The Cleveland Browns find themselves at a pivotal fork in the road in Week 14. While not mathematically eliminated from postseason play, anything short of running the table would be a coffin nail in the 2022 season. Either they’ll choose to fight to close out the season or they will pack it in early and start making offseason vacation plans.
Which fork in the road will Cleveland choose to go down? The path with the most resistance will be gearing up to take on a 9-4 Baltimore Raven team this Saturday. The Ravens come into this week’s game hobbled, possibly being down their top two quarterbacks.
If the Browns are looking to avenge their Week 7loss to Baltimore, then they will need to shore up several areas of their execution. Here are three pivotal issues that the Browns need to address before facing the Ravens.
Browns Area of concern No. 3: Keep the yellow laundry off the field
Cleveland has shown a propensity for shooting themselves in the foot. They just can’t quit it. In Week 13 the Browns more than doubled their opponents in penalties and almost tripled them in penalty yards.
In fact, it was their knack for penalties in crucial situations that jumpstarted the Bengals’ offense. After forcing a punt on their first three possessions, the Browns racked up 55 yards in penalties on the Bengal’s fourth drive that resulted in a touchdown. The most crucial penalty occurred when Tony Fields was called for roughing the kicker on what would have been Cincinnati’s fourth straight punt. Backbreaking.
Cleveland is currently 28th in the league in penalty yards per game (54.1). This is not an anomaly. The Browns finished 28th in the league in penalty yards last season as well with a whopping 60.9 negative yards accrued per game.
The adage ‘you’re either coaching them to commit penalties or you’re allowing them to happen’ definitely applies to this coaching regime. When you are in year three of the same voices leading the three phases of your team and the only consistent thread is being one of the most penalized teams in the league, alarm bells should be ringing.
If they continue down this path, you can expect extended drives for the opponents as well as big plays taken off the board for the Browns. It’s hard enough to beat your opponent in the NFL, but it’s immensely more difficult when you add self-sabotage to the equation. If Cleveland is able to limit the amount of yellow laundry being thrown in their direction, they will have a chance to get back in the win column against the Ravens.
Browns Area of concern No. 2: Third down efficiency
Unfortunately, this area of concern applies to both sides of the ball. But for the sake of this article, we will stick to the offensive aspect of third-down efficiency. Since the Browns’ bye week, they have converted a dismal 22-of-68 of their third downs on offense. That is a 32 percent conversion rate over that five-game span.
While they’re not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, their 0.4% chances of making a postseason appearance might as well be .0000001%. Lloyd Christmas had better odds with Mary Swanson.
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The remainder of the Browns season is about one thing; getting Deshaun Watson on track, finding which concepts and plays best fit his skillset, and determining which skill players are compatible. The only way to properly ascertain that is to get Watson as many game reps as possible. How can the Browns accomplish that? (Say it with me) Convert third downs and extend drives!
If the Browns are unable to consistently convert third downs over these last four games, they risk taking too many unknown variables into the offseason, which is something this franchise cannot afford. 2023 has to be an all-in year, not throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks year. That’s what the remainder of this season is for
Browns Area of concern No.1: Jumpstarting the run game
This area of concern is not about stats or rushing titles. Getting this running game back on track is about hanging your hat on something. How could a team that was literally the best in the league at running the football seemingly become unable to have any success in the running game overnight?
This offense has lost its way over the course of the last five games. It would be easy to point the finger at the Browns playing their fourth-string center. But even though Hijalte Froholdt is struggling, the running game issues are much bigger than one player right now.
Wyatt Teller hasn’t been the same since returning from the calf injury that sidelined him two games earlier in the season. Jack Conklin is also struggling to be a plus in the run game this year. Then when you add in Froholdt’s play to the equation you handcuff yourself to only running to one side of your line.
Predictability is a death strike to an effective run game. Cleveland’s ability to be multiple in their running game approach is what made them the most efficient run offense in the league. Well, that and Nick Chubb. But when you are consistently running to one side of the line, even a back of Chubb’s prowess becomes easier to keep in check.
Without Teller being able to pull effectively and get to the second level to spring runs, the dynamism and explosiveness of the run game just haven’t been there since the bye week. At this point in the season, your personnel is what it is, and it is up to the coaching staff to scheme around these issues.
Whether that means an uptick of RPO plays or switching up their personnel groupings, the coaches need to vary their approach. Defenses have figured out how to bottle up the Browns’ running game and now it’s on the coaches to come up with a counterattack.
It’s not about rushing titles or the number of touches that Chubb gets, it’s all about the quality of touches and keeping this offense ahead of the sticks. If the Browns are unable to get this running game back on track, then they might as well just go five wide and start chucking it all over the yard.