To say that the Cleveland Browns weren't at their best in the season opener wouldn't tell half of the story. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong in what turned out to be a 34-10 road beatdown.
While the Jacksonville Jaguars deserve all the credit in the world for such a strong performance, Todd Monken and company didn't necessarily put up much of a fight. The home side was the better team, but the Browns didn't do themselves any favors, and it all started before the game.
Upon further review, some of Monken's calls were pretty questionable, to say the least. Here, we'll take a look at the three decisions that might keep Browns fans up at night until Week 2.
Todd Monken's Browns debut was defined by 3 decisions that were impossible to defend
1. Play calling on early downs
Monken is known for his creativity and ability to scheme guys open and create favorable matchups. None of that happened after the opening drive in Week 1, especially when the Browns faced third down.
The Browns went 1-for-8 in third-down situations, their lone conversion coming on a Watson scramble on third-and-7. They never created a third-and-short until the second half. They faced third-and-10 situations twice and also had a third-and-25 due to penalties.
As much as Monken claims to trust starting quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Browns' head coach called a vanilla game for most of the afternoon and it cost his team.
2. Lack of aggression
On that same note, Monken didn't show much faith in his offense's ability to execute. Facing fourth-and-7 from the Jacksonville 8 during the third quarter, he chose to kick a field goal down 31-0.
Granted, taking the points and avoiding the shutout was the safe call, but what does safe do for a team down five scores on the road?
Monken also chose to punt on a fourth-and-6 situation from midfield late in the second quarter with the Jaguars leading 24-0. His first game calling the shots from the sideline was extremely conservative.
3. Starting Deshaun Watson
Unsurprisingly, all of the above can be traced back to a simple and predictably toxic decision: starting Deshaun Watson. Things went as badly as anyone could have expected, because why would it be any different this time?
Watson can no longer play at a high level. The fans know it, opposing fans know it, everybody on the field and in the stadium knows it, and even the Browns have to know it. There's just no way they legitimately feel otherwise.
This will be how things look for as long as Watson is on the field. There's literally no way they can do any worse with any other signal-caller. This will be repetitive and redundant after every game, because, even if he's not to blame for everything that went wrong, he'll always handicap this team.
At least Arch Manning looked good on Saturday?
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