The Cleveland Browns were not good in Week 8 as they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders and they are a team certainly in need of their upcoming bye week.
The weather played a factor
Cold, windy, wet, graupel? The weather was not kind to either team on Sunday. The Browns appeared to be less prepared to handle the elements as they were outplayed from beginning to end.
Wind was definitely a factor in the passing game and precipitation did not help either. Players dropped passes and both kickers missed a field goal, funny enough that it wasn’t Cody Parkey who doinked his miss.
Baker Mayfield was not good
To call the performance of Baker Mayfield in Week 8 anything better than just ok or fine is incorrect. The fact of the matter is that he did not play well in Week 8. What this does not mean is that he was bad or the loss is his fault. It also does not mean that he is responsible for the poor weather or his receivers dropping passes. It also does not mean he is responsible for the Browns defense being a doormat all game. What this does mean is he was not good. Fine, but not good.
There is one play in particular that sticks out as just bad quarterback play, the pass to Jarvis Landry in the end zone which resulted in the receiver getting lit up by the defense. Landry is already dealing with a rib issue and Mayfield threw a pass which left him exposed, resulting in him laying on the ground in a heap after being hit incredibly hard. A quarterback cannot make that pass into heavy coverage and expect his receiver to make the catch.
The team looked they were already on their bye week
To be blunt, the Browns looked like they were going through the motions on Sunday. There were two teams on the field, but only one looked like they wanted to be there. The effort was lacking pretty much across the board and the final score reflects that.
Not a great game calling plays from Kevin Stefanski
This was probably the worst game from Kevin Stefanski since becoming the Browns head coach. While the losses to Baltimore and Pittsburgh were ugly, they were expected. This was a game that the Browns should have won and they didn’t. Add in the fact that Stefanski seemed dead set on passing the ball in extremely windy conditions, it was just not a good game plan. This is a game to look back on and realize the mistakes that were made on his end in order to make adjustments for games played in similar weather conditions in the future.
