Kevin Stefanski defended his play-calls at the end of the Green Bay game and seemed to put the onus on Baker Mayfield for not making the plays. (Cleveland Browns)
There’s more at stake than a playoff appearance in Browns’ final two games
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
It’s been a rocky and unpleasant journey, this Browns season. The joy ride advertised in May now appears on a collision course.
All along, it has trundled along two different sets of intersecting tracks.
Track 1 was Destination: Los Angeles. Site of the 2022 Super Bowl. Maybe the Browns wouldn’t make it all the way. But, oh, the places they’d go. The first playoff game in FirstEnergy Stadium. Eventually a rematch in Kansas City, perhaps, in the AFC Championship Game. You could practically smell the barbecue from the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot all the way to Cleveland.
Track 2 led to a new contract for Baker Mayfield. It would be the first second contract given to a quarterback drafted by the club since the Browns’ rebirth, a coming of age for a franchise confined in quarterback hell for 20-plus years.
Sustained success in the NFL is achieved by the union of coach and quarterback. A second consecutive post-season together would seal the marriage of Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski.
But the relationship appears on the rocks.
A change in Stefanski
As the Browns’ offense sputtered game after game, Stefanski’s post-mortems resembled a Saturday Night Live skit. You imagined fake blood spurting all over the stage for all the times Stefanski fell on his sword.
“I’ve got to do a better job of calling plays for Baker,” Stefanski said following fourth quarter-flop after fourth-quarter flop.
Mayfield’s failures with the ball in his hands at the end in losses to the Chiefs, Chargers, Steelers, and Ravens raised serious questions about the wisdom of a Browns’ contract extension offer beyond his guaranteed fifth-year option of $18.8 million. Stefanski steadfastly refused to lay the blame on his quarterback.
The failure in Green Bay – four interceptions that resulted in three Packers touchdowns and a chance at a game-winning field goal at the end, plus five sacks that subtracted a potential seven points in a 24-22 Browns loss – seemed a breaking point.
Stefanski deserved criticism for trusting Mayfield with a pass-centric game plan after the quarterback missed two weeks of practice while quarantined with COVID. Mayfield had to be flown to Green Bay on the morning of the game without having thrown a football to teammates for two weeks. Nevertheless, Stefanski gave the ball to Mayfield with the seeming directive, “You’re the quarterback. Do your job.”
And though indomitable running back Nick Chubb powered the Browns back in the game after Mayfield’s errant passes, Stefanski trusted Mayfield at the end. From the 50-yard line with a minute to go and three timeouts at his disposal, Stefanski allowed Mayfield to throw on three straight plays.
Two days later, Stefanski not only had no regrets, he insisted the play-calls would have been successful if Mayfield had just made the plays.
“We felt pretty good about the calls,” he said Monday. “Specifically, we had potential for an explosive [play] on first down.”
Mayfield’s pass for tight end David Njoku, who was open at the Green Bay 35 near the right sideline, was just beyond Njoku’s reach.
“We had a screen on second when the screen game had been good to us,” Stefanski continued.
D’Ernest Johnson had a phalanx of Nick Harris, Wyatt Teller and Michael Dunn in front of him to block two Green Bay defenders. But Mayfield’s short pass for Johnson was knocked down by Green Bay linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and almost intercepted.
“Then third down, obviously, we turn the ball over,” Stefanski concluded.
That was the Mayfield pass for Donovan Peoples-Jones intercepted by Rasul Douglas at the Green Bay 40 after Douglas tugged on Peoples-Jones and beat him for the ball.
So Mayfield’s career-high fourth interception of the game thwarted his fifth attempt at a game-winning drive this year.
Stefanski didn’t apologize for formulating the game plan around an obviously rusty Mayfield.
“I think Baker told you the other night, he did not play up to his standard, and we expect him to play at a high level,” Stefanski said. “I think confidence-wise with the quarterback position, you get too much credit, and you get too much blame. That is just how it is. He will bounce back, and I think he will be better for it.”
To me, this sounded much like GM Andrew Berry when he challenged Mayfield at the bye week with five games to go in the season.
“We expect him to play his best football down the stretch after the bye,” Berry said on Dec. 1.
Since then, the Browns beat Baltimore (24-22) and lost to Green Bay (24-22). Mayfield missed a pivotal AFC game against Las Vegas, won by the Raiders, 16-14, because of a positive COVID test.
Since Berry’s challenge, Mayfield is 43 of 68 for 412 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions and 5 sacks, and a passer rating of 69.0. The results hardly inspire a $150 million-plus reinvestment by the Browns.
What’s next?
Berry and Stefanski have adamantly refused to excuse Mayfield’s poor season due to injuries to his left shoulder, right knee and left heel.
“He is healthy enough to win games for us,” Berry said a month ago.
At the time, Berry dismissed the notion of Mayfield’s future riding on the last five games.
“I do not know if it is so much about showing me anything,” Berry said. “Really, our focus is on winning games and playing at a high enough level that allows us to be in a strong spot in December. That is really where the focus is. I think Baker has shown a lot over the past three-plus seasons, so I do not necessarily subscribe to this notion that there is something in these next five games that is of particular focus, so to speak.”
Bu it sure feels like support for a Mayfield contract extension is waning.
On Dec. 12, Mayfield spoke of “a lot of internal things” he’s dealing with in an interview with NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner. He’s been ripped on social media by the fathers of departed receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and running back Kareem Hunt. Team leader Jarvis Landry still has not done an interview since Beckham's release from the team on Nov. 5.
During the Green Bay game, inactive safety John Johnson live-tweeted “RUN THE DAMN BALL” after Mayfield’s second interception in the first quarter.
But here’s the thing: The Browns have a chance to win the division with triumphs over the Steelers on Monday night and the Bengals in the season finale in Cleveland.
What if Mayfield pulls it off and quarterbacks the Browns to their first AFC North title, their second post-season appearance in a row, and their first playoff game in FirstEnergy Stadium?
Their 2021 season would be back on track. And if so, how could Berry and Stefanski not justify signing Mayfield to that contract extension, after all?
Strap on your seat belts. It’s going to be quite a finish.
