The Cleveland Browns have a lot of issues - which might be the understatement of the year - and they stem from having basically zero motivation to improve upon themselves if they're just going to keep losing despite those improvements.
It's a vicious cycle. And, it's one that's landed them at 3-11 on the season with three more games to go against fairly tough opponents who are still in the hunt for postseason positioning. Two of those games - their final against the Baltimore Ravens and Week 16 the Cincinnati Bengals - are divisional contests, so they'll be sure to be even tougher to watch.
Read more: 2025 NFL Draft order: Browns rise after comedy of errors against Chiefs
There is, though, one part of losing that teams will continue to lean into if they're truly losers, and that's being so undisciplined you continue to draw penalties on the same play over and over again. While the Browns did draw quite a few ridiculous calls, it felt like a lopsided game at times.
Kevin Stefanski calls out referees after Week 15 loss to Chiefs
Head coach Kevin Stefanski has been fairly even keeled this season when speaking with media. So, when he goes off of that script, it's noteworthy. It's why it was easy to figure out that Dustin Hopkins was going to get benched, and it's why it feels big that he didn't commit to Jameis Winston as the team's starter going forward - not having a Browns player's back in postgame is odd for him.
After Cleveland's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Stefanski told reporters in regards to his team's penalties, which included nine total and three calls for an illegal formation by the offense, that he felt like the referee crew in Week 15 "lived up to" their alleged reputation for plenty of calls, adding that he "took issue with" those flags for illegal formations.
Stefanski does have a point about Tra Blake's crew. According to Pro Football Reference'sreferee statistics page, home teams have won just 35 percent of the time when Blake is calling the game. That's significantly lower than the league average of about 50 percent.
55 percent of penalties called by Blake and his crew also tend to be against the home team, which skews away from the league average of 49 percent.
Stefanski has every right to call out Blake and the other referees that covered this game, but Stefanski must also understand that illegal formations, being offsides, and having ineligible men downfield have been ongoing issues with this team for weeks. Week 15 wasn't a one off, undisciplined outing for the offense - it was a continuation of a trend. Two things can be true.