Browns don’t wait, fire Kitchens after season’s end
Freddie Kitchens made a great first impression. Everything after that was underwhelming.
Kitchens, who crowed, “If you don’t wear brown and orange, you don’t matter” at his introductory news conference less than a year ago, was fired Sunday night by the Cleveland Browns after a season in which he failed to lead the team to a .500 record — let alone the playoffs.
Kitchens was dismissed shortly after the Browns (610) returned to team headquarters following a 3323 loss at Cincinnati (214).
Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam decided one season was enough for Kitchens and parted ways with the 45yearold, who is the ninth coach fired by the Browns since 1999. Kitchens was a surprising hire a year ago. He had no previous headcoaching experience, but his successful eightgame stretch as the team’s offensive coordinator and relationship with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield sent his stock soaring.
Instead, the Browns regressed under Kitchens, who said that he’d gotten no hint that his job was in jeopardy.
Players had sensed there might be a change.
“We’ll see what ownership does,” receiver Jarvis Landry said. “Sixand10 is definitely not acceptable.”
Quarterback Andy Dalton threw for a touchdown and ran for another in his likely farewell as Cincinnati’s main quarterback. A Joe Burrow banner in the upper deck reminded him what comes next.
The Bengals (214) will be looking for their next franchise quarterback with the first pick in the draft. Dalton wants to start next year, so this might have been his finale in stripes.
“If that’s the case, it was good to end it taking a knee,” the ninthyear veteran said. Dolphins 27, Patriots 24: Visiting Miami (5-11) dropped defending Super Bowl champion New England into the wild-card playoff round when Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Gesicki with 24 seconds remaining. New England (12-4) will have to play in the opening weekend of the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Patriots have not made the Super Bowl from the wild-card round. Chiefs Hardman 31, returned Chargers a kickoff 21: Mecole 104 yards for a touchdown, Damien Williams took a handoff 84 yards for another score, and host Kansas City leapfrogged New England for the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye. The AFC West champion Chiefs (12-4) needed a win and an unlikely Miami victory over the Patriots to get a week off. The Chargers (5-11) made it stressful for Kansas City in the fourth quarter, driving for a touchdown that cut their deficit to 24-21 with 5:23 to go. The Chiefs answered with an eight-play, 77-yard scoring drive. Titans 35, Texans 14: Derrick Henry and visiting Tennessee ran their way into the playoffs, beating a Houston team that rested several starters. Henry rushed for a season-high 211 yards and three touchdowns. The Texans beat the Titans two weeks ago to take control of the AFC South and locked up the division last week, allowing Houston (10-6) to sit quarterback Deshaun Watson and other key players. Tennessee (9-7) will visit New England next weekend. Cowboys Prescott passes in threw a 47, win Washington four rendered touchdown meaningless 16: Dak when host Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs by Philadelphia’s victory. Dallas (8-8) could have made the playoffs without a winning record for the third time. Instead, the Eagles won the division for the second time in three years. Case Keenum had a TD toss as Washington (3-13) secured the No. 2 pick in the draft. Saints Orleans reeling regular bye Carolina season 42, took when Panthers care but and the of didn’t 49ers finished business 10: get Visiting won a a against firstround 13-3 in New Seattle. Vikings next The weekend. Saints will Drew host Brees the threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns, Alvin Kamara ran for two scores and the Saints handed the Panthers (5-11) their eighth straight loss. Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey joined Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk as the third NFL player to record 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. Ravens through notable stake, host starters the 28, Baltimore rain Steelers without and with relied 10: several Slogging very on little a at strong finish the defensive regular performance season riding to a 12-game winning streak. Baltimore’s first touchdown followed a fumble by Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges, who failed to generate any offense in a game that meant far more to the Steelers (8-8) than to the Ravens (14-2). Baltimore already clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs, so head coach John Harbaugh placed seven starters on the inactive list, including quarterback and MVP favorite Lamar Jackson. Jets Jamison 13, Bills Crowder 6: Sam for a Darnold 1-yard touchdown hit pass in the fourth quarter for visiting New York. The Jets (7-9) missed the playoffs for a ninth straight season. The playoff-bound Bills had little to play for while resting most of their starters, including quarterback Josh Allen after the first quarter. Buffalo (10-6) will travel to play AFC South champion Houston. Jaguars Minshew 38, turned Colts in his 20: best Gardner performance in two months, throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns for host Jacksonville (6-10). Indianapolis (7-9) did little on offense in the second half and finished below .500 for the second time in three years. Rams 31, Cardinals 24: Tyler Higbee and Robert Woods caught touchdown passes from Jared Goff in the fourth quarter, and the Rams bade farewell to the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Rams (9-7) are moving into palatial SoFi Stadium in Inglewood next season. Kyler Murray ended his stellar rookie season with 327 yards passing for the Cardinals (5-10-1). Bears 21, Vikings 19: Eddy Piñeiro’s fourth field goal of the game for visiting Chicago (8-8) came from 22 yards with 10 seconds left with Minnesota (10-6) resting its regulars for the playoffs. David Montgomery had 23 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown to cap a strong rookie season. Falcons Jones intercepted 28, Buccaneers Jameis Winston 22: Deion on the first play of overtime and returned the ball 27 yards for a touchdown for visiting Atlanta (7-9). Winston became the first quarterback for Tampa Bay (7-9) to pass for 5,000 yards in a season, but also became the first NFL quarterback to go 30-30 in a season — 30 touchdowns, 30 interceptions.