The Cleveland Browns will not go undefeated in the preseason. After two wins to start the exhibition season, Freddie Kitchens’ Browns fell on the road to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-12, on Friday night.
This game was a defensive struggle with some excellent special teams sprinkled in. Here are the four things for the Browns that stood out watching the game in real-time.
The starting defensive line looked awesome
For the first time all summer, the Browns trotted out the projected starting front four on defense: Myles Garrett, Larry Ogunjobi, Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon.
What. A. Show!
The Browns bagged four sacks in the first quarter and dominated the Buccaneers offensive line. Tampa Bay lost net yardage on three of their first four drives, and the defensive front had everything to do with it.
My goodness, that’s not even fair!
The starting offense did not look awesome
These are the stats from halftime. Baker Mayfield and the starting offensive line played the entire half.
There is some critical context needed here. Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and David Njoku did not play a single snap. Those are the four primary offensive weapons. The playcalling almost totally vanilla.
However, Baker Mayfield missed some throws high. There were others where Mayfield put it right where it needed to be and his receivers (Jaelen Strong, Demetrius Harris notably) let him down. Tampa Bay’s defense looked pretty good, but not that good.
Has the backup QB changed?
Since the first day of minicamp, let alone training camp, the presumption has been that Drew Stanton is Mayfield’s backup. Garrett Gilbert and David Blough were fighting for the third QB spot and simultaneously hoping to convince Kitchens to keep three quarterbacks.
Yet after Gilbert, the former Alliance of American Football standout, thrived in each of the first two preseason games, there has been some chatter about a possible shakeup. Those whispers will get a lot louder after Friday night.
Stanton took over at the start of the second half. His drives were not productive and a couple of throws wobbled like wounded waterfowl. But when he exited, Blough came in instead of Gilbert.
Does that mean Kitchens has seen enough of Gilbert to know he’s made the team? Is he Mayfield’s primary backup instead of Stanton?
We won’t know for sure until the dust settles, but Gilbert’s apparent ascension creates some intrigue at the quarterback position. Thankfully it’s all a moot point if Mayfield stays healthy.
No critical injuries
The Browns survived the preseason playing the starters and did not appear to suffer any injuries of consequence in Tampa Bay.
On a weekend when Cam Newton limped off (he’s reportedly expected to be OK) and on a night when the Detroit Lions lost two recent first-round picks to what look like impactful injuries (LB Jarrad Davis and C Frank Ragnow), the Browns have all projected 22 starters on offense and defense no worse for the wear.
Losing games in the preseason does not matter. Losing players in the preseason matters very much. Kitchens navigated his Browns through his inaugural preseason intact. That’s all that really mattered from the dress rehearsal game in Tampa.
