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.