Monday leftovers

One of these days, Kevin Stefanski is going to wake up and realize that for the last eight weeks he has been derelict in his duty as head coach of the Browns, futilely failing to unearth solutions to stop a slide that has snowballed to the point of near elimination from the postseason. 

The Browns, thought highly enough at the beginning of the season to engender conversation of the club's first-ever Super Bowl appearance, are 3-5 in those games and looked bad in two of those victories. The team that never lost back-to-back games in the 2020 season, haven't won two straight since stringing together three victories in weeks 2-4.

Technically, they are still alive, but in all honesty, they've been trending downward with nothing out there to give rise to any hope. The offense is stale, looking nothing like the scary unit of 2020 that overcame personnel issues on the defense to win scorefests.

The roles have been reversed. Now, it's the revamped defense that has come to the rescue of Stefanski's dull offense. In the last six games, the defense has permitted just 71 points in five of them, the 45-7 New England romp the only outlier. The offense, meanwhile, has scored just 57 points in five of those games, the 41-16 victory in Cincinnati the lone outlier.

The two units are clearly headed in different directions with no apparent solution in sight for the offense. And that is where Stefanski's dereliction enters the picture. He is the main man for that side of the football. He is being very protective of his role as the chief architect and playcaller to the point of being stubborn in the face of failure.

Last season's coach of the year in the National Football League is being humbled by the performance of his team and there seems to be nothing he can do about it. He seemingly refuses to believe his badly injured quarterback is all right.

"Baker (Mayfield) is throwing the ball well in practice," he reported last week leading up to the Sunday night game in Baltimore. Well, he sure didn't look good throwing it during the game and the two prior to that. He has completed an embarrassing 50.6% of his passes in that span.

Teams are starting to stack the box against Mayfield, which takes away the team's biggest weapon, the ground game. Stefanski basically conceded that aspect of the offense, dialing up Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt just 15 times against the Ravens. A terrible decision and not just in hindsight. Thought so at the time. But what do I know?

The Ravens simply dared Mayfield to throw, fully aware he had a busted, harnessed non-throwing arm that prevented him from making a smooth and accurate delivery, which lately has caused him to often miss open receivers badly. In 55 snaps, Mayfield dropped back 40 times. That's not Kevin Stefanski football.

When you've got ball carriers like Chubb and Hunt and an offensive line that run blocks much better than it protects the quarterback, you ride them as hard and often as possible no matter how many men are in the box. Caving minimizes your strength and maximizes your weakness, which is exactly what the Ravens hoped he'd do. And it worked,

The NFL being a copycat league, look for more teams to follow suit the rest of the season. Unless Stefanski comes to his senses and changes his mind with regard to the ground game, it will be only a matter of time before Mayfield winds up on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Come to think of it, that's what should happen and the sooner, the better. Like the moment the Browns are officially eliminated from the postseason. No sense in playing him in meaningless games. Gives him that much more time to be ready for training camp next summer.

Maybe by then, Stefanski will have come to the conclusion he would be a better HEAD coach if he ceded control of the offense to coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Based on his stubbornness by sticking with Mayfield, that probably won't happen.

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Remember when the wide receivers corps was considered a team strength at the beginning of the season? Not anymore. Mayfield has connected on scoring passes to wideouts only four times this season, three to Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Odell Beckham Jr. talked his way out of Cleveland in mid-season and Jarvis Landry, who busted out with an 111-yard game Sunday night, has yet to reach the end zone on the scoring end of a pass. Rookie Anthony Schwartz can't stay healthy. Rashard Higgins is the forgotten and abandoned Brown. And Ja'Marcus Bradley was just elevated from the practice squad.

Peoples-Jones, who came on strong toward the end of his rookie season, has missed three games with injuries. Mayfield targeted him five times against the Ravens, completing two for 10 yards. DPJ's drop of a perfect pass at the Baltimore 11 on the first possession of the game blunted an opportunity to score and was a precursor of what was to come.

Higgins is the biggest mystery. He and Mayfield reportedly have a symbiotic football relationship, but it sure hasn't shown this season, He has only 15 catches and one score after booking 37 and four touchdowns last season. He was a healthy scratch Sunday night.

Asked why after the game, Stefanski explained, "I just felt that was the plan going into this week. That changes weekly. There are so many things to consider in terms of what our game plan looks like, special teams, etc." That's it. Not surprisingly, there was no followup.

It was, knowingly or unknowingly, one of the best non-answers I've heard in a long time. Feel free to translate.

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Discipline notes . . . Remember what Stefanski said recently about fixing all the pre-snap penalty problems? "We will" fix them, he declared. No you won't, I said. He didn't. Four more against the Ravens. . . . Then there was a problem with having 12 men on the field more than once in the first quarter. It cost them a timeout. To make matters worse, they were flagged again for 12 men out of the timeout. "Put that right on me," Stefanski said, covering for special teams boss Mike Priefer. 

Stefanski was correct in taking the blame. That's what a good head coach should do because you know where the buck stops. So does he and if this isn't a sign things are slowly starting to fall apart on the coaching level, nothing will.

We're a dozen games into the season and very little has been "fixed" or "corrected" with little indication it will be taken care of by the Jan. 9 season finale. 

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More Stefanski after the game: "I think there are definitely things we are doing OK. There are things we've got to improve, I think it's a bunch of different areas we have to get better." A reminder: We're 12 games into a 17-game season, for crying out loud. Taking this long to "get better" is why the Browns are 6-6. 

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Finally . . . The last time the Browns ran for fewer yards than the 40 they posted Sunday night was the nine-carry, 31-yard effort by Chubb at Houston in a 29-13 loss on Dcc. 2, 2018. . . . Mayfield has been sacked in every one of his 11 starts, totaling 29. . . . Landry's six-catch, 111-yard game was easily his best of the season. . . . The Cleveland offense converted Lamar Jackson's four interceptions into a robust three points. And that one was tainted, Chase McLaughlin's 46-yard field-goal attempt banking off the left upright and in, halving the first-half deficit to 6-3. . . . Fullback Andy Janovich was absent from the snap count sheet against the Ravens. Why is he still on the roster? He was literally useless Sunday night. (Apologies to Janovich for this misinformation. He was a healthy scratch for the game. That's why his name did not appear on the snap count sheet.)

RIP 2021

For all practical purposes, the Browns' quest to return to the National Football League postseason is over, but definitely not with a whimper, not after Sunday night's tough 16-10 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore.

The defense on both sides put on a spectacular show all evening in the nationally televised game as the Browns dropped to 6-6. The Cleveland defense easily played their best ball of the season and just about neutralized one of the best offenses in the league.

They need a miracle to get back into the playoff hunt with five very tough games remaining, including a rematch with the division-leading Ravens after the upcoming bye week. They need to win at least four of those games, maybe all of them, to have a chance. Zero margin for error. Every game from now on is like a playoff game.

This was the one they really needed to win. But with an offense that has been struggling a major portion of the season because of a wounded, hobbling quarterback who isn't getting any healthier, that is not going to happen.

Losing offensive right tackle Jack Conklin to a right ankle injury on the 10th snap of the evening didn't help the situation. The All-Pro, who just returned from injured reserve with a dislocated elbow, played a major role in the run game.  

It was the Cleveland defense that made this one exciting almost down the final minutes of regulation. The offense, with the exception of a five-play, 87-yard drive that ended with a Baker Mayfield 20-yard scoring toss to David Njoku at the end of the third quarter that cut the deficit to 13-10, was AWOL again.

The other 11 possessions mustered just 175 yards in 52 plays. The last three possessions with the game still on the line gained only 38 total yards in 14 snaps. Playing catchup, which used to be a strength of this team, has become a lost art.

The Ravens, obviously dedicated to shutting down the vaunted Cleveland ground game, did so spectacularly. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were rendered useless with just 36 yards in 15 attempts, about 120 yards under their per-game average.

If defense is what turns you on, this one was for you. The level at which both teams played on that side of the football was enough to rope in even the most ardent fans of wide-open football because of the excellence on display.

It was tough, it was hard, it featured solid tackling and could serve as a primer on how to shut down offenses because neither team sustained  possessions with any consistency. 

The Browns actually made miracle-worker Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson look what could best be described as normal, taking away his ability to make the opposition look foolish with runs at critical times that make you blink and wonder how in the hell did he do that. 

As usual, he led the Ravens with 68 hard-earned yards in 17 carries. His longest run was only 13 yards, significant in that he routinely rips off runs much longer and opposition-deflating.

The Browns made him look foolish with four interceptions, three on consecutive possessions as the teams swapped turnovers on five straight possessions in a span of three minutes and 31 seconds of sloppy football late in the second quarter. Jackson looked less than ordinary.

Fumbles by Jarvis Landry and Mayfield of the Browns accounted for the other turnovers in that span as the clubs played a football version of hot potato. Here, you take the football; no, thank you, you can have it. 

Three of the four picks were intended for tight end Mark Andrews, who later scored the Ravens' only touchdown of the game at the crazy tailend of a nine-play, 75-yard drive that opened up the third quarter  after Baltimore took a 6-3 halftime lead on two of Justin Tucker's three field goals.

On third-and-10 from the Cleveland 13, Jackson in shotgun was immediately pressured and retreated adroitly all the way back to the 34, keeping the play alive. More than 20 yards behind the line of  scrimmage and moving to his left, he somehow spotted Andrews in the back of the end zone,

All at once, as defensive end Myles Garrett had tracked him down and was moving in, Jackson flicked a rainbow toward the charging and diving Andrews, who cradled the ball -- there's the miracle -- just before it hit the ground a couple of yards inside the end zone. 

Lucky? Sure. But luck, it has been said, is the residue of hard work. Garrett was impressed enough to kind of congratulate Jackson on his legerdemain with a wondrous look on his face. It gave the Ravens a 13-3 lead, which held up after the Browns' only scoring drive of the game and Tucker's third field goal. 

Some day, this one will be remembered by Browns Nation as the game Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah became a star. The 12-tackle (six solo) performance saw the rookie, who was playing like a five-year veteran, make tackles from sideline to sideline. He was ubiquitous. It was a pure tour de force. 

If he wasn't spying and ultimately chasing Jackson, he was blitzing (got half a sack). The football seems to find him a lot. That was no mistake. He is smart, quick, fast and a play-making dervish. He's every bit the player the Browns thought they were fortunate to get in the second round of the last college draft. 

Too small, some scouts said. Doesn't weigh enough to play linebacker, said others. All he does is make things happen, If he missed a tackle, I didn't see it. 

Safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. and middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr were also busy, combining on 26 tackles (19 solo), but it was the athleticism of JOK that freed them up to do some damage. Safeties Grant Delpit, John Johnson III and Harrison partnered with cornerback Denzel Ward on the quartet of picks.

It's the kind of defense that bodes well for the future because now fans know they are capable of playing at a such a high level. Unfortunately, that unit received precious little help from another unit considered dangerous and scary entering this season. 

That was the big difference Sunday night.

Too much Jackson

It has become apparent in the last three seasons that the Browns have a difficult time hitting a moving target whenever they play the Baltimore Ravens. Most notably one Lamar Jackson.

The slithering Ravens quarterback absolutely loves playing the Browns because he knows he makes moves with his feet and plays with his improving throwing arm that practicality guarantee winning football games. Four of five since against them to be precise since turning pro.

In the next few weeks, Jackson gets two more cracks at improving that because of an oddity in the schedule that has the two teams meeting consecutively due to a week 13 bye separating the games for the Browns.

The first is Sunday night on national television in Baltimore with Jackson returning after missing last Sunday's come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Bears due to a mysterious illness. It lifted the injury-ravaged Ravens to 7-3 in the AFC North and makes the next two games must-wins for the 6-5 Browns if they still entertain postseason hopes.

Lose either one and the Browns can jump start plans for the 2022 season, mainly because they have fallen too far behind and have had problems catching up, due in large part to injury issues to key players.

Drawing Baltimore at this juncture of the schedule is a good litmus test to see just where this underachieving team is in terms of determining whether it is as good as many observers believed at the beginning of the season.

They catch a break with the return of offensive right tackle Jack Conklin and running back Kareem Hunt to revive an offense whose early bright glow has slowly and agonizingly dwindled to just a glimmer. The addition of Conklin and Hunt certainly can't hurt.

It's the defense, though, that has to come through for a change and at least neutralize Jackson. Middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. best summed up what he and his buddies need to do to make that happen. "All 11 guys have to be in the frame when the film stops," he said. 

The Baltimore attack, which is really massive doses of Jackson, can be stopped, or at least slowed down. The lowly Miami Dolphins proved that by holding the Ravens to only 10 points a few weeks ago with a barrage of blitzes in one of the season's biggest upsets.

Jackson's biggest weakness this season, it would appear, is beating the blitz. He has thrown only three touchdown passes against it and been picked off three times. Thirteen of his 28 sacks have come against maximum pressure from the back seven.

So that means Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods will throw the entire blitz playbook at Jackson the next two games, right? Uh, no. Not unless he undergoes a complete transformation from an ultra conservative approach to one antithetical to his passive philosophy. Don't see that happening.

Ideally, keeping Jackson pinned in the pocket and forcing him to throw, mostly before he wants to, is the best approach. He is not a great passer with only 14 scoring passes and eight interceptions this season. Don't see that happening, either.

Give him too much time, though, and he loves targeting tight end Mark Andrews, who has burned the Browns for 20 receptions, 260 yards and five touchdowns the last four games, and speedy wideout Marquise Brown, who has scored six TDs this season.

All of which means Browns fans will likely see more of Jackson dipping and darting and breaking tackles as he continues to almost single-handedly deconstruct the Cleveland defense. He is a true hybrid football player, excelling as much at running the ball as he does throwing it to receivers.

Is he a quatrterbnack who happens to be a better runner or a running back masquerading as a quarterback? Either way, his effectiveness is the main reason the Ravens sit atop the AFC North again.He does it with such ease, one wonders how he finds holes that aren't there when he escapes the pocket.

The Browns drafted athletic linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah ostensibly to spy Jackson and contain him, but the rookie spent time on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain before returning a couple of weeks ago. He hobbled off the field in the Browns' recent victory over Detroit after booking just 14 snaps, but did not appear on the injury report and should play. 

In five full games against Cleveland, Jackson has accumulated 1,525 yards from scrimmage (1,097 through the air, 428 on the ground) with 10 touchdown passes, just two picks and four more scores with his legs. He averages nearly seven yards a pop when he pulls the ball in and scampers.

Oh, and he is also the Ravens' leading runner by far this season with 639 yards and a pair of scores in nine games, mainly because the team lost all three of its running backs to injuries before the season started. That they're third in the league in rushing, just a few yards behind the Browns, is somewhat remarkable.

The stats also indicate the Ravens' defense is most vulnerable against the pass, belching 281 yards a game, one rung from the league bottom. That flies in the face of a Cleveland offense whose passing game has taken a per-game average nosedive to just 206 yards a game, a 15-yard difference from last season.

Baker Mayfield has been spotty now for at least a month when dropping back to throw. His multitude of injuries have piled up and turned him into a marginal threat at best. He's not throwing nearly as well as he has in the past. His biggest job now is trying to avoid a season-ending injury. 

He's like Jackson in one regard. As Jackson goes, so go the Ravens. And right now, that's first place in the division. As Baker goes, so go the Browns. And right now, that's the cellar of the division, albeit one notch above mediocrity at 6-5.

The Ravens can afford a loss in this one. The Browns cannot. Or the next one for that matter. The return of Hunt and Conklin will make somewhat of a difference. But the Browns have been ineffective for so long, it will not make a difference for teams headed in opposite directions. Jackson stars again. Make it: 

Ravens 32, Browns 17

(Late) Mid-week thoughts

It is assumed Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has 20/20 vision. If that, indeed, is the case, then I wonder why he allowed Baker Mayfield to continue and then finish the 13-10 victory against the Detroit Lions last Sunday.

He had an up-close-and -personal look at the beating his quarterback was absorbing en route to the club's must-win game. It wasn't bad enough Mayfield was aching and feeling miserable in too many areas to enumerate.

He couldn't see his best quarterback was badly missing wide-open targets at critical junctures of the game, targets he probably would have been connecting with easily with a reasonable state of health? One of the major reasons the Browns escaped with the narrow victory against the worst team in the National Football was the inability of his quarterback to make plays.

That quarterback was limping half the time and no doubt simultaneously lobbying to stay in the game. At one point, Case Keenum began warming up late in the third quarter. Astoundingly, Stefanski said after the game he did not know his backup quarterback had started throwing. Where is the communication? It looks bad when the boss has no idea what is going on behind his back.

One of Stefanski's main roles, he maintains, is "to make sure players are always placed in the best position to succeed." He failed miserably to do that with the most important player on the offensive side of the football against the Lions.

The Browns barely won because of the solid defense against a quarterback making his NFL starting debut, a running back who was "placed in the best position to succeed" and did, but it definitely was not the quarterback, who would have been better off watching the finish from the bench.

Mayfield should not have played this one. If it had been anyone in the AFC North, that's another matter. These were the Lions, for goodness sakes. The Browns would have been much better off with Keenum controlling the huddle. It's not as though doing so would have been foreign to him. He did it in the Denver victory several weeks ago.

Isn't this the main reason Keenum was signed? To be available to take over in the event Mayfield if needed -- and this was one of those times -- to take a game off to heal? Especially with back-to-back games with Baltimore on deck?

Mayfield now is admittedly in the worst shape of his career -- he didn't get any healthier against the Lions -- and preparing for a team that has pounded him with regularity in the past. Right now, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens have a chart locating his numerous injured areas and using it for target practice.

What are the odds he finishes either -- or neither -- of the next two games? Rhetorical question.

There have been times this season when Stefanski postgame admitted mistakes in his playcalling, once saying he "felt sick to my stomach" with a critical call that backfired. It's obvious he does not regret using Mayfield against the Lions. But there's a good chance he might do so retroactively depending on the outcome of the Ravens doubleheader.

Right now, Stefanski and the team's physicians (practicing medicine without a license alert) erred in placing Mayfield in harm's way in a collision sport and playing fast and loose with  his career (end alert). They should have rebuffed his lobbying to continue at well under 100% efficiency -- and it showed -- and simply said. NO!! In no way did they place Mayfield "in the best place to succeed" against Detroit.

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Stefanski said it best after the game with regard to the flood of penalties this season. "They are getting in our own way," he correctly declared after they committed another 10 penalties (that were accepted) and another 82 yards against the Lions.

They were dumb, ill-timed and slammed the brakes on whatever progress both sides of the ball was making. Penalties are a sign of undisciplined teams, teams that more often than not mess up positive results.

The Browns lead the NFL in pre-snap penalties, the most egregious kind because they are just plain unacceptable, especially when they stagger momentum. The Browns have accumulated 33 penalties pre-snap (in 11 games) with 10 others declined and three offsetting. Overall, they have been penalized 80 times (39 on offense, 35 on defense, six on special teams) with 10 more declined.

And just how is Stefanski planning on handling it? "We have to get it cleaned up and we will," he said. To which I say, "No, he won't." It's not as though this just cropped up. He has had nearly three months to "get it cleaned up"and failed miserably and yet is vowing to get it right.

When? By week 18? 

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With the expected return of offensive tackle Jack Conklin and running back Kareem Hunt this weekend, this is a good time to determine just how good the Browns night have been with their presence. It's a hypothetical that can be effectively used in arguments,

How much their prolonged absences were contributing factors to the mediocre record thus far can be argued. At the top of their games. the offense is definitely better. If nothing else, it will add two more bullets to Stefanski's arsenal against a pretty good Ravens defense.

It will also afford Mayfield more protection in the pocket and enable Stefanski to counter the strong Baltimore pass rush with screens, traps, counters and quick-developing passes. Now all the head coach and playcaller has to worry about is straightening out his quarterback's accuracy problems.

Finally . . .  The defense shouldn't too full of itself with the stats from the Lions game. It's the Lions with a third-string quarterback making his first start. Lamar Jackson is an entirely different animal who thrives against the Browns. . . . Besides, the offense controlling the football for 35 minutes didn't hurt. . . . Mayfield has thrown only 50 passes in the last two games, completing just 26 (52%) for 249 yards (124.5 per game), two touchdowns and three interceptions. Only eight of those completions were to wide receivers. . . . The Cleveland defense has given up six touchdowns to tight ends, allowing a 67% completion rate. That needs to be fixed, especially with Ravens tight end Mark Andrews up next. One of Mayfield's favorite targets at Oklahoma, Andrews has caught 26 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns against the Browns in six career games. 

C'mon, it's the Lions

Head coach Kevin Stefanski made it official Friday, the day after Baker Mayfield limped to his scheduled gaggle with reporters. Mayfield, he said, will start at quarterback for the Browns in Sunday's home game against the hapless Detroit Lions. 

At that little gathering with reporters after practice Thursday, Mayfield made a startling admission. "This is probably the most beat up I have been in my career," he revealed. "It's not like it's one particular thing. It's multiple . . . Just a couple of things after another."

In no particular order, those "things" include a fully torn labrum in his non-throwing arm; a non-displaced fracture of a bone at the top of the shoulder of same arm; two knees that have absorbed a pounding all season; and a sore foot. Other than that, he's fine.

"It's been tough, but I don't think anyone gives a damn," Mayfield said. "No reason to get into that. Nobody cares. Nobody wants to feel bad for us. . . . It's all right." Wrong on all counts, but interesting nonetheless.

His head coach certainly cares. Asked how his battered and bruised quarterback looked in practice Friday, Stefanski  replied "He looked good." Will he start? "He will start," he said tersely.

Seemingly makes no difference that his best quarterback will be operating at a distinct disadvantage because of ailments throughout his body. Maybe he figures Mayfield's aches, pains and soreness will disappear after the first snap when the adrenalin kicks in to mask it. 

It has to be assumed Stefanski did not make this decision without consulting with team physicians. Unless he comes up with the perfect game plan that assures Mayfield's uniform will be as clean at the end of the game as it is when he takes the first snap, it's borderline reckless to send him out there.

Think of the consequences. Mayfield has been sacked 26 times in nine starts this season -- at least two in every game except one -- and looked helpless in the pocket far too often. If he takes another big hit -- and he will -- and lands on season-ending injured reserve, then what? Is that worth such a gamble?

The fact Mayfield has been sacked nearly three times a game on average is partially the inability of the offensive line to protect him. The situation isn't not any better with All-Pro Jack Conklin still on injured reserve with a dislocated elbow. A confluence of negatives have put the quarterback in this position.

Stefanski is the head coach, There's nothing in the coaching playbook that says he can't overrule the physicians and tether his No. 1 quarterback to the bench for just this one game before next taking on the Baltimore Ravens in two extremely important back-to-back games. For Mayfield's own good and the good of the team, he needs to sit this one out.

First of all, the 0-8-1 Lions are unquestionably the worst team in the National Football League. The Browns should win this game with no problem whatsoever. So why not give Mayfield another week to heal as much as he can and let Case Keenum handle this one?

Has Stefanski lost confidence in Keenum, who filled in quite capably for Mayfield -- in the early stages of his shoulder problems in week seven -- and helped knock off the Denver Broncos? Isn't that why he was brought to Cleveland, to be ready in the event Mayfield was unable to play?

He did so then with running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt unavailable with calf injuries and led the Browns to a 17-10 victory with reserve D'Ernest Johnson running for 146 yards. Is Stefanski fearful Keenum isn't good enough to do what's best for this struggling football team, one coming off a 45-7 embarrassment against New England? This time, he'd get help: Chubb is back off COVID-19 reserve.

A 100% Case Keenum is clearly a better option than a 60%, if that, Baker Mayfield against the weakest team -- and the only team with a losing record -- left on the Cleveland schedule. The most important man in the organization doesn't think so and unfortunately has chosen to go in the opposite direction. 

Maybe Stefanski took a look at the Lions' statistics and figured he could pull it off with Mayfield. The Lions' pass rush, for example, has dropped opposing quarterbacks just 14 times. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has 13 sacks all by himself. He has been shut out of only one game -- Houston in week two.

The Cleveland defense also will face Tim Boyle, a journeyman quarterback who backed up Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay for a few years. Boyle is making his professional starting debut with only one NFL game -- four passes -- on his resumé. He fills in for Jared Goff, out with an oblique injury suffered in last week's tie in Pittsburgh.

The stats sheet reflects the winless state of the Lions. And with Goff out, look for plenty of infantry football Sunday with D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams against a Cleveland defensive line that was gouged and gashed repeatedly last Sunday by the Patriots.

With Chubb back, look for Stefanski to get the ground game cranking again -- he called only 18 running plays against New England in 80 snaps -- and alternate him with Johnson, making Mayfield's job a little easier.

This one figures to be a walkover. Yes, Detroit went to Pittsburgh a week ago and tied the Steelers in what probably felt like a victory to the Lions. That won't happen Sunday on the lakefront. Too many Detroit negatives and a bounceback by the Browns portends a satisfying victory. 

The weather forecast calls for lots of rain and temperatures in the 40s, which means an ugly, sloppy, low-scoring game as the Jekyll/Hyde Browns pour a little salve on their wounds. Last Sunday, My Hyde showed up. This time, it will be Dr. Jekyll. Make it: 

Browns 24, Lions 13

(Due to unforeseen circumstances, there will be no game story and Monday leftovers this week. Will resume Thanksgiving Day with Mid-week thoughts.) 

Mid-week thoughts

Now that the Browns have experienced what counts as a losing spell, doubts are being raised by none other than some of the players with regard to the coaching, most notably the ability to make adjustments.

Defensive end Myles Garrett and safety John Johnson III expressed those concerns following Sunday's 45-7 embarrassment against the New England Patriots. They were made post-game when emotions and frustrations usually run high, lips become loose and honesty prevails.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said he spoke with Garrett about his remarks and emphasized the result of that conversation would be kept in house, as it should have been. It's safe to assume, though, it was more of a one-way talk.

It took 10 games, but Garrett's and Johnson's reaction to the New England loss was probably starting to simmer over a period of time that had seen the Browns lose four of six games, at least one of which was very winnable, and then mounted to the point of bubbling over.

Players criticizing the coaching is generally a no-no. It's basically challenging authority, although those who do so don't see it that way. It's their way of telling the man in charge -- in this case Stefanski -- that something needs to be done to, as they put it, stop the bleeding.

It will take more than a tourniquet to stanch the blood flow, though, because in sports, winning generally breeds winning and losing generally breeds losing. That's why Stefanski preaches the hackneyed one-game-at-a-time mantra, which worked nicely in last season's 11-5 journey, which featured no back-to-back losses.

Since losing consecutive games for the first time this season in weeks five and six, it's been W, L, W, L.  Too few Ws, too many Ls. A 5-5 record at this stage for the season, especially against the weak part of the schedule, was not expected.

Consistency seems to have taken a vacation and Stefanski seemingly is struggling to find it again. Just when it was assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, the Browns had finally figured it out with the trouncing in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, the Patriots rudely and decisively jolted them back to reality.

Injuries and COVID-19 have interfered along the way. But Stefanski correctly does not employ that as an excuse. The other 31 National Football League teams have traveled the same road this season. Complaining is a waste of time.

Stefanski now faces the biggest challenge of his head coaching career. Maintaining the attention and confidence of the 53-man roster, many of whom were there last season and believed in the rookie head coach, is vitally important. Garrett's and Johnson's words nicked Stefanski's coaching veneer.

He is the head coach. He gets all the credit, deserved or not, when the Browns win. He gets all the blame, deserved or not, when they lose. What the club accomplishes for 60 minutes a game in 17 games from September to January is a direct reflection of the head coach.

Everything runs through him. And right now, the very talented (at least on paper) Browns have overwhelmed five opponents and underwhelmed five others. At the risk of mixing a metaphor, it has  somewhat tarnished the bloom on Stefanski's coaching rose.

For the first time in his brief tenure in Cleveland, critics are chirping. Perhaps it's because his early success with the Browns spoiled them and they aren't used to seeing this club scuffle. The results have been disappointing with no apparent solutions in sight.

Are the Browns really this bad? Maybe they aren't and are underachieving. Then again, maybe last season was a one-year aberration and they're back to permanent residence of the AFC North basement.  Fans spoiled from last season's success and who jumped back on the bandwagon want to know and are confused. 

What was it Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells said all those years ago when asked about results? He said they speak for themselves. "You are what your record says you are." And right now, it says the Browns are merely average with the capability of being better.

We're going to find out in the next seven games just what kind of head coach Kevin Stefanski is with one absolute. No matter how the Browns finish, he will be back next season and the season after that and the season after that, ending the coaching carousel that has bedeviled this franchise for way too long.

Eventually, he's going to get this right, using this season as a learning experience, and become the right head coach this erstwhile woebegone franchise has sought for more than a generation.

Monday leftovers

There was something absent from the Browns Sunday in suburban Boston, something that enabled them to beat up on the Cincinnati Bengals seven days earlier.

That something was aggression. They, for some unknown reason, played back on their heels all afternoon against the New England Patriots and paid a dear price in the form of a 45-7 drubbing. 

The aggressive offense and defense that helped create the overwhelming Cincinnati victory must have been jettisoned on the flight somewhere between Cleveland and Boston Saturday because the Browns played not to lose against the Patriots.

Football teams are coached to win, of course. If they are coached defensively or timidly to avoid losing, or play not to lose, the probability factor is they'll lose. Playing like that automatically removes the aggressive factor from a sport that demands it if winning is the main objective.

The Browns played like that Sunday. With one big exception, when they opened the scoring on their first possession, the Pats manhandled them. They took it to them in every aspect. They were at least two or three steps ahead of everything the Browns did on both sides of the football.

It look so ridiculously easy, one would have thought the Patriots had gotten ahold of the Cleveland playbooks. Kevin Stefanski said he was outcoached by Bill Belichick. He didn't have to say it. It was that obvious.

It has reached a point now where talk like that by the Cleveland coach it is becoming repetitious. For those who haven't been paying attention, the Browns have lost four of the last six games after a 3-1 start and fallen back into the AFC North cellar. Only seven games remain, four against division opponents.

It's absolutely true that championships are won in November and December. With that in mind, Stefanski has the monumental task of trying to put this Jekyll/Hyde football team back together because right now, it is broken. It isn't even good. It's mediocre.

Post-game remarks by a couple of leaders on defense put out a warning signal. "We didn't counter like we were supposed to," griped defensive end Myles Garrett. "We didn't stop the bleeding and they kept on attacking where we weren't efficient."

Safety John Johnson III piled on. "They (the Patriots) went back to a bunch of plays where we got hit all year and we just couldn't stop the bleeding," he said, Interesting how each player independently used the word "bleeding" in their assessments.

The problem? Lack of aggression. On both sides of the football. The Browns displayed the aggressive nature of a sloth against the Pats.

For example, the Patriots' secondary plays mostly man coverage, sometimes press coverage. The Browns, on the other hand, play mostly zone. That's one of the reasons Baker Mayfield had trouble finding open receivers. His lone interception of the day was the result of trying to force a pass to tight end David Njoku deep in Cleveland territory in the first quarter with the score 7-7.

Problem was Njoku was bracketed by safeties Kyle Dugger and Adrian Phillips and never had a chance. Dugger grabbed the pick and returned it to the Browns' six. One play later, the Patriots untied it and the rout was on.

Tight coverage was the major factor that enabled the Pats to hold Mayfield to a career-low 73 passing yards, The tepid Cleveland defense, meanwhile, made New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones look like a baby-faced Tom Brady.

Why the Browns don't play more man coverage baffles. If it's because their secondary isn't talented enough to play that aggressively in pass coverage, then draft players who can. 

In the Cincinnati game, Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods unveiled several different blitz packages, beating the daylights out of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. None of that showed up against a rookie quarterback Sunday. 

The Browns have the talent. The results, however, don't match that talent. If the talent does not at least play to its ability, the Browns cease to be a good team, They have descended into mediocrity. If they don't -- or cannot -- ratchet up the intensity on offense and defense in those remaining seven games, the disappointment will intensify.

*     *     * 

It seems as though Stefanski is always talking about correcting mistakes. The Browns have played 10 games and one would think the number of mistakes by now would lessen, not multiply. Pre-snap penalties -- there were five against the Patriots -- are inexcusable. Too many players are not paying attention.

It's like the Browns are in a perpetual correcting protocol. Self-inflicting wounds have become an epidemic with no end in sight.  "We are way, way too inconsistent as a team right now," said Stefanski. That's one too many "ways," which shows at least he's paying attention.

*     *     * 

Whatever happened to that "smart, tough, accountable" mantra the club adopted in the Stefanski-Andrew Berry era? Here's an update as seen through these eyes.

Tough? Not the way they played Sunday. They were anything but. What about smart? Not unless you redefine the word. Accountable? In what way? Again, Sunday was a prime example of what the Browns weren't. Tough, smart and accountable.

*     *     * 

Finally . . . The way Mayfield is getting beat up this season, he is going to be an old man physically by the time he's 35. Torn labrum, broken shoulder, sore foot, banged-up knee. Stefanski would be wise to rest him and use Case Keenum against the 0-8-1 Detroit Lions Sunday at home,  . . . The Browns have scored 17 or fewer points in four of the last five games. . . . Running back D'Ernest Johnson ran for 58 yards on four carries in the opening drive. He booked only 41 more in 15 other attempts. . . . The Pats' offense compiled 452 total yards and 30 first downs; the Browns checked in at 217 and 17.  . . . Rookie defensive tackle Tommy Togiai made his season debut against the Pats. A healthy scratch in the first nine games,  the former Ohio State standout had two tackles (one solo) in 22 snaps.

Blown up

The Browns expected to play a football game against the New England Patriots Sunday in Foxboro, Mass. Little did they realize they were the unwitting special guests of the Pats conducting a clinic on how to dominate a game.

In the 60-minute clinic, the Patriots totally dismantled the game plans the Browns had prepared on both sides of the ball and surgically showed them exactly what total domination looks and feels like on the receiving end. It was as though the Pats' playbooks had came alive. Just about everything drawn up worked.

Students of football should take a look at the tape of this one and use it as instruction on how to play near-perfect football for an entire game. This is the kind of football Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski aspires to coach, or should if he doesn't. The execution was practically flawless. 

In short, what happened in those brutal -- if you're a Browns fan -- 60 minutes can be summed up simply: The offense could not stay on the field and the defense could not get off it. The 45-7 trouncing the Pats delivered gave them a pretty good idea of how the Cincinnati Bengals felt after destroying them last Sunday.

The Patriots converted seven of nine third downs from distances of 8, 6, 13, 1, 5, 9 and 3 yards. It was as though successfully converting was preordained. The Browns had 11 chances to convert on third down and succeeded just once -- with 2:35 remaining in regulation. For the record, it was an 18-yard flare pass to running back D'Ernest Johnson. More on him later.

The Pats' offense, led by a pair of rookies and a line that bullied the Browns from the start, scored on eight of their nine possessions, averaging a gaudy 7.3 yards a play. Very little went wrong as they marched up and down the field with relentless ease and little pushback.

Quarterback Mac Jones, looking like a seasoned pro and not playing his 10th National Football League game, completed 19 of 23 passes for 198 yards and three touchdown passes, two to tight end Hunter Henry and a third to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who also picked up 43 yards on three reverses.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, filling in for Damien Harris who is still in concussion protocol,  blasted out 100 yards and a couple of touchdowns on 20 carries. The six-foot, 240-pound battering ram, who had rushed for 136 yards and a score in limited play this season, picked up a good chunk of his yardage after contact.

The two rookies kept the chains moving all day long. The Cleveland defense, playing back on its heels most of the afternoon, made them look like stars, they were that impressive.

The New England defense, meanwhile, totally dismantled the Cleveland offense, which mustered only 217 total yards, by far the lowest total of the season. Ninety-seven of those yards were accumulated in the final quarter when the Pats backed off with the final verdict obvious.

Baker Mayfield experienced his worst day as a pro, completing only 11 of 21 passes for 73 yards. His previous low was a 100-yard game Oct. 7, 2019 in a 31-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on a Monday night. He was replaced by Case Keenum after a hard hit late in the third quarter.

Outside of the 11-play, 84-yard opening drive, culminated by a three-yard scoring pass to tight end Austin Hooper, everything failed spectacularly for the Cleveland offense. No matter what Stefanski called, the Patriots came up with the correct answer.

It was an afternoon that proved almost conclusively that the Browns are not contenders when it comes to thoughts of the postseason. They are much closer to pretenders. Playing well into January is merely a hope at this point. Playing .500 football after 10 games is not what most fans expected.

They were slapped around Sunday, looking more like a team struggling to find themselves than one with thoughts of playing football well into January.

As a result, the Browns from now on will almost have to run the table in the four remaining AFC North games in order to have a chance of winning the division at best, a wild card at worst. Considering how they played Sunday, that's a mighty tall order.

The only positive that emerged from this one was the play of Johnson, who played well in place of Nick Chubb, stuck back home with a positive COVID-19 result. And no, Chubb would not have made a difference. So purge that from your thoughts.

Johnson gained 99 yards on 19 carries -- he would have had 101, but lost two yards on his final touch -- and gained another 58 yards on seven pass receptions. Adds up 26 touches and 157 yards. He was the offense Sunday.

Fans were fooled and given false hope by what took place last week. That, as it turns out, was an aberration. The club that played then was not the same one that showed up Sunday in suburban Boston. They were embarrassed. The Pats toyed with them all afternoon. And they buckled.

The Patriots, who have now won four in a row and five of their last six games, rewarded Bill Belichick with his 250th victory as New England head coach and raised his record at home against Cleveland to 6-0. They were brilliantly prepared to do exactly what they did.

The way the Browns played last Sunday, some people suggested they were on their their way again to being scary the rest of the way after an unimpressive 2-3 October. You want scary? What we all saw unfold in Foxboro Sunday was scary -- scary good. 

What the Browns witnessed and were a part of Sunday is what they should covet most. Anything else would be falling short.

Close, but . . . 

Kevin Stefanski has been down this road before. To be exact, it was week 16 of the National Football League season last year and the Browns streaking toward their best season since reentering the league in 1999.

In the week leading up to their road game against the one-victory New York Jets, the 10-4 Browns received word that COVID-19 had wiped out the entire wide receivers room. Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Rashard Higgins and KhaDarel Hodge out.

Ja'Marcus Bradley, activated from the practice squad, newly-signed free agent Marvin Hall and practice squader Derrick Willies were Baker Mayfield's lone targets with speed and quickness that afternoon. Three tight ends and running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were also available.

The Jets were terrible at stopping the run, the lifeblood of the Cleveland offense. The smart move was to run the football, right? That's what they did best. They had a terrific offensive line that run blocked better than protected Mayfield. Their receivers were back in Cleveland. Every logical reason to run, not throw. Grind it out and win the war of attrition. Slam dunk and move on. 

So why did the Browns lose the game, 23-16, to a ONE-VICTORY team? Because Stefanski flatulated all over the game plan, which called for only 18 rushing attempts in 80 snaps. Mayfield was tasked to drop back 60 times. He was sacked four times, completed 28 of 53 passes and scrambled for yardage three times.

Chubb and Hunt each scored once, but ran for just 39 yards primarily because Stefanski, a very smart and savvy coach, chose to eschew the run. The situation dictated run. The ground game never had a chance because Stefanski didn't let it.

So what does this have to do with Sunday's game in Foxboro, Mass., against the New England Patriots? This time, COVID-19 almost completely wiped out the running backs room this week.  Chubb, Hunt (on injured reserve), rookie Demetric Felton and practice squader John Kelly are back in Cleveland.

Only D'Ernest Johnson, who introduced  himself to the NFL community a few weeks ago with a 146-yard, one-touchdown effort in the nationally televised Thursday night victory over the Denver Broncos, is healthy. General Manager Andrew Berry scrambled to get help for Johnson, bringing free agents Brian Hill and Dexter Williams in off the street. Hill, a five-year NFL veteran, will be active Sunday.

The question that needs to answered now is whether Stefanski learned his lesson from last season's Jets loss with regard to crafting a better game plan this time with the healthy personnel on board. 

These are not the Jets. These are the 5-4 Patriots, who have won their last three games and four of the last five after a 1-3 start, two of those losses by a total of three points. Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick seems to be hitting a lot of the correct notes lately primarily on defense, doing so with a rookie quarterback.

While Mac Jones is putting up nice numbers and minimizing mistakes, it's the defense that has meant the difference between winning and losing. A thieving back seven (13 interceptions) has led the way. Overall, it has compiled 16 takeaways, 11 in the last five games, including a pair of pick sixes in the latest victory over Carolina.

Edge rusher Matthew Judon, who bedeviled the Browns for five years with the Baltimore Ravens, is well on the way to his best season ever in his first year with the Pats with nine of the team's 19 sacks. The run defense, meanwhile, has held four teams under 100 yards.

Jones, reportedly gaining confidence with each start, has led a well-balanced offense that has scored 25 or more points in six of the nine games. The 68% passer has thrown just 10 touchdown passes and been picked off seven times, but he has shown the ability to sustain drives and keep his defense rested.

His favorite receivers are tight end Hunter Henry (five touchdowns) and wideouts Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' relatively conservative offense.

With most Belichick teams over the years, no one running back sticks out. He prefers committee football with his backs. This season, it's been mostly Damien Harris with 547 yards and seven of the club's 11 touchdowns on the ground, and rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, but Harris will miss the game with a concussion.

Stevenson, a 6-0, 250-pound load, cleared concussion protocol Saturday and probably will share the ground game with veteran Brandon Bolden and J. J. Taylor, in theory tilting the edge to the Cleveland run defense.

So what can we expect from Stefanski as he seeks to put victories back to back for the first time since weeks three and four? Has he learned his lesson from the Jets game last season and lean more toward a strength, in this case a more balanced offense, with his main runners sidelined and his receiving corps in good shape? 

And what can we expect from the Cleveland defense? Last week, it was a relative blitzkrieg from the normally conservative Joe Wood with as much man coverage as they have played all season. With a rookie quarterback in Jones, more of the same would seem to be on the menu. And now that rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is back from injured reserve, that would be the ideal scenario.

But don't count out the possibility of the same kind of defense from Belichick when the Browns own the football. Confusing young quarterbacks with numerous disguised pass coverages is one of his specialties, especially with an opportunistic secondary.

This one figures to be relatively low scoring with the possibility of a lot of work by punters Jamie Gillan of the Browns and Jake Bailey. In games like this, my tendency is go with the better defense. Not to denigrate the Browns D, which has permitted just 45 points in the last three games, the Patriots have been more consistent on that side of the ball this season. Make it: Patriots 22, Browns 17

Mid-week thoughts

Every now and then Kevin Stefanski, one of the best young offensive minds in the National Football League, reaches down into his bag of tricks and hauls out a play reminiscent of a highly malodorous skunk.

The Browns' head coach and playcaller tends to outsmart himself at the most inappropriate times on occasion and tries to get cute, sometimes too cute. Take, for example, one of those times in the big victory last Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Cleveland offense was cruising with a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter with momentum when the defense created  a turnover in Bengals territory, safety John Johnson separating the football from Cincinnati receiver Ja'Marr Chase. The Browns began the drive at the Cincy 30.

The offense, by then playing with supreme confidence, reached the 13 in three plays, the seven in four plays and the four in five plays. Third and one at the four. Time for Nick Chubb, who would run for 134 yards on the afternoon, to finish the job, a 28-7 lead just a few yards away.

And that's when Stefanski, in all his brilliance, believed he had a better idea. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had to be shocked when he heard the call for a handoff to Jarvis Landry, who would then pitch the ball back to Chubb, who drifted left at the snap, and catch the Bengals defense napping.

Instead, they smelled it. Landry's pitch back to Chubb was low and bounced about five yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Browns were fortunate Chubb was able to recover at the 10. The parting gift was a 28-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal that made it 24-7 when it could have been 28-7 with smarter playcalling.

It was definitely one of those moments when Stefanski had the opportunity to chastise himself and suggest it was a play he would have wanted back. He's been around long enough to know the closer you get to an opponent's goal line, zero thinking about gadget plays. Too many people handle the football. It was a high-risk, low-percentage play that is more likely to backfire than work.

One more Stefanski niggle. I'm not sure what the reason for his apparent fetish for fourth-down gambles is. If it's related to analytics, maybe revisiting that philosophy is in order.  He all season long has adamantly and stubbornly gone for it on fourth down when in enemy territory.

Maybe it's his way of showing his men how much confidence he has in them converting. Well, he hasn't been rewarded very much. He has gambled 18 times -- two a game on the average -- and converted just seven, a dismal 39%. 

Instead of playing for field position and pinning an opponent close to the goal line with a punt or calling on McLaughlin, who already has a 57-yarder this season, for a field goal, he is leaving too many points on the field.

Okay, the Browns won the game. That's not the point. There will be similar opportunities down the line. The hope is Stefanski remembers this faux pas and avoids repeating it.

*        *        *

It is time for Stefanski and his offensive staff to realize Donovan Peoples-Jones is a lot more than a good blocker in the ground game. The sixth-round draft choice last year has turned into a pretty good -- and very reliable -- pass receiver.

DPJ, who never lived up to his advanced billing at the University of Michigan, just might be one of those athletes who keeps getting better with every step up during his career. There was a reason he lasted until the sixth round.

He quietly has worked his way up the depth chart at wide receiver to the point, now that Odell Beckham Jr. is plying his trade with the Los Angeles Rams, where he is a solid WR2 behind Landry and most likely will see his snap count rise.

In limited opportunities to this point, Peoples-Jones in 19 career games with the Browns has been targeted only 38 times with 29 receptions (22 for first downs) for 618 yards and five touchdowns. This season in seven games, he has caught 15 of 18 targets for 318 yards, 12 first downs and three TDs. Overall, he has caught 76.3% of his targets.

Those numbers, when extrapolated, would make him the most productive wide receiver on the team. Assuming the coaches are paying attention, there is an excellent chance Browns Nation will see DPJ play a much bigger role the rest of the season.

*        *        *

Nice to see good players rewarded as the Browns execute a 1-2 punch on consecutive days, wrapping up their two guards on the offensive line for the next few years with well-earned contract extensions that make them two of the three highest guards in the NFL.

Wyatt Teller signed a four-year extension worth slightly more than $14 million a season and Joel Bitonio was given a three-year extension worth a league-best $16 million per. Bitonio is the longest-tenured of the Browns at eight seasons. 

Teller, a benchwarmer for the first half of last season, cracked the starting lineup midway through the season and has played at an All-Pro level since. He made the key block in Chubb's 70-yard gallop against the Bengals Sunday, pancaking Cincy safety Jessie Bates III. 

The man responsible for Teller being a Cleveland Brown? Former General Manager John Dorsey, who sent a couple of low-round draft picks to the Buffalo Bills during training camp in 2019. Dorsey is now q a senior personnel executive with the Detroit Lions.

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With the Browns still struggling to get to reasonably good health with COVID-19 and injuries stunting the effort, the pressure mounts on Stefanski to keep his club on an even keel from an emotional standpoint. He already passed the first test with all the OBJ nonsense last week.

Teller believes his coach has the right mind-set to handle such situations. "It's 'Hey, how are we going to handle this situation, and handle it in stride,' " he said. "I think that's how coach Stefanski is and I'm thankful for that."

It's going to be tricky again this weekend with running backs Demetric Felton, John Kelley and Chubb in COVID-19 protocol. There is an outside chance Chubb plays Sunday if he is asymptomatic and tests negative twice in a 24-hour period by Saturday at 4 p.m. If not, D'Ernest Johnson gets the nod and the game plan possibly changes.

For those who forgot, Johnson ran for 146 yards and a touchdown when Chubb and Kareem Hunt, still on injured reserve, were not available for the Denver Broncos game a few weeks ago. Caution: Don't look for a repeat. The Broncos 'defense wishes it could be like the Patriots'.

*        *        *

Finally . . . Patriots coach Bill Belichick is 7-2 against the Browns and unbeaten in five games at home. A win will boost his victory total with New England to 250. . . . Safety John Johnson III and slot corner Troy Hill are beginning to look more and more like the playmakers who helped the Los Angeles Rams become one of the NFL's best defensive teams last season. The Browns' new aggressive defense is refreshing. . . . If Beckham was hoping to be the No. 1 receiver with his new club, he chose unwisely by signing with the Rams, who have Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods locked in at 1-2. 

It's gotta be KC for OBJ

It's been about 48 hours now since Odell Beckham Jr. cleared National Football League waivers after being cut loose by the Browns and he still remains a free agent.

Various reports indicate the wide receiver and his people have narrowed the field to three teams with mutual interest. In no particular order, they are Green Bay, Kansas City and New Orleans. Unless someone surreptitiously sneaks in the back door late, those are the finalists.

Each meet Beckham's main objective of joining a team with a legitimate chance of playing in the postseason, something he has done only once in his nine-year career. After perusing the chosen finalists, it seems his best chance of playing well into January lies with only one team.

After weighing all the possibilities, only one team fits the best profile for Beckham. That's because of all the quarterbacks involved, only one is good enough and tethered to his team long enough to qualify. 

That's the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes II, who has already been to two Super Bowls and is good enough and young enough at 26 to add more visits to his resumé. The very-well compensated Mahomes this season needs someone other than Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to depend on.

But if Beckham wants to be the No. 1 guy, only the Saints qualify. Certainly not Green Bay, where Davante Adams is clearly Aaron Rodgers' top target. Another reason to eliminate the Packers is Rodgers' expected exit after this season. 

So if Beckham wants to be the top guy with the Saints now that Michael Thomas has been shut down for the season, his quarterback will be either Trevor Siemian or Taysom Hill, who take over following Jameis Winston's season-ending trip to injured reserve with a torn ACL in week eight. Don't see that happening.

So it makes the most sense for Beckham to subjugate himself -- and his ego -- for the opportunity to play with one of the bright, young quarterbacks in the NFL for at least the remainder of this season with a chance to continue his career with him by signing a long-term deal during the offseason.

But I'm still keeping an eye on that back door for someone like the New England Patriots to sneak in. That would be so Belichickian. 

Monday leftovers

It sure looks as though the departure of Odell Beckham Jr. has had a profound positive effect on the way Baker Mayfield operates the Browns' offense if game one in the post-OBJ era is any indication.

Forget the statistics, which were good to begin with. What Mayfield did Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals passed the eye test with flying colors. He looked nothing like the struggling, clueless quarterback who was awful as he shepherded the offense through a rough patch that produced a 1-3 record.

Gone was the indecision. His body language shouted, "I've got this.' Just about everything flowed. The rhythm, so dependent in a Kevin Stefanski offense, was more precise than it has been in a long time as he snapped a personal three-game losing streak. 

Considering all the tumult off the field that led up to the 41-16 walloping of the Bengals, a Mayfield stickout performance wasn't among predictions for the game. Some, in fact, believed he had reached the zenith of a rapidly fading career, his numbers were so bad.

What they didn't know was Stefanski gave him a terrific game plan, one that spread the football around and left the Bengals' defense guessing most of the afternoon. After weeks of numerous three-and-outs, only one in 11 possessions.

This was the Baker Mayfield who emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the National Football League last season and led his team to the postseason. He was the quarterback fans started believing was the one to lead the Browns to the Super Bowl.

On Sunday, he was a quarterback wearing a cumbersome harness to protect a badly injured left shoulder. But you'd never know it. He answered yet another question about how difficult it was operating with just one good arm. Has the deep ball been eliminated from the playbook as a result?

Uh, no. Not when he hoisted a football 56 yards into the air after a deft play fake and floated it parabolic fashion into the waiting arms of Donovan Peoples-Jones in perfect stride for a 60-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter to take a 21-7 lead.

It was a thing of beauty as it descended, almost as it was drawn in the playbook. It was the kind of play that not only restored whatever confidence he had lost -- or at least questioned -- during the prolonged down period, it sent a message to his teammates that the old Mayfield was back.

And now as they embark on the second half of the schedule Sunday on the road against the New England Patriots, the Browns do so with a level of confidence that had been absent for almost the entire month of October. As they say, it's not how you start (in this case a season) that counts, it's how you finish.

*       *       *

Kudos to Stefanski for beautifully preparing the Browns for the game under what had to be trying circumstances with all the nonsense swirling around the offices in Berea all week long. He latched on to the team's focus and held it through the weekend.

Coaching a football team, especially one at the professional level, requires as much psychological and emotional approach as it does drawing Xs and Os on a whiteboard. Getting between the ears of the players is equally important.

Beckham was a popular player in the locker room. Because of that, the manner in which he left had to be difficult to handle for those close to him, especially Jarvis Landry. It was a delicate balancing act for Stefanski and the coaching staff to sustain the players' attention.

Obviously, it worked in what must be labeled the most important game of the season. Of course, they're all important, but this one took on much more importance because the result hinged on what direction the Browns would head following it. A loss would have dropped them to 4-5 with a very uncertain future.

The very positive outcome now propels the Browns into the second half with a renewed confidence, one that was AWOL for a month. They needed a game like that to feel good about themselves and get back on track. 

*       *       *

Let's put this one to rest. No matter how Mayfield performs the rest of the season, what difference does it make that he, at least statistically, is a more efficient and successful quarterback with Beckham elsewhere in the NFL?

The point is moot. Beckham is not wearing Seal Brown and Orange anymore and is a much happier football player. Makes no difference where he plays next. It will not cast aspersions against either  Mayfield or OBJ in any way whatsoever. They now travel different paths.

All this does is prolong an argument that died the day the wide receiver and Browns reached an agreement to go their separate ways. It has been established Mayfield was not a good quarterback with Beckham in uniform. Now that they are no longer teammates, time to move on.

*       *       *

Nice to see Stefanski has rediscovered Nick Chubb. For a coach who is madly in love with a balanced attack, he is reluctant to use his best running back more often in an offense designed to set up the passing game with a strong ground attack.

He's rarely going to get games out of Chubb like the one he put together in Cincinnati, running only 14 times, picking up 137 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. There will be games, probably like the one Sunday in New England where he won't be as effective.

Chubb's value, besides being the hardest man to bring down in the NFL, is battering defenders. The more he is used, the harder it is to stop him. He can singlehandedly wear down a defense. So by the fourth quarter, he becomes more dangerous. Running 14, 15, 16 times a game won't accomplish that. He needs more, 

We are eight games away from the finish line and Chubb, by virtue of his relatively light load this season -- only 17 carries a game -- is fresh. He averages an incredible six yards a pop in seven games. He is the kind of runner who does not require a pitch count. He needs to touch the football 25-30 times a game. 

*       *       *

Finally . . . Heading into the season, Rashard Higgins was thought to be the No 3 wide receiver for the Browns after Beckham and Landry. He and Mayfield have a nice symbiotic relationship in the passing game. Not anymore. Higgins has dropped almost entirely out of sight, booking only three snaps against the Bengals, He went untargeted, Peoples-Jones now seems to be WR3 and rookie Anthony Schwartz is WR4. . . . Among the items Stefanski needs to clean up are pre-snap penalties, The Browns had five in the first half Sunday. Paying attention before the ball is snapped shouldn't be that difficult. . . . Cornerback A. J. Green was in for only seven snaps, but it was in long enough to recover a fumble by Bengals rookie receiver Ja'Marr Chase in the second quarter after a John Johnson hit, It led to one of Chase McLaughlin's  two field goals. . . .  Welcome back Andy Janovich, who exited injured reserve and had four snaps Sunday. Why is he sill on the team?

Still kicking

For those of you who have begun to craft an obituary for the struggling 2021 Cleveland Browns, hang on just a little bit longer. Stop writing. Same for those preparing a eulogy.

The Browns are not dead. Not yet, anyway. After the way they played against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, they are more alive, from a football standpoint, than at any point in the season. 

Apparently, they took their head coach seriously when late this past week he said his team was "desperate and that's where our focus is." Well, that focus was a laser-sharp 20/20 Sunday after they went out and hung a stunning 41-16 thrashing on the Cincinnati Bengals. If that's what desperation football is, sign me up.

No one saw this big-play spanking coming. After all, the Browns' offense had generated just 41 points in the previous four games. Winning the game was prime, of course, but matching that total in one game was eye-opening.

From the 99-yard pick six by Denzel Ward on the opening possession of the game after jumping an end zone route by rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase to the 60-yard touchdown dagger Baker Mayfield connection with Donovan Peoples-Jones early in the second quarter to Nick Chubb's 70-yard scoring burst midway through the third quarter, this one was pure fun.

After the Browns took a 24-10 halftime lead, it would have been natural for suspecting fans to start thinking there was still one half of football left and the way this team had been playing, nothing was safe. Little did they realize they were watching what amounted to a statement game.

The statement: "We are not dead. Time to start taking the Cleveland Browns seriously. More to come."

The game statistics belie the final score as the Cleveland defense put on its best performance of the season. The Bengals had 25 first downs; the Browns just 14. The Bengals ran 70 plays to score 16 points; the Browns logged 46 to score 41.  The Bengals owned the football for 35 minutes and 22 seconds; the Browns just 24:38.

So how did this turn out so favorably for the Browns? Arguably the most important stat of any game: Turnovers. The Browns had three, converting them into 13 points. The Bengals, zilch.

Due to Ward's opening surprise, the Cleveland offense did not see the football until 4:33 remained in the first quarter and the Bengals had tied it up at 7-7. The defense, on the field for nearly 23 minutes in the first half. limited the Bengals, who entered the game having scored 109 points in the last three games, to just 10 points, while the offense scored 24 in just eight minutes.

No problem, though, with Mayfield, looking better by the possession in spite of a badly damaged left shoulder and managing the offense masterfully, putting up 34 points in just 41 plays. It was an offense that had been absent since a 42-point outburst against the Los Angeles Chargers in week five.

But the defense deservedly shared the honors -- perhaps even moreso -- with this victory. It was almost unrecognizable because of what sure looked like a new-found aggressive stance. The pass rush was tenacious, racking up five sacks of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and forcing the three turnovers after entering the game with only five total (a penalty wiped out a fourth).

This is the opportunistic defense most fans expected after General Manager Andrew Berry massively addressed that side of the ball during the offseason and exponentially raised the talent level of the team. It was originally thought the unit would become cohesive right away. It didn't, but now that it has stepped up big time against one of the National Football League's best offenses, the future looks bright.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods, becoming bolder by the game, turned the blitz loose against Burrow, who was knocked down a dozen times. Slot corner Troy Hill, spectacular with seven solo tackles, two sacks and three knockdowns, seemed to be ubiquitous. Equally ubiquitous middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. checked in with 14 tackles, 12 solo. Safety John Johnson III caused a fumble and intercepted a pass.

Overall, this one clearly qualified as the club's best overall effort of the season, something on which to build for head coach Kevin Stefanski, especially after what has transpired the last month, the last week in particular with the Odell Beckham Jr. saga. 

Entering the game on the tailend of a four-game span that saw the offense slumber with an allergic reaction to scoring points, many inhabitants of Browns Nation were flummoxed at just what the hell was going on. After last season, 4-4 was not excepted at that point, especially with a relatively easy schedule.

On this day, however, everything clicked. Kind of made me wonder where in the world the team that showed up Sunday has been the first two months of the season. The fact they were playing .500 ball at this point was somewhat miraculous, especially with the OBJ nonsense swirling around the club on a weekly basis. Now, it's what chaos?

Sudden thought: Now that OBJ will officially become an ex-Brown Monday with his quickie divorce, does this pounding of the Bengals mean what I think it means? How emphatically was that question answered? You know, the one about whether Mayfield is a better quarterback with Beckham not in uniform.

He was an efficient 14-of-21 for 218 yards and touchdown passes to Peoples-Jones and David Njoku to wrap up the scoring in the final quarter. He was sacked a couple of times, but generally looked more relaxed and confident in the pocket than he has been the last month or so.

One terrific game like this, however, is insufficient evidence to adequately answer that question, but the fact is Mayfield wins more games with Beckham nowhere to be seen than when he suits up. It's an argument best suited for talk radio, one that no doubt will be looked at quite closely as the rest of the season unfolds.

It was also good to see Chubb rebound nicely from his 61-yard game last Sunday in the Pittsburgh loss, churning out 137 yards on just 14 carries en route to his two-touchdown afternoon.  

So hold off on those obituaries and eulogies for the time being. The Browns are off the resuscitator and functioning, at least for one game, quite nicely. Now comes the second half of the season against a much tougher schedule.

The Nantz-Romo factor 

Numerous concerns floating out there as the Browns, deep in a slump and struggling to stay relevant in post-season conversation, begin a stretch with three of the next four games on the road beginning Sunday in Cincinnati against the Bengals.

Coming off a three-game homestand that barely managed to produce a 1-2 record thanks mainly to the defense, and a drama-filled week that saw the rancorous departure of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., it's anybody's guess what to expect at this point of the 2021 season.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski, sensing the importance of this one, went so far as to declare his team "desperate" for a victory. "We're desperate and that's where our focus is," he said.  Quite out of character for the normally staid, even-keel coach. 

Stefanski's offense, for all practical purposes, is broken. Only 41 points generated in those three games in front of full houses of disgusted fans. Strangely, it's the same offense that scored 42 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in week five.

The passing game is way off kilter as Baker Mayfield gamely -- and futilely -- attempts to be a very good National Football League quarterback while playing with torn and fractured body parts in his non-throwing arm.

He maintains a torn labrum and broken shoulder bone are not affecting how he conducts business. Why, then, are most of his passes of the short- and medium-distance variety? Don't remember when he last really cut loose and tried to hook up deep. 

That's because wearing a harness tightly strapped to his side to restrict movement of his left arm alters his throwing motion just enough to prevent him from being his normal self. He is clearly not the freewheeling -- and very accurate -- gunslinger we saw in the second half of last season during the team's post-season run.

Statistics indicate injuries are a factor. Like only two games this season with (just barely) 300+ yards and an embarrassing six touchdown passes in seven games. Two went to tight ends, three to wide receivers, including a Hail Mary, and one to a running back on a well-executed screen. 

For comparison purposes, Mayfield had seven overall scoring throws against the Bengals last season, including five in one game. All were with Beckham out with an ACL, bolstering the notion he was a better quarterback with OBJ out of commission.

Want more evidence it's not the same this season? Mayfield has thrown zero scoring passes in three games. He was blanked just four times overall last season. Suffice it to say this offense is not playing even close to inspired football. It seems at times as though that side of the ball is going through the motions. 

But, argue those who tend to glom onto a positive outlook, there is always the run game. After all, the Browns still lead the league in rushing. And Nick Chubb is back and reportedly healthy. What about that?

The answer to that is provided here by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who held Chubb to just 61 yards in last Sunday's loss, a game that was very winnable. The run game is hit and miss. Various injuries to Chubb and Kareem Hunt, as well as tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin, have stunted the infantry attack.

What most fans have not seen this season that worked so well last season are rollouts, bootlegs, counters  and misdirection plays, especially against teams that can be easily influenced by the initial flow of the blocking.

Get Mayfield out of the pocket on designed plays. Remaining in the pocket this season seems almost like imprisonment. Okay, an  exaggeration, but pocket presence is not one his strengths. How many times have we seen him hopelessly unable to find open receivers and get sacked when reacting too late?

Stats time again: Mayfield has been sacked 22 times already this season in seven games. He was dropped 26 times all last season. In five of those games, he was not sacked once. Can't say that this season. 

This is the team that will be in Paul Brown Stadium Sunday, facing a team playing the brand of fan-fun football the Browns played last season. The Bengals have scored 106 points in the last three games. It is also a team spitting angry after being upset last Sunday by the lowly New York Jets . . . and look who's next. 

They are also a team on the rise with second-year quarterback Joe Burrow throwing the football like a seasoned veteran and managing an attack that averages 27.5 points a game with a defense whose strength threatens the Browns' biggest strength. 

Burrow threw for 726 yards against the Browns last season in two losses with six touchdown passes. This season, he and college teammate Ja'Marr Chase have reunited and combined for 786 yards, seven touchdowns and three 100-yard-plus games, including a 201-yarder while upsetting Baltimore.

The vastly improved Cincinnati defense allows just 98 yards a game on the ground. The defensive line, which owns 18 of the club's 21 sacks, might be the best in the AFC North. The Browns' offensive line will be severely tested.

Where the Bengals are most vulnerable, as are the Browns, is in the secondary, giving up 10 touchdown passes and 267 yards a game. (The Browns have allowed 17 TDs.) That's what Mayfield and the OBJ-less receiving corps must exploit if they have any chance to win because Burrow will strafe the Cleveland back end all afternoon. 

The Browns no longer have an offense that can keep up in the event of a shootout. That's how far it has fallen. Unless, that is, Stefanski and his offensive staff have somehow managed to rediscover the formula that surprised the entire NFL last season. A lot also depends on whether Mayfield can recapture the magic that made him relevant last season. As it now stands, that's way too much to ask of him.

Having seen both teams quite a bit this season, there is no question the Bengals have a better team. Not a better, more talented  roster. A better team. And right now, that is the biggest difference between these teams. The Bengals overachieve. 

The Browns are struggling; the Bengals are not. And since Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, who haven't covered a Cleveland victory since can't remember when, are doing the game for CBS television, this pick is easy. Make it: Bengals 34. Browns 17

Pressure now on Mayfield

Now that the final  chapter of the Odell Beckham Jr. Saga soap opera has been written and on the verge of being completed, time to move on. No sense dragging this unpleasantness any further.

For all practical purposes, Beckham is gone. Where he lands . . . who cares? No matter what he does wherever he lands, his 32-month tour with the Browns will be looked upon for what it was: A disaster of enormous proportions.

Fingers of blame will be pointed at him by those who never bought into the notion he would be the final building block for the Browns en route to the postseason. Those who take his side will direct their digits of blame at the quarterback who failed to connect with him and hastened his departure.

Starting Sunday in Cincinnati, and for the eight games (should he last that long) that follow, the pressure of reviving an offense that has stagnated, for the most part, since the early stages of the season will be on Baker Mayfield to produce.

The latest brouhaha that triggered Beckham's exodus thrusts Mayfield into a spotlight that most likely will shine brightly and determine once and for all who makes him most effective. Now that OBJ is history in Cleveland, time to find out whether he is a better quarterback without him.

Deep dives into their 28-game professional relationship prove that the two landing on the same page was not working and was never going to. No matter what Freddie Kitchens and Kevin Stefanski tried, it just did not work. 

It was most noticeable last season after a torn ACL ended Beckham's season in game seven against the Bengals. Mayfield was a completely different quarterback after that, successfully connecting with as many as nine or ten different receivers a game, masterminding an explosive offense that propelled the Browns into the playoffs for the first time since 2002. 

That dangerous attack carried over into this season, the Browns coming within five minutes of knocking off the Kanas City Chiefs on the road in the season opener as Beckham began the season on injured reserve. 

When he returned for game three, the disconnect was noticeable again, the duo connecting on just 50% of their passes in five games. The last straw arrived last Sunday at home in the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

One successful target -- a second target was wiped out by a roughing-the-passer call against the Steelers -- gained just six yards on a screen pass. That was it. And that's when the you know what hit the you know what.

It has had a deleterious effect on the team this week. Beckham has a reputation of being popular in the clubhouse. His all of a sudden not being a part of the team might confuse those particularly close to him. "It's part of the business" might not be a sufficient enough reason to fully understand why this was happening.

Beckham failing to respond in any fashion when his father posted a damning 11-minute video on Instagram early this week disparaging Mayfield set the stage for what eventuated. Conspiracy theorists -- and no, I am not one -- concluded it was all staged by the wide receiver.

How this all affects the team Sunday is the X factor. Stefanski's biggest task now as head coach is making certain the events of the last several days do not fracture his team, splitting the locker room. To that end, he approaches Sunday's game rather melodramatically, his team having lost three of the last four games.

"We're four and four," he said the other day. "We have to get a win. Our lives depend on it is the way we look at it. We're desperate and that is where our focus is."

There are those who believe this distraction won't harm the winning culture Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry have developed and nurtured the last season and a half. Call the Beckham exit addition by subtraction and move on.

Then there are those who saw what unfolded this week, remember vividly what transpired for most of the last two decades with this franchise and lament, "Here we go again." The next nine games will determine which group is correct.

Don't let the door . . . 

It's only a matter of time before Odell Beckham Jr. becomes a former member of the Cleveland Browns, ending what can best be labeled a rancorous 32 months since arriving in a trade from the New York Giants.

The end, which could come as early as Friday, will bring to a close a period that, depending on what unfolds following his departure, could be a turning point for a franchise that has seemingly lost its way on the field in the last month.

The distraction is evident and seems to have divided the locker room. "I feel the majority of this locker room would love to have him in this building, flat out," free safety John Johnson III shared with the media Thursday after Beckham was given an excused absence from practice for a second straight day. 

"Hopefully, we can get him back if that's possible. That's just my opinion on it. If not, we've got to carry on. We've got a big game coming up, another division game. That's what my mind-set is. Just get ready for this week."

Whether the Browns place Beckham on waivers, possibly place him on season-ending injured reserve with various ailments or flat out cut him, he is gone, nothing more than a seemingly good deal at the time that went terribly wrong almost from the beginning.

When Beckham arrived in 2019, he was championed as the missing piece of the puzzle. Pair him up with Baker Mayfield, who had become the face of the franchise with a sparkling rookie season, sit back and watch what happens.

What happened was a disconnect almost from the beginning with Mayfield, under the mismanagement of way-in-over-his-head rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens, frequently failing to take advantage of the receiver's talents. It took a season-ending injury to Beckham midway through last season to discover Mayfield had no such trouble with his other receivers.

Slowly but surely, the whole Mayfield-Beckham disconnection saga began to unravel when Beckham returned to the active roster in week three this season. It was exacerbated by a shoulder injury Mayfield incurred in week two against the Houston Texans, unwisely trying to tackle safety Justin Reid after intercepting a pass in the second quarter.

By the time Beckham was cleared to resume play in game three, Mayfield was nursing a torn labrum in his left shoulder. It was followed three games later by a broken bone in the same shoulder. Although he said it did not hinder his throwing motion, Mayfield's failure to connect with the club's No. 1 receiver was obvious.

No matter what head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski drew up, it rarely worked with the precision many fans expected when OBJ arrived. Too often, the quarterback was high with his throws, getting under the football and sailing it instead of driving threw it in his delivery.

Other times, Beckham worked his way clear and Mayfield either failed to see him or chose to continue his progression and distribute the football elsewhere to Beckham's frustration. That was seen in some camps as the quarterback ignoring his ostensibly main man.

It was shortly after the Texans victory, the first of three straight Cleveland wins, that Mayfield began struggling with the passing game. In the four games he piloted since the Houston victory  -- disregarding the 47-42 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in week five because it was an outlier -- the Cleveland offense generated just 64 points.

Mayfield, who has lost three straight games as the starter entering Sunday's game in Cincinnati, completed just 62% of his passes in those four games for an average of 237 yards per and just three touchdowns. If not for a resurgent Cleveland defense, which surrendered just 67 points in those games, and a terrific ground game, who knows what the record would be today.

The Browns are fortunate to be 4-4 at this juncture with an offense that more resembles Browns offenses of the first 20 seasons of this iteration than it does the scary numbers put up last season. And with Mayfield operating quite literally with one arm almost pinned to his side by a harness and the next blow to the area a distinct possibility, the once-promising season could blow up at any time. 

The sooner the club separates from Beckham, though, the better. Distractions like this have a tendency to linger unfortunately and the club shouldn't be emotionally burdened with dragging it on. It's incumbent on the front office, which should have seen this coming. to act quickly and decisively.

It's getting messy

The fecal matter has hit the fan at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. in Berea, Ohio. Odell Beckham Jr., it would appear, is not welcome anymore at the west side training home of the Browns.

For reasons that might become clear later, the mercurial wide receiver was told Wednesday not to report to practice for Sunday's game against the Bengals in Cincinnati. The team couched the move by calling it an  "excused" absence. In other words, he was instructed to stay away.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski Wednesday explained he "just felt it was the right thing to do." Michael Silver of the NFL Network tweeted Stefanski told his players Beckham was "essentially not on the team right now . . . and was told to stay home."

Replied Stefanski when asked about Silver's tweet, "I would just tell you today he's excused and we'll see where this goes." It quite likely is being handled on a level above Stefanski.

That probably means Beckham's representatives and Cleveland General Manager Andrew Berry are  huddling in an effort to bring this unpleasant chapter to a conclusion agreeable to both sides. Suspending Beckham with pay for the rest of the season or just flat out cutting him -- addition by subtraction -- are two of the possibilities.

The directive came less than 24 hours after Beckham's father, Odell, posted a damning video on Instagram belittling Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. The 11-minute video, entitled Odell is Always Open, shows numerous occasions when his son was open and ignored by Mayfield. It went viral.

Mayfield pronounced himself "as surprised (at the video) as you were." when addressing the situation Wednesday with the Cleveland media. "Hurt? No. Surprised, yes, I want Odell to succeed. That's where we're at. At least that's what I thought."

One of the sticking points -- and this is just a guess -- is Junior did not respond in any way to his father's video, either separating himself from it or criticizing him for posting it. His silence could be construed as tacit approval.

It very well could become -- maybe it already has -- the tipping point in the relationship between the player and the team, a relationship that has not worked since the Browns traded for him on March 13, 2019 in a blockbuster deal with the New York Giants made by then-General Manager John Dorsey.

The working relationship, at least on the field, between Mayfield and Beckham seems to have degenerated and festered to the point where the club felt it had to do something to defuse a situation that was becoming toxic in the view of some members of the media.

The possibility of dividing the locker room, especially at this stage of the season when the team is still in contention despite losing three of the last four games, is palpable. Beckham's forced absence is not helping the situation.

The nadir was reached in Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home when Mayfield targeted Beckham just once -- a six-yard screen pass -- as the offense sputtered throughout the game. It was embarrassing the former All-Pro receiver was virtually ignored.

The cracks in the veneer of Stefanski, also the playcaller for the offense and person mainly responsible for the amount of targets Beckham gets, are becoming more noticeable by the game. What worked in last season's 11-5 record isn't this season and he thus far has failed to uncover a solution.

The fact the Browns became one of the National Football League's most dangerous teams in the second half of last season without the services of Beckham, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in game seven, was the first clue the situation was headed in the wrong direction.

For reasons that might never be adequately explained, last season's statistics proved Mayfield had a much better relationship with wide receivers Rashard Higgins, Jarvis Landry, KhaDarel Hodge (now with the Detroit Lions) and Donovan Peoples-Jones down the stretch than he ever had with Beckham.

How this all affects the remainder of the season will now be played out in the next nine games as the Browns, who evaded drama all last season and qualified for the postseason as a result for the first time since 2002, are back in the drama business. Not a good omen for a team that specialized in drama and languished in the division basement on an annual basis since then.