The Cleveland Browns entered the 2019 NFL campaign with Super Bowl aspirations. Instead, they are not even going to make the playoffs.

With just one regular season game remaining, the Browns are 6-9 and are one week away from putting what has been a nightmarish year out of its misery for good.

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for Cleveland this season, and amazingly enough, the Browns are not even going to finish with as good of a record as they had a year ago.

So, here are the five biggest takeaways for Cleveland in 2019:

5. The defense is a mess

Even before Myles Garrett was suspended for his bizarre fight with Mason Rudolph, the Browns' defense was a disaster.

There were some concerns about Cleveland's defense heading into the season, but thanks to offseason acquisitions such as Olivier Vernon, Sheldon Richardson and rookie Greedy Williams, the Browns were expected to improve.

To be fair, they are a bit better than last season, when they ranked 30th in the NFL in defense. However, their ranking of 20th with one game left to play this year isn't exactly great.

Cleveland can't stop the run — it ranks 30th in run defense — and outside of Garrett, it has been unable to consistently get to the quarterback, as it has tallied just 37 sacks.

There is some talent here, but the Browns' defensive unit is far from a formidable one.

4. Odell Beckham Jr. does not seem happy

On the season, Odell Beckham Jr. has caught 71 passes for 954 yards and three touchdowns.

Those aren't terrible numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but they are still far from what most expected when Cleveland acquired Beckham in a trade with the New York Giants back in March.

For reference, Beckham logged 91, 96 and 101 receptions in each of his first three seasons with the Giants before injuries limited him to just 16 games combined in 2017 and 2018, so this is not typical production from the wide receiver.

While Beckham has denied the rumors, where there is smoke, there is usually fire, and chatter about Beckham's unhappiness in Cleveland abounds.

The thing is, Beckham is under contract through 2023, so even if he wanted out, the Browns would have to trade him to make that happen.

3. Freddie Kitchens is in over his head

Freddie Kitchens began the 2018 campaign as Cleveland's running backs coach. Midway through the season, he was elevated to the role of offensive coordinator. Then, in the offseason, he was named head coach.

So, he went from a positional coach to a head coach inside of a year, which had “catastrophe” written all over it from the beginning.

Kitchens had made a litany of head-scratching decisions throughout the season, and it seems fairly obvious that not all of his players truly respect him.

The Browns may have been better off sticking with Gregg Williams, who took over for Hue Jackson halfway through 2018 and vaulted Cleveland into playoff contention late in the year.

Kitchens is still young, so he has plenty of time to grow and improve, but it's plain as day that he was given too much power way too soon.

2. Baker Mayfield could not avoid the sophomore slump

I'm not sure why everyone was prepared to anoint Baker Mayfield as the second coming after his rookie campaign.

Yes, he played very well and set the single-season rookie record with 27 touchdown passes, but much of that production came during the second half of the season when opponents a.) didn't really know who Mayfield was yet, and b.) weren't taking the Browns all that seriously.

But the minute expectations were placed on Mayfield and Cleveland, opponents watched film of the quarterback and learned how to stop him.

Now, it's up to Mayfield to make the necessary adjustments to progress.

Mayfield has been absolutely dreadful this season. Hopefully for the Browns' sake, it was just a sophomore slump rather than an ominous sign of things to come.

1. The culture is a major problem

Cleveland has not made the playoffs since the 2002 season — the longest active drought in the NFL.

There is a reason for that.

Sure, the primary reason is that the Browns have stunk, but another issue has been the culture of losing that has permeated the franchise for decades.

Placing such hefty expectations on a franchise that has been so bad for so long was basically a death sentence, and Kitchens and John Dorsey did not do a great job of creating a friendly locker-room atmosphere.

The Browns made headlines for all of the wrong reasons in 2019, whether it was Garrett smashing a helmet over an opposing quarterback's head or Kitchens wearing a t-shirt that gave a division rival bulletin board material.

This is something that Cleveland cannot simply repair overnight, which could mean the Browns may very well need a major overhaul this offseason.