Well, Cleveland Browns fans, the Factory of Sadness has returned. Not only have the Browns not lived up to expectations, but they have officially been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. A lot went wrong for the Cleveland Browns that a whole chapter can be created in a novel. Of the many issues, three mainly stand out as to why they didn’t make the playoffs.
This is an obvious one. Deshaun Watson was terrible as the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In his seven games, Watson threw for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions. Watson also had 148 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. That is not good numbers at all. Yet, they stuck with him as the starting quarterback for some reason. Maybe it’s because of his awful contract, and the coach was forced to, too, but the Texans’ version of Watson is long gone. If they started Jameis Winston sooner, the Browns likely would still be in the playoff hunt today.
To make things worse, Watson Tore his Achilles midseason. Waston’s one strength is his mobility; with a severe injury like that, his mobility will be as cooked as his arm strength. With that albatross of a contract, it will be difficult to get out of it unless they want to pull a Brock Osweiler Effect-type move where they attach picks for a team to take on that contract.
But, according to that locker room and Myles Garrett in particular, Watson is a “model citizen”. This is coming from the same man who used an opponent’s helmet to hit them and later tried to play the race card when he was in the wrong. The NFL even said Garrett was full of it, as no evidence supported Garrett’s side.
By the way, Watson is such a model citizen that, yes, there has been another allegation of sexual assault involving Watson. I have lost track of the many accusations against this man. This whole saga of Watson as a Brown has been an absolute disaster and will continue once the organization washes its hands off him.
The Brown’s defense came in with a ton of hype, but they have not met expectations. A big issue is the pass-rushing is a complete mess. Besides Myles Garrett, another piece of work that has put his foot in his mouth again this year, their pass rushing has been a mess.
Za’Darius Smith showed signs of decline as a Brown, but when he was traded to Detroit, he became a much better player. Nobody else has stepped up to rush the passer, whether as a DE/EDGE Rusher or on the interior defensive line. Run stopping is another problem, but the lack of pass-rushing pressure hurt the Browns, and they have to fix that next season.
Have the Browns ever had a consistently great kicker in the past decade? I don’t think they’ve had a great kicker since Phil Dawson in 2012.
I thought that would change when the Browns traded for Dustin Hopkins last season, and he had a career year. The Browns even gave him a 3-year extension, and many thought their kicker issues were solved. Then this year hit, oh boy. Hopkins was terrible this season and only made 64% of his field goal kicks. It’s not a good sign that the Browns are activating Riley Patterson. A benching could be coming at Kicker; honestly, it should have been done in November.
Gosh, it’s hard to pick because so much went wrong. However, I want to shout out to WR Jerry Jeudy. Jeudy has had a mainly lackluster career in the NFL and was going nowhere with the Denver Broncos. The Browns took a gamble on him and acquired him via trade for a 5th and 6th-round pick. Then he was immediately signed to a 3-year 58 million dollar deal, which was a head-scratcher when first revealed. Well, after this season, it has worked out well.
Did you know that Jeudy never had over 1,000 receiving yards through his tenure with the Broncos? In Cleveland, in his first season, he’s already hit that milestone, and it’s now Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season. His current stat line is 70 catches for 1,052 yards and four touchdowns. With the lowlights on offense, Jeudy was a real bright spot. When Cleveland traded Amari Cooper to Buffalo at the deadline, Jeudy became the number 1 QB. He is a keeper on that offense for next season, and it will be interesting to see how he plays if the organization gets a consistently good quarterback.
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