Freddie Kitchens was the right man for the job. Do not misunderstand that fact. But in his first game as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kitchens showed he’s a green rookie in a very pressure-packed situation.
Kitchens’ Browns got outplayed by the Tennessee Titans. The visitors from Nashville were poised, confident in their game plan and able to dictate what they wanted to do, by and large. The Browns were none of the above.
That’s how the Titans won in FirstEnergy Stadium, 43-13.
It’s not all on Kitchens, of course. Baker Mayfield consistently held the ball too long and forced a couple of bad INTs in the second half. The offensive tackle play looked like a MAC bottom-feeder facing Ohio State’s defense, especially after starting left tackle Greg Robinson got (rightly) ejected.
But I am a believer that penalties are a reflection of coaching. And the Browns committed more penalties than they have in a game since 1951. Nearly all of them were legitimate calls even with Brad Allen’s overzealous officiating crew.
Kitchens didn’t appear to have a real deliberate plan of attack for playing the Titans either. The Browns offense had the feel of a summer league basketball team where a bunch of talented strangers come together and just try to ball through it while getting whacked by a more cohesive unit with actual plays and a smartly devised game plan.
Sending Mayfield back to throw on long-developing pass plays when the offensive line is clearly overmatched is not smart football. Nick Chubb showed some effectiveness while the outcome was still undecided, but he got far too few chances. On the flip side, the Titans smartly mitigated their own OL issues by liberally sprinkling in screens and misdirections. Those were nowhere to be found for the home team.
It’s a rough debut. The key for Kitchens now is to prove he can learn and adapt. Kitchens preaches the mantra “we don’t practice penalties”, but whatever they are practicing did not translate. The Browns have too much talent to lose to anyone 43-13. It’s on Kitchens now to make sure this embarrassment of a game is used as a lesson instead of a sign of things to come.
