This lack of on-field success has led fans and some in the media to take the temperature of Hue Jackson’ seat (spoiler: it’s hot) Youth Baker Mayfield Jersey , to blame the offensive line, or even to question Baker Mayfield’s viability as an NFL franchise quarterback.Looking at the film I’ve seen plenty of blame to go around. But I decided to look to statistics to see if I could gain any insight into why Mayfield and the Browns have seemingly regressed since his debut against the New York Jets and subsequent 42 point performance against the Oakland Raiders.In Search of 1st DownsThrough week 7, the Browns are not very good at keeping their offense on the field. In fact, they are going 3-and-out at a dangerous rate:3-and-outs happen when you can’t convert on 3rd down, so it should come as no surprise that the Browns are 4th worst in the league at converting 3rd downs, only converting 32.9% of the time.Why can’t the Browns convert? Part of the problem is that they are facing a lot of 3rd and long situations where opponents know they have to throw the ball:Looking at last week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this is exactly what happened to the Browns. In the first half, the Browns had eight 3rd downs. Their yardage needed to convert each of those 3rd downs was: 2, 8, 13, 8, 14, 11, 7, and 10.The Browns converted the 3rd and 2, and failed to convert another 3rd down in the entire half. Predictably, this led to zero offense points (despite the defense forcing a pair of turnovers and a safety).Key Opportunity: Get More on 2nd DownObviously, if you want to get into 3rd and manageable 2nd down becomes pretty important.Using an interesting visualization tool from sharpfootballstats.com, we can see just how unsuccessful the Browns have been on 2nd down. In fact, when it comes to success rate on 2nd down (which in this case would mean gaining 60%+ of the yardage needed to achieve a 1st down), the Browns are dead last in the NFL:sharpfootballstats.comHaving more success on 2nd down would put the Browns in more manageable 3rd down situations and hopefully allow them to convert at a higher rate.Key Area of Concern: Drop RateIt doesn’t matter if it’s 3rd and 2 or 3rd and 15, no offense can convert with an incomplete pass. Currently, the Browns lead the league in both drop rate on 3rd down and drop rate overall:Key Tendency: Throwing DeepThe Browns throw deep more often than anyone in the league White Genard Avery Jersey , having attempted 41 passes of 20+ yards. A boom-or-bust passing game with a lot of deep throws isn’t a problem in and of itself, but merely a stylistic choice.The problem occurs when you don’t get enough “boom” to go with the “bust,” which is where the Browns are currently. Though they throw deep more than anyone in the NFL, they are only 12th in pass completions of 20+ yards, and only 21st in pass completions of 40+ yards. The explosive plays simply aren’t there often enough.The other problem with this strategy is that it does not seem to match the Browns’ personnel. The best and most reliable targets in the passing game this year have been RB Duke Johnson, WR Jarvis Landry, and WR Rishard Higgins when he has been healthy. Duke may occasionally be good for a wheel route deep down the sidline, but Higgins is best working intermediate areas with his route running savvy, while Landry does his best work from the slot underneath. None of these options are sub 4.35 players with elite deep speed or jump ball ability.The offensive line has been decent in pass protection, but there are times when rookie Desmond Harrison and newcomer Chris Hubbard have been overmatched on the edge. This has led to players like TEs Darren Fells and David Njoku, RB Duke Johnson, and even WR Jarvis Landry being held in to pass protect or chip block the edge rushers to allow receivers to work down the field on vertical passes.Defenses seem to be taking note, and they are blitzing additional rushers with the hopes of getting to the quarterback before slow developing routes can break open:Against the Browns, that strategy appears to be working. The misdirection and balance that you need to keep a defense at bay are not present enough in this offense at this time. Defenses are teeing off, and it’s working.SolutionsThe Browns are close. As Browns fans we’ve seen a lifeless team that can’t compete, and this team is far ahead of the hopeless teams we’ve experienced. The talent is there to be competitive every week and win more games.Three keys to turning some of that talent into wins are:Get more out of 2nd down to make 3rd down more manageableCatch the ballMake defenses pay for sending extra rushers by giving the quarterback options to get the ball out quicklyIf the Browns can do these three things they still might not win every game, but they’ll give themselves a fighting chance. The Browns came out and dominated the first quarter against the Steelers. The rest of the game, they were out-matched in every facet, losing 33-18 and dropping to 2-5-1. If Jimmy Haslam doesn’t pull the trigger and just fire Hue Jackson after this game, then what the heck is he waiting for?Cleveland started off the game fairly well, scoring their first opening-drive points of the season. It was only a field goal (34 yards out from K Greg Joseph), but that’s better than nothing to give the Browns a 3-0 lead.Penalties played a big factor in the first quarter. Pittsburgh went three-and-out, and on their next drive Youth David Njoku Jersey , QB Ben Roethlisberger was picked off by SS Derrick Kindred on third down off of a tipped pass, giving Cleveland the ball near midfield. Back-to-back runs by RB Nick Chubb of 20 and 11 yards put them in field goal range. The drive stalled after that, but Joseph connected from 45 yards out to give Cleveland a 6-0 lead.Cleveland got a good return from SS Jabrill Peppers and a tripping penalty on Pittsburgh just before the end of the first quarter, followed by a 21-yard catch by WR Jarvis Landry to close out the quarter. They couldn’t get much closer to start the second quarter, and this time, Joseph’s 41-yard field goal went wide right.That mistake was all the momentum that Pittsburgh needed to get things rolling. They converted their first first down with a completion to WR Antonio Brown. Several players later, Roethlisberger pump faked and found Brown wide open down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown, giving Pittsburgh the 7-6 advantage.Cleveland got into Pittsburgh territory again on their next drive, but this time, QB Baker Mayfield’s deep third down pass for WR Damion Ratley was intercepted by CB Joe Haden. Roethlisberger moved the chains a couple of times with a quarterback sneak leading into the two-minute warning. A controversial spot gave Pittsburgh more incentive to go for it on a fourth down situation:The Steelers converted, and one play later, FS Damarious Randall just missed intercepting a screen pass that Brown took in for a touchdown, putting them up 14-6.Pittsburgh got the ball to begin the second half and continued having no problems moving the football. Inside of Cleveland territory, Roethlisberger floated a dumpoff pass up to RB Steven Ridley. After he made the catch, Kindred stripped the ball from behind, and CB Denzel Ward came up with the recovery.The offense responded with a three-and-out, sending the defense right back onto the field. The defense, in turn, forced a three-and-out, but their punt backed Cleveland’s offense near their own end zone. On second down, Mayfield ran a playaction fake. LT Desmond Harrison was beat by his man and committed holding in the end zone, leading to a safety, making it a 16-6 game.It looked like Pittsburgh would be in control http://www.authenticsclevelandbrowns.com/cheap-christian-kirksey-jersey , but then on the safety kick, Pittsburgh inexplicably let the ball go over their head and no one recovered it, leading to an onside kick recovery by Cleveland (when they weren’t even trying for one). Despite the short field, the Browns had the ugliest drive possible to put their first touchdown on the board with WR Antonio Callaway coming down with it.That made it a 16-12 game, but then Joseph missed the extra point badly to keep it that score. On Pittsburgh’s next drive, RB James Conner started the drive with big runs of 30 and 16 yards to move into field goal range. He finished the drive later with a 12-yard sprint around the edge, giving the Steelers a 23-12 lead.The Browns then went three-and-out, with the offensive line blocking no one, before punting back to Pittsburgh, who started near midfield. Early in the fourth, K Chris Boswell knocked it through from 42 yards out to go up 26-12. The Browns went three-and-out again, with another quick punt giving Pittsburgh the ball near midfield.The rest of the game saw the rain start to fall. The Browns did nothing, while Pittsburgh ran the clock out for the remainder of the game — the last of which was a 22-yard sprint by Conner to go up 33-12.A 24-yard touchdown pass to TE Seth DeValve with six seconds left made it 33-18, but the two-point try was no good.Quick HittersQB Baker Mayfield: 22-of-36 for 156 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. 1 rush, 9 yards.RB Nick Chubb: 18 carries, 65 yards (3.61 YPC). 2 catches, 10 yards (3 targets).WR Jarvis Landry: 8 catches, 39 yards (12 targets).TE David Njoku: No stats registered.SS Derrick Kindred: 1 interception, 1 forced fumble.DE Myles Garrett: 1 sack.