Thankless job

Job one for Kevin Stefanski Sunday afternoon against the Washington Commanders in the penultimate road game of the 2022 season is making certain the Browns emerge with a 1 and Oh record after it. Maybe not.

Of course that's always his main goal. At least that's what he says in the weeks leading up to games. Be 1 and Oh after a game and he's a happy head coach. Problem is he has failed nine times to attain that goal thus far in the first 15 games. 

But there was always something on the line when those games were meaningful: The chance to qualify for the postseason existed in each and every one of those 15 games. Only once has Stefanski gone consecutive weeks boasting of the 1 and Oh -- weeks 12 and 13 against Tampa Bay and Houston.

And now that the postseason is yet another unfulfilled goal, what incentive, what motivation is there for this bewilderingly underachieving team to go out and play inspired 60 minutes of football? Yep, that's the biggest job for Stefanski in the final two weeks.

How in the world is he going to prepare this team to play a collision sport when a good many of them are already thinking about how to improve their golf games, where they're going to travel, how they're going to spend the next few months recovering from injuries? Anything other than football.

How does one handle that in an effort to maximize performance with nothing on the line? Appeal to their pride? Remind them this is how they make a living? That will be Stefanski's main hurdle Sunday. Prevent his men from just going through the motions. 

The 7-7-1 Commanders, a less talented team than the Browns, have a postseason appearance in their sights. The goal: Knock off the Browns Sunday and division-winning Dallas in week 18 and they're in. They're also in by beating the Browns with losses by Green Bay, Seattle and Detroit.

The Commanders stagger into this one on the wings of a three-game winless streak and a change at quarterback. Carson Wentz, who began the season and went down in game six with a broken ring finger on his throwing hand, is back and replacing Taylor Heinicke, who is 5-3-1 but has struggled lately.

Wentz wasted little time praising Cleveland's professional football team in the run-up to the game. "The Browns are no slouch, you know," he said. "They're a good team. Their defense plays fast. They've got some playmakers over there we have to account for who can make life really difficult."

Really? Is he watching the same games we're all watching? Just who are those playmakers? Okay, I'll give you Myles Garrett and . . . and . .. . that's about it on defense. No one else stands out behind him. And who on offense besides Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper is scary good? Even the line has had its problems.

Playmakers on both sides of the football for the Browns have been MIA a good portion of the season. To quote a favorite expression used almost imploringly by numerous football coaches at all levels, the better teams always seem to "find a way to win)." Losers like the Browns don't. The record does not lie.

Finding ways to make plays helps win games. Whether it's intercepting a pass at a crucial juncture, completing a pass in a clutch late-game situation, causing and recovering a fumble, being in position to and deliver a key block, catching a ball that is almost impossible to catch. Stuff like that.

Now to Sunday's game. Neither team has momentum right now. Only one has incentive.

With absolutely none with his team, that's what Stefanski is guarding against Sunday. Also in the season finale in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, who are trying to avoid a season sweep by the Browns for the first time since all the way back in 1988. Yikes!

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera almost certainly will turn Wentz loose by against a Cleveland secondary mainly responsible for their plight this season. The run defense is a close second.

Wentz's chief targets will be former Buckeyes Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel, who have combined for 1,750 yards and eight touchdowns, and rookie receiver Johan Dotson, who has scored seven more. The running will be handled chiefly by rookie Brian Robinson, who has run well the last four games.They operate behind a line that has given up 42 sacks.

Defensively, the Commanders are bolstered by the return of defensive end Chase Young, another ex-Buckeye who missed 33 games and 13 months with a torn ACL and ruptured patellar tendon in his right leg. 

The Browns, who have nothing to lose now by playing those who have played minimal roles to date, are nonetheless sticking with those responsible for the 6-9 record. Not certain why. For some reason, there's the notion winning the last two games will create a culture of winning that will carry over to next season. Uh, no. Too late for that.

Once again, and for the 10th time this season, they will underachieve again against the Commanders, especially on offense, which has produced just three touchdowns in the last four games. They are headed for an 11-loss season and firm occupancy of the AFC Central basement . . . again.. Make it:

Commanders 24, Browns 13

Mid-week thoughts

After rallying around their head coach with strong support in the wake of yet another loss that should have been a victory, is there any question whether Kevin Stefanski is solid with his locker room?

It sure looked as though Deshaun Watson, David Njoku and David Bell almost immediately stepped forward in an attempt to support their head coach, rendering him with what looked like absolution for the loss to New Orleans in the home finale last Saturday.

It wasn't Stefanski's fault Watson completed less than 50% of his passes. Nor was it his fault Njoku failed to hold on to a well-thrown pass at the goal line, trailing by seven with less than a minute left. And Bell blamed himself for what was, in reality, a crucial pass he didn't have a chance to catch.

Njoku felt so bad, he personally apologized to Watson, who forgave him and said there will be other chances. Not taken into consideration were the conditions under which the play evolved. Frigid at minus-12 wind chill, the football had turned solid like a brick.

Watson's strong, accurate throw, one of his few on the afternoon, roared through the tight end's hands. The hands were ready, but the velocity of the throw proved way too hard to hold on to. Thus the apology. Unnecessary, of course, but well-intentioned. 

Bell blamed himself for deflecting a Watson pass that was intercepted by Saints safety Daniel Sorensen, setting up what turned out to be the winning touchdown in the third quarter. The rookie wide receiver has terrific hands -- 24 receptions on 33 targets with zero drops --  and believes he should catch anything.

He claimed it was his fault he didn't catch it. No it wasn't. Truth is getting just one hand on the poorly-thrown ball as he was stretching for it was somewhat remarkable. So much so, in fact, he was not credited with a drop. He definitely needs to be targeted more.

Watson, meanwhile, came out Thursday and attempted to cool off the hot seat Stefanski currently occupies with some segments of the media and a growing segment of fans after a pair of extremely mediocre seasons with no apparent solutions in sight.

"That hot-seat stuff and all that as far as the media and the talk and stuff like that, people who make those decisions are doing the right thing for this organization," he said. "We all trust Kevin. We love Kevin. We support Kevin and everything he's about the Cleveland Browns. So yeah, we're going to continue to build that trust and build that chemistry and look for the future."

Perhaps that's in response for the praise his coach  lavished on him, hyperbolically, following the New Orleans loss. Stefanski pointed to some "really, really unbelievable throws" on the Browns' long final possession that died at the Saints' 15   

Unbelievable? Not really. He probably thought of nice -- not "really, really unbelievable" -- late throws to Amari Cooper and Bell that gained 32 valuable yards. He conveniently did not mention the iffy holding call on Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo on a third-and-13 that sustained the possession.

That Stefanski needed to throw the ball at that stage of the game could have been avoided by doing something Saints head coach Dennis Allen did and was quite successful with: Run the football.

In some circles, what Watson said of his head coach would be called a ringing endorsement. From this view, though, and considering the many overall problems encountered this season, he is merely saying the right things at the right time to chill the warming landscape. He has 230 million reasons to feel this way. 

He has played only four games under Stefanski, barely scratching the surface in his relationship with his new head coach and his rather interesting playcalling. Let's leave it at this: Watson has plenty of time to change his mind.

Stefanski adamantly insists his goal is to put his players in a position to win games. And yet, he has failed to find the correct position in 18 of the last 32 games. There seems to be a pattern here that needs to be addressed.

Chances are with just a couple of games left this season, fans will have to wait until next summer before getting a chance to see the Deshaun Watson who dazzled in his first four National Football League seasons in Houston and became a Pro Bowler.

Ultra late Sunday leftovers

Kevin Stefanski is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, an oddity because the Browns' head coach seems to have communications problems with his team.

His underperforming but abundantly talented players have not responded to what he has preached for the better part of the last two seasons after making a spectacular splash as a rookie head coach with an 11-5 record in 2020.

He's the same stolid coach with a much better team now and yet the results do not reflect his efforts to glean smart, tough and accountable football from them. Something is definitely being lost in the translation. And that something seemingly rests with the man calling all the shots.

Whatever motivation Stefanski is employing is not working. Hasn't for nearly two seasons. The Browns' 6-9 record this season could easily be the exact opposite and on the verge of returning to the postseason were it not for numerous unexplainable breakdowns that cost them at least three victories early on.

When the number of losses that should have been victories reaches a number that high, someone has to take the blame. Several times this season, Stefanski has owned significant mistakes in strategizing or playcalling that meant the difference between winning and losing. That's not good enough.

In order for the Browns to get better, he's got to get better at being a head coach. As the head man, a major part of his duties is coaching the coaches. The record reflects that's not happening. Perhaps because he's too tied up with the offense and has lost focus as the boss? Rhetorical question.

Before continuing, this is in no way suggesting the third-year coach should not be around much longer to complete his five-year contract. He should be given -- and no doubt will get -- one more crack with Deshaun Watson for a full season before a final judgment.

But after Saturday's loss to the New Orleans Saints in the home finale, where shoddy coaching and playcalling and just plain old ignorant thinking cost the Browns yet another victory, residents of the Ivory Tower at 76 Lou Groza Blvd, in Berea cannot be pleased.

The extreme weather conditions -- 8 degrees, wind chill of negative-25, wind gusts up to 30 mph -- dictated limited passing and a preponderance of running. The icy-slick field caused wide-open Amari Cooper to slip and drop a touchdown pass late in the second quarter.

"Those are tough conditions," Stefanski said after the game. "They are tough for both teams. I know we want to make plays. I now (Watson) did make a few plays. We just didn't ultimately make a few of those. Those were the conditions. It was what it was." Word salad.

I recall saying a few times during the game, "(The bad field) is why you should RUN the ball." The Browns, last time I looked, have one of the best ground games in the National Football League. Use it often on a day like that.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen, whose team plays under a dome, got the message. He knew running was the key to victory on this day and called on quarterback Andy Dalton to throw the ball just 15 times, a mere six in the second half in outsmarting Stefanski.

Historical timeout: When explaining his three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust philosophy, Ohio State coaching legend Woody Hayes said, "Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad."

But the very smart -- remember he's an Ivy League graduate -- head coach of the Browns didn't see it that way Saturday. After the Saints grabbed the lead late in the third quarter, turning a Watson interception into a touchdown to break a 10-10 tie, Stefanski panicked.

Instead of relying on the ground game with a full quarter remaining, he thrust Watson into the spotlight, calling for a pass on 18 of the fourth-quarter's 28 snaps, including 15 of the last 18 and the last 10 in a row. Mind you, the Browns trailed by only one score with five-plus minutes left and all three timeouts at the two-minute warning.

All three were burned by the time the Browns reached the Saints' 15-yard line with 43 seconds left which, of course, took away the run. Three straight incompletions, including a bullet tight end David Njoku failed to handle inches from the goal line, and a sack later, loss number nine that could have been victory number eight with smarter coaching was history.

Another abject failure by a team that needs better coaching. And playcalling. 

***

It's interesting -- and somewhat surprising -- Stefanski hasn't lost the team with all the frustration built up this season. Players hear positive vibes from the coaching staff all season and yet all their hard work and efforts end up walking away as losers in nine of the 15 games.

That's got to be frustrating and yet bodes well for Stefanski. It doesn't take much for a coach to lose the locker room, but his hold seems to be solid to the probable dismay of a significant portion of Browns Nation.

For the second season in a row, the initial goal has not been reached. With rare exceptions, players are keeping their opinions to themselves. Most of them are packing up right now to beat it out of town in a couple of weeks. But not before the end-of-the-season exit interviews, which should be interesting.

***

According to CBS Sports, Jimmy Haslam III is more than a little interested in what head coach Josh Heupel is doing at his alma mater this season. The high-scoring Tennessee Volunteers have leaped into the national spotlight under their first-year coach, whose dynamic Air-Raid offense caught Haslam's eye.

The Browns owner, according Jonathan Jones of CBS, "has closely watched" the Air Raid, the writer suggesting there might be some coaching and philosophical changes to the Cleveland offense next season based to a degree on Heupel's philosophy, which heavily features numerous receivers and the passing game. The sixth-ranked Vols (10-2) lead the nation in scoring this season with 568 points (47.3 a game).

The quick-strike offense is the antithesis of Stefasnki's tame and conservative Wide-Zone offense, which features a more balanced attack. It will be interesting to see how far Haslam takes this with his sometimes-stubborn head coach if he chooses to do so. Or doesn't because right now, this is just a rumor. 

If he does, though, he could make the case Watson's unique talents is a better fit for the Air Raid than the stodgy and game-managing style Stefanski prefers. Whether it translates to successful football in the NFL is the best argument against it. If it moves from rumor stage to reality, an interesting battle looms.

***

Finally . . . Next up, the Washington Commanders, who still have a slim shot at making the playoffs. It is believed the Browns will see Carson Wentz at quarterback. Wentz was 2-4 when he broke a finger on his throwing hand in week six and missed nine games, during which backup Taylor Heinicke was 5-3-1. Wentz relieved Heinicke in the latter stages of the 37-20 loss to San Francisco Saturday and played well. . . . Watson is 2-2 in his first four starts, completing only 57.5% of his passes for 703 yards, two touchdowns and three picks. He has run the ball 22 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. . . . Donovan Peoples-Jones, shut down Saturday by the Saints with only two receptions for 15 yards, needs 216 yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau for the first time.

Unwise decisions

If it was Kevin Stefanski's intention to equally distribute the play calls Saturday against the New Orleans Saints in the Browns' 2022 home finale and make it work, it failed miserably.

The Browns' head coach, who designs and calls all plays in his capacity as the club's wannabe offensive coordinator, chose to rely mostly on the throwing talents of quarterback Deshaun Watson to get close to .500 as the season winds down. He chose unwisely

They were officially eliminated from the playoffs -- officially because strange math somehow kept them just barely alive but nevertheless hopeless -- by the Saints, who chose to respect the terrible weather conditions and concentrate on running the football.

Their 17-10 victory, which went right down to the final moments of the game, was played in single-digit, 30 mph winds, wind-chill factor of negative-14 weather that lacked snow. It featured a Saints game plan that ran the ball on 72% of their 54 plays, gaining 152 yards against a Cleveland defense that crumbled in slow motion attempting to stop running backs Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill.

Saints quarterback Andy Dalton was pretty much a spectator, throwing just 15 passes, completing eight for 92 yards. This game clearly belonged to Kamara and Hill and an offensive line that neutralized a Cleveland defensive line that never touched Dalton.

Stefanski, meantime, dialed up 33 passes (49% of the 67 plays) for a quarterback just getting back to the National Football League after missing 700 days due to the baggage he lugged to Cleveland for a guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.

Watson was beginning to show signs of the chipping off the rust that had accumulated and slowly was becoming the elite quarterback he was with the Houston Texans for four seasons, but Saturday's rugged weather dictated a much heavier ground game than Stefanski (should have) asked for. 

Watson often looked uncertain and, at times, confused by the smothering Saints defense in the secondary. Several of his throws were well off target. And it's anybody guess why Stefanski called for only three RPO runs, one of which wound up in the end zone. Makes me wonder what he was thinking.

Nick Chubb, who churned out 92 hard yards on 24 carries, needed help and didn't get it from Kareem Hunt, who was ineffective with just eight yards in seven attempts. Watson needed to be part of the ground- game package, not throwing a football so much.

He wound up with just 15 completions on his 33 dropbacks (two sacks) for a measly 135 yards. It was a day where using his outstanding running talents would have kept the New Orleans defense honest. Wonder if Stefanski takes the blame for the unusual -- okay, strange -- playcalling.

Kamara and Hill each scored a touchdown in the third quarter as the Saints overcame an early 10-0 deficit, gained when the Cleveland offense took advantage of a Grant Delpit interception (off a deflection) and 40-yard return, and subsequent 13-yard scoring romp, untouched, by Watson five plays later on the opening play of the second quarter.

After an 18-play, 60-yard drive on the following possession that took 8:44 off the clock but bogged down at the Saints' 12, Cade York's 30-yard field goal grazed the left upright before falling through to give the Browns their 10-point lead. That, for all practical purposes, was the Browns' offense until the late stages of the game as they fell to 6-9.

The Saints came to life on the opening possession of the second half, marching 67 yards in nine plays, the versatile Hill bullying his way into the end zone from eight yards, breaking tackle attempts by Alex Wright, Greg Newsome II, John Johnson III and Chase Winovich along the way to tie the game at 10-10.

They took the lead two Cleveland possessions later, Saints safety Daniel Sorenson, who has bedeviled the Browns in the past with the Kansas City Chiefs, picking off a poorly-thrown pass that deflected off the hand of rookie receiver David Bell and returning it to the Cleveland 15. Kamara scored from four yards out four plays later with 55 seconds remaining in the quarter..

It was still a game at that point, but the Cleveland offense by then had become offensive and not in a good way. The first four possessions of the half ended with two punts, the pick and a numbingly bone-headed (panicky?) decision by Stefanski to gamble on fourth down and two at the Cleveland 39 with seven minutes left in regulation.

He seemingly didn't trust his defense to hold the Saints. Instead, he trusted his wildly inconsistent quarterback, whose pass sailed harmlessly -- and well over -- the head of Donovan Peoples-Jones, presenting the Saints with a gift. But this time, the Cleveland defense rescued their coach with a three-and-out. 

That's when the Browns' only serious threat in the half arrived. It took nearly five minutes off the clock, covered 58 yards in 18 plays and needed six of the club's nine first downs in the half (one by a defensive holding penalty on a third down) to sustain. It reached the New Orleans 15 following an 18-yard connection with Bell with 43 seconds left.

Watson failed to connect with Amari Cooper and Peoples-Jones, whom he had targeted on 15 of his 31 attempts, on his first two throws, but drilled what appeared to be a perfect pass to David Njoku on the doorstep of the end zone. But the ball, which must have felt like a rock in the frigid weather, ripped through the tight end's hands.

Watson's final dropback seemingly took forever as he searched vainly for anyone to get open. He bounced on his feet several times to buy some time, but found no one to accommodate him. He looked left, he looked right, he looked down the seam and still came up empty.

It took so long to develop, Saints defensive end Carl Granderson, who had dropped back in short-range pass coverage at the snap, had enough time to curl back and drop Watson, who by then was looking to scramble.

Two road games in Washington and Pittsburgh remain on the schedule. In some ways, though, the result of this one seemed fitting in light of how this season has unfolded. So many disappointments and frustrations along the way. This was merely another one of them.

B-r-r-r-r-owns forecast

It was negative-1 in downtown Cleveland late Friday afternoon, the day before Christmas Eve. Perfect weather for a football game. Ya think?

Tell that to members of the Browns and New Orleans Saints, who will face each other for three hours Saturday under abysmal winter conditions in the Browns' home finale. Promises to be a game that will be long remembered more for the weather than the result.

Weather will not be just one of the factors that determines the outcome. It will be the only factor. Temperatures are expected to barely reach the teens by game time before plunging to near zero, perhaps below, with accompanying snowfall and winds expected to gust as high as 50 mph. That's a blizzard.

For the record, the Saints check in with a 5-9 record, tied with two other teams for, depending on your perspective, either second place or the basement in the miserable NFC South. The relatively-speaking red-hot Browns are 6-8, having won three of the last four games.

Odds favor the Browns in this one if for no other reason they're used to this. This will be an adventure for the visitors, who play football inside a weather-controlled dome half the season. 

The conditions no doubt will cause both coaching staffs to alter their original game plans for all three phases of the game. The most common belief is running the ball will be emphasized to limit the possibility of mistakes through the air.

It will be interesting to see if Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski gives Deshaun Watson, who played played his first four National Football League seasons with the Houston Texans inside a domed stadium, free reign to open it up or goes the conservative route and pounds the Saints with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt all afternoon.

Considering the Browns run the ball nearly 50% of the time, look for Cleveland's tight ends and wide receivers to spend most of their time blocking to help the ground game, limiting Watson to high-percentage, low-risk throws.

The Saints, meanwhile, like to strike more through the air with quarterback Andy Dalton. But with rookie receiver Chris Olave and former Brown Jarvis Landry not available, chances are Saints head coach Dennis Allen will take full advantage of the versatile Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill.

Kamara has accumulated nearly 1,110 yards and three touchdowns from scrimmage and is just as dangerous a receiver as he is a runner. Hill is the ubiquitous everyman on the Saints. He can line up anywhere on the field at any time.

Can he play quarterback? He has. What about wide receiver? Yep. Tight end? That, too, Running back? Uh huh. Special teams? Has made a tackle on them this season. Finding Hill will be difficult.

Statistics for this one are meaningless. Footing most likely will be treacherous. And if snow accumulates on the field, just about anything is possible. If that happens, it will be interesting to see if officials permit members of the ground crew to sweep and keep the lines clean every five yards or so.

Wide receivers will have to be careful to maintain their balance as they run their routes, most of which most likely will be of the short- to medium-range variety. Running backs will probably find it difficult to get off to a quick start. Cutting and change of direction will be difficult, if not near impossible.

That goes, too, for linemen on both sides of the football. Traction will be difficult. Sack totals should take a hit. Turnovers under these conditions will be key. Holding on to the ball will be difficult. It should be noted the rejuvenated Browns defense has taken the ball away seven times in the last three games.

From Captain Obvious comes this gem: This will be a low-scoring game. Duh! The Browns and Baltimore Ravens put up only 16 total points a week ago under much better conditions. The weather will be the big winner for this one. So, too, will be the entertainment factor. It should be a fun game to watch as the Browns climb to 7-8 with their fourth victory in the last five games. Make it:

Browns, 15, Saints 11

Mid-week thoughts

There seems to be a feeling now that the Browns' defense, the one currently enjoying a rejuvenation of sorts with regard to positive results, has finally come around and become the unit just about everyone expected all season. 

This unpredictable group, clearly the leading culprit as to why the Browns, for the second straight season, will not qualify for the postseason, is repeating its 2021 performance by playing the second half of the season as Dr. Jekyll after opening as Mr. Hyde.

Last season, the defense made up for an awful start by becoming a top 10 team down the stretch. By then, though, the offense was terribly broken and the defense's effort went unrewarded in the standings. That finish sparked positive talk of next season and a momentum carryover.

This season, the offense under an interim quarterback scored often enough to win more than three games after week 11. But the defense, the one with all the momentum generated by last season's terrific finish, didn't stop opposing teams often enough to save those games. 

And here we are doing it all over again this season. After falling as low as 3-7, including a 1-6 stretch, the Browns find themselves finally experiencing something the eluded them -- winning. As in three of the last four games.

The joy of winning has triggered the momentum cry for next season. "At the end of day, we are where we are," said defensive end Myles Garrett recently. "We have to carry that momentum through the end of the season and into next season.

"You want to keep on stacking these wins. When you're looking back, watching film and sitting down with (the coaches) in the offseason, that's really something to fall back upon when you're looking to come into next season hot."

Yep, just like last season when the hot defense last season carried over to this season and opened with a 2-1 record with two close victories before the season collapsed with six losses in the next seven games due mainly to a defense that chilled in a hurry.

So why are the Browns winning now? The defense, which has been battered at linebacker by injuries to key players, is duplicating its second-half performance of a year ago. They are taking opportunism to a level that eluded them in the first 11games of the season when they created just eight turnovers.

In the last three games, they have taken the ball away seven times, including four in the week 13 victory in Houston in Deshaun Watson's debut. However, the offense sputters with Watson commanding the hurdle and that's where, just like last season, the defense has come to the rescue.

The victory over the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday was narrow due mainly to the offense's inability to put points on the board. Even though he looks better with every series, Watson still has just one touchdown pass in three games. He has accounted for just 29 of the last 50 points. 

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods, on and off the hot seat over the last 12 months, is strapped back in despite the recent improvement. He should be. Two years in a row like this is a trend and needs to be addressed. Fans understandably want him gone. Now.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski is not going to cashier Woods now with just three games left, including Saturday's matinee against the New Orleans Saints in the home finale. But if Woods is retained, look for fans to hop off the bandwagon.

Bottom line: If this team continues to play anything other than complementary football in all phases, mediocrity will follow them like a bad dream.

No leftovers this week. Will resume with mid-week thoughts on Thursday.

Ugly, but pretty

To say it was a strange evening down by the lakefront Saturday night would be a gross understatement. The Browns and Baltimore Ravens attempted to play an entertaining National Football League game. And failed.

The Browns prevailed, 13-3, and, yes, the score clearly reflects how boring this one was. Two teams with struggling offenses missing opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. It made the two defenses look better than they actually were.

The game featured numerous long, time-consuming drives, all but one failing to put six points on the board. Plenty of football was played between the 20-yard lines. The Ravens’ best chance to get into the end zone arrived on their initial possession of the game. 

And that’s when the Cleveland defense set the tone of the game by putting up a staunch goal-line stand as 6.-1, 205-pound free safety John Johnson III of the Browns prevented 6-3, 305-pound Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard from gaining 36 inches on a fourth and one at the Cleveland seven.

From that point on, it was game on with the defenses zealously guarding their end zones. Both teams managed to gain ground between the 20-yard lines, but then the door would slam shut. Six red-zone visits yielded just the one touchdown.

The Browns finally broke through in the third quarter with a 12-play, 91-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock after Denzel Ward stepped in front of DeSean Jackson for the pick on the first possession of the second half at the Cleveland nine.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson, making his Cleveland debut, looked sharper and more confident by the game, capping the drive with a pretty three-yard slant to Donovan Peoples-Jones after the wide receiver reversed his original route and cut back over the middle for the easy catch.

Surely, that would unlock the scoring drought. Uh, no. Not even the kickers would help in this one. The veteran and the rookie put on a show of how not to help your team.

Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, had his worst game in four years with one miss and one block (by Cleveland’s Jordan Elliot) in three attempts. Right there, it should have become apparent this one was going to be only the sixth loss against the Browns for Ravens head coach John Harbaugh in 15 seasons.

Cade York, the Browns’ puzzlingly inconsistent rookie kicker, had four opportunities to put this one out of reach in the fourth quarter after hitting on 47- and 23-yard field goals to give the Browns a 6-3 halftime lead.

But he failed badly in the fourth quarter from 38 and 46 to put the game away, adding to the strangeness of the snowy evening.

The victory was Kevin Stefanski’s second over Harbaugh in six attempts, making him the winningest Cleveland coach against his rival. One of the reasons was the Browns’ ability to play a majority of the game in Ravens territory.

The snaps on 45 of the Browns’ 64 plays on offense were made on the Baltimore side of midfield. If nothing else, it prevented the Ravens from mounting sustained drives that threatened the Cleveland end zone. Other than the opening drive of the game, the Ravens’ deepest penetration was the Browns’ 15, the one aborted by Ward’s pick.

As good as the defense was as the Ravens approached the 20, the offense failed to take full advantage. They wasted drives of 14-plays and 64 yards and 11 plays gaining 71 yards. It was just one of those nights  where they got lucky in winning just their sixth game of the season.

They did so even the run defense was battered again, this time by J. K.Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who battered them for 180 of the Ravens’ 198 yards. 

This was truly one ugly game that, for a change, turned out kinda pretty at the end.

Harbaugh haunts Browns

John Harbaugh has been a football coach since 1984 in a variety of capacities at five different colleges. He entered the National Football League universe in 1998 when head coach Andy Reid hired him as special teams coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The older brother of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh became a head coach for the first time in his career in 2008 after the Baltimore Ravens fired Brian Billick. The hire was surprising because the Ravens wanted Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

The Cowboys did, too, and convinced him to stay after bumping his salary and tacking on the title of assistant head coach (to Wade Phillips). He stepped up to the top spot a couple of seasons later and held the job for 10 seasons.

Harbaugh, meanwhile, is in the midst of his 15th season and once again challenging for the AFC North championship, which would be his fifth and qualify the Ravens for the postseason for the 10th time under his watch. He already owns one Super Bowl ring (XLVII).

All Harbaugh does with the old Browns franchise is win, win and then win some more, especially against the Browns, against whom he is 24-5 (a winning percentage of .827) entering Saturday's nationally- televised matinee on the lakefront. He is 121-87 (.582) against the rest of the NFL in the regular season. Overall, he's 145-92 (.612).

The Browns have employed nine head coaches since Harbaugh took over in Baltimore. Only Rob Chudzinski in 2013, Mike Pettine in 2015, Gregg Willians (acting head coach) in 2018, Freddie Kitchens in 2019 and Kevin Stefanski last season can boast a victory over him.

Makes no difference how the Ravens are playing at the time, the edge seemingly is always in their favor when playing Cleveland. Numerous times during his tenure, the unexplainable happens that tilts the decision in the Ravens' favor. It just does. There is no other way to describe it.

Whenever Cleveland pops up on the schedule, Harbaugh must heave a sigh of relief no matter how it's going for the Ravens at the time because he knows a positive result lies ahead. The record substantiates it. 

Take Saturday's game, for instance. The Ravens are down to backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who took over after Lamar Jackson injured a knee a couple of games ago. A break for the Browns? Jackson is 6-3 against Cleveland and gives the defense fits as he works his miracles. The Browns will not miss him.

But then there's Huntley, who subbed for Jackson against the Browns last season and played well despite losing by two points, producing a career-high 270-yard passing game and another 45 yards on the ground. He has similar traits to Jackson. He's got a nice arm, arguably better than Jackson, and is just as elusive in the open field. He is not afraid to leave the pocket and scramble.

That right there poses a big problem for a Cleveland defense that doesn't handle scrambling quarterbacks well. Lack of proper containment on the edge has been a problem most of the season. And now that  Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has joined fellow linebackers Anthony Walker Jr., Jacob Phillips and Sione Takitaki on injured reserve, Huntley becomes more dangerous when scrambling.

The Browns also have to keep an eye on tight end MarkAndrews and running back J. K. Dobbins. Andrews has been poison for the Browns with 40 receptions for 510 yards in nine games and has burned them for seven touchdowns, mostly in clutch situations.

Dobbins, the former Ohio State star, missed all of last season with a knee injury after running for 805 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2020. He returned to the lineup from injured reserve last week after reinjuring the knee in week six, running for 120 yards and a touchdown in a two-point victory over Pittsburgh.

This could be a game where the Browns offense, in order to have a chance, must rescue the defense by putting plenty of points on the board. Deshaun Watson must elevate his game to a higher level than his first two games in order to take pressure off the ground game, on which the very good Ravens defense will concentrate shutting down as Cincinnati did last Sunday.

Key will be how healthy Amari Cooper is at game time. A bad hip slowed the veteran wide receiver down against the Bengals. That could mean more work for rookie David Bell if his injured toe comes around by game time. The Browns hope that will take the pressure off Donovan Peoples-Jones and tight end David Njoku, who have become favorite targets for Watson.

I don't know how the Ravens are going to win this game. I just know they will because, well, because that's what they've done to the Browns under Harbaugh for the past 15 seasons. Victories over him come so infrequently in this series, it's fairly evident the Browns will fall to 5-9 and into a familiar residence: The AFC North basement. This one's easy. Make it:

Ravens, 24, Browns 13

Thoughts & Leftovers

Here we are 13 games into the 2022 National Football League season and the Browns are still making the same mistakes that presumably were addressed at early training camp. The level of discipline on this team  scratches rock bottom.

There are numerous reasons they are 5-8 en route to yet another agonizingly disappointing season for a fan base that deserves a whole lot better. What did these fans do to get their tickets punched to reside again in football purgatory? 

How much more cleansing is required to finally, after all the misery they've been put through for more than two decades, wash away the sordid past? Good question. It's beginning to look as though that won't arrive until the front office makes a wise decision on a head coach and maybe general manager. 

Remember the team's mantra when the Andrew Berry-Kevin Stefanski regime took over? They wanted the Browns to play smart and tough and be accountable. They did so in the 2020 COVID-19-stained season Since then, they are failing at all three. 

They can't seem to get out of their own way. They don't know how to win anymore. Mistakes seemingly  haunt them on a weekly basis between September and January. And when they stumble onto a victory most fans don't see coming, they can't sustain it. Only one two-game win streak this season.

So why the poor discipline? One of the best barometers, maybe the best, to judge that is penalties. They are drive killers on offense, drive extenders on defense, field position on special teams. They quite often can mean the difference between winning and losing. The current record reflects that notion.

The Browns have committed 97 penalties this season. Ten were declined, four were offsetting. The net total of 83 cost them 703 yards. The nine they committed that cost them 98 yards Sunday in the loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati was just piling on the damage.

For example, it is ingrained in the minds of players at all levels of football that you do not plow head-on into a punter while he's in the process of doing his job. It will draw a flag every time. If that's the course you choose to take, you better make sure you get a piece of the football or face the consequences. 

Reserve linebacker Tony Fields II must have missed class because that is exactly what he did to Cincy's Drue Chrisman on fourth and 15 at the Bengals' 17. Chrisman was punting for the fourth time in the game early in the second quarter with the momentum clearly belonging to the Browns.

The Cleveland defense was on fire. Fields careless mistake cooled them off. Instead of the Browns starting their next drive at their 35, the Bengals kept the ball and proceeded to put out that fire.

Seven plays later, the Bengals scored and completely shifted the momentum of the game for what turned out to be the rest of the afternoon. Therein lies another reason to call into question the lack of discipline. It's been that way most of the season.

That's just a small sample of what has gone wrong this season. I addressed the playcalling the other day. The season-long problems on defense have been well documented. It's all a confluence of poorly-timed misfortune that seems to attach itself to woebegone teams.

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The Browns' coaching staff gulped a few extra stupid pills last Sunday. The Bengals were without wide receivers Tee Higgins (hamstring) and Tyler Boyd (dislocated finger on the second play of the game) and yet devoted single coverage to Ja'Marr Chase, one of the NFL's most dangerous receivers, most of the afternoon. 

Last time I looked, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward was one of the NFL's best coverage cornerbacks, but you'd never know it after looking at Chase's stats. With Higgins and Boyd gone, quarterback Joe Burrow targeted Chase on 15 of his 33 pass attempts with 10 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

Ward had Chase most of the time, but no matter what the Browns did, it rarely worked primarily because Burrow and Chase, college teammates at LSU, work so well together. It's scary to think the Browns will have to face these two twice a year for a long time.

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Now on to Saturday's penultimate home game against Baltimore where the Browns have no idea who will open at quarterback for the 9-4 Ravens.

Lamar Jackson went down with a knee a couple of weeks ago and Tyler Huntley suffered a concussion last week, but he's reportedly out of protocol and was a full participant at practice Wednesday and will most likely start in the flexed nationally televised game.

Huntley is no stranger to the Browns. He was superb while filling in exactly a year ago for Jackson, who suffered a sprained ankle early in the game, completing 27 of 38 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown, and scrambling for 45 more yards on six carries in a 24-22 loss.

He displayed similar characteristics to the elusive and dangerous Jackson, who has been beset with injuries the last two seasons. His speed and quickness pose a problem for a Cleveland defense that has had periodic difficulty getting runners to the ground.