A DECISIVE DAY FOR FREDDIE KITCHENS

By STEVE KING

Freddie Kitchens spent a good portion of his coach career – 11 seasons, from 2007-17, to be exact – with the Arizona Cardinals.

So a big part of who he is professionally was developed there, then, with that team.

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As such, it’s ironic that if his new club doesn’t beat his old club when they meet on Sunday in the desert, then it could well be the final nail in the coffin of his first head coaching job at any level, that with the Browns.

By all accounts, the Browns should win. Although they are hardly world-beaters, having had to win four of their last five games just to get to the miserable, mediocre record of 6-7, with the playoffs now nothing more than a pipe dream, they are – at least on paper, and in reality, too, for that matter – much, much, much better than the Cardinals.

Yes, I know the Cards have rookie Kyler Murray, who is as exciting as all-get-out and is likely going to be a dynamite quarterback in the NFL. But this is still a horrible team, as evidenced by its 3-9-1 record. The Cardinals can’t stop anyone, having surrendered the third-most points in the league. So while they can score points, they will give up more.

With that, then, if the Browns play it smart offensively – which, as we have seen, is not a given — and run the football with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt until the Arizona defense runs up the white flag, then they will win.

But if something goes haywire and they don’t win, then it’s more likely than not that Kitchens will be fired – not right after the game, or anything like that, but right after the season in Cincinnati.

If the Browns lose to the Cardinals, then the deflation caused by it will mean they will probably also lose to the Baltimore Ravens and even to the Bengals, the worst team in the NFL. That would mean a 6-10 finish.

But if they beat Arizona, then the momentum it would generate might enable them to beat Baltimore – again – and Cincinnati to finish 9-7 for their first winning season since 2007, the year Kitchens arrived in Arizona. In the very least, the Browns would finish 8-8. The Ravens, ya know, have proven to be pretty tough.

Kitchens has to have that – the very least – in order to have any chance to keep his job.

It’s really that simple.

Stay tuned – on TV this afternoon and evening, and also back here on Browns Daily Dose.