The Cleveland Browns had a chance to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers late, but were unable to take advantage, losing 15-10.
For the third time this season the Cleveland Browns were trailing with less than four minutes remaining and they had a chance to score to win the game. Also for the third time this season Baker Mayfield was not able to make that happen as the Browns lost their first divisional game of the season. One more thing that happened for a third time, the final drive of the game was Cleveland’s third that lasted eight plays or more and resulted in zero points.
On the surface Baker Mayfield had what some would call a good game, completing 20 of 31 pass attempts for 225 yards. The issue is that these numbers were the product of dump-offs and screen passes, a recurring theme for this entire season. Additionally, Mayfield was off all game long. Passes were not on target, even completed ones, and that has been a constant in all seven games for Mayfield. While a lot of the blame is getting passed on to the receivers who did not catch the ball, a better pass from Mayfield would have made that possible, but unfortunately that was not the case. Passes were high, behind, and simply not in the right spot time and time again. And when the Browns needed their quarterback to make a play, he came up short, again, in predictable fashion.
Opposing defenses are not scared of Mayfield and welcome the Browns to win with their passing attack, a task that is too much for them currently. Until Mayfield starts reading the entire field and making other teams pay, there is no reason for defenses to abandon this strategy.
Defense did not help
The Cleveland Browns defense did not have a great day. Sure, they limited the Steelers to just 15 points, but other numbers point to an issue that is quite alarming. Pittsburgh ran 69 plays compared to Cleveland’s 58 and controlled the clock with 31:45 of possession. The Browns defense has an extremely hard time getting off the field consistently and the fact that the Steelers had three drives with 10 or more plays shows just that. Opposing offenses are able to convert time and time again and keep the Browns offense off the field.
It’s crunch time now
Now at 4-4 and in last place in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns face must win games for the rest of the season. This team will have to go on an absolutely incredible run to return to the playoffs. Considering how this team has operated offensively and the fact the defense has been underwhelming this appears to be a very unlikely scenario.
