CLEVELAND, Ohio - When cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto looks back at last season’s Browns offense, his assessment is blunt: The team abandoned what worked and embraced what didn’t.
The result was an identity crisis that crippled a unit that had previously been among the league’s most effective.
“I’m still stunned,” Pluto said on this week’s Terry’s Talkin’ podcast.
“I was looking at the stats again. How could the Browns have led all the NFL in passes attempted?” Pluto said. “And I think the stat that I found in there that is revealing is of the 10 teams that threw the ball the most, only one made the play playoffs last year, Kansas City, and they ranked ninth.”
This departure from the team’s established run-first approach wasn’t just an aesthetic change — it altered the Browns’ offensive DNA. A team built for power and physicality suddenly found itself trying to win through the air, with predictably poor results.
The root of the problem wasn’t just play-calling, Pluto said, but a philosophical shift away from the zone-blocking scheme that had been the backbone of Cleveland’s offensive success.
“(It’s like when) some guy comes in or some woman with some brainstorm of, ‘We’re going to go from good to great.’
“By the way, when you hear that, hide under the furniture because that means they’re going to do something really stupid to try and fix something that’s not broken.”
Perhaps most telling was how the scheme change affected the offensive line, traditionally one of Cleveland’s greatest strengths. When even veteran Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio began raising questions about the approach, it was clear something had gone terribly wrong.
The good news for Browns fans is that the team appears to have learned from its mistakes. With Mike Bloomgren, who worked under zone-blocking guru Bill Callahan, taking over as offensive line coach, there appears to be a clear commitment to returning to what worked.
“I think it has been more of a lesson for the Browns and what not to do,” Pluto said. “And furthermore, they weren’t that far away from what to do.
“You know what to do. Go back to doing those things, instead of trying to fix things for no good reason a year ago.”
With Joe Flacco at quarterback to start the season, the offensive reset becomes even more critical. Flacco’s success will depend heavily on an effective running game to keep him out of obvious passing situations.
As Pluto said: Sometimes, the best innovation is simply returning to what you do best.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
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You can find previous podcasts below.
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