The Baltimore Ravens Forced The Cleveland Browns To Fire Alex Van Pelt
On Wednesday morning, the unexpected news broke that Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was relieved of his duty, leaving many Browns fans in shock and disappointment.
Despite making the playoffs this season and facing an early exit in the first round by the Houston Texans, the Browns' offense demonstrated resilience and determination, especially considering the adversity they met on that side of the ball.
The Browns lost their starting right tackle Jack Conklin the first week of the season and then the next week lost the best running back in football for the year in Nick Chubb; they also had banged up quarterback Deshaun Watson for the first part of the season missing games, and then he finally was out for the season around the middle of November.
The Browns brought in veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, and the offense started to hit its stride under him, but at the end of the day, Alex Van Pelt no longer has a job, and the Baltimore Ravens have something to do with it.
Browns Following Ravens Footsteps
The Ravens fired their offensive coordinator last season, Greg Roman, after making the playoffs with backup quarterback Tyler Huntley after Lamar Jackson went out for most of the second half.
Roman helped turn Jackson into a league MVP in 2019 and has excellent team success. Still, it just started to run its course the last couple of seasons, and the passing game wasn't taking off like it was supposed to, so the Ravens had to make a move and hired Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
This season, the Ravens took off under Monken. Jackson improved as an elite passer, and it does help when you add Odell Beckham Jr. and star rookie Zay Flowers, but the offense had a new identity under Monken, which is what the Browns are trying to do.
The Browns need a new perspective, and it wasn't like Van Pelt was terrible. It just got a little stale.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski is an offensive mind and is the play caller. I think Stefanski looked at the current offense and realized he needed to be challenged more as a play designer and play caller, and Van Pelt wasn't cutting it.
When you look at the offense, which hasn't gotten better under Van Pelt since he got here, they have struck out on two third-round pick wide receivers in Anthony Schwartz and David Bell, and in 2023, third-rounder Cedric Tillman is on the same path. The Browns traded for New York Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore last offseason, and he never got better. The run game fell off without Nick Chubb, and of course, it would take a hit, but it fell off big time and was a massive weakness for most of the season.
Cleveland also has this quarterback named Deshaun Watson, who they paid 230 million dollars, and he is going into three year and has yet to take off exactly. I know he was suspended for most of his first season and then injured for his second, but he hasn't looked spectacular outside of beating up on a bad Cardinals and Titans team. Still, I will give him the credit. He balled out in the second half on the road at Baltimore, which was very impressive.
The Browns need another offensive mind who knows how to work with a quarterback with Watson's skill set, and that is the most important thing moving forward for the team.
If Watson doesn't work out, Stefanski is getting fired, and the organization will have to be turned upside down again.
The Browns fired defensive coordinator Joe Woods last year and hired Jim Schwartz as the new DC, and the defense took off .The same thing may happen on the offensive side of the ball.
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