Mid-week thoughts

There are five very good reasons the Browns' offense this season is humming smoother and looking prettier than it has in quite a while.

They are, in very particular order from left tackle to right tackle along the line, Jedrick Wills Jr., Joel Bitonio, JC Tretter, Wyatt Teller and Jack Conklin. No one saw them coming together so quickly.

People are beginning to take notice as the aforementioned plug uglies -- meant endearingly -- comprise the offensive line for the No. 1 rushing team in the entire National Football League a quarter of the way into the 2020 season.

Pro Football Focus ranks it the best unit in the league when it comes to grinding out yardage the old fashioned way. On the ground. Snot- nose football. Mano a mano.

No one, and I mean absolutely no one, had any idea of how explosive this unit would -- and could -- be when head coach /playcaller Kevin Stefanski decided to go full bore infantry to set up the passing game. As a result, the Cleveland offense has drawn much more than scant attention of every defensive coordinator remaining on the schedule. 

So-called skill players like Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, D'Ernest Johnson, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., and, to a lesser extent, Baker Mayfield receive a large portion of the attention and credit for the club's success. Rest assured, though, the guys in the trenches have their own set of skills.

How often this season have we seen Chubb or Hunt, even Johnson, break long runs? More than you think.  The Browns lead the NFL in 20-plus yards plays with 11, almost doubling their nearest challenger. They are tied for second in first downs with 42.

That is not accidental. It's the residue of hard work put in by a unit that did not play its first game together until the first offensive snap of the season opener in Baltimore. After a rough start that fortunately did not portend the immediate future, the Browns became downright scary. And it's not often you see Browns and scary in the same sentence.

Stefanski has relied so heavily on the run, the Browns are virtually tied with New England for the most rushing attempts (139) thus far, maintaining his goal of equal balance and not becoming too predictable. 

Without really knowing, the guess here is the line loves running the Stefanski offense because it features what they do best -- run block -- and have rewarded him with outstanding performances in the last three games.

They have allowed just six sacks of Mayfield, who has become a gane manager, throwing only when necessary. Most offensive linemen prefer run blocking to pass protection, anyway. So there's little complaining if the new head coach limits his quarterback in the passing game.

Bitonio, Tretter and Teller (for half the season) are the only holdovers from last season's disaster. That team permitted 11 sacks and 18 quarterback hits in the first four games. This season? Six sacks and 13 hits. 

The three-game winning streak the Browns lug into the late Sunday afternoon game at home against Indianapolis is a direct product of the efficiency of the offensive line. Outside of the season opener, when they spent way too much time protecting Mayfield after falling far behind, they have excelled.

Since then, the Browns have punished three defenses for 1,242 yards, including 508 last Sunday in Dallas, and scored 118 points. That's an average of 414 yards and nearly 40 points a game. Again . . . offensive line.

Teller and Bitonio at guards have proven quick enough, skilled enough and athletic enough to pull on trap plays or counter plays. Teller, especially, has been a pleasant surprise. Both men can get to the second level quickly. New offensive line coach Bill Callahan installed Teller at the beginning of training camp and he arguably has become the best member of that unit.

Tretter has been steady in the pivot, seemingly making all the right line calls, while Wills and Conklin have been unspectacularly steady on the flanks. Wills has shown that making the switch from right tackle to left tackle was not was as difficult as some of us -- okay, moi -- believed it would be. And Conklin is playing like another trip to the Pro Bowl is inevitable.

It will be interesting Sunday to see how the line performs for the first time without Chubb, the bellcow ofd the backfield who will be sidelined for at least a month with a torn MCL.

It might be trite, but it's also true. Football games are won and lost in the trenches. What the 2020 season has unveiled thus far for Browns fans more than substantiates that claim.