Bill Belichick put on another coaching clinic at the Browns' expense. (John Kuntz/Cleveland.com)
Bill Belichick schools Browns and then gives his Patriots a history lesson
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
After delivering another coaching clinic on the ground on which he once walked as head coach, embarrassing the more-talented but woefully under-performing Browns by the tune of 38-15 behind a fourth-round rookie quarterback, Bill Belichick wouldn’t admit that winning in Cleveland is still special to him.
But don’t believe him.
The New England Patriots coaching legend schooled his sideline opponent in picking up historic coaching win No. 324, and then gave a history lesson to his players.
After showers, he sent several players out of the locker room and onto the field and told them to remember the names of five players etched in the Browns’ Ring of Honor at the top of FirstEnergy Stadium.
“Our players are very active in social justice and inequality and things like that,” Belichick explained. “I told them how important five of those names are.”
Belichick singled out what he called “the Mount Rushmore of this conversation” – Paul Brown, Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Ozzie Newsome and Jim Brown.
“I told them I thought they should go out there and just think for a minute about some of the sacrifices that those guys made,” Belichick said. “Not just on the field. Not just as players, but as people and for what they stood for.”
Belichick always held appreciation for the rich history of the Browns, and always cherished his small role in it despite five difficult seasons as their coach in the early 1990s. That’s why he enjoys winning in Cleveland – not necessarily to avenge his firing in 1995.
And when he has the chance to remind everyone of his place in NFL history, he takes advantage of the stooges standing in his way.
In this case, it was Kevin Stefanski and his self-destructive team on the verge of falling out of the playoff picture before the season hits the halfway point.
Losing their third straight game to fall to 2-4, the Browns reached the lowest ebb of the Stefanski era. They have the rope to climb out of this deep hole they have dug with division games on tap against Baltimore and Cincinnati. But this loss against another second-rate quarterback left no margin for error in games against former league MVP Lamar Jackson and reigning AFC champion Joe Burrow.
“For sure, this week is the most important week of the season – it is all we have,” said quarterback Jacoby Brissett. “It is going to take complete focus and commitment from this group, and I think that is what we will get.”
Brissett was intercepted twice, sacked four times and lost a fumble in his first start against the coach who drafted him in 2016 and then traded him after one year. It was Brissett who said during the week that the Browns can’t beat themselves and the Patriots at the same time. And it was Brissett who succumbed to his own prophecy by tossing an interception on the second play of the game – underthrowing wide-open No. 3 tight end Pharaoh Brown.
That play signified the futility of the Browns' intentions.
Stefanski genuflected to Belichick’s obvious gameplan to contain Nick Chubb and once again put Brissett in position to lose, not win. Despite trailing by only 10-6 at halftime, Stefanski was throwing the ball more than running it. And when Joe Woods’ defense failed badly in the third quarter – allowing two huge plays to tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, the latter the result of Brissett’s second interception – the rout was on.
All that emphasis on tackling made by the Browns’ coaches in the work week went out the window on those two plays.
On the first, the 248-pound Smith turned a short completion into a 53-yard catch-and-run when safety Grant Delpit didn’t wrap up Smith, and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was flicked to the ground like a bug. Quarterback Bailey Zappe looked like Tom Brady in turning that Browns mistake into a touchdown when he connected with rookie receiver Tyquan Thornton beating Greedy Williams on a crosser in the end zone five plays later.
On the Patriots’ possession after Brissett’s second interception, Henry made Delpit slip on a cut to the outside right off the line of scrimmage and Zappe laid it in for a 31-yard touchdown.
At 24-6 after three quarters, booing fans exited the stadium to catch something to eat before settling in for the Guardians playoff game against the Yankees.
The Browns had more errors to come – a botched onside kick recovery because A.J. Green’s feet were out of bounds when he grappled for the ball, a Chester Rogers muffed punt and, finally, a Brissett fumble attempting to pass. New England pounced on the Browns’ mistakes for two more touchdowns to seal Belichick’s 324th career coaching victory, matching Hall of Famer George Halas for second all time.
The Browns were Belichick’s victim for his milestone 300th victory in 2019 and now Stefanski has contributed to Belichick’s 317th and 324th win by the combined score of 83 to 22. And you can argue that these were the two best Browns teams on paper ever to face Belichick.
Brissett wound up completing 21 of 45 passes for 266 yards and one TD. The two interceptions deflated his passer rating to 54.5. Chubb rushed 12 times for 56 yards.
In his second career start, Zappe finished with 309 yards passing, two touchdowns and a rating of 118.4. While the Browns did hold the Patriots to 3.4 yards rushing, they gave up touchdown runs of 31 and 6 yards to Rhamondre Stevenson (76 yards on 19 attempts), and a 19-yard end-around run by Thornton.
How did it get to this point?
“I think we all have to come together tomorrow to come back with that answer,” said Myles Garrett, who had two sacks before aggravating the left shoulder injury suffered in his one-car accident three weeks ago. “Look in the mirror, not only at yourself, but in the film and look at your position.
“You can’t be scared to tell your teammates what is and what isn’t. We have to be able to call a man out and not be afraid to be called out yourself. At the end of the day, there are a lot of mistakes going on on the field – a lot of big plays, downs and first downs – and it is killing us. We are getting ourselves behind, and we are taking ourselves out of ballgames that we have a chance to win. We just have to hold each other accountable.”
If that is the case, Stefanski and his coaches have to make a few lineup changes on defense.
You know Belichick would have done that by now.
