Freddie Kitchens – It Was a Bad Call, Blame Me

Freddie Kitchens and the Cleveland Browns will have a chance to write a new narrative against the Ravens on Sunday.

In the intervening week, though, the talk is going to be about Kitchens’ ability to call plays in crucial situations.

The Browns went down 20-13 to the Rams and could have rescued the result but for some bemusing play-calling.

The situation was thus: Ten minutes left on the clock. Four points down. A fourth-and-9 from the Rams 40 yard line. Incredibly, Freddie Kitchens decided to go for the jugular. After a fakeout, Baker Mayfield attempted to release Nick Chubb with a delayed handoff.

With Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry ready to receive, running a draw was the wrong decision. Especially as the play only lead to a two yard gain. To add insult to injury, it also resulted in a Rams field goal that extended their lead to 7 points.

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Quarterback Baker Mayfield came to his coaches defense postgame. “I know what you guys are going to try and do is talk about the play-calling,” Mayfield said. 

“Execution is most important than whatever we have called we have to do our job.”

Read: Antonio Brown Says He ‘Will Not Play NFL Again’

However, Freddie Kitchens is capable of taking the criticism, and deflected all of it onto himself.

“Bad call,” Freddie Kitchens said. “Yes, I wanted that call. … It just didn’t work. It was a bad call.”

“If you’re looking to blame somebody, blame me,” Kitchens said. 

“Don’t blame any of our players. Don’t blame any of our other coaches. Just blame me cause I can take it. So just blame me. Go write your article. Say I messed the game up. Go write your article and say it’s my fault ‘cause things aren’t looking like they did last year because it is.”