Browns fall to Ravens: What we might know after Week 12

The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens had an interesting game in Week 12. Instead of interesting, ugly could also be used to describe it. The Ravens turned the ball over on three straight possessions in the second quarter but the Browns offense only scored three points off of those turnovers.

While the final score was close, 16-10, Baltimore seemed to be in control for most of the game. The home team ended up with a 14-minute advantage in time of possession by the end of the game despite losing the turnover margin.

Both sides struggled on offense with Lamar Jackson throwing for only 165 yards and 68 yards rushing despite 17 carries. Two big plays to tight end Mark Andrews saved the game for Baltimore’s offense.

Here is what we might know after Week 12 for the Browns:

Season isn't over but it is close

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Browns are 6-6 through 12 weeks with their bye week coming up and then the Ravens coming to town for Monday Night Football. Cleveland is now 2.5 games behind Baltimore in the AFC North but only a half a game behind the Los Angeles Chargers for the last playoff spot.

The problem for the Browns is two-fold. First, four teams stand between them and that seventh seed. Second, Cleveland loses tiebreakers to many AFC teams due to head-to-head losses. The team can even the score with Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the last five games of the season.

The 2021 Browns season isn’t over but it is getting very close to it. Cleveland fans may turn their attention to the NFL draft sooner than anyone expected if they lose in Week 14 to the Ravens again.

Offense fails the defense

While Jarvis Landry had a good game, as shown above, the offense failed the defense in Week 12. The team failed to run the ball successfully or enough with Nick Chubb having eight carries for 16 yards and Kareem Hunt with seven carries for 20 yards.

While Baker Mayfield’s boxscore isn’t bad, 247 yards and 1 touchdown, he also had a fumble lost and completed less than 50% of his passes against Baltimore.

While blame and discussion will revolve around the quarterback, there is a lot of blame to go around for Sunday’s loss.

JOK the answer for Lamar

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was all over the field Sunday night and showed why so many were excited to see him on the field against the Ravens quarterback. While Jackson still had some success, the combination of the rookie linebacker and the rest of the Browns defense limited his impact greatly.

As seen in this play, Owusu-Koramoah made plays that haven’t been seen in a long time in Cleveland:

It wasn’t enough to get the victory but the Notre Dame product could be the key to stopping Jackson for years to come.

Stefanski decisions questionable

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The lack of success in the run game. The lack of using the run game. The lack of screens. The lack of rub routes, crossing routes and picks to get receivers open.

There were a lot of questionable decisions by head coach Kevin Stefanski’s offense Sunday. He never seemed to get in a rhythm as a play-caller or have enough control of his team to keep them from making silly penalties after silly penalties.

The worst was when the team had to call a timeout because they had 12 men on the field only to then get a penalty for having 12 men on the field after the timeout.

If all of that wasn’t enough, he finally didn’t go for it on fourth down and that looks like a big mistake on his part:

Stefanski earned a lot of credit for how he led the team in 2020 but his rope is much shorter through much of 2021 so far.

Conklin injury a big problem

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

From the looks of things, Jack Conklin could be done for the rest of the season. He left the game, had some kind of problem as he was walking off the field, had to be helped to the medical tent and then was carted off the field.

The team quickly ruled him out for the rest of the game with a knee injury.

Without Conklin, Blake Hance was targeted by the Baltimore pass rush and he failed quite often. Rookie James Hudson III looked even worse when he was on the field this year showing how important Chris Hubbard was to the team before his injury.

If Conklin is out, the Cleveland offense is extremely limited given Mayfield’s physical limitations due to injury. Stefanski will have to chip/help to Hance’s side over and over again, limiting what else they can do on offense.

Field goal miss problematic

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Chase McClaughin’s missed field goal didn’t decide the game but it did change the game. As did his “doinked” in make later in the game. With a make instead of a miss, the game would have been tied late in the game and, possibly, changed how the Browns made decisions.

The lack of confidence in the kicking game after even making a field goal can play on a psyche of a team.

As noted during the game, kickers are rarely consistent:

Given the limitations on offense, Cleveland needs confidence in their kicking game. Do they start to look for competition during their bye week?

Defense, Defense, Defense

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Noted above but the Cleveland defense was special Sunday Night. Perfect? No. Special? Yes.

Holding Lamar Jackson to under 250 total yards of offense while forcing four interceptions is special. Holding Andrews to “only” 65 yards receiving is special, for this defense.

While they didn’t make enough plays to get the victory, holding Baltimore to only 16 points is a very, very good showing by Joe Woods’ group. If only they wouldn’t have lost Andrews while Jackson backed up over 10 yards to avoid the pass rush, Sunday’s performance would have been legendary if that didn’t happen.

Garrett continues DPOY chase

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Myles Garrett was all over the field Sunday night. While his boxscore says five tackles, one sack and one pass deflection, it doesn’t do his game justice.

In one series, Garrett was in on a tackle for loss near the goal line then jumped up to knock down a pass to force a field goal when it looked like the Ravens were set to score a touchdown.

Garrett leads the NFL in sacks with 14 and should be near the top of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Clowney defines "almost"

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Jadeveon Clowney almost had a monster game for Cleveland. He was so close to many sacks on Jackson but just couldn’t bring him down. Clowney was so frustrated after a play where he almost got Jackson that he took his helmet off and slammed it to the ground.

“Almost” is a word that describes Clowney’s career as well. While he has made a lot of big plays, he has almost made many more. Finishing can be tough in the NFL and,2 Sunday night, Jackson defined Clowney’s game as “almost” impactful.

Instead, the former #1 overall pick had just four tackles.

Bye week won't be enjoyable for anyone

(AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

The Cleveland Browns are 6-6 going into their bye week and there is no fun to be had anywhere. There is too much talent, too many resources spent on the talent and proof that the team can win from 2020 for this to be where the Browns are at this point.

While there are multiple places that could have changed Cleveland’s record with one or two different plays in a game, at this point the Browns are an average team. Their lone quality win comes against the Cincinnati Bengals with wins over the mediocre Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos their second and third-best ones.

There will be plenty of questions during the bye week about the future of the team, changes that need to be made and what will be different the rest of the season. We are unlikely to get any answers to any of those questions, instead focusing on ‘we need to do better’ or similar quotes.

Fans and media will focus on who they blame the most for the failures/struggles while the organization will hope to find solutions internally. With no game for two weeks, no real answers will be found until the team takes the field against Baltimore once again. Only then can they answer any of the big questions.

Only on the field results matter and, after 12 weeks, the Browns are 6-6 but somehow still in the playoff hunt. That is all that really matters.

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