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Freddie Kitchens called a draw on a fourth-and-9, completely stunning fans

ryan young
Staff writer

Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens broke out a strange play call late on Sunday night in their 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and failed miserably, a move that left fans extremely confused.

On a fourth-and-9 early in the fourth quarter, with the Browns down four points at FirstEnergy Stadium, Kitchens called for a draw — attempting to have running back Nick Chubb run for the first down out of the shotgun and keep their drive alive.

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Obviously, it didn’t work out. Chubb made it just 2 yards before he was brought down.

Maybe Kitchens was trying to catch the Rams off guard by calling a run there. Maybe he knows something we don’t. Regardless, the play call was extremely unusual.

In fact, it’s so unusual that it was the first time a draw play has been called on a fourth-and-9 or longer since ESPN started video tracking in the NFL.

Kitchens said after the game that the draw was in fact the play he wanted to run, and that it was just a “bad call.”

“It just didn’t work. It was a bad call,” Kitchens said. “We’re trying to win the game and we’re on that side of the field. Bad call.”

Fans quickly take to social media

Almost instantly after the failed play, fans took to social media to express their immense confusion and frustration with Kitchens.

In his defense, it would have been historic had Chubb pulled it off and kept that drive alive.

Why Kitchens decided to risk that with the game on the line, however, is anybody’s guess.

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