Mid-week thoughts

Observations after week four . . . 

Nothing but high marks for the offense. Ground game is special. Jacoby Brissett is playing, with a couple of notable exceptions, just the way the Browns believed he would when they signed him to warm Deshaun Watson's seat until his ironic return from his suspension Dec. 4 against his old team, the Houston Texans.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the offense that better playcalling from head coach Kevin Stefanski can't improve. The offensive line, especially with the return of right tackle Jack Conklin, sizzles when Stefanski goes old school.

Guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller excel at creating holes for the ground game and protect the quarterback zealously. Left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is having his best season thus far. And Ethan Pocic, who replaced the injured Nick Harris in the pivot in training camp, has been a pleasant revelation.

Whenever Brissett doers what he does best, defenses struggle to shut this offense down, let alone slow it down. And what does he do best? Manages the game. That is until his head coach goes off script and turns the game over to him as he did Sunday in the loss in Atlanta.

Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are premier runners. No, make that elite runners. Stefanski's refusal to utilize them more lessens the opportunity to win games. You go with the big guns behind one of the best offensive lines in the National Football League. Stefanski is misusing Hunt by not giving him more touches.

With a quarterback like Brissett, who is limited in what he can do, you should lean heavily on the big artillery. Brissett excels at minimizing mistakes. His only two interceptions this season have been desperation throws in the final minute of both losses. 

This is a team built to milk the clock. tire opposing defenses and frustrate edge rushers because he is excellent at getting the ball out quickly. The offensive line probably loves blocking for him, at least from a statistical standpoint. He has been sacked only five times in 134 dropbacks, mostly on blitzes.

The very average receiving corps is beginning to come around. Amari Cooper is having an up and down season -- a pair of 100-yard games with two touchdowns counterbalanced by a brace of games with four receptions and 26 yards. He's due for a big game Sunday at home against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Tight end David Njoku has become somewhat of a force with 14 grabs -- several of them acrobatic -- for 162 yards and a touchdown in the last two games, while Donovan Peoples-Jones is either feast of famine in game plans with 29 targets in games one and four and just four in the other two.

The eyes say there haven't been as many dropped passes as last season, but a check reveals the eyes are wrong. With six this season, Browns receivers are on pace to equal last season's total of 25.  Must be time for a refraction. 

Now then, the defense. Ugh, the defense.

The erstwhile pillar of strength that entered the 2022 season is playing more like a pillar of salt in the final 15 minutes of games. The first three quarters thus far haven't been that bad -- just 45 points, including scoreless third quarters -- and just like that, members of that unit turn into something quite different and exceedingly damaging in quarter four.

With one exception, the Pittsburgh victory in week three, the Cleveland defense became a bunch of hapless, hopeless professional football players who either forgot how to play the game or didn't realize a game contains four quarters.

The secondary has been awful in those 15 minutes. Pointing out individuals to blame with numerous busted coverages is futile because it has happened so often, indicting the whole group is not incorrect. It is apparently unfixable. Why? Because it hasn't been fixed. It is the main difference between 2-2 and an unbeaten season thus far.

And with Justin Herbert of the Chargers, one of the NFL's top quarterbacks on tap Sunday, even one member of that secondary fears what the immediate future holds. ". . . I think each and every play we've got to be locked in or we're going to get torched," said free safety John Johnson III, "because they've been doing it to anybody dating back to last year."

Up to now, the secondary has been fortunate to face Baker Mayfield, backup Joe Flacco, the mediocre Mitch Trubisky (now benched) and journeyman Marcus Mariota. Herbert is a gigantic step up.

The pass rush this season has been spotty at best. Myles Garrett has three of the eight sacks thus far. At this point last season, that figure was 14. And with Jadeveon Clowney iffy at best with an ankle, that total won't budge much. Furthermore, not much help off the bench.

The Atlanta Falcons exposed an enormous weakness at tackle a few says ago, ripping off 199 yards, mostly in the second half of their improbable victory. It's a weakness that needs to be addressed pronto, but the front office doesn't seem to be too concerned, thinking perhaps that might have been an aberration. It wasn't.

Now the linebackers. The immenseness of the loss for the season of Anthony Walker Jr. cannot be stressed enough. He will be severely missed for the next 13 games. Jordan Phillips is not the answer. He is fast. He is young.  He is not ready. He's got the rest of the season to prove he can be the player they think he is.

The biggest disappointment, though, is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The former Notre Dame star has not been as aggressive as he was in college. Not certain whether it's because of the comparatively timid scheme defensive coordinator Joe Woods prefers.

At Notre Dame, the ball sought -- and found --  him. He was around the ball a lot. Aggression was a big part of his game. He was a playmaker. He is not a playmaker with the Browns. He's the kind of athlete who needs to be turned loose -- run downhill, so to speak -- so he can make plays.

As for special teams, there seems to be nothing about which to be concerned unless you're bothered by the two extra points Cade York missed. One cost them the Jets loss.

Now let's see how the remaining 13 games unfold and these units play. From the looks of the schedule, it looks rather grim until Watson returns. By then, it might be too late.