The jury is still out on whether Freddie Kitchens will be a good football coach. But at least he’s self aware.
Peppered with questions about his decision to call a draw play on fourth and nine from the Rams’ 40 while down 17-13 with 9:19 to play, Kitchens repeatedly admitted his mistake.
“Bad call,” Kitchens said. He said that the draw play was the call he wanted, and it was clear that he indeed knew it was fourth down.
“It just did not work,” Kitchens said. “It was a bad call. . . . We were trying to win the game. We were on their side of the field. Bad call.”
It was smart to go for it in that spot, but Kitchens outsmarted himself by trying a run with so many yards to gain. Of course, if it had worked we’d be calling him a genius. Because it gained only two yards, not a genius.
Making the decision to run on fourth and nine even more conspicuous was the failure of Kitchens to call a single running play once the Browns had the ball inside the L.A. five with 43 seconds left and time outs on the board.
“I should have run it once,” Kitchens admitted. “Should have run it three times.”
So why didn’t he?
“I just did not,” Kitchens said. (Technically, that’s an accurate explanation, even if not very insightful.)
“I was being facetious,” he added regarding his statement that he should have run the ball three times. “I should have ran it one time. I should have. That is why I am kicking myself in the ass for it right now.”
It all adds up to a very basic, candid self-assessment from Kitchens: “We did not win the game so I do not think I did very good.”
The Browns are not doing very good this season, with a 1-2 record and real challenges looming against the Ravens and 49ers.