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Another week, same problems for Brown’s offense in 34-13 loss to Commanders
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Another week, same problems for Brown’s offense in 34-13 loss to Commanders

Sound the alarm bells. Put the city on edge. Press the panic button.

The Cleveland Browns season has officially reached critical mass after a 34-13 loss to the Washington Commanders. And of all four of the team’s ugly, sloppy and downright embarrassing losses this season, Sunday’s was the worst.

Forget the fact that it took until seven in the fourth quarter for the Browns to find the end zone. Or the fact that they scored just six points in more than 50 minutes of glory action and only 13 points overall – less than the 16 points per game average they started Sunday.

It’s the fact that the offense was won more than two to one for the game by a margin of 434-212. That they were 1 of 13 on third down attempts, and didn’t convert a single third down conversion until the fourth quarter.

Questions about what the Browns’ offensive identity would be started after Week 1. But then it was easy to dismiss it because the first game was rusty or the unit didn’t get many reps together in the preseason. This is Week 5, after a stretch of the schedule that was supposed to give the Browns some leeway to figure themselves out during less intimidating games against the Giants, the Raiders and the Commanders.

Instead, all three of these matchups ended with notches in the loss column for Cleveland. And questions remain about its offending identity.

The pre-snap penalties remain an issue. Cleveland had four false start penalties today, and what would have been too many men in the huddle penalty with the Browns on the goal line early in the third quarter cost the team points. That was only averted because Deshaun Watson admitted to taking a penalty delay of the game to avoid a second timeout.

Speaking of Watson, he was sacked seven more times today. It is the third time this season that he has been sacked six or more times in a game. Since the loss to the Giants in Week 3, teams have known that the Browns’ offensive line has struggled to pick up different blitzes and stunts. Washington took a lot of different looks at them for similar results to their NFC East counterparts.

And even when Watson did have time, he missed guys who ran open and slow to see the play develop at times — the same issues that plagued him during his three years in Cleveland.

The league’s team leader in drop passes also added a few more on Sunday.

The offensive is a mess. The defense is a mess. the Browns are a mess. Until further notice, the Cleveland Browns are a bad football team. And at 1-4, their season could be over before it even really starts.