Todd Monken and the Cleveland Browns played a near-flawless second half in their 23-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Browns had no choice but to be perfect on offense, because their opening two quarters were anything but.
Cleveland entered the half trailing 9-6. It had generated a total of three first downs and had lost more yardage to penalties than it had gained as a team to that point. The Bucs got the ball to start the third quarter, too, after Monken elected to receive on the opening coin toss for the second straight game.
Monken told reporters Monday, “I’m going to be aggressive,” as it pertains to his offense, and he wasn’t only talking about taking the ball to start the first quarter. He cost his team points and nearly the game late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Bucs when he kept his offense on the field on fourth-and-short from his own 34-yard line.
It was a 6-6 game at that point, and Cleveland’s defense was playing well. But Monken didn’t lament a decision that felt way too aggressive in real time and looked even worse after the play call — a Quinshon Judkins rush attempt behind left guard Zion Johnson that went nowhere.
“Yeah, I’m going to go for it again when we have inches to go,” Monken said. “In that situation, we probably would have run the sneak, but after botching that, that wasn’t an option.
"I’m going to be aggressive, I’m going to play to win the game, and I’m more disappointed in our execution of it and our decision, maybe in the type of play — but I’m going to be aggressive. I don’t want to give the ball back to them when it’s inches. We have to be able to sneak it, and we have to be able to get it when the opportunity arises.”
Todd Monken is putting way too much faith in a Browns offense that hasn't earned it
Hopefully this was nothing but coachspeak. Monken had a really good day overall on Sunday, but it would be disappointing if he turns out to be one of these "I trust my guys to get a yard" types who blindly goes for it in situations where the game doesn’t call for that type of overaggression.
This Bucs game was a prime example. Punting the football and playing the field-position game was the obvious play there. Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay’s offense were struggling to find a rhythm. It was way too risky to potentially hand them the football in field goal range with 2:50 remaining in the half, especially with the Bucs getting the ball to start the third quarter.
The @NextGenStats Decision Model recommended going for it. Todd Monken said he's receptive to using analytics. Cleveland's defense, though, has been playing well, and the Bucs get the ball again to start the second half. https://t.co/OO0yJuDEih
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) September 20, 2026
That decision resulted in a 10-point double score, by the way, as the Bucs went 65 yards for a touchdown on the first drive of the second half to take a 16-6 lead.
The Browns were able to erase the deficit over the final 20-plus minutes of game time and steal one on the road, so Monken came out smelling like roses in the end.
But that fourth-down call at his own 34 wasn’t gutsy. It was reckless.
Maybe Monken will get his offense to the point where it’s unstoppable in short-yardage situations. It’s definitely nowhere close to that yet, and it would behoove Monken to lean on his elite defense whenever possible as he gets his young group on the other side of the ball up to speed. Cleveland rushed for 1.9 yards per attempt as a team on Sunday.
Any coach could beat his chest and hide behind cliches like “I’m going to be aggressive” and “I trust my guys.” Dan Campbell has made a career out of that out in Detroit. The real ones know when to be aggressive and when to punt and let the game play out.
Browns fans can only hope that Monken turns out to be the latter kind of coach, because his comments on Monday were a little alarming. He made a bad call and it would have been a better look to own it in the wake of a galvanizing win.
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