How Have The Cleveland Browns Gotten So Bad, So Quickly?

The Cleveland Browns have gotten off to a miserable start, and it's hard to pin down where things have gone wrong for them in the 2024 NFL season.

Oct 6, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) waits for a play during the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders at NorthWest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Things weren't supposed to go this way for the Cleveland Browns. Not after they won 11 games and made the playoffs last season in spite of shuffling through five different starting quarterbacks.

Deshaun Watson was back. They acquired Jerry Jeudy to serve as support for Amari Cooper. The defense hadn't lost any significant pieces. The offensive line looked formidable as it got healthy.

The Browns appeared to have all the ingredients of a playoff team, and potentially even a dark horse Super Bowl contender.

So why exactly are they 1-4 again?

It's hard to pin down one specific reason, and one NFL executive even seems confused himself.

“I don’t know what they are doing,” the exec said, via Mike Sando of The Athletic. “No identity. Maybe it is [Nick] Chubb not being there. They cannot help but have taken a step back without [Bill] Callahan. It doesn’t seem like this is [Kevin] Stefanski’s offense.”

The thing is, Chubb wasn't there most of last year, either, and Cleveland managed to make the playoffs. The loss of Callahan—the Browns' previous offensive line coach—couldn't have made that much of a difference, could it?

It's very easy for the casual fan to point to Watson and his $230 million contract as the reason why Cleveland is failing. And don't get me wrong: Watson is a big reason why the Browns are tied for the worst record in the NFL. After all, he hasn't even hit a 90 passer rating in any one of his first five games this year. He is completing just 60.2 percent of his passes. He hasn't been good. At all.

But Cleveland's issues go much deeper than Watson, who doesn't even resemble the same Pro Bowl quarterback from his Houston Texans days.

The offensive line has given up a league-worst 26 sacks. The Browns' rushing attack ranks 27th in football. Cooper leads the NFL with eight drops (that's double the next-closest wide receiver). The defense that was so stingy last season has looked more than mortal.

The fact that Joe Flacco—last year's Cleveland folk hero—is now lighting it up for the Indianapolis Colts is just salt in the wound.

In 2023, the Browns did have a clear identity. They played smashmouth football. They beat teams up. They got after the opposing quarterback. They made big plays when it counted in spite of a lack of elite talent on the offensive side of the ball.

All of that has essentially disappeared in 2024.

You can point the finger at Stefanski if you want to, but at some point, you have to stop looking for individual problems and examine the team as a collective.

For whatever reason, this isn't working. The Browns aren't the Browns anymore. The weekly confidence that developed during the second half of 2023 just isn't there right now, and it's hard to envision Cleveland rediscovering its mojo at any point over the next couple of months.

The Browns' roster really isn't any different than it was nine months ago. The only real change is Watson under center rather than Flacco, but let's remember that Cleveland went 5-1 in Watson's six starts in 2023. So the switch at quarterback isn't the only issue.

There were many that had reservations about the Browns heading into 2024, but not really due to anything other than the uncertainty surrounding Watson. I don't think anyone really expected this, which is what makes Cleveland's top-to-bottom struggles such a conundrum.

The Browns were thoroughly embarrassed by the Washington Commanders on Sunday. In all facets. There is no way around it. It also marked the seventh straight game—dating back to last season—that Cleveland failed to crack the 20-point mark.

Now, instead of the Browns potentially adding some pieces for a postseason run between now and the NFL trade deadline, they will probably have to sell and begin thinking about an actual plan for the future.

That's tough.