The Cleveland Browns and Head Coach Freddie Kitchens face a dilemma. Having lacked an identity for the first six games of the 2019 season, they found a physical edge against the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. They went out and dominated Pittsburgh even before “the incident” at the end of the game.
Undisciplined, inexperienced, immature and emotional will be the words used to describe Kitchen’s team, while wins & losses will ultimately be what decides his fate. He has to find a way to keep that edge while avoiding incidents like what occurred on Thursday Night. He has to limit penalties while maintaining the physicality that helped them dominate the Pittsburgh.
The truth is that the Steelers and Ravens have won this way for years in the AFC North.
The Browns being the physical aggressor is a role reversal of sorts and presents Kitchens with the Identity he has been looking for. Of course, this sort of approach has taken on a different light considering what happened with Myles Garrett. Still it should not deter the Browns from buying-in on their physical style of play. Below is a chart of how often the Ravens and the Steelers have finished in the NFL’s top ten for unnecessary roughness penalties since 2012 (via NFLPenalties.com).
Are the Ravens and Steelers considered dirty teams? I don’t know. Do they do a good deal of winning? Most definitely.
