CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are hurting right now after a 37-14 blowout loss Sunday at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. They've lost two straight games and are now 3-3 on the season.
Welcome to "The 5th Quarter," your Monday recap of the Cleveland Browns hosted by Jay Crawford and Dave 'Dino' DeNatale.
The Browns' second straight loss provided lots of finger pointing as to who was to blame for the rout, so we devoted our time to looking at each suspect:
INJURIES: The Browns were without the following key players on offense versus the Cardinals: running back Nick Chubb, offensive tackles Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin, and wide receiver Jarvis Landry. Without Chubb, the Browns offense never looked to be in any kind of rhythm running the football. Without two members of his line, Baker Mayfield was constantly under fire. Speaking of Mayfield, he reinjured his left shoulder, while running back Kareem Hunt suffered a calf injury. The Browns are banged up and only have a few days to get ready for the Broncos on Thursday.
THE SECONDARY: For the second straight week, opposing wide receivers found themselves wide open against the Browns defense. Cornerbacks and safeties are not communicating when the the team shifts to zone coverages, resulting in huge gains. The Browns have to shore this up...and fast.
THE REFEREES: A week after some controversial calls went against them in Los Angeles, the Browns appeared to be the victims of some poor judgments by the officiating crew on Sunday. The biggest example was when Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was pressured by Malik Jackson. Jackson gave Murray a small shove after he released a pass, but was whistled for roughing the passer.
It almost feels like in baseball when batters show up the home plate umpire on a called strike. For the rest of the game, you know you're not going to get a borderline call. The officials Sunday seemed to remember that Mayfield and the Browns were critical of their bretheren last week. Was it the reason the Browns lost? No. But it certainly is worth mentioning.
BAKER MAYFIELD: No one should be questioning Mayfield's heart and desire after he injured his shoulder and came right back into the game yet again. But he was responsible for three turnovers on Sunday, two on fumbles and one on a poorly thrown interception. And unfortunately, there was another sequence where Odell Beckham Jr. dropped a 4th down pass that would have extended a drive. The Browns quarterback is clearly hurting and it's reasonable to point out that there are trust issues between he and his Pro Bowl receiver.
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Analytics may say that it's better to go for it on 4th-and-short in the red zone, but the Browns just aren't executing in those scenarios. Four times now, we've seen Mayfield get sacked on 4th down, when a field goal would have put points on the board. Kevin Stefanski prides himself on being an aggressive coach and there's nothing wrong with that mentality. But when you're playing good teams, just take the points in those situations.
By the way, this will be one of the biggest tests of Stefanski's young head coaching career this week. Can he get the Browns laser focused to play the Broncos on a short week with a ton of injuries? The team can't afford to fall to 3-4 while the Ravens and Bengals keep winning in the AFC North.
Read Jay Crawford's thoughts on Sunday's loss here
Watch the 5th Quarter with Jay and Dino in the player below:
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