IMHO, another point of contention is that poor teams, those that eventually lose their HC's, deal with the constant barrage of drafting skill players while ignoring the line. The Browns became contenders when they finally fixed the offensive line. Case in point, in Mayfield's rookie year 2018, where he broke Mannings rookie record, the Browns offensive line finished ranked 2nd in the NFL. In year two 2019, the O-line regressed to a rank of 23rd and Mayfield's performance and the teams won/loss record reflected that regression. In 2020, the Browns O-line rebounded all the way to the number 1 ranking as did Mayfield's performance as the Browns qualified for the playoffs and went 1-1. In 2021, the O-line finished ranked #8 in the NFL, but Mayfield played the majority of the season injured and the record reflected that the injury reflected poor results. In 2022, the Browns entered the season with the preseason ranked #2 offensive line. Through 4-weeks, the Browns O-line is ranked #3 but the O-line is not the problem with the Browns 2-3 start.
Defensively, the Browns had high hopes on defense in 2022 with eyes set on a top 5 ranking. After 5-weeks, the Browns defense is ranked 24th in the Power Rankings. According to Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports: "Things look bleak for the Cleveland Browns. Sitting at 2-3 on the season, things are going to get much worse before there is even a shot at it getting better. By the time Deshaun Watson returns to action on Dec. 4, there’s a distinct possibility Cleveland is 3-8 and it won’t even have its own first-round pick. No, in case you were wondering, Deion Jones isn’t fixing this defense."
Back to Rhule being fired. There's no question that the strength of the Panthers in 2022 was going to be their defense. Through 5-weeks though, the Panthers defense is sporting a #30 power ranking. This poor showing by the Panthers defense has put additional pressure on an offense that was expected to struggle because of the poor offensive line. After finishing 22nd in offensive line ranking in 2021, the Panthers have followed it up with a 27th ranking through 5-weeks in 2022. To make matters worse, the Panthers are rated 31st in offensive EPA through the first 5-weeks. Defensively the Panthers are rated 20th. In any case, there's way way more issues with the Panthers than just Mayfield and the firing of Rhule reflects these issues.
https://www.nfeloapp.com/analysis/expected-points-added-epa-nfl/Just an FYI - through 5-weeks, the Browns offense is ranked 3rd and the defense is ranked 30th. This explains a a lot about the Browns 2-3 record.
One final note of the offensive line importance, Super Bowl Champions the LARams had the #7 ranked offensive line. Through the first 5-games of 2022, the LARams offensive line is ranked 23rd which is its worst ranking since 2019. Having an elite QB doesn't mean a thing if the line can't protect him or open the holes for running. Line play is critical to the vast majority of NFL QB's - that's just the facts.
