x
Breaking News
More () »

The Browns biggest difference maker: the post-Haley offense -- Bud Shaw's Sports Spin

The biggest difference and best hope for the Browns as they head to Houston to face the Texans Sunday is the offense since Freddie Kitchens took over for Todd Haley.
Credit: Getty Images

CLEVELAND — The only thing missing Sunday in Cincinnati was Hue Jackson sitting in a sidelines dunk tank.

That’s how easy of a target he made once Baker Mayfield began the post-Thanksgiving carving of the Bengals defense.

But beyond Jackson’s attempt at what offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens called a post-game “Kum-ba-ya,” there was someone else who looked worse than Jackson. And Todd Haley wasn’t even there.

If Mayfield is a breath of fresh air, he’s riding Kitchens’ wave of fresh thinking on display since the firing of Haley. (Though, is it really fair to call it fresh thinking if what he’s done is tailor the offense to fit his quarterback’s particular set of skills (imagine that) while embracing the crazy notion of featuring his play makers?)

Who knew that could be a winning formula?

The Browns offense looks sharp, innovative and dangerous as Kitchens is calling it. Haley was 0-for-3 on that front.

Despite the attention his work is getting this week in preparation for the Texans in Houston, Kitchens says he is not thinking about anything beyond this season.

“People did not know who I was before this all happened,” he said during Thursday’s media availability. “Let me tell you how that happens.

“If you are not sending out propaganda and advertising for your next job, that happens. People know who you are at that point. I have never advertised for a job, and I never will advertise for a job.”

What we know about Kitchens so far is the offense looks so much better and makes considerably more sense than it did under Haley.

And as easy a target as Jackson makes — starting with his media tour following his dismissal — the Kitchens upgrade is the biggest difference maker.

  • Give Mayfield credit.

Not for the stiff arm of Jackson, though, figuratively speaking, it was the quintessential Heisman pose.

Give him credit for keeping things in perspective during the media inquisition that followed.

It would be easy to blame Jackson for everything that happened early this season. Easy. Not fair.

One narrative that gained some steam -- in part through Mayfield’s arms-length rejection of Jackson’s overtures -- was that Browns players wanted that Cincinnati game so badly to show it was Jackson's coaching that sabotaged them early in the season. To his credit, Mayfield didn’t espouse it.

The Browns lost games early in the season for lots of reasons. You do remember Pittsburgh, right? And Zane Gonzalez in New Orleans?

And those overtime periods when the offense stalled so badly?

All those stupid penalties and dropped passes?

Some of that is on Jackson. Not all of it. Not if you’re all about honesty and accountability as Mayfield seems to be.

“Obviously, the easiest answer would be to look on that and say, ‘Yeah, I have played a lot better since (the changes)’ but that is not it,” Mayfield said. “It has just been about me doing my job and doing it at a very high level. It is not about that. I would not blame that at all.”

Mayfield added, “It’s the fact we didn’t do our jobs then.”

Besides, why blame Jackson for every wrong thing that happened?

When, as I said, Haley is both available and deserving.

  • Mayfield says people are trying to make his criticism of Jackson into something personal.

When clearly it’s something really personal.

  • Mayfield didn’t respect Jackson. But he also didn’t feel respected by Jackson, who thought he should be congratulated for beating out Drew Stanton for the backup job.

On camera, no less.

  • Players motivate themselves in different ways. If Mayfield used Jackson joining a division rival so soon after his firing as motivation, good for him.

But If Jackson was that bad a coach and so fake in the building, Browns players should’ve offered to Uber him to Cincinnati no charge.

After stopping in Pittsburgh and Baltimore to make sure the Steelers or Ravens couldn’t find a way to put him on staff.

  • Mayfield is a college walk on who turned himself into the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

That’s another reason why he’s an excellent fit for an organization that’s been such a complete afterthought for the last 20 years.

Mayfield knows the feeling.

And being able to relate wouldn't matter at all if he couldn’t play the position better than any quarterback who’s played for the Browns in the last 30 years.

Sorry, Todd Philcox, I’m just saying.

Matt Mayfield took First Take’s Damien Woody to task for his criticism of his brother while also slamming Jackson for not having Baker’s back.

Word of warning: If you're going to buy that pair of jeans, do not under any circumstances ask the Mayfield boys if they make you look fat.

  • Mayfield expertly dissected the Bengals defense until the buttoned-down play calling of the second half allowed the Bengals a flicker of competitive hope.

“He’s a good player," said Cincinnati linebacker Brandon Bell. “I think he will be their quarterback for a little while.”

“A little while” seems like faint praise. But at this point, Browns fans will take anything beyond “the next five minutes.”

  • Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t expect any team to claim former San Francisco linebacker Reuben Foster. The Niners cut Foster after his Saturday arrest on domestic violence charges.

“I was a little surprised,” Shanahan said. “I mean, not the team in particular, but that someone did. But someone did, and I saw it just like you guys did.”

Translation: Nobody in their right mind would claim him and that’s why he figured Washington might.

  • Washington VP Doug Williams defended the decision to claim Foster.

“There was a lot of thought that went into it,” said Williams.

Just not enough.

  • Williams said he does not take the charges against Foster lightly. But…you knew there was one coming, didn’t you…along with a Grade Three strained argument...here it comes:

“We got people who are in high, high, high, high places that have done far worse, if you look at it realistically. And they’re still up there,” Williams told ESPN. “This is small potatoes [compared to] a lot of things out there.

“But at the same time, it’s a big issue in America today, whether or not it’s in football, whether or not it’s in everyday life, whether or not it’s in politics, it’s out there.”

If you wonder how it’s possible to work yourself back to marginalizing something you previously call a serious offense, Williams has given us the gold standard in two words: small potatoes.

  • Jeff Brohm’s old Louisville high school received a bomb threat after the Purdue coach announced he would stay in West Lafayette and pass on pursuing the position with the Louisville Cardinals.

That’s a sad commentary on where we are as a society, the saddest I’ve come across in the last five minutes.

  • By the way, Mayfield isn’t the only one speaking his mind these days. Ben Roethlisberger has turned his weekly show on 93.7 The Fan into must-hear radio. According to one headline, it’s must-hear because Roethlisberger “isn’t afraid to say things.”

In other words, he’s now your grandmother and every other old person.

  • Carlos Hyde isn’t happy with his “limited role” in Jacksonville. Hyde has 93 yards in four games there.

Or what Nick Chubb would call “pretty much that one run I had against Atlanta.”

The answer: This AFC North team has never even made the Super Bowl let alone won it. But by 2030, gotta happen, right?”

That would be the Lions, of course. The Lions are one of four franchises that haven’t reached a Super Bowl. They're in the company of the Jags, the Texans and the Browns.

Thanks a lot, Hue.

  • Gus Johnson on Urban Meyer during the Ohio State-Michigan game:

“Men like him don’t come around very often.”

Gus, big-time college football has lots of corner-cutting guys like Meyer. I think you misspelled “coaches.”

  • The Fox crew used the broadcast to give Meyer tone-deaf credit for overcoming “all the things he’s gone through.”

Just a thought: Could Urban Meyer have had anything to do with some of the things that happened to Urban Meyer?

  • Bruce Arians has let it be known he’d be open to keeping Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator and Kitchens as offensive coordinator if he becomes Browns head coach.

Not going to say Arians is getting ahead of himself in this campaign season. I'll save that for when he announces he's open to keeping John Dorsey, too.

  • In L.A. they're saying LeBron James is battling his instincts concerning when to dominate a game and when to defer.

Looking at the Lakers roster, I'd say everyone with the exception of LaVar Ball would advise him to err on the side of domination.

  • The Raptors beat the Warriors 131-128 in overtime Thursday.

That led to a headline claiming Kawhi Leonard was "brought to Toronto for moments like this."

What? To beat a team missing Steph Curry, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins?

The moments that matter in Toronto don't happen in November.

December, January, February and March either.

  • This week’s predictions:

Ohio State 41, Northwestern 20.

Browns 24, Texans 20.

Those are stone-cold guesses.

Before You Leave, Check This Out