Mid-week thoughts

Some not-so-idle musings . . . 

Last time I looked, Kevin Stefanski was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. That means he is totally responsible for how the team plays. On both sides of the football.

He is the sort of semi-boss of the offense with coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Together, they have produced one of the best units in the entire National Football League. At the same time, it appears he has either totally neglected the club's awful defense or at best paid scant attention to it.

That is why the Browns have won games this season by scores of 35-30, 34-20, 49-38, 32-23, 37-34, 27-25 and 41-35 and lost one, 47-42.  Eight games where the Browns have outscored the opposition, 297-252. Gorgeous on the offensive side, embarrassing on the other side. Without that offense, the Browns are making plans for next season and the choice of Stefanski as the head coach is being questioned. 

He needs to somehow, some way insert himself into game plans. Both game plans. He casts covetous eyes on the postseason with Sunday's ultra-important game against the invading Pittsburgh Steelers looming as a roadblock. The defense needs to show up especially with Ben Roethlisberger a spectator.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods has managed to escape the wrath of the media for the most part, but a growing number of voices in Browns Nation are a somewhat reluctant to give him a pass. This defense is offensive.

If Stefanski has held Woods accountable for the terrible performance by his men, it has not become public. This unit, which lost cornerback Denzel Ward Sunday and perhaps beyond -- should there be a beyond -- with COVID-19, continues to make the kinds of mistakes that should have disappeared at least a month ago.

Blown coverages accounted for all three New York Jets touchdowns several days ago, placing pressure once again on the offense to win games that ordinarily would be lost. They couldn't do that against the Jets, though, not  with the four best Cleveland receivers back home with coronavirus-related complications.

Someone has to take charge. Someone has to be held accountable. Stefanski needs to be the head coach. He needs to pay attention to the defense and determine just why it has trouble preventing the opposition from scoring, relying on the offense to bail them out. r

The Browns are 10-5 heading into the most important game this franchise has played since 2007, when they blew an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs by inexplicably losing the penultimate game of the regular season to Cincinnati.

Stefanski is in a position to dictate how he wants to see the Browns play defense. The immediate future is on the line and he knows his club can ill afford to blow this opportunity. They cannot afford another Jets debacle. 

It helps that the four Cleveland receivers are back and no doubt eager to once and for all put a bow on the club's best season since the return in 1999 and avenge the mid-season drubbing the Steelers inflicted on the defense. 

***

Stefanski needs to make up for his enormous brain cramp of abandoning the ground game against the Jets. And now that Jedrick Wills Jr. and Wyatt Teller are back, reuniting the best offensive line in the NFL, that should make a little easier for Baker Mayfield.

With the offense intact, fans can expect to see some rollouts, bootlegs, misdirection and lots of pre-snap motion. with Mayfield abandoning the pocket to get clean looks. It's an offense with which Stefanski is more familiar and comfortable. 

Nick Chubb, who missed the first Steelers game, and Kareem Hunt should get somewhere between 25 and 30 touches between them with Mayfield going up top on occasion to keep the Pittsburgh defense honest, most likely throwing about half as many passes as he threw against the Jets (53).

***

It will be interesting to see who lines up at linebacker against the Steelers. B. J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith are out. Sione Takitaki and Tae Davis are nursing ankle injuries and are questionable. As of now, the only healthy backers are Mack Wilson, veteran Elijah Lee and rookie Jacob Phillips, back from COVID-19, and Montrel Meander from the practice squad. 

With Ward out, Kevin Johnson probably moves up with Tavierre Thomas and Robert Jackson alternating in the slot. Looks like another possible repeat ofd the Jets disaster unless the defensive line plays the game of the season. 

***

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin got it right with regard to the chapter two of the Myles Garrett-Mason Rudolph fiasco from last season. Rudolph will start in place of Roethlisberger with what happened the last time these two met still fresh in the minds of a lot of fans.

Garrett conked the quarterback on the head with his helmet and was suspended the rest of the 2019 season. Tomlin was asked about the incident earlier this week and shrugged it off. "It's so far in our rear view mirror, we can't see it," he said "I won't address it. There's no need for that."

Good for him. It's all about the game, not a controversial incident. He correctly put it in perspective.

Monday leftovers

The two men mainly responsible for the Browns' improbable 23-16 loss to the New York Jets Sunday that temporarily torpedoed the club's goal of qualifying for National Football League playoffs each took responsibility for the setback.

"We got flat out beat today," said head coach Kevin Stefanski. "I got flat out outcoached. We got outplayed. We did the things we can't do. Minus-2 in the turnover battle, penalties, drops, not good. Credit to the Jets."

He refused to use the absence of his top four wide receivers due to the pandemic as an excuse. "That has nothing to do with the guys we didn't have," he said. "We had plenty of guys. We had all the guys we needed and didn't get it done."

Baker Mayfield, whose costly fumble while attempting a sneak on fourth and inches in the waning moments of the game deep in Jets territory was the backbreaker with the possibility of tying the game so close, was even more adamant. 

"There's no excuse," the quarterback said. "Plain and simple, I failed this team. I put three balls on the ground. Two they recovered and the other on fourth down. I just need to hold on to the damn ball. Plain and simple. We had exactly what we needed to win this game and I did not do good enough."

He, too, protected those players who stepped in for the COVID-19-related victims back home. "I am proud of those guys (Marvin Hall Jr,, Ja'Marcus Bradley and Derrick Willies) being able to step up," he said. "These guys didn't even think they were going to play. For anybody to criticize them, shame on you. Put it on me for not doing my job."

I believe both were well meaning in their remarks, but I hold one much more responsible for how the game unfolded than the other.

Mayfield was doing what his head coach/playcaller asked him to do. He was asked to drop back and throw the football an incredible -- and career high -- 57 times with Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge watching the game back home probably wondering what the hell is coach doing.

With the NFL's third-best ground game at his disposal and the heart of the passing game in Cleveland, Stefanski called for Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, relative spectators in this one, to run the ball only 15 times (for 39 yards). That bears repeating: 15 TIMES. Maybe that was a Stefanski doppelgänger calling those plays. It sure couldn't have been the run-loving boss.

He no doubt game-planned to strafe the weak Jets secondary and by the time it was chiseled, news broke about his wide receivers late Saturday, less than 24 hours before game time. Apparently, it was too late to adjust. 

Nevertheless, he still liked his chances in the passing game with his three tight ends and the versatile Hunt, who wound up touching the ball just seven times for 52 yards. In the first half alone, 17 of Mayfield's 24 targets were either tight ends or running backs. Hall and Bradley saw only two passes thrown their way.

Chubb carried just eight times (in 36 snaps) for six yards behind a makeshift offensive line that dropped back to protect Mayfield (not very well) 27 times. A 27-9 pass-run ratio is nowhere near what a Stefanski offense looks like. The Browns were fortunate to be trailing only 13-3 at the half.

Kendall Lamm, subbing for the ill Jedrick Wills Jr. at left tackle, and Nick Harris, filling in until Wyatt Teller returns at right guard, tried hard. Can't fault their effort. The results are a different matter. The Jets' defensive line abused them for a major portion of the afternoon. And yet Stefanski was determined to keep throwing the football.

Missing from the Cleveland arsenal were the rollouts, the bootlegs, the misdirection plays that have worked so well this season and made Mayfield so successful. He was pretty much confined to the pocket, not exactly his favorite place from which to throw.

That Stefanski welcomed Bradley into the game plan in the second half was a nod the tight end thing was not working. Austin Hooper was targeted a ridiculous 15 times overall  -- he caught seven for 71 yards -- and Bradley, who caught his only pass for six yards in the first half, was in Mayfield's crosshairs 10 times in the second half with four receptions and 54 more yards.

And yet the Browns had a terrific chance to pull even in the late stages, marching down to the New York 16. And then came the fatal fumble on a sneak on a fourth and inches, a play that had worked twice earlier in the game on consecutive possessions that led to both touchdowns.. 

Was Stefanski's flat out being outcoached remark an apology? No, it was more of an observation. He did not take blame for the loss. Someone had to with such importance attached to the result. Mayfield did.

No, this one belongs solely to Stefanski, whom I believe is the best coach this franchise has had since 1999. He had numerous opportunities to change tactics and stuck with a passing game that was severely  weakened. 

Virtually abandoning the run was a mistake. Ironically, it was the failure to successfully execute a run of less than a foot that eventually cost Stefanski and his team the opportunity to make Sunday's season finale against Pittsburgh just another rivalry game.

***

While Mayfield and Stefanski are the main culprits in the bothersome loss, the defense had to take a large portion of the credit (blame?) with a performance that ranks right down there with some of the embarrassing setbacks over the last two decades.

It isn't unusual to see a team blow a coverage in a football game every once in a while. Happens all the time. What took place Sunday against the Jets,, though, was inexcusable and gave the Jets three gifts two days after Christmas. All three Jets scores came as a result of some sort of confusion in the Cleveland secondary.

Watching strong safety Karl Joseph whirl twice and raise his hands in the air in disgust and/or frustration as if to say "what the hell are you doing?" because an assignment was blown was way too commonplace. That should not be happening in game 15. To see all three scores with nary a Brown near them has to concern Stefanski.

You know it's bad when cornerback Denzel Ward admitted after the game that he did not play well. It's a situation that needs to remedied in a hurry because the Steelers arrive Sunday with one of the NFL's best receiving corps. 

***

Quick observation: Harris played well, not great, in his professional debut in the Browns' victory a week ago against the New York Giants. Filling in for Chris Hubbard, who was injured just two plays into the game, he held his own. He kept mistakes to a minimum.

It was a different story against the Jets for the squat -- he's barely six feet tall -- guard against the Jets' more aggressive defensive line. A much better run blocker than pass protecter, he played all 81 snaps and was called on to drop back on 57 of them. 

That was totally unfair for a rookie who hadn't played a snap before the Giants game. And it showed in a performance that saw him responsible for one sack, four pressures and numerous hurries. He was no match for the Jets' larger interior linemen. He is too short to play guard in the NFL.

The Steelers no doubt will see that this week as they prepare for Sunday's gane, while the Browns are hopeful Teller's sore ankle is healed enough for him to play.

***

Finally . . . The Jets' defense sacked Mayfield four times, hit him eight times and recorded eight tackles for loss. The Browns dropped Jets quarterback Sam Darnold only twice, hit him five times and had just four tackles for loss. Trenches. That's where games are won. . . . Why was Hall, a veteran wide receiver, targeted only twice and Bradley the rookie 11 times? Inquiring minds want to know. . . . Cleveland defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson was credited with 10 tackles, three solo, and blocked an extra point. . . . Is it any wonder Cody Parkey has a reputation of being inconsistent? The placekicker has missed extra points in the last two games and now has four for the season. Missed, not blocked.

A meaningful Steelers game

It's not over yet for the Browns despite what went down agonizingly on Sunday in the New Jersey Meadowlands. There is still one more opportunity for this team to qualify for the National Football League playoffs for the first since since 2002.

To do so would require them to accomplish something in the season finale they have produced just three times since the 2000 season. A victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. In the last 39 games overall against their archrivals, they have won just five games, three in Cleveland.

Heading into week 17, the Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts are tied at 10-5. in the crazy AFC wild-card race. A victory over what for the Steelers will be a meaningless game after clinching the AFC North by beating the Colts Sunday would nicely cap a Browns season few saw coming.

That triggers a very interesting situation. Do the Steelers, now that they have clinched the division title and have nothing else to play for, rest their starters next Sunday against the Browns, who should be at full strength after losing to the Jets minus their COVID-19-related top four wide receivers?

Next weekend, the Colts welcome Jacksonville, the Ravens travel to Cincinnati and Miami is at Buffalo. The Ravens and Dolphins win tiebreakers with the Browns, who win any tiebreaker with the Colts (head-to-head). A victory is virtually mandatory since the Colts figure to knock off the 1-14 Jaguars,

It''s either win and advance or lose and get ready for the offseason. It is that simple. A victory over the Jets Sunday combined with the Colts loss in Pittsburgh would have garnered an invite to the postseason. 

The teeth-gnashing 23-16 loss to the awful Jets was a shattering and demoralizing, but not fatal, blow to the club's postseason hopes.  The major cause was the forced absence of wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge, all back home with COVID-19 issues, along with linebackers B.J. Goodson and Jacob Phillips.

That receiving quartet represents 47.7% of quarterback Baker Mayfield's completions, 43.4% of his targets and 57.8% of his passing yardage. It forced head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski to alter the game plan, focusing instead on the ground game and running backs and tight ends in the passing game.

The listless Browns offense pretty much sleepwalked through the first half when Mayfield targeted wide receivers only twice with his first 24 passes. Way too much emphasis on tight ends and running backs. The stodgy offense became too predictable and the now 2-13 Jets were ready for it, limiting the Cleveland attack to only 103 yards.

The Cleveland defense, meanwhile, was victimized by one gadget play and blown coverages on all three Jets touchdown passes, which were scored on consecutive possessions in the first and second quarters and on the first possession of the third quarter.. 

The gadget play, which caught the Cleveland defense napping, began with Jets quarterback Sam Darnold handing off to running back Ty Johnson, who flipped the ball to wide receiver Jamison Crowder heading the other way, The wide receiver pulled-up and threw to a wide-open Braxton Berrios, who curled out of the backfield for the long reception and raced untouched into the end zone, The play covered 43 yards.

Two plays later, Jets defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi strip-sacked Mayfield to set up an 11-yard scoring throw by Darnold to -- yep, wide-open again -- tight end Christopher Herndon to boost the New York lead to 13-3 after Sheldon Richardson blocked the extra point.

Jamison, who accounted for 92 receiving yards, 14 yards on the ground and the scoring toss, broke wide open again -- surprise! -- to haul in a Darnold pass play that covered 30 yards, confused a flummoxed secondary and pushed the lead to 20-3.

The Jets' defense, in the meantime, made certain Nick Chubb was not going to hurt them, holding him to just six yards on eight carries in the first half (he wound up with 28 yards on 11 carries). The Browns finished with a season-low 45 yards.

Chubb operated behind a line with backups at two positions (Kendall Lamm at left tackle for Jedrick Wills Jr, who became ill before the game, and rookie Nick Harris, subbing for Wyatt Teller at right guard). The Jets all but dared Mayfield to beat them with all those complementary parts back home.

Stefanski finally began dialing up more plays for wide receiver Ja'Marcus Bradley in the second half, After catching his only first-half target for six yards, the rookie compiled four more grabs for 54 more yards on 10 more targets in the final 30 minutes.

Mayfield started heating up when Bradley entered the picture, throwing for 182 yards after a looking uncomfortable and uncertain with a 103-yard first half. He clearly missed those forced to stay back in Cleveland. With them, this one is celebrated as the playoff clincher.

But Stefanski is not one to make excuses, but he certainly has to know he'll have everyone back for the Steelers game with a chance to avenge the week six 38-7 drubbing in Pittsburgh and make up for what went down against the Jets.

The Cleveland offense finally mounted scoring drives of 60 yards in the third quarter with Chubb capping the 10-play drive from a yard out and Kareem Hunt in the fourth quarter, blasting four yards to end a 12-play, 83-yard march with 12:38 left in the fourth quarter.

Cody Parkey, who accounted for the Browns' only first-half points with a 44-yard field goal to open the scoring, missed the extra point to put the Browns in a four-point hole that became seven on a Sam Ficken field goal.

Nevertheless, they were in position to at least tie the game in the waning moments. It was a case of so close and yet so far. As close as the New York 15-yard line with 88 seconds left in regulation and momentum. It came down to fourth down and less than a yard with the offense looked halfway decent. Time for Mayfield's third quarterback sneak of the game. But the Jets were ready for it this time.

Mayfield lowered his head and ducked in behind left guard Joel Bitonio, who was stood up by Tarell Basham and Mayfield somehow lost control of the ball. Hunt managed to grab it and lunged past the line to gain, but referee Land Clark correctly ruled only Mayfield was eligible to recover and advance the ball and it was placed back at the spot where he lost it, which was short of the line to gain. Not far enough.

A bitter ending to what the Browns had envisioned as a victory before the pandemic hit where it hurt the most. And now it comes down to just one game. Somehow fitting for a team whose resilience has been one of its hallmarks.

Thumbing a nose at COVID-19

The Browns were whacked Saturday by COVID-19 to the extent they will play the New York Jets Sunday in New Jersey minus their entire starting wide receivers corps and two of their starting linebackers.

Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge and rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones and outside linebacker Jacob Phillips were placed on the list as high risk close contacts with middle linebacker B.J. Goodson, who tested positive for the coronavirus. 

The wide receivers and Phillips must sit out the next five days and test negative each day during that time in order to be eligible to return to the active rooster. Goodson, however, must stay away from the team for 10 days, which means he will also miss the season finale against Pittsburgh. 

The Cleveland receivers corps against the Jets will feature veteran Marvin Hall, who was picked up on waivers from Detroit three weeks ago and has yet to suit up, and two players from the practice squad, Derrick Willies and rookie Ja'Marcus Bradley.

As a result of this stunning news on the eve of arguably the most important game of the season since it impacts the postseason, the offensive game plan undoubtedly will be altered since the only receiver quarterback Baker Mayfield is acquainted with is Willies.

Willies played in five games as a rookie with the 2018 Browns, catching three passes for 61 yards in a 12-9 victory over Baltimore before an injury ended his season. Bradley played limited snaps in a couple of games earlier this season, but was not targeted.

It is assumed head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski in the wake of this news will considerably button up his offense, heavily favoring the club's solid ground game with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and working the corps of four tight end heavily into the game plan. Look for Austin Hooper, David Njoku, rookie Harrison Bryant and Stephen Carlson to be active as receivers and blockers.

It is also possible Hunt will see quite a bit of action in the passing game in addition to sharing the running duties with Chubb behind the strong offensive line. Call it a resumption of Stefanski's favorite part of the offense.

Mayfield has been brilliant throwing the football the last several games, due mainly to the work of the offensive line and his wide receivers. Resumption of that phase of the Cleveland attack obviously will have to wait until the regular season finale against the Steelers. 

In a season where he has adjusted nicely to the Stefanski way of offensive football, he is being asked to make yet another adjustment. It's fortunate this one is against the Jets.

As for the defense, Phillips' absence ostensibly brings Mack Wilson back after being a healthy scratch in last week's victory against the New York Giants. The former college middle linebacker is a candidate to replace Goodson with more playing time seen for Sione Takitaki, Malcolm Smith and Tae Davis.

The changes obviously alter the original prediction. The Browns are a weaker team as a result, especially on offense. That heightens the importance of how well the defense plays. The Jets, on the other hand, are weaker in general even when healthy. 

No question COVID-19 has added drama to the game and thrown a scare into Browns Nation. The Browns are still the better team. The defense will step up and harass Jets quarterback Sam Darnold and eventually rescue their brethren on offense with a couple of takeaways. It won't be a breeze and might take a while, but they creep closer to the playoffs. Make it:

Browns 24, Jets 14

Breezing in Jersey

The following rant was posted before news was received that the Browns would play Sunday's game against the New York Jets Sunday minus their top four wide receivers and two linebackers, all placed on the COVID-19 reserve list Saturday. Please check out the updated rant.

Kevin Stefanski has faced -- and successfully handled -- numerous road blocks as a rookie head coach in the National Football League. 

It is not easy in your first year as a head coach at any level, let alone the top one, to conquer the impediments thrown his way during the pandemic and emerge surprisingly victorious. 

That he owns a 10-4 record --  easily the best of the three rookies in this season's coaching class -- and on the verge of taking the Browns to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years is somewhat of a miracle considering those impediments.

Such as no OTAs, no minicamps, no in-person access to the players, severely curtailed training camp, no exhibition games and new programs and philosophies to install on either side of the football. All successfully negotiated.

And yet, there lies at least one more obstacle to conquer. Despite the 10-4 record, the Browns have yet to clinch an invitation to the postseason. That could come as early as Sunday in the Meadowlands of New Jersey against the New York Jets, who drag a shiny one-game winning streak into the game.

Therein lies the next hurdle for Stefanski to clear. Until last Sunday, the Jets seriously threatened to match the Browns' embarrassing 0-16 season in 2017 by losing their first 13 games before stunning the 9-4 Los Angeles Rams on the road in the upset of the season in the NFL.

That said, this one should be a walkover for the Browns. The Jets can't match their talent. They are bad on both sides of the football. The Browns know this could be their easiest game this season. Even easier than their victory over the New York Giants on the same field last Sunday.

So how does Stefanski convince his men this will not be a walkover? That the Jets are, indeed, capable of winning this game? By showing them tapes over and over and over again of the Jets' victory over the Rams, pounding home the notion the Rams most likely were caught either looking ahead to the next game (against division rival Seattle Sunday) or flat out not taking them seriously. 

The Browns can ill afford to stumble and fall into that trap. Not with the postseason so agonizingly close to becoming reality. Way too much is at stake to misjudge the importance of this game, where every possession, every snap takes on significant importance.

There is no question thus far this team plays hard for its coach. There is not one game, not even the early-season blowouts by Baltimore and Pittsburgh, where the Browns have slackened to the point of mailing it in. That is to the coach's credit.

Stefanski appears to have firm control of his team's psyche. And Sunday, that will be put to its severest test of the season against a team that has absolutely nothing to lose. Mindful in many ways of most of Browns teams late in the season in the last two decades. 

The Jets have lived down to their abysmal record with an offense that averages an anemic 16 first downs and 271 yards a game, scored just 21 touchdowns and averages 14.7 points a game, and a defense that gives up 24 first downs on the average and nearly 400 yards a contest, allowed 47 touchdowns and yielded 29.5 points a game. The defense is on the field 33 minutes a game.

Sam Darnold, who  missed four games earlier this season with a shoulder injury, is the unfortunate quarterback (victim?) of the Jets' offense. In half of his his 10 starts, they have scored 10 of fewer points. He has thrown only six touchdown passes and been picked off nine times.

One would think then the Browns' secondary, fortified last Sunday by the return of cornerback Denzel Ward, might feast on Darnold''s erratic behavior when dropping back to throw. It should be noted, though, he's got two pretty good receivers in Jamison Crowder and ex-Brown Breshad Perriman, who have combined for 75 receptions and eight touchdowns. 

The Browns should dominate in the the trenches on both sides. The Jets' offensive line has permitted 38 sacks (Darnold 30 times), while the Cleveland offensive line has been stingy all season while protecting Baker Mayfield.

The Jets have surrendered only 113 yards a game on the ground, but that's because opposing quarterbacks have bombed them for 280 yards a game. Why run the football when it's so much easier to move the ball through the air?

The Browns' offense is versatile and capable enough to rough up the NewYork defense either way. Maybe both if that side of the ball arrives with the right mind-set. It is entirely possible Stefanski chooses to feature the ground game in this one, especially since Quinnen Williams, the Jets' best defensive lineman by far, is done for the season.

His main goal, however, is to make certain what happened out in Los Angeles last Sunday is not repeated Sunday in Jersey. The Jets, for whatever it might be worth, will be coming in on a season high emotionally. 

Adding up all the stats, this one should be a breeze for the Browns with Mayfield continuing his torrid pace in the second half of the season and Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt grinding their way toward 1,000-yard seasons. Don't get too worried, though, if the Jets take an early lead. They have done so eight times this season, including the last six straight. This one will be easy. Make it:

Browns 32, Jets 16

Mid-week thoughts

Kevin Stefanski is one lucky head coach. He's got the best of both worlds when the Browns own the football.  

For the better part of the first half of the 2020 National Football League season, the club's playcaller relied heavily on the ground game. When you have running backs like Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, why not?

The team was winning even as Baker Myhfield was morphing into a game manager, a role more than a few were skeptical he could handle. But handle it he did, seemingly buying into what Stefanski was selling.

And then, the offensive philosophy began to change, Mayfield stepping back into the role of gunslinger in the last five games. The success of the ground game and the threat it posed to opposing teams was the main reason.

Shut down the Cleveland ground game, or at the very least slow it down, and you've got the Browns where you want them because Mayfield was no longer dangerous. He had become an interception machine. And that is when Stefanski switched gears.

The threat of the run game opened up opposing defenses in the back end. Crowding the line of scrimmage created space in the short- to mid-range routes for the receivers. And Mayfield with his play fakes and rollouts ignited the passing game.

In the last five games, four of them victories and the other a wildly entertaining scoring bonanza albeit a loss, the Cleveland ground game has averaged 141 yards a game. Not bad, but not the 159 a game they averaged in the first nine games.

The passing game, which averaged an extremely modest 189 yards a game in the first nine games on the schedule, has exploded to 284 yards a game in the last five. You don't have to be a math whiz to notice that's nearly 100 yards a game.

The interception machine is no longer the interception machine. In his last 235 attempts, or since he threw the interception that resulted in season-ending surgery for Odell Beckham Jr. in game seven against Cincinnati, Mayfield has thrown just one pick. 

He has again become the confident, very self-assured quarterback fans saw in his rookie season in 2018. It has made the Cleveland offense arguably the most well-rounded unit in the NFL. It's sort of a pick-your-poison situation for opposing teams. All of which presents a pleasant conundrum for Stefanski. 

Who is he going to turn loose against the terrible New York Jets Sunday in New Jersey? Will it be the return of the vaunted ground game, which has slipped to third place in the league stats? Or will it be another assault through the air?

A return to Stefanski's beloved infantry style football is not out of the question. With just two games remaining in the regular season, Chubb and Hunt have a chance to become 1,000-yard rushers. But then does he want to back off the passing game and risk cooling off his quarterback?

Anyway you slice it, it is clearly a win-win situation. That's why Stefanski is one very fortunate head coach.

***

Statsbook . . . A victory against the Jets will give the Browns a 6-2 record on the road this season, The last time they were 6-2 away from home was 2002, but were 3-5 at home and finished 9-7 under Butch Davis. That was the only Browns team to make the playoffs since the return . . . The Browns' 20 takeaways have come in bunches this season. They had eight games with at least one and won seven. They are 3-3 in games with no takeaways. . . . Mayfield has been sacked only 18 times this season, including eight games where he was dropped no more than once. . . . Rookie wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones has been targeted only 17 times this season, but has grabbed 13 for 293 yards and two touchdowns, including eight of his last 11 in the last three games for 221 yards and a score. That's 26.2 yards a reception for the season.

Monday leftovers

Normally at this time of the National Football League season, at least with the Browns over the last two decades, thoughts turn to next season. Not this season, Not with the Browns in the thick of the playoff scenarios.

I hate this time of the season now that the Browns are perched on the precipice of competing in the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Why's that? Way too many of those damned scenarios. Five to be exact. My eyeballs are rolling. 

Believe it or not, the Browns' 10-4 record is not good enough to insure they'll be one of the three wild-card teams in the AFC. With only two games left, that's how close the conference is with the Browns, 9-5 Baltimore, 10-4 Indianapolis, 10-4 Tennessee and 9-5 Miami in the hunt.

Without getting too technical with this spider web of possibilities, it is entirely possible the Browns can knock off the New York Jets Sunday and still not clinch. It might need to go to week 17 and the home finale against Pittsburgh. That's how close it is. It all depends on how the other teams fare.

The Ravens have the easiest path if they win out with games at home against the New York Giants and at Cincinnati. The Dolphins have the hardest path with games on the road against Las Vegas and Buffalo. Indy and Tennessee will fight it out for the top spot in the AFC South.

It is also entirely possible, though, the Browns can clinch one of the wild cards by beating the Jets Sunday and the Dolphins fall to the Raiders on Saturday. The Browns would improve to 11-4 and the Dolphins slip to 9-6. The only question then would be where Cleveland is slotted.

Of course wanting that scenario does not always make it so. The Dolphins can ruin it by beating the 7-7 Raiders, who are statistically still in the hunt but barely hanging on by a thread, and force a verdict in week 17. But at least they'll be motivated.  

Too many variables. Just when you try to figure out how this will all end with the numbing number of possibilities. it's always best (for someone who hates this) to presuppose what will happen based on  hope more than anything.

The easiest path to the playoffs for the Browns, of course, would be to defeat both the Jets and Steelers. Yeah, just win them all. And there is the possibility of the Browns splitting the last two games to wind up at 11-5 along with Baltimore, assuming the Ravens win their remaining two games.

The Ravens hold the tie-breaker with Cleveland having won the season series head-to-head. And the Browns hold the tie-breaker with Indianapolis. (I'm starting to get a headache. I think I'm going to stop right here before my head explodes.) 

The only thing I can tell you with any degree of certainty is that 11 teams have been eliminated. from the postseason. Of the remaining 21, three reside un the AFC North. And it is entirely possible the division will send all three to the playoffs. The last two weekends will decide all that.

Memo to to the Browns: Win 'em both -- remember what the Steelers did to you in week six -- and  remove all doubt.

***

Did you notice that Baker Mayfield did not roll out or bootleg in the victory over the Giants Sunday night. He was almost strictly a pocket passer. The only times he rolled out it were because he was flushed out of the pocket.

In this one, he put his ball-handling skills on display. Quite a few of his passes were play fakes, designed to slow the Giants' pass rush. It gave him time to complete almost a dozen chunk plays in rhythmic fashion with receivers getting open most of the evening.

Mayfield, looking more like the rookie quarterback who thrilled Browns fans in 2018, threw only five incompletions in 32 throws. Two were throwaways, two were knocked down at the line of scrimmage and one was dropped. 

His growth from game to game has been eye-opening. National pundits are beginning to take notice. In some ways, it almost seems like a rebirth of sorts as he climbs the stats sheet with the hot streak he has enjoyed the last several games.

The bond that has developed between Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski is the biggest surprise and it is strengthening. That he has bought into Stefanski's program is the main reason the Browns for the first time in memory, or since 1999, enter games knowing they can win. Not hoping. Not thinking. Knowing.

***

Have you noticed how much more under center Mayfield is playing? And looking comfortable doing so. In the last few games, he has played more under center than in either shotgun of pistol. 

No longer do we see Nick Chubb lined up next to Mayfield in the shotgun on a designed run play. He is a much more effective runner when taking the handoff from his quarterback peeling back from the center snap and giving him the football at full speed.

In the shotgun, Chubb has to take what amounts to a lateral handoff before heading toward the line of scrimmage. The timing is much better with Mayfield under center.

Kareem Hunt is quicker than Chubb -- and a better pass receiver -- and can take better advantage of running the ball on a shotgun handoff.

***

Having Denzel Ward back from his three-game absence (calf strain) made a big difference in the secondary against the Giants. He was strong in run support with six tackles and pretty much shut down his side of the field. 

The only glitch was a blown coverage on New York wide receiver Darius Slayton late in the first quarter. Slayton raced past Cleveland cornerback Kevin Johnson in zone coverage and completed a 35-yard catch and run on third down. 

Johnson, it appeared, was expecting help over the top, waving his arms as if to say, "Where was everybody?" It led to a Graham Gano 39-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

***

Finally . . .  It didn't hurt in the end, but the Browns have to tighten up defending against kickoff returns. Dion Lewis of the Giants is the latest to burn that unit, returning the opening kickoff 48 yards. It's becoming too commonplace. . . .  Center JC Tretter was credited with a fumble for the second time this season when he literally sent a dribbler back to Hunt lined up in shotgun midway through the fourth quarter. . . . The Cleveland defense limited the Giants to only 74 yards on the ground. . . . Jarvis Landry has been around long enough to know flags will fly for taunting. So after he caught a short scoring pass for in the final seconds of the first half, he and Giants cornerback Isaac Yiadom jawed at each other. It drew the flag and cost the Browns a point. Instead of the normal 33-yard point after, it became 48 yards and too much for Cody Parkey, who rattled the right upright.. . . Keep an eye on who plays weakside linebacker against the Jets. Mack Wilson was a healthy scratch Sunday night. He was replaced by rookie Jacob Phillips.

Easy peasy

It hasn't been often this season that the following was appropriately used as a lead in a game story. In fact, it was never used. Until now.

There was never any doubt whatsoever Sunday night that the Browns were in any danger of losing to the New York Giants and at the same time showed a national television audience they are no longer the National Football League's punch line.

Playing their most complete game of the season on both sides of the football, they inched closer to the postseason with a 20-6 victory over the Giants in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score indicates.

The relatively easy victory, which strengthened the Browns' hold on fifth place as a wild card in the playoffs, was their 10th this season, tying the 2007 edition for the most victories in a season since the resurrection in 1999. and most since the 11 for the 1994 team that relocated in Baltimore two years later.

It also marked the fourth time this season the Browns followed up a loss with a victory. Another victory next Sunday against the hapless New York Jets almost certainly will insure post-season action for the Browns for the first time since 2002.

The Browns dominated on offense, stifled on defense and were in complete command Sunday night. The Giants were non-threatening after entering the red zone on their first three possessions only to wind up with just a field goal after turning the ball over on downs twice at the five-yard line.

Baker Mayfield was superb. No, make that spectacular. Not that he had to be because the Giants never threatened after their initial forays into scoring territory. It arguably was his sharpest performance of the season, his club-record  21 straight completions against Cincinnati in week seven notwithstanding.

The offensive line once again stood out, this time zealously protecting their quarterback instead of opening holes for the run game. They did so with a third-string guard, rookie Nick Harris more than holding his own after Chris Hubbard, filling in for the injured Wyatt Teller, went down with a knee injury on the second play of the evening.

Mayfield was 27 of 32 for 297 yards (a season high 84.4%) and touchdown passes to Austin Hooper and Jarvis Landry on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. During his four-game hot streak, he has completed 70.2% of his passes, thrown 10 touchdown passes (and just one interception) and averaged 308 yards a game.

He guided, again methodically, a pair of 95-yard scoring drives that took nearly 15 minutes off the game clock, Another 6:41 came off the clock when the Browns took the lead for good early in the second quarter on a mere 75-yard journey. Those three long marches alone consumed 19:36 of the club's 34:03 total in time of possession. The Giants' defense could not get off the field.

Of Mayfield's 27 completions, 11 were for 15 or more yards. Of those 11, five were dialed up on first down, three on second down and three on third down. All of which probably confused the Giants defense because the Browns more often than not run on first down.

Rashard Higgins was the largest beneficiary with four receptions, followed by rookie Donovan People-Jones with three, Landry with two and David Njoku and Hooper with one each. Chunk throws like that enabled the offense to convert nine of 13 third downs, pile up 34 minutes of ball ownership and keep the defense well rested.

It was obvious from the beginning that the Giants were determined to stop the Cleveland ground game. Nick Chubb, who scored the final touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Kareem Hunt were held to just 71 of the club's 108 yards on the ground. 

Apparently head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski anticipated that strategy and designed a game plan that featured his quarterback, which is significant in that it shows he is growing more confident and trusting of what Mayfield brings to this offense.

The Cleveland attack was methodical throughout the game, nicely marrying the ground game, such as it was, with the passing game and keeping the New York defense off balance. Nothing fancy. Nothing spectacular. Just almost-flawless football. 

The final touchdown was a study in determination by the offense. It ate up the last six minutes of the third quarter and first two of the fourth quarter and did not come easily. In fact, it marked the only time of the evening the offense misfired. It took two Chubb touchdowns to make it stick.

The Browns arrived at the New York six and Chubb barged over left tackle to score on first down, but right tackle Jack Conklin was found guilty of clipping. A 17-yard connection with Higgins got back to the four. But left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. was flagged for a false start. Back to the nine. An eight-yard pass to Chubb followed by a one-yard plunge by the running back completed the drive.

The defense, which had been drilled for 107 points in the last three games, was tough when it needed to be with safeties Karl Joseph and Sheldrick Redwine standing out. Joseph, who started the season at strong safety but took a seat when Ronnie Harrison Jr. arrived, had 10 tackles, including eight solos. Redwine, subbing for the injured Andrew Sendejo at free safety, checked in with eight stops, four solo. 

The 5-9 Giants, who entered the game with an outside shot at the postseason in the NFL's worst division, were limited to just 14 first downs and 288 yards of offense with ex-Brown Colt McCoy guiding the meek offense. Four of those first downs and 76 of those yards were recorded in garbage time with the Browns playing prevent.

It was clearly and most decidedly the Browns' best overall game this season, one that caused no concern whatsoever throughout Browns Nation for an entire evening.

Might be a tight one

For starters, a few facts regarding the Browns' Sunday night game in the New Jersey Meadowlands against the New York Giants , , , 

The Browns have put together a pair of four-game winning streaks this season. Prima facie fact. In each case, that streak was snapped by an AFC North opponent (Pittsburgh and Baltimore last Monday night). 

The Browns have also lost four football games of the 13 they have played. Prima facie fact. Of the first three losses, they have come back to win the very next game. Also a prima facie fact. Number four arrives Sunday night on national television against the Giants.

The Giants lost their first five games of the season. Prima facie fact. Then lost two of their next three to fall out of sight in the NFC East. 

Then they woke up, won four straight, including one of the season's most stunning upsets in Seattle, to almost miraculously climb back into the race for first place in that embarrassingly awful division. Prima facie fact.

Nine of the Giants' 13 games have been decided by eight points or less. They are 4-5 in those games. Prima facie facts. 

One last prima facie fact: The Browns' defense in the last three games has allowed 107 points while winning two of the three. That computes to nearly 36 points a game. 

Given all those facts, the bottom line reveals the Giants at 5-8 are confoundingly hard to figure out. Just when you think the Browns can safely put this one in the victory column before even playing the game, what the Giants did in Seattle makes you think.

The Browns run the football as well as any team in the National Football League. The Giants' strength on defense is against the run. A stingy 100 yards a game. Ergo, a trench battle looms. Maybe.

In last Monday night's loss to Baltimore, the same situation arose and head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski chose to turn Baker Mayfield loose and he came damn near close to avenging the opening-game drubbing against the Ravens with a strong passing performance.

Now the question is whether Stefanski, whose love of the ground game knows no boundaries, will unshackle Mayfield again against the Giants, who lost James Bradberry, their best cornerback, to COVID-19. Rookie Darnay Holmes draws the start.

The battered back seven of the Cleveland defense should, at least on paper, have it a bit easier this week. Ostensibly getting Denzel Ward back helps immensely. It became obvious he was missed the last three games.

The struggling Giants' offense has scored more than 23 points in a game just once this season -- 34 in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys. It is one of the more anemic offenses the Browns will face this season. (They'll see an even worse one a week from Sunday, staying over in New Jersey to play the New York Jets.)

When running back Saquon Barkley went down with an ACL early in week two, that pretty much caused the Giants to change their overall philosophy somewhat, placing more emphasis on defense. It has worked. 

That defense has been good enough to keep games close enough to compete late in games. It has permitted the opposition to score more than 26 points in a game only twice. The Browns, on the other hand, have scored at least 32 points in seven of their 13 games. They look at good defenses and sneer.

With Myles Garrett showing signs of coming out of his COVID-19 problems and Olivier Vernon putting together his best season since 2016 and eager to play against his ex-teammates, the Cleveland pass rush against a harried Giants offensive line (41 sacks) should make if difficult for whoever opens up at quarterback for the Giants.

Daniel Jones, nursing hamstring and ankle injuries, is questionable, which means 34-year-old Colt McCoy is being readied to start. The ex-Brown, drafted by Cleveland way back in 2010, has become sort of an NFL vagabond since then, suiting up for San Francisco,Washington and now the Giants. He was under center in the Seattle upset in his only start this season.

In a delicious piece of irony, Freddie Kitchens will call the plays for the Giants in the absence of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who has contracted the coronavirus. The ex-Browns head coach is now the tight ends coach for the Giants. 

The Ravens last week pretty much held the Cleveland ground game in check, limiting Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to 115 yards (although they combined for three touchdowns), Mayfield shredding the Baltimore secondary in the second half.

Even though right guard Wyatt Teller will miss this one with an ankle injury -- he can't seem to stay healthy --  methinks Stefanski returns to his first love, the ground game with Mayfield occasionally sprinkling in a few passes to keep the Giants honest.

This one won't be high-scoring, though. I'm kinda buying into the Giants' defense being active enough to make it interesting and the Cleveland defense rebounding from two bad weeks to handle the Giants' offense no matter who gets the starting call. Could be a field-goal game. Make it:

Browns 23, Giants 17

Mid-week thoughts

Full confession: When new Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski decided to become the team's playcaller on offense instead of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, my radar kicked in. Immediately.

Thoughts of a similar situation leaped into my mind. It was just last season that new head coach Freddie Kitchens installed himself as the playcaller over offensive coordinator Todd Monken. The results were disastrous. That's why Kitchens is now tight ends coach for the New York Giants.

No, not again, I thought. Why does this franchise keep making mistakes like this? Why can't they learn their lessons? The fans are getting it in the neck again, And then they played the games.

I'm here to confess I was wrong to believe Stefanski would fail. Wrong to think he would be like Kitchens. Wrong to assume history would repeat itself and the Browns once again would have to launch yet another search for a head coach.

It did not take long to notice Stefanski is the polar opposite of Kitchens. First of all, he is smart. And organized. With sound communication skills that have enabled him to bond with his team. He is the antithesis of Kitchens.

He has managed to do in 13 games what his nine head-coaching predecessors in the last two decades have failed to do in spectacular fashion. In that brief span, he has taken this justifiably well-flogged franchise and turned it into a winner. And not just any winner.

This team no longer slinks up on opponents. They batter them, at least on offense, which is controlled by the Ivy League-educated Stefanski. The defense is another matter, a situation the front office assumedly will correct in the offseason.

It is said a team develops the personality of its head coach. Sort of a trickle-down kind of thing. It's difficult to argue that point about Stefanski, who stoically and methodically has won nine of his first 13 games as a rookie head coach.

It's about the qualities he brings to his position. He appears to be an even-keel guy. Nothing seems to bother him. At least outwardly.  Maybe his impassive nature on the sideline belies a more combative competitiveness. Then again, maybe he's the kind of coach who internalizes everything to protect his players.

The bottom line is he connects with them. They play hard for him. Not necessarily well, mind you, but hard. Effort never seems to be a problem. 

His philosophical approach in every game is simple. Emerge with a 1-0 record. Anything else is not acceptable. No such thing as moral victories in his lexicon. It is quite clear the players are buying into what he is selling.

His success thus far is built on three major attributes. All he asks of his men is to be tough, smart and accountable. That's it. The tough part is self explanatory in the game of football. Smart football wins games. And accountability helps minimize mistakes.

The Browns employed eight head coaches in their first 50 seasons (1946-95) before taking a three-year break from 1996 to 1998. In the first 29 seasons, they employed just three head coaches. Overall, 18 men have held that title.

In the 22 seasons since the Browns reentered the National Football League, they have hired 10 head coaches as the franchise floundered year after miserable year. That's a new head coach every two years. They made the playoffs once (2002) and won as many as 10 games once (2007). 

This time, they got it right with Stefanski. Not appeared to get it right. Got it right.

It has been only 13 games, but it has become abundantly clear this franchise after all these years is now headed in the right direction. It has displayed the sort of discipline and resilience that define good teams and have been absent for too long.

At long last, the Browns have established their legitimacy. And when General Manager Andrew Berry, who should get major credit with improving the offense this season, turns his attention to the defense in the offseason, this will become a  dangerous team.

That's because they finally have the right head coach.

Monday leftovers (Tuesday edition) 

Kevin Stefanski had a rather strange post-game reaction to the Browns' 47-42 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Monday night, a game in which his team played well enough on offense to beat a large majority of National Football League teams. He was in no mood to think moral victory.

In fact, he totally disdained the notion. "I don't want to go down the moral victories (path)," he said. "We lost. We got beat. Proud of the guys and how they battled -- I really am -- but I look at all the mistakes we made, We have to correct them.

"We came here to get a victory and we did not. I appreciate how the guys battled, but we did not do enough to get the win."And that's when he rejected moral victories and attaching any importance to them. 

In some ways, it is refreshing to hear that reaction, which sends a message to the rest of the NFL that losing will not be tolerated by Stefanski in spite of an effort by his team that would win most game games. 

It suggests he would rather his team play poorly and win than play well and lose. Is that the new standard by which he values winning? Frankly, I'd much rather play well and lose than play poorly and win. The latter involves luck. The former is more rewarding in the end.

Some would argue a victory is still a victory no matter how it is achieved. Until you lose a game like this. And that's when you could justify accepting a victory despite poor play.

Considering that the Ravens hung a 38-6 drubbing on the Browns in the season opener, I'd say all the mistakes that were made by the offense in that one were definitely corrected big time Monday night. Can't remember the last time the Browns lost a game when scoring 42 points.

Stefanski would have none of that. "For us to reflect on week one to week 13, I don't think we are really are in that mind fame," he said. To the rookie head coach, a loss is a loss no matter how it comes packaged. It still stings. This one was harder to accept because it was so tightly contested.

That is where the big problem lies. The talent-challenged defense was mainly responsible for allowing Lamar Jackson to successfully perform his magic act in his first game back from COVID-19. They had a few correct answers in the first half, sacking him four times. There were no answers in the second half.

Losing in this fashion toughens teams, The next time a game like this is played, the Browns will win. And the next one, And the next one. The takeaway is they now know what it takes to win. That's the lesson that emerges. If it takes a loss to discover that, so be it.

Apparently Stefanski comes from the coaching school that says effort usually paves the road to winning. And the Browns' efforts in this one went unrewarded. Many players reportedly were in agreement with their coach. 

Coming close isn't good enough. Doesn't cut it, especially at this time of the season when verdicts have a profound ramifications on where the team spends January and February. Winning games in December are imperative for teams with postseason dreams. The formerly woebegone Browns definitely qualify here.

The glittering silver lining in this one was the way the Browns as a team hung in there. The way they battled, The way they refused to pack it in as the defense consistently surrendered vast chunks of yardage, often times blowing assignments in the secondary. That's got to count for something.

It was all the Cleveland offense could do to catch up and actually take a one-point lead midway through the final quarter. Stefanski had to notice that, but it nevertheless did not deter him from honestly sharing his overall opinion.

"It's almost going to be midnight here and it is almost going to be Tuesday and we have a game coming up on Sunday (night)," he said near the end of his Zoom call with the media following the game. "We will own this and we will move on and put all our efforts into next week."

Sorry, coach. Can't agree with you on this. This is not Minnesota (your previous stop) where the Vikings are expected to win and moral victories do not exist. This is Cleveland where victories over the last two decades have been are few and more precious. That's why this one felt like a victory even though it wasn't.

And now that you're with the Browns and lots of victories loom in the immediate future, moral victories like this will disappear because your team will wipe away the notion that any game that is played well and lost will not be looked upon quite the same way.

***

Baker Mayfield took a big step in proving to Stefanski he is highly capable of placing the offense on his back and carrying them to dizzying heights in a hurry. He did it a week ago in the first half of the Tennessee victory and did it again against the Ravens after throwing his first interception in 187 attempts late in the third quarter.

The pick set up a short Ravens touchdown that stretched the lead to 34-20 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Ball game, I thought. They are never coming back from that. And that's when Mayfield took over and proved doubters like me wrong.

The next three possessions wound up in the Baltimore end zone (12 plays, 75 yards, Rashard Higgins 21- yard touchdown reception; 12 plays, 70 yards, Mayfield scoring on a five-yard scramble around right end; four plays, 75 yards in a brisk 47 seconds, Kareem Hunt, 22-yard scoring catch). 

It was in some ways even more impressive than his dynamic Tennessee performance. In that one, he kept piling it on while in the lead. In the Ravens game, he hiked it several notches because he was playing from behind on each possession.

Mayfield was absolutely locked in against one of the best defensive units in the NFL, completing 11 of 14 passes in 18 minutes for 149  yards. He was clutch, converting a pair of fourth-down opportunities on the first drive, including the Higgins scoring pass, and was brilliant on the four-play drive, connecting on passes of 30 yards (Donovan Peoples-Jones), 17 (Jarvis Landry), 16 and 22 yards (both Hunt),

It would appear he has become not only a solid game manager, but a quarterback rapidly proving he can help win games in ways that involve the forward pass. His only mistake against the Ravens was not recognizing a zone blitz where linebacker Tyus Bowser dropped back into zone coverage and was in position to swipe a pass intended for Higgins.

***

Speaking of Peoples-Jones, he is quietly becoming a big-play receiver making an impression on Mayfield to the point where he is slowly becoming more comfortable in this offense. He played a season-high 58 snaps against Baltimore, was targeted a season-high five times and tied his season high with three receptions for a not season high 74 yards.

Even though he has been targeted only 14 times in five games this season, the sixth-round draft choice out of Michigan has made them all count. He averages 23,8 yards for his 10 receptions, which include a 75-yard touchdown down reception against Tennessee and the winning touchdown catch in the second Cincinnati game,

Right now, he is the No. 3 wideout for Mayfield behind Landry and Higgins, due mainly to a hamstring injury that has shelved KhaDarel Hodge the last two games, He has proven reliable to the point where Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt should seriously think about incorporating him more in the game plan.

He is also valuable in two other areas. He has not dropped or misplayed a punt this season and has proven a strong blocker in Stefanski's important ground game. 

***

Cody Parkey might be looking over his shoulder to see whether the Browns are bringing in anyone in to challenge him as the Browns' placekicker. He hit the dreaded daily double for a placekicker-- a missed field goal from 39 yards and extra point -- against the Ravens that had to draw the attention of special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and Stefanski.

When you are seriously contending for the postseason, you had better be on your game if you are a kicker. Even though pressure accompanies the job, there is no excuse for missing short kicks like that with so much at stake. You are expected to be perfect and then improve on that.

It was only his third miss from field-goal range this season in 20 attempts and second missed extra point. They came at a most inappropriate time. Keep an eye on possible tryouts at the position this week.

***

Finally . . . The Browns need to work on their fire-drill at the end of games where miracles reside in the hopes of getting lucky.The comical end of the Ravens loss saw Mayfield on the last play of the game complete a pass to . . . it really doesn't matter who because seven laterals, or backward passes, later the fotball wound up in the hands of Landry, who was shoved out of his end zone, enabling the Ravens to tack on two more points and cover the three-point spread on the game, costing bettors who had the Browns a lot of money. . . . For the fifth time this season, including the last two outings, the offensive line kept Mayfield clean. He has been sacked just 17 times this season. . . .  Nine of the 11 second-half possessions (not counting the humorous ending) resulted in points. . . . The Browns have to find a way to stop Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews, who has tortured the Cleveland secondary in the last three seasons for 25 receptions (36 targets) for 330 yards and five touchdowns in the last four meetings. Andrews, who was Mayfield's tight end at Oklahoma, is Lamar Jackson's go-to guy in clutch situations.  

A good loss?

The final on the scoreboard read Baltimore 47, Cleveland 42 Monday night in what unquestionably was the game of the year in the National Football League, totally entertaining a national television audience.

In the standings, it counted as a loss, dropping the Browns to 9-4, ending a four-game winning streak and breathing life back into the playoff hopes of the 8-5 Ravens. But this was no ordinary loss. Not by a long shot. 

History will show Justin Tucker's 55-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation as the game winner in a game where the score swayed back and forth the entire fourth quarter. But it was a lot more than that.

In a peculiar sort of of way, this one felt as much like a victory as it did a loss. It felt like a victory in that the Browns proved quite capable of going toe-to-toe with the Ravens, who had crushed them, 38-6, in the season opener, and mainly hold their own. 

It proved once and for all they are no longer the punching bag of the NFL. It proved once and for all that the days of miserable football on the lakefront are nothing more now than a bad memory. A rapidly fading one, too. 

Right now, this a good enough football team on offense where games like this, which took place often over the last two decades, can now be won. To play this competitively against a legit annual contender like the Ravens is a huge step in the right direction. 

Yes, the loss hurt, especially the way it turned out. The fact the Browns did not pack it in when the Ravens took a 34-20 lead after Tyus Bowers' interception of Baker Mayfield led to a one-yard touchdown run by J. K. Dobbins late in the third quarter, spoke volumes of what this team is about.

And it was Mayfield, making up for his first pick in his last 187 pass attempts, who was the linchpin for a 22-point fourth quarter that gained the lead at 35-34 with 6:33 left in regulation and was later responsible for a game-tying drive that consumed just 47 seconds and tied the game at 42 with 64 seconds left.

That proved way too much time for Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson to work. The dynamic Jackson, who dazzled with his feet early and his arm late, needed just 40 of those seconds to negotiate his offense into Tucker territory, which is most anything inside 60 yards.

Were it not for another disappointing performance by the defense, this one very easily could have wound up in the win column. The Ravens compiled a whopping 231 yards on the ground, averaging 7.2 yards a pop, mainly because Jackson is the Ravens' offense.

Jackson who runs more like a running back, dodged and weaved and scrambled all evening, making play after play until he went down in the fourth quarter with cramps. He scored twice with his legs and connected on a 44-yard scoring pass with Marquise Brown later while scrambling.

After spending two Baltimore possessions in the dressing room, Jackson returned in dramatic fashion when Trace McSorley, who filled in and was ineffective, was injured on a third-down scramble at the two-minute warning.

Jackson coolly and calmly broke loose from the pocket on fourth down, drew the attention of several Cleveland defenders, then lofted a soft pass over the onrushing secondary to Brown, who had sneaked away from Terrance Mitchell and completed the 44-yard scoring play to give the Ravens ea 42-35 lead.

He struggled somewhat in the first half, the Cleveland pass rush sacking him four times and limiting him  to just three completions in six attempts. But when the Browns allowed him to escape the pocket, he picked up 50 of his 124 rushing yards on just nine carries.. He was too quick for the slow-reacting Cleveland defense. 

One would not be incorrect to suggest too much Jackson was the main reason this one wound up in the wrong column. This is the fourth time in his career -- in four games -- he has baffled the flailing-at-air  Cleveland defense once he breaks contain and moves into the open. 

With the exception of the pick, Mayfield had another exceptional evening. He was confident with his throws from the pocket, stepping into them rather than throwing off his back foot.

His passing -- he was 28 of 47 for 343 yards --  helped set up a pair of rushing touchdowns by Nick Chubb and one by Kareem Hunt, who also caught one of Mayfield's  two scoring throws. Rashard Higgins, who had three fumbles that fortunately did no damage, grabbed the other.

What was surprising throughout the evening was how relatively easily the Browns solved the Baltimore defense, rolling up 493 yards of offense and keeping their quarterback squeaky clean. It was an evening that, under normal circumstances, when the Browns would have won.

Unfortunately, they were stung by a timing problem. And Jackson. That can't be emphasized enough. Allowing him too much time to put his team in a position to win in those final moments  was the determining factor. It showed, however, that the Browns are getting closer, at least on offense, to elite status in the NFL.

They stepped onto the brightly-lit national stage Monday night and did not embarrass themselves. They were not self destructive, If anything, they displayed the kind of confidence normally associated with perennial winning teams.

A loss? Sure. That is indisputable. A victory? Of sorts, yes. If there is something called a good loss, this one qualifies. I can walk away after this one and feel good about the future of this football team because I can now see how bright it is.

Knocking off a very good Tennessee team on the road last week and scaring the crap out of the Ravens Monday night are strong indications that is clearly the case.

Close with a cigar

Yep, it's another one of those games.

One week after writing a signature victory over the dangerous Tennessee Titans, along comes a statement game on the Browns' road to the postseason.

After proving 2020 is the season Browns Nation has achingly longed for since 1999, this hardscrabble football team is being challenged to do it all over again Monday night on national television. And not just against any ordinary National Football League opponent.

No, this time it is more meaningful. This time, it is more emotional. Much more. This time, history is a factor.

The Baltimore Ravens, a.k.a. the former Cleveland Browns from 1946-95, arrive for the most important game between these franchises (from a Cleveland viewpoint) since the rivalry commenced in 1999. 

They have met 43 times since then and not one of those games meant as much to the Browns as this one. No, this one has serious playoff implications. And for a change, the 7-5 Ravens enter this game playing the role of spoiler.

For the better part of the last two decades, the Ravens have lived among the National Football League elite, winning two Super Bowl titles along the way. The Browns. meanwhile, could only dream of Super Bowls as they slogged their way to annual residence in the AFC North cellar.

One would think they would get at least a little respect entering this one with their 9-3 record and four-game winning streak. Oddsmakers see it differently, however, installing the Browns as three-point underdogs at home.

Perhaps that's because the Ravens have lost to the Browns only 11 times over the years, just six times in Cleveland in 21 games. Perhaps it's because the Ravens opened up the season at home by walloping  the Browns, 38-6. Finally, and most important, perhaps it's because Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has never lost to them.

The Browns are thisclose to qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Getting that much closer with a victory against the Ravens would be doubly sweet simply because of who they are. That's something the fans understand.

The Ravens might not recognize the Browns Monday night. They are the antithesis of the team they crushed back in week one. That team was literally playing together for the first time under a rookie head coach with a battle plan that failed quickly. And then it got worse.

No minicamps, no OTAs, no exhibition games and a limited training camp added up to an embarrassing pro debut for Kevin Stefanski. The offense was offensive and not in a good way. The defense was offensive in every way. It couldn't get any worse. And it didn't. 

The Ravens will see a Cleveland offense that runs the football as well as any team in the NFL, makes fewer mistakes than the one they saw earlier, zealously protects its quarterback and whose head coach and playcaller dials up plays that best suit his quarterback's talents.

They will see a Cleveland defense that still makes plenty of mistakes, especially in the secondary. But they'll also see a defense that frequently takes the football away from opponents. They are tied for fourth in the league with 20 takeaways and rank among the league leaders in turnover ratio at +7.

The Ravens, on the other hand, have revamped their offensive line since the opener with Patrick Mekari replacing Matt Skura at center, Ben Powers at right guard, D. J. Fluker taking over at right tackle with Orlando Brown Jr. moving to left tackle, replacing the injured Ronnie Stanley. 

Mark Ingram, Jr., rookie J. K.Dobbins and Gus Edwards still handle the ground game for the Ravens, while tight end Mark Andrews and wide receivers Marquise Brown, Willie Snead IV and Miles Boykin are the chef targets in the passing game.

And it all works when Jackson roams freely, whether it's through the air or on the ground, especially the latter. Far more dangerous as a runner, he is well on the way to his second straight 1,000-yard season on the ground despite missing one game with COVID-19.

He is the runaway leader on the club with 669 rushing yards, nearly 200 yards better than Edwards and Dobbins. He is without question the most dangerous runner on the Ravens -- if not the entire NFL -- in the open field and has an innate knack for escaping the pocket.

Taking the ground game away from Jackson and forcing him to throw -- he averages only 187 yards a game that way with 17 touchdowns, seven picks and 24 sacks in 11 games -- is definitely the key to winning. It will be interesting to see what Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods comes up with to neutralize him.

But it's on offense where the Browns hold the advantage over the Ravens in this one. They played from behind almost the entire time in the first game and never really got the ground game untracked to the point where it made the kind of impact it has made since.

Since that game, the Cleveland offense has scored 300 points (27.3 a game) and compiled 4,065 yards (369.4 a game) in winning nine of 11 games. Since Nick Chubb returned from a knee injury four (unbeaten) games ago, the ground game has averaged 173 yards a game. Therein lies the big challenge for the Browns. The Ravens limit opposing running backs to just 112 yards.

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw an early interception in the first game, has not thrown a pick in five straight games. Stefanski has designed an offense for him that incorporates multiple rollouts and bootlegs, often times away from the flow. It has helped sharpen his accuracy on the short- to mid-range throws.

He is not the quarterback the Baltimore defense, which has struggled recently with harassing opposing quarterbacks, saw way back in September. He is playing now with a muted confidence and infectious swagger that took a big hit in the season opener.

Mayfield, who has been sacked only 17 times this season, will face a Ravens pass rush that has recorded only six sacks in the last six games after compiling 22 in the first six games and is way overdue to bust out. 

Don't look for the Ravens in this one to replicate their huge start in the season opener. Instead, look for a close game most of the way with both teams playing relatively mistake-free football in the first half as the offenses take charge.

The Browns eventually find a way to take away Jackson's game-breaking ability and take advantage of a pair of second-half takeaways (fumble recovery and pick) to overcome a small early deficit as they make a statement and inch closer to the postseason. Make it: 

Browns 28, Ravens 24

Mid-week thoughts

A year ago at this time, the Browns were 5-7 and on the verge of losing three of their last four games, including the final trio, to finish 6-10; the owners were angry; the fans were angry; the head coach and general manager, unbeknownst to them, were teetering on the precipice of dismissal; numerous players were grousing, quarterback Baker Mayfield looked erratic and was well on his way to throwing 21 interceptions; and Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard were the offensive tackles.

Flash forward to the present. 

The Browns are 9-3, have won four straight games, are the talk of the National Football League and teetering on the brink of the postseason for the first time in 18 seasons; the head coach, one of three rookie head coaches (Carolina's Matt Ruhle and Joe Judge of the New York Giants) in the league, has the best record by far of the three; his rookie general manager and owners are no doubt thrilled; Baker Mayfield has become a solid game manager and learned to stop throwing interceptions; and Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin are the offensive tackles.

What a difference a year makes.

A year ago, head coach Freddie Kitchens was losing his team. They stopped listening to him. He was the opposite of what you'd expect a head coach to be. His club was undisciplined from the start. He was a loose cannon with no idea whatsoever on how to organize and coached by instinct rather than thought. He was always at least a step or two behind throughout the course of a game and outcoached on a weekly basis. He was an assistant coach way, way, way out of his league and couldn't be cashiered quickly enough.

Kevin Stefanski, on the other hand, is the antithesis, the polar opposite, of his predecessor. His communication skills are a large part of the reason the Browns are where they are entering Monday's night's showdown at home against the Baltimore Ravens in front of a national television audience.

There is no question he has the attention of his players. If for no other reason that everything, it appears, seems to be working. Which is all the more remarkable considering he entered his rookie season as the man without the benefit of minicamps, OTAs, a full-blown training camp and the total absence of exhibition games.

Because of the global pandemic that paralyzed this country and prevented him from communicating with his team in person at first, Stefanski ZOOMed his way into the hearts and minds of his new players. He connected in a way that has paid huge dividends and landed him in conversations with regard to coach-of-the-year consideration.

It might be a little too early to totally and faithfully believe Stefanski is the man fans will blindly follow and believe everything he says. Because that's what Browns fans -- well many of them -- have been saying for the last two decades.You know how that goes. "I have total faith and believe in (fill in the blank) no matter what." 

Based on what we have seen thus far, though, that blank might have found some permanence with Stefanski. Who's to argue? The results back up that contention.

There is no question, though, he has a firm grasp on this team. Nothing, it seems, bothers him. Either that or he puts up a stout front that belies his concerns. He doesn't let the public see it. Everything that qualifies as a problem is handled internally.

Take Monday night's game, for example. Its importance cannot be overstated. "In regards to our players, I think they know what we're about and what we're about is working," he said the other day. "They understand what's so important about our preparation is that we're continually grinding on it. I think the guys get that message from me."

Playing on national television and the attention the game will receive? No problem. "My mind does not really go there," Stefanski said. "They tell me were we're playing, when we're playing and who we're playing." Next.

His stolid approach is working. That cannot be argued. And Browns Nation is the beneficiary.

Monday leftovers

Baker Mayfield was having a great time quarterbacking the Browns in the first half Sunday down in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans. 

He was really feeling it. So were the Titans, who were blown out,38-7, in those 30 minutes. Mayfield was prancing around joyously like a little kid after each of the five touchdowns. He was genuinely having a ball. Life was good. 

He was showing those critical of his play this season that he still had it. He could sling with the best of them. This was the Baker Mayfield the club drafted No. 1 overall in 2018. He made everyone on that side of the football look better.

He was confident, purposeful, even brash in a slightly more muted way than he was in college. But the swagger was definitely there. He was the linchpin of the historic performance by a Cleveland offense that stunned with its precision and execution.

Who were these guys? Fans hadn't really seen them this season. Okay, maybe in spurts, but not for a sustained period. The startling manner in which they dismantled the Titans defense was completely unexpected. 

And then, just like that, Kevin Stefanski snatched it all way in the second half.  Pulled the plug. Figuring a 38-7 margin with only 30 minutes left and just so many possessions, the head coach probably felt comfortable enough to call off the dogs.

He went ultra conservative. Mayfield, 20 of 25 for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, threw just eight times in the second half, completing five for 44 yards. The offense that generated 344 first-half yards in the first half put up a mere 114 the rest of the way.

The boot that was placed heavily on the Titans' throats in the first half was lifted. Whether is was compassionate in nature or just good old-fashioned conservatism, the Browns' offense sputtered and burped and the defense, which played brilliantly in the first half, disappeared.

Whatever happened to sticking with what got you there? Whatever happened to bullying your opponent until they wave a flag of surrender and start playing backups? Guess those days are gone.

By changing strategy and tactics, Stefanski gave the Titans the emotional opening they needed. They had to be demoralized, maybe even shocked, to look at the home scoreboard and see they were getting embarrassed.

By going conservative, the Titans took advantage and scored two lightning-quick touchdowns sandwiched around a Browns three-and-out to start the third quarter. All of a sudden, the Titans had momentum and trimmed the lead to 38-21.

The fact that Tennessee eventually sliced the lead to 41-35 in the final half minute seemed to bother Mayfield in his post-game session with the media.

"It's tricky when you get up by that much of staying aggressive or calling the dogs off and type mentality," he said. "You want to run the ball to take the clock away to give them less opportunities, but at the same time, you don't want to go away from what is working. It is tricky, but we just have to make those plays."

Fumbling the ball away on a simple quarterback sneak in the last minute, which led to the final Titans touchdown, didn't help. "Obviously, if I hold on to the dang football, then it is not going to be close or as close as it should have been," he said, owning up to his mistake.

It has become just as obvious that this team, its 9-3 notwithstanding, still has trouble closing out games while holding significant leads. Being outscored by 60 points overall in the final 30 minutes might have something to do with that.

Maybe next time the Browns are in this situation, Stefanski should consider sticking to the game plan that notched that lead. He got lucky this time because the margin was so large. But they came awfully close, too close, to blowing that lead.

***

Myles Garrett was a relative non-factor statistically with two solo tackles and a sack after missing two games with  COVID-19. But the defensive end's presence alone was a big factor in the first half as the defense rendered impotent the potent Titans offense.

Derrick Henry, who leads the National Football League in rushing, was held to only 15 yards on seven carries in large part due to Garrett being on the field. As a result, the rest of the defensive line functions much better.

Garrett played 52 of the 72 snaps, mostly in the first half when the defense totally throttled the Tennessee offense. Tackle Sheldon Richardson, arguably the steadiest and most reliable member of the defensive line, took advantage with a couple of terrific game-changing plays on consecutive possessions in the opening quarter.

On the first, he stuffed Henry at the line of scrimmage (the Cleveland 42) on a fourth and a foot on the first possession and then separated the big running back from the football, his first fumble of the season, on the following possession. Both turnovers led to Cleveland touchdowns, Mayfield connecting with Jarvis Landry and Kendall Lamm on a gadget play.

The defense made big plays throughout the first half with a pass rush that disrupted the timing of quarterback Ryan Tannehill enough to cause consecutive three-and-outs while the Cleveland attack kept on scoring.

***

It was refreshing to see the creativity on offense from coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Stefanski. Gadget pays are fun to watch, but only when they are successful. Only one problem: Calling them when the offense is humming. No need to disrupt the rhythm.

Hopefully, Stefanski and Van Pelt will utilize them sparingly, especially down the stretch when every game, every series, every snap takes on much more meaning. The downside is there can be as many spectacular failures running them than successes. Timing is everything.

***

It's time to see more of Donovan People-Jones. For the most part, the rookie wide receiver has come through when called on. His lone glitch was the dropped sure-touchdown pass by Mayfield on the opening drive Sunday. The Browns settled for a Cody Parkey field goal.

DPJ's 75-yard catch-and-run against the Titans was a thing of beauty. His out-and-up move that completely fooled cornerback Breon Borders was perfect as Mayfield hit him in stride for the easy score. He is also reliable in the return game.

The sixth-round draft choice out of Michigan has been targeted only nine times this season, but has caught seven for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Five of his receptions have accounted for first downs. He needs to see more of the football.

***

Finally . . .  Mayfield targeted nine different receivers in that big first half against the Titans. . . . Rashard Higgins, now the No. 2 receiver behind Jarvis Landry, caught six of his nine targets for 95 yards and a touchdown, , , , Landry caught eight passes for the second week in a row and scored his second TD of the season. . . . Tight ends were targeted just three times, Austin Hooper grabbing two and David Njoku the other totaling 29 yards. . . . To give you an idea of how different the two halves were Sunday, Jamie Gillan did not move off the bench in the first half, but punted thrice in five possessions in the second half. . . . After watching the combustible secondary in action in the second half, Denzel Ward can't heal his strained calf quickly enough to get back on the field and semi-solidify a shaky defensive backfield.

Perfection and imperfection

The Cleveland Browns their fans have been waiting for the last two decades showed up in the first half of their game Sunday in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans.

Those Browns laid a 38-7 shellacking on one of the best teams in the National Football League the last couple of seasons in the first 30 minutes. That's the most points in one half in club history. .

The Cleveland Browns their fans have witnessed for the better part of those two decades, the ones who became the perennial laughingstock of the NFL, showed up in the second half and were drilled by the comeback Titans.

Those Browns, looking much more like the 2020 Browns whose inability to maintain large leads has been troublesome, generously turned a seeming rout into a slow-motion journey down memory lane in the final 30 minutes by nearly blowing the huge halftime lead and barely escaping, 41-35, in what must be classified, nonetheless, as a signature victory.

The final score obviously does not reflect how dominating the Browns, now 9-3 for the first time since 1994, were in those first 30 minutes, That group played an incredibly amazing first half, bullying the Titans, providing a cushion large enough that they could not overcome it.

But they sure did frighten the hell out of the fans who were enjoying the festivities until then by scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes of regulation to make the final interesting, but quite misleading.

The Cleveland offense in the first half ran 44 plays, produced 22 first downs, 344 total yards, eight yards a play, 296 passing yards, was seven of eight on third down and owned the football for a little more than 21 minutes, The defense limited the Titans to just six first downs. 15 yards on the ground and 148 total yards.

The same players who dazzled the dazed Titans on both sides of the football in the first half looked like an entirely different group in the second half. The Titans couldn't do anything right in the first half. The Browns couldn't do anything wrong. It was the exact opposite in the second half.

Six first-half possessions yielded five Cleveland touchdowns and a field goal. Are you kidding me? It was downright surreal. It was perfection personified. Everything worked. Even the gimmick plays head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski threw in..

Baker Mayfield was brilliant, connecting on 20 of 25 passes for 280 yards in the half with scoring throws to Jarvis Landry in the first quarter and second-quarter connections with Rashard Higgins, rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones on a gorgeous and perfectly-executed 75-yard stop-and-go pattern and Kendall Lamm. 

Yes, Kendall Lamm, the backup offensive tackle who sometimes shows up in goal-line situations as a tackle-eligible. He sneaked into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter after brush-blocking his man on a third-and-goal at the Titans 1 and was wide open after a play fake. Mayfield also hauled in a Landry pass on third down to sustain the second drive of the game.

Mayfield, whose four touchdown passes tied Hall of Famer Otto Graham for most scoring passes in a half. was as scorching as he has ever been as a passer. And that includes the 22 straight he completed in the second Bengals game. It would have been five touchdowns had Peoples-Jones held on to a perfectly thrown ball on the first possession of the game. 

The offense hummed like a well-oiled engine. Mayfield was as sharp with his throws and play fakes as he has ever been as a pro. And Stefanski was not afraid to turn him loose as he registered his fifth straight game without an interception.

The defense, meanwhile, took the cue and rose up, making big play after big play. It was dominance the likes of which Browns Nation hasn't seen -- on both sides of the ball -- in sustained fashion since can't remember when.

The defense neutralized Derrick Henry, the NFL's leading rusher, in the first half, twice making big plays the offense immediately turned into touchdowns. Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson stopped him on a fourth- down gamble at the Cleveland 42 on the Titans' first possession of the game. On the next possession, Richardson stripped Henry of the ball deep in Tennessee territory.

The onslaught pretty much removed Henry from the game plan, forcing quarterback Ryan Tannehill to throw much more than he normally does. And that is where the Cleveland defense is most vulnerable.

Fortunately, it took so long for the Titans to realize that, they were too far behind to pull off anything resembling a miracle comeback. But they sure came close in the second half against the second group of Browns.

That second group also included an offense that mustered only Cody Parkey's second field goal of the game midway through the fourth quarter. Instead of relying on what produced 38 first-half points, Stefanski backed off, went ultra conservative and played bleed-the-clock.

The offense put only 114 more yards and a field goal on the scoreboard in five more possessions. Mayfield was five of eight through the air for 44 yards. The ground game added 70 yards after a 48-yard first half, Nick Chubb picking up 80 hard yards on 18 carries.

With an injury-riddled Cleveland secondary playing mostly zone, it was like an open invitation for Tannehill to fire at will in the second half. He responded by completing 21 of 32 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns, finding receivers wide open more often than not.

Titans wide receiver Corey Davis was the main beneficiary. After catching four passes in the first half for 51 yards, he tacked on seven more receptions for 131 more yards in the second half as garbage-time and  stats-padding, in addition to the nervousness that no doubt caused concern around Browns Nation, made the end feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Even after the sensational first half, it still took a successful recovery of an onside kick by fullback Andy Janovich to seal what should have been a a more comfortable victory. 

The biggest revelation that can be gleaned from this one is that Mayfield, when given the opportunity by his head coach to cut it loose, still has it. He made a whole bunch of solid throws -- he did not make a bad one all afternoon -- and seems to be sharpening his accuracy. 

He is stepping into his throws with much more confidence as the season progresses, He's also showing a leadership quality that spawns positive results certain to resonate in the huddle down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if Stefanski continues to tap those qualities as the season winds down and the Browns get closer to the postseason.

Experience wins out

If the Browns harbor any notions of knocking off the Tennessee Titans Sunday in Nashville, they must play a near-perfect football game. 

It is that simple.

That is what it is going to take. Anything less will not be good enough in what genuinely qualifies as the club's most important game of the 2020 season.

The number of signature games this franchise has played since reentering the National Football League in 1999 can be counted on one hand. This is one of them. Never before since that season have the Browns been in a position to play a game with this much importance.

They have never been a heady (for them) 8-3 entering week 12 in that period. Looking down in the standings at two teams in the AFC North and finally being taken seriously is definitely foreign territory.

The Browns had earlier opportunities this season to win important games against Baltimore in the season opener and Pittsburgh in week six and failed in embarrassing fashion each time, casting doubt whether they ready to be relevant. 

Playing one of the softest schedules in the NFL, however, has factored heavily in the current record. The difference this season is the Browns are beating the teams they should instead of losing and winding up in the North basement perennially.

Browns Nation, whose patience has been severely tested time and again during the last two decades, has dreamed of this moment. What makes this one different than the Baltimore and Pittsburgh games, though, is the month in which it is being played.

December games in the NFL is big boy football. Every game counts, Every series counts. Every snap counts. Winning takes on significantly greater importance. 

What exactly is a signature win? It is a victory against a team that is better than you and should beat you especially at this time of the season and especially in a game that carries so much importance. In this case, it elevates the winning team to a status that has eluded them for a very long time.

The Titans qualify. They are veterans of the signature game, joining the Steelers, Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC. They went to the conference championship game last season against the Chiefs. They have been down this road before and clearly have the edge on experience against the Browns.

As a result of their 8-3 start, the Browns have leaped to relevant status around the league after all those years of being nothing more than a punching bag and an afterthought. A victory over the favored Titans changes all that and elevates them into genuine contender territory.

Sunday, we will all find out whether they are good enough and ready enough to take that big step up and produce that signature victory. They owe the Titans payback for the 43-13 thrashing they delivered the Browns in the 2019 season opener that set the tone for the rest of the ill-fated 6-10 season.

They will face a Titans team that resembles them in many more ways than their 8-3 records. Both teams have dynamite running attacks, quarterbacks who do not throw the football to the opposition with any regularity, solid offensive lines and mediocre at best defenses. The Browns amazingly have allowed only one more point than the Tennessee defense this season.

Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt of the Browns, both en route to 1,000-yard seasons, are the best running tandem in the NFL. Period. Derrick Henry of the Titans is well on his way to repeating as the league's top rusher, averaging 114 yards a game with 12 touchdowns.

Chubb, who has averaged 128 yards a game since returning from the injured list three games ago, and Henry will get their yards in this one. That's a given. The key to this one lies in the performances by the two quarterbacks.

Ryan Tannehill ofd the Titans is not the same mediocre quarterback who played in Miami for six seasons. Since replacing Marcus Mariota last season, he is 15-6 with 45 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions, just four this season. 

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, on the other hand, has produced only 17 scoring passes this season in Kevin Stefanski's button-down offense, but hasn't thrown an interception since the second play of the second Cincinnati victory in week seven. He has gone a career-best 292 minutes and 27 seconds (19-plus quarters) since throwing the pick that ended Odell Beckham Jr.'s season.

The offensive line has been the best friend of both quarterbacks. Mayfield, probably because Stefanski has him rolling out more this season, has been sacked only 17 times in 11 games. Tannehill has been dropped just 15 times.

Tannehill will have a slight edge with better and healthier wide receivers. A.J. Brown and Corey Davis are big-play receivers who have produced 82 receptions for 1,257 yards and 11 touchdowns and will pose a big problem for the injury-riddled Cleveland secondary. 

However, he will not have the services of tight end Jonnu Smith, who injured his ankle last week. Smith is one of his go-to guys in the red one, hooking up with him for seven touchdowns. Anthony Firkser will get most of his reps.

With KhaDarel Hodge and Taywan Taylor out with injuries, the Browns are now down to Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins and Donovan Peoples-Jones as the top three wides. From a strategic standpoint, it wouldn't surprise to see Stefanski employ three tight ends and just one wideout quite a bit to enhance the ground game.

Defensively, the Cleveland pass rush will be decidedly better with the return of Myles Garrett, who sat out two games with COVID-19. That gives the Browns, who have booked 27 sacks this season, a slight edge over the Titans, who have only 14. Garrett will line up mostly against David Quessenberry, the Titans' third offensive left tackle this season due to injuries.

If defensive coordinator Joe Woods in his game plan decides to blitz to cover some areas of weakness, he should be aware Tannehill is one of the top quarterbacks in the league at handling that aspect of the game.

Overall, the Browns must play their best game of the season. In order to win, they must be smart and not beat themselves. Anything less than that will end their three-game winning streak and give momentary slight pause to thoughts of playing in the postseason for the first time since 2002. 

After considering all the elements of this game, its extreme importance at the head of the list, the Browns' time is coming. Just not now. The Titans have been through this before. That is the deciding factor. Experience is the main difference. That will change eventually. For right now, though, make it:

Titans 35, Browns 27