Baker Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski have failed three times in the last six games to pull out a victory against a potent offense. (Getty Images)
Second thoughts: Browns’ potent offense has two shortcomings that Kevin Stefanski must rectify
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Second thoughts on Browns 47-42 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers …
1. Kevin Stefanski has put together the best Browns offense in decades. It currently ranks fifth in yards per game and tied for sixth in points. The Browns are talented, explosive, diverse and balanced. But it seems the offense can operate in only one gear – fast. It doesn’t have the second gear to fly down the field in a two-minute situation to win a game. And it doesn’t have the slower gear to grind time off the clock and keep opposing scoring machines off the field. Both flaws showed up Sunday.
2. Part of Stefanski’s challenge in slowing the tempo of a game is that Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are so good, they can take the offense down the field faster than a passing game. For example, the Browns would have been wise to grind the clock when they took possession at their 25 with 7:24 left in the fourth quarter and the scored tied, 35-35. A screen pass to Hunt and a Los Angeles face-mask penalty moved the ball 28 yards on first down. Then, Chubb blasted for 8 and 24 yards on two runs, and Hunt finished up with runs of 7 and 8 for the touchdown. They ate only 2:39 to move 75 yards to go ahead, 42-35. The quick score gave the Chargers the ball with 4:45 to play. Another two minutes of Browns possession would have shortened the Chargers’ chances of scoring two times. “I think it’s hard,” Stefanski said of slowing down the game at that point. “Points are a premium. There are opportunities, certainly late in games, when you want to use the clock.” I think Stefanski has to be open to using the clock at other times in games, especially against these hot quarterbacks. One of the values of having a dominant running game and offensive line is using it to dictate the pace of the game. I don’t think Stefanski does it enough.
3. The two-minute offense is harder to explain. In 23 games of the Stefanski-Mayfield partnership, only once have they produced a quality final drive to win a game. That came in the second game against the Bengals last year. I will say that Mayfield’s drive to tie the score in the second Ravens game last year was good, but it Lamar Jackson and Justin Tucker untied it. But there have been three abject failures in the last six games – the playoff game in Kansas City last season, the 2021 opener in Kansas City this year, and Sunday against the Chargers. In those three games, the Browns’ offense had the ball for five possessions and failed to execute on all five. In none of those games did the Browns come close to resembling a well-oiled offensive unit in the clutch.
4. On Monday, Stefanski said he was still “sick” about the play selection on the Browns’ next-to-last offensive possession. With a 42-41 lead and 3:01 to play, the Browns went three-and-out after a Hunt carry for no yards, a deep incompletion for Rashard Higgins which should have drawn a flag but didn’t, and an inside draw to Hunt on third-and-9. Then Stefanski punted on fourth-and-5 with 2:11 to play, giving Justin Herbert the chance to pull out the win, which he did. “Yes, in hindsight, I definitely wish I did something different,” Stefanski said. “This is where I have to put our guys in positions to succeed, and I did not do that there.” Stefanski’s decision to punt was hailed as the worst coaching decision of Week 5 by the analytics Website edjsports.com. “I think hindsight always is going to cause me to look at those decisions and think about what I can do to come through for our team so I will look at all of those things,” Stefanski said.
5. All of which prompted Stefanski to entertain a question you’d think wouldn’t be posed to the reigning NFL coach-of-the-year: What about handing off play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt? “We have a really good collaboration on game day,” Stefanski replied. “It is a lot of us on there, but particularly AVP and [offensive line coach] Bill Callahan do a great job in making sure that our operation is how we want it. Certainly … there are going to be moments where I need to do better, but I am getting a ton of help throughout the game.”
6. One final note on the offense, which is unfairly getting too much of the blame for the loss in this column. The Browns produced 42 points and 531 total yards of offense. Odell Beckham Jr. led all Browns receivers with 58 snaps of 72 total. He had two catches for 20 yards and one costly drop in three targets. Beckham was not targeted, or even looked at, by Mayfield on the last two offensive possessions against the Chargers. “There was a couple of opportunities, but the coverage took the quarterback elsewhere,” Stefanski said. “That is really the simple answer to it. We just have to make sure that we find ways to get him the ball and all of our guys the balls.” Through three games of the Beckham-Mayfield reunion, Beckham has nine receptions in 19 targets for 124 yards.
7. After two outstanding games against Chicago and Minnesota, the defense had a major setback. Playing without injured defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and then losing starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams to injuries during the game had a lot to do with it. But each of Justin Herbert’s four touchdown passes were ridiculously easy against total Browns defensive breakdowns, including TDs of 72 and 42 yards to receiver Mike Williams. “Obviously when guys get that open, the answer is it always is a miscommunication,” Stefanski said. “That is what happened. We had poor communication out there a couple of times. We have to get lined up, get the calls and execute the defense. You never know when it is going to hurt you, and it was unfortunate that we had some miscommunication back there. We have to work real hard to make sure it does not happen again.” The miscommunication appeared to be centered mostly between safeties John Johnson and Ronnie Harrison.
8. Punter Jamie Gillan’s third season with the Browns started on a bad note with a dropped snap on his first attempt in Kansas City, and it hasn’t gotten much better for the happy-go-lucky Scot. Gillan’s two punts late in the Chargers game didn’t help slow down their 26-point fourth quarter barrage. He uncorked a 39-yard effort to the Chargers’ 39 at the 12:57 mark, which set up Los Angeles’ go-ahead touchdown. Then when the Browns’ penultimate possession fizzled in the inside draw to Hunt, Gillan line-drived a punt of 42 yards that was returned 12 yards to the Browns’ 48. That shortened the field for the Chargers, resulting in another touchdown, and forced the Browns to use their three timeouts. Gillan’s gross (41.8 yards) and net averages (38.2) on the season now rank 29th and 27th, respectively, in the NFL. “Obviously, we want to punt better,” Stefanski said. “He needs to be better. He knows that.”
