LONDON — By following a predictable roadmap built around leaning on their defense and rookie running back Quinshon Judkins, the Cleveland Browns positioned themselves to win Sunday’s NFL International Series game with the Minnesota Vikings.
But in the end, the Browns lost one they shouldn’t have. And that felt a little predictable, too, considering the number of chances the offense had to put it away. A Cleveland team that for two years has struggled to score points, create big plays and reward its defense did it once again.
It’s more than a trend. It’s a recurring nightmare.
The Vikings, down to their last shot, marched downfield for the winning touchdown when a field goal would have tied the game. The only real resistance was the Browns burning through their timeouts with their defense on the field. In what became a gut-wrenching 21-17 loss, the Browns were ultimately sunk by a Carson Wentz pass to Jordan Addison with 25 seconds left on a rare mistake by cornerback Denzel Ward.
But many mistakes before that contributed to Minnesota even having a chance.
For the 10th straight game, dating to last season, the Browns failed to score more than 17 points. This time, rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns and helped Cleveland build a lead in the third quarter before the offense hit a wall. A familiar penalty problem then reappeared, and neither Gabriel nor coach Kevin Stefanski had a proper answer in the final frame.
With Gabriel in, the new-look offense was improved, the Vikings were wobbly and the table was almost set for the Browns to bully themselves back into the ranks of the NFL living. Instead, they missed chances to slam the door. The Browns blew an opportunity to score a touchdown before the half and botched multiple chances to reward and further rest their defense in the fourth quarter. In doing so, they allowed Wentz one last possession.
Stefanski is going to wear this one. It’s going to be heavy, too. The Browns drove late in the first half but ran an inexplicable draw to Jerome Ford on first-and-goal when Judkins was not in the game. Later, Gabriel had two crucial series end via a sack and apparent throwaway, respectively, when almost any other result on those plays could have later changed the shape of things.
On their first four possessions of the fourth quarter — all with the lead — the Browns got one total first down. They got the ball back with 3:27 left and punted at the 3:16 mark ahead of the winning drive by Minnesota. Starting with 56 seconds left in the third, they had consecutive possessions of fewer than two minutes that resulted in three-and-outs.
Most painfully, on third-and-11 with the Vikings having used two of their three timeouts and 3:20 left, Stefanski called for a pass. Gabriel had an apparent miscommunication with rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond. Even if what followed wasn’t an intentional throwaway, the play had no chance to succeed as Gabriel’s pass sailed over the Minnesota sideline.
“I’ve got to see it,” Stefanski said of the play. “I’m not sure (what happened).”
Stefanski is always trying to protect his players, which is at least partly why he gives such vague answers. But besides Judkins being Cleveland’s best weapon, a run there would have forced the Vikings to either use their final timeout or let the clock run under 2:30 before the Browns punted and Wentz got his last chance.
No one knows which route the Vikings would have taken, but what became an 80-yard game-winning drive for Wentz was more comfortable because Minnesota never had to hurry. The Browns’ defense couldn’t deliver the stop it needed. The Browns used their final timeout with 54 seconds remaining, allowing Minnesota to set up the play it wanted at Cleveland’s 21.
The Browns consistently ask too much of their defense, though at least holding the Vikings to a field goal there was obviously mandatory. Stefanski used his first two timeouts on the last drive because Minnesota moved easily into scoring range, and he was trying to preserve time with the assumption that the defense would get a red zone stop. But Ward took a bad angle and allowed Addison to slip too far outside of him.
The Browns’ defense failed to get a stop late, allowing Carson Wentz and the Vikings to march downfield for a game-winning score. (Julian Finney / Getty Images)
The disappointment here is not just about time management or a play call in a big spot. It’s about the Browns going 3-of-15 on third downs. It’s about Jerry Jeudy’s big drop on a well-placed third-down pass in the first half, and Jeudy only getting one target in the second half. It’s about another tough day for an offensive line with a glaring left tackle problem. It’s when the Vikings got really desperate in the final quarter, they knew the Browns could rely only on Judkins and defended accordingly.
The Browns have to excel in situational football and have to position themselves to convert fourth downs to have any chance. The offense is stale and limited, and the drops and penalties continue to hurt the unit regardless of who’s at quarterback.
On Sunday, the Browns were penalized 10 times for 78 yards. Even after their second fumble recovery at a crucial moment early in the fourth quarter, Shelby Harris got a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. Instead of taking over at their own 45, they went three-and-out after starting at their own 30.
Cleveland was ultimately doomed by a collection of mostly aforementioned fourth-quarter failures, but that turnover-to-penalty sequence was especially hurtful. Maybe with better field position, the play calling ahead of third-and-4 might have changed. Gabriel instead got sacked at his own 36, leading to a punt.
“I felt decent about the (last third-down) pass,” Stefanski said. “Obviously got an incomplete there. … Whenever you don’t come through in a drive, you always think about doing something different, yes.”
There’s no real answer, during or after the game.
Even as flawed as they are, the Browns could have changed their entire October outlook by finishing a game they only trailed for 8:21. With a win, they would have been right in the thick of things in a dysfunctional AFC North and would have validated their quarterback change. It’s still the right move, and multiple players said the insertion of Gabriel added energy to the practice week.
But at 1-4 with what has to be the league’s least dangerous receiving corps, the Browns can only blame themselves for not having escaped here with another defensive-driven victory.
The defense should be disappointed in letting Wentz suddenly throw it back to 2017 over the final minutes. But another week of the offense plodding along to two touchdowns and one field goal and being hurt by mistakes makes this one feel all too familiar. If you can’t score 20 points, you’ll never be comfortable — as a team or as a head coach, especially one who calls the plays.
Despite the quarterback change, the Browns are a broken offense. There’s no big-play pop and no confidence in any aspect outside quick tosses to the tight ends and runs to Judkins, who finished with a career-best 110 rushing yards. There’s clearly no margin for error, but the self-inflicted mistakes keep happening.
A long flight home Sunday night was made longer because the Vikings were beatable. The Browns had a chance to change the optics, the standings and maybe the trajectory. But they somehow managed (and mismanaged) to keep the door open for Minnesota.
Dangerously, the Browns continue to lose in similar ways and leave those inside and outside the locker room wondering if they’ll ever be able to start slamming doors and changing the direction of things.
(Top photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)
Source link
