CLEVELAND — It was a perfect day in Cleveland on Sunday morning as the Browns and their fans filled FirstEnergy Stadium for the first of two big games for the city's professional teams. Things didn't stay that way for long during the Browns' matchup with the New England Patriots.
The Browns entered the game coming off two straight losses, one to the Falcons and one to the Chargers, that both saw the defense struggle against the run.
On Sunday against the Patriots, the issues were much more widespread and much more glaring.
Defensive dissonance
Defensively, the issues heightened in pass coverage. Going up against rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe, who should have given the Browns ample opportunity to have a good defensive outing, Cleveland allowed him to carve up the secondary, throwing 24-for-34 for 309 yards and two touchdowns without needing to rely much on the run game at all.
The Browns entered the week having placed an extra emphasis on tackling fundamentals after struggling with the basic task the past two weeks. From added tackling drills at practice to defensive coordinator Joe Woods compiling a reel of all the missed tackles and screening it before practice with his players, analyzing each one, the Browns did put work in to fix mistakes.
It didn't take, however, and once again, there were issues within the linebacker and safety corps making their tackles. With failure to wrap guys up, encroaching into teammates' territory and muddling coverage, the Browns secondary was riddled with mistakes.
As a whole, there were moments where the defense pulled it together. Numerous third down stops forced the Patriots to punt on drives that started out promising for them, and once managed to hold the Pats to three instead of what seemed like an imminent touchdown.
Out of sorts offense
The few good things the defense did wasn't enough, though, and was only made worse by offensive struggles that arose for really the first time this season—and it was maybe the worst time for it.
The second play of the game, quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who is known for being smart with the ball, threw a pick on a strange deep pass to tight end Pharaoh Brown. The decision was odd considering Brown is a new addition to the roster (not considering his previous stint here a few years back).
A rough start can be contained, but the issues on offense continued all day. Between passes like one to David Njoku that could have been a touchdown if Brissett would have given him a lead, to an avoidance of the dominant run game, to a stalled connection between Brissett and Amari Cooper—the things that have made the offense such a pleasant surprise this season were nowhere to be found.
In fact, star rusher Nick Chubb had just 56 yards on 12 carries, a good portion of the snaps coming later in the game and only proving what the Browns were doing wrong to start. Meanwhile, Kareem Hunt stalled out with just four carries and 12 yards.
The Patriots knew the Browns were going to want to be heavy on the run, but so does every team. That's the strength of having a backfield with Chubb and Hunt, even if teams look like they're slowing down the run, if you keep pressing, the two will 9-times-out-of 10 wear down the defense and impose their will.
Run game aside, another issue that arose on Sunday came from the sidelines, as head coach Kevin Stefanski made some more questionable decisions. Moving away from the run game was one choice that drew questions, but there were also some clock management issues that showed up just before the half and were emphasized by the play calls that came during the drive, drawing up pass plays instead of running.
The offense that has been the saving grace most of the season failed to show up on Sunday. Three field goals made up most of the points, and one touchdown coming a little too late. With the defense giving up 38 points, it was the worst time to come up so short.
Where is the heart?
At the end of the day, the Browns' issues have failed to go away despite the promises from the team that they are working to clean them up.
It raises a question not just about the game plan or the defensive scheme, but with the team as a whole. Where is the heart? Where is the fire? The roster is full of talented players, but their efforts aren't coming together as a unit.
They don't need to be aggressive or negative in order to show fire. Guys like Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper are as soft-spoken as they come, yet lead by example. But with the mistakes piling up, someone needs to step up and force each other to hold themselves accountable. Accountable for executing in-game. Accountable for truly learning from their mistakes. Accountable for pushing to play tough football for a full four quarters. Accountable for not beating themselves.
The Browns know what they need to do in order to fix the mistakes. They talk about it every week. But there needs to be someone who helps turn the talk into action. Because when the fans show up more competitive than the players on any given game day, something has to change.
At least for now the fans can walk a few blocks across the city and see a team that plays together and never gives up. A team with heart. A team with motivation. Hey, maybe the Browns could learn a lesson or two from the Cleveland Guardians.
Camryn Justice is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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