ANOTHER SIGN THAT DOESN’T BODE WELL FOR KITCHENS

By STEVE KING

Browns running back Kareem Hunt was exactly right when he said the team didn’t play full-go in the lopsided loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.

That was painfully obvious when you did the eye test as you watched the game. The Browns looked like they were jogging – at a good clip, but still jogging – while the Cardinals appeared to have jets attached to their shoes.

Now, are the Cardinals that fast? No, of course not.

And are the Browns that slow? No, of course not.

But it sure looked that way.

And if the truth be told, I don’t think the Browns were giving it their all at other points this season.

Not playing hard is an egregious sin – the worst sin of all, really — and it is one that reflects directly on the head coach, in this case Freddie Kitchens. As if he doesn’t already have enough working against him, now he may well have that, too.

Yikes.

So, then, here’s the big question: Have the Browns quit on Kitchens? Have they turned him off?

And if they have, then it may be impossible for General Manager John Dorsey to bring him back. Dorsey thinks he has assembled a pretty good team. He can’t get rid of a good chunk of those players to change the dynamics. Instead, he would have to get rid of the coach.

Considering all this, then, it will be interesting to see how the Browns play – and how hard they play – when the newly-crowned two-time AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens visit FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday. If it – an ugly defeat in which they don’t give it their best shot — happens again, then any indecision Dorsey still might have regarding Kitchens’ fate would be totally erased. Kitchens would be finished.

Sigh.

Remember when there was so much promise about this team and this season?

It seems like light years ago.