How lack of running game put Browns' 'backs to the wall' in loss to Patriots
Jedrick Wills Jr. had an eerily familiar bitter taste of defeat in his mouth when he departed FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Browns had just been dominated by the New England Patriots for the second consecutive season, losing 38-15 to extend their losing streak to three games.
“It felt the exact same way as last year,” Wills, the Browns' starting left offensive tackle, told the Beacon Journal while he prepared to leave the home team's locker room.
Wills explained he experienced some semblance of deja vu not only because the Browns (2-4) lost in embarrassing fashion, but also because they had their strength neutralized again.
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They entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the NFL in rushing (192.4 yards per game), but they finished their rematch against the Patriots (3-3) with just 70 yards on 18 carries (3.9 average).
“We came out here today and ran for 70 yards and threw the ball [45] times,” Wills said. “I mean, it's not what any team wants to do, unless you're like the [Los Angeles] Rams. It's tough. It definitely had all of our backs to the wall.”
The Browns couldn't get much going on offense against the Patriots in 2021, either
Last season, the Patriots thrashed the Browns 45-7 on Nov. 14 at Gillette Stadium. As the beatdown unfolded, the Patriots reminded everyone involved why coach Bill Belichick is famous for attacking the best aspect of his opponents and thereby forcing them to stray from their comfort zone.
At first glance, the Browns compiling 20 carries for 99 yards (5 average) last season suggests they were efficient on the ground against the Patriots, despite standout running backs Nick Chubb (COVID-19) and Kareem Hunt (calf) missing the game.
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But remember, third-string running back D'Ernest Johnson had 58 yards on four carries (14.5 average) during the game's opening series, which ended with the Browns' lone touchdown. Belichick and Co. adjusted, and Johnson mustered just 41 yards on 15 carries (2.7 average) the rest of the day. The 2021 Browns had entered their Week 10 showdown against the Patriots with the league's second-ranked rushing attack (160.2 yards per game).
Notice a pattern?
“Everybody knows we're going to run the ball. They knew we were going to run the ball,” Wills said. “We just didn't get it started, and we got behind the chains, started throwing the ball. We're good at that, but it's not our bread and butter.”
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Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has made it clear that's why the franchise traded for three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson — legal baggage and all — and gave him a record-setting five-year contract worth $230 million fully guaranteed. The thinking is the passing game must be a team's bread and butter for it to win the Super Bowl in today's NFL and Watson possesses enough talent to get the Browns there.
Meanwhile, the Browns are six games into Watson's 11-game suspension and in serious danger of failing to be relevant in the playoff picture by the time he is eligible to play Dec. 4 against his former team, the Houston Texans.
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From the Browns' perspective, the defense and running game were supposed to help backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett keep everything afloat until Watson returned. However, the defense has been a mess for practically the entire season, and the rushing attack faltered Sunday. It will need to get back on track for the Browns to have a realistic shot at upsetting the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens (3-3) on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
“I would like to run the ball every play, but that's just me,” right tackle Jack Conklin said Monday on Zoom. “But no, it's our job. We’re professionals. We’re supposed to run and be successful, whatever play is called.
“We got ourselves into a lot of third-and-longs early in the game, and that kind of puts out a panic button, like ‘Hey, the run's not working on early downs. I guess we need to start trying to get some passes,’ maybe to get us into those reasonable third downs, whether it’s short passes or whatever, because the run wasn't working right out the gate. So it's on us as an offensive line, and we’ve got to be better in that scenario.”
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To be clear, Chubb and Hunt played Sunday, unlike last year versus the Patriots. Yet Chubb had just 12 carries for 56 yards (4.7 average), and Hunt rushed four times for 12 yards (3 average). Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones ran once for 2 yards, and Brissett QB sneaked for no gain.
The number of rushing attempts begs this question: Who was more responsible for shutting down the No. 1 rushing attack, the Patriots or Browns coach Kevin Stefanski?
Browns fans attending the game on Cleveland's lakefront apparently were asking themselves some version of that question. Chubb lost 2 yards on the offense's first play from scrimmage of the second half, and Stefanski called nine other plays before Chubb received another handoff with 2:14 left in the third quarter. The crowd responded to the 5-yard run by sarcastically cheering. Through the first five games this season, Chubb led the NFL in rushing yards (593) and touchdowns (seven).
Does Stefanski wish he had called more runs?
“When you get out of a game and you lose 38-15, you look at a lot of things that you wish you did differently,” he said Monday on Zoom. “We weren’t having as much success as we've had in the past however many games, and then the game gets to 24-6 with five minutes left in the third [quarter], so it's going to force you to play a little bit differently in terms of trying to play catch-up.
“We go into every game, as you can imagine, wanting to make sure that our guys are touching the ball. We talk about it throughout the game about what their touches are and those type of things. Sometimes the score and the game dictate that you have to play catch-up.”
Asked why the Browns didn't experience as much success as they had been in the running game, Stefanski said, “You should start with giving [the Patriots] credit. There weren’t fronts necessarily that we didn’t foresee. We just didn’t win our one on ones consistently enough. As you know, sometimes there are dirty runs that happen throughout the course of a game and then you pop one. [The Patriots] did a nice job. We'll keep working it. Not discouraged.”
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Losing Pro Bowl right guard Wyatt Teller to a calf injury in the second quarter didn't help the Browns conquer more one-on-one matchups. Hjalte Froholdt played 55 of the offense's 70 snaps after Teller lasted for just 15. It's unclear whether Teller will be able to face the Ravens this weekend.
“You know teams are going to see that, and then they're going to go at that side,” Wills said. “I think Hjalte did a pretty good job for the situation.
“But it's tough when a guy goes down. It's like if a D-lineman goes down, we're going to run that way. It's tough because they definitely got a lot more pressure over there.”
With the running game struggling, Brissett completed 21 of 45 passes (46.7%) for 266 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions for a rating of 54.5. He also lost a fumble and took four sacks.
Receiver Amari Cooper spent a long time talking to Brissett in the locker room after the game about how they could use lessons from the defeat to improve.
“It always hurts when you lose, especially losing in this fashion,” Cooper told the Beacon Journal on Sunday. “I think we're a good enough football team to where we can always keep it competitive. It didn't seem like we really did that today.
“We knew [the Patriots] were going to try to handicap our best attributes. We came in with a game plan. At the end of the day, it's up to the players to execute the game plan. I don't think we really did that.”
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Stefanski and his assistants share the blame, though. On the game's second play from scrimmage, Brissett launched a deep pass intended for third-string tight end Pharaoh Brown that was intercepted.
“I think the play calling was good,” Cooper said. “I just think we didn't execute. Of course, it's not the right thing to do for the fans to blame the coaches. If anything, put it on us.”
From the vantage point of Wills, it all stems from not capitalizing on what the offense does best.
“We had a plan we didn't execute,” he said. “It comes back to bite you in the butt.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Lacking run put Browns' 'backs to the wall' in loss to Pats
