The divisional playoff loss in Kansas City was not Kevin Stefanski's finest game. But there's a good reason for that. (Cleveland Browns)
One big difference in the Kansas City game nobody’s talking about
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
One of the overlooked aspects of the Browns’ 22-17 loss in Kansas City in the 2020 playoffs was the health of Kevin Stefanski for the game.
The Browns’ coach was back from COVID quarantine but still suffering symptoms of the virus that wiped out several players and coaches in the final weeks of the season. Stefanski admitted he didn’t recover his sense of smell and taste for “a couple of weeks later.”
Myles Garrett contracted the virus in November and never regained his former self over the last seven games. Denzel Ward had the virus and missed the two games prior to Kansas City, and didn’t look sharp against the Chiefs.
“I feel I wasn’t as sharp as I would have wanted to be,” Ward admitted last week. “Coming off COVID, it was a little difficult, but I was still ready to play and gave my best shot I could.”
So it stands to reason that the Browns’ play-caller might not have been up to speed when he took on the task of matching wits with all-time NFL coach and play-caller Andy Reid in the biggest game of his Browns career.
“I was fine,” Stefanski said recently.
Not rusty at all in making those split-second decisions amid the hectic sideline environment of a high-pressure playoff game?
“Well, we lost. So I was not good enough. But physically, I was fine,” Stefanski answered.
The start of the game was so unlike the Browns. A week earlier in Pittsburgh, they crushed the Steelers right off the ball from the first snap, defensively and then offensively. But in Kansas City, they were lethargic from the get-go.
When asked what parts of the game stayed with him in the offseason, Mayfield answered, “We watched the tape quite a few times. Just seeing how we were in the beginning … we just got to do our job.”
On the NBC broadcast of the Browns’ preseason game in Atlanta, Mayfield told interviewer Michelle Tafoya that the team came out slow.
“I don’t know [why],” Nick Chubb said on Wednesday. “I guess we just weren’t playing our ball. Making too many mistakes, things like that. We didn’t look like ourselves. For us to come out there and know our assignment and do our job, hopefully we start faster this time.”
The Browns won the coin toss in Arrowhead Stadium and deferred, of course. Giving the Chiefs the ball first resulted in a 6-0 Kansas City lead after the PAT was missed.
The Browns came back with a field goal drive, but had only two other offensive possessions in the first half. One resulted in a punt following two Chubb drops of short passes. The other imploded in the Rashard Higgins fumble out of the Kansas City end zone for a Chiefs touchback.
That controversial turnover resulted in a field goal before halftime and a 19-3 Chiefs lead -- a 10-point swing from what should have been a 16-10 score.
In the first half, Kareem Hunt, making his first appearance in Kansas City since the Chiefs fired him after a video surfaced of him kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel lobby, did not touch the ball a single time.
The Browns made a game of it in the second half after Mack Wilson’s legal hit knocked Patrick Mahomes out of the game. But the first-half deficit was too great to make up.
Stefanski cringes when last year’s game is brought up.
Besides the early flat start offensively, he was openly second-guessed for punting the ball on fourth-and-9 from the Browns’ 32-yard line with 4:19 to play and the Chiefs clinging to a 22-17 lead with Mahomes out of the game. The Browns never got the ball back.
Asked on Wednesday how critical of himself he can be, Stefanski answered, “Very critical.
“I have to be better. I have told the players that before. I do not think I did a very good job in a bunch of moments last year, and then we have tried to identify some ways we can be better this year. I cannot ask the guys to improve and not look inward, as well.”
Surely, it’s a game he would like back. He’ll get a second chance on Sunday, though the stakes are much different.
But at least he’ll be totally healthy to perform at his best this time.
Baker and Odell
It looks like all systems are go for Odell Beckham Jr. to be back with the first-team offense for the opener in Kansas City.
Beckham did not practice in team drills until very late in camp but apparently has been making up for lost time in the practices leading up to Sunday’s game.
Baker Mayfield and Stefanski have cited extra time together between the quarterback and Mayfield as extremely valuable in forming a chemistry that’s been missing for most of their 23 games together prior to Beckham’s ACL injury on Oct. 26.
“Anytime you can continue to get reps and anytime you can go off of experience and speak the same language, you are going to continue to see improvements,” Mayfield said. “For us, getting those extra reps, talking about the fine details and finding the time to do that, that is extremely vital for success.”
Mayfield and Beckham also shared some bonding time together when they and receiver Jarvis Landry and tight end Austin Hooper retreated to the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, during the players’ Labor Day weekend off.
“Anytime you can spend more time off of the field, it builds chemistry,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, that three-day mandated time off from the league, just a chance to get away, do it safely and not exactly being around a whole lot of people. We will benefit from that just based on bonding and that time off of the field.
“You are going to see improvement just because of the trust, the open communication and all of the things that we are able to openly talk about.”
And the winner is …
Cornerback Greg Newsome was voted by media the winner of the Maurice Bassett Award given to the outstanding rookie of training camp.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “I’ve been here a very long time working hard. It’s been some ups, it’s been some downs. I’m just trying to get 1 percent better every single day. It’s a credit to guys I get to play [against] – Jarvis [Landry], Odell, Donovan [Peoples-Jones]. The whole receiver room is preparing me every single day.
"Also thanks to my teammates, my defensive backs, Greedy [Williams], and Ward and Trey Hill, John [Johnson], all those guys. They help me every single day and they just preach for me to go out there and play fast. I wouldn’t be where I am without those guys, for sure.”
Newsome took advantage of Williams missing several practices because of a groin injury. But he grasped the lead of the competition for the starting cornerback job opposite Ward when both he and Williams competed against the Giants in two joint practices prior to the second preseason game.
He said he was not officially told he would start in Kansas City until DB coach Jeff Howard broke the news in a defensive backs meeting on Monday.
Brownie bits
Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney missed practice because of illness. Stefanski said Clowney was negative for COVID. The only other player out was guard Mike Dunn (back).
