Mistakes on Offense and Defense See Browns Regress in Loss Against Rams

Last week, the Cleveland Browns pushed the undefeated Denver Broncos to the brink. Though Cleveland lost, 26-23, in overtime, its ability to take one of the league's most productive teams to the edge of defeat seemed to be a good sign for things to come.

The St. Louis Rams, Cleveland's Week 7 opponent, were going to be tough. While not the most explosive passing offense or most prolific scoring offense in the NFL, they boast a solid run game led by rookie running back Todd Gurley and a strong defense that produced a combined 19 sacks heading into Sunday's game.

There were ways for the Browns to take advantage of St. Louis' weakness, particularly by spreading the football around in the passing game to the myriad unheralded-but-effective Browns offensive skill players. Cleveland would also have to limit mistakes to make up for what was likely to be a tough day for the defense. 

But while the little things ended up dooming the Browns against the Broncos, it was a series of big mistakes against the Rams that saw the Browns lose, 24-6, and drop to a 2-5 record on the season.

The struggles began early, with Browns wide receiver Taylor Gabriel fumbling the ball into the hands of Janoris Jenkins, who ran it in for a touchdown. Another Browns turnover, this time a sack-fumble on Cleveland quarterback Josh McCown, led to a Rams field goal. Suddenly, the Rams had a 10-0 lead with only three total yards of offense.

By halftime, the Browns had managed to score a field goal. The Rams were still up by seven points at the game's halfway point, despite zero red-zone appearances, zero third-down conversions and only 108 yards of total offense to Cleveland's 139. And Cleveland ended the day leading in total yards and in time of possession, while allowing just one St. Louis third-down conversion. 

While the Rams were simply ineffective, the Browns were borderline incompetent. This was a wholly winnable game for Cleveland, but opportunity after opportunity was wasted. It sniffed the red zone only once in the game and came away with zero touchdowns. It ended the day with four turnovers—two fumbles by McCown, one by Gabriel and one by Travis Benjamin—that resulted in 17 of St. Louis' points.

Everything good the Browns did was negated by their numerous mistakes.

Yes, the Browns defended the Rams passing game well, with Tavon Austin as the team's receiving leader with 43 yards. But at the same time, the Browns' terrible run defense picked up where it left off, allowing 158 total rushing yards on 26 Rams attempts, with 128 yards and two scores belonging to Gurley, who carried the ball 19 times on Sunday.

Tight end Gary Barnidge was again a bright spot on the offense, catching six passes on seven targets for 101 yards, but he contributed no touchdowns this week. And while the Rams committed nine penalties for 75 yards—leading to four Browns first downs—Cleveland committed 11 penalties for 98 yards. That includes numerous flags called on the offensive line—including four for 45 yards on a single drive—which led to stalled-out drives.

It's becoming a common theme: Just as the Browns seemingly find openings to win games, they immediately hand away their best efforts to their opponents.

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Even a brief appearance by backup quarterback Johnny Manziel (who came in during the fourth quarter after McCown suffered a right shoulder injury on his final sack-fumble of the game) couldn't spark the team, given the Browns were already down by 18 points when he took the field. 

The bottom line is that it's incredibly difficult for any NFL team to win a game—particularly on the road—while turning the ball over so often and committing so many penalties. For the Browns, it's nearly impossible. This is a team still trying to find its footing; when it slips, though, it slips in a big way, as we saw on Sunday.

The Browns needed to take their close loss to the Broncos last week and build from it. But instead, they took steps backward. And when a losing team regresses, ugliness like Sunday's game is sure to ensue.