yard line and set up a touchdown for Demetrius Harris.
While Harris redeemed himself for an earlier third-down drop, Austin Seibert then came on and had a blunder as he missed the extra point. That was his fourth missed point-after try this season which has been rather frustrating, to say the least.
This isn’t to say the refs didn’t have their regular phantom calls against the Browns, because they did. One specific example came when OBJ caught his first pass of the game. A 22-yard gain ended with Beckham doing his signature chin waive which resulted in a taunting flag.
The frustration here is not only that Beckham has done this all year, but he also wasn’t directing it at anyone. Still, that call didn’t affect the outcome and this game cannot be put on anyone but the Browns.