BEREA, Ohio -- With 12:18 left in the second quarter of the Cleveland Browns' home game against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 11, Freddie Kitchens sent Duke Johnson Jr., Nick Chubb and Dontrell Hilliard on the on the field at the same time.
The three backs lined up in the backfield together, forming a diamond with quarterback Baker Mayfield.
ESPN Stats and Information broke down the ensuing plays: On first down, Mayfield handed off to Johnson, who faked a pitch and ran for nine yards. On the next first down, the three running backs cleared out and Mayfield ran for six yards. On second down, Johnson went in motion and the other backs drew single coverage on routes, which left Breshad Perriman open for a 17-yard slant (diagrammed below through NFL Next Gen Stats).
The drive ended when the Browns got cute and a pass from Hilliard to Mayfield was intercepted, but the message was clear: With Kitchens calling plays, the Browns would bypass the traditional dropback/handoff offense and try to generate mismatches with personnel and formations.
At the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the Browns opened with a rollout right, then brought Chubb and blockers back left; Mayfield threw back to Chubb for 23 yards. That game-opening play set the tone for a 78-yard touchdown drive. On their second possession, Kitchens sent two tight ends and Chubb on the field on first down, then he changed it up to five wide receivers for the second play. Over the rest of the drive, Kitchens left the five receivers on the field. It took four plays with no backs to move 56 yards and score another touchdown.
"He’s out there having fun," Johnson said of Kitchens, "and we just have to bring his dreams to reality."
The Browns brought out the diamond/three-back formation once against Cincinnati and gained 23 yards on a pass to Johnson. It’s one of many variations Kitchens has produced. He has used two tight ends and no tight ends, two receivers and five receivers, two backs and no backs. He has had Mayfield under center, in the shotgun and in the pistol. Against Cincinnati, Mayfield was 7-for-10 for 106 yards in formations without a back. In three games, he’s 11-for-15 with three touchdowns in the no-back look, per ESPN Stats and Information data.
"When you cause a defense to flinch a little bit or if you cause the defense to overthink a little bit, then maybe you have them on their heels instead of their toes," Browns interim coach Gregg Williams said. "Those are some things that Freddie is very aware of."
One of the goals of the different formations is to have Mayfield get rid of the ball faster. It plays into his strength, the way he played at Oklahoma -- with pace and speed. Under former offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the seven-step drop was common and Mayfield was sacked 17 times in his last four starts. Under Kitchens, Mayfield has been sacked twice, both by the Kansas City Chiefs. In his past two starts, Mayfield has had no sacks and no turnovers.
"That’s taking care of the ball. That’s putting us in a good position to win. That’s getting the ball out quickly," Mayfield said.
ProFootballFocus.com reports that prior to Week 8, Mayfield’s average time to throw was 2.72 seconds. In the past three games, that has dropped to 2.51 seconds, a time that would be the sixth lowest in the NFL this season.
PFF also reports that from Weeks 1 to 8, Mayfield was pressured on 32.5 percent of his dropbacks. That figure has dropped in the past three games to 24.2 percent, fifth lowest in the league. Mayfield’s passer rating from a clean pocket in those games: 133.9.
Another element of a quicker passing game: Throwing to backs. From Weeks 3 to 8, Mayfield threw 27 times to players in the backfield. In the past three games, he has thrown 21 with a passer rating of 145.3. It’s one of the reasons Chubb has emerged as a pass-catcher.
"Freddie has done an amazing job," Browns center JC Tretter said. "Like we have talked about in previous weeks, he has looked for input from other people and looked for input from players -- what plays do you like to run? I think you see that on the field. You see people more comfortable with what they are doing and with a better understanding, because these are the plays that the guys most like running and plays the guys most understand.
"I think that is always great from an offensive coordinator to get the input from the guys and from the other coaches, and you kind of all feel in it together."
Mayfield put it more succinctly: "We have people that we believe in calling the plays now."
He quickly added that he believed in Haley, as well.
"But right now, Freddie has us believing in it," Mayfield said. "It’s what it comes down to."
In three games, the Browns have scored 10 times in 10 red zone drives, and Mayfield has thrown nine touchdowns and one interception.
Mayfield has at least two touchdown passes for five games in a row, tying the longest streak for a rookie in NFL history. In Cincinnati, the Browns had four different players catch touchdown passes for the first time since November 2009. Mayfield threw passes to eight different receivers.
Mayfield’s passer rating in these three games: 129.5, second highest in the league.