So, after the Browns managed to surprise everyone yet again by firing their head coach and offensive coordinator, they came out and played a more “standard” game against the Chiefs where, even though they lost, they actually had some “success” on the offense, as in they moved the ball, gained first downs, and even scored some points.
Now, against the Falcons last weekend, they continued to build on that and created several successful drives that put points on the board.
Besides just seeing what this offensive could in fact be, it also confirmed my doubts about Todd Haley. A number of media people starting singing his praises from his appearances on “Hard Knocks,” but they were annoying silent when it came to the highly questionable play-calling.
I attribute this to the fact that people had pretty much already decided that Hue Jackson was a train wreck as a head coach, and thus anything bad that happened was his fault. I always felt this was pretty short-sighted and blinded said people to the failings of Todd Haley — Hue had turned over the offense to Todd, and the offense, while slightly better, was still horrid. Almost no points in the 1st quarter when everything is scripted out; a refusal to tailor the offense to Baker Mayfield’s strengths; very few touches for Nick Chubb; and let’s not forget the “gadget” plays that he always seemed to try at the worst times (like five feet from their own end zone).
Now, with Hue and Todd gone, we have the same players, the same playbook (for the most part), and the same remaining coaches. Yet, all of the sudden, the Browns are playing like a legit team. Baker is flourishing, Nick Chubb is dominating, and with the offense on the field more than 3 minutes, the defense has the rest needed to perform better, as well.
In the end, I’m relived that Todd was let go as well. I’m sure that a lot of people were first hoping that he would become the head coach, but I had no confidence that the team would be any better. After all, Todd was 100% in charge of the offense, and it was not only bad, but bad in ways that even the spectators could see (“Why are they constantly calling these slow-developing plays?”).
If the Browns keep scoring points like this, even if they don’t win, by the end of the season I bet the people singing Todd Haley’s praises at the start of the season are going to be saying that they knew all along that his offense was the problem.