CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Things have not gone as planned for the Cleveland Browns through the first six games of the season. The team currently sits at 3-3 with a plethora of injuries to key players and a two-game deficit in the AFC North behind the Baltimore Ravens.
The Browns may have played better than their .500 record, but it can be tough to think optimistically following the 37-14 loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday at First Energy Stadium.
Here are three ways the Browns can rebound from their slow start to the season:
Heal up
While it’s not an excuse for the lack of energy displayed in Sunday’s loss, the Browns are one of the more injured teams in the NFL right now. On the team’s injury report Monday, 20 members of the team’s 53-man active roster were listed with some sort of injury designation. That number may be a bit inflated with guys like running back Kareem Hunt and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who are both likely destined for injured reserve after suffering injuries that will reportedly keep them out for four-to-six weeks.
The place the injuries have dealt the toughest blow to the Browns could be the offensive tackle positions. The Browns were forced to start their fourth and fifth-best options this week in Blake Hance and James Hudson III against Arizona. It’s a tough ask to have a team go five-deep at offensive tackle, and it showed on Sunday, specifically with Hudson. According to Pro Football Focus, Hudson has graded out at a 47.3 grade, essentially saying that he’s been the worst player on the Browns offense.
Let it rip on offense
One of the guys on the injury report for the Browns is quarterback Baker Mayfield after he injured his shoulder for the second time this season on Sunday afternoon. While Mayfield did reportedly request a second opinion on his most recent MRI, at the time of this writing news of his status has not yet been reported.
While on the field this season, Mayfield hasn’t been the same caliber of quarterback that closed out the second half of last season for the Browns. At times, it’s seemed as if he’s not seeing the field as well and appears to be too tentative to take shots down the field. The issue of chemistry between him and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has become a topic of discussion after the pair struggled to get on the same page for much of the time Beckham has been on the field this season.
If the Browns are going to be successful offensively, especially when the team doesn’t have running backs Nick Chubb or Hunt on the field, forcing the defense to respect the deep ball is a must to open up the rest of the offense. Right now, teams don’t believe that Mayfield can beat them over the top, and there hasn’t been much evidence to the contrary this season. Mayfield has one of the stronger arms in the NFL, and showing it off would be a good thing, even if it might mean an interception or two.
Fewer breakdowns in the secondary
The Browns have been susceptible to the big play defensively all season long. That was held in check for the most part against the lesser teams on the schedule, but when the Browns have played a respectable offense, they haven’t been able to stop the big play. Week 1 saw a 75-yard touchdown pass from Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill, in Week 5 the Chargers scored touchdowns of plays of 72 yards and 42 yards, and in Week 6 the Cardinals had three receivers average 15 yards per catch or more.
Whether the problem in the secondary has been miscommunications, mental mistakes, or physical errors, it hasn’t been a good enough effort to win most weeks. There have certainly been bright spots for that defensive backfield -- Greedy Williams’ interception against Minnesota comes to mind -- but more often they just haven’t been good enough.
Pinpointing the problem is an issue, though. At times, it looks like the communication on the field isn’t good enough between the guys in the back end. This looked like it was the case on multiple occasions against both Los Angeles and Arizona. Other times, the scheme the Browns are playing may be at fault when they’re in a soft zone. Whether the blame is put on the players or defensive coordinator Joe Woods doesn’t matter as much as fixing the problems does.