The Cleveland Browns started out strong but then faded quickly as Freddie Kitchens might have sealed his fate in their ugly 31-15 loss to the Ravens
Despite coming into this game with a record of 6-8, the Cleveland Browns had a shot at the playoffs. It was probably about as good of a chance Lloyd Christmas had with Mary Swanson, but it was a chance nonetheless.
They also had a shot at going 5-1 in their division if they could win this game against the Baltimore Ravens as well as their Week 17 contest with the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Of course, before considering either of those scenarios they needed to make sure and do their job. That didn’t happen as they fell to 6-9 with a loss to the Ravens. While losing to the hottest team in the NFL isn’t something to be ashamed of, the way they lost is.
Cleveland came out playing well and with two minutes to go in the first half, they were up 6-0. Then, the bottom fell out as Lamar Jackson and the Ravens scored twice right before the half and then got the ball back to start the third quarter and made it 21-6 with another touchdown drive.
From there, Cleveland was playing catch-up but continued to make errors whenever they would get momentum. Once they made it 21-9, they let the Ravens march 62-yards and match their field goal.
Then they finally got a touchdown from Baker Mayfield to Odell Beckham, Jr. which gave them some momentum. However, that momentum was lost as Freddie Kitchens went for two and the pass fell incomplete to Ricky Seals-Jones.
That was the story of the game and in the end, Baltimore won it by a score of 31-15 and is now 13-2 whereas the Browns now know they will have a losing record yet again.
With all that being said, we look back at the game with a couple of instant reactions to their Week 16 defeat.
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.
Freddie Kitchens still seems confused
Freddie Kitchens continues to make questionable calls. One example was a 3rd-and-2 in the second quarter where Freddie decided to go with an empty set and throw the ball despite having the best running back in football.
Nick Chubb, who entered the game as the leading rusher in the league was watching as Baker Mayfield threw a pass to tight end Demetrius Harris, who had room to run. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to pull it in and the Browns were unable to convert.
They did make up for it and ended up scoring on the drive but that was thanks to penalties by Baltimore rather than Cleveland making the plays they needed to.
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Kitchens was also indecisive in that drive, going back and forth with the decision to kick it, or go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Ravens 23. He was bailed out by the refs bringing in the chains for review, otherwise, they likely would have wasted a timeout due to his waffling.
If these were his only mistakes, they could be forgiven. But they weren’t.
Kitchens started the game out by taking the ball rather than deferring. That was an effort to set the tone but all it did was allow them to get a single first down before punting. Their defense held so it seemed as though it wasn’t a major issue, until the final two minutes.
Up 6-0, the Browns had some questionable play calls as they were throwing the ball and not killing the clock. With 1:50 left to play, Baltimore scored on just two plays — the second being a 39-yard touchdown to Mark Andrews.
Cleveland then got the ball back and Kitchens called three consecutive passing plays, all of which were incomplete. Baltimore had no timeouts and there was just over one minute to play but the Browns killed only 16 seconds.
Unsurprisingly, Baltimore again capitalized as Andrews hauled in a 14-yard touchdown with just nine seconds remaining. The best part for the road team, they were also getting the ball after the break. And that’s what really put it away. Already up 14-6, the Ravens got another touchdown following a long drive to start the third quarter — as yet another decision by Kitchens haunted this team.
The frustration is growing in The Land
When the Browns lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15, we all saw Jarvis Landry lose his cool. The Cleveland receiver was seen getting heated when talking to coach Freddie Kitchens on the sidelines.
This confrontation was mild compared to many on the sideline but it still led to more speculation that the players were done with Freddie Kitchens. That could continue into this week as now Odell Beckham, Jr. was seen voicing his displeasure with Kitchens following a failed two-point conversion.
Anyone who watched it without bias could see OBJ was just frustrated because he felt he had a mismatch that could be exploited and was trying to tell his coach this. Instead, they went to Ricky Seals-Jones and the conversion failed.
Considering Beckham just burnt his guy for a touchdown in single coverage, it made sense why he felt he could do it again on the next play. And he really wasn’t overly animated when pleading with Kitchens but the frustration was obvious — which means this one will blow up worse than it should.
OBJ wasn’t the only one showing frustration either as the 60,000-plus in attendance weren’t thrilled either. The fans in attendance at the Dawg Pound were booing their team and then even started a “Fire Freddie” chant.
Cleveland’s front office doesn’t want to move on from their coach but with the rookie continually making the same mistakes, it’s hard to believe he will improve.
And if the players have started to check out, they may not have a choice.