The Browns’ season has gone off the rails and they have no one but themselves to blame

After losing to their division rival Baltimore Ravens, 23-20, in Week 7 and increasing their current losing streak to four games, the Cleveland Browns now find themselves at 2-5 with little to no hope of making the playoffs. A Browns season that was already exhausting before it even began has officially become an exercise in futility, with the entire organization having no one to blame other than themselves.

There are some who have argued that the Browns’ internal expectations were vastly different from what they’ve said publicly, and that they never truly intended to seriously compete this season once Deshaun Watson’s initial six-game suspension was increased to 11 games. However, that’s a convenient excuse for a football team that has proven it is completely incapable of capitalizing on opportunities emerge victorious in very winnable games, and constantly finds new ways to sabotage themselves.

Four of the Browns five losses this season have been by three points or less, the only exception being the beatdown they received from Bill Belichick, Bailey Zappe, and the New England Patriots. Whether it be not recovering an onside kick, missed kicks that come back to bite them, miscommunications on defense, lack of effort by players they are counting on, head scratching play calling at the most critical moments of the football game or even a (very questionable) false start on a field goal attempt, the Browns always find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Good football teams simply do not beat themselves every week. Full stop.

A team whose mantra is “Smart. Tough. Accountable.” constantly makes idiotic mistakes, plays extremely soft and has held absolutely no one accountable for any of it to this point. It’s gotten so bad that The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd reported the players could be heard screaming at each other in the locker room before Kevin Stefanski’s postgame press conference. One player was heard yelling, “No fucking leadership!” and honestly that’s a very good way to sum up their season so far.

No leadership. No accountability. No chance in hell of turning this season around.

The Cincinnati Bengals, who just dominated an Atlanta Falcons team the Browns lost to mind you, are the Browns final opponent before they have their bye week. If there’s even a flicker of hope remaining to get this season back on track, a loss to the Bengals would effectively end it. At this point, it’s probably for the best considering there are players and coaches that should not be a part of the organization going forward.

Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski need to take a long, hard look at this football team and make the appropriate evaluations to ensure the Browns have the right people in the building and the team is prepared to compete in 2023 and beyond. Neither will have the benefit of a Deshaun Watson suspension to excuse another poor season going forward.

The Cleveland Browns 2022 season is a lost cause, but there’s always next year right?