Mid-week thoughts

There is a good chance Kevin Stefanski is approaching the crossroads with regard to his quarterback.

Why do I suggest that? Sunday's game in Dallas against the Cowboys will be the Browns' -- and Baker Mayfield's -- chance to prove to his new head coach/playcaller once and for all that he can carry a team.

He had a chance in the season opener, when the Baltimore Ravens ravaged the Browns with an offense that overwhelmed the club's undertalented defense, and failed miserably to deliver. Look for much of the same scenario in Dallas.

The Cowboys might be 1-2 -- they really would be 0-3 if the Atlanta Falcons had fallen on that onside kick in week two -- but they own the best offense in the National Football League. Yes, even better than Kansas City and, gulp, Baltimore from a statistical standpoint.

Nobody has flat out stopped the Cowboys this season when they own the football. Don't count on the Browns' defense being the first. You can stop laughing now.

Thus, it is incumbent on Mayfield, who has been harnessed by Stefanski in the last two games, to be the main reason the Browns have an opportunity to win this one. He will be forced to help his offense keep up with the Cowboys' expected onslaught.

The Browns have scored 69 points in the last two games mainly because Stefanski turned Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt loose to the point where they have elevated the ground game to levels not seen in Cleveland in a very, very, very long time.

He can attempt to do that Sunday and perhaps be successful, but the Cowboys, unlike the Browns, have so much overall dynamite on offense, they will have no problem keeping up. They can beat you up with every facet on that side of the ball.

Right now, at least statistically, the Dallas defense makes Cleveland's looks pretty good. And that is why Stefanski probably will ultimately be forced to tilt the run/pass percentage toward the aerial game, to open up the playbook and dial up many more pass plays just to stay close.

Relying on Chubb and Hunt will go just so far. Mayfield will actually be needed for the first time since the season opener. Unless, of course, the defense somehow stuns everyone and shuts down the Dallas offense.

Mayfield was not the key to victories against Cincinnati and Washington. Give those victories to Chubb,  Hunt and an offensive line that made their success possible. Give those guys a little room and good things generally ensue.

If Mayfield is, indeed, needed, the question is whether Stefanski's offense limits what he can do to be effective. In his first two seasons  with Cleveland, he was a gunslinger. He made throws, especially in his rookie season, that thrilled the fan base to the point where it believed the franchise quarterback had arrived.

Last season, he regressed under a head coach who believed his quarterback could make any throw. He couldn't and yet that coach persisted. Game after game after game, the situation exacerbated as the mistakes mounted. It destroyed a season that began with so much promise.

So here we are with Mayfield and a new head coach who might not trust him enough yet to maximize the talents that enabled him to set a league record for most touchdown passes by a rookie. 

The new more conservative approach employed by Stefanski on offense has worked the last two games and he most likely will enter Sunday's game with the same goal. And who knows? Maybe it will work against a Dallas defense still searching for clues.

But if it doesn't and the Browns' defense replicates its performance against Baltimore, Mayfield will be thrust into the spotlight again after lying relatively low the last two games. And that is when we will all find out just how much Stefanski relies on him to be the franchise quarterback.

Because right now, that does not appear to be the case. Unless, of course, the coach unleashes him and finds out, one way or the other, whether Mayfield is, indeed, his kind of quarterback. If he is not, changes loom for the offseason.

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Placekicker Cody Parkey has played in two games after rejoining the club following the departure of Austin Seibert. He has learned one very important lesson from special teams coordinator Mike Priefer. He was apprised after his first game against Cincinnati that every kickoff should result in the opposing team beginning the possession at its 25-yard line.

In that game, half of his six kickoffs did not make it that far. One rolled out of bounds before reaching the end zone. That drive began at the Cincy 40 and resulted in a field goal. Two others resulted in 87 yards in returns, a 45-yarder and a 42-yarder. Both provided short fields for the Bengals offense, which scored a touchdown on one and a field goal on the other.

In the Washington victory last Sunday, Parkey learned his lesson well. All seven of his kickoff wound up as touchbacks. And not a single point resulted. All the Washington points were scored following punts.

The Browns' special teams now are not good enough for Parkey to deliberately kick the ball short and at an angle that gives the coverage team the best angles to make a play and stop the return man well short of the 25.

Seibert, now on the Bengals' practice squad, kicked off just twice in the season opener. Neither traveled deep enough to result in a touchback. They were returned a total of 64 yards, creating two short fields for a dangerous offense. That and the missed extra point and wide-right field goal attempt in that game greased his slide out of town.

Monday leftovers

It was extremely tempting to label as ugly the Browns' 34-20 victory Sunday over the Washington football team formerly known as the Redskins. 

So many elements within the 60 minutes they played begged to labeled just that. It was beyond ugly, whatever that is. Pick your adjective. It'll be appropriate. 

They began each half as though they were in the learning stages of how to play the game. Self-inflicted wounds came one after the other in the first 15 minutes of each half.

This team is not ready to play, I thought. after the opening quarter. There are only 16 bites of the apple in the National Football League regular season and this is the best they've got? What gives?

And then they played the second quarter. It was the polar opposite of the previous quarter. No mistakes. Opportunism sprung to life with three turnovers that turned into 17 points. Thats not ugly at all, I thought. What was I thinking?

Then they played the third quarter, which turned out to be a carbon copy of the first quarter, only much worse. A 10-point halftime lead evaporated, replaced by a three-point deficit. That word creeped back into my mind. 

How can one team be so terrible for 15 minutes, recover nicely in the next 15 minutes and then replicate the awfulness of the first 15? Is it the coaching? Or does this team need a psychiatrist? 

And then they played the fourth quarter, somehow remembering how the second quarter unfolded, and won convincingly. The manner in which the victory was accomplished had me shaking my head. It was pretty and ugly all at once.

Then it hit me. This franchise has been so bad for so long, there is no such thing as an ugly victory. With this franchise, victories are so seldom, they are precious no matter how they are achieved as long as the scoreboard says the Browns have the higher number of points.

Because those victories arrive so infrequently, they are to be enjoyed much more fervently. Don't waste your time labeling them. One day, sooner rather than later, they will arrive in abundance on a seasonal basis and this will all be over.

No, this was a team victory as Sunday's headline suggested. It is one step closer to achieving what no previous head coach has since the return in 1999 -- the beginning of a winning culture.

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After three games, it is becoming more and more apparent Baker Mayfield's role in the Browns' offense is that of caretaker. Sort of managing a unit whose core strength is rooted in the ground game. 

How else can anyone explain that Mayfield has thrown only 23 forward passes in each of the last two games and the Browns won both? It seems as though the less he throws, the more the Browns win games. An exhausting perusal (at least a couple of minutes) of his brief career since entering the NFL in 2018 is quite revealing.

In his rookie season (2018), the college draft's overall No. 1 pick had four games where he threw no more than 29 passes. The Browns won them all. Conversely, he threw 40 or more in six games with only one victory, a 12-9 victory over Baltimore in week three.

Last season, the Browns were 2-1 in games Mayfield threw 30 or fewer passes. He threw 30 or more seven times, winning just twice. Included in that grouping were two games of at least 40 passes, both losses.

After 33 NFL starts, Mayfield is 15-18. His record in games where he has thrown fewer than 29 passes is 8-1. He is 1-8 in games where he has thrown 40 or more passes. In other words, more than half of his 15 career victories were recorded when he threw fewer than 30 passes. That includes the last two games.

New head coach Kevin Stefanski is much more enamored with the ground game than the passing game. Leaning heavily in that direction usually translates into victories. The last two games support that notion as Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt have excelled, scoring seven of the club's last 10 touchdowns.

That in some ways flies in the face of what Mayfield supposedly does best, which is deliver the football with confidence and accuracy. Unfortunately, we haven't seen much of either attribute this season. It's only three weeks, but it sure looks like he is the AFC Central's fourth-best quarterback in a four-team division

So far this season, he has looked uneasy, often times confused in the pocket, almost as though he is uncertain how to operate Stefanski's offense. He's completing about a mediocre 62% of his passes. In Stefanski's offense, that ranks as adequate at best.

Too often this season we have seen Mayfield cock his right arm, ready to throw the ball, then pull it back and reset, In the NFL, if you don't get rid of the ball in three and half seconds or less, that's a recipe for disaster and a negative play generally ensues. 

In the game two victory over Cincinnati, Stefanski effectively schemed quite often to get Mayfield out of the pocket with designed rollouts, where most of his accuracy has found success. In Sunday's victory, however, the rollouts were held to a minimum and he struggled.

Mayfield, whose gunslinger mentality with a football helped land him with the Browns, needs to take care of the football first and foremost in the Stefanski system. He seems to have lost his swagger and become content to take what defenses give him. Most of his throws in the last two games were of the short to medium range variety. Very few crowed-pleasing shots downfield to stretch a defense have been called.

One of these games, opposing defenses are going to catch on, crowd the line of scrimmage to stop Chubb and Hunt and force (dare?) Mayfield to throw. It will be interesting to see what Stefanski does to counter that. 

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It seems as though the Browns are having problems keeping their starting cornerbacks healthy. Greedy Williams goes down in training camp with a shoulder injury and hasn't suited up yet. Then Denzel Ward departs the Washington victory in the second half when his pulled groin muscle begged off.

Terrance Mitchell and Tavierre Thomas, who have filled in admirably, were joined Sunday by Kevin Johnson and rookie A. J. Green. But it's not the same without Ward and Williams, especially with Dak Prescott (Dallas), Philip Rivers (Indianapolis) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) coming up in the next three weeks.

It's bad enough the Browns have problems at linebacker and safety. Offensive coordinators with the aforementioned teams must be salivating at the prospect of facing the Browns without Ward and Williams.

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It would appear Chubb has set his sights on winning the league rushing title, a goal that escaped his grasp in the final weekend of the 2019 season. He is currently in fourth place with 292 yards infantry style in what looks like a four-man race. 

Derrick Henry of Tennessee, last season's champion, leads with 319 yards, trailed by Green Bay's Aaron Jones at 303 and Minnesota's' Dalvin Cook with 294. Chubb, the man who laughs at arm tackles, leads the league in rushing touchdowns with five.

There is no question he would be ahead of Henry if not for the presence of Hunt as Stefanski has found a way to utilize both Pro Bowlers to their fullest extent. Despite playing fewer minutes, Hunt checks in at No. 12 with 204 yards and a touchdown.

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Finally . . .  Stefanski went full Bill Belichick after the Washington victory. "We're just trying to go 1-0 every week," he said, directly from the Belichick book of coachspeak. In a few weeks, week seven to be exact, he'll be able to echo Belichick with "On to Cincinnati." The big difference? Stefanski seems to have a personality. . . . Rookie offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. must have had the jitters in the early stages of the Washington game. He was flagged twice for a false start in the Browns' first nine plays of the game. Pre-snap penalties like that will make will make Stefanski 's salt and pepper look full salt in no time. . . . Wills went on to play a decent game. . . . Speaking of penalties, the Browns had only six for 50 yards. . . . Odell Beckham Jr. had only four receptions, but two were for first downs and extended drives. . . . Outside linebacker Sione Takitaki led the Browns in tackles for the first time with seven.

  

A team victory

Well, whatta ya know. The Browns actually do have a defense. Without it, they stood a very good chance of losing at home Sunday to the Washington team formerly known as the Redskins.

Hats off to coordinator Joe Woods' defense, which created five turnovers, four of which were converted into three touchdowns and a field goal, en route to a 34-20 victory in spite of an offense that played erratically most of the afternoon. 

The victory gave the Browns a 2-1 record after three games for the first time since the 2011 season. That team under head coach Pat Shurmur finished 4-12. It is also means they enter next Sunday's game in Dallas at or above .500 for the first time since Dec. 14, 2014, a span of 85 games.

Both sides of the football stepped up when needed and made plays in this one. When the offense struggled, the defense was there to pick them up. When the defense had occasional problems, along came the offense for the rescue. Truly team football.

The defense kept getting the ball back for the offense, recovering two fumbles and intercepting Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. thrice, each time setting up two touchdown runs by Nick Chubb and the first of Baker Mayfield's two touchdown passes, this one to Kareem Hunt.

It seemed as though the odd-numbered quarters baffled the offense. Twelve plays for 34 total yards and two punts in the first quarter. Six plays resulted in minus-12 yards and two punts in the third quarter. 

Quite the contrary in the even-numbered quarters. Twenty plays for 102 yards, two touchdowns and a Cody Parkey field goal in the second quarter; 24 plays for 139 yards, two more touchdowns and another Parkey field goal in the fourth. All the turnovers were produced in the even-numbered quarters.

The defense handed numerous short fields to the offense, The two second-quarter touchdown drives began at the 28- and 24-yard lines, respectively. Each possession lasted three plays. The second touchdown of the fourth quarter also took just three plays from 35 yards out. 

The offense took only 10:17 off the clock in the odd-numbered quarters, but recovered to remove 25:26 in the even-numbered. It was kind of Jekyll-Hyde like at times, the Browns looking like they were throwing two different offenses out there within the four-quarter framework.

It was almost as though they were teasing Washington in quarters one and three, giving the ex-Redskins a false sense of security. When clutch plays were needed, though, they were made. They were made by strong safety Karl Joseph, outside linebacker Malcolm Smith and middle linebacker B. J. Goodson, picking up the club's first interceptions of the season.

Defensive end Myles Garrett joined the turnover brigade, strip-sacking Haskins -- his second of the season -- late in the fourth quarter, setting up Parkey's second field goal. The new Cleveland placekicker must think he has joined an offensive juggernaut, the Browns scoring 69 points in his first two games since replacing Austin Seibert.

The first two games of the season produced just two turnovers, both fumble recoveries. No interceptions until Joseph started the parade midway through the second quarter with a spectacular 49-yard return that nearly ended disastrously when he fumbled. Cornerback Tavierre Thomas was there to recover.

Chubb then gave the Browns their first lead of the afternoon three plays later, banging 16 yards for the first of his two touchdowns on a cutback. He was hit four times en route. Business as usual.

The Cleveland offense staggered in the first and third quarters, squandering a 17-7 margin as Washington rallied to take a 20-17 lead with 5:08 left in the third quarter. And that's when the defense slammed on the brakes and made Haskins look less than ordinary 

It's also when the offense strung together its only sustained drive of the afternoon, traveling 75 yards in 11 plays in just a little more than six minutes to regain the lead for good at 24-20, Mayfield connecting with rookie tight end Harrison Bryant from three yards out after scrambling to avoid a sack.

The offensive line, which had all kinds of problems in the odd quarters, hiked it up several notches in the evens, in particular guards Wyatt Teller and Joel Bitonio. Both delivered key blocks to spring Chubb loose at the point of attack, as well as in the secondary.

It was a game that played out somewhat like the Bengals' victory in that Mayfield was not relied on to provide magic with his arm. His worst throw --- he made only 23 for the second week in a row -- nearly resulted in another interception on his lone deep throw of the afternoon.

Odell Beckham Jr., looking more like a safety than a wide receiver, made a spectacular play on Troy Apke, knocking a certain interception away from the Washington strong safety early in the second quarter. It preserved the possession, which wound up with Parkey's first field goal. 

Otherwise, Mayfield looked ordinary, which on this afternoon was acceptable. Both of his sacks were of the coverage variety, the third-year quarterback often experiencing difficulty finding an open receiver. He was 16-of-23 for the second week in a row, throwing for just 156 yards; he threw for 219 against Cincinnati. 

Head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski called only eight pass plays in the second half, probably because the offensive line was successful in wearing down a Washington defense that was missing rookie defensive end Chase Young, who departed in the second quarter with a groin strain. Chubb and Hunt pounded out 99 of the club's 158 yards in the second half, all but four in the fourth quarter.

Now it's on to an October schedule that will see the Browns, probably feeling pretty good about themselves right now, on the road for three of four games, their only home appearance against Indianapolis in two weeks.

A 2-1 start?

Oddsmakers say the Browns are seven points better than the football team formerly known as the Washington Redskins Sunday as they attempt to go 2-1 for the first time since 2011.

Statistically, especially on offense, they are the better team. But in the National Football League, where anything can happen on a given Sunday, that means absolutely nothing. Such will be the case Sunday.

Theoretically, the Browns should have no problem putting points on the scoreboard as they did with relative ease in knocking off Cincinnati 10 days ago. If head coach Kevin Stefanski sticks to that script and combines his strong running game with a safe passing game, that should work.

But coaches oftentimes fall into bad habits like overthinking a situation. Like perhaps altering the game plan against the Washington Football Team because it has a solid defensive front featuring five five first-round draft choices. 

Why? Whatever happened to executing what you do best and if the opposition stops it, be ready with plans B, C and D. Be ready in any situation. But don't abandon your strength. It is entirely possible your strength can overwhelm their strength.

The revamped Cleveland offensive line pulled off the daily double in the Bengals victory. No sacks and no quarterback hits. When was the last time that happened? It is a confidence builder. 

Stefanski schemed Baker Mayfield out of the pocket enough on play action or designed rollouts where his uniform was nearly spotless after the game. Getting the ball out his hands quickly nullified a decent Bengals pass rush. So why not duplicate that plan Sunday?

Good question. That goes back to my original notion that coaches tend to overthink. There is no reason to think Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt won't get at least 30 carries. It worked perfectly against the Bengals? So why not Washington?

Of course it didn't work in the season-opening debacle against Baltimore when the defense crumbled and the Ravens shot so far ahead by halftime, passing was the only way to rally quickly. But the Browns, let's be honest, are not yet a good passing team.

Offensive linemen, if asked, would most likely admit they would much rather run block than pass block. And because you have two Pro Bowl running backs like Chubb and Hunt, it makes sense to run the football regardless of the opposition.

A quick check of Washington's statistics reveals the defense regurgitates 350 yards a game, about 100 of those on the ground, so there is some vulnerability there. 

They also reveal a stat that scares a few people -- 11 sacks in the first two games. It suggests the Cleveland offensive line will be in for a long afternoon with the likes of rookie Chase Young and pro sophomore Montez Sweat chasing Mayfield.

Eight of those sacks were recorded in the season opener against Philadelphia, whose quarterback sets up office in the pocket. Against Arizona last Sunday, a much more mobile Kyler Murray was nailed only three times in a 30-15 loss.

Therein lies the key to a Cleveland victory and the difference between a 2-1 start and 1-2 beginning. Once Murray escaped the pocket, as he did on numerous occasions, the WFT's strength disappeared. 

Now Mayfield is not nearly as quick or fast or elusive as his predecessor at Oklahoma, but when schemed by the offensive staff, can become just as dangerous. In fact, he, for whatever reason, appears to throw better when on the run than from the pocket.

He is more decisive and much more accurate, whether it's rolling out to his throwing side or misdirection against the grain. His touchdown throw to Odell Beckham Jr. against the Bengals came on a misdirection play.

How often have we seen Mayfield from the pocket begin throwing and then pull the ball back, often resulting in a negative play? That usually throws off the timing of pass routes run by receivers. He has been around the NFL long enough now to be able to accurately read defenses.

The Redskins thus far have had problems getting started in games. They fell behind the Eagles, 17-0, until scoring in the final minute of the first half before rallying for a 27-17 victory, Last Sunday, the Cardinals blew out to a 20-0 halftime lead en route to a 30-15 victory.

The Browns would love to duplicate their start last week against the Bengals when they scored touchdowns on three of their four first-half possessions. All of which bodes well for the Browns, right? You'd think so. That would appear to favor them until you remember the rules dictate they must play on defense. 

Second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. isn't frightening anyone this season. His offense averages 278 yards a game, less than 19 first downs a game, owns the football for just 28 minutes and is 9-for-30 on third down. J.D. McKissic and Antonio Gibson share the brunt of a running game that hasn't cracked the 200-yard mark yet.

This one also becomes interesting if Denzel Ward's groin, injured in the Bengals victory, forces him to join fellow cornerback Greedy Williams (shoulder) as spectators. If Ward, who undoubtedly would love to face former Ohio State teammates Haskins and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, can't make it, Kevin Johnson returns from the injured list and pairs with Terrance Mitchell.

Two other observations: Haskins completes only 56% of his passes, has thrown for only 401 yards and two touchdowns (no picks . . . yet) and can always be found in the pocket. He is not a runner. Never was at Ohio State, either.

This one, much like the Cincinnati game, should wind up in the win column. There is no excuse losing to this team. Many pundits predict a shootout much like the Bengals game. Don't see that happening because the Cleveland pass rush will pick up at least another three sacks.

So with fingers crossed (only because of the awful Cleveland defense), Mayfield & Co. make it two in a row at home with all facets of the offense sparkling. Make it:

Browns 34, Washington Football Team (PKA Redskins) 20

 

Mid-week thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday leftovers (Friday edition)

There was only one aspect of Thursday night's 35-30 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals that chapped Kevin Stefanski from an offensive standpoint.

It was the moment Baker Mayfield tried to thread a pass to rookie tight end Harrison Bryant into double coverage at the beginning of the fourth quarter with the Browns holding a 28-16 lead. It wound up in the hands of Bengals cornerback Williams Jackson III two yards from the end zone.

"We talk a lot about the balance between being aggressive and smart," Stefanski said. "I want our quarterbacks to be aggressive. I also want them to know the value of the football." In other words, protect the rock. Mayfield failed to heed the smart part of that line of thinking.

While he is not incorrect, he, too, should share some blame for calling a play like that at that juncture of the game. He was smartly protecting the lead up to that point with a relentless ground attack alternating Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

The offense had marched 49 yards -- Hunt chewing up 35 of those yards on five carries -- to the Cincinnati 26. That's when Stefanski got greedy and dialed up Mayfield, who at the time was playing almost flawlessly. 

Why abandon the run when it was so successfully accomplishing the main objective? The Browns' offensive line was winning every snap. Why not run down the clock? Move the chains and slowly demoralize the sagging Bengals defense. So who is really to blame for the pick?

Got to be Stefanski, who wants his mistake-prone quarterback to protect the ball, then makes a call like that. That's like pointing fingers of guilt at the messenger. The wrong guy. Stefanski called the play. Mayfield failed to execute it properly. The blame lies with the playcaller, not the thrower.

"We teach them on every single play," Stefanski said. "We give them reads that are very black and white. When the play breaks down or the play goes off schedule, you just trust those guys to get smarter as the down gets longer."

The Bengals took advantage of the interception and put together a pass-heavy, 14-play, 83-yard touchdown drive against a tiring Cleveland defense that cut the Browns' lead to 28-23. Instead of being up at least 31-16 with a field goal or 35-16 with a touchdown, it became a game with 5:55 left in regulation.

Stefanski learned his lesson quickly, though. On the very next possession, he pocketed the passing game and messaged only run plays to Mayfield. With Chubb and Hunt again taking turns, the Browns marched 75 yards in six plays, Chubb accounting for 30 and Hunt for 45 and the score.

So the next time he thinks calling a pass play is wise when the run game is working so overwhelmingly well, the head coach/playcaller might consider what happened Thursday night as an object lesson, rein himself in and keep from getting hungry for more at the inappropriate time.

Mayfield, meanwhile, was sanguine about the offense he managed. "That's going to build confidence for us and us playing complementary football with the defense," he said. "That's the scary part. If we start clicking and (get) better, it's going to be a fun ride."

Stefanski summed it up in a Captain Obvious way: "We have to keep growing as an offense. We have to get better each week -- offense, defense and special teams." 

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It became quite clear early that Stefanski wanted Mayfield to feel more comfortable than he did in the opening-game shellacking in Baltimore when he called maybe one or two designed rollouts and/or play fakes. It's the kind of offense that plays well to the quarterback's strengths, which were evidenced in the Bengals victory.

It allows him to get into the open, sometimes on misdirection plays (my favorite), which gives him more time to choose options that are available. He becomes a better quarterback when he escapes the pocket and is on the run early in the play. It places even more pressure on the defense.

Stefanski and Mayfield have been together for a relatively short period of time because of the pandemic and are getting used to each other now that games are being played. It looks as though this is going to be a weekly process that is slowly coming together as they attempt to land on the same page.

The importance of shepherding his quarterback through the process cannot be minimized. It took just one game to eliminate some of the mistakes in the Baltimore game. It's worth keeping an eye on in the next game at home against Washington a week from Sunday.

Fairly or unfairly, this is a make or break year for Mayfield, whose strong showing as a rookie portended a bright future and bitterly disappointing sophomore season all but wiped out all he accomplished in his first year. He needs to duplicate his first year to advance the notion he deserves to be considered the face of the franchise.

He took major steps against the Bengals and their bad defense. Now let's see where this project lies after the next four games against Washington, Dallas, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, all teams with playoff ambitions and better defenses. than the Bengals.

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The Cleveland defense turned in the play of the game, as it turned out, early in the third quarter after the Cincinnati defense turned away the Browns on four plays from the 1 and took over on downs with the Browns clinging to a 21-13 lead. Great momentum changer. Or so they thought. Myles Garrett had other ideas.

Six plays later, the big defensive end on third-and-9 strip-sacked rookie Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow, separating him from the ball with Joe Jackson recovering right back where it all started, the 1. This time, Chubb chugged into the end zone on the second play for the 28-13 lead.

The defense on this team is not going to make many big plays. It is not talented enough from front to back. You can't name more than two or three genuine playmakers among the mediocrity of the personnel on that side of the ball. So enjoy them when they occur.

What the defense did show against the Bengals was stamina. Middle linebacker B. J, Goodson and free safety Andrew Sendejo played all 93 snaps (88 counted on the stats sheet); cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Terrance Mitchell each played 91; strong safety Karl Joseph logged 86; and Garrett was in on 84, a ringing testament to the great shape they are in, especially after a 61-pass night by Burrow.

Ward had a particularly outstanding evening against Cincinnati wide receiver A. J. Green, who has bedeviled the Browns in the past. He was targeted 13 times by Burrow and caught just three for a measly 29 yards, the longest a 15-yarder. 

*       *       * 

Injuries have taken a huge bite out of the defensive end rotation. Olivier Vernon (abdomen) did not dress and Adrian Clayborn, who replaced him in the starting lineup and had an early sack, left in the second quarter (hip) and did not return. 

Porter Gustin, who had a strong training camp, and Jackson took over with no dropoff in production.  Gustin logged 63 snaps with four tackles (two solo), a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit, and Jackson contributed 31 snaps with three tackles (one solo) and the vital fumble recovery that led to the fourth touchdown. 

But it was the outstanding play of defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson that stood out all evening. When he wasn't harassing Burrow, he was helping shut down the strong Cincinnati running game, holding Joe Mixon to his career low (46 yards) against the Browns.

In 67 snaps, Richardson contributed six tackles (four solo), a sack, multiple hurries, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. He was easily the most effective defensive lineman. 

*       *       * 

Finally . . . It sure looks as though KhaDarel Hodge has locked up the third wide receiver role ahead of Rashard Higgins. Hodge played 33 snaps to Higgins' five and caught both targeted passes for 39 yards. . . . Kudos to offensive right tackle Chris Hubbard, who was solid filling in for Jack Conklin (ankle and finger). If he played like that last season, the Browns might not have gone after Conklin in free agency. . . . Odell Beckham Jr., who was on the receiving end of the Browns' second touchdown, a 43-yard strike early in the second quarter, was targeted just twice in the second half, no doubt because the running game was so dominant. . . . What needs to be worked on besides the defense? Special teams surrendered kickoff returns of 45 and 42 yards by the Bengals' Brandon Wilson, a safety. The first led to a field goal, the second a touchdown. . . .Cody Parkey was perfect on five extra points for the Browns as Austin Seibert, signed by the Bengals after being released by Cleveland on Monday, watched from the sidelines. Converting extra points proved difficult for Seibert with the Browns. . . . Up next, the team formerly known as the Redskins at home a week from Sunday. FYI: They recorded eight sacks in their week one upset of Philadelphia. 

Lesson learned

Kevin Stefanski learned a lot about his football team Thursday night in the Browns' home opener.

He finally remembered he had a special pair of running backs on one side of the ball and discovered for the second straight week that lots of work needs to be addressed in a far out way on the other side.

It took the new head coach exactly one game to realize running the football is the path to success for this team on offense as the Cincinnati Bengals found out in the Browns' highly entertaining 35-30 victory.

A national television audience tuned in to the game featuring moribund franchises, probably expecting a dull, monotonous exercise of bad football for 60 yawning minutes. Instead, they were treated to an offensive display that produced nearly 800 yards led by two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks.

Stefanski, whose offensive philosophy revolves around running the football, realized way too late in last Sunday's 38-6 drubbing in Baltimore that Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are elite runners and should be a major part of the game plan. He corrected that against the Bengals.

Chubb and Hunt combined for 210 yards and four touchdowns, while Baker Mayfield, in his best game in what seems like an eternity, tossed a pair of scores as the Browns hung on to halt a four-game losing streak that began with losses in the last three games last season.

They hung on because Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, in only his second National Football League game, was forced to play catchup almost all evening after the Browns raced out to a 28-13 lead with 5:45 left in the third quarter.

The Cleveland defense, which was on the field for an exhausting -- and seemingly improbable -- 88 plays, couldn't get off the field, suffering through a 61-pass fusillade from Burrow, who completed 37 for 316 yards and three touchdowns.

He dropped back to pass on 38 of the Bengals' final 44 plays as the the fatigued Cleveland pass rush operated on backup batteries. The effort was there, but effort on this night at that point was futile for the most part.

It enabled the Bengals to convert eight of 18 third-down chances and all five fourth-down plays. They put together drives consuming 15, 12, 14, 14 and 16 plays. That's 71 of the 88 plays; the Browns ran only 58 plays. 

There seemed to be no such thing as a stop all evening, although both clubs did manage a goal-line stand. The defenses were so bad, Kevin Huber punted only twice for the Bengals, which was twice as much as Jamie Gillan of the Browns. 

This one was definitely not for lovers of fundamentally solid defense. That's what made it so entertaining.

This was one of those kinds of games Browns fans will most likely have to endure this season where the offense is good enough to score enough points to overcome bad defense and win by merely outscoring the opponent. 

It got drilled by the Ravens in the season opener and regurgitated lots of yardage Thursday night. In two games this season, the very offensive Cleveland defense has surrendered eight touchdowns, 68 points and 730 total yards. It did, however, shut down Bengals running back Joe Mixon, who ran for just 46 yards.

Chubb, meanwhile, bulldozed through a Bengals defense that loaded the box in an effort  to slow him down. It didn't come even close to working as the nails-tough running back racked up most of his yardage after contact.

The final score is somewhat misleading. The Browns never trailed after scoring touchdowns on three of their four first-half possessions, building a 21-13 lead. Mayfield completed second-quarter touchdowns passes to Odell Beckham Jr., on a 43-yard beauty and Hunt on a six-yarder in the right flat.

He was more like a manager for the offense all evening. He threw the ball just 23 times, only nine times in the second half as Stefanski chose wisely to feature Chubb and Hunt. 

The only turnover was an ill-advised throw by Mayfield in the fourth quarter when Stefanski foolishly  chose to disrupt the flow of the successful ground game with a forward pass. It was picked off deep in Cincy territory when Mayfield misread the coverage.

Mayfield got all the help he needed from an offensive line that created just enough room for Chubb to slither through and Hunt to slice through. Hunt, more of a slasher, relieved Chubb in the second half and befuddled a tiring Cincinnati defense with dazzling moves reminiscent of his early days in Kansas City.

The offenses were so efficient . . . no, not really. Actually, the defenses were so were porous most of the evening, that made the offenses look efficient from a relative standpoint. Tackling on both teams suggested that aspect of football also needs to be addressed. 

Now before anyone starts believing the Browns' offensive problems are fixed, take into consideration this was the Cincinnati Bengals. This is a team the Browns are supposed to beat. 

But the offense can't cover for its own bad defensive cohorts every game. Other teams down the schedule have much better defenses than the Bengals. It is incumbent on Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods, understandably operating with several of his best players injured, to come up with a solution.

The offense cannot -- and should not -- be counted on to produce scoring bonanzas like this one. As much as it sounds like it would be fun, that's not going to happen.

It's just two games into the regular season, but Stefanski has to remember the formula that produced Thursday night's result and apply it in the next 14 outings. Mayfield might be the linchpin, but he needs help. He got it Thursday night.

I'd love to think . . . 

Here we are barely into week two of the 2020 National Football League regular season and already the critics -- yep, including yours truly -- are chirping about the Browns and it's not, uh, nice. So what else is new?

It has been this way since 1999 and it seems there is nothing that can be done about that. Two ownerships have failed in two decades to unlock the mystery of what it takes to win football games. And the beat goes on.

The part of me that helps remember all too well what this franchise meant to its fans and the world of professional football in its first 50 years is rapidly fading. Memories are nice, but extremely difficult to hold on to when balanced by absurdly bad football.

Even though I am a pessimist by nature, I still have a few positive genes remaining that stubbornly refuse to go away. They are frantically -- often hopelessly -- searching for positives among the tidal waves of negatives.

As we approach the Browns' Thursday night nationally-televised game against Cincinnati in the 2020 home opener, allow me to share several thoughts. They fall under the category of "I'd love to think."

I'd love to think Nick Chubb will get more than 13 carries against the Bengals. That's how many one of the NFL's elite runners had in the season opener. against Baltimore. Gotta change.

I'd love to think Baker Mayfield will magically connect often with Odell Beckham Jr. and make his prized wide receiver happy.

I'd love to think OBJ will be a Cleveland Brown all season.

I'd love to think Mayfield will ultimately return to the form of his rookie season (2018) when he set a league record for most touchdown passes by a first-year quarterback in just 14 games.

I'd love to think he will have a 2018 type bust-out game against the Bengals.

I'd love to think the Browns' offensive line will provide Mayfield with a clean pocket on every pass play.

I'd love to think Myles Garrett will get off the schneid and collect two sacks (can't get too greedy) and five hurries as he makes life miserable for Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow.

I'd love to think fellow defensive end Olivier Vernon will finally stay healthy and show up between the lines the rest of the season.

I'd love to think the (correctly) much maligned secondary will not play against the Bengals as if they have no clue as to what they are doing back there.

I'd love to think Browns cornerback Denzel Ward will shut down A. J. Green, who usually torches the Browns.

Stay with me. There's more.

I'd love to think brain farts like fake punts have been placed so far back on the burner, they won't be used until 2022. If then,

I'd love to think the special teams will return to normal after imploding against the Ravens in the season-opening debacle.

I'd love to think the wide receivers corps has learned how to get open. Studying tapes of how the Ravens did it Sunday is a good start.

I'd love to think the three tight ends will become a major factor in the game plan unlike last Sunday when Beckham was targeted more than the entire tight end position.

I'd like to think head coach Kevin Stefanski will remember his offensive philosophy calls for running the football and throwing it to the tight ends, something he failed to do against the Ravens. Must be a Cleveland thing.

I'd love to think if the offense doesn't start producing to his satisfaction, Stefanski will hand over the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator AlexVan Pelt.

Hang on. Almost done.

I'd love to think the awful linebacking we saw in the Ravens loss was just an aberration and we will see a return to normal against the Bengals.

I'd love to think defensive coordinator Joe Woods will come up with a much better game plan -- hint, hint: blitz, then blitz some more -- against Burrow, still in the infant stages of his pro career.

I'd love to think picking the Browns over the Bengals by more than the six points they are favored is a wise move. Better yet, I'd love to think they will win regardless of the point spread.

I'd love to think all of the above. But I can't. I just can't.

Instead, I am going to keep picking the Browns to lose until I'm wrong. I won't love thinking and doing that at all.

In a battle of field goals, make it:

Bengals 19, Browns 16

 

 

Monday leftovers

 

So many thoughts to share, so little space. Unpacking the devastation that took place Sunday in Baltimore as the Browns peel off the remains of the 38-6 scalding beginning with this. . . .

 

Anatomy of how a first and 10 at the Baltimore 29-yard line early in the second quarter became a third and 41 at the Browns’ 40 in just five plays. It was backward march in slow motion.

 

With the Browns trailing, 10-6, the offense drove from the 12 after the defense forced a turnover inside the 5 and landed at the Ravens’ 29 in nine plays and a roughing-the-passer penalty later. No worse than a field goal loomed.

 

And then it turned ugly. Real ugly. Game-changing ugly. It started innocently as Browns fans started believing this season, even in its infancy, just might be different. What followed was a new kind of different, even for this franchise.

 

Wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, lined up in the slot, begins his route a fraction early and is flagged for a false start. Back to the 34, first and 15. Baker Mayfield connects with Odell Beckham Jr. for a one-yard completion, but the receiver is flagged for a facemask. Fifteen yards later, it’s first and 29 at the 48.

 

A Mayfield pass intended for Beckham is tipped by rookie linebacker Malik Harrison and nearly picked off by safety Chuck Clark. A Mayfield sack by Ravens rookie linebacker Patrick Queen loses seven yards.

 

Now it’s third and 36 and back in Cleveland territory at the 45. Adding insult to insult, the bench embarrassingly did not get the next play in on time. Delay of game. Five more yards. There you have it.

 

Third down and 41 yards to go!! The eventual play call resulted in, what else, an incomplete pass.

 

In 13 plays, the Browns covered 28 net yards, took six minutes and 13 seconds off the game clock, accomplishing what was truly a unique and amazing feat. Never saw that before – shocking, I know – and probably will never see it again. Its uniqueness will sustain it in professional football’s Hall of Shame.

 

Adding misery to the moment, the Ravens took Jamie Gillan’s subsequent 59-yard punt that died at the 1 and increased their lead 99 yards later to 17-6 with a flawless 10-play drive, culminated by the first of rookie running back J K, Dobbins’ two touchdowns.

 

Then to make certain the Browns and their fans knew who was in charge, as if it was still in doubt at the time, the Ravens on their next possession moved 69 yards in a snappy 35 seconds in the final minute of the half, all passes against the bewildered Cleveland secondary, to grab a 24-6 lead after Austin Seibert missed a field goal.

 

The bludgeoning was completed with two second-half touchdowns as the Cleveland defense collapsed.

 

If that was a portent of what lies ahead the rest of this already-strange season, it will be nothing more than yet another stern test for a fan base that has to be inured by now to whatever that future holds.

*       *       *

Kevin Stefanski is close to falling into the rut that hastened Freddie Kitchens’ departure as head coach of the Browns after one season. It’s been only one game for the rookie head coach, but he must fall out of love with Beckham.

 

Stefanski called 41 pass plays against the Ravens Sunday. Ten of them were aimed at Beckham, who caught three passes for a miserable 22 yards. By comparison, the tight ends were targeted eight times total. What’s going on here?

 

Why is Beckham the beneficiary of more targets than a whole position group, especially when that position group is supposedly highly favored by the new head coach? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Is it possible Mayfield and Beckham are not a match made in heaven? It seems the quarterback is more in tune with Jarvis Landry, who was targeted six times Sunday and hauled in five balls for 61 yards.

 

A quick check of last season’s stats reveals Beckham caught 55.6% of his targets for 1,035 yards and only four touchdowns. Landry grabbed 60.1% of his targets for 1,174 yards and six TDs.

 

Even though it’s just one game, it seems to Stefanski is trying almost too hard to make certain his mercurial receiver doesn’t complain about not seeing the football enough. In doing so, he has strayed from his tight-end heavy philosophy.

 

Apportioning the football equally might be Stefanski’s toughest hurdle with great producers like Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Landry, Beckham and tight end Austin Hooper, who the Browns paid a lot of money to leave Atlanta. That situation bears watching all season.

*       *       *

Is there any question the Browns’ defense will be a trouble spot all season? Yes, it’s only one game against the best team in the conference. But members on that side of the football looked lost out there Sunday.

 

The secondary in particular seemingly had no idea of what they were supposed to do. Lamar Jackson found receivers alarmingly wide open all afternoon. Few passes were contested. Now that’s either the defensive coordinator’s fault or the talent back there is dreadful.

 

Kevin Johnson, M. J. Stewart Jr. and Greedy Williams are too banged up to play and Ronnie Harrison is too new to step right in. Getting them back won’t be soon enough because a secondary that features safeties Andrew Sendejo, Tavierre Thomas and Sheldrick Redwine is like a stick of dynamite waiting to be lit.

*       *       *

Stefanski, after the game Sunday, sounded a little bit like Captain Obvious: “They deserved to win. They outscored us, they outplayed us. We did a lot of things losing teams do.” He forgot outcoached us.

 

From the department of sound familiar: “We have to take way better care of the ball as a team. Three turnovers are too many.” The captain speaks.

 

With regard to the anemic performance in the passing game: “We have to get to the bottom of it. The passing game requires precision from 11 guys in order to make it go.” That’s what a new system and lack of minicamps and exhibitions can do to that precision.

 

And there’s this on the disastrous fake punt: “That’s my responsibility. It didn’t work out. (Really?!) You can put that right on me.” Okay. Don’t ever do that again from your territory unless it’s near midfield and even then, come up with a better play.

*       *       *

Mayfield with the line of the day Sunday:” “Sometimes, a wake-up call is pretty good for everybody, a nice punch in the mouth and that’s how we should take it and not dwell on it. Realize we just got beat today. . . . Look at it, get better, move on and go play the Bengals. That’s all we can do.”

*       *       *

After his pitiful performance Sunday, the Browns almost immediately made Seibert a free agent. (What took them so long?) He has had all offseason to think about his slightly above-average rookie season last year and failed to improve.

 

Missing an extra point and field goal on your only two opportunities to score points Sunday is inexcusable and warranted a ticket out of town. The much more reliable Cody Parkey is no longer on the practice squad. The ex-Brown is back now and has a second chance in Cleveland. He can’t be any worse than Seibert.

*       *       *

Finally . . . Defensive end Myles Garrett played for the first time since bopping Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph on the noggin with a helmet last season and sort of showed up against the Ravens. He recovered a fumble, hit Lamar Jackson once and made one solo tackle. That’s it. Not to worry. The sacks will come. . . . Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi had a strong game with four tackles, two for loss, and was a general nuisance. . . . The Browns racked up eight penalties for 80 yards, including three facemask flags, which is better, relatively speaking, than last season’s opening game when they committed 18 penalties for 182 yards. But that’s still too many. . . .  Time of possession Sunday believe it or not was just about even with the Browns owning the football exactly two seconds longer. . . . Jedrick Wills Jr. did not embarrass himself in his pro football debut at offensive left tackle. He committed just one holding penalty and played what can be best described as a decent game. Outside of the penalty, nothing negative stood out. . . . Wills (shin bruise), Jack Conklin (ankle and finger), David Njoku (knee) and rookie Jacob Phillips (knee) hit the injured list. Njoku, who scored the lone touchdown Sunday, was placed on injured reserve. Only Njoku has been ruled out of Thursday night’s home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

 

No surprise here

 

There are so many ways to deconstruct the Browns’ latest attempt to play a football game. Feeble doesn’t even come close.

 

To label Sunday’s 38-6 season-opening loss to the Ravens in Baltimore as a beatdown would be incorrect. So would whupping. Walloping is more like it. Embarrassment nails it.

 

The Browns arrived in Baltimore for the 2020 National Football League season opener as unprepared as any Cleveland team I’ve seen in recent memory. This team was not ready to play a game of football.

 

Never mind that the loss dropped their opening-game record to 1-20-1 since the resurrection in 1999. Never mind that it was against the team that called itself the Cleveland Browns for 50 years. After what happened Sunday, that’s immaterial.

 

Heading into this game, most of us knew just about everything was new about these Browns. From the head coach to the coaching staff to the front office, most fans knew it was going to be rough at the beginning, especially against not even arguably the best team in the AFC this season.

 

If anything can be gleaned from this game, it should serve as an object lesson in how to not just win football games, but how to dominate them. The major difference there is the talent quotient of each team.

 

The Ravens are so far superior to the Browns in that department, it’s like they are playing in another universe. The Browns are trying to discover who they are.

 

Kevin Stefanski got to see up close and personal just how far his team is from where the Ravens are right now. It’s hard to believe he did not see this coming. It turned out there was nothing he could do about it. He was helpless.

 

The outcome of this game was so lopsided, not even the most ardent Browns fan can even hypothetically see a different result. This one cannot be iffed away.

 

You can point a finger of guilt at kicker Austin Seibert, who came up with the daily double of kicker misery with a missed extra point and missed field goal on his only attempts of the afternoon.

 

Or at Odell Beckham Jr., whose dropped pass (you and I could have caught it) late in the second quarter on a third-and-short would have prolonged a drive well into Ravens territory.

 

How about the ridiculously awful decision to call for a fake punt on the Browns’ second possession of the game? It would still be stupid even if it had worked. Why the second possession of the game? What made it even worse was the call itself. If you’re going to fake a punt, at least have a good play ready from your 32-yard line.

 

Having punter Jamie Gillan try to sprint nearly 20 yards from punt formation and expect to gain the necessary yardage is foolish. At least try snapping the ball to the up man (Andrew Sendejo) for a much shorter run or try throwing a pass. As it turned out, Gillan fumbled, the Ravens recovered and turned it into a field goal.

 

No, this one was lost because a confluence of errors, of self-inflicted wounds. In essence, the Browns wound up beating themselves as much as anything. And that’s taking nothing away from a dangerous Ravens offense that took full advantage of them.

 

The Browns had no answers for the brilliance that is Lamar Jackson. It had no clue on how to stop, let alone neutralize, the Baltimore quarterback, who showed he can be just as destructive with his arm as he can with his feet (20 of 25 for 275 yards and three touchdowns – two to tight end Mark Andrews).

 

His feet picked up 45 of the club’s 107 yards infantry style, but the touchdown glory went to rookie running back J. K. Dobbins, who scored twice, although the former Ohio State star carried just seven times in his NFL debut.

 

Jackson picked apart a porous Cleveland secondary that at times looked as though it had no clue as to what was happening. It seemed as though Ravens’ receivers were wide open a vast majority of the time. They made it look ridiculously easy.

 

The Ravens ‘defense, meanwhile, made life miserable for Baker Mayfield, coming up with big plays when needed by frequently flushing him out of the pocket. Outside of a lone touchdown throw to David Njoku late in the first quarter, the Cleveland offense never again reached the red zone.

 

It surrendered 132 yards to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, but little mistakes along the way, like a Chubb fumble, prevented any serious damage. Like Calais Campbell’s big paw that kept getting in the way of Mayfield’s passes. The 6-8 veteran defensive lineman even dropped back in coverage once and tipped a pass that was picked off.

 

Starting with Mayfield’s first interception of the season on the opening possession to special teams being very unspecial to a defense that proved overwhelmingly it is the weakest, by far, side of the football, this one was a team effort.

 

It was a jolting wake-up call for Stefanski. This isn’t Minnesota anymore, where the Vikings actually play solid defense and can keep the opposing offense from running away, Can’t say that about his new defense.

 

He also found out his offense – he’s got to take all the blame there since he appointed himself playcaller – is not yet good enough to overcome serious defensive deficiencies and try to outscore opponents to win games. That capability will come eventually.

 

His run-first philosophy might have to wait a little longer, too. When you fall behind by so much because of a mediocre at best defense, that necessitates dialing up the passing game.

 

Case in point: The Browns ran the ball 27 times in 68 plays. Subtract two scrambles by Mayfield and the Gillan disaster and that’s 24 called runs out of 68. That’s less than 35% of the calls, well under Stefanski’s standard.

 

And the tight ends that were supposed to be so important in his offense? Just eight targets in 41 dropbacks with six catches, including Njoku’s touchdown in the first quarter, for 70 yards. For comparative purposes, Beckham was targeted 10 times.  

 

Austin Hooper, for whom the Browns paid a small fortune as a free agent, was perfect on both of his targets for a grand total of 15 yards. Maybe they paid him all that money to block.

 

Is there any question Stefanski has a lot to clean up before Thursday’s night’s invasion of the Cincinnati Bengals on national television, starting with better pass protection from the offense line to smarter calls on special teams to a better pass rush to more targets for the tights.

 

He discovered the hard and painful way Sunday that all phases of this team are not even close to where they need to be. This was truly a team loss.

 

In some ways because it was the first time the Browns faced anyone other than themselves in training camp because a global pandemic wiped out OTAs, minicamps and four exhibition games, this one felt a smidge like an exhibition game.

Only problem was it counted.

 

This one is easy

 

When predicting the outcomes of National Football League games, there are numerous no-brainers. The ones that almost always wind up in the win column. On a few occasions, though, the outcome is blazingly obvious. Those are known as no-brainers!!

 

What follows is one of those no-brainers!!

 

Is there any question that when the Browns and Ravens open the 2020 season in Baltimore Sunday, the home team will win overwhelmingly? Numerous negative factors stand in the way of a Cleveland victory.

 

First, but definitely not the most important, is the Browns’ record on opening day since returning to the NFL in 1999 after a ridiculously stupidly enforced three-year absence.

 

In those 21 openers, they overwhelmed one opponent, underwhelmed 19 and whelmed another. Opening day for the new Browns became synonymous with losing. Made no difference the venue.

 

The lone celebration was a 20-3 home victory over the Ravens way back in 2004. They lug a 15-game winless streak into this game. The losing has gotten so commonplace, Browns fans would be shocked beyond belief if they win.

 

They won’t. Win that is. Way too many reasons to believe otherwise.

 

Let’s continue with John Harbaugh, one of the best head coaches in the league. Harbaugh loves to plays against the Browns. Who could blame him? His 20-4 record (10-2 in each venue) against them in a dozen seasons is mute evidence. The Browns needed overtime to win two of those games.

 

That 40-25 Cleveland victory in Baltimore last season in week four? An aberration. And don’t for a minute think Harbaugh didn’t use that psychologically as his club prepared this past week.

 

The Ravens have outscored the Browns, 584-381, in Harbaugh’s 12 seasons. During that stretch, the Browns have been held to 10 or fewer points 10 times; the Ravens, once – and that was nine points. On the other side of the football, the Ravens have eclipsed 23 or more points in a game on 17 occasions (out of 24); the Browns, six.

 

Kevin Stefanski, on the other hand, is making his pro football head-coaching debut with the Browns. No one knows what to expect, although his history as an offensive coordinator and budding offensive guru suggests he loves to run the football.

 

Then again, many pundits foresee the Ravens in the next Super Bowl next February in Tampa, Fla. Who can argue? They have solid arguments on either side of the ball to buttress them.

 

They return 10 of 11 starters on a juggernaut offense from last season’s team that romped to a 14-2 record before being knocked off in the second round of the playoffs by Tennessee.

 

Lamar Jackson stunned the pro football world last season with an otherworldly, record-setting display. He did things with his feet that no other quarterback in league history had done, running for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns. Oh, and he connected on two-thirds of his passes for another 3,200-plus yards and 36 more touchdowns. That’s 4,333 yards from scrimmage and 43 touchdowns. All that in 15 games.

 

On defense, the Ravens in the offseason corrected a quarterback-pressure deficiency, trading for Calais Campbell and signing Derek Wolfe as a free agent. The defensive ends bring 20 years of experience, 121 sacks, 197 tackles for loss and 278 quarterback hits in the effort to correct that.

 

Browns offensive left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. can expect to see a lot of Campbell and/or Wolfe, along with standouts Pernell McPhee and Matthew Judon most of the afternoon. Quite a baptism for the rookie.

 

Want another reason the Ravens will dominate? Their offensive system with Jackson in control is entering its third season. This offense hit the ground running in a training camp severely abbreviated due to a global pandemic.

 

No changes with the coaching. No changes with the philosophy. Everything is as it was at the end of last season. The comfort level was immediate. We know what to expect from them.

 

That is something the Browns cannot say. Not with a brand new head coach, a brand new coaching staff and two brand new systems. After a training season that had no OTAs, minicamps or exhibition games, we really don’t know what to expect from this team.

 

Those (few?) who believe the Browns have a chance in this one point to the fact the Ravens don’t know what to expect from the Browns. Can’t argue that one. All Harbaugh can say – and it’s true – is Cleveland has some serious talent on offense.

 

The difference there is the Browns are playing with a revamped offensive line and it is much more likely it will take at least a game or three or four to work together and achieve the cohesion necessary to be successful. It doesn’t happen overnight.

 

Because everything this season – the coaching, the philosophy, the personnel – is so different with the Browns, the Ravens probably didn’t waste their time looking at tapes from last season.

 

One final reason to lean heavily in the Ravens’ direction arrived Friday when Stefanski finally revealed he would call plays on offense this season, labeling it “what’s best for the team.” Alex Van Pelt will be offensive coordinator in name only.

 

Not certain it’s because he doesn’t trust Van Pelt or just wants a firm handle on the side of the ball with which he has grown as an assistant coach. That means the team’s head coach will calls plays on offense for the second straight season. And we all know how that turned out last season. It cost Freddie Kitchens his job.

 

What that does, in effect, is make it that much more difficult for Stefanski to be the head coach. Making wise decisions requires strict attention to all aspects of the game as it unfolds. Thinking a play of two ahead. If he’s busy with strategy and tactics for the offense, it robs him of the opportunity to display that wisdom and makes him less effective as a head coach.

 

If there is anything remotely possible, a sliver to hang your hat on with regard to an upset, it would be executing with near perfection Stefanski’s main goal to win time of possession with chains-moving drives featuring the run game, short high-percentage passes and zero self-inflicted wounds. In other words, penalties.

 

It’s keeping the high-powered Baltimore offense tethered to the bench, wearing down the Ravens’ defense and hoping the Cleveland defense, which returns only half of last season’s snaps, keeps everything in front of them and limits the damage the Baltimore offense is quite capable of creating.

 

It’s the opportunity to reveal a Jackson weakness – every player has one – by assigning a member of the defense to “spy” on the talented Baltimore quarterback. Parrot his every move and prevent him from making the big play. Fingers crossed on that one.

 

So what are the odds all that can happen and the Browns end that 15-game winless streak in season-opening games? Infinitesimally high. So high, it falls into the category of no-brainer!! Make it:

 

Ravens 38, Browns 16

 

Mid-week thoughts

 

Okay, now that training camp is over, time for new Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to assess his team’s preparedness for the 2020 National Football League season.

 

How ready are Stefanski and his brand new coaching staff as the season opener Sunday in Baltimore creeps closer? He was asked that question recently. His answer, in a word, sanguine.

 

“I think I like where we are right now,” he said. A lot of thought and hard work resulted in the coach’s “right now.”

 

“We thought long and hard about how we were rolling out this program going all the way back to April in how we installed and how we reinstalled,” he told the Cleveland media. “I feel confident on what the coaches are able to get across to the players and I feel confident what the players were able to learn.

 

“Having said that, I understand this year and this season is unique, so we just have to be ready to put together a plan in week one that we are confident the guys can go out and execute.”

 

Unique is putting it rather mildly. It will be different in so many ways as the NFL is dead set on proving it can operate efficiently and successfully in the face of a global pandemic with 32 teams as guinea pigs.

 

Stefanski and his coaching crew have had precious little time to prepare for the 17-week marathon. About a month of training is not going to cut it, especially with the installation of new systems for both sides of the football.

 

That ordinarily takes time. But there is nothing ordinary about this season. The absence of exhibition games and minicamps will be felt in the early stages of the season, particularly on offense, where timing and precision are not just essential, it is expected.

 

Everything is brand new in Berea this season. Reminders of how awful it was last season have become seriously distant memories. And that is just the way Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry wanted it.

 

So how good can this offense be with less than a month of actual training and no exhibition games? Practicing against each other produces just so much progress. It’s not as though these guys can just roll in and get the job done right away.

 

To expect this team to come out of the chute and look good is foolhardy. The install and reinstall of a new offense and a new defense takes time. And that is time the coaching staff will never get back.

 

Stefanski, who becomes the franchise’s 12^th head coach (10^th full-time) since the resurrection in 1999, must know that. If he doesn’t, then shame on him for believing that’s the case.

 

One of his main goals is to get the players to believe, to be self-assured they are on the right track. But then there is the reality. And reality has been known to take big chunks out of confidence. 

 

Stefanski is on the precipice of dipping his feet into some pretty rugged waters. What is about to eventuate – honestly thinking bad thoughts about Sunday’s game – will not be his fault. At least not yet.

 

He did not bargain for the unusualness of what he undoubtedly will be up against in the next four months. When he accepted this job last January, coronavirus and pandemic were two new, strange words in our vocabularies. Who knew at the time the impact they would ultimately -- and quickly -- have?

 

Stefanski and his club will be fighting from here on out on two fronts: The 16-game schedule, and the mysterious killer that has baffled a planet. Negotiating those disparate enemies successfully will be quite a feat in and of itself.

 

Do not judge this team on how it performs in the first half of the season. Judge it on what transpires in the final eight games. That’s how long it’ll probably take for the comfort level to reach the point where positive results are attained.

 

And so it begins

 

Training camp is over. The not-so final active Browns roster is set. Or is it? That means the regular season has come clearly into focus. Game plans for the season opener Sunday in Baltimore are being implemented this week.

 

Yes, it’s really going to happen. The National Football League is actually going to play the 2020 season in the face of a global pandemic. It will truly be a journey into the vast unknown.

 

Six months after this pandemic shut down a nation and threatened to change the life we had grown accustomed to, and doubts lingered that it would be accomplished, the NFL is launching its 101^st consecutive season.

 

Nothing has prevented the league from functioning since its founding in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, which became the National Football League two years later. Not a world war, not natural disasters, not an epidemic. Nothing. It can now add pandemic to that list.

 

There is no question this will be a season that won’t soon – probably ever – be forgotten because of its unusual nature. It will be a 17-week, 256-game regular-season grind that culminates five playoff weeks later with Super Bowl LV (55) in Tampa next Feb. 7

 

It will be 22 weeks fraught with peril on a weekly basis against an enemy that cannot be seen unless it’s under a microscope. It is an enemy that can strike at any time without warning.

 

Yes we’re talking a simple game of professional football here. So why the big deal? Because COVID-19 is a killer that can spread in any number of ways. Close contact is one of the main transmission avenues. And football is the ultimate close contact sport.

 

At the risk of being repetitious, football is really not a contact sport. Dancing is a contact sport. Football is a collision sport. The fact the NFL has escaped anything remotely considered an outbreak to this point in training camps is a minor miracle.

 

The fear of playing under such condition scares the hell out of a lot of players, causing 66 of them (five with the Browns) to say, “Nope, not this year,” and opt out of this season.

 

The league is determined to beat the odds. Commissioner Roger Goodell said as much when Peter King of NBC Sports asked him if he was confident the season would be played to its conclusion.

 

“I am,” he told King in his Football Morning in America column in ProFootballlTalk. “But I will tell you this: We’re never going to get comfortable. If confident means we’re comfortable, then that’s not where we are. . . .  We all have to do our part here to be successful in completing our season. I think we have a plan to get us there.”

 

In essence – and with fingers crossed – the NFL is flipping the bird at this country’s most dangerous health enemy in a century.

 

It all begins Thursday night in Kansas City with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs welcoming the Houston Texans. The only nod to the coronavirus? The game will be played in front of around 16,000 fans and, of course, a national television audience.

 

Small crowds will be a common sight throughout the season as the NFL pays special attention to the stringent protocols being set down. In many cases, stadiums will be empty at game time.

 

The Browns and Cincinnati Bengals have received permission from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to allow up to 6,000 fans for two of their home games, including the Browns’ home opener against the Bengals in a nationally televised game on Thursday night in week two.

So here we are with 22 weeks of the NFL gambling it won’t be conquered by the unforeseen, the sudden dangers and the always-present challenge of not completing what more than a few believed was an improbability.