NEW ORLEANS — Whatever you thought the Browns would be good at in 2024, forget it. It didn’t happen.
Everything has gone wrong this season. Somehow, everything they’ve touched has turned to — well, the opposite of gold.
This season careened off the cliff long ago, but Sunday’s 35-14 loss in New Orleans took everything that has plagued the Browns this season and put it on display against a Saints team that, frankly, isn’t very good.
Whatever flaw you wanted to see on Sunday you got.
Blown coverages? Check.
Terrible special teams coverage? Check.
Missed kicks? Check.
The only things missing were back-breaking penalties and turnovers, but don’t worry, there are still seven games left and more challenging defenses waiting.
The Browns offense was able to take advantage of one of the worst defenses in the league on Sunday, putting up 443 yards, but it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard and once New Orleans was able to tee off on Jameis Winston, they did.
For all its explosion, however, the offense lacked much flow. It was big-play hunting with little creativity mixed in.
The defense? Well, hopefully they know who Taysom Hill is now. It will help in four years when they face the Saints again.
This was a game when the Browns simply looked like one of the worst teams in the league because they are. The only question now is just how high will their draft pick land in April.
They’ve now lost eight of nine games, their only win a shocker against the Ravens on an emotional day when everything went their way. Other than that, this team has been mostly lifeless. Their starting quarterback threw for 395 yards on Sunday and it became a footnote, empty calories in a season going nowhere.
The good news for the Browns is they have the Steelers waiting for them in four days, and that’s always been an elixir for a disastrous season. At least they won’t have to think about this loss for long.
This is the type of season that costs people jobs and it’s hard to make convincing cases for anyone at this point. I think it’s too early to talk about firing Kevin Stefanski, but the case for keeping him is getting flimsier.
GM Andrew Berry built this roster whose contention window was torpedoed by the decision to acquire Deshaun Watson. The case for allowing him to oversee this rebuild, whether a soft reset or a full-on teardown, is even flimsier.
The Browns are now 2-8, mathematically alive but definitively dead, a season that was supposed to have them contending for a division title and making a run into January.
Want to know why that hasn’t happened? It was all on display on Sunday in New Orleans.
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