3 Cleveland Browns with plummeting stock after Week 12 loss
The Cleveland Browns record moved to 6-6 following a close loss to the AFC North division rival Baltimore Ravens. Which players saw their stocks plummet following this most recent gut-punching loss?
While the Cleveland Browns only lost to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night football by a score of 16-10, it felt like the game was much more lopsided than that at times. The Browns defense played really well, keeping Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense off-balance most of the night and allowing only one touchdown drive all game.
However, Baker Mayfield and the offense struggled to find any rhythm themselves, as the running game never found its footing against the second-ranked rushing defense in the league, finishing the game with only 40 yards on the ground. Mayfield was unable to provide enough of a lift in the passing game, as his receivers struggled with drops all game.
As bleak as this Cleveland team has looked at times this season, be it their inability to execute consistently on offense or stop opposing teams on defense, they fought hard on Sunday night and showed that they won’t go away without a fight this season. With the season winding down quickly, that sort of fight is good to see, but you need to see more positive outcomes on the field in order to achieve your goals of making the playoffs.
Sunday night’s game saw plenty of performers who put their stock with the team both in the coming weeks and after this season in jeopardy. Here’s who needs to step up after a lackluster performance on Sunday to avoid a bad fate.
Cleveland Browns with plummeting stock No. 3: Assistant Coach in charge of substitutions
All substitutions are made final by the head coach, but each team in the NFL usually designates one or two assistant coaches to oversee substitutions and ensure that the proper players are on the field for the given play-call or substitution package. In the first half of Sunday night’s game, the Cleveland Browns found themselves with multiple substitution issues, meaning that the coach in charge of that may be relieved of those gameday duties going forward.
On a fourth-down play, the Browns had 12 men on the field on defense, which forced head coach Kevin Stefanski to call a timeout to avoid a five-yard penalty and give the Ravens a first down. Immediately following the timeout, the Browns still had 12 men on the field and gave up the first down anyway. The Ravens would go down the field and score a field goal on that drive.
On the very next kickoff, the Browns only had 10 players on the field, and on that offensive possession, they had to run off the 12th man right before breaking the huddle to avoid another penalty. While there were no other issues with substitutions seen after these in the first two quarters, these kinds of issues don’t happen to good football teams. It’s clear that is something the Browns are not right now, but if they want to be a good football team again like they were in 2020, they need to clean this sort of thing up.
You can probably expect Stefanski to be more directly involved with the substitutions going forward to ensure these sorts of issues don’t arise again. While the Browns were still in the game late despite these issues, penalties and senseless errors like this can get you in trouble all too quickly in the NFL.