Not bad at all

Kevin Stefanski either got very lucky Sunday night or the Browns' starting teams on both sides of the football are even better than advertised. Definitely the latter.

Ignoring those who believed he was nuts to play most of his starters in the meaningless final game of the exhibition season in Atlanta, the head coach gave those units two series each and luck had nothing to do with their success in the 19-10 victory.

Baker Mayfield and his buddies on offense were in mid-season form with two impressive drives even though Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were spectators and Kareem Hunt played just one series.

The defense, with Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney and Denzel Ward enjoying the festivities from the bench, was sharp on its two possessions against the Falcons' second-string offense before taking the rest of the evening off.

With the exception of a couple of pass attempts batted down at the line of scrimmage, Mayfield was sharp, playing very much like the club's offensive linchpin as the Browns qualified for the National Football League playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Working behind an offensive line missing only center JC Tretter, he was in firm control, spreading the ball around, completing six of 10 passes for 113 yards and a 22-yard touchdown connection with KhaDarel Hodge on a beautifully executed misdirection play on the second series.

The opening series ran out of steam at the Falcons 9 as Stefanski twice challenged his offense to score touchdowns deep in the red zone and failed both times on fourth down. If you are looking for any negatives in this one, that would be it, which gives you some idea of just how good this offense is.

Mayfield failed to hook up with Austin Hooper on the first series and Case Keenum in the second quarter  missed D'Ernest Johnson after driving 66 yards to the Atlanta 3. Regular season and two field goals, not gambles, is the correct move. In exhibitions, what does Stefanski have to lose? Rhetorical question.

Once the starters retired for the evening, the offense rang up an additional 285 yards to finish with 443 (372 passing with Mayfield, Keenum and Kyle Lauletta), ran 75 total plays and controlled the football for an absurd 35 minutes as the defense limited Atlanta to just 12 first downs (the Browns booked 26).

The offense burped a couple of times in the second half when Lauletta, who probably will wind up on the practice squad, threw a couple of bad interceptions on consecutive possessions. He got lucky on the first when tight end Jordan Franks chased down Atlanta linebacker Kobe Jones after a 40-yard return and caused a fumble, which was recovered by Cleveland guard Colby Gossett.

Three plays later, Dwayne Johnson Jr. picked him off again. He wasn't so lucky this time, the Falcons converting the turnover  into their only touchdown of the night seven plays later, trimming the margin to 13-10.

Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith, perhaps taking a cue from Stefanski, gambled near midfield on fourth down with less than six minutes left in regulation and suffered the same fate. Defensive end Cameron Malveaux, easily the best Cleveland defensive lineman of the game, registered bis second sack of the contest, dropping quarterback Josh Rosen for an eight-yard loss.

Lauletta redeemed himself eight plays and 41 yards later with a 10-yard strike to Damion Davis with two minutes left. Chase McLaughlin who barely missed a 56-yard field-goal attempt earlier, was wide right on the extra point. He'll hear about that. 

Bottom line here is Stefanski knew exactly what he was doing. Was he really putting Mayfield in harm's way? Not really. The quarterback's uniform was spotlessly clean when he exited. And he showed he can play a mean air guitar after the Hodge touchdown.

When the games take on a much more important meaning beginning Sept. 12 in Kansas City, Sunday night's performance by the starters on either side of the football -- minus a few key players on both sides -- sure looked like a portent of things to come. Good things, that is.