Cleveland Browns Have Been Cursed By Slow Starts On The Road

Cleveland has had an issue over the last month of getting off to slow starts, particularly on offense, which has produced a 1-2 record when they've gone down by two scores

The Browns have been on a tough part of their schedule over the last month. They have faced Seattle, Arizona, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Denver with three of those games being on the road. 

They were able to go 3-2 over that stretch, which is a nice record overall. However, starting slow in the three road games during that span has been detrimental.

Oct 29, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback PJ Walker (10) passes the ball while chased by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. (97) at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

In each of their three road contests in Seattle, Baltimore and Denver, the Browns fell behind 14-0 – a deficit they were only able to overcome once.

Cleveland showed a lot of fight in to rally from the two touchdown deficit and win in Baltimore. In Seattle they nearly pulled off the same feat but came up just short, while the Denver game over the weekend saw them nearly tie things up at 14 before Denver started to pull away.

Going forward, it is critical that the Browns don't start so slow during some key road matchups that await, including a contest with the Los Angeles Rams this weekend.

To help their cause, Cleveland made an unorthodox decision to stay out west this week. Rather than flying back to Cleveland after their loss to Denver, the Browns instead flew to LAX and are spending the entire week on the Golden Coast. You see this often when teams travel from the West Coast to the East Coast, rarely the opposite. 

Much like their preseason trip to the Greenbrier Resort, the Browns are staying together under one roof for an entire week before they go to battle with the Rams on Sunday. We'll see if it has a similar effect. If they can get off to a decent start and not turn the ball over, they should have a really good shot at flying back to Cleveland with their eighth win of the season.