In a surprising move, the Cleveland Browns have announced the hiring of Ken Dorsey as their new offensive coordinator. However, this decision has sparked controversy due to Dorsey's previous firing by the Buffalo Bills in November of 2023. The Bills let go of Dorsey after a 5-5 start, following a shocking loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday night in Week 10.

Many individuals, even at the time of Dorsey's dismissal, believed that he was being made a scapegoat for larger issues within the Bills organization. This sentiment was fueled by the fact that after Dorsey's departure, the Bills had only two games with two or more turnovers in the remaining nine games, including the playoffs. These statistics provided by ESPN's Mina Kimes showed that the Bills offense performed favorably in numerous advanced metrics.

Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker expressed his belief that Dorsey might have retained his position if the Bills had not suffered the loss to the Broncos. Tucker pointed out that drops by the Bills receivers and other mistakes made by the players should not solely be blamed on Dorsey's coaching. Similarly, Chris Carton and former NFL guard Willie Colon placed the responsibility on the players, highlighting the high turnover rate in the Bills' offense.

While the Bills ultimately improved their record to 6-1 after promoting quarterback coach Joe Brady to offensive coordinator, questions arose regarding the true impact of Dorsey's departure on their offensive performance. Analytics of Dynasty on X (formerly known as Twitter) revealed that the Bills actually experienced a decline in several offensive categories under Brady. However, quarterback Josh Allen's improved ability to protect the football resulted in fewer interceptions.

Now, Dorsey finds himself in a challenging position as he takes charge of an offense that led the NFL in turnovers this season, including a league-high 23 interceptions. The Browns' saving grace appears to be their new starting quarterback for 2024, Deshaun Watson, who boasted the lowest interception rate among his fellow quarterbacks at just 2.3% in his limited number of games.

As the Browns enter a new season with Dorsey at the helm of their offense, questions linger over whether he truly was a scapegoat in Buffalo, or if there were indeed larger factors at play. Only time will tell if Dorsey can guide the Browns to offensive success and prove his critics wrong.