Sloppy Defense, Lack of Discipline Again Leads to a Cleveland Browns Loss

A lot of things the Cleveland Browns needed to work well on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers did. The offense looked as good as it has all year, with quarterback Josh McCown completing 32 of his 41 pass attempts, for 356 yards and two touchdowns. The Browns were able to get their running backs involved in the passing game, with Isaiah Crowell totaling 62 yards on his three receptions and Duke Johnson totaling 85 yards and a touchdown on his nine catches.

But the Browns' strong day on offense was all for naught, as the team fell to the Chargers, 30-27. The culprit? Poor defense and a glut of penalties. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Though the Chargers converted only three of their 11 third-down attempts, their offense was bailed out by repeated Browns penalties. Of San Diego's 23 total first downs on Sunday, five were achieved via Cleveland penalties. All told, the Browns lost 91 total yards to 12 penalties. 

SD 1st Downs	23
SD 1st Downs via Penalty	5
SD on 3rd Down	3-of-11
SD in Red Zone	2-of-3
Total SD Yards	438
SD Rush Yards	91
SD Pass Yards	347

The most costly came in the final seconds of the game, when Chargers kicker Josh Lambo was set to attempt a 39-yard game-winning field goal. He missed, but Browns cornerback Tramon Williams was called for an offsides penalty. Lambo made the ensuing 34-yard field-goal attempt, causing the Browns to lose the game.

But the final Chargers drive was marred by more than just the penalty at its end. The Browns defense also gave up plays of 17 and 19 yards to get the Chargers into field-goal range in the first place. And while Cleveland finally held firm against the run game, giving up only 91 total rushing yards on the day, the passing defense struggled.

Without cornerbacks Joe Haden and K'Waun Williams, the Browns allowed 438 total Chargers yards, 347 of them passing yards. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers completed 25 of his 38 passes and threw two touchdowns and was sacked only twice, despite not having his starting left tackle, left guard or center.

He was also down to two wide receivers, with Malcom Floyd suffering a concussion and Stevie Johnson injuring his hamstring. Still, the Chargers had four players with at least 53 receiving yards, with running back Danny Woodhead totaling 84 and receiver Dontrelle Inman totaling 88 on his three catches. 

Big plays in particular were what the Browns struggled with on Sunday. They gave up two passing plays of 60-plus yards and another to Chargers receiver Keenan Allen that went for 31. They also gave up runs of 19 and 23 yards.

Though Cleveland's offense did a good job of matching the Chargers play-for-play and point-for-point, the defense allowing that many more explosive plays while both sides of the ball kept committing penalty after penalty doomed them on Sunday. Playing on the road in the NFL is a tough thing as it is; for the Browns, it's an even bigger struggle.

They could have come away with a win this week, though, except they shot themselves in the foot too many times to manage to hang on. Too many Chargers drives were extended because of Cleveland penalties, and just one fewer scoring play could have meant a Browns win. That's why even just one penalty can be one too many.

The defense has been a problem all season long for the Browns, as has the discipline needed to avoid double-digit penalties. And when those components combine, as they did in San Diego on Sunday, a loss is the inevitable outcome. The Browns need to clean up numerous things if they want to get wins, whether on the road or at home.