Mid-week thoughts

It's really quite simple. The road to victory for the Browns this seasons lies almost exclusively with the performance of the offense.

As that side of the football goes, so will go the fortunes of the 2020 edition of the team. There is one caveat, though. The ground game must dominate and dictate just how much the ball will be thrown. 

Without it, the Browns will struggle all season. If you're looking for evidence to substantiate that claim, look no further that the statistics of the first two games of the season. There is a reason they are 1-1. It lies in the balance on offense.

In the season opener in Baltimore, the Browns were walloped, 38-6, due mainly to a terrible defense and a badly balanced offense that ran the ball only 35.8% of the time. Head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski abandoned the run in the second half and turned the game over to Baker Mayfield, who doesn't have the requisite talent play catchup football.

Now take last Thursday's 35-30 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns ran only 58 plays, but 32 (55.2%) were on the ground, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt twinned to run for more than 200 yards and score four touchdowns. Mayfield, who had 43 dropbacks in the Ravens loss, had just 26 (44.8%) and efficiently managed the game.

The successful running of Chubb and Hunt clearly enabled Stefanski to call a series of play-action passes that kept the Bengals' defense off balance. And he stayed with the ground game -- in fact, he almost totally relied on it -- as the defense failed to stop the Bengals.

The outcome of that game could very well serve as a portent of what the rest of the season will be like. The Cleveland defense hemorrhages yardage (734)  and points (68) points at a pace that will obliterate most of dubious records in franchise's history. 

Granted it's only two games, but that's a staggering pace of 5.872 yards and 544 points. And there are no signs that side of the ball is capable of playing anything resembling decent football. Several banged-up regulars are expected back either Sunday at home against Washington the following Sunday in Dallas.

It certainly can't be any worse than it is now with their arrival. There are no playmakers who can step up and make a play when needed and make a difference. Myles Garrett comes close, but receives precious little help. 

Cornerback Denzel Ward, whose play last season was disappointing, is playing much better this season. But that's it. The linebackers and safeties, for the most part, are either journeymen or those just good enough to stick around. They don't make a difference.

I have incorrectly blamed defensive coordinator Joe Woods for the awful defense. He is handicapped. He needs some talent with which to work. He has little. It's  a collection of mediocrity opposing offenses will toy with on a weekly basis. And that is why the offense needs to stay sharp and keep pace if winning is of the utmost importance. 

Stefanski arrived in Cleveland with the reputation of leaning heavily toward advancing the football infantry style to set up the passing game. That's the way it was accomplished in the old days until the National Football League became a passing league about a dozen years ago.

Run first, pass second is a formula Stefanski has been wedded to for a while now. And with the talents of  Chubb and Hunt and a revamped offensive line, it is starting to blossom. The question now is how long he will rely on it. And if there are bumps along the way whether he will abandon it unwisely as he did against the Ravens. The Browns would not have won that game because the Ravens are just too good. 

Being a successful as a head coach means making the correct decisions at the right time and for the correct reasons. That's a lesson Stefanski hopefully learned after making the correct adjustments in the Bengals victory.

Next up, the football team formerly known as the Redskins Sunday as the Browns attempt to start a season 2-1 for the first time since 2011, when they finished 4-12 under Pat Shurmur.