The Browns walked out of Week 5 with a 17-12 loss to the New York Jets, and the bigger story was how many self-inflicted wounds piled up in a game they had every chance to take.
This looked like a team that got away from itself. Cleveland had openings, but too often the offense leaned into the wrong answers - longer-developing calls, shaky situational choices, and too much complication for a unit that needed clean, simple football.
Todd Monken is in his first season as an NFL head coach, and that inexperience showed up in a very winnable loss. The Browns seemed to abandon the kind of approach that had worked through the first four weeks for Deshaun Watson.
Instead of leaning on quick throws and easier touches, Monken chased deeper routes against a Jets pass rush that made life miserable. Watson was sacked eight times.
The approach also didn’t match the personnel on the field. Monken needs to realize he is no longer calling plays for Lamar Jackson, but Deshaun Watson.
Then came the hit that changed the game’s texture even more. At the end of the first quarter, KC Concepcion was ruled out with a concussion after a dirty hit from Jets' safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Once Concepcion was gone, the Browns had even more reason to funnel opportunities toward the players most likely to create something. That would have meant leaning harder on the NFL’s rookie receiving leader, Denzel Boston, or tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
Instead, Boston and Fannin combined for only 11 targets for the entire game. Isaiah Bond and Jerry Jeudy split 14 targets.
The usage didn’t match the moment. As the head coach, you have to be able to recognize those guys who are able to make big plays and then find ways to get them the football.
Watson, for all the flashes, was not going to carry this one by himself. Once again, Deshaun Watson is not a top-tier quarterback who will win games for you. While he may make some nice plays, offensive production heavily depends on the skill positions making plays themselves.
The final stretch only made the frustration louder. With four minutes left, Carson Schwesinger strip-sacked Geno Smith and gave Cleveland the kind of break teams dream about in close games. The Browns had the ball in Jets territory and the lead, and the chance to squeeze the life out of the clock.
Instead, they ran the ball out of bounds and followed it with back-to-back incompletions. Only nine seconds came off the clock before Corey Bojorquez’s muffed punt turned the sequence into a mess.
That moment swung the game just after Cleveland had taken its first lead.
And even beyond that sequence, the Browns had chances all afternoon. They simply didn’t handle enough of them.
If they can go back home next week, clean it up, and keep it simple, they will be in a much better spot trying to face off with the Baltimore Ravens.
In Other News...
Deshaun Watson Just Gave The Browns Another Unwanted Distraction
The Browns were handed another bit of off-field clutter this week when the NFL fined Deshaun Watson and Quinshon Judkins for an illegal celebration during the game against the Steelers. The gesture, which involved pretending to smoke, drew unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties and added one more item to a season already full of noise around Cleveland.
Watson was fined $14,926 and Judkins $14,397, with the leagues decision coming before the Browns Week 5 matchup against the Jets. It is the kind of small but avoidable distraction Cleveland would rather do without, especially when every week seems to bring a fresh reminder that discipline issues can quickly become part of the larger conversation around this team. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Monken Just Hit A Nerve With Browns Fans Over Minkah Fitzpatrick
Todd Monkens latest comments landed in a part of Cleveland that still hasnt cooled off. The Browns first-time head coach was asked about the high helmet-to-helmet hit Minkah Fitzpatrick delivered on rookie KC Concepcion during the recent game against the New York Jets, and Monken called it a bang-bang play while saying Fitzpatrick is not a dirty player. It was the kind of measured answer coaches usually give in the moment, but in this case it immediately stirred up plenty of frustration from Browns fans already primed to see the play through a different lens.
Fitzpatrick was not ejected, though he is expected to be fined for the illegal contact, and that only sharpened the reaction around Monkens defense of him. For Cleveland supporters, the issue is not just the hit itself but the memory attached to the player delivering it, which made the coachs choice of words feel especially touchy in the aftermath. In a rivalry that already carries enough baggage, this was a reminder that even a routine postgame explanation can turn into its own storyline. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Roethlisberger Just Handed Browns Fans The Perfect Reminder
Ben Roethlisberger found a way to stir the pot again, even if it was in jest. On a recent podcast, the former Steelers quarterback made a joking comment that suggested he had never lost to the Browns, a line that immediately invites a fact-check in Cleveland, where the franchise has beaten Pittsburgh multiple times and owns a more recent playoff win than its old rival.
For Browns fans, the bigger takeaway might be the reminder that Pittsburghs long-standing mystique has been chipped away more than once in this matchup. Cleveland has won five straight home games against the Steelers, and Roethlisbergers uncertainty about labeling any team a true contender entering Week 5 only adds to the feeling that the AFC Norths old assumptions no longer hold up the way they used to. [Read more 🡒]