Freddie Kitchens Created an Undisciplined Team
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time in five years with a 21-7 victory on Thursday Night Football. It is also the first time they have defeated the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in the same season since they reentered the NFL back in 1999.
These are the headlines that should have been placed across the media after a huge primetime win for the Browns, but any positive narrative was obliterated following a fight before the end of regulation.
Star defensive end Myles Garrett committed a heinous act during a scuffle with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph. After ripping off Rudolph’s helmet, Garrett proceeded to swing the helmet and violently hit Rudolph on the head.
This created a chain of events that was horrible for the reputation of professional football. Repercussions have already been handed out to players on both teams following the horrendous incident.
Media personnel and fans will have various opinions on what happened, how it was caused and how players should be disciplined. I want to look further than the altercation Thursday night and how head coach Freddie Kitchens has allowed undisciplined play taint his first season.
The Browns have been extremely penalty prone and have created self-inflicting wounds all season long. They currently have the most accepted penalties in the NFL (87) and penalty yards (822).
There is a frustrating frequency of penalties that are simply the result of a lack of a discipline. On the season, they have seventeen false starts, eight roughing the passer, three illegal blindside blocks, and two unnecessary roughness penalties.
Thursday night was no exception for the showcase of undisciplined football. During the Steelers only touchdown drive of the game, the Browns defense managed to commit four penalties.
It started with safety Damarious Randall’s helmet to helmet hit on a defenseless player. Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson was downgraded to out with a concussion and Randall was disqualified for the remainder of the game. A play that should have been avoided completely after Johnson failed to catch the ball.
The very next play defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi was penalized for illegal use of hands, even though the penalty would be declined. Four plays later safety Juston Burris was flagged for illegal contact on third down. Lastly, the following play corner Greedy Williams was called for defensive pass interference which set the Steelers up with first-and-goal.
Showcases like this defensive sequence have been the epitome of Freddie Kitchens tenure as the head coach. Players have been vastly undisciplined since training camp and the brawl to end the game was just another example of how Kitchens has failed to change the culture in the locker room.
You can review the incidents from training camp, such as the fights during joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts. Following the first practice, Kitchens encouraged his players to be physical and to set the tone. Unfortunately, in the second day of joint practices tempers flared and punches were thrown.
After the practice Kitchens addressed the media, stating “We will see what caused it and what happened, then evaluate the situation. But we’re not going to take anything from anybody either.”
A statement that is obviously a coach encouraging his players to be physical on the football field and to stand up for themselves. Although, it must be evaluated because the response doesn’t diminish the negative actions of the players or promote the need to be the ‘bigger man and walk away’.
During the press conference after the win against the Steelers, Kitchens was asked by the media about the training camp incident and if had any correlation to Thursday night’s debacle.
Kitchens responded, “I never condoned fighting on the football field because that’s penalties. I don’t coach penalties.”
The cliché remark of not coaching penalties has been Kitchens go-to response in press conferences whenever the team displays mistake filled football. It is now reaching a point where it’s becoming inexcusable. The amount of undisciplined plays the Browns have shown this season is culture defining.
When interim head coach Gregg Williams took over at the end of last season the team played much more disciplined and they finished 5-3 over their final eight games. Williams and staff were able to galvanize the team after starting the year 2-5-1. Establishing the standard and a certain level of expectation changed the culture in the locker room.
Freddie Kitchens found himself in a somewhat similar situation this season after falling to 2-6, following a loss to a struggling Denver Broncos team. After the game, Jermaine Whitehead was released for poor personal decisions on social media. Then in the following weeks, receiver Antonio Callaway’s poor judgement resulted in him being waived and is facing a 10-game suspension.
Character issues are destroying any positive narrative around the team and it all starts with head coach Freddie Kitchens and general manager John Dorsey. They can no longer continue to allow personnel to move the culture backwards.
They need to reestablish the expectations for every person in the organization and it begins with themselves. A twenty-year culture of losing is hard enough to erase but how can you even focus on winning games when there is a public relation issue nearly every week.
