BALTIMORE — The Cleveland Browns are in a bad place. There's no arguing that. But with their fourth-straight loss—this one an important divisional matchup—where do they go from here?
First things first, yes, the officials had a hand in this game. With a chance to tie with a field goal, an apparent phantom false start penalty was called against the Browns, pushing Cade York back for a 61-yard attempt which was blocked. Before that, a weak offensive pass interference call on Amari Cooper wiped away a touchdown that would have given them the lead. On top of that, a missed roughing the passer call on Jacoby Brissett.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said, "I didn't get a good one" in regards to an explanation from refs on the false start call. Brissett said that "obviously you have to keep it out of the refs hands as much as possible."
All of that certainly may have impacted the game, but blaming officials will get you nowhere. It doesn't change the outcome of the game. So the Browns have to do what they've needed to every week this season and look internally.
The Browns started off hot on offense, with a perfectly scripted opening drive that lead to a touchdown. Heavy on the runs with Nick Chubb, mixing up the offense weapons with David Njoku, Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones. After that, things went haywire.
There was a stretch in the game where Chubb wasn't handed the ball for 18 game minutes. Draws replaced the obvious answer on offense. The Browns were stalled and stalled again.
With the run game on the back burner, Brissett had more struggles in critical moments, fumbling the ball and taking sacks when all that he needed to do was throw the ball away.
Defensively, some of the same issues arose Sunday against the Ravens. Trouble stopping the run a few times—not just from the elusive quarterback Lamar Jackson, but even on rushes from their tight end Mark Andrews. Several deep passes were completed with the secondary getting beat.
But all in all, the defense looked better than it has in a while. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced a fumble recovered by Isaiah Thomas in the most clutch time, giving them a shot at a win. Myles Garrett led with dominance on the line and Taven Bryan and MJ Emerson got in for sacks of their own.
The Browns had eight third-down stops Sunday. They did what they needed to do to keep the team in the game.
As for special teams, punter Corey Bojorquez continued showing off his impressive leg with three punts and 173 yards, one inside the 20. York may have had a chance to prove himself had he not been pushed back to a 61-yard attempt. Peoples-Jones made a smart play to block the defender before he could touch the ball near the end zone, drawing the touchback as a result.
But the Browns still struggle with kick and punt returns, and the coverage the other way isn't always reliable.
The Browns simply have not been able to put together a game that is strong enough in any one area. Four of the five losses have been by three or less points. Even the two wins have been too close for comfort. They have to find a way to string the things they do well together at the same time.
Sunday's loss against the Ravens was more brutal than the rest. They could have won. They should have won. They didn't. Now they're 2-5, have a divisional loss under their belt and reside in the basement of the AFC North.
After the game, there was some yelling from the Browns locker room. Whether that's a good fire or a dysfunctional one remains to be seen. There's another big game on the schedule next Monday night against the Bengals. Breaking the losing streak against a division rival would be massive.
But the Browns are also in a spot where they have to start watching how the other teams in the AFC North play each other and their opponents. Technically, though it may feel that way now, the season is not over. It is true that with the mounting losses and this big divisional loss, their fate is beginning to fall out of their hands, but it's not totally lost.
A win against the Bengals would be a promising place to start. We'll see if the Browns can rise to the challenge like they almost were able to on Sunday. Falling short just won't do it anymore.
And as Stefanski said after the game, "focus immediately goes to Monday night at our place vs. a division opponent."
Camryn Justice is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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