CLEVELAND — It wasn't supposed to be this way.
Entering the 2019 season, the Cleveland Browns were one of the NFL's most highly touted teams, laying claim to one of the league's best young quarterbacks and a roster full of talent on both sides of the ball. At a minimum, they were expected to be the front-runner in their division. At most, some considered Cleveland a Super Bowl contender.
But entering their bye week, it'd be tough to argue that the Browns couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. Following its 32-28 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Cleveland now sits at 2-4 on the season -- two games back of the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North and with plenty of ground to gain heading into a Week 8 road matchup vs. the New England Patriots.
As is the case when any team fails to live up to lofty expectations, there's plenty of blame to go around. With that in mind, let's take a look at the five people who deserve the most, six games into the 2019 campaign:
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5. Greg Robinson/Chris Hubbard
In what's become a problem that's plagued them since their Week 1 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Browns enter their bye week leading the NFL in both penalties (57) and penalty yardage (506 yards). The chief offender for Cleveland has been Myles Garrett, who has committed six penalties through six weeks, although considering he's also recorded a league-high 9 sacks, one could argue he deserves a pass.
The same, however, can't be said for the Browns' two starting offensive tackles -- Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard -- who have each committed five penalties this season. In what basically foreshadowed Cleveland's discipline problems to come, Robinson was ejected from the Browns' season-opening loss the Titans after kicking Tennessee safety Kenny Vaccaro.
Half of Robinson and Hubbard's combined 10 penalties have been holding calls, which has been indicative of their inconsistent play. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, meanwhile, has been sacked 16 times -- tied for the sixth-most of any quarterback in the league.
After trading Kevin Zeitler to the New York Giants, the Browns' offensive line taking a step back hasn't necessarily come as a surprise. But it's been the regression of the team's offensive tackles that's been the biggest issue and one that doesn't seemingly have a clear solution.
4. Antonio Callaway
After missing the first four games of the season as the result of a suspension for a violation of the league's substance abuse policy, it didn't take long for Antonio Callaway to make an impact.
And not in a good way.
In what marked his first game back for the Browns following his suspension, a pass from Mayfield that appeared to be a surefire touchdown bounced off the hands of Callaway before being intercepted by San Francisco 49ers defensive back K'Waun Williams. Had Callaway scored, Cleveland would have cut the 49ers' lead to 14-9 before kicking an extra point. Instead, the Browns went on to lose 31-3.
While Callaway was far from the only reason Cleveland lost to San Francisco, his drop helped serve as a reminder of his reliability -- or lack thereof. Expected to be a key component of the Browns' offense, Callaway's four-game absence was only magnified by Rashard Higgins missing the past five games due to injury and when combined with his lack of production since returning could be pointed to as a reason why Cleveland's offense has yet to hit on all cylinders this season.
3. John Dorsey
For all the positive press general manager John Dorsey has earned over the better part of the past two years, the Browns' 2019 roster has yet to prove it's as good as advertised. A big part of that has been the result of decisions made by Dorsey, whose track record no longer appears as spotless as it's once seemed.
Most notably, Cleveland's spotty offensive line includes 2018 second-round pick Austin Corbett, who has thus far been inactive for the bulk of his NFL career. Dorsey's decision to not upgrade his offensive tackles appears problematic, while the only rookies currently contributing on a consistent basis have been linebacker Mack Wilson and kicker Austin Seibert, both of whom were selected in the fifth round.
While injuries -- starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams have each missed the past four games -- have played a role in the Browns' problems, that's only magnified Cleveland's lack of depth. The Browns still have 10 games left to turn this thing around, but to this point, the roster appears to have more holes than anyone could have imagined.
2. Baker Mayfield
When it came to the preseason hype surrounding the Browns, most of it hinged on the idea of Mayfield taking another step forward after his impressive rookie season.
To this point, that hasn't happened.
Instead, Mayfield has seemingly regressed a year after throwing an NFL rookie record 27 touchdown passes. Through six games, the former No. 1 pick has completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,496 yards, 5 touchdowns and a league-high 11 interceptions, compiling a 66.0 passer rating that ranks as the fourth-worst in the NFL.
While some of Mayfield's numbers have been hindered by his underperforming receiving corps, the reality remains that the Browns won't begin to play better until their quarterback does. The former Heisman Trophy winner showed too much promise and produced highly enough last season that Cleveland fans should remain hopeful he can turn his season around.
But that hope also seems to dwindle some with each passing week.
1. Freddie Kitchens
Simply put, the first six games of Freddie Kitchens' head coaching career have left plenty to be desired.
From disjointed gameplans -- especially on offense -- to questionable clock management, the former interim offensive coordinator's inexperience has been on full display the past six weeks. What's more is the team has now been blown out twice, which could be an indication that Cleveland's pregame preparation is also an issue.
When the Browns hired Kitchens in January, it was far from a controversial decision given the success he found with Mayfield in the second half of last season. But to this point, the traits that made Kitchens such an intriguing candidate have been lacking as evidenced by his team's 2-4 start.
