The Cleveland Browns' honeymoon is over, at least for now. They were their own worst enemy on Sunday in the pouring rain, and the New York Jets took advantage to end the Browns' three-game winning streak.
The Browns spent most of last week insisting that the matchup shouldn't be considered a "trap game" because they still had a lot to clean up. Even so, a 3-1 record made some people wonder whether this team was for real.
The Browns ranked among the worst 3-1 teams in recent memory based on DVOA, and their sloppy operation ultimately came back to haunt them. That's why head coach Todd Monken knows it's up to them to keep their strong start of the season from being a fluke:
“We haven’t played a clean game yet. We just found a way in the other three games to get it done in the fourth quarter,” Monken said.
The Browns' sloppy operation finally caught up with them after three straight wins
If anything, the fact that this team kept finding ways to win despite the operational issues was somewhat encouraging.
The Browns even had multiple chances to beat the Jets. Minkah Fitzpatrick's illegal helmet-to-helmet hit on KC Concepcion may have changed the course of the game, as Isaiah Bond had multiple crucial drops after coming on in relief.
Having to replace right tackle Tytus Howard with Dawand Jones may have derailed the entire offensive line. The group gave up eight sacks and looked out of sync for most of the game.
This should be a much-needed wake-up call for this team. The Browns are clearly talented, and they were showing steady signs of improvement in every facet of the game. But it shouldn't have to take multiple fourth-quarter game-winning drives to win.
This was an ugly game, a perfect storm in which everything that could've gone wrong went wrong at the end. As much as it should raise questions about Deshaun Watson's future with the organization again, we can give them a pass for this one.
But what about all the previous penalties? The offensive line cleaned things up in Week 4, but there were too many unnecessary flags on defense and special teams. Cleveland can't afford to keep moving backward and giving the opposition free yardage.
The Browns should be fine. They weren't as great as their record had shown, but they're definitely not as bad as they seemed in the loss to the Jets.
All they have to do is stop being their own worst enemy, and maybe we'll finally get a clearer picture of how good they actually are.
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