Browns' Freddie Kitchens Takes Blame for Play-Calling Mistakes: 'Just Blame Me'

Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens struggled with his play-calling during Sunday's 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and he knew it.

"I didn't do a good job at the end of the game," he said, per Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan.

The offense was nowhere to be found for much of the game, and Baker Mayfield finished 18-of-36 passing for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Despite the poor showing, he had the opportunity to force overtime but threw an interception to John Johnson III in the end zone on 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line in the final minute.

It was the fourth consecutive passing play from the 4-yard line even though Nick Chubb was the team's best offensive player with 96 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards and a touchdown that was called back because of a penalty.

"It takes time to develop offensively," Kitchens said, per Ruiter. "We hit the ground running because we had already played eight games (last year)...just blame me...go write your article saying I messed the game up."

One time he did go to Chubb came on the game's most questionable move.

Cleveland found itself behind by four points in the fourth quarter with a 4th-and-9 from the Rams' 40-yard line. The decision to go for it made sense, but the coaching staff shockingly called a draw play to Chubb that never had a chance.

"Bad call," Kitchens said of the draw. "It just didn't work. It was a bad call."

The Browns are now 1-2 despite all the preseason hype, magazine covers, profile stories, commercials and Super Bowl expectations. They lost a heartbreaker to the Rams and a 30-point blowout to the Tennessee Titans, with their only win coming in a game that featured a New York Jets squad down to its third-string quarterback.

It doesn't get much easier, either, as Cleveland is at the 2-1 Baltimore Ravens, at the undefeated San Francisco 49ers, home against the 2-1 Seattle Seahawks and at the undefeated New England Patriots in the next four games. A 1-6 start is not out of the question by any means if the offense plays like it did Sunday.

If his comments were any indications, Kitchens will take the task of making the necessary improvements on himself.