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.