Thankless job

Job one for Kevin Stefanski Sunday afternoon against the Washington Commanders in the penultimate road game of the 2022 season is making certain the Browns emerge with a 1 and Oh record after it. Maybe not.

Of course that's always his main goal. At least that's what he says in the weeks leading up to games. Be 1 and Oh after a game and he's a happy head coach. Problem is he has failed nine times to attain that goal thus far in the first 15 games. 

But there was always something on the line when those games were meaningful: The chance to qualify for the postseason existed in each and every one of those 15 games. Only once has Stefanski gone consecutive weeks boasting of the 1 and Oh -- weeks 12 and 13 against Tampa Bay and Houston.

And now that the postseason is yet another unfulfilled goal, what incentive, what motivation is there for this bewilderingly underachieving team to go out and play inspired 60 minutes of football? Yep, that's the biggest job for Stefanski in the final two weeks.

How in the world is he going to prepare this team to play a collision sport when a good many of them are already thinking about how to improve their golf games, where they're going to travel, how they're going to spend the next few months recovering from injuries? Anything other than football.

How does one handle that in an effort to maximize performance with nothing on the line? Appeal to their pride? Remind them this is how they make a living? That will be Stefanski's main hurdle Sunday. Prevent his men from just going through the motions. 

The 7-7-1 Commanders, a less talented team than the Browns, have a postseason appearance in their sights. The goal: Knock off the Browns Sunday and division-winning Dallas in week 18 and they're in. They're also in by beating the Browns with losses by Green Bay, Seattle and Detroit.

The Commanders stagger into this one on the wings of a three-game winless streak and a change at quarterback. Carson Wentz, who began the season and went down in game six with a broken ring finger on his throwing hand, is back and replacing Taylor Heinicke, who is 5-3-1 but has struggled lately.

Wentz wasted little time praising Cleveland's professional football team in the run-up to the game. "The Browns are no slouch, you know," he said. "They're a good team. Their defense plays fast. They've got some playmakers over there we have to account for who can make life really difficult."

Really? Is he watching the same games we're all watching? Just who are those playmakers? Okay, I'll give you Myles Garrett and . . . and . .. . that's about it on defense. No one else stands out behind him. And who on offense besides Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper is scary good? Even the line has had its problems.

Playmakers on both sides of the football for the Browns have been MIA a good portion of the season. To quote a favorite expression used almost imploringly by numerous football coaches at all levels, the better teams always seem to "find a way to win)." Losers like the Browns don't. The record does not lie.

Finding ways to make plays helps win games. Whether it's intercepting a pass at a crucial juncture, completing a pass in a clutch late-game situation, causing and recovering a fumble, being in position to and deliver a key block, catching a ball that is almost impossible to catch. Stuff like that.

Now to Sunday's game. Neither team has momentum right now. Only one has incentive.

With absolutely none with his team, that's what Stefanski is guarding against Sunday. Also in the season finale in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, who are trying to avoid a season sweep by the Browns for the first time since all the way back in 1988. Yikes!

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera almost certainly will turn Wentz loose by against a Cleveland secondary mainly responsible for their plight this season. The run defense is a close second.

Wentz's chief targets will be former Buckeyes Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel, who have combined for 1,750 yards and eight touchdowns, and rookie receiver Johan Dotson, who has scored seven more. The running will be handled chiefly by rookie Brian Robinson, who has run well the last four games.They operate behind a line that has given up 42 sacks.

Defensively, the Commanders are bolstered by the return of defensive end Chase Young, another ex-Buckeye who missed 33 games and 13 months with a torn ACL and ruptured patellar tendon in his right leg. 

The Browns, who have nothing to lose now by playing those who have played minimal roles to date, are nonetheless sticking with those responsible for the 6-9 record. Not certain why. For some reason, there's the notion winning the last two games will create a culture of winning that will carry over to next season. Uh, no. Too late for that.

Once again, and for the 10th time this season, they will underachieve again against the Commanders, especially on offense, which has produced just three touchdowns in the last four games. They are headed for an 11-loss season and firm occupancy of the AFC Central basement . . . again.. Make it:

Commanders 24, Browns 13

Mid-week thoughts

After rallying around their head coach with strong support in the wake of yet another loss that should have been a victory, is there any question whether Kevin Stefanski is solid with his locker room?

It sure looked as though Deshaun Watson, David Njoku and David Bell almost immediately stepped forward in an attempt to support their head coach, rendering him with what looked like absolution for the loss to New Orleans in the home finale last Saturday.

It wasn't Stefanski's fault Watson completed less than 50% of his passes. Nor was it his fault Njoku failed to hold on to a well-thrown pass at the goal line, trailing by seven with less than a minute left. And Bell blamed himself for what was, in reality, a crucial pass he didn't have a chance to catch.

Njoku felt so bad, he personally apologized to Watson, who forgave him and said there will be other chances. Not taken into consideration were the conditions under which the play evolved. Frigid at minus-12 wind chill, the football had turned solid like a brick.

Watson's strong, accurate throw, one of his few on the afternoon, roared through the tight end's hands. The hands were ready, but the velocity of the throw proved way too hard to hold on to. Thus the apology. Unnecessary, of course, but well-intentioned. 

Bell blamed himself for deflecting a Watson pass that was intercepted by Saints safety Daniel Sorensen, setting up what turned out to be the winning touchdown in the third quarter. The rookie wide receiver has terrific hands -- 24 receptions on 33 targets with zero drops --  and believes he should catch anything.

He claimed it was his fault he didn't catch it. No it wasn't. Truth is getting just one hand on the poorly-thrown ball as he was stretching for it was somewhat remarkable. So much so, in fact, he was not credited with a drop. He definitely needs to be targeted more.

Watson, meanwhile, came out Thursday and attempted to cool off the hot seat Stefanski currently occupies with some segments of the media and a growing segment of fans after a pair of extremely mediocre seasons with no apparent solutions in sight.

"That hot-seat stuff and all that as far as the media and the talk and stuff like that, people who make those decisions are doing the right thing for this organization," he said. "We all trust Kevin. We love Kevin. We support Kevin and everything he's about the Cleveland Browns. So yeah, we're going to continue to build that trust and build that chemistry and look for the future."

Perhaps that's in response for the praise his coach  lavished on him, hyperbolically, following the New Orleans loss. Stefanski pointed to some "really, really unbelievable throws" on the Browns' long final possession that died at the Saints' 15   

Unbelievable? Not really. He probably thought of nice -- not "really, really unbelievable" -- late throws to Amari Cooper and Bell that gained 32 valuable yards. He conveniently did not mention the iffy holding call on Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo on a third-and-13 that sustained the possession.

That Stefanski needed to throw the ball at that stage of the game could have been avoided by doing something Saints head coach Dennis Allen did and was quite successful with: Run the football.

In some circles, what Watson said of his head coach would be called a ringing endorsement. From this view, though, and considering the many overall problems encountered this season, he is merely saying the right things at the right time to chill the warming landscape. He has 230 million reasons to feel this way. 

He has played only four games under Stefanski, barely scratching the surface in his relationship with his new head coach and his rather interesting playcalling. Let's leave it at this: Watson has plenty of time to change his mind.

Stefanski adamantly insists his goal is to put his players in a position to win games. And yet, he has failed to find the correct position in 18 of the last 32 games. There seems to be a pattern here that needs to be addressed.

Chances are with just a couple of games left this season, fans will have to wait until next summer before getting a chance to see the Deshaun Watson who dazzled in his first four National Football League seasons in Houston and became a Pro Bowler.

Ultra late Sunday leftovers

Kevin Stefanski is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, an oddity because the Browns' head coach seems to have communications problems with his team.

His underperforming but abundantly talented players have not responded to what he has preached for the better part of the last two seasons after making a spectacular splash as a rookie head coach with an 11-5 record in 2020.

He's the same stolid coach with a much better team now and yet the results do not reflect his efforts to glean smart, tough and accountable football from them. Something is definitely being lost in the translation. And that something seemingly rests with the man calling all the shots.

Whatever motivation Stefanski is employing is not working. Hasn't for nearly two seasons. The Browns' 6-9 record this season could easily be the exact opposite and on the verge of returning to the postseason were it not for numerous unexplainable breakdowns that cost them at least three victories early on.

When the number of losses that should have been victories reaches a number that high, someone has to take the blame. Several times this season, Stefanski has owned significant mistakes in strategizing or playcalling that meant the difference between winning and losing. That's not good enough.

In order for the Browns to get better, he's got to get better at being a head coach. As the head man, a major part of his duties is coaching the coaches. The record reflects that's not happening. Perhaps because he's too tied up with the offense and has lost focus as the boss? Rhetorical question.

Before continuing, this is in no way suggesting the third-year coach should not be around much longer to complete his five-year contract. He should be given -- and no doubt will get -- one more crack with Deshaun Watson for a full season before a final judgment.

But after Saturday's loss to the New Orleans Saints in the home finale, where shoddy coaching and playcalling and just plain old ignorant thinking cost the Browns yet another victory, residents of the Ivory Tower at 76 Lou Groza Blvd, in Berea cannot be pleased.

The extreme weather conditions -- 8 degrees, wind chill of negative-25, wind gusts up to 30 mph -- dictated limited passing and a preponderance of running. The icy-slick field caused wide-open Amari Cooper to slip and drop a touchdown pass late in the second quarter.

"Those are tough conditions," Stefanski said after the game. "They are tough for both teams. I know we want to make plays. I now (Watson) did make a few plays. We just didn't ultimately make a few of those. Those were the conditions. It was what it was." Word salad.

I recall saying a few times during the game, "(The bad field) is why you should RUN the ball." The Browns, last time I looked, have one of the best ground games in the National Football League. Use it often on a day like that.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen, whose team plays under a dome, got the message. He knew running was the key to victory on this day and called on quarterback Andy Dalton to throw the ball just 15 times, a mere six in the second half in outsmarting Stefanski.

Historical timeout: When explaining his three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust philosophy, Ohio State coaching legend Woody Hayes said, "Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad."

But the very smart -- remember he's an Ivy League graduate -- head coach of the Browns didn't see it that way Saturday. After the Saints grabbed the lead late in the third quarter, turning a Watson interception into a touchdown to break a 10-10 tie, Stefanski panicked.

Instead of relying on the ground game with a full quarter remaining, he thrust Watson into the spotlight, calling for a pass on 18 of the fourth-quarter's 28 snaps, including 15 of the last 18 and the last 10 in a row. Mind you, the Browns trailed by only one score with five-plus minutes left and all three timeouts at the two-minute warning.

All three were burned by the time the Browns reached the Saints' 15-yard line with 43 seconds left which, of course, took away the run. Three straight incompletions, including a bullet tight end David Njoku failed to handle inches from the goal line, and a sack later, loss number nine that could have been victory number eight with smarter coaching was history.

Another abject failure by a team that needs better coaching. And playcalling. 

***

It's interesting -- and somewhat surprising -- Stefanski hasn't lost the team with all the frustration built up this season. Players hear positive vibes from the coaching staff all season and yet all their hard work and efforts end up walking away as losers in nine of the 15 games.

That's got to be frustrating and yet bodes well for Stefanski. It doesn't take much for a coach to lose the locker room, but his hold seems to be solid to the probable dismay of a significant portion of Browns Nation.

For the second season in a row, the initial goal has not been reached. With rare exceptions, players are keeping their opinions to themselves. Most of them are packing up right now to beat it out of town in a couple of weeks. But not before the end-of-the-season exit interviews, which should be interesting.

***

According to CBS Sports, Jimmy Haslam III is more than a little interested in what head coach Josh Heupel is doing at his alma mater this season. The high-scoring Tennessee Volunteers have leaped into the national spotlight under their first-year coach, whose dynamic Air-Raid offense caught Haslam's eye.

The Browns owner, according Jonathan Jones of CBS, "has closely watched" the Air Raid, the writer suggesting there might be some coaching and philosophical changes to the Cleveland offense next season based to a degree on Heupel's philosophy, which heavily features numerous receivers and the passing game. The sixth-ranked Vols (10-2) lead the nation in scoring this season with 568 points (47.3 a game).

The quick-strike offense is the antithesis of Stefasnki's tame and conservative Wide-Zone offense, which features a more balanced attack. It will be interesting to see how far Haslam takes this with his sometimes-stubborn head coach if he chooses to do so. Or doesn't because right now, this is just a rumor. 

If he does, though, he could make the case Watson's unique talents is a better fit for the Air Raid than the stodgy and game-managing style Stefanski prefers. Whether it translates to successful football in the NFL is the best argument against it. If it moves from rumor stage to reality, an interesting battle looms.

***

Finally . . . Next up, the Washington Commanders, who still have a slim shot at making the playoffs. It is believed the Browns will see Carson Wentz at quarterback. Wentz was 2-4 when he broke a finger on his throwing hand in week six and missed nine games, during which backup Taylor Heinicke was 5-3-1. Wentz relieved Heinicke in the latter stages of the 37-20 loss to San Francisco Saturday and played well. . . . Watson is 2-2 in his first four starts, completing only 57.5% of his passes for 703 yards, two touchdowns and three picks. He has run the ball 22 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. . . . Donovan Peoples-Jones, shut down Saturday by the Saints with only two receptions for 15 yards, needs 216 yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau for the first time.

Unwise decisions

If it was Kevin Stefanski's intention to equally distribute the play calls Saturday against the New Orleans Saints in the Browns' 2022 home finale and make it work, it failed miserably.

The Browns' head coach, who designs and calls all plays in his capacity as the club's wannabe offensive coordinator, chose to rely mostly on the throwing talents of quarterback Deshaun Watson to get close to .500 as the season winds down. He chose unwisely

They were officially eliminated from the playoffs -- officially because strange math somehow kept them just barely alive but nevertheless hopeless -- by the Saints, who chose to respect the terrible weather conditions and concentrate on running the football.

Their 17-10 victory, which went right down to the final moments of the game, was played in single-digit, 30 mph winds, wind-chill factor of negative-14 weather that lacked snow. It featured a Saints game plan that ran the ball on 72% of their 54 plays, gaining 152 yards against a Cleveland defense that crumbled in slow motion attempting to stop running backs Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill.

Saints quarterback Andy Dalton was pretty much a spectator, throwing just 15 passes, completing eight for 92 yards. This game clearly belonged to Kamara and Hill and an offensive line that neutralized a Cleveland defensive line that never touched Dalton.

Stefanski, meantime, dialed up 33 passes (49% of the 67 plays) for a quarterback just getting back to the National Football League after missing 700 days due to the baggage he lugged to Cleveland for a guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.

Watson was beginning to show signs of the chipping off the rust that had accumulated and slowly was becoming the elite quarterback he was with the Houston Texans for four seasons, but Saturday's rugged weather dictated a much heavier ground game than Stefanski (should have) asked for. 

Watson often looked uncertain and, at times, confused by the smothering Saints defense in the secondary. Several of his throws were well off target. And it's anybody guess why Stefanski called for only three RPO runs, one of which wound up in the end zone. Makes me wonder what he was thinking.

Nick Chubb, who churned out 92 hard yards on 24 carries, needed help and didn't get it from Kareem Hunt, who was ineffective with just eight yards in seven attempts. Watson needed to be part of the ground- game package, not throwing a football so much.

He wound up with just 15 completions on his 33 dropbacks (two sacks) for a measly 135 yards. It was a day where using his outstanding running talents would have kept the New Orleans defense honest. Wonder if Stefanski takes the blame for the unusual -- okay, strange -- playcalling.

Kamara and Hill each scored a touchdown in the third quarter as the Saints overcame an early 10-0 deficit, gained when the Cleveland offense took advantage of a Grant Delpit interception (off a deflection) and 40-yard return, and subsequent 13-yard scoring romp, untouched, by Watson five plays later on the opening play of the second quarter.

After an 18-play, 60-yard drive on the following possession that took 8:44 off the clock but bogged down at the Saints' 12, Cade York's 30-yard field goal grazed the left upright before falling through to give the Browns their 10-point lead. That, for all practical purposes, was the Browns' offense until the late stages of the game as they fell to 6-9.

The Saints came to life on the opening possession of the second half, marching 67 yards in nine plays, the versatile Hill bullying his way into the end zone from eight yards, breaking tackle attempts by Alex Wright, Greg Newsome II, John Johnson III and Chase Winovich along the way to tie the game at 10-10.

They took the lead two Cleveland possessions later, Saints safety Daniel Sorenson, who has bedeviled the Browns in the past with the Kansas City Chiefs, picking off a poorly-thrown pass that deflected off the hand of rookie receiver David Bell and returning it to the Cleveland 15. Kamara scored from four yards out four plays later with 55 seconds remaining in the quarter..

It was still a game at that point, but the Cleveland offense by then had become offensive and not in a good way. The first four possessions of the half ended with two punts, the pick and a numbingly bone-headed (panicky?) decision by Stefanski to gamble on fourth down and two at the Cleveland 39 with seven minutes left in regulation.

He seemingly didn't trust his defense to hold the Saints. Instead, he trusted his wildly inconsistent quarterback, whose pass sailed harmlessly -- and well over -- the head of Donovan Peoples-Jones, presenting the Saints with a gift. But this time, the Cleveland defense rescued their coach with a three-and-out. 

That's when the Browns' only serious threat in the half arrived. It took nearly five minutes off the clock, covered 58 yards in 18 plays and needed six of the club's nine first downs in the half (one by a defensive holding penalty on a third down) to sustain. It reached the New Orleans 15 following an 18-yard connection with Bell with 43 seconds left.

Watson failed to connect with Amari Cooper and Peoples-Jones, whom he had targeted on 15 of his 31 attempts, on his first two throws, but drilled what appeared to be a perfect pass to David Njoku on the doorstep of the end zone. But the ball, which must have felt like a rock in the frigid weather, ripped through the tight end's hands.

Watson's final dropback seemingly took forever as he searched vainly for anyone to get open. He bounced on his feet several times to buy some time, but found no one to accommodate him. He looked left, he looked right, he looked down the seam and still came up empty.

It took so long to develop, Saints defensive end Carl Granderson, who had dropped back in short-range pass coverage at the snap, had enough time to curl back and drop Watson, who by then was looking to scramble.

Two road games in Washington and Pittsburgh remain on the schedule. In some ways, though, the result of this one seemed fitting in light of how this season has unfolded. So many disappointments and frustrations along the way. This was merely another one of them.

B-r-r-r-r-owns forecast

It was negative-1 in downtown Cleveland late Friday afternoon, the day before Christmas Eve. Perfect weather for a football game. Ya think?

Tell that to members of the Browns and New Orleans Saints, who will face each other for three hours Saturday under abysmal winter conditions in the Browns' home finale. Promises to be a game that will be long remembered more for the weather than the result.

Weather will not be just one of the factors that determines the outcome. It will be the only factor. Temperatures are expected to barely reach the teens by game time before plunging to near zero, perhaps below, with accompanying snowfall and winds expected to gust as high as 50 mph. That's a blizzard.

For the record, the Saints check in with a 5-9 record, tied with two other teams for, depending on your perspective, either second place or the basement in the miserable NFC South. The relatively-speaking red-hot Browns are 6-8, having won three of the last four games.

Odds favor the Browns in this one if for no other reason they're used to this. This will be an adventure for the visitors, who play football inside a weather-controlled dome half the season. 

The conditions no doubt will cause both coaching staffs to alter their original game plans for all three phases of the game. The most common belief is running the ball will be emphasized to limit the possibility of mistakes through the air.

It will be interesting to see if Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski gives Deshaun Watson, who played played his first four National Football League seasons with the Houston Texans inside a domed stadium, free reign to open it up or goes the conservative route and pounds the Saints with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt all afternoon.

Considering the Browns run the ball nearly 50% of the time, look for Cleveland's tight ends and wide receivers to spend most of their time blocking to help the ground game, limiting Watson to high-percentage, low-risk throws.

The Saints, meanwhile, like to strike more through the air with quarterback Andy Dalton. But with rookie receiver Chris Olave and former Brown Jarvis Landry not available, chances are Saints head coach Dennis Allen will take full advantage of the versatile Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill.

Kamara has accumulated nearly 1,110 yards and three touchdowns from scrimmage and is just as dangerous a receiver as he is a runner. Hill is the ubiquitous everyman on the Saints. He can line up anywhere on the field at any time.

Can he play quarterback? He has. What about wide receiver? Yep. Tight end? That, too, Running back? Uh huh. Special teams? Has made a tackle on them this season. Finding Hill will be difficult.

Statistics for this one are meaningless. Footing most likely will be treacherous. And if snow accumulates on the field, just about anything is possible. If that happens, it will be interesting to see if officials permit members of the ground crew to sweep and keep the lines clean every five yards or so.

Wide receivers will have to be careful to maintain their balance as they run their routes, most of which most likely will be of the short- to medium-range variety. Running backs will probably find it difficult to get off to a quick start. Cutting and change of direction will be difficult, if not near impossible.

That goes, too, for linemen on both sides of the football. Traction will be difficult. Sack totals should take a hit. Turnovers under these conditions will be key. Holding on to the ball will be difficult. It should be noted the rejuvenated Browns defense has taken the ball away seven times in the last three games.

From Captain Obvious comes this gem: This will be a low-scoring game. Duh! The Browns and Baltimore Ravens put up only 16 total points a week ago under much better conditions. The weather will be the big winner for this one. So, too, will be the entertainment factor. It should be a fun game to watch as the Browns climb to 7-8 with their fourth victory in the last five games. Make it:

Browns, 15, Saints 11

Mid-week thoughts

There seems to be a feeling now that the Browns' defense, the one currently enjoying a rejuvenation of sorts with regard to positive results, has finally come around and become the unit just about everyone expected all season. 

This unpredictable group, clearly the leading culprit as to why the Browns, for the second straight season, will not qualify for the postseason, is repeating its 2021 performance by playing the second half of the season as Dr. Jekyll after opening as Mr. Hyde.

Last season, the defense made up for an awful start by becoming a top 10 team down the stretch. By then, though, the offense was terribly broken and the defense's effort went unrewarded in the standings. That finish sparked positive talk of next season and a momentum carryover.

This season, the offense under an interim quarterback scored often enough to win more than three games after week 11. But the defense, the one with all the momentum generated by last season's terrific finish, didn't stop opposing teams often enough to save those games. 

And here we are doing it all over again this season. After falling as low as 3-7, including a 1-6 stretch, the Browns find themselves finally experiencing something the eluded them -- winning. As in three of the last four games.

The joy of winning has triggered the momentum cry for next season. "At the end of day, we are where we are," said defensive end Myles Garrett recently. "We have to carry that momentum through the end of the season and into next season.

"You want to keep on stacking these wins. When you're looking back, watching film and sitting down with (the coaches) in the offseason, that's really something to fall back upon when you're looking to come into next season hot."

Yep, just like last season when the hot defense last season carried over to this season and opened with a 2-1 record with two close victories before the season collapsed with six losses in the next seven games due mainly to a defense that chilled in a hurry.

So why are the Browns winning now? The defense, which has been battered at linebacker by injuries to key players, is duplicating its second-half performance of a year ago. They are taking opportunism to a level that eluded them in the first 11games of the season when they created just eight turnovers.

In the last three games, they have taken the ball away seven times, including four in the week 13 victory in Houston in Deshaun Watson's debut. However, the offense sputters with Watson commanding the hurdle and that's where, just like last season, the defense has come to the rescue.

The victory over the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday was narrow due mainly to the offense's inability to put points on the board. Even though he looks better with every series, Watson still has just one touchdown pass in three games. He has accounted for just 29 of the last 50 points. 

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods, on and off the hot seat over the last 12 months, is strapped back in despite the recent improvement. He should be. Two years in a row like this is a trend and needs to be addressed. Fans understandably want him gone. Now.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski is not going to cashier Woods now with just three games left, including Saturday's matinee against the New Orleans Saints in the home finale. But if Woods is retained, look for fans to hop off the bandwagon.

Bottom line: If this team continues to play anything other than complementary football in all phases, mediocrity will follow them like a bad dream.

No leftovers this week. Will resume with mid-week thoughts on Thursday.

Ugly, but pretty

To say it was a strange evening down by the lakefront Saturday night would be a gross understatement. The Browns and Baltimore Ravens attempted to play an entertaining National Football League game. And failed.

The Browns prevailed, 13-3, and, yes, the score clearly reflects how boring this one was. Two teams with struggling offenses missing opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. It made the two defenses look better than they actually were.

The game featured numerous long, time-consuming drives, all but one failing to put six points on the board. Plenty of football was played between the 20-yard lines. The Ravens’ best chance to get into the end zone arrived on their initial possession of the game. 

And that’s when the Cleveland defense set the tone of the game by putting up a staunch goal-line stand as 6.-1, 205-pound free safety John Johnson III of the Browns prevented 6-3, 305-pound Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard from gaining 36 inches on a fourth and one at the Cleveland seven.

From that point on, it was game on with the defenses zealously guarding their end zones. Both teams managed to gain ground between the 20-yard lines, but then the door would slam shut. Six red-zone visits yielded just the one touchdown.

The Browns finally broke through in the third quarter with a 12-play, 91-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock after Denzel Ward stepped in front of DeSean Jackson for the pick on the first possession of the second half at the Cleveland nine.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson, making his Cleveland debut, looked sharper and more confident by the game, capping the drive with a pretty three-yard slant to Donovan Peoples-Jones after the wide receiver reversed his original route and cut back over the middle for the easy catch.

Surely, that would unlock the scoring drought. Uh, no. Not even the kickers would help in this one. The veteran and the rookie put on a show of how not to help your team.

Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, had his worst game in four years with one miss and one block (by Cleveland’s Jordan Elliot) in three attempts. Right there, it should have become apparent this one was going to be only the sixth loss against the Browns for Ravens head coach John Harbaugh in 15 seasons.

Cade York, the Browns’ puzzlingly inconsistent rookie kicker, had four opportunities to put this one out of reach in the fourth quarter after hitting on 47- and 23-yard field goals to give the Browns a 6-3 halftime lead.

But he failed badly in the fourth quarter from 38 and 46 to put the game away, adding to the strangeness of the snowy evening.

The victory was Kevin Stefanski’s second over Harbaugh in six attempts, making him the winningest Cleveland coach against his rival. One of the reasons was the Browns’ ability to play a majority of the game in Ravens territory.

The snaps on 45 of the Browns’ 64 plays on offense were made on the Baltimore side of midfield. If nothing else, it prevented the Ravens from mounting sustained drives that threatened the Cleveland end zone. Other than the opening drive of the game, the Ravens’ deepest penetration was the Browns’ 15, the one aborted by Ward’s pick.

As good as the defense was as the Ravens approached the 20, the offense failed to take full advantage. They wasted drives of 14-plays and 64 yards and 11 plays gaining 71 yards. It was just one of those nights  where they got lucky in winning just their sixth game of the season.

They did so even the run defense was battered again, this time by J. K.Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who battered them for 180 of the Ravens’ 198 yards. 

This was truly one ugly game that, for a change, turned out kinda pretty at the end.

Harbaugh haunts Browns

John Harbaugh has been a football coach since 1984 in a variety of capacities at five different colleges. He entered the National Football League universe in 1998 when head coach Andy Reid hired him as special teams coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The older brother of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh became a head coach for the first time in his career in 2008 after the Baltimore Ravens fired Brian Billick. The hire was surprising because the Ravens wanted Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

The Cowboys did, too, and convinced him to stay after bumping his salary and tacking on the title of assistant head coach (to Wade Phillips). He stepped up to the top spot a couple of seasons later and held the job for 10 seasons.

Harbaugh, meanwhile, is in the midst of his 15th season and once again challenging for the AFC North championship, which would be his fifth and qualify the Ravens for the postseason for the 10th time under his watch. He already owns one Super Bowl ring (XLVII).

All Harbaugh does with the old Browns franchise is win, win and then win some more, especially against the Browns, against whom he is 24-5 (a winning percentage of .827) entering Saturday's nationally- televised matinee on the lakefront. He is 121-87 (.582) against the rest of the NFL in the regular season. Overall, he's 145-92 (.612).

The Browns have employed nine head coaches since Harbaugh took over in Baltimore. Only Rob Chudzinski in 2013, Mike Pettine in 2015, Gregg Willians (acting head coach) in 2018, Freddie Kitchens in 2019 and Kevin Stefanski last season can boast a victory over him.

Makes no difference how the Ravens are playing at the time, the edge seemingly is always in their favor when playing Cleveland. Numerous times during his tenure, the unexplainable happens that tilts the decision in the Ravens' favor. It just does. There is no other way to describe it.

Whenever Cleveland pops up on the schedule, Harbaugh must heave a sigh of relief no matter how it's going for the Ravens at the time because he knows a positive result lies ahead. The record substantiates it. 

Take Saturday's game, for instance. The Ravens are down to backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who took over after Lamar Jackson injured a knee a couple of games ago. A break for the Browns? Jackson is 6-3 against Cleveland and gives the defense fits as he works his miracles. The Browns will not miss him.

But then there's Huntley, who subbed for Jackson against the Browns last season and played well despite losing by two points, producing a career-high 270-yard passing game and another 45 yards on the ground. He has similar traits to Jackson. He's got a nice arm, arguably better than Jackson, and is just as elusive in the open field. He is not afraid to leave the pocket and scramble.

That right there poses a big problem for a Cleveland defense that doesn't handle scrambling quarterbacks well. Lack of proper containment on the edge has been a problem most of the season. And now that  Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has joined fellow linebackers Anthony Walker Jr., Jacob Phillips and Sione Takitaki on injured reserve, Huntley becomes more dangerous when scrambling.

The Browns also have to keep an eye on tight end MarkAndrews and running back J. K. Dobbins. Andrews has been poison for the Browns with 40 receptions for 510 yards in nine games and has burned them for seven touchdowns, mostly in clutch situations.

Dobbins, the former Ohio State star, missed all of last season with a knee injury after running for 805 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2020. He returned to the lineup from injured reserve last week after reinjuring the knee in week six, running for 120 yards and a touchdown in a two-point victory over Pittsburgh.

This could be a game where the Browns offense, in order to have a chance, must rescue the defense by putting plenty of points on the board. Deshaun Watson must elevate his game to a higher level than his first two games in order to take pressure off the ground game, on which the very good Ravens defense will concentrate shutting down as Cincinnati did last Sunday.

Key will be how healthy Amari Cooper is at game time. A bad hip slowed the veteran wide receiver down against the Bengals. That could mean more work for rookie David Bell if his injured toe comes around by game time. The Browns hope that will take the pressure off Donovan Peoples-Jones and tight end David Njoku, who have become favorite targets for Watson.

I don't know how the Ravens are going to win this game. I just know they will because, well, because that's what they've done to the Browns under Harbaugh for the past 15 seasons. Victories over him come so infrequently in this series, it's fairly evident the Browns will fall to 5-9 and into a familiar residence: The AFC North basement. This one's easy. Make it:

Ravens, 24, Browns 13

Thoughts & Leftovers

Here we are 13 games into the 2022 National Football League season and the Browns are still making the same mistakes that presumably were addressed at early training camp. The level of discipline on this team  scratches rock bottom.

There are numerous reasons they are 5-8 en route to yet another agonizingly disappointing season for a fan base that deserves a whole lot better. What did these fans do to get their tickets punched to reside again in football purgatory? 

How much more cleansing is required to finally, after all the misery they've been put through for more than two decades, wash away the sordid past? Good question. It's beginning to look as though that won't arrive until the front office makes a wise decision on a head coach and maybe general manager. 

Remember the team's mantra when the Andrew Berry-Kevin Stefanski regime took over? They wanted the Browns to play smart and tough and be accountable. They did so in the 2020 COVID-19-stained season Since then, they are failing at all three. 

They can't seem to get out of their own way. They don't know how to win anymore. Mistakes seemingly  haunt them on a weekly basis between September and January. And when they stumble onto a victory most fans don't see coming, they can't sustain it. Only one two-game win streak this season.

So why the poor discipline? One of the best barometers, maybe the best, to judge that is penalties. They are drive killers on offense, drive extenders on defense, field position on special teams. They quite often can mean the difference between winning and losing. The current record reflects that notion.

The Browns have committed 97 penalties this season. Ten were declined, four were offsetting. The net total of 83 cost them 703 yards. The nine they committed that cost them 98 yards Sunday in the loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati was just piling on the damage.

For example, it is ingrained in the minds of players at all levels of football that you do not plow head-on into a punter while he's in the process of doing his job. It will draw a flag every time. If that's the course you choose to take, you better make sure you get a piece of the football or face the consequences. 

Reserve linebacker Tony Fields II must have missed class because that is exactly what he did to Cincy's Drue Chrisman on fourth and 15 at the Bengals' 17. Chrisman was punting for the fourth time in the game early in the second quarter with the momentum clearly belonging to the Browns.

The Cleveland defense was on fire. Fields careless mistake cooled them off. Instead of the Browns starting their next drive at their 35, the Bengals kept the ball and proceeded to put out that fire.

Seven plays later, the Bengals scored and completely shifted the momentum of the game for what turned out to be the rest of the afternoon. Therein lies another reason to call into question the lack of discipline. It's been that way most of the season.

That's just a small sample of what has gone wrong this season. I addressed the playcalling the other day. The season-long problems on defense have been well documented. It's all a confluence of poorly-timed misfortune that seems to attach itself to woebegone teams.

***

The Browns' coaching staff gulped a few extra stupid pills last Sunday. The Bengals were without wide receivers Tee Higgins (hamstring) and Tyler Boyd (dislocated finger on the second play of the game) and yet devoted single coverage to Ja'Marr Chase, one of the NFL's most dangerous receivers, most of the afternoon. 

Last time I looked, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward was one of the NFL's best coverage cornerbacks, but you'd never know it after looking at Chase's stats. With Higgins and Boyd gone, quarterback Joe Burrow targeted Chase on 15 of his 33 pass attempts with 10 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

Ward had Chase most of the time, but no matter what the Browns did, it rarely worked primarily because Burrow and Chase, college teammates at LSU, work so well together. It's scary to think the Browns will have to face these two twice a year for a long time.

***

Now on to Saturday's penultimate home game against Baltimore where the Browns have no idea who will open at quarterback for the 9-4 Ravens.

Lamar Jackson went down with a knee a couple of weeks ago and Tyler Huntley suffered a concussion last week, but he's reportedly out of protocol and was a full participant at practice Wednesday and will most likely start in the flexed nationally televised game.

Huntley is no stranger to the Browns. He was superb while filling in exactly a year ago for Jackson, who suffered a sprained ankle early in the game, completing 27 of 38 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown, and scrambling for 45 more yards on six carries in a 24-22 loss.

He displayed similar characteristics to the elusive and dangerous Jackson, who has been beset with injuries the last two seasons. His speed and quickness pose a problem for a Cleveland defense that has had periodic difficulty getting runners to the ground.

Monday leftovers

(Just one this time.)

It's time. 

Time for Kevin Stefanski to take a long, hard look at how unsuccessful he has been as a head coach since his terrific rookie season and determine whether to give a new direction serious thought before his team falls completely apart.

He might start with assessing himself as the chief playcaller and come to the conclusion as a head coach that he needs to think about replacing his chief playcaller because not very much is working with a unit that is loaded with talent and should have a better record than 5-8.

His playcalling comes into question too many times to ignore the fact something isn't working. For example, the Browns were in the red zone three times against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday and came away with just 10 points. That's unacceptable. Against a team like the Bengals, that's not nearly good enough.

He eschews way too many opportunities via the field goal to put points on the scoreboard with his foolish, analytically-influenced reasoning that has dictated his many fourth-down gambles while fans are screaming, "TAKE THE POINTS!"

His latest fourth-down disaster unfolded on the opening possession Sunday when Deshaun Watson drove to the Bengals 25 and stalled on third and one. The stingy Cincy defense stopped Kareem Hunt cold. Didn't gain an inch. Time for Cade York and a 43-yard field goal, right?

Stefanski never gave it a thought. "It felt like a touchdown would be a premium in this game," he explained his rationale Monday. "Just didn't get it done. When you're playing a high-powered offense and a good football team, (I) just felt like we had to score a bunch of points." Wrong feeling.

Instead, he dialed up a lame-brained play on fourth down that sent Watson to the bench for Jacoby Brissett, who perfected the quarterback sneak so successfully in his 11-game stint. Clearly a case of trying to get too cute  by Stefanski. The Bengals were ready for the sneak as Brissett seemingly tried to draw the Bengals offside and get a cheap first down. 

I was looking for Stefanski to call a timeout after the Bengals called his bluff. When Brissett (shockingly to these eyes) took the snap, he attempted to connect with Donovan Peoples-Jones, who was behind his man in the end zone, and badly overthrew him. Stefanski trusted his backup quarterback rather his $230 million quarterback. My most immediate reaction? What was he thinking?

How many of those close games could the Browns have won if only Stefanski had opted for those early-in-the-game field goals instead of gambling on fourth down and placing his team in a better position to attain the prime goal of making the postseason? 

The Browns this season lead the National Football League in fourth-down gambles with 33. They have succeeded just 18 times (54.5%). Putting that in perspective, the Philadelphia Eagles have been successful 19 times, but did so in just 25 attempts (76%).

Stefanski needs to devote his entire energy to fixing serious deficiencies that have existed on defense and special teams, deficiencies that have severely hampered whatever progress he was anticipating. That's what a good head coach does. Puts out fires. Coaches the coaches. That includes all coordinators.

There are few head coaches in the NFL who have achieved success in a dual role, coordinating his expertise on a particular side of the football. Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Bill Belichick, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and Bruce Arians come to mind. 

All have been quite successful handling the two roles. Reid, Payton, Arias and Belichick had coordinators in name, but were really the brains behind their success. McVay is experiencing a rare down year in Los Angeles with the Rams, but has a Super Bowl ring. Shanahan in San Francisco is having a terrific season. 

Technically speaking, Alex Van Pelt is Stefanski's offensive coordinator. Says so right there in the media guide. But he does not call plays. He helps design plays to swell the playbook, but that's it. He does not control the game for that unit. He should as the season winds down with Stefanski controlling veto power. What's he got to lose? Another game?

He always talks about putting his players in a position to succeed. Either they are not listening to him or something is being lost in the translation because those players keep finding ways to self destruct, not succeed.

Too often this season, we have heard ad nauseam Stefanski pointing fingers of guilt at himself after losses that should have been victories as the reason they weren't. He acknowledges hurting his team. His self-flagellation after those losses rings hollow with fans. If they don't, they should.

He has four games left to convince me and other critics that we have no idea what we're talking about. That includes a pair of division games (Baltimore this Saturday and Pittsburgh in the season finale) to place a  tourniquet on the bleeding and avoid falling into the AFC North basement for the umpteenth time.

Stefanski, who will be back season four pending unforeseen developments, is 13-17 (43.3%) since his 11-5 rookie season, when he was named NFL coach of the year by a number of media sites. The luster has clearly worn off.

It is in Stefanski's best interests -- and the best interests of the Cleveland Browns -- to be more flexible with regard to his role as the head coach. The window of opportunity is slowly closing as the Deshaun Watson era commences. Changes need to be made. And the only one who can benefit is Stefanski.

No Chubb, no win

The Cincinnati Bengals' main goal against the Browns Sunday in front of the home folks, besides scoring more points than them of course, was making certain Nick Chubb was reduced from superhuman status against them to just plain human when carrying a football. 

Chubb, who breaks more tackles and piles up more yards after contact in the National Football League than anyone and delivers more bruises than he receives, was rendered silent in the 23-10 loss that eliminated Cleveland from any playoff possibilities.

He normally feasts on the Bengals and is one of the main reasons the Browns brought a five-game winning streak against them into this one, But he produced just 34 yards -- his longest run was 13 yards on his second carry -- in 14 attempts as the Cincy defensive line blew up just about everything run-related.

It forced head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski to alter his game plan for the offense in the second half after the Bengals built a 13-3 halftime lead on their only two second-quarter possessions, and it became quite clear the Bengals' defensive line was overwhelmingly winning the war in the trenches.

Stefanski was probably tired of watching his bellwether back get nowhere and moved Deshaun Watson into the picture perhaps earlier than he had planned, giving him a chance to see what his new quarterback could do under conditions that relied more heavily on him than the ground game.

But it was a penalty-laden collapse by the Browns' defense and special teams on the first of those second-quarter possessions that helped gift-wrap the first score, a 15-yard connection from Joe Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase. 

With the game scoreless and the Cincinnati offense floundering early in the quarter -- three punts and 38 yards in 15 plays on the first three possessions -- and facing another punt, it became flag day and the game turned.

Fourth and 15 at the Cincinnati 17 and with the Cleveland defense in charge, linebacker Tony Fields II ran roughshod right into Bengals punter Drue Chrisman and drew a roughing penalty to breathe new life into the possession. Then it got worse. Way worse.

Two plays later, rookie defensive end Isaiah Thomas drew a hands-to-the-face penalty after a Jadeveon Clowney sack of Burrow. On the very next play, Denzel Ward was flagged for an extremely iffy pass interference on Chase (a 33-yarder), Four plays later, Chase split Ward and free safety John Johnson III for the score. Nine plays, 85 yards in five minutes with yellow laundry accounting for 63 of hem.

The Cleveland offense, which snoozed for a couple of series after turning over the ball on downs on their initial possession of the game, awoke and drove 63 yards before stalling in the red zone, Cade York putting the first points on the board from 26 yards.

The Bengals retaliated immediately with Burrow, enjoying his first-ever victory over the Browns, put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped by a six-yard scoring run by Samaje Perine with connections of 16 yards to Chase, 35 to Trent Taylor and 14 to Trenton Irwin along the way.

Burrow was operating with Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins, two of his most reliable receivers, unavailable. Boyd sustained a finger injury on the second play of the game when jolted heavily by Cleveland linebacker Deion Jones while breaking up a pass and did not return. Higgins never played. He targeted Chase, his favorite receiver, on nearly half (15) of his 33 pass attempts 

Burrow resorted to a gadget play to stretch the lead on the Bengals' second series of the second half. On the second play, he handed off to Joe Mixon for a simple dive play, but Mixon immediately spun and flipped the ball back to Burrow, who hit a wide-open Irwin from 45 yards. The play worked perfectly because Browns safety Grant Delpit bit on the fake and let Irwin romp free.

Watson, meanwhile, looked early on a lot like the quarterback who flatlined last week against Houston playing in his first game in 700 days, But the more Stefanski called his number, the better he began to look, especially in the second half.

He had problems in the first 30 minutes finding open receivers and was forced to scramble. Adjustments apparently were made at halftime with tight end David Njoku and wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones the main beneficiaries. 

Looking more confident, more comfortable and in much better rhythm with his passes in the second half, Watson targeted Njoku and P-J 16 times, hitting on 11 for 130 of his 166 second-half yards. He completed four straight passes, the last three to Njoku, who he bullied his way into the end zone from 13 yards out to cut the score to 20-10 at the tailend of the third quarter.

After throwing a pick when free safety Jessie Bates III cut in front of P-J early in the fourth quarter, he put a scare into the Bengals after Jones picked off Burrow following a deflection by Clowney five plays later with nearly 11 minutes remaining in regulation.

He converted a couple of clutch fourth downs on scrambles en route to a first and goal at the Cincinnati 10 with 5:25 let, but  misfired on three straight passes, just missing Amari Cooper on third  down and P-J with a poorly thrown fade from the six. He had one more chance to narrow the score about a minute later, but missed on his last three passes from the Bengals' 42. 

It's situations like that where the quarterback Watson used to be most likely would have been successful. Overall, though, he was a much better quarterback in this one. He knocked off much more rust. Wondering here just how much more remains.

Six in a row?  

As much as the National Football League has morphed into a pass-heavy league in the last two decades, a successful ground game nonetheless still stirs the drink that leads to victories.

Nothing better emboldens that notion than what the Browns have done to the Cincinnati Bengals the last five games under the leadership of head coach Kevin Stefanski and his run-heavy offense. He has never lost to the Bengals.

Game six of the Stefanski-Bengals series arrives Sunday in Cincinnati with the Browns, in the midst of a  robust (for them) two-game winning streak, looking to sweep the season series for the third consecutive season.

The main reason for his success? Simple. The Browns play bully ball with their division rivals. The Bengals,, for whatever reasons, are bereft of answers as they strive to find solutions to neuter the Cleveland ground game. 

Stop Nick Chubb and Co. and your odds of winning significantly rise. Easy to reason; much more difficult to accomplish.

The Bengals rely heavily on the passing arm of Joe Burrow and a wealth of solid receivers -- he got favorite receiver Ja'Marr Chase back last week -- in an effort to counter, unsuccessfully as it has turned out, which makes Sunday's game that much more interesting. One of these days, that will change.

The last time these two teams met on Halloween eve in week eight, the Bengals came to Cleveland having won four of their previous five games and that loss was a two-pointer to Baltimore. Surely this would be the time to end this nonsense of losing to an inferior team.

The Cleveland offense was led by itinerant quarterback Jacoby Brissett, whose achievements reached the mediocrity stage the last several years. The Browns had lost four in a row and six of their previous seven games. The defense was clueless. What could go wrong?

The Stefanski baffling stranglehold on the long-time series. That's what.

The Browns bolted out to an 11-0 halftime lead on the first of two Nick Chubb touchdowns and a 55-yard field goal from rookie Cade York and built it to 25-0 after three quarters on a Brissett three-yard run and scoring pass to Amari Cooper before touchdowns passes to Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins made the 32-13 final slightly less embarrassing. 

While the Cleveland defense played arguably their best game of the season that included a couple of takeaways, the offense exploded for 440 yards, three yards shy of their season best.

Stefanski's winning formula on offense was the same in all five victories. Run the football. Then run it some more. It resulted in 828 yards infantry style (166 yards per), and nine touchdowns. The Bengals, meanwhile, pounded out just 349 yards on the ground (70 a game) with only three scores. 

Chubb feasts on the Bengals' defense. He has run for 763 yards and eight touchdowns (seven on the ground) in eight games, averaging 95 yards a game with five games with 100 or more yards. In six games against Cincinnati, five with Cleveland, Kareem Hunt has seven TDs, four with the Browns.

Any reason to disbelieve Stefanski's game plan Sunday, especially with Deshaun Watson gingerly working his way back to becoming one of the NFL's top quarterbacks, will lean heavily toward advancing the football in a grinding, time-consuming manner, keeping the Bengals' offense on the bench? Of course not.

The key is whether the Bengals' defense, which has improved dramatically against the run during their four-game winning streak, can neutralize Chubb, Hunt and the Cleveland offensive line. They have allowed only 92 yards a game since Halloween.

If Stefanski slants his game plan toward Watson, especially in the passing game, he is making a mistake that likely will finally lead the 5-7 Browns to elimination from playoff contention, as if they aren't really there now. As of now, Cooper is iffy with a hip injury. If he can't go, look for Stefanski to dial up a bloated number of running plays with receivers polishing their blocking skills.

The Cleveland defense, which allowed just 178 yards on the ground in victories over Tampa Bay and Houston, will see Joe Mixon for the second time this season. The former Cleveland nemesis has been rather silent the last three games of the series with just 137 yards, a mere 27 in the earlier loss.

During Mixon's recent two-game absence in concussion protocol, Samaje Perine filled in nicely with 164 yards, including 106 last Sunday in a big victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, providing a double challenge for the up and-down Cleveland run defense.

When taking everything into consideration, the odds are Stefanski's mastery of the Bengals will end eventually. It says here that eventuality will be Sunday, where the Bengals will end a two-game skid against Cleveland at home and break through the Stefanski curse and bring down the curtain on the playoffs for this season.

Burrow will flourish, strafing the Cleveland secondary for three touchdowns and scoring one himself. Watson will look worse this week than last week against a better defense. Browns optimists envision a Bengals letdown after the Kansas City upset. Not gonna happen. And it won't be close. Make it:

Bengals 38, Browns 17

Mid-week thoughts

So why is Joe Burrow looking for his first victory over the Browns Sunday down in Cincinnati? He already owns three straight victories over the much better Kansas City Chiefs in this calendar year. And he hasn't knocked off the Browns?

What gives?

Burrow has started four games against the Browns in his brief career -- he sat out the final game of the season against the Browns in 2021 because the Bengals had already clinched a playoff spot en route to the Super Bowl -- and an L was placed next to his name as the starter each time because the Browns had scored the most points in all four games.

In the National Football League, the starting quarterback of the team that scores the most points is credited with the victory. Even if he doesn't play the entire game. He gets the L if his team loses. Yes, it's a team game and of course that's not fair. But that's the way it is.

For example, Burrow takes a 20-17-1 overall record into Sunday's game on the heels of a four-game winning streak that followed his fourth straight loss to the Browns in week eight in Cleveland. The Browns led, 25-0 after three quarters in that one.

A closer look suggests it's not all Burrow's fault he's still on the schneid against the Browns, who for some unknown reason have played strangely well against their division rivals but not many others the last few seasons.

In those four games, Burrow has attempted a mind-boggling 183 passes, completed 68% of them for 1,236 yards (309 a game), thrown for eight touchdowns, four interceptions and been sacked 17 times. His Bengals scored 96 points in the process.

Now for the real reason he's winless against Cleveland. It began in his rookie season in 2020 when he pummeled the Browns' embarrassingly awful secondary for 722 yards in two games, tossing six scoring passes with only one interception, and losing by scores of 35-30 and 37-34 to Baker Mayfield.

In the last two games, however, the Browns' defense somehow found a way to slice Burrow's figures by nearly 30%, permitting only 574 yards through the air, just  two touchdown passes, picking him off thrice (one a 99-yard pick six by Denzel Ward) and sacking him 10 times in 41-16 and 32-13 victories.

The  main culprits have been the Cincinnati defense, which has surrendered 145 points (36 a game) in that span, and the offensive line, which was torched by the Browns' inconsistent pass rush that somehow seems to flourish against Cincy. Not all fingers of blame are pointed at Burrow.

So what can fans expect Sunday? 

Right now, the Bengals are the better team. There's no argument there. They are tied with Baltimore at the top of the AFC North. They are 8-2 since losing their first two games of the season by a total of six points. And they have the better quarterback in Burrow.

He is back on track. Eight touchdowns and only two picks in the last four games. Plus he welcomed back Pro Bowler Ja'Marr Chase, his favorite receiver, last week after missing four games with a hip injury. Chase booked a 1,455-yard, 13-touchdown season as a rookie, but the Browns held him to just eight receptions and 75 yards in two games.

Back on track, too, is the Cincy offensive line, which has permitted a measly five sacks during the winning streak, or as many as Burrow suffered in the last Cleveland loss. 

On the other hand, Cleveland's Deshaun Watson is taking baby steps as he reacclimates to the NFL after nearly two years. It's still a little early to think the light will go on for him and he'll be the old Deshaun Watson. He needs help. The offense put up only six points last Sunday in the Tampa Bay victory.

He most likely will look for it from the defense, especially Myles Garrett. The premier edge rusher has dropped Burrow six times and caused two fumbles in the four games, but has been hampered lately by recurring pain in his left shoulder, an injury dating back to late September in a violent car crash.

One more important factor: The Cleveland secondary for the first time in a long time is completely healthy. That's an edge that could extended Burrow's strange misfortune against the Browns, who are just one loss from starting to prepare for yet another playoff-free offseason.

Monday leftovers

No one said it would be easy, least of all Deshaun Watson. To be honest, though, his return to the National Football League Sunday in Houston was not that far removed from being disastrous.

Watson knew he wouldn't be the quarterback the Browns traded a ridiculous fortune for last March 18. That quarterback won't be back until next season. That's when fans will find out whether this massive gamble pays off.

Do not use his well-below-average performance Sunday as a barometer for the future. He looked lost at times when head coach Kevin Stefanski called for a pass. The speed of the game, as opposed the more choreographed practices, was significantly faster and quicker.

Although he was sacked only once, Watson had plenty of company from the Texans' pass rush. On several occasions, he hurried throws that came out of his hands oddly. On a few of them, it was as though his target was the ground as they arrived well short, a couple of times diving and missing by yards.

The good news is he and center Hjalte Froholdt were perfect in their 62 snaps. No fumbles. No miscommunication. There is something to be said about that for two players who haven't played together for long. Watson also had no problems with his handoffs to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. 

The next five games will serve as an audition, so to speak, as he slowly rediscovers and relearns how to play the most important position on a football team. Might as well work on rudimentary fundamentals to sharpen them and be ready to roll next year 

Besides, this season is shot for the Browns, who are statistically -- and barely --- alive at 5-7. Realism says it would take a miracle of biblical proportions to be playing games after concluding the 2022 season in Pittsburgh on Jan. 8.

It was folly to think it would all come flooding back once Watson hit the field. He right now is nowhere near the quarterback who became a superstar and one of the top five NFL quarterbacks in just four seasons. 

The road back to regaining that elite status is laden with all kinds of obstacles. It is more difficult for a quarterback, though, because success on offense relies on timing and rhythm. 

Defense is all about aggression. Offense depends heavily on precision. It's 11 players on each play seeking perfection. One mistake, one hesitation can blow up a play. Precision is required for success.

The offensive line, for example, must be fluid with their drop steps in pass protection and move simultaneously. An ill-timed false start can mess up a possession. Receivers must run precise routes in order to be where the quarterback throws even before he arrives. Reliability is expected. Run an incorrect route or arrive late can result in an interception that isn't the quarterback's fault.

Running backs rely heavily on -- and work in concert with -- the offensive line in order to hit a designated hole at a specific time. Anytime you see someone like Chubb or Hunt bust a long run, chances are the timing was exquisite.

The more Watson plays, the quicker he will get the timing element down. Chances are he'll look better in next Sunday's game in Cincinnati. I'm speaking relatively, of course, because it certainly can't be any worse than in Houston.

***

Browns fans haven't heard Tony Fields II's name called often since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL's college football draft. And when they did in his rookie season, they might have said, "Is he still on the team? Didn't know that." That's because the linebacker was strictly a special teamer. Never played a down from scrimmage.

They most likely will hear it now after Fields' spectacular day in Sunday's victory over the Texans. He scored his first NFL touchdown after grabbing a deflected pass attempt, poked the football loose from Houston quarterback Kyle Allen inside the Texans' five-yard line that Denzel Ward picked up and scored an easy TD and recovered a fumble on a punt return that set up a Cade York field goal.

Quite a productive afternoon for someone who accumulated only 14 snaps from scrimmage in the first nine games this season before injuries took their toll at linebacker. Sione Takitaki, who has played very well the last few games, is the latest casualty with a torn ACL that ends his season. He joins fellow backers Anthony Walker Jr. and Jordan Phillips on injured reserve.

Fields has played 75 snaps in the last three games as a result with a season-high of 33 (51%)  against the Texans, mostly after Takitaki departed. Three of his four tackles were of the solo variety. He joins Jordan Kunaszyk, Deion Jones and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as the only linebackers on the active roster with three more on the practice squad.

It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Joe Woods uses Fields this Sunday against the Bengals. He can't let a player who had a hand in three scoring plays in limited time languish on the bench, can he? 

***

Donovan Peoples-Jones is quietly having his best season as a pro. The third-year wide receiver has already surpassed his career-best in yards gained with 637 with five games to go. He needs to average 73 yards a game to record his first 1,000-yard season.

He has scored only one touchdown this season -- nope, make that two after his 76-yard scoring gallop with a punt in Houston -- and has proven a solid complement to Amari Cooper. Watson targeted him three times Sunday and connected each time for 44 yards. 

Even better, P-J has become a solid blocker in the ground game, which cannot be stressed enough as an important ingredient in his overall offensive package. He has developed into a nice all-around player.

***

Finally . . . The ground game churned out 174 yards in Houston, Chubb and Hunt combining for 136 yards as Stefanski chose to run the ball nearly two-thirds of the time. Look for that ratio to tilt more toward the passing game against Cincinnati. . . . Props to punter Corey Bojorquez, who kept the Texans pinned inside their 20 on four of his six punts. He averaged 52 yards and cut loose with a 79-yarder to the Houston one after the Texans recorded a safety in the second quarter. . . .    The Browns reached the red zone just once, a season-low. . . . Takitaki was in on nine tackles to lead the Browns before the injury. . . . After being outplayed in the first half, the Browns came back to own the football for nearly 20 minutes in the second half.

Didn't need offense

The Browns scored three touchdowns Sunday in their 27-14 victory over the Houston Texans in Deshaun Watson's return to the National Football League wars after a 700-day absence and he watched each and every one of them from the bench.

That's because the maligned Cleveland defense and special teams, units that have absorbed mounds of well-deserved grief from their fans throughout this maddeningly frustrating season, showed up to play a football game.

It's a good thing they didn't need Watson's help for this one because if they had, they very well might have lost to the now 1-10-1 Texans, whose winless streak at home reached six games. Not that the Texans played that well. It's that Watson looked like someone who hadn't played a competitive football game in 700 days.

The only points credited to the offense were a pair of fourth-quarter field goals from 43 and 42 yards off the leg of rookie kicker Cade York after the defense scored two touchdowns in the second half and wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones accounted for the Browns' only first-half points with a 76-yard punt return.

He broke four tackles before stumbling slightly at his 40, regained his balance as broke free down the fright sideline and simply outraced the coverage to give the Browns the 7-5 halftime lead.

It was the first such score for the franchise since Travis Benjamin ripped off a 78-yarder against the Tennessee Titans in game two of the 2015 season. He also caught touchdown passes of 60 and 50 yards from Johnny Manziel in the 28-14 victory. That's 122 games ago. The Browns finished 3-13 that season.

Reserve linebacker Tony Fields II was a major player in both defensive touchdowns. He poked the ball loose from Houston quarterback Kyle Allen as he attempted a simple sneak from his one in the third quarter. The ball squirted out, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward scooped it up and had the easy score.

On the first play after York's 43-yarder, defensive end Chase Winovich batted an Allen pass into the air. Fields grabbed it at the 16 and romped easily into the end zone. He capped his terrific afternoon  by recovering a fumbled punt return later that set up York's 42-yarder

A season-high three takeaways for a team that had accumulated only eight previously this season and had gone three games without one helped this struggling, underachieving  team to their first two-game winning streak this season.

Coordinators Joe Woods for the defense and Mike Priefer for the special teams had to be the happiest guys on the bench. The only question now is whether this makes up for the misery these units have caused this season and can save their jobs? If I were them, I'd update the résumés. 

If the defense and special teams had played that well, or even close to the level they were expected to at the beginning of the season, the Browns would be a playoff contender right now. And Jacoby Brissett's 11-game journey in Watson's absence would have been significantly more bountiful than 4-7

As it turned out, all the Browns  needed from Watson was a mistake-free afternoon. That goal blew up late in the opening quarter when rookie Texans safety Jalen Pitre stepped in front of Cleveland wide receiver Amari Copper in the end zone to blunt the Browns' deepest penetration of the afternoon.

In the early going, Watson was forced to begin a pair of drives at his one. The first, created after a terrific goal-line stand that saw safety Grant Delpit blow up a fourth-down pass to fullback Troy Hairston, resulted in a safety when Nick Chubb failed to get out of his end zone, giving the Texans a 5-0 lead.

The Cleveland defense was aggressive all day. The tackling was sharp for the most part, often swarming to the ball. They never got Allen to the ground, but forced him to throw before he wanted go. The closer the Texans got to the Cleveland goal line, the stiffer the defense got. The Texas converted only one of 12 third-down attempts.

Watson was the main focal point coming into the game because of his problems off the field. Turns out he was relative bit player on this day. For the record, he completed 12 of 22 passes for 131 yards and ran seven times for 21 yards, three of them on RPO keepers. He absorbed the only sack of the game.

The main worry heading into the game was the amount of rust Watson had accumulated since he last took a snap. Turns out he not only had plenty of rust, his rust had accumulated even more rust. Several throws were low and fell well short of their target. 

His timing was often just a bit off, That is expected to improve the more he plays. His biggest reward for  the day, though, was the W next to his name on the scoresheet because he knows who the real winners were.

Easy-peasy

Before shifting into prediction mode, an interesting slice of history interlocks with the Browns' very interesting game Sunday in Houston against the Texans. It's not so much what makes it interesting as who makes it interesting.

Deshaun Watson makes his return to the National Football League to face his former employer after spending exactly 700 days in football limbo after being charged in early 2021 of sexually assaulting more than 24 massage therapists who filed civil suits against him.

Fast forward to the present after all but two of the suits have been settled, the Browns trading for him in a stunning and controversial blockbuster deal and Watson completing an 11-game league suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

The irony of Watson making his return against his former team on the road has caught the attention of social media all around the country. It's a game that matches the struggling 4-7 Browns against the 1-9-1 Texans and would be almost totally ignored under normal circumstances. But these circumstances are far from normal and will be closely watched.

The game will drip with drama if for no other reason the NFL universe will be anxious to find out whether Watson can return to the elite status -- arguably among the top five quarterbacks in the league -- he achieved in his first four seasons with the Texans. 

He started all but one of his 54 appearances (28-25 record), throwing for 14,539 yards, 104 touchdowns, 36 interceptions and completing nearly 68% of his passes. His athleticism enabled him to run for another 1.677 yards and 17 more touchdowns. 

His 2020 stats were staggeringly spectacular. He completed 70.3% of his passes for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns and just seven picks in 544 attempts. He added 440 yards and three more scores on the ground. Those are the numbers the Browns look forward to from him for the next four seasons.

All of which conjures up one more irony. Watson came thisclose to being a Cleveland Brown in the 2017 college football draft. He was there at No. 12 when the Browns were on the clock for the second time in the round after selecting Myles Garrett with the top overall pick.

Instead of taking a quarterback they desperately needed, the clueless Sashi Brown of the 1-15 Browns sent the pick to the Texans for pick 25 (safety Jabrill Peppers) and their first-rounder in 2018 (cornerback Denzel Ward). After two mediocre seasons with Cleveland, Peppers was shipped to the New York Giants.

So in a roundabout way, as it turns out, Watson is where he was meant to be at this stage of his career. We'll never know, of course, how he would have performed in Cleveland. It certainly couldn't have been any worse than what Brown and the dunderheads running the team at the time turned out.

Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer and buffoonish head coach Hue Jackson combined to humiliate the once-proud franchise with a still-trying-hard-to-forget winless season for only the second time in the 103-year history of the NFL.

Now on to Sunday's game in which the Browns are in the unfamiliar position of seven-point favorites. Road game, 1-9-1 opponent. Yep, seems about right, even with Watson most likely struggling at first to chip away at all the game-time rust that has accumulated since he last had the huddle.

Media reports out of camp this week were aglow with how terrific he has looked. With no one in his face, how bad could he look? Now with the Texans looking to knock him into next week on every dropback, that likely will change.

It will be interesting to see how the Texans defend against their ex-teammate. In the Browns' first 11 games with Jacoby Brissett in charge, opposing teams squeezed the field in an effort to neuter the ground game and dared the veteran quarterback to throw. 

Can't do that with Watson, a more accurate and pocket-savvy passer than Brissett and just as dangerous when he takes off. His only problem Sunday will be adjusting after the long layoff to the speed of the game, which could affect his timing on passes early on.

We'll also find out whether head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski choreographs a different style of offense with Watson at the helm, predicated more on the pass than the run. He'll have to do it this week without tight end Davis Njoku, who was injured in practice Friday.

The Texans, meanwhile, are winless at home this season and lug a six-game losing streak into this one as they pull away from the rest of the pack in the race for the top pick in the next year's college draft. They make the Browns look like a, well, like a decent football team.

They don't score much. Just 16 points a game. The line has trouble protecting quarterback Davis Mills, who has been sacked 28 times. Rookie running back Dameon Pierce leads the team in rushing with 71 yards a game and veteran Brandin Cooks leads the Texans with just 520 receiving yards. The Texans look like most of the Browns teams of the last two decades.

Their sieve-like defense yields 385 yards and allows 24 points an outing. Slightly ahead of them is the Cleveland defense that yields 348 yards and 26 points a game. The big difference is the Browns average 24 points a game on offense. And with Watson in charge now, look for that average to climb.

This is, by far, the easiest pick of the season. Maybe the entire season. With emotions flowing from Watson's return to the city where he gained professional fame before his off-the-field misbehavior brought him down, and the fact the Browns are decidedly the better team, this one will not be close. The disappointing Cleveland defense finally faces an inferior team and actually looks decent. Make it:

Browns 27, Texans 10

Mid-week thoughts

Deshaun Watson did not take non-football questions with the Cleveland media Thursday. Here's hoping this is a one-time thing mere days away from resuming his National Football League career.

The new Browns quarterback was silent with regard to prior off-the-field activities that garnered him high-profile national attention and sidelined him for the first 11 games of the 2022 regular season. He did so, he said, on the advice of his legal and clinical team.

For what it's worth, some advice for that team. (Painting with a broad brush here.) Their client has a problem with not only his new constituency in Cleveland, but NFL fans around the country uncomfortable he is still playing and will let him know for a long time.

Not talking about it doesn't mean it will eventually go away. Watson's behavior with all those massage therapists has labeled him. It is a label that will follow him for the rest of his life regardless of how he chooses to lead it.

Now that his league-sanctioned 11-game suspension has concluded, Watson needs to own what he did. He has not done so yet. He still proclaims his innocence. In his mind, he maintains he did nothing wrong. And his legal team needs to convince him to own it.

His current stance must change if Watson has any shot at redemption within the NFL universe. That doesn't excuse what he did, of course, but it would be a step in the right direction by suggesting he now understands what he did was wrong.

Instead of hiding behind his legal team, he should talk without getting into specifics about how the entire sordid situation that landed him in his life-altering predicament has changed that life for the better. And I don't mean the Browns desperately bribing him with a $230 million fully-guaranteed contract.

There's still a sizable segment of Browns Nation that isn't certain they are comfortable enough to stay on the bandwagon because of Watson's presence on the roster. They need to see a side of him they haven't seen thus far. Thursday's silence was not it.

Watson's teammates embraced his return and have rallied around him. Not surprising. They realize his presence on the field heavily ratchets up their chances to return to the postseason. Not this season, though. Not with a 4-7 record. This season is shot.

Watson is a great professional football quarterback. He is legit. One of the NFL's elite quarterbacks. But he is not a miracle worker. In essence, he'll be getting ready for next season in the next six games. 

***

Watched the tape of the Browns' overtime 23-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. I'm almost certain I would have fallen asleep midway through the game had I watched it live because I struggled to keep my eyes open watching the tape. What a deadly dull game.

I kept waiting for something to happen. What I saw was a punting clinic conducted by Corey Bojorquez of the Browns and Jake Camarda of the Bucs. Bojorquez averaged 54.8 yards on his six kicks; Camarda averaged 47.1 yards on his nine boots.

Breaking it down, the mild first half was a sneak preview that saw only three punts in nine possessions. The second half, which had a spectacular ending with a terrific one-handed touchdown catch by tight end David Njoku to tie the game with a half minute left in regulation, needed 13 possessions that ended with nine punts, including six of the first seven.

A football game tried in vain to break out, but quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Tom Brady were just inept enough to force it to overtime. That session drew three more punts in four possessions, making it 15 total punts in 26 possessions. That, folks, is dull football. 

Nick Chubb looked like his old self after head coach Kevin Stefanski decided that maybe feeding him more would help. Chubb's 26 carries, a Stefanski record with his Pro Bowl running back, concluded with a three-yard burst after Brissett and Amari Cooper hooked up on a 45-yard catch and run to set up the winning score in the last half minute of OT.

Two asides:

Anthony Schwartz is a weapon with the football in his hands. His 31-yard reverse for a touchdown to cap the opening drive was a beauty and took full advantage of his world-class speed. Biggest problem there is getting the ball in the wide receiver's hands, which still struggle to catch said football. And . . . 

Rookie kicker Cade York continued his puzzling inconsistency. He hit from 51 yards to break a 7-7 tie on the club's second possession of the game, but shanked a (for him) chip shot from the 39 a few possessions later. He has hit on only 17 of 23 field-goal attempts with three blocks and missed two of 26 extra points. What gives?

Ond more thing:

The Tampa Bay victory was the Browns' first on a Sunday since the opening-game triumph in Carolina, snapping a seven-game losing streak on that day of the week The other two victories were on a Thursday night (Pittsburgh) and Monday night (Cincinnati), both at home.