The Cleveland Browns have been one of the league’s biggest disappointments thus far, sitting at 1-2. We break down where Baker Mayfield and Freddie Kitchens must improve to spark an offensive turnaround.
Expectations were sky-high for the Cleveland Browns entering the season for some good reasons. The team acquired high-end starters in Odell Beckham, Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson after promoting Freddie Kitchens to head coach after this excellent stretch as the replacement for Hue Jackson. Factoring in hopes of linear growth from Baker Mayfield and the rest of their young corps had led to playoff hype.
Much of this was justified considering the team’s history and the exciting play of the offense under Kitchens. But at 1-2 and three uninspiring performances from the offense, there’s panic in Cleveland about the face of the franchise and whether Kitchens is in over his head. It all came to a head Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
The concerns are valid as Kitchens’ offense hasn’t looked nearly as creative or effective. And his situational playcalling has been poor, including a baffling draw play on 4th and 9 late in the fourth quarter.
The Browns’ offensive woes have been pinned on Kitchens and their offensive line, but their problems really start with Mayfield and then Kitchens. The good news is much of it is fixable from a schematic and coaching front. But we’re going to break down the problems seen against the Rams.
Baker’s Discomfort
The biggest issue for the Browns offense has been the very reason the franchise have such lofty expectations. Mayfield loudly arrived as a rookie, brashfully celebrating as the Browns made a late-season run against a weak schedule. It was new, exciting, and for the first time, Browns fans had reason to believe they have a franchise quarterback.
Three games into 2019 is not nearly enough to say any of that was wrong or that Mayfield isn’t that guy. But he’s been subpar this season and the warning signs that he needs growth were there last year. His effectiveness against winning defenses in 2018 wasn’t starting-caliber, completing under 60 percent of throws and tossing more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10).
We’re still seeing Mayfield’s weaknesses despite his offseason proclamations and feelings after waking up. His discomfort in the pocket has been a glaring problem that was overlooked in several key collegiate contests while at Oklahoma, and has continued to rear its ugly affects in the NFL. Mayfield doesn’t like to be a straight dropback passer within the pocket.
Sunday night was the best example of his desire to bounce outside of the tackle box and make life more difficult for the entire unit. Though I charted a total of 12 quarterback pressures and four sacks, Mayfield was responsible for eight of those pressures and two sacks due to his unwillingness to step up into the pocket and deliver the ball on a timed route. Their issues cascade downwards from here.
Taking out his seven screen passes and any throwaways, nine of his 27 pass attempts came on scrambles outside of the pocket, all directed to the right side. He was accurate on just two of these passes, and four came in the red zone. Mayfield essentially threw each of these attempts into the dirt as wasted plays and most were unnecessary.
The mental processing and trust just isn’t there for Mayfield yet. The only time he looks comfortable is off an RPO, which is a good jumpstarter for the passing game but not enough to sustain the offense throughout the game. Most of his accurate passes were a quick-throw off an RPO or play action from shotgun.
His turnover-worthy plays and late reads jump on traditional dropbacks though. Security-blanket Rashard Higgins has been sorely missed despite the presence of two All-Pro receivers, and the tight end depth with David Njoku injured is nothing special. It’s not as if these are scrubs though, as Mayfield suffered just one drop on the night.
Everything must speed up for Mayfield in the pocket and he needs to manage his space more effectively. He benefited from circus catches often in 2018 but the regression has hit for everyone except for Beckham’s usual absurd playmaking. That means his precision and timing within structure is under a magnifying glass until Kitchens can whip up more unique play packages.
Kitchens’ Creativity
This isn’t all on Baker, of course. I was a strong advocate that Kitchens be promoted after breathing new life and trends into the Browns offense when he was elevated from running backs coach to offensive coordinator in 2018. His usage of pistol formation and motion were as effective and cutting edge as anyone in the NFL.
The results were terrific, with Mayfield routinely having easy reads to make and confidence to attempt tighter window throws downfield. Even though the team struggled against winning foes, they rallied and Kitchens earned the promotion.
It’s too early to panic and believe Kitchens can’t figure this out, but he’s been clearly overwhelmed by his new full-time gig and still handling the offense. Check out the following results of the Browns’ 37 possessions this season: five touchdowns, five field goals, 17 punts, five interceptions, 10 three-and-outs, one safety.
The team ranks 16th in DVOA, which is astounding considering how poorly they’ve put together drives. It’s shocking considering how talented this unit is outside of three offensive line spots.
Kitchens is trying to deal with weaknesses at both tackles and right guard, but hasn’t shown the level of deception that Sean McVay and Andy Reid routinely have in their offenses. The strangest part is that Kitchens had this variety last year, but the strategy this season has been more benign and straightforward.
His reliance on RPOs is a good thing to get the offense going and take advantage of Baker’s quick release and accuracy. They were also smart for this particular matchup against the Rams, who lack great horizontal speed and linebacker talent. But the rest of the game had too many vertical concepts and obvious screens that fed into Wade Philips’ hands.
We rarely saw rollout action that could’ve bought Mayfield time and cut his reads into half. Deep crossers also are good against slower corners and linebackers, which the Rams have. Yet Kitchens tried to simply be the better team and paid the price when his quarterback couldn’t fulfill the challenge.
The timing of playcalls was bizarre beyond the notorious 4th and 9 run, too. There was a lack of urgency on the final drive until Mayfield converted a 3rd and 15 to Jarvis Landry, including an inside run that milked the clock. Common sense would’ve said take a timeout or don’t run, and the Browns opted for neither.
Once the Browns were goal-to-go, we saw three similar alignments to another, and the lone unique formation was the only with a back next to Mayfield for protection. The receiver routes were mostly indiscernible, and opened Mayfield for a quick pressure. The results were bad thanks to poor design and play alike.
Kitchens can’t hold Mayfield’s hand and it’s not his fault he missed Landry on an open slant route. But the design of the other plays lacked a gimmick or a rub to free one of his targets or force a penalty.
It’s clear that neither Baker Mayfield nor Freddie Kitchens are performing their best in 2018. Each has shown the ability to complement each other and create a tremendous partnership and offensive ecosystem. Even with weaknesses along the line, there’s often a clean enough pocket for three- and five-step drops for the quarterback to hit.
There’s time to heal this ailing offense. Kitchens may need to give Todd Monken more control of the playcalling, though that would be unfortunate considering the upside of the Kitchens-Mayfield pairing we saw last year.
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