Monday leftovers

From the first snap of the game Sunday in Los Angeles, it was obvious Joe Flacco will be the Browns' starting quarterback the rest of the way this season. 

He was smooth, poised to the nth degree, confident and for a soon-to-be 39-year-old football professional he was totally unruffled. He's the kind of quarterback the Browns have been searching longingly for since 1999. 

His play-action misdirection game is still one of the best. And he executes it so effortlessly. He is really a pleasure to watch operating an offense, a throwback to the way better-than-average quarterbacks took their teams to new heights not long ago.

Right now, Flacco is not just the best quarterback in the room in Berea. He is the best quarterback on the entire roster, including injured reserve. Deshaun Watson, who watched from the stands Sunday while rehabilitating from shoulder surgery, could learn a few pointers from what he saw.

Flacco was in command all the way -- except maybe for that late interception that changed the direction the game was headed and served as the catalyst for a 36-19 loss to the Rams that slammed the brakes on the road to the postseason.

Now all Kevin Stefanski has to do is make it official. Come right out and tell the media what just about everyone else knows. Don't play games in an effort to keep the Jacksonville Jagwires (yes, I know) guessing who to prepare for in Sunday's home game.

The Jags don't really believe Stefanski will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson even if the cookie clears concussion protocol. And they certainly won't prepare for P. J.Walker, who probably will return to the practice squad. So why wait?

That kind of gamesmanship doesn't work anymore. Hasn't for a long time, in fact. Stefanski should worry more about why his defense, the one that helped the club get off to such a terrific start this season, is AWOL.

When mediocre teams like Seattle, Denver and the Rams use the ground game to beat the Browns, that's a big problem, especially when there's little help from an offense that has staggered most of the season. How the defense closes out this season will determine where they finish.

It's not looking good at all currently. The middle of the defensive line is constantly being collapsed by opposing offensive lines. No one has taken charge. Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed a four-year, $57 million contract to join the Browns, is as close to being a bust as one can get. He's stealing money.

The big defensive tackle, who plays around 60% of the plays, has 20 tackles (seven solo), forced one fumble (didn't cover it), seven quarterback hits and three sacks in 12 games. That's it. He takes up a lot of space and this is the best he can do? Prediction: There will not be a year two for him in Cleveland.

And if defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz gets his way, neither will just about everyone else at that position. The interior defense is being exposed too frequently for an encore to take place in the offseason. That will -- or should be -- a priority in the next college draft.

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Based solely on what we saw Sunday, Harrison Bryant should be elevated to at least TE1(a) alongside David Njoku, whose hands suddenly have turned to concrete. He is getting all the tight end money, but Bryant is is producing more comparatively.

Bryant has been targeted a mere 15 times this season, catching 10 for 61 yards and three touchdowns.  He was targeted 108 times in his first three seasons with 76 receptions for 710 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Bryant has also been used as a quarterback under center in short-yardage situations by Stefanski and done well with the exception of a costly fumbled snap on the exchange against Denver.

Njoku, on the other hand, leads the Browns in receptions with 53 on 84 targets for 509 yards but just two touchdowns. He's catching just 63% of the throws as opposed to Bryant's 70.4% in this three seasons.

Njoku also leads the team in another vital department -- dropped passes. Depending on which statistical service you follow that provides such numbers, he has been tagged with anywhere from 26 to 29 dropped throws, many of which have occurred in the last few weeks. 

Bryant has scored one more touchdown than Njoku while playing maybe a quarter of the time Njoku is on the field. It makes no sense to limit Bryant's snaps for an offense that needs now more than ever to be reliable for Flacco.

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Finally . . . In a way, it was kind of fun to watch a couple of old warhorses go against each other Sunday. Matthew Stafford of the Rams at 35 with Hall of Fame credentials against Flacco. Both can still bring it and show some of the youngsters how it's done. They combined for 533 yards and five touchdowns. . . . The Cleveland pass rush has produced just one sack in the last two games. Take a bow Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah against the Broncos. . . . Two legitimate reasons for at least part of the defensive collapse is the absence of cornerback Denzel Ward, who has missed two games with a shoulder problem, and the ineffectiveness due to injury to Myles Garrett. The latter failed to make the final stats sheet Sunday although he played major minutes.