Browns Coach Pat Shurmur Shows Inepxerience and Fails to Get RB Peyton Hillis the Ball in Loss

Daniel Wolf/National Football Authority

By Bob Evans


The drama surrounding the Peyton Hillis situation in Cleveland just won’t go away.

One year removed from being one of the games’ most feared running backs, Hillis has slipped into obscurity in first-year head coach Pat Shurmur’s installation of the West Coast Offense. What started as missing a game due to strep throat has snow-balled into one of the most talked about situations in all of the NFL.

After taking a lot of heat from the media and fans during the bye week, Shurmur vowed to get Hillis more involved in the Cleveland offense when they hit the road to take on the Oakland Raiders. After accumulating just 54 attempts for 197 yards and two touchdowns against Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Tennessee, it seemed as if a heavy dose of Hillis would be just what the doctor ordered on Sunday for the Browns' offense.

Instead, Hillis carried the ball just six times for 14 yards in the 24-17 loss to the Raiders. Hillis was relegated to the bench in a situation which has received conflicting reports since its occurrence during the game. Initially, ESPN’s John Clayton reported Hillis had been benched by the coaching staff, and his frustration could be seen during a conversation with the Browns’ running backs coach. However, Browns officials reported he had sustained a hamstring injury, which was the reason for his absence.

This contradictory report would have been believable, if it wasn’t for Hillis’ appearance back in the game minutes after the reported “hamstring injury.” If you go back and watch some of the sideline film from the game, Hillis was never seen on a bike attempting to loosen his hamstring, or working with trainers.

While the situation with Hillis continues on a pace which could result in a trade request before Tuesday’s trading deadline, one has to wonder what has happened over the last 10 months to warrant the complete 180-degree turn the organization has taken away from Hillis as the feature back of this organization.

At this point in time there is only one viable answer—the Browns’ new head coach is in way over his head.

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