The Browns' nightmare season took another hit after a blow to the Commanders

Landover, Md. — It was fair to wonder if the Cleveland Browns might have to rely on their defense early in the season. It was perfectly fair to expect quarterback Deshaun Watson and play caller Kevin Stefanski to need weeks to push the right buttons for a number of reasons, a list that of course begins with the fact that they've never been a stylistic match. But it doesn't stop there.

Cleveland has offensive line issues – both personnel and performance – and even good O-lines need a few games to sync up. Watson was limited until late July while the Browns overhauled their offensive coaching staff in the offseason and recovered from shoulder surgery. Watson hasn't taken a preseason snap because of Watson's health, the offensive lineman shortage and the approach of training camp like a summer camp for underprivileged kids.

I could go on, and I could straddle the line between excuse making and reality. But reality has now slapped the Browns in the face. It's not a slow start. It's not a slip here and a freak situation there that changes the shape of the game, and it's not the occasional miss or mistake that derails a promising drive. It's worse than I thought, and it's worse than even the most concerned citizen exterior or paranoid coach interior could imagine.

On Sunday, the Washington Commanders sacked Watson seven times en route to a 34-13 win. Other times, Watson misses open receivers with errant passes and sometimes not throwing the ball at all. He's not giving the Browns a chance on some plays, and other times his passes are being dropped or caught behind the line waiting for the defense. It seems like Cleveland wants to start with some quick plays and misdirection and let those roads go further downfield, but the results have been so poor that it's hard to even determine what the intent might be, let alone downfield. The basis is but week to week.

After being run out of Browns Stadium by the Commanders to slip to 1-4, a five-game sample is enough to say that the team with the highest salary in NFL history has run the worst offense in the league. And while a lack of discipline in other phases has resulted in this losing streak reaching three, it's the lack of production on offense that has put every other area of ​​the team in a bad spot.

At 3.8 yards per play, the Browns have the least potent offense through five games of any NFL team since the 2018 Buffalo Bills, per Statehead. It was on track to be the worst in 25 years until backup quarterbacks Jameis Winston and De'Onta Foreman connected for 16 yards with 1:22 left.

It was the Browns' first and only third-down conversion of the day. They finished 1-of-13 on third down and would be last in the league in that all-important and often telling category. They converted third downs at a rate under 21 percent in September.

They retreat on the first Sunday of October. the numbers crime. The whole franchise, really. The Commanders had the No. 30 pass defense by defense-adjusted standards in September, and they ranked at or near the bottom in several key defensive categories. Washington won three in a row thanks to its offense. For what should have been a desperate Cleveland team, there was a chance to crack 20 points for the first time this season and potentially at least try to win in a shootout.

The Browns only brought rubber bullets. The Commanders hit double figures in the first quarter (two), but there was no shootout and not even a contested game, as they did from Weeks 2 through 4 combined (one).

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Finally, the commanders put together big plays and composed drives. The Browns would have punted on seven straight drives in the first half had they not stumbled on a field goal early in the second quarter after starting at Washington's 43-yard line.

The Browns forced a fumble on the first play of the second half, and it seemed like a necessary jump-start to the kind of wild rally it would take to get back into the game from down 24-3. But instead of getting a touchdown and gaining some momentum, they got to the Washington 2-yard line then got a false start, used a timeout, took a sack, watched Jerry Jewdy drop a touchdown pass and then just didn't settle for a field goal. goal but their fourth-down attempt resulted in a delay of game. The Browns didn't have the right amount of players on the field and didn't want to use a second timeout with about 90 seconds left in the game, which actually made sense in the moment.

But you can't take those timeouts home, or move into the top five of April's draft The season is gone. Yes, it's still early October. There is nowhere to go but up. But in Watson's third season as quarterback, Stefanski's fifth play and general manager Andrew Berry's fifth to make the final call on the roster, the Browns have cooked up a big nothing burger.

From drops to a lack of run game to Watson's league-high 26 sacks, there's plenty of blame to go around. But there was no solution, and after getting points on their first possessions in each of the first four weeks, the Browns failed on downs on the opening drive Sunday. On their second possession, they threw a screen for a loss of seven, allowing an untouched edge rusher into the backfield on second down before Elijah Moore dropped a pass and Watson threw the ball away on third down. It was their first of six three-and-outs in the first 40 minutes of play.

Numbers don't always tell a complete story. The Browns' worst early October offense in six years is surely one Stefanski won't share with his grandchildren one day. But numbers can obscure an entire story, and they actually do here. The Browns went up 3.6 yards per play on late, pointless completions. They scored with 7:02 left to make it 34-13. By then the Commanders had removed their quarterback.

The Browns also had a garbage-time touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. Their first score against the Giants came on their first snap; A fumble at New York's 24-yard line set them up. So for as bad as the numbers are, this crime probably really happened bad Compared to the numbers shown. In short, the last three minutes last week in Las Vegas were this team's chance to check everything, steal a win and at least provide a sliver of hope that this expensive and tedious Watson test might still have a chance to work.

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Then they fail. They were bad here in what needed to be a redemption game. Stefanski was adamant afterward that he wasn't changing quarterbacks, and that the team's investment in Watson and awkward dedication to continuing to support him probably wouldn't have allowed him to. Maybe he'll leave the play to new coordinator Ken Dorsey. Maybe he'll shake the staff instead. But it's time for the Browns to not just do things differently, but to do a lot of things differently.

It's beyond nightmares. The Nightmare dropped a home game to the previously winless Giants two weeks ago before a three-game road trip. It felt like one that not only exposed some warts but one that could come back to haunt the Browns later. Instead, it's spooky time about four weeks before Halloween. In many ways, the franchise was all-in this season because of Watson's contract, the money spent across the roster and the age of many of the Browns' best players. Still, they need to see that it's all gone.

By the numbers, it's the worst Browns offense since 2009 and slightly ahead of the expansion-year 1999. This, by eye test, says that something akin to another expansion-era approach might be the only way this thing can go. The reality is right in front of us.

(Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)