Monday leftovers

Kevin Stefanski had an interesting observation in his postmortem following the Browns' 31-21 victory over the Houston Texans Sunday afternoon.

"I would say there is a ton to clean up," he said. "Offense, defense and special teams. There is a ton to clean up. We will look at those things and what we can do better. It's all something we will look at . . . and make sure we improve."

This after a victory. 

When you stop and think about it, what else could the Browns' head coach say after witnessing his team's strange and uneven performance? It was an honest appraisal to be sure, perhaps to make certain his men didn't get too heady over their first victory of the season.

It doesn't take much imagination to come to the conclusion that if the Browns had played against Kansas City in the season opener a week ago the way they played against the Texans, they would have been blown out by the Chiefs instead of coming thisclose to winning.

Stefanski later went on to ask and answer two important questions as he tried to put everything into perspective. "Did we play our best?" he asked. "No we didn't. Did I coach my best? No I did not, okay? I will be better. We have to do better. . . . Good teams, after a win, identify, correct and then move on."

That said, Stefanski and his coaching staff have a whole lot to clean up. From the questionable pass rush, even more questionable pass coverage, poor tackling and lack of overall aggressiveness on defense to  inconsistency on offense, where you never know what you're going to get when attacking, there's work to be done.

There are times when the offensive side of the football looks like a well-oiled machine, playing mistake-free football and making life miserable for opposing defenses. We saw that the first 52 minutes in the loss to the Chiefs. 

Strong defenses, on the other hand, do not just attack; they attack aggressively. They develop an intimidating, swaggering personality capable of taking over a game. The Browns see that when they play Baltimore and Pittsburgh twice a year.  

That's not to say the Browns can do that because it seems they don't have the kind of personalities on defense that can accomplish that. But developing any kind of aggression that seems do be missing in Joe Woods' defense might be a step in the right direction.

When I see Cleveland cornerbacks giving opposing wide receivers so much cushion you and I could complete slant patterns, like Tyrod Taylor did in the first half Sunday and rookie Davis Mills did in the second half, the frustration mounts.

The pass rush, which is where pass defense begins, seemed to be sleepwalking Sunday. Myles Garrett, who booked 49 snaps, applied one pressure on the Houston quarterbacks. That's it. One lousy pressure against an offensive line ranked somewhere in the bottom third in the National Football League. He didn't come close enough to sniff the quarterback's deodorant.

The Cleveland defense thus far has surrendered 700 yards of offense in two games. Time for Stefanski to have a little chat with Woods to see what the devil is going on? 

It will be interesting to see which Cleveland Browns team shows up for Sunday's home game against the Chicago Bears. They already showed they can play down to the talent level of the opposition against Houston. The Bears are looking to make it two straight AFC North victims after knocking off Cincinnati Sunday

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It was refreshing to see what Grant Delpit could do when healthy enough to make his NFL debut against the Texans. The strong safety had to wait a year and a few months after being selected in the second round of the 2020 college draft to get on the field.

A ruptured Achilles' heel robbed him of last season. Hamstring issues in training camp this year suggested the notion the kid is generally injury prone. Recent reports, though, indicated he was close to being ready to contribute to a defense that needs his unique talents.

And then boom! In 26 snaps, Delpit made his presence well known in the second half with five tackles (three solo), a strip sack, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hit, one of only three for Cleveland on the afternoon. It sure appears as if some of the cleaning up Stefanski mentioned has already begun by Delpit.

Now that he's apparently healthy enough to play more than on a part-time basis, look for Woods to employ a three-safety look in the secondary with Delpit the Swiss Army knife lining up anywhere from deep safety to in the box to covering running backs and tight ends. 

Now all that needs to be done to give the defense an even fresher look is increase the reps for rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who banked 25 snaps in the Chiefs loss, but only 18 against Houston.  No word from Stefanski as to why JOK is having so much trouble getting on the field.

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Another rookie exploding onto the scene Sunday was running back/wide receiver Demetric Felton, a who's-he sixth round draft pick last May. Didn't take a snap on offense until early in the second half against the Texans. And when he did, he woke up a stadium that was wondering what the heck was going on.

With the score tied at 14-14 and the Browns driving on the the first possession of the second half, Felton lined up in the slot to the left of quarterback Baker Mayfield on a second-and-19 at the Houston 33. At the snap, he took one step back, caught a short screen pass at the 35 and sort of followed the screen to the end zone.

Sort of because after taking advantage of terrific blocks by right end Austin Hooper and running back Kareem Hunt at the point of attack, Felton broke two tackles, pirouetted at the 20 to break a third tackle, picked up more clearing blocks from guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver Rashard Higgins before breezing into the end in front of phalanx of blockers.

It was part Eric Metcalf, part Duke Johnson Jr. It was also a wakeup call to Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt that maybe this kid deserves more reps. Makes no difference where. That kind of talent needs to see the field more. 

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Got to give a lot of credit to Jedrick Wills Jr., a surprise starter at left offensive tackle against Houston. All week long, speculation as to whom would replace Wills, who sprained his ankle and played only half the Kansas City game. dominated the news.

Was it going to be right tackle Jack Conklin moving over to the left side? Or was it going to be rookie James Hudson III making his NFL debut? Perhaps utility lineman Blake Hance would start. Then word leaked that Wills was going to go through his paces pre-game and then decide.

He played the first three quarters, 43 snaps, and played them very well before Hance took over and booked the last 18 snaps in the final quarter.

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Finally . . . Why has Donovan Peoples-Jones, who has turned out to be a veery good blocker, become the forgotten man in the passing game? He has played 93 snaps this season and been targeted only twice,  catching both. The first gained a first down; the second produced a fumble. With Jarvis Landry (knee) out for a while, DPJ should see his target count rise. . . .  The Browns owned the football for 35 minutes against the Texans, utilizing the ground game to bleed the clock in the second half. . . . One of the reasons was to take pressure off Mayfield, who dislocated his left shoulder making a tackle after throwing an interception. Stefanski admitted he was protecting his quarterback by limiting his throwing. . . . Question of the week, maybe ongoing throughout the rest of the season:Why is Andy Janovich still on the roster?