4 Browns to blame for wasting Jerry Jeudy’s revenge game vs. Broncos

Cleveland’s loss to the Denver Broncos to conclude Week 13 of the NFL season couldn’t be more of a Browns way to lose. They highlighted the night with two career performances just to spoil it with a loss. 

This loss probably feels worse than most of the others for that reason alone. Any other team that has a quarterback throw for almost 500 yards and a receiver with over 230 yards probably blows the other team out. 

Only the Browns could lose that game. Nonetheless, it makes such a promising night filled with blunders resulting in a loss that much harder to accept. And someone has to take the blame for that. 

So here’s who deserves blame for ruining a historic night for the Cleveland Browns. 

Jameis Winston has himself to blame in spoiling his and Jerry Jeudy’s career night

Winston put together a career night that will forever be marred by the one problem he can’t seem to fix. He has a turnover problem and two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the same game will haunt him and this franchise for a while. 

He said it himself he takes the blame for the loss. Because regardless of how good he plays, he’s liable to turn the ball over. And when they turn into immediate points off those turnovers, it makes it hard for your team to win. 

The first interception that was returned for a score was right before the half. The next drive, Winston led the Browns to get within 21-17 at halftime. Imagine if he never threw that pick-6. 

And then the one to seal the game, whether he took it back or not, it was a turnover that ultimately cost them the game. It’s the risk you take when Winston steps on the field. 

The microscope on Jim Schwartz continues to enlarge as Browns defense struggles again

Sure, the Broncos scored 14 points off interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. But that doesn’t mean the defense is still playing bad; two things can be true. 

And in this case, Jim Schwartz is still struggling to get the best out of this Browns defense. They allowed 27 offensive points and even gave up a 93-yard touchdown pass. The Browns did force two interceptions, but ultimately defensive lapses continue to plague that side of the ball. 

There were several busted coverages and open receivers for Bo Nix to find. Nix finished the game with 294 yards, which is more than the Browns are averaging this season. And they ran all over the Browns defense as well. 

Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 84 of the Broncos’ 106 yards on Monday night. This season, Cleveland is giving up 128 rushing yards per game. 

And to top it all off, the Browns are averaging almost 26 points per game against this season. The offense has had its struggles and the quarterback situation has been a glaring problem. But that doesn’t justify why the defense isn’t playing up to par. 

It’s up to Schwartz to put the players, specifically the secondary, in the right position. That’s simply not happening and a change could be coming on that side of the ball. 

The problem with the Browns this year all stem from one person: Kevin Stefanski

Kevin Stefanski might have two coach of the year awards, but that doesn’t absolve him from any blame for this season’s struggles. Yes, he made the decision to give play-calling duties to Ken Dorsey, but it’s still his offense. 

And right now his offense is showing the good and bad sides to it. They keep turning the ball over. While Winston is a turnover machine, it’s up to Stefanski to put Winston in a better situation to not force throws. 

I’m not saying Stefanski can’t turn this team around or even help this team get back on track. But this is the worst season of Stefanski’s tenure in Cleveland. This season, the Browns had more expectations than they’ve probably ever had. 

They were supposed to be contending for an AFC North title, a playoff run and be one of the best teams in the conference. Instead, they’ve regressed so far, who knows what it will take to save them. 

And with all the struggles Cleveland has faced this year, Stefanski is to blame as much as anyone. 

Andrew Berry has avoided criticism, but it’s his incompetence that’s caused the Browns to spiral this season

I’m not sure who’s to blame for the Deshaun Watson fiasco or why this team can’t put it all together, but at some point, we have to look beyond the players and the coaches. This team hasn’t figured it out since Watson arrived in Cleveland. That means Andrew Berry is under the microscope as well.

And even before then when handling Baker Mayfield. This team has been to the playoffs twice since Stefanski arrived. His draft picks since coming back to the team have been mediocre, they’ve made very few significant additions in the offseason as well. 

Perhaps his most ambitious and expensive move since taking the job in 2020 has been the reason the Browns have sifted to the bottom of the NFL and why they can't have consistent success. 

He deserves just as much blame for why Cleveland throws away games like Monday night as any player on the field. Because this team is a product of his work day in and day out.