Post-Steelers leftovers

There is no truer ideology in football at all levels than the notion that games are won and lost in the trenches. That little piece of turf in which superiority almost always determines the better team.

And if there is any unit on this season's Browns team that epitomizes that, it's the offensive line, the heartbeat on that side of the football. The defensive line comes into its fair share, too, but it has been betrayed by lapses behind it.

It's been only three games, far from being an accurate barometer on where it will eventually finish 14 games from now, but the plug uglies who protect quarterback Jacoby Brissett and provide wide swaths off territory for Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to run have been outstanding.

Guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller are still playing at a Pro Bowl level, whether it's pulling and leading Chubb and Hunt on sweeps or providing crushing trap blocks for the interior game. That's a given on a weekly basis.

The surprises have been at center and the two tackles, where Ethan Pocic, Jedrick Wills Jr, and Thomas Hudson III have played at a much higher level than expected. Hudson in particular while filling in at right tackle for All-Pro Jack Conklin, who missed the first two games rehabbing off-season knee surgery.

The second-year pro, who was clearly not ready to make the transition to the National Football League in a serious way as a rookie, does not look like the same player this season. His pass sets are stronger (with occasional help from a tight end), he sets the edge much better for Chubb and Hunt and he plays with more confidence.

Wills, perhaps because he is much healthier than last season, has adopted a much more pugnacious approach to protecting his quarterback, one that was absent his first two seasons at left tackle. He is no longer the soft spot in the line. 

And Pocic, who fell into the role in the pivot when Nick Harris blew up a knee during the first exhibition game, has been steady. That's code for keeping mistakes at a minimum. Quality level at the position since the club decided to release Pro Bowler JC Tretter has not dropped. Yet.

That unit has been mainly responsible for some pretty impressive statistics. Like 379 yards a game, 5.4 yards a play, 22 of 46 (48%) on third down, 572 rushing yards (191 a game), and the most impressive of all, ownership of the football (an astounding 35.5 minutes a game).

Individually, Chubb is enjoying his typically sensational season with 341 yards (5.5 yards a pop and a pair of 100-yard games). Brissett has been given solid protection, enabling him to comfortably play pitch and catch with Amari Cooper (two 100-yard games there, too). He has been sacked only seven times, four  coming on full blitzes. 

And now that Conklin is back and playing well again, it isn't hyperbolic to suggest the Browns again have one of the strongest offensive lines in the NFL. It's only three games and some of the more rugged defenses in the league await in the next six or seven weeks, but the momentum of a good start is encouraging.

***

It took three weeks to blossom, but waiting for David Njoku to emerge as a valuable receiver for the Browns was well worth it after his didn't-see-that-coming performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night.

The big tight end, who was consistently inconsistent in his first five seasons with the club, played by far his best game ever with a near flawless display of catching and holding on to the football. Known for making the tough receptions and dropping the easy ones, Njoku seems to have added better concentration to his talents.

Brissett targeted him 10 times against the Steelers and connected on all but one for 89 yards and a touchdown. His only miss was due to a terrific hit by Steelers cornerback Courtland Sutton that jolted the ball loose. Otherwise, he was perfect.

It was the first time he was a major part of a game plan since October 2018, when he was targeted in double digits in back-to-back games. He has been a forgotten piece of the puzzle since then, no doubt because of his inconsistency.

In his first five seasons (65 games), the late first-round pick in 2017 caught only 148 passes (240 targets) for 1,754 yards and 15 touchdowns. Despite these disappointing stats, the Browns rewarded him with a four-year, $55 million contract.

What makes this a significant development is the notion it takes pressure off Cooper, Brissett's clear No. 1 target who draws double coverage. With Njoku, based at least on this game and ostensibly in the picture from a receiving standpoint, opposing defensive coordinators are now at least thinking of  game-planning for him.

***

Joe Woods often times gets too much blame when seemingly everything fails and not enough credit when subsequent adjustments pay off. Such was the case in the victory over Pittsburgh Thursday night.

The beleaguered defensive coordinator, suspiciously quiet whenever grief comes his way, recovered nicely after the drama that surrounded him in the first two games of the season as fans urged head coach Kevin Stefanski to make him the former defensive coordinator.

It was a simple move of making the pass defense more diverse, employing man-to-man defense a lot more because his secondary plays that sticky defense a whole lot better than zone. Not once during the game Thursday night did a Steelers receiver gain any kind of appreciable separation until late when a prevent was employed.. 

So why did Woods, who didn't revel in its success, concede and change the strategy against the pass? No one knows for certain. It really makes no difference. It worked and that is all that mattered.

***

Martin Emerson Jr. is taking full advantage of Greedy Williams' absence due to injury. The coaching staff apparently trusts the rookie cornerback to the point where he is playing a major portion of the snaps and not looking like a rookie.

He was the victim of perhaps the most sensational catch of the season when Steelers rookie George Pickens, in spite of tight coverage by Emerson, hauled in a 36-yard bomb from quarterback Mitch Trubisky late in the first quarter that seemed destined to be incomplete.

As he was falling almost perpendicularly to the ground and face up with Emerson hovering over him. Pickens reached out with his right hand, snatched the ball, tucked it in, fell to the ground and bounced out of bounds without losing his grip on the ball. 

After watching it several times in replay, the more unbelievably spectacular and extraordinary it looked. Emerson had perfect coverage. Not perfect enough, though. Pickens had other ideas. It will be hard to beat that for catch of the year.

***

Finally , , , Correcting the Steelers game story. Cade York's missed extra point after the Browns' second touchdown was not partially blocked. It was just a poor kick, his second in the last two games. He seemingly concentrates better on long kicks. It cost the Browns one game. Captan Obvious says every point counts. . . . More special teams problems: Rookie running back Jerome Ford, trusted with returning kickoffs, committed a rookie mistake by trying to return one late in the second quarter from three yards deep in the end zone and making it to just the 12-yard line. Next time, take a knee and start at the 25. . . . Now that Njoku is fully in the offensive picture, time for wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones to reenter the same picture. After being targeted 11 times in the season opener, he has been targeted just four times. What gives?

No deja vu

The general tenor of Thursday night's 29-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers looked at various times suspiciously like the brutal outcome of the Browns' game against the New York Jets last Sunday.

Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt resumed their bruising ground assault, interim quarterback Jacoby Brissett had another strong game as did Amari Cooper. Cade York missed another extra point and the Steelers had a chance to own the football down only six points with 1:48 left in regulation.

Sound familiar? Looked familiar, too, to the home crowd as visions of a Jets repeat surely had to be on their minds as the Steelers lined up for an onsides kick. It was sort of a here-we-go-again moment. This time, though, the Browns knocked the ball out of bounds, Steelers rookie wide receiver George Pickens also jumped offside to the relief of Browns Nation.

The biggest difference, though, was the performance of the defense, most notably the secondary. For the first time this season, that unit played what can best be described as solid fundamental football. Not one busted coverage. Not even close, limiting Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky to just 98 passing yards in the final 30 minutes.

No finger pointing after a week that saw the defense hold a players-only meeting to make certain the critical lapses that lost one game and very nearly lost another would not be repeated. Amazing what a little concentration and attention to detail can accomplish.

It also helped that defensive coordinator Joe Woods interspersed his beloved zone with man coverage. It held the Steelers scoreless throughout most of the second half as the that side of the ball came to life despite the loss of linebackers Anthony Walker Jr., Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and defensive tackle Taven Bryan to injuries. Jacob Phillips and seldom-used Tony Fields II stepped in and didn't miss a beat.

The defense basically shut down the offense of their bitter AFC North rival in the second half after the teams traded touchdowns on four consecutive possessions in the first half. the Steelers taking a 14-13 lead thanks to York's partially blocked point-after that hit the right upright.

The Cleveland offense sandwiched touchdowns by Cooper and tight end David Njoku around scores by Trubisky and running back Najee Harris. Njoku, who spent the first two games blocking for Chubb and Hunt, burst impressively into the receiving spotlight with a sensational game, catching all but one of his 10 targets for 89 yards. 

The relentless Cleveland offense began to take charge after the defense blunted the Steelers' opening second-half possession, taking the lead for good on a 34-yard field goal by York and short burst from a yard out by Chubb as he literally climbed on the back of offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt, who lined up as an up back, to complete an 11-play, 80-yard march.

The defense took it from there, limiting the Pittsburgh offense to just 121 yards in the second half. Three straight three-and-outs that gained just six yards from scrimmage sent a strong message that there wasn't going to any comeback. 

With the Browns playing mainly prevent defense -- I hate, hate, hate the dreaded prevent -- in the final minutes, Trubisky marched the Steelers close enough for a Chris Boswell field goal, their only points of the half, cutting the deficit to six points. 

The Pittsburgh defense, playing without injured All-Pro linebacker T.J.. Watt, was gassed toward the end of the game. That's because the Cleveland offense owned the football for 20 of the 30 minutes to help keep the defense well-rested.

Chubb, Cooper and Njoku provided the major share of the offense. Chubb ground out 113 hard yards, Cooper caught seven more passes for 101 yards and the score and Njoku put on a performance that more than, at least in this game, justified his big contract. 

But it was the steady Brissett, who seems to be growing more confident with each game, who was the grand master in this one. Twenty-one of his 31 passes were directed at Cooper and Njoku and totaled 16 receptions for 190 yards.

He also used his 6-4, 240-pound frame to successfully squeeze out three first downs on sneaks on third and fourth down when less than a yard was needed. He seemed firmly in control.

On another similar situation on the first possession of the third quarter where another sneak was a possibility, the Steelers' defense lined up to stop him on a fourth and one at the Pittsburgh 36. Head coach Kevin Stefanski instead dialed up an inside handoff to Hunt on a quick opener and he responded with a nine-yard burst.

This was a game the Browns absolutely needed to win following that bitter pill it swallowed four days ago. To fall to 1-2 at this point with a brutal seven-game stretch awaiting following game four in Atlanta a week from Sunday would have been disastrous.

So at least until the rest of the schedule is played out this weekend, the Browns are all alone at the top of the AFC North at 2-1 ahead of 1-1 Baltimore, 1-2 Pittsburgh and winless Cincinnati.

Low-scoring game

Now that Ben Roethlisberger has retired from professional football, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is beginning to see what life is like without his Hall of Fame-bound quarterback. It hasn't been pretty thus far. Far from it.

And Thursday night, Browns fans and a national television audience will see first hand just how mediocre the Steelers' offense is when they visit Cleveland as an underdog in this long-time rivalry for the first time since 2003, the season before Big Ben embarked on his sensational career.

Tomlin, who has never experienced a losing season in Pittsburgh, enters this one with a 24-6-1 record against Cleveland in the last 15 seasons. Not quite as sparkling as Roethlisberger's spectacular 26-2-1 mark, but outstanding nevertheless on its own merit. 

Mitch (Mitchell) Trubisky is the new Roethlisberger in position only. The former Mentor High School star, who experienced moderate success with the Chicago Bears for a few seasons before sitting behind Josh Allen last season in Buffalo, beat out rookie Kenny Pickett for the job. But for how long?

Those in the know believe it is only a matter of time before the former University of Pittsburgh quarterback and native Pittsburgher will be elevated in the hope he can come close to duplicating Roethlisberger's career.

The Cleveland defense, which plays fairly spectacularly for the first three quarters of games thus far (21 total points) before collapsing even more spectacularly in the final 15 minutes (34 points), will be at a slight disadvantage against the Steelers with the pass rush. Ankle miseries will sideline Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett will start despite a neck problem.

As long as Trubisky has the huddle, the Steelers will not be a big threat. He has thrown for just 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns with one interception as they split their first two games. The ground game has struggled, second-year running back Najee Harris gaining just 72 yards and looking for his first score.. 

That Tomlin is sticking with Trubisky this long, especially with the offense in general putting unnecessary pressure on the defense, is a bit of a surprise. The Steelers are already without All-Pro linebacker T.J. Watt for at least a month with a partially torn pectoral muscle.

In nine career games against the Browns, the reigning National Football League defensive player of the year has 52 tackles (38 solo), 14.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interceptions. The equal opportunity disturber is arguably the best player on that side of the football in the league.

The effect of his loss was felt in last Sunday's home setback against New England, the Steelers registering no sacks. A rarity like that bodes well for the Cleveland offensive line, which will welcome back right tackle Jack Conklin after major knee surgery last season.

The Steelers' defense has not forgotten how to play opportunistic football. They already have six takeaways this season with the dangerous Minkah Fitzpatrick, arguably the best free safety in the league, hauling in a pair of picks, including his fourth career pick six. Overall, he has swiped 15 passes in four plus seasons.

The Browns, meanwhile, haven't had enough time to mentally and psychologically recover from last Sunday's brutal 31-30 loss to the New York Jets. This season has seen them win the season opener they deserved to lose and lose the home opener they deserved to win.

The Browns have played on Thursday night 20 times over the years -- seven times from 1966 to 1994 --winning. nine. They are 7-6 since 2006, winning the last four in a row, including the infamous helmet-wielding incident involving Garrett and Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph in 2019. The two teams have split four games on TNF, each winning twice at home.

Don't be surprised if this one is a carbon copy of the Jets game from a statistical standpoint for the Browns. That means lots and lots of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on the ground with Jacoby Brissett once again distributing short- to medium-range passes to keep the chains moving and game clock ticking.

Based on what happened in the first two games, the Cleveland defense needs to rebound not just in general but in a decisive enough way for no other reason than to reestablish the notion it ranks as one of the best in the NFL.

Despite all this, it's tempting to think that despite all the negatives, the Steelers somehow will find a way to emerge victorious because, well, because they are the Steelers and beating the Browns is what they -- and Tomlin -- do. 

But . . . 

Trubisky is not Roethlisberger. Watt will not be in uniform. The game-changing events of the Jets game are still fresh in the Browns' minds. Right now, they are the better team. This clearly qualifies as a must-win game. The final result will tell you all you need to know about this team and the direction it's headed. 

The offense will be fine as long as head coach Kevin Stefanski allows them to play within their talents. The defense, with a strong comeback, will make life miserable for Trubisky badly enough, Tomlin summons Pickett to begin his NFL career in the second half. It won't go well. Make it:

Browns 20, Steelers 10

Odds and ends

Add Nick Chubb to the list of second-guessers with regard to what he should have done instead of what he actually did Sunday in the loss to the New York Jets. Check out what he said Tuesday.

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have scored right there," he said, referring to a 12-yard touchdown run that gave the Browns a two-touchdown lead with less than two minutes left in regulation. "Honestly, looking back at it, it cost us the game." A pure second guess at best. And it sounded a little reluctant. Too much pushback, I guess.

"A lot of things went wrong, not just one thing," Chubb continued. "But collectively as a unit, as a team, we could have all done things differently. But it's only a problem because we didn't win. So I probably should have went (no, gone) down."

He wasn't thinking about going down at the time for a very good reason. He instinctively sought to score. And now he's being unfairly chastised for doing what he was supposed to do in that case. I don't believe fans booed when he scored. They reserved that after the defense and special teams blew up this one.

More from Chubb. "At the end of the day, I've been in that situation before," he said, "so I really can't put it on anyone but myself at this point. I think the biggest thing is I was aware of what was going on and I thought the game was over, if I'm being honest.

".  . . I think after the game, I really sat on it. I allowed myself to just feel the pain and all of it that came with the loss. Gotta move on." The sad part is he was not the reason the Browns lost. He's the main reason they led at the time. 

Too many things had to be assumed in order to place any blame, let alone a major portion, on Chubb. Sure sounds as though someone was convincing enough to get him to see things differently and change his line of thinking and be talked into joining the second guess club.

***

Perrion Winfrey will be back on the field Thursday night when the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers resume their rivalry in front of a national television audience. The brash rookie defensive tackle spent the Jets game sitting out a one-game punishment for unspecified reasons.

Myles Garrett suggested at the time that Perrion needed "to learn how to be a pro" without going into details. The loquacious Winfrey, who captured the hearts of Browns fans in an entertaining interview shortly after being selected in the fourth round of the college draft, said Tuesday that all rookies must learn how to be a pro.

Topping that list is keeping quiet. Rookies should be seen and not heard. They are there to learn everything during what often times can be a difficult transition from college to the National Football League. 

Winfrey indicated he would not let his punishment interfere with his job, although it is being reported he did not apologize for his actions.

"I'm still approaching practice and everything balls to the wall, still being the player I was meant to be," he said. "This doesn't change anything. Doesn't change my focus. Doesn't change how I feel about the organization, the team or anything like that."

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

Monday leftovers

Woke up this morning and the pain of watching and then writing about the Browns' latest improbable loss was still there. I have a feeling this one will not go away for a long, long time. If ever.

The 31-30 loss to the New York Jets is now firmly entrenched in the Browns' Hall of Shame. It is being portrayed by some as the worst ever. No it's not. There are way too many other entries in the last 24 years in the hall just as grievous. 

Social media scrutinized and massaged the Browns' latest collapse after they took a 13-point lead with less than two minutes left in regulation and the general consensus is head coach Kevin Stefanski screwed up by allowing Nick Chubb to score his third touchdown of the game to put the Browns up, 30-17.

Imagine that. Telling a player to do something antithetical to why he's playing the game. 

Second Guessers Anonymous responded by suggesting Stefanski should have deliberately reined in his offense and forced the Jets to use all their timeouts. And Stefanski bit. Second-guessed himself.

Less than 24 hours after the game, he all but apologized for not sending in word to not try and score. "To put yourself up potentially by 14 points inside of two minutes, you should close out that game," he told the media Monday. "So yes, I wish I had said that to Nick and Nick would have done it. But it doesn't change the fact we had plenty of opportunities to win that game." 

What Stefanski, clearly in retrospect, should have done at that point was instruct Kareem Hunt not to go out of bounds twice in that possession in order to keep the clock running and force the Jets to use their timeouts. That was more egregious.

Second guessing is fun in sports. Makes for interesting arguments. Let's take a closer look at the situation here from the various viewpoints of second-guessers.

Of course they knew Cade York would badly miss the extra point following the Chubb score. And of course they knew the Cleveland secondary would disappear and give the Jets a gift touchdown. And for sure they knew the Cleveland hands team would screw up the onsides kick.

If I had prescient vision like that, I'd be a millionaire today. See the future before it takes place. What a concept.

Let's hypothesize what actually happened. The Browns had a seven-point lead (24-17) at that point. Let's say Chubb goes out of bounds before reaching the end zone, as is being second-guessed here, instead of breaking a tackle en route to his 12-yard scoring run. 

The Jets use all their timeouts and the Browns nail it down with a short York field goal to extend the lead to an unbeatable 10 points with, say, 30 seconds left. Here comes the what if.

What if York missed the chip shot? Won't happen? Couldn't happen? Why not? He missed the point after. Did anyone see that coming?

One of the happiest onlookers when Chubb scored was Jets head coach Robert Saleh. "I've never been happy for a missed tackle in my life," he hyperbolized after the game. Of course Saleh knew York would botch the extra point and the Browns' secondary would disappear on the next play from scrimmage and his onsides kick team would be successful.

He didn't need to second guess because he knew all along what would happen. Of course he did.

The downside of this whole scenario is Chubb taking grief in some areas for not going out bounds on his own. Imagine that. It's unfair at best, insulting at worst.

Stefanski, as he should have, accepted full responsibility for the loss after the game Sunday. "Everything that happens on that field is my responsibility," he said. "I'm not going to hide from it. And I'm not going to point fingers. I am going to tell you we're going to get it fixed. We've got to get it fixed."

After what has transpired in the first two games, easier said than done. 

***

The crowd at the home opener Sunday was understandably angry and let the Browns know in a full-throated way as they left the field. Myles Garrett, who had a rather quiet game, seemed to be more upset with the crowd reaction than losing the game.

"The more disappointing thing was the booing at the end," the All-Pro defensive end said. "These guys are still putting their asses on the line and playing as hard as they can and they should be respected as such. . . . We have a lot of time to correct what we're doing, so we don't want to see this crowd, this stadium, give up on us this easily."

This is a lament by someone who has played long enough in Cleveland and knows -- or should know -- better that the Browns have one of the most ardent and zealous fan bases in the National Football League. He is highly popular with the fans and might want to rethink his stance.

Meanwhile, he also might think about improving on his production against the Jets. He played nearly 90% of the snaps and put only one solo tackle and a sack on the stats sheet. And that was in the first half. The Jets' offensive line pretty much neutralized him and the Cleveland pass rush in the second half.

***

Perhaps it's time defensive coordinator Joe Woods strongly considers switching to more man-to-man pass coverage in the secondary because not much else is working right now with some of the zone.  Zone defenses are effective only when you have players who know what the hell they're doing and that doesn't seem to be the case now.

Blown coverages, two in each game, cost the Browns a victory Sunday and damn near the season opener in Carolina. Giving up easy touchdowns is a recipe for disaster. If this ongoing epidemic doesn't concern Stefanski, something is wrong.

Remember the Browns' mantra: Smart, tough, accountable. Stefanski needs to work on that last part.

***

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but strong safety Grant Delpit seems to be somewhere in the vicinity on most of the blown coverages in the secondary in the first two games. At least on two occasions he can be seen, arms akimbo, looking elsewhere as if to say what happened.

Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, too. He was lined up at the line of scrimmage opposite Carolina tight end Ian Smith in the season opener and passed him off to no one as it turned out, and Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield hooked up with him on a 50-yard play that led to a touchdown.

And he failed to pick up Jets rookie running back Breece Hall, who leaked out of the backfield in the final seconds of the first half and easily strolled into the end zone with a short toss from Joe Flacco with no one near him. 

***

Finally . . . Questions with no answers: Why was Donovan Peoples-Jones, who was targeted 11 times in the Carolina victory, targeted just once against the Jets? Why was Anthony Schwartz, who contributed 39 yards to the cause with two reverses and one long pass reception against the Panthers, totally ignored in the Jets game plan with zero touches in 12 snaps? And why did offensive lineman Michael Dunn, who booked only one less snap than Schwartz, check into the game as an eligible receiver 11 times? . . .  Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward took one for the team when asked about what happened on the blown coverage that eventually lost the game. "It wasn't my coverage," said Ward, who had Jets receiver Corey Davis early and then passed him off to . . . no one. "If there's someone you want to blame, I will take full blame for that play or whatever plays we had."

It happened again

At the time, it was just an innocent mistake by the young kicker who heroically captured Browns Nation a week ago with an unbelievable 58-yard field goal to win a season-opening game for the first time in 18 years.

So when Cade York's point-after attempt following Nick Chubb's third touchdown of the afternoon against the New York Jets in the home opener Sunday took a very sudden detour well right of the right upright, fans probably shrugged and figured the kid's human after all.

The Browns had built a 30-17 lead with just 1:55 left in regulation. It sure looked as though they were on the verge of winning their first two games of the season for the first time since 1993. What could go wrong?

Before answering that, bear in mind one prima facie fact. This star-crossed franchise has led the National Football League in blowing games in the most mind-numbing ways over the last 24 seasons. They are masters at the art of snatching losses from the jaws of victory.

So repeating: What could go wrong?

How about two Jets touchdowns -- one shockingly given up by yet another blown coverage two plays after York's missed extra point; the other after the Cleveland onsides kick receiving team (the so-called hands team) botched (surprise!) an opportunity to put the game away.

The Jets' Ripleyesque 31-30 victory before a stunned and extremely angry home crowd that witnessed Murphy's Law once again come to life is nothing more than another chapter in the Cleveland Browns Book of Fate. 

How in the world did Jets wide receiver Corey Davis come so wide open down the right sideline for a 66-yard gift? Who cares? Defensive coordinator Joe Woods apparently doesn't. Was this way of cleaning things up after last Sunday? After three major coverage breakdowns in two games, this now qualifies as an epidemic.

Jets quarterback Joe Flacco had his way with the Cleveland secondary once his pass protection was cleaned up. The veteran sliced and diced for four touchdowns, including a pair to first-round draft choice Garrett Wilson, the second of which applied the fatal dagger with 22 seconds left.

What good does it do to start pointing fingers of guilt? At best, it's probably best to indict the entire secondary, figuring you're going to be correct somewhere along the way. It's quite obvious Woods isn't even close to approaching, let along finding, a solution.

To be clear here, I'm not blaming the kid for the loss, although the scoreboard and standings -- would disagree with that. This football team has no clue how to close out games. When a 30-17 lead with less than two minutes left is not sufficient enough to win, you've got major problems.

When you take in the big picture, losing winnable games like this with an extremely rugged seven-game stretch waiting later down the road against infinitely better teams than the Jets is a dagger to the hopes of returning to the postseason.

This loss cannot be pinned on Jacoby Brissett, who was a whole lot better than last Sunday, completing all but five of his 27 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown to Amari Cooper, who caught all but one of his 10  targets for 101 yards, and an interception.

The pick on his last pass of the day was intended for Cooper deep down the middle with less than 10 seconds to play as the Browns desperately tried to set up another long-distance York field goal. Jets safety Ashtyn Davis read the play all the way and jumped the route.

Cooper also factored in the onsides kick, a maneuver that almost always fails. Almost, but not on this day. Jets punter Braden Mann, who perfectly executed a fake punt with a 17-yard pass in the first quarter that led to the Jets' opening touchdown, laid the football on its side on the kicking tee.

He directed the kick toward the left sideline, toward Cooper on the perimeter, as players on both teams frantically attempted to secure it. Cooper reacted slowly, perhaps too slowly, toward the spinning football and was knocked off it by Jets safety Lamarcus Joyner.

Jets cornerback Justin Hardee, a Cleveland native who played  his high school ball at Glenville, recovered the ball at the Jets 47 with 82 seconds left. With the game on the line, the Cleveland defense collapsed. 

Nine plays and 60 seconds later, Flacco, who raised his career record against Cleveland to 18-3, expertly moved his offense to the shocking ending with Wilson, the former Ohio State star, grabbing his second scoring pass of the day on a simple 15-yard post route with the closest Browns defender at least five yards away. Greg Zuerlein produced the game winner on a simple point after.

The Browns, who never trailed until Zuerlein's successful extra point, took the lead on long time-consuming sustained drives, the kind that ostensibly provide the defense with enough time to rest and recover between possessions to be effective.

With drives consuming 14 plays (90 yards), 10 plays (61 yards), 11 plays (76 yards), nine plays (75 yards) and six plays (42 yards) for four touchdowns and a field goal, how in the world did the Browns lose this one? 

Chubb's hard-earned 87-yard effort and the equally strong running of Kareem Hunt (58 more yards) have been reduced to a footnote rather than signifying they are truly among the NFL scariest and most dangerous game-changing runners. Being productive on this day didn't, as it turned out, mean that much.

Two in a row? 

It's hard to believe a National Football League franchise -- any NFL franchise --  in the last 23 seasons has not opened the regular season with at least two straight victories. Ladies and gents, meet the Cleveland Browns.

Ever since their rebirth in 1999, this perennially troubled franchise has never known successive successes in the first two games of any season. You have to go to the wayback machine to find when victories were strung together by a Cleveland pro football team at the beginning of a campaign.

All the way back to 1993 when the Browns -- the old Cleveland Browns -- under head coach Bill Belichick put together a three-game winning streak out of the gate only to finish 7-9. Ah yes, those were the good old days.

That brings us to Sunday's home opener against the New York Jets where the current -- can't call them new anymore in their 24th season -- iteration of the Browns will attempt to bash down yet another barrier after winning their first season opener since 2004 last Sunday.

That the Browns are riding the crest of a one-game winning streak at this stage of the season is quite foreign to fans of this team. Downright giddy to some. And the Jets are struggling to regain some sort of dignity -- six straight losing seasons and only one winning season in the last 11 -- which heightens the anticipation of another Cleveland victory.

As for the possibility of a letdown after the euphoric feeling following the Carolina victory that surely had to linger in the locker room throughout this week, all head coach Kevin Stefanski needs to do is constantly remind them how close they came to losing that game. They can't expect kicker Cade York to bail them out with long-distance field goals on a weekly basis. 

To that end, Stefanski and offensive coordinator in name only Alex Van Pelt need to come up with a game similar to the one against the Panthers. Why when the club barely won last week? Because it wasn't the offense's fault. That near loss was hung on the malfunctioning befuddled secondary.

The offense, although it stuttered on occasion, posted only two three-and-outs and points on six occasions in 11 possessions. It kept the Panthers' offense on the bench for 38 and a half minutes and wore down their defense to the point where they were able to get into position to kick the game winner.

That should not be the case this week. Jacoby Brissett should be a better quarterback this week. Under normal circumstances, that "should" would be "will," but these are not normal circumstances. Being careful here with the unpredictable Brissett.

His skill set is limited and he is not getting much help from a receivers corps that doesn't frighten many defenses around the league. To that end, Stefanski went right down the middle with the run/pass ratio against the Panthers.

Converting eight third downs in 18 opportunities helps, too. That's when the Nick Chubb-Kareem Hunt dynamic comes into focus. Stefanski did not hesitate at all to play either -- and sometimes both -- of his cards with extreme success.

Employing both on the field at the same time -- six times last week -- puts that much more pressure on opposing defenses. Who receives the most attention? You pick one and the likelihood of getting burned by the other rises.

Stefanski undoubtedly knows this. His reluctance to take advantage of it, though, is puzzling. Isn't he one (of many coaches) who says he strives to "put players in the best position to win?" With his best quarterback serving a long suspension, seems to me putting Chubb and Hunt on the field together puts the offense in the best position to win.

What better time to find out than against the Jets, whose defense limited a good Baltimore run game to just 63 yards in a loss last Sunday, including only 17 to master scrambler Lamar Jackson. The Jets know Brissett won't be troublesome. He almost always can be found in or near the pocket.

The Cleveland defense will see the ageless Joe Flacco -- he's 37 --under center while Zach Wilson nurses knee problems. The loss against his ex-team if nothing else proved that despite his age, there is nothing wrong with his arm. He threw for 309 yards against the Ravens, but it took 59 heaves to accomplish it. 

That won't happen Sunday because the Cleveland defense, with the added incentive to atone for the two huge brain farts that nearly lost the Panthers game, will shut down the Jets' offense. Flacco, who loves playing the Browns (he was 17-3 in his career against them with the Ravens), will have little time to throw. Hard to throw when you're flat on your back.

The winning formula this week replicates last week's. The offense pounds away again on the ground, Brissett limits his mistakes in the passing game this time and the defense up front will make it much easier on the back end. York is needed just once. The Jets scored only nine points last Sunday. Sounds about right. Make it:

Browns 24, Jets 9

Mid-week thoughts

This mid-week's fare is a smorgasbord of thoughts that bubbled up well after the victory Sunday in Carolina and yet were still relevant to the good and welfare of the Browns as they prepare for the home opener Sunday against the New York Jets. 

A little of this and a little of that starting with . . . 

How little the offense was prepared on the initial three possessions of the game, running the play clock down to near zero on numerous occasions, barely getting the play off. They were penalized twice later in the game for delay of game.

And there was no excuse why Jacoby Brissett had to call a timeout before the play clock ran out on the fourth play of the game. The fourth!! That's embarrassing and a disturbing  lack of preparation. All those practices, all those meetings designed to prevent such occurrences and then that.

Timeouts are precious in the National Football League. Coaches know this. Or at least should. Squandering one four plays into a game should raise an eyebrow or two upstairs. 

Teams have 40 seconds between plays to execute the next play in the NFL. It was third and three at the Panthers 46 at the time and the huddle broke with about a dozen seconds left. By the time Brissett was ready for the snap in shotgun formation, the clock was at two seconds. The TO avoided a penalty that would have made it third and eight.

Why the confusion? And why does it take so long to get the play in? It says here that's on the playcaller. And who would that be? he asked rhetorically. Either head coach Kevin Stefanski was slow on his calls early in the game or Brissett had trouble deciphering them. 

Stefanski attributed the problem to the loud environment at Bank of America Stadium and said he expected it to be better Sunday against the Jets. Nice try, coach. Well, not really.

Of course it'll be better Sunday. It's at home, where fans are encouraged to pump up the volume when the opposition owns the football. Sorta like when the Browns owned it against the Panthers. It'll be better, too, for the Browns for the seven remaining home games. What a weak excuse. . . .

Tight end David Njoku, who signed a four-year, $56.75 million contract in late May and was expected to be a large part of the offense this season, played 71 of the 80 offensive snaps against the Panthers. The stats sheet revealed he was like a forgotten tight end.

He was targeted once. For the record, this well-paid football player, whose main job is catching footballs, caught the only pass directed his way all afternoon for a seven-yard gain on third down with a little less than four minutes left in the third quarter, two yards shy of a first down.

His main job on this afternoon was blocking on the edge for running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, who compiled 187 of the club's 217 yards on the ground. He and fellow tight end Harrison Bryant, who caught half of his four targets for 18 yards, helped fortify the strong side of the formation with second-year man James Hudson III subbing at right tackle for the injured Jack Conklin and Chris Hubbard.

With Conklin expected back for the Jets game, it's safe to assume Njoku and Bryant can expect much more attention from Stefanski and Brissett in an effort to diversify the calls on that side of the football. . . . 

Speaking of targets, why just six for the best receiver on the team? Amari Cooper put in 66 snaps worth of football and his quarterback looked his way only six times? He caught three for a puny 17 yards. Sure, his last one set up Cade York's 58-yard, game-winning field goal.  But c'mon. What's wrong with that picture? 

It's a little too early to suggest Cooper and Brissett are having trouble arriving on the same page. But it  makes me wonder whether Cooper might have to adjust to his lesser talented quarterback in order to be a vital contributor. 

Brissett's egregious overthrow of a wide-open Cooper that should've resulted in a touchdown on the first possession of the game might be a sign the road to success between these two is going to be paved with numerous bumps for a while. . . . 

And finally . . . An Anthony Schwartz sighting that actually produced positive results. The fleet wide receiver touched the ball three times against the Panthers, picking up 20 yards on two reverses and making a nice grab on a 19-yard connection with Brissett that converted a third down midway through the fourth quarter. . . . Quick question: Did rookie wideout David Bell play at all? Didn't make the stats sheet. Answer: Yes he did. Booked 22 snaps from scrimmage and two on special teams. Color him ignored. . . . Brissett should work on spiking the ball -- smooth it out -- in a hurry-up situation. His awkward effort just prior to York's big field goal drew flags, which were picked up when referee Brad Rogers ruled it was a legal move. Awkward, but legal.

Monday leftovers

For those disappointed in Jacoby Brissett's performance in Sunday's nail-biting victory over the Carolina Panthers, deal with it. What you saw is what you are going to get for the next 10 games.

Brissett is a very average talent placed in the difficult position of guiding an offense that is arguably one of the strongest in the National Football League, one that requires a quarterback who can deliver the football on time and on target.

Brissett is not that quarterback. He is a game manager leading an explosive team, ill-equipped to maximize all that talent. At his best, he is a mediocre talent. Browns fans are stuck with him. General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have made that quite clear. Not the stuck part.

The quality of Brissett's passing in the victory Sunday came into question when he turned what should have been a rout into a drama-filled contest in the second half. He clearly missed at least three wide-open receivers with poor throws.

His most egregious throw, though, was a wounded duck to wide receiver Amari Cooper in the Panthers' end zone early in the second quarter of a scoreless game. Cooper sneaked behind cornerback CJ Henderson, but Brissett delivered the ball late, floating it instead into the arms of safety Xavier Woods.

Henderson bailed him out by amusingly dragging Cooper to the ground, drawing a bouquet of yellow flags and wiping out the pick. Brissett connected with Kareem Hunt on a much easier throw from a yard out on the next play for the first touchdown of the afternoon.

Brissett has been a 60% passer throughout his entire career in college and the NFL. For the unwashed, that's a number that usually rewards the owner with a clipboard, headphones and a seat on the bench next to the starting quarterback when the opposition has the ball.

It sure appeared as though he was not executing the game plan Stefanski was calling. He completed just 53% of his passes (for a measly 147 yards) against a Panthers secondary that doesn't frighten many teams. Leaving points on the field didn't hurt this time, due mainly to a 58-yard field goal by a rookie kicker that rescued his hind flanks.

The same can't be said about the other 10 games he'll shepherd this offense through while Deshaun Watson serves out his suspension. You can also count on defensive coordinators who will face him during that time have taken note of how easy he is to game plan against.

It will be interesting to watch -- and try to figure out -- how Stefanski maneuvers his way through the next 10 games, adjusting his gameplans to maximize what he can get out of Brissett. Hint: He needs to call more screen passes and misdirection plays.

***

One of the main reasons, maybe the main reason, the offense booked a turnover-free afternoon was the performance of the line. When I saw Jack Conklin's name on the inactive list for the game, all kinds of nasty thoughts coursed through my mind. And when I saw James Hudson III would start at right tackle, I was overcome by pending doom in the passing game.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon not related to the kicking game was how strong and resolute the plug uglies up front were in both phases of the game. Brissett was sacked only once in 38 dropbacks. And that was on a well-designed blitz by linebacker Damien Wilson midway through the second quarter.

Center Ethan Pocic, guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller and tackles Jedrick Wills Jr and Hudson played all 80 snaps about as flawlessly as you can shy of perfection. The running game thrived with Nick Chubb churning out 141 yards on 22 carries and Hunt adding 46 more in addition to 24 yards receiving and both touchdowns.

Conklin was a game-time decision, a case of the club being very careful not to bring the All-Pro back too soon from major surgery. Hudson had a lot of help, though, with tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant frequently lining up just outside the second-year pro.

Wills seems to have gotten a little quicker off the snap and stronger at the point of attack, while Pocic appeared comfortable making line calls and not once delivering anything that resembled a bad snap from the shotgun.

***

Blown coverages are killers and drive defensive coordinators crazy. Head coaches, too. You can include Joe Woods and Stefanski in that group after that malady almost cost the Browns the season opener.

The secondary, which otherwise played well against the Panthers, blew two coverages that took a pleasant afternoon and turned into an incipient nightmare. Thus far, no explanation has emerged from 76 Lou Groza Blvd in Berea.

Without pointing fingers of guilt at any player, only because we have no idea what defense was called at the time, here's what I saw in the television tape of the game on CBS-TV.

On the first late in the second quarter with the Panthers struggling mightily to solve the Cleveland defense, Mayfield connected with wide open tight end Ian Smith on a 50-yard play that led to a touchdown.

Smith lined up split a few yards from offensive left tackle Ikem Okwonu at the Carolina 48 on first down. He began his seam route running straight ahead between strong safety Grant Delpit, lined up in the box, and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Both ignored him. 

Free safety John Johnson III was lined up about 20 yards deep on the opposite side of the Carolina formation as Smith, maybe to help Denzel Ward in the event he needed over-the-top help.  No other defender in sight.

Mayfield spotted Smith immediately and delivered a perfect strike in stride as the tight end ran toward the Cleveland goal line. Johnson had to run all the way across the field to push Smith out of bounds at the Browns two. Christian McCaffrey scored two plays later and the Panthers were back in the game.

Someone blew an assignment. Delpit and JOK are the only suspects. Or maybe Johnson lined up on the wrong side. I guess we'll never know.

On the second, a 75-yard scoring dart from Mayfield to Robbie Anderson on the first play after the Browns took a 23-14 lead with 6:13 left in regulation, Delpit again was in the vicinity of the deep post move.

This time, Anderson was flanked left and began his route by curling around Greg Newsome II and cut between the cornerback and Delpit at around the Carolina 40. Newsome did not pick him up, indicating it was some sort of zone defense. 

Mayfield again hit the receiver perfectly in full stride while Delpit, who appeared go be looking back for help, could only spread his arms wide wondering what the hell just happened. Someone blew the assignment. In this case, it was either Delpit or Newsome.

***

Based solely on the statistics from the opener, it would appear Brissett's favorite target by far is wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, who was targeted 11 times. He caught six for only 60 yards, but several were of the clutch variety on third down. Because of his inconsistency from game to game over the last two seasons, that means DPJ will be a non-factor in Sunday's home opener against the New York Jets.

Cooper, the acknowledged WR1, was targeted just six times, grabbing half of them for -- this is not a typo -- 17 yards. The last nine of those yards were much more important than the other eight. The short Brissett-Cooper connection in the final 30 seconds of regulation placed the football at the Carolina 40-yard line.

And you know who then did you know what from there to light up a football community as no one has since Mayfield led the Browns to the postseason for the first time in nearly two decades.

Saved by a rookie

You just knew the Browns couldn't win their first season-opening game since 2004 the easy way. It's not in their DNA.

Oh no, not with this franchise, whose bad luck always seems to lurk in the shadows in openers with misfortune not far behind. It happened again Sunday down in North Carolina after seemingly comfortable leads of 14-0 late in the first half and 20-7 after three quarters against the Carolina Panthers evaporated.

In previous years, all 17 of them in fact before Sunday, all hope by fans disappeared and foretold losing seasons. Whatever will go wrong . . . well you know the rest by now. 

What they expected, though, was not what they received. It took a rookie kicker, not at all accustomed to the woebegone ways for Cleveland professional football, to change the dynamic in a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it 26-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers and ex-Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.

It sure appeared the Panthers would become the 15th National Football League team since 1999 to beat the Browns in game one with a comeback that looked all too familiar, taking advantage of one secondary lapse in the first half and another late in the final quarter to score easy touchdowns and take a 24-23 lead with 73 seconds left in the game.

Browns fans have become inured, almost resigned, to such situations. It was happening all over again after Mayfield, after a first-half snooze caused mainly by a lightning-quick Cleveland defense that featured a savage pass rush, recovered in the second half and led a comeback with a 17-point fourth quarter against his former team.

There goes another one. fans probably thought. But this time, they were wrong. Very wrong. And it seemed as though head coach Kevin Stefanski knew that all along. He wisely used all of his timeouts as the Panthers, down by just two, went conservative after reaching the Cleveland 15 in the final two minutes, setting up an Eddy Pineiro 34-yard field goal to take their first lead of the game at 24-23.

There was a method to Stefanski's calm madness -- and a big break from the officials -- as a secret weapon waited patiently along the sideline. Jacoby Brissett, erratic a good part of the afternoon in his first start as a Brown, failed to connect with Donovan People-Jones on his first pass. 

As he threw, he tumbled backward after being hit initially by Panthers defensive end Brian Burns, who bull-rushed Cleveland offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr right into the quarterback and the two fell into him simultaneously. Referee Brad Rogers didn't see it that way and flagged Burns for roughing. An iffy (lucky?) call at best.

Two plays later, Brissett connected with DPJ, this time for 13 clutch yards at the Carolina 49 with 47 seconds left. After a spike, another clutch throw found Amari Cooper at the 40 with 13 seconds left. The unflappable Stefanski listened to his gambling gene and called for another spike -- on third down and one!

His secret weapon was ready. In trotted baby-faced rookie placekicker Cade York with eight seconds left and the game on the line. That's all. Just the game. The fruits and labors of his teammates for fifty-nine minutes and 52 seconds were on the line, too.

Wasn't this the reason General Manager Andrew Berry surprisingly drafted York in the fourth round of the last college draft? Win games when the difference between winning and losing those games rest on your shoulders. Or foot.

Well, you're up young man. You can begin your legacy right now by kicking a yard field goal to win this game. Not just any field goal. How about 58 yards? York, who had booted earlier field goals of 26, 34 and 36 yards, made it look easy. Almost routine.

Perfect snap by Charley Hughlett, ditto on the spot by punter Corey Bojorquez and York, whose body language indicated no problem when the ball was on its way, started the ball at the right upright and watched it gently hook toward the goalpost and sail about 10 yards beyond the crossbar right down the middle.

Just like that, the atomic leg of the rookie made certain the Browns' 17-game winless streak in openers was history. 

There is an NFL-record field goal in that young man's future. That now belongs to Baltimore's Justin Tucker, who set the mark about a year ago with a 66-yarder that beat Detroit. The Browns' longest field goal, by the way, is a 60-yarder by Steve Cox, a punter whose strong leg was used occasionally for long field goals, way back in 1984.

If not for two blown coverages by the Cleveland secondary, this one would have been a laugher with the defense forcing four fumbled snaps by Mayfield, who seemed overhyped for the game and committed numerous errors. The defense also generated five tipped Mayfield passes and four sacks, including consecutive thunderous blasts by Myles Garrett on the Panthers' first possession of the second half.

Mayfield's first five possessions totaled 19 plays, generated just 13 yards and took only nine minutes off the clock, It resulted in a trio of three-and-outs, four punts and a Grant Delpit interception. It led to the first Cleveland touchdown in the second quarter, a one-yard scoring pass to Kareem Hunt, who scored again on a 24-yard bolt up the middle on the next possession.

The defense dominated until blown coverage number one found Panthers tight end Ian Thomas all alone down the seam for 50 yards before free safety John Johnson III ran him down at the Cleveland two with about two minutes left in the first half. Christian McCaffrey, held to 57 total yards on just 14 touches, scored on a dive from the one two plays later. 

Mayfield later crafted a nice 11-play, 75-yard drive that began at the tailend of the third quarter and finished in the fourth. On third and five at the Cleveland seven, he couldn't find an open receiver but took advantage of a Cleveland defense that left the middle wide open and scampered seven easy yards for the score.

Blown coverage number two arrived one play after York's 36-yarder built a seemingly comfortable 23-14 lead. Mayfield, by now looking much more confident, found wide receiver Robbie Anderson breaking wide open on a deep post with Delpit the nearest Brown about 15 yards away. It looked as though he expected help deep.

The 75-yard strike with six minutes left in regulation made it a two-point game and no doubt triggered those nagging "here were go again" thoughts in Browns Nation. This one, however, was destined to end a lot differently.

And one that will be remembered for a long time.