Cleveland Browns: Freddie Kitchens mind-blowing third-and-one play call
Weird play calls gave the ball to Baltimore twice in two minutes, and a 6-0 lead became a 14-6 deficit at halftime. The Cleveland Browns never recovered.
Freddie Kitchens, soon-to-be-ex-coach of the Cleveland Browns, blew everyone’s mind in the team’s 31-15 loss against the hated arch-rival Baltimore Ravens. The Browns’ defense was having a great game, throwing a shutout against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Cleveland had a 6-0 lead as the first half was winding down to the 2:00 warning, and were facing third-and-one from their own 22-yard line. If they had been able to sustain a drive for two first downs, they would be able to run into the tunnel with a six-point lead.
The Browns also have Nick Chubb (remember him?) and Kareem Hunt (remember him also?) on the field. They also had a quarterback with an accurate arm and two Pro Bowl-caliber wide receivers.
So what is the best play call? Why, it’s trick play time! Coach Kitchens cannot resist calling trick plays, just like Bluto Blutarsky of Animal House cold not resist yelling “food fight!” at random times. How about the halfback option, Freddie? Sure! Why not?!
Related Story. Kitchens seals his fate with ugly loss to Ravens. light
After all, why have Baker Mayfield throw a pass when you can have Kareem Hunt do the same thing? So Baker pitched out to Hunt. Shockingly, Baltimore blew it up for an eight-yard loss. That forced the Browns to punt the ball to Baltimore with plenty of time on the clock.
Baltimore, however, messed up by scoring in two plays and punted back to the Browns. Once again, the Browns forgot the basics of situational football.
So, they tried three pass plays, taking all of 11 seconds off the clock — that is hard to do and again gave the ball to Baltimore with time on the clock.
Seven plays, 75 yards and 46 seconds later, Baltimore scored a second touchdown, putting them up 14-6 at the end of the first half.
That incredible sequence of events took the air out of FirstEnergy Stadium, as a fighting young team seemed to be crushed by the weird play calls from their eccentric and unorthodox coach.
Next. Meyer would be a good fit as Browns coach. dark
Perhaps we will soon have the opportunity to see whether these trick plays work any better in the XFL.