What have we learned?

Four meaningless exhibition games now in the books. Time to start taking professional football in Cleveland seriously. 

But first, a question: What have we learned about the Browns the last several weeks? We learned . . . 

Despite all the wonderful things we have heard about how much different, how much better the offense will look this season, we saw little evidence of that in the exhibition finale Saturday afternoon in Kansas City, a hard-to-swallow 33-32 loss after holding a 22-3 first-quarter lead.

Head coach and chief operating officer for the offense Kevin Stefanski has a lot of work to do with that side of the ball before opening up the regular season two weeks from Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

To give you some idea of just how bad it was when the Browns owned the football, none of the three quarterbacks were effective. Yes Deshaun Watson was the quarterback of record when the offense put two touchdowns on the board in the first 15 minutes, but he looked nothing like the terrific practice quarterback we've heard so much about.

He was shaky at best. It took him four possessions to sustain any kind of momentum, generating just 43 yards on the first three before shepherding an 80-yard scoring drive. He completed half of his 10 throws for 93 yards, but 53 of them were on a scrambling heave to a wide-open Amari Cooper in busted coverage that led to one of the scores.

It's not the kind of performance you expect from your starting quarterback as you head toward the regular season. Unless Stefanski has a surprise or three in his arsenal that he hasn't unveiled yet, this offense still looks a lot like 2022.

Backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson, after three showy games, looked ordinary, banking nothing in a couple of quarters. Kellen Mond solidified QB3 with an equally ordinary stint, but he was the quarterback when Cade York's 40-yard field goal recaptured the lead at 30-29 with four minutes left in the game.

If it wasn't for the opportunistic Cleveland defense in the first quarter, this would have been a rout for the Super Bowl champs. A large majority of the credit in the first 15 minutes belongs to the defense, which put up six points and produced a short field for another.

And that brings us to what we learned about the starting defense.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had to like what he saw in the first half with three interceptions, two (by safety Juan Thornhill and rookie cornerback Caleb Biggers) that wound up in the end zone for a 29-16 halftime lead.

Players were flying all over the field, shutting down a Chiefs offense with Patrick Mahomes II sitting this one out. In four possessions, the defense forced a Harrison Butker field goal after a takeaway in Cleveland territory on the opening possession, consecutive picks by the defense and a punt, limiting the Chiefs to just 46 yards on 16 snaps.

Operating without Myles Garrett, who was watching from the bench, Schwartz's swarming very active defense showed, unlike their brethren on offense, they are more than ready for the regular season. 

Unlike the last few seasons, this unit shows strong signs of almost certainly becoming the offense's best friend, producing short fields all season. In these four games, the defense picked off seven passes and recovered a fumble.

The middle of Saturday's three interceptions gave Watson a short field at the Chiefs 16. Three plays later, tight end David Njoku hauled in a pretty fade from the 12, easily the quarterback's best throw of the afternoon.

Now about that hard-to-swallow loss. We learned . . . 

It's time Stefanski steps up and admits there is at the very least some level of concern with regard to York, his very unreliable placekicker. If he continues to say, almost defiantly, that he is not worried and remains confident in the second-year kicker, he's not dealing with the truth.

It's safe to say at this point that Stefanski, as he is wont to say, better not have "a ton of confidence" in his kicker. This has turned into a major problem that needs to be addressed pronto. Time to bring in another kicker? You really need to ask that?

At this point, it's not about winning or losing games anymore. It's about what is wrong with this young man. Nothing seems to be getting through to him with regard to how important he is to this team, to the program. One can only wonder what his teammates are thinking as he continues to fail in clutch situations.

Forget his six-for-six perfectos in practice from various distances. They mean nothing. All it proves is he's terrific in practice and a whole bunch gets lost in translation when the actual games are played. I'd much rather him look terrible in practice and kick them right down the middle when it counts.

This game could have been won with a 43-yard field goal. Similar situation in the tie with Philadelphia in the last game. York had a chance to put the Browns up with six minutes remaining, but was wide left from 41 yards.

In this one, Mond had put York in position to make a 40-yarder that regained the lead a possession earlier. Butker got the lead back with a 44-yarder right down the middle, as were all of his boots. This time, Mond got York, who also had missed an extra point earlier, to the KC 25. 

The confidence Stefanski has in York hasn't reached me yet and I couldn't help myself. I foresaw a negative result. Wide left, wide right, certainly not down the middle. I never gave consideration to a block. This time, the blocking up front broke down and Chiefs defensive tackle Phil Hoskins swatted away the low trajectory takeoff.

Overall, York is four for eight on field goals and perfect on five points-after, although his miss against the Chiefs was wiped out by a roughing penalty and the Browns were successful on a two-point attempt. He's been successful from 43, 37, 43 and 40 with misses from 49 (wide right), 46 (wide right), 41 (wide left), and 43 (blocked).