The Cleveland Browns were outplayed from start to finish by the Arizona Cardinals in a lopsided 37-14 loss.
For the first time in the Kevin Stefanski-era the Cleveland Browns have lost two straight games. The Arizona Cardinals came to town and absolutely dominated Cleveland for the entire game. At no point in the game did the team look something resembling a competitive team. There are real issues across the board for this team and they surfaced on Sunday.
While the Browns were missing several key components on the roster (Jedrick Wills, Jack Conklin, Jarvis Landry, and Nick Chubb were all out), there were miscues on both sides of the ball. Cleveland’s defense did their best matador impression allowing the Cardinals to run right past them and move down the field with ease. Multiple times throughout the contest Cardinals receivers were not covered allowing for an easy completion for Kyler Murray. If the Cardinals were not making big plays, the Browns defense was committing dumb penalties that gave Arizona a first down.
This was the second straight week where the defense were flagged for things they should not have been, (this is the fault of the player not the official), and failing to make a stop when given the chance to do so. This Browns defensive unit is bad, plain and simple. The performances against the Texans, Bears, and Vikings were the exceptions not the rule. When facing Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and now Murray they have simply buckled under pressure.
Meanwhile Baker Mayfield had a remarkably forgettable performance. Outside of the Hail Mary touchdown to Donovan Peoples-Jones, Mayfield was 18-27 for 177 yards, averaging 6.6 yards per attempt. Entering Monday, those 177 yards would rank as the fourth-fewest yards total among all quarterbacks with 15 or more attempts.
This was a game where the Cleveland Browns needed Mayfield to step up and show he is the quarterback everyone hopes he can be. In predictable fashion and in what has become a trend this season, Mayfield failed to lead his team when they needed him most. Time and time again Mayfield missed open receivers, held the ball too long, and made wrong decision after wrong decision. Right now the game is too fast for Mayfield and he is not able to keep up.
Now at 3-3. the Browns with a short week as they take on the Denver Broncos Thursday night. Considering the long list of injured players combined with poor performances on the both sides of the ball as of late, 3-4 is a real possibility for this team. Things have to change on both sides of the ball in order to avoid losing their third straight game in order to keep any playoff hopes alive. As of right now this is an average team that does not belong in the playoffs and perhaps that is where things end up at the end of the season, missing the playoffs.
