Finding a way

The stage is set. So, too, is the downside of a negative outcome when the Browns and Baltimore Ravens hook up for the second time in two weeks Sunday with the southern shore of Lake Erie as the backdrop this time.

When these rivals last met in Baltimore, the Ravens shoved the Browns precipitously close to the precipice of playoff elimination in what has become a quagmire in the AFC North, a division so tightly bunched, no one has clinched anything yet.

The Browns need to -- no. make that must -- win this one to have the remotest chance of making it consecutive seasons of playing football in mid-January, something they haven't accomplished since their rebirth in 1999.

A loss, for all practical purposes, closes the book on the 2021 season. It would take a confluence of circumstances that border on miraculous to change that, including winning the final four games. And the way they have played on offense the last two months, that ain't happenin'.

Despite everything that has emanated this week after the bye week, this is still the same team (again on offense) that limped into the bye. The quarterback, despite protestations to the contrary, is still hurting. A week of rest is not going to cure all the ills he feels on a daily basis.

He says he feels better. I don't buy it. He hasn't been the same quarterback since week two when his litany of injuries began. Looking good in practice against teammates does not translate to looking good when the opposition is trying to hurt you even more.

When the teams met in Baltimore, the Ravens stacked the box with eight and sometimes nine men, challenging Baker Mayfield to beat them. Even healthy, he has trouble beating the Ravens. The offense  produced just 10 points.

The defense kept giving Mayfield and his men the ball, picking off Lamar Jackson four times. The offense reciprocated with a lone field goal. And the offense that takes the field Sunday isn't any different. In fact, it might be worse, especially at tackle with a pro sophomore and a raw rookie anchoring the line, and only one healthy tight end in Austin Hooper.

Jedrick Wills Jr. has had a so-so season at left tackle. In the National Football League, so-so is not nearly good enough. And rookie James Hudson III, who flunked an earlier test this season, replaces Blake Hance at right tackle for Jack Conklin, out for the season with a torn patellar tendon.

The biggest challenge falls on the shoulders of head coach/playcaller Kevin Stefanski, who found moderate success with a multi-tight end look for at least half the plays he dials up. With Hooper the lone tight end, it sort of forces Stefanski to once again recognize the wide receivers and running backs.

That could mean a return of the rollouts, bootlegs, misdirections and screens that helped make Mayfield one of the most successful quarterbacks in the NFL the second half of last season. 

With the likes of Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Rashard Higgins and running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt available, it opens up numerous possibilities for this stodgy and predictable offense to come alive again and help the defense for once.

And it would be refreshing to see Stefanski not give up early on the run game as he did against the Ravens the last time and pound away at the Baltimore defense no matter how many men park in the box. Becoming a one-dimensional offense is what the Ravens want.

Stefanski needs to call on and then rely on the ground game right out of the chute and stick with it. Establish ownership of the line of scrimmage. He and his staff have had plenty of time to come up with solutions and reestablish themselves as the league's best team on the ground.

Not only would it set the tone of the game, it would send a message to the defense, which has played lights out with one exception the last two months. Not taking advantage of opportunities created by the defense lately has frustrated that unit. It's the defense everyone expected to see when General Manager Andrew Berry crafted it out of the college draft and free agency.

It will be without middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (COVID-19 reserve) and rookie cornerback Greg Newsome II (concussion) Sunday with veteran steady Malcolm Smith taking over for Walker and Greedy Williams filling in for Newsome opposite Denzel Ward.

Don't expect four more picks from Jackson. A more realistic number is one with an outside chance of two. It would behoove the Browns to pay particularly close attention to Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, Jackson's most targeted receiver this season. 

Blitzing Jackson with a large degree of frequency, much as Pittsburgh employed last Sunday in the victory over the Ravens to tighten the AFC North race, might not be a bad idea. The Steelers dropped Jackson seven times. raising his league-leading total to 37.

After crunching numbers, they show Jackson is the Baltimore offense. Between his throwing and running, either by design or scrambling, Jackson accounts for positive yardage on nearly 60% of the plays from scrimmage and just shy of 80% of the total yardage. Quite remarkable for one man.

The Ravens have been hit harder by injuries than any other team in the league and yet find ways to win. That's why they are 8-4 at this juncture, while the Browns, who are having all sorts of trouble finding those ways, sit at 6-6 and at the crossroads.

It was after game six this season, a 37-14 pounding by the Arizona Cardinals at home, that Stefanski said, "We re a 3-3 team and played like it. We are very, very average and it's my responsibility to get it fixed." 

Now here we are at 6-6, playing like a very, very average 6-6 team. It's safe now to assume the head coach and his staff have failed to get it, whatever it is, fixed. The offense, which should be throwing haymakers, are instead throwing jabs. 

The Browns have a clear advantage in this one in that they have had a week to prepare, while injuries continue to bedevil the Ravens, On other other hand, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, clearly the smarter of the Harbaugh brothers, is 23-4 against the Browns (two of the losses in overtime) and 11-2 in Cleveland.

Like the last game, this one figures to be low scoring with the defenses playing major roles. This time, the Browns will have moderate success on the ground, but still encounter problems getting into the end zone. This is the kind of game where you can make a solid argument for either team to win. 

But it's the X-factor that will determine who wins. Somehow, some way, the Ravens, maybe because they do it so often against the Browns, will find a way to win. It could be a late interception, a fumble, a dumb play call, a record-breaking 67-yard Justin Tucker field goal with no time left on the clock, whatever. Until the Browns find a way to win, make it:

Ravens 22, Browns 20

Mid-week thoughts

As the Browns prepare for the final five games of the 2021 season, a glimmer of hope arrived on the scene that is destined to serve only as a tease for those who still believe they will make it consecutive years to the postseason.

The Baltimore Ravens, Sunday's opponent in Cleveland for the back end of their unusual split-week doubleheader as they resume the season following their bye week, lost last Sunday. So did the Cincinnati Bengals and the AFC North grew tighter from top to bottom.

So why won't they? Simple. The defense has overtaken the offense as the most dominant unit, a stark reversal of last season, when the offense steamrollered opposing defenses because their defense couldn't  stop anyone.

This season, the defense -- with two notable exceptions -- wins games and keeps it close in losses. The offense, meanwhile, has fallen apart to the point where it is broken. The Ravens shut down the vaunted Cleveland ground game a week ago. Brace for a repeat Sunday.

It's interesting that fans quarrel with the playcalling of head coach Kevin Stefanski. But -- again with a couple of exceptions -- the playcalling has not been that bad. The execution, on the other hand, has been awful.

That's because the line, at one time ranked among the top lines in the National Football League, has been anything but the last two months, especially at the tackles. Right tackle Jack Conklin, when healthy, is the best player of the unit. But he has played only five full games out of 12. And now he's gone for the season.

Jedrick Willis Jr. is not playing like a No.1 draft pick at left tackle. He's decent in the run game, but is a semi-turnstile when attempting to protect his quarterback. 

The middle trio -- center JC Tretter and guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller -- have played every game and been solid, although their pass blocking this season has been spotty on occasion.  The key to the success of the offensive line however,  is playing well as a unit, One breakdown can blow up a play. Lately, though, the breakdowns have increased.

That's been the main problem of an offense that has encountered difficulty reaching opposing end zones with any regularity lately. Since week six, the Browns have scored 112 points in six games, misleading because of a 41-16 outlier victory in Cincinnati. The other five produced just 71 points.

It turned ugly in the 16-10 loss to the Ravens about 10 days ago in Baltimore, the offense converting four Lamar Jackson interceptions into a measly three points, which would have been zero had Chase McLaughlin's field-goal attempt not caromed off the left upright and over the crossbar.

If nothing else, that alone stands as a microcosm of just how poorly the offense has played for a major portion of this season. What once was labeled a scary offense has turned into a meek unit that is too easily stopped by the opposition.

Why is this happening? A semi-crippled quarterback -- okay, I'm exaggerating, but Baker Mayfield has not been even remotely the picture of health for the last eight games -- is just one of the reasons why. He hasn't been the same quarterback since injuring his left shoulder in week two trying to make a tackle after a pick. 

Teammates, coaches and front-office types marvel at how tough Mayfield is. They don't say anything about how ineffective he is. General Manager Andrew Berry went so far as to say he said expects Mayfield to play his best football in the final five weeks. (If he makes it that far,)

The failure of the head coach to acknowledge his quarterback is not healthy mystifies. It was blatantly  obvious in the Baltimore loss when he limped off the field after every possession. Backup Case Keenum began to throw at one point.

Mayfield has thrown only 11 touchdown passes (and six interceptions) in 11 games this season. For perspective purposes, he threw nine scoring passes in the final three regular-season games in 2020. He has been sacked 29 times this season because he holds on to the football too long and is not a running threat because he is at best semi-mobile because of numerous injuries. 

The wide receivers corps is no longer dangerous with a combined four touchdown receptions, Donovan Peoples-Jones has three of them. Jarvis Landry checks in with none, his only score this season coming on a run play that was supposed to be a pass play. The tight ends lead with five scoring receptions, while the running backs account for three. 

It's an offense that has trouble staying on the field and keeping the defense rested. Successfully converting third down has been particularly disastrous. In the five games since Keenum engineered a 17-14 victory over Denver in week seven in his lone start, the Browns are 16 for 56 on that key down. That's 28.6%.

Throw out Keenum's nine for 15 on third down against Denver and the Browns -- really Mayfield -- have converted only 34.1% on third down. It's a statistic Stefanski undoubtedly is aware of and yet despite his declaration that he -- and presumably his staff -- needs to coach better, that hasn't happened with only five games remaining.

These are grim reminders of just how mediocre, at best, this football team has become when owning the ball. Even though the Browns are technically not eliminated from the postseason, they have placed themselves in a position where anything less than winning out won't get the job done.

Unlike last season when the offense rescued the defense to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2002, it will be the opposite this time with the rapidly improving defense holding the key to playing meaningful football in mid-January and beyond.

Odds of that happening lie somewhere between "no way" and "do you believe in miracles?"

Mid-week thoughts 

Parsing the remarks of Browns General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski as the players enjoy the bye week. . . . 

First Stefanski, whose club has struggled and staggered through a two-month patch that has seen the defense glow much more often than it hasn't and an offense that, quite frankly, is fractured with no relief in sight.

After the latest offensive embarrassment a few nights ago in Baltimore, Stefanski partnered realism with optimism. "We have confidence in our run game," he said after the Browns pounded out 40 yards on the ground in the 16-10 loss to the Ravens.

"We have very, very (only two verys this time) high expectations in our run game . . . but we were really not efficient (against Baltimore). We can be better, We will be better. I know we can be better." Sounded more like a pep talk to himself.

As for his consistently insistent quarterback, Stefanski left no doubt who will start when the Browns and Ravens hook up again foe the second game of their unusual schedule doubleheader a week from Sunday in Cleveland. "Baker (Mayfield) is our starting quarterback," he declared. "He is healthy and getting healthier."

Let's see now. Mayfield has a fully torn labrum in his left shoulder, a non-displaced fracture at the top of the humerus in the same shoulder, two bad knees (a bone bruise in one), a nagging groin problem and a bruised heel. Otherwise, he's in great shape.

How does Stefanski know Mayfield is healthy? Didn't he notice that "healthy" quarterback limping noticeably back to the bench each time the Browns had to punt against or turned the ball over to the Ravens? He can't be that oblivious.

Healthy and getting healthier?  Really? If that is considered healthy, time to change the meaning of the word. Truth is Mayfield has taken a  severe beating on a weekly basis all season. He even admitted a couple of weeks ago this is the most beaten up he's been in his career.

The coach continued. "We just need to be better as an offense," he said. "Baker needs to play better. I have to coach better. We have to block better and we have to run routes better." Other than that, everything is hunky dory in Berea.

One last thought. "I believe in this run offense," he said. "I believe in the scheme. We have very high expectations of ourselves." That scheme and that belief have generated only 112 points in the last seven games, 71 in six games if you subtract the 41 put up in the Cincinnati victory, with a high game of 17 points. 

Berry, meantime, stepped front and center with the media the other day and made some interesting remarks with regard to the mediocrity his team has achieved and is looking forward to how his team finishes.

"We are going to play five teams I think are playoff caliber," he said."I'm excited to learn about how our team deals with adversity and resolve. . . . We are looking forward to seeing how our groups respond out of the bye."

Berry parroted Stefanski with regard to Mayfield."Baker is our quarterback," he said. "He is healthy enough to win games for us. He has won games for us the past couple of weeks, If he is ready to go, he is out starter."

Berry is not watching the same games I am the last couple of weeks. The Browns barely hung on to beat  winless Detroit in ugly fashion and were drilled defensively by the Ravens. He doesn't see how awful the offense is and that Mayfield isn't the same quarterback he was in the first five games of the season..

"We all think the offense can play at a higher level," he said. ". . . I know the offensive staff is hard at work finding the right solutions that will allow us to play at the highest level going into the last  five weeks of the season." They might start with taking better advantage of four takeaways by the defense.

His most startling remark came at the tailend of a question regarding Mayfield's development this season. "We expect him to play his best stretch of the year after the bye," he declared. If he meant on a relative basis, it's an indictment on how poorly Mayfield has played down the stretch because he got off a strong start..

Berry excused himself from the debate on the controversy surrounding Stefanski's playcalling this season. "That's not my area of expertise," he demurred. "I have a ton of confidence in him as a playcaller."

He also dismissed the notion the Browns might have developed a sense of entitlement entering the season after a surprisingly bountiful 2020 season. "I don't get a  sense there is a level of entitlement or that we have arrived because, quite honestly, we haven't. We haven't gotten there yet.

It bolsters the belief that making the playoffs is hard. Making them the following season(s) is harder.

Monday leftovers

One of these days, Kevin Stefanski is going to wake up and realize that for the last eight weeks he has been derelict in his duty as head coach of the Browns, futilely failing to unearth solutions to stop a slide that has snowballed to the point of near elimination from the postseason. 

The Browns, thought highly enough at the beginning of the season to engender conversation of the club's first-ever Super Bowl appearance, are 3-5 in those games and looked bad in two of those victories. The team that never lost back-to-back games in the 2020 season, haven't won two straight since stringing together three victories in weeks 2-4.

Technically, they are still alive, but in all honesty, they've been trending downward with nothing out there to give rise to any hope. The offense is stale, looking nothing like the scary unit of 2020 that overcame personnel issues on the defense to win scorefests.

The roles have been reversed. Now, it's the revamped defense that has come to the rescue of Stefanski's dull offense. In the last six games, the defense has permitted just 71 points in five of them, the 45-7 New England romp the only outlier. The offense, meanwhile, has scored just 57 points in five of those games, the 41-16 victory in Cincinnati the lone outlier.

The two units are clearly headed in different directions with no apparent solution in sight for the offense. And that is where Stefanski's dereliction enters the picture. He is the main man for that side of the football. He is being very protective of his role as the chief architect and playcaller to the point of being stubborn in the face of failure.

Last season's coach of the year in the National Football League is being humbled by the performance of his team and there seems to be nothing he can do about it. He seemingly refuses to believe his badly injured quarterback is all right.

"Baker (Mayfield) is throwing the ball well in practice," he reported last week leading up to the Sunday night game in Baltimore. Well, he sure didn't look good throwing it during the game and the two prior to that. He has completed an embarrassing 50.6% of his passes in that span.

Teams are starting to stack the box against Mayfield, which takes away the team's biggest weapon, the ground game. Stefanski basically conceded that aspect of the offense, dialing up Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt just 15 times against the Ravens. A terrible decision and not just in hindsight. Thought so at the time. But what do I know?

The Ravens simply dared Mayfield to throw, fully aware he had a busted, harnessed non-throwing arm that prevented him from making a smooth and accurate delivery, which lately has caused him to often miss open receivers badly. In 55 snaps, Mayfield dropped back 40 times. That's not Kevin Stefanski football.

When you've got ball carriers like Chubb and Hunt and an offensive line that run blocks much better than it protects the quarterback, you ride them as hard and often as possible no matter how many men are in the box. Caving minimizes your strength and maximizes your weakness, which is exactly what the Ravens hoped he'd do. And it worked,

The NFL being a copycat league, look for more teams to follow suit the rest of the season. Unless Stefanski comes to his senses and changes his mind with regard to the ground game, it will be only a matter of time before Mayfield winds up on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Come to think of it, that's what should happen and the sooner, the better. Like the moment the Browns are officially eliminated from the postseason. No sense in playing him in meaningless games. Gives him that much more time to be ready for training camp next summer.

Maybe by then, Stefanski will have come to the conclusion he would be a better HEAD coach if he ceded control of the offense to coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Based on his stubbornness by sticking with Mayfield, that probably won't happen.

*     *     *

Remember when the wide receivers corps was considered a team strength at the beginning of the season? Not anymore. Mayfield has connected on scoring passes to wideouts only four times this season, three to Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Odell Beckham Jr. talked his way out of Cleveland in mid-season and Jarvis Landry, who busted out with an 111-yard game Sunday night, has yet to reach the end zone on the scoring end of a pass. Rookie Anthony Schwartz can't stay healthy. Rashard Higgins is the forgotten and abandoned Brown. And Ja'Marcus Bradley was just elevated from the practice squad.

Peoples-Jones, who came on strong toward the end of his rookie season, has missed three games with injuries. Mayfield targeted him five times against the Ravens, completing two for 10 yards. DPJ's drop of a perfect pass at the Baltimore 11 on the first possession of the game blunted an opportunity to score and was a precursor of what was to come.

Higgins is the biggest mystery. He and Mayfield reportedly have a symbiotic football relationship, but it sure hasn't shown this season, He has only 15 catches and one score after booking 37 and four touchdowns last season. He was a healthy scratch Sunday night.

Asked why after the game, Stefanski explained, "I just felt that was the plan going into this week. That changes weekly. There are so many things to consider in terms of what our game plan looks like, special teams, etc." That's it. Not surprisingly, there was no followup.

It was, knowingly or unknowingly, one of the best non-answers I've heard in a long time. Feel free to translate.

*     *     *

Discipline notes . . . Remember what Stefanski said recently about fixing all the pre-snap penalty problems? "We will" fix them, he declared. No you won't, I said. He didn't. Four more against the Ravens. . . . Then there was a problem with having 12 men on the field more than once in the first quarter. It cost them a timeout. To make matters worse, they were flagged again for 12 men out of the timeout. "Put that right on me," Stefanski said, covering for special teams boss Mike Priefer. 

Stefanski was correct in taking the blame. That's what a good head coach should do because you know where the buck stops. So does he and if this isn't a sign things are slowly starting to fall apart on the coaching level, nothing will.

We're a dozen games into the season and very little has been "fixed" or "corrected" with little indication it will be taken care of by the Jan. 9 season finale. 

*     *     *

More Stefanski after the game: "I think there are definitely things we are doing OK. There are things we've got to improve, I think it's a bunch of different areas we have to get better." A reminder: We're 12 games into a 17-game season, for crying out loud. Taking this long to "get better" is why the Browns are 6-6. 

*     *     *

Finally . . . The last time the Browns ran for fewer yards than the 40 they posted Sunday night was the nine-carry, 31-yard effort by Chubb at Houston in a 29-13 loss on Dcc. 2, 2018. . . . Mayfield has been sacked in every one of his 11 starts, totaling 29. . . . Landry's six-catch, 111-yard game was easily his best of the season. . . . The Cleveland offense converted Lamar Jackson's four interceptions into a robust three points. And that one was tainted, Chase McLaughlin's 46-yard field-goal attempt banking off the left upright and in, halving the first-half deficit to 6-3. . . . Fullback Andy Janovich was absent from the snap count sheet against the Ravens. Why is he still on the roster? He was literally useless Sunday night. (Apologies to Janovich for this misinformation. He was a healthy scratch for the game. That's why his name did not appear on the snap count sheet.)

RIP 2021

For all practical purposes, the Browns' quest to return to the National Football League postseason is over, but definitely not with a whimper, not after Sunday night's tough 16-10 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore.

The defense on both sides put on a spectacular show all evening in the nationally televised game as the Browns dropped to 6-6. The Cleveland defense easily played their best ball of the season and just about neutralized one of the best offenses in the league.

They need a miracle to get back into the playoff hunt with five very tough games remaining, including a rematch with the division-leading Ravens after the upcoming bye week. They need to win at least four of those games, maybe all of them, to have a chance. Zero margin for error. Every game from now on is like a playoff game.

This was the one they really needed to win. But with an offense that has been struggling a major portion of the season because of a wounded, hobbling quarterback who isn't getting any healthier, that is not going to happen.

Losing offensive right tackle Jack Conklin to a right ankle injury on the 10th snap of the evening didn't help the situation. The All-Pro, who just returned from injured reserve with a dislocated elbow, played a major role in the run game.  

It was the Cleveland defense that made this one exciting almost down the final minutes of regulation. The offense, with the exception of a five-play, 87-yard drive that ended with a Baker Mayfield 20-yard scoring toss to David Njoku at the end of the third quarter that cut the deficit to 13-10, was AWOL again.

The other 11 possessions mustered just 175 yards in 52 plays. The last three possessions with the game still on the line gained only 38 total yards in 14 snaps. Playing catchup, which used to be a strength of this team, has become a lost art.

The Ravens, obviously dedicated to shutting down the vaunted Cleveland ground game, did so spectacularly. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were rendered useless with just 36 yards in 15 attempts, about 120 yards under their per-game average.

If defense is what turns you on, this one was for you. The level at which both teams played on that side of the football was enough to rope in even the most ardent fans of wide-open football because of the excellence on display.

It was tough, it was hard, it featured solid tackling and could serve as a primer on how to shut down offenses because neither team sustained  possessions with any consistency. 

The Browns actually made miracle-worker Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson look what could best be described as normal, taking away his ability to make the opposition look foolish with runs at critical times that make you blink and wonder how in the hell did he do that. 

As usual, he led the Ravens with 68 hard-earned yards in 17 carries. His longest run was only 13 yards, significant in that he routinely rips off runs much longer and opposition-deflating.

The Browns made him look foolish with four interceptions, three on consecutive possessions as the teams swapped turnovers on five straight possessions in a span of three minutes and 31 seconds of sloppy football late in the second quarter. Jackson looked less than ordinary.

Fumbles by Jarvis Landry and Mayfield of the Browns accounted for the other turnovers in that span as the clubs played a football version of hot potato. Here, you take the football; no, thank you, you can have it. 

Three of the four picks were intended for tight end Mark Andrews, who later scored the Ravens' only touchdown of the game at the crazy tailend of a nine-play, 75-yard drive that opened up the third quarter  after Baltimore took a 6-3 halftime lead on two of Justin Tucker's three field goals.

On third-and-10 from the Cleveland 13, Jackson in shotgun was immediately pressured and retreated adroitly all the way back to the 34, keeping the play alive. More than 20 yards behind the line of  scrimmage and moving to his left, he somehow spotted Andrews in the back of the end zone,

All at once, as defensive end Myles Garrett had tracked him down and was moving in, Jackson flicked a rainbow toward the charging and diving Andrews, who cradled the ball -- there's the miracle -- just before it hit the ground a couple of yards inside the end zone. 

Lucky? Sure. But luck, it has been said, is the residue of hard work. Garrett was impressed enough to kind of congratulate Jackson on his legerdemain with a wondrous look on his face. It gave the Ravens a 13-3 lead, which held up after the Browns' only scoring drive of the game and Tucker's third field goal. 

Some day, this one will be remembered by Browns Nation as the game Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah became a star. The 12-tackle (six solo) performance saw the rookie, who was playing like a five-year veteran, make tackles from sideline to sideline. He was ubiquitous. It was a pure tour de force. 

If he wasn't spying and ultimately chasing Jackson, he was blitzing (got half a sack). The football seems to find him a lot. That was no mistake. He is smart, quick, fast and a play-making dervish. He's every bit the player the Browns thought they were fortunate to get in the second round of the last college draft. 

Too small, some scouts said. Doesn't weigh enough to play linebacker, said others. All he does is make things happen, If he missed a tackle, I didn't see it. 

Safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. and middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr were also busy, combining on 26 tackles (19 solo), but it was the athleticism of JOK that freed them up to do some damage. Safeties Grant Delpit, John Johnson III and Harrison partnered with cornerback Denzel Ward on the quartet of picks.

It's the kind of defense that bodes well for the future because now fans know they are capable of playing at a such a high level. Unfortunately, that unit received precious little help from another unit considered dangerous and scary entering this season. 

That was the big difference Sunday night.

Too much Jackson

It has become apparent in the last three seasons that the Browns have a difficult time hitting a moving target whenever they play the Baltimore Ravens. Most notably one Lamar Jackson.

The slithering Ravens quarterback absolutely loves playing the Browns because he knows he makes moves with his feet and plays with his improving throwing arm that practicality guarantee winning football games. Four of five since against them to be precise since turning pro.

In the next few weeks, Jackson gets two more cracks at improving that because of an oddity in the schedule that has the two teams meeting consecutively due to a week 13 bye separating the games for the Browns.

The first is Sunday night on national television in Baltimore with Jackson returning after missing last Sunday's come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Bears due to a mysterious illness. It lifted the injury-ravaged Ravens to 7-3 in the AFC North and makes the next two games must-wins for the 6-5 Browns if they still entertain postseason hopes.

Lose either one and the Browns can jump start plans for the 2022 season, mainly because they have fallen too far behind and have had problems catching up, due in large part to injury issues to key players.

Drawing Baltimore at this juncture of the schedule is a good litmus test to see just where this underachieving team is in terms of determining whether it is as good as many observers believed at the beginning of the season.

They catch a break with the return of offensive right tackle Jack Conklin and running back Kareem Hunt to revive an offense whose early bright glow has slowly and agonizingly dwindled to just a glimmer. The addition of Conklin and Hunt certainly can't hurt.

It's the defense, though, that has to come through for a change and at least neutralize Jackson. Middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. best summed up what he and his buddies need to do to make that happen. "All 11 guys have to be in the frame when the film stops," he said. 

The Baltimore attack, which is really massive doses of Jackson, can be stopped, or at least slowed down. The lowly Miami Dolphins proved that by holding the Ravens to only 10 points a few weeks ago with a barrage of blitzes in one of the season's biggest upsets.

Jackson's biggest weakness this season, it would appear, is beating the blitz. He has thrown only three touchdown passes against it and been picked off three times. Thirteen of his 28 sacks have come against maximum pressure from the back seven.

So that means Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods will throw the entire blitz playbook at Jackson the next two games, right? Uh, no. Not unless he undergoes a complete transformation from an ultra conservative approach to one antithetical to his passive philosophy. Don't see that happening.

Ideally, keeping Jackson pinned in the pocket and forcing him to throw, mostly before he wants to, is the best approach. He is not a great passer with only 14 scoring passes and eight interceptions this season. Don't see that happening, either.

Give him too much time, though, and he loves targeting tight end Mark Andrews, who has burned the Browns for 20 receptions, 260 yards and five touchdowns the last four games, and speedy wideout Marquise Brown, who has scored six TDs this season.

All of which means Browns fans will likely see more of Jackson dipping and darting and breaking tackles as he continues to almost single-handedly deconstruct the Cleveland defense. He is a true hybrid football player, excelling as much at running the ball as he does throwing it to receivers.

Is he a quatrterbnack who happens to be a better runner or a running back masquerading as a quarterback? Either way, his effectiveness is the main reason the Ravens sit atop the AFC North again.He does it with such ease, one wonders how he finds holes that aren't there when he escapes the pocket.

The Browns drafted athletic linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah ostensibly to spy Jackson and contain him, but the rookie spent time on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain before returning a couple of weeks ago. He hobbled off the field in the Browns' recent victory over Detroit after booking just 14 snaps, but did not appear on the injury report and should play. 

In five full games against Cleveland, Jackson has accumulated 1,525 yards from scrimmage (1,097 through the air, 428 on the ground) with 10 touchdown passes, just two picks and four more scores with his legs. He averages nearly seven yards a pop when he pulls the ball in and scampers.

Oh, and he is also the Ravens' leading runner by far this season with 639 yards and a pair of scores in nine games, mainly because the team lost all three of its running backs to injuries before the season started. That they're third in the league in rushing, just a few yards behind the Browns, is somewhat remarkable.

The stats also indicate the Ravens' defense is most vulnerable against the pass, belching 281 yards a game, one rung from the league bottom. That flies in the face of a Cleveland offense whose passing game has taken a per-game average nosedive to just 206 yards a game, a 15-yard difference from last season.

Baker Mayfield has been spotty now for at least a month when dropping back to throw. His multitude of injuries have piled up and turned him into a marginal threat at best. He's not throwing nearly as well as he has in the past. His biggest job now is trying to avoid a season-ending injury. 

He's like Jackson in one regard. As Jackson goes, so go the Ravens. And right now, that's first place in the division. As Baker goes, so go the Browns. And right now, that's the cellar of the division, albeit one notch above mediocrity at 6-5.

The Ravens can afford a loss in this one. The Browns cannot. Or the next one for that matter. The return of Hunt and Conklin will make somewhat of a difference. But the Browns have been ineffective for so long, it will not make a difference for teams headed in opposite directions. Jackson stars again. Make it: 

Ravens 32, Browns 17

(Late) Mid-week thoughts

It is assumed Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has 20/20 vision. If that, indeed, is the case, then I wonder why he allowed Baker Mayfield to continue and then finish the 13-10 victory against the Detroit Lions last Sunday.

He had an up-close-and -personal look at the beating his quarterback was absorbing en route to the club's must-win game. It wasn't bad enough Mayfield was aching and feeling miserable in too many areas to enumerate.

He couldn't see his best quarterback was badly missing wide-open targets at critical junctures of the game, targets he probably would have been connecting with easily with a reasonable state of health? One of the major reasons the Browns escaped with the narrow victory against the worst team in the National Football was the inability of his quarterback to make plays.

That quarterback was limping half the time and no doubt simultaneously lobbying to stay in the game. At one point, Case Keenum began warming up late in the third quarter. Astoundingly, Stefanski said after the game he did not know his backup quarterback had started throwing. Where is the communication? It looks bad when the boss has no idea what is going on behind his back.

One of Stefanski's main roles, he maintains, is "to make sure players are always placed in the best position to succeed." He failed miserably to do that with the most important player on the offensive side of the football against the Lions.

The Browns barely won because of the solid defense against a quarterback making his NFL starting debut, a running back who was "placed in the best position to succeed" and did, but it definitely was not the quarterback, who would have been better off watching the finish from the bench.

Mayfield should not have played this one. If it had been anyone in the AFC North, that's another matter. These were the Lions, for goodness sakes. The Browns would have been much better off with Keenum controlling the huddle. It's not as though doing so would have been foreign to him. He did it in the Denver victory several weeks ago.

Isn't this the main reason Keenum was signed? To be available to take over in the event Mayfield if needed -- and this was one of those times -- to take a game off to heal? Especially with back-to-back games with Baltimore on deck?

Mayfield now is admittedly in the worst shape of his career -- he didn't get any healthier against the Lions -- and preparing for a team that has pounded him with regularity in the past. Right now, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens have a chart locating his numerous injured areas and using it for target practice.

What are the odds he finishes either -- or neither -- of the next two games? Rhetorical question.

There have been times this season when Stefanski postgame admitted mistakes in his playcalling, once saying he "felt sick to my stomach" with a critical call that backfired. It's obvious he does not regret using Mayfield against the Lions. But there's a good chance he might do so retroactively depending on the outcome of the Ravens doubleheader.

Right now, Stefanski and the team's physicians (practicing medicine without a license alert) erred in placing Mayfield in harm's way in a collision sport and playing fast and loose with  his career (end alert). They should have rebuffed his lobbying to continue at well under 100% efficiency -- and it showed -- and simply said. NO!! In no way did they place Mayfield "in the best place to succeed" against Detroit.

*     *     *

Stefanski said it best after the game with regard to the flood of penalties this season. "They are getting in our own way," he correctly declared after they committed another 10 penalties (that were accepted) and another 82 yards against the Lions.

They were dumb, ill-timed and slammed the brakes on whatever progress both sides of the ball was making. Penalties are a sign of undisciplined teams, teams that more often than not mess up positive results.

The Browns lead the NFL in pre-snap penalties, the most egregious kind because they are just plain unacceptable, especially when they stagger momentum. The Browns have accumulated 33 penalties pre-snap (in 11 games) with 10 others declined and three offsetting. Overall, they have been penalized 80 times (39 on offense, 35 on defense, six on special teams) with 10 more declined.

And just how is Stefanski planning on handling it? "We have to get it cleaned up and we will," he said. To which I say, "No, he won't." It's not as though this just cropped up. He has had nearly three months to "get it cleaned up"and failed miserably and yet is vowing to get it right.

When? By week 18? 

*     *     *

With the expected return of offensive tackle Jack Conklin and running back Kareem Hunt this weekend, this is a good time to determine just how good the Browns night have been with their presence. It's a hypothetical that can be effectively used in arguments,

How much their prolonged absences were contributing factors to the mediocre record thus far can be argued. At the top of their games. the offense is definitely better. If nothing else, it will add two more bullets to Stefanski's arsenal against a pretty good Ravens defense.

It will also afford Mayfield more protection in the pocket and enable Stefanski to counter the strong Baltimore pass rush with screens, traps, counters and quick-developing passes. Now all the head coach and playcaller has to worry about is straightening out his quarterback's accuracy problems.

Finally . . .  The defense shouldn't too full of itself with the stats from the Lions game. It's the Lions with a third-string quarterback making his first start. Lamar Jackson is an entirely different animal who thrives against the Browns. . . . Besides, the offense controlling the football for 35 minutes didn't hurt. . . . Mayfield has thrown only 50 passes in the last two games, completing just 26 (52%) for 249 yards (124.5 per game), two touchdowns and three interceptions. Only eight of those completions were to wide receivers. . . . The Cleveland defense has given up six touchdowns to tight ends, allowing a 67% completion rate. That needs to be fixed, especially with Ravens tight end Mark Andrews up next. One of Mayfield's favorite targets at Oklahoma, Andrews has caught 26 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns against the Browns in six career games. 

C'mon, it's the Lions

Head coach Kevin Stefanski made it official Friday, the day after Baker Mayfield limped to his scheduled gaggle with reporters. Mayfield, he said, will start at quarterback for the Browns in Sunday's home game against the hapless Detroit Lions. 

At that little gathering with reporters after practice Thursday, Mayfield made a startling admission. "This is probably the most beat up I have been in my career," he revealed. "It's not like it's one particular thing. It's multiple . . . Just a couple of things after another."

In no particular order, those "things" include a fully torn labrum in his non-throwing arm; a non-displaced fracture of a bone at the top of the shoulder of same arm; two knees that have absorbed a pounding all season; and a sore foot. Other than that, he's fine.

"It's been tough, but I don't think anyone gives a damn," Mayfield said. "No reason to get into that. Nobody cares. Nobody wants to feel bad for us. . . . It's all right." Wrong on all counts, but interesting nonetheless.

His head coach certainly cares. Asked how his battered and bruised quarterback looked in practice Friday, Stefanski  replied "He looked good." Will he start? "He will start," he said tersely.

Seemingly makes no difference that his best quarterback will be operating at a distinct disadvantage because of ailments throughout his body. Maybe he figures Mayfield's aches, pains and soreness will disappear after the first snap when the adrenalin kicks in to mask it. 

It has to be assumed Stefanski did not make this decision without consulting with team physicians. Unless he comes up with the perfect game plan that assures Mayfield's uniform will be as clean at the end of the game as it is when he takes the first snap, it's borderline reckless to send him out there.

Think of the consequences. Mayfield has been sacked 26 times in nine starts this season -- at least two in every game except one -- and looked helpless in the pocket far too often. If he takes another big hit -- and he will -- and lands on season-ending injured reserve, then what? Is that worth such a gamble?

The fact Mayfield has been sacked nearly three times a game on average is partially the inability of the offensive line to protect him. The situation isn't not any better with All-Pro Jack Conklin still on injured reserve with a dislocated elbow. A confluence of negatives have put the quarterback in this position.

Stefanski is the head coach, There's nothing in the coaching playbook that says he can't overrule the physicians and tether his No. 1 quarterback to the bench for just this one game before next taking on the Baltimore Ravens in two extremely important back-to-back games. For Mayfield's own good and the good of the team, he needs to sit this one out.

First of all, the 0-8-1 Lions are unquestionably the worst team in the National Football League. The Browns should win this game with no problem whatsoever. So why not give Mayfield another week to heal as much as he can and let Case Keenum handle this one?

Has Stefanski lost confidence in Keenum, who filled in quite capably for Mayfield -- in the early stages of his shoulder problems in week seven -- and helped knock off the Denver Broncos? Isn't that why he was brought to Cleveland, to be ready in the event Mayfield was unable to play?

He did so then with running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt unavailable with calf injuries and led the Browns to a 17-10 victory with reserve D'Ernest Johnson running for 146 yards. Is Stefanski fearful Keenum isn't good enough to do what's best for this struggling football team, one coming off a 45-7 embarrassment against New England? This time, he'd get help: Chubb is back off COVID-19 reserve.

A 100% Case Keenum is clearly a better option than a 60%, if that, Baker Mayfield against the weakest team -- and the only team with a losing record -- left on the Cleveland schedule. The most important man in the organization doesn't think so and unfortunately has chosen to go in the opposite direction. 

Maybe Stefanski took a look at the Lions' statistics and figured he could pull it off with Mayfield. The Lions' pass rush, for example, has dropped opposing quarterbacks just 14 times. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has 13 sacks all by himself. He has been shut out of only one game -- Houston in week two.

The Cleveland defense also will face Tim Boyle, a journeyman quarterback who backed up Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay for a few years. Boyle is making his professional starting debut with only one NFL game -- four passes -- on his resumé. He fills in for Jared Goff, out with an oblique injury suffered in last week's tie in Pittsburgh.

The stats sheet reflects the winless state of the Lions. And with Goff out, look for plenty of infantry football Sunday with D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams against a Cleveland defensive line that was gouged and gashed repeatedly last Sunday by the Patriots.

With Chubb back, look for Stefanski to get the ground game cranking again -- he called only 18 running plays against New England in 80 snaps -- and alternate him with Johnson, making Mayfield's job a little easier.

This one figures to be a walkover. Yes, Detroit went to Pittsburgh a week ago and tied the Steelers in what probably felt like a victory to the Lions. That won't happen Sunday on the lakefront. Too many Detroit negatives and a bounceback by the Browns portends a satisfying victory. 

The weather forecast calls for lots of rain and temperatures in the 40s, which means an ugly, sloppy, low-scoring game as the Jekyll/Hyde Browns pour a little salve on their wounds. Last Sunday, My Hyde showed up. This time, it will be Dr. Jekyll. Make it: 

Browns 24, Lions 13

(Due to unforeseen circumstances, there will be no game story and Monday leftovers this week. Will resume Thanksgiving Day with Mid-week thoughts.) 

Mid-week thoughts

Now that the Browns have experienced what counts as a losing spell, doubts are being raised by none other than some of the players with regard to the coaching, most notably the ability to make adjustments.

Defensive end Myles Garrett and safety John Johnson III expressed those concerns following Sunday's 45-7 embarrassment against the New England Patriots. They were made post-game when emotions and frustrations usually run high, lips become loose and honesty prevails.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said he spoke with Garrett about his remarks and emphasized the result of that conversation would be kept in house, as it should have been. It's safe to assume, though, it was more of a one-way talk.

It took 10 games, but Garrett's and Johnson's reaction to the New England loss was probably starting to simmer over a period of time that had seen the Browns lose four of six games, at least one of which was very winnable, and then mounted to the point of bubbling over.

Players criticizing the coaching is generally a no-no. It's basically challenging authority, although those who do so don't see it that way. It's their way of telling the man in charge -- in this case Stefanski -- that something needs to be done to, as they put it, stop the bleeding.

It will take more than a tourniquet to stanch the blood flow, though, because in sports, winning generally breeds winning and losing generally breeds losing. That's why Stefanski preaches the hackneyed one-game-at-a-time mantra, which worked nicely in last season's 11-5 journey, which featured no back-to-back losses.

Since losing consecutive games for the first time this season in weeks five and six, it's been W, L, W, L.  Too few Ws, too many Ls. A 5-5 record at this stage for the season, especially against the weak part of the schedule, was not expected.

Consistency seems to have taken a vacation and Stefanski seemingly is struggling to find it again. Just when it was assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, the Browns had finally figured it out with the trouncing in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, the Patriots rudely and decisively jolted them back to reality.

Injuries and COVID-19 have interfered along the way. But Stefanski correctly does not employ that as an excuse. The other 31 National Football League teams have traveled the same road this season. Complaining is a waste of time.

Stefanski now faces the biggest challenge of his head coaching career. Maintaining the attention and confidence of the 53-man roster, many of whom were there last season and believed in the rookie head coach, is vitally important. Garrett's and Johnson's words nicked Stefanski's coaching veneer.

He is the head coach. He gets all the credit, deserved or not, when the Browns win. He gets all the blame, deserved or not, when they lose. What the club accomplishes for 60 minutes a game in 17 games from September to January is a direct reflection of the head coach.

Everything runs through him. And right now, the very talented (at least on paper) Browns have overwhelmed five opponents and underwhelmed five others. At the risk of mixing a metaphor, it has  somewhat tarnished the bloom on Stefanski's coaching rose.

For the first time in his brief tenure in Cleveland, critics are chirping. Perhaps it's because his early success with the Browns spoiled them and they aren't used to seeing this club scuffle. The results have been disappointing with no apparent solutions in sight.

Are the Browns really this bad? Maybe they aren't and are underachieving. Then again, maybe last season was a one-year aberration and they're back to permanent residence of the AFC North basement.  Fans spoiled from last season's success and who jumped back on the bandwagon want to know and are confused. 

What was it Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells said all those years ago when asked about results? He said they speak for themselves. "You are what your record says you are." And right now, it says the Browns are merely average with the capability of being better.

We're going to find out in the next seven games just what kind of head coach Kevin Stefanski is with one absolute. No matter how the Browns finish, he will be back next season and the season after that and the season after that, ending the coaching carousel that has bedeviled this franchise for way too long.

Eventually, he's going to get this right, using this season as a learning experience, and become the right head coach this erstwhile woebegone franchise has sought for more than a generation.

Monday leftovers

There was something absent from the Browns Sunday in suburban Boston, something that enabled them to beat up on the Cincinnati Bengals seven days earlier.

That something was aggression. They, for some unknown reason, played back on their heels all afternoon against the New England Patriots and paid a dear price in the form of a 45-7 drubbing. 

The aggressive offense and defense that helped create the overwhelming Cincinnati victory must have been jettisoned on the flight somewhere between Cleveland and Boston Saturday because the Browns played not to lose against the Patriots.

Football teams are coached to win, of course. If they are coached defensively or timidly to avoid losing, or play not to lose, the probability factor is they'll lose. Playing like that automatically removes the aggressive factor from a sport that demands it if winning is the main objective.

The Browns played like that Sunday. With one big exception, when they opened the scoring on their first possession, the Pats manhandled them. They took it to them in every aspect. They were at least two or three steps ahead of everything the Browns did on both sides of the football.

It look so ridiculously easy, one would have thought the Patriots had gotten ahold of the Cleveland playbooks. Kevin Stefanski said he was outcoached by Bill Belichick. He didn't have to say it. It was that obvious.

It has reached a point now where talk like that by the Cleveland coach it is becoming repetitious. For those who haven't been paying attention, the Browns have lost four of the last six games after a 3-1 start and fallen back into the AFC North cellar. Only seven games remain, four against division opponents.

It's absolutely true that championships are won in November and December. With that in mind, Stefanski has the monumental task of trying to put this Jekyll/Hyde football team back together because right now, it is broken. It isn't even good. It's mediocre.

Post-game remarks by a couple of leaders on defense put out a warning signal. "We didn't counter like we were supposed to," griped defensive end Myles Garrett. "We didn't stop the bleeding and they kept on attacking where we weren't efficient."

Safety John Johnson III piled on. "They (the Patriots) went back to a bunch of plays where we got hit all year and we just couldn't stop the bleeding," he said, Interesting how each player independently used the word "bleeding" in their assessments.

The problem? Lack of aggression. On both sides of the football. The Browns displayed the aggressive nature of a sloth against the Pats.

For example, the Patriots' secondary plays mostly man coverage, sometimes press coverage. The Browns, on the other hand, play mostly zone. That's one of the reasons Baker Mayfield had trouble finding open receivers. His lone interception of the day was the result of trying to force a pass to tight end David Njoku deep in Cleveland territory in the first quarter with the score 7-7.

Problem was Njoku was bracketed by safeties Kyle Dugger and Adrian Phillips and never had a chance. Dugger grabbed the pick and returned it to the Browns' six. One play later, the Patriots untied it and the rout was on.

Tight coverage was the major factor that enabled the Pats to hold Mayfield to a career-low 73 passing yards, The tepid Cleveland defense, meanwhile, made New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones look like a baby-faced Tom Brady.

Why the Browns don't play more man coverage baffles. If it's because their secondary isn't talented enough to play that aggressively in pass coverage, then draft players who can. 

In the Cincinnati game, Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods unveiled several different blitz packages, beating the daylights out of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. None of that showed up against a rookie quarterback Sunday. 

The Browns have the talent. The results, however, don't match that talent. If the talent does not at least play to its ability, the Browns cease to be a good team, They have descended into mediocrity. If they don't -- or cannot -- ratchet up the intensity on offense and defense in those remaining seven games, the disappointment will intensify.

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It seems as though Stefanski is always talking about correcting mistakes. The Browns have played 10 games and one would think the number of mistakes by now would lessen, not multiply. Pre-snap penalties -- there were five against the Patriots -- are inexcusable. Too many players are not paying attention.

It's like the Browns are in a perpetual correcting protocol. Self-inflicting wounds have become an epidemic with no end in sight.  "We are way, way too inconsistent as a team right now," said Stefanski. That's one too many "ways," which shows at least he's paying attention.

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Whatever happened to that "smart, tough, accountable" mantra the club adopted in the Stefanski-Andrew Berry era? Here's an update as seen through these eyes.

Tough? Not the way they played Sunday. They were anything but. What about smart? Not unless you redefine the word. Accountable? In what way? Again, Sunday was a prime example of what the Browns weren't. Tough, smart and accountable.

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Finally . . . The way Mayfield is getting beat up this season, he is going to be an old man physically by the time he's 35. Torn labrum, broken shoulder, sore foot, banged-up knee. Stefanski would be wise to rest him and use Case Keenum against the 0-8-1 Detroit Lions Sunday at home,  . . . The Browns have scored 17 or fewer points in four of the last five games. . . . Running back D'Ernest Johnson ran for 58 yards on four carries in the opening drive. He booked only 41 more in 15 other attempts. . . . The Pats' offense compiled 452 total yards and 30 first downs; the Browns checked in at 217 and 17.  . . . Rookie defensive tackle Tommy Togiai made his season debut against the Pats. A healthy scratch in the first nine games,  the former Ohio State standout had two tackles (one solo) in 22 snaps.