Monday leftovers

Anyone jumping off the bandwagon? See ya. And off we go . . . 

Three items jump right to the top after Sunday's walloping by the Baltimore Ravens. all on the offensive side of the football.  Fear not, the defense will be okay.

In no particular order, Kevin Stefanski needs to step down as playcaller and devote his entire attention to his team. Before he does, he should incorporate Jerome Ford more in the offensive scheme. And General Manager Andrew Berry needs to upgrade the quarterbacks room. . . . 

It is becoming abundantly clear to a lot of people not named Kevin Stefanski that there seems to be a disconnect between the Browns' playcaller and whoever has the huddle. There's little rhyme or reason to his play calls.

Are the Browns a running team? A passing team? I don't know. It kind of looks as though the head coach wants to be unpredictable. Keep opposing defenses guessing. Isn't working very well. Hint: It's all about execution or lack thereof.

It's as if he's playing eenie-meenie-miney-mo with his play sheet on what play to dial up. For example, his call for Elijah Moore to run a Jet sweep after reaching the Baltimore red zone in the opening quarter Sunday bordered on mind-bending. The situation called for big-boy football, not cute.

The precision it takes to be successful with such a play drops it into low-percentage chance for success. Too many things have to work. As it turned out, none worked, the play blew up and the Browns had to settle for a long field goal after losing 20 yards. They were the only points of the long afternoon.

Stefanski is toying with his job. He's got to know that. This is his fourth season and heads will roll if this team fails to make the playoffs. If the side of the ball he controls and choreographs goes south this season and costs the Browns a return to the postseason, he's gone.

The head coach, who has a sizable stubborn streak, needs to look at the mirror and ask his playcaller why the offense seems to be so off kilter four games into the season. That shouldn't be happening.

This talented offense thus far is not playing up to its capabilities. That includes the play of Deshaun Watson, who all but begged out of starting against the Ravens Sunday. (More on that later.) He has banked just one good (not solid) game in nine attempts with Stefanski in his ear.

That needs to change before it's too late. Stefanski has got to pay no attention to his probable bruised ego and make that change. Whoever has the huddle needs to hear the voice of Alex Van Pelt, the real offensive coordinator. The fact that hasn't happened shows how much confidence Stefanski has in him.

After two miserable seasons following his coach-of-the-year 11-5 debut in 2020 with a playoff victory, Stefanski is no longer the guru the front office thought they got when they recruited him. 

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Now then, Jerome Ford. The second-year running back needs to be in the flow of the offense as a three-down back. He's not Nick Chubb, of course, but he has shown positive flashes of gaining nice chunks of yardage along with a nose for the end zone. And he's comfortable being on the receiving end of a pass. His speed and ability to change directions quickly are a plus.

I'm not in favor of running back by committee. Makes it difficult for the offensive line to adjust. Ford, Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong Jr. have different running styles. Stefanski says Ford is RB1. Okay, then play him like one. Give him about 25 touches a game and see what he can do.

That's the way Chubb emerged as a rookie in 2018. Hue Jackson rarely used him early on, but when he did, Chubb ripped off huge chunks of yardage and eventually played his way into a starting role. 

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Switching to Berry now. The general manager must be second-guessing himself (if he is, he probably wouldn't admit it) with regard to Stefanski having no choice but to start rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson Sunday after Watson shut himself down.

The quarterbacks room should always have a veteran backup to the starter, someone who has been a part of the National Football League wars, assuring he can still provide quality leadership in a pinch. Certainly not an extremely confident but naive fifth-round rookie who has no idea what to expect.

This is not to say such a veteran would have made a difference against the Ravens. But he surely would have given the Browns a better shot at least making the final more respectable than 28-3. No, that one can be pinned on the defense.

That mistake begs to be corrected quickly in the event Watson either isn't sufficiently healed to start the San Francisco game in a couple of weeks or breaks down later on in the season.

Assuming Berry makes such a move, the new arrival will need to be in camp pronto, immersing himself in a brand new offensive scheme. Still out there are Carson Wentz, ex-Brown Colt McCoy, Joe Flacco, Nick Foles and Blaine Gabbert. 

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Stefanski revealed Monday that Watson was given medical clearance to play Sunday. So why didn't he?

"He knows his body," the head coach said. "He's played through serious pain before. Very, very serious injuries. It wasn't a matter of pain tolerance or anything. He just did not feel like he had all his full faculties."

What the hell does that mean? One dictionary definition of faculties: Able to think in a clear and intelligent way. Another dictionary defines the six human faculties of the mind as intuition, imagination, perception, reason, will and memory. 

Now I have no idea what all that has to do with playing football with a shoulder contusion. But props to Watson for fooling his coach. I would have asked what he meant. 

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Finally . . . Center Ethan Pocic was in and out of the lineup Sunday with chest and knee injuries, but is expected to play against San Francisco on Oct. 15. Nick Harris took all the other snaps at the position. I'd rather see rookie Luke Wypler, a healthy scratch the first four games, in the pivot if Pocic can't make it. Harris is too short to handle a pass rush and it showed against the Ravens. He was overpowered on several occasions while attempting to protect Thompson-Robinson. . . . One aspect of the defense Jim Schwartz needs to work on: Tackling. Worst game of the season by far. The Browns had trouble getting Ravens backs Gus Edwards and Justice Hill on the ground. Too much reaching. And safety Juan Thornhill's whiff on Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews turned a 15-yard reception into a 36-yard gain en route to the Ravens' eight-play, 93-yard scoring drive in the second quarter.