Will Kevin Stefanski even contemplate some personnel changes to shake up his team after three losses in a row? He hasn't made any major ones in three years as Browns coach. (Cleveland Browns)
Second thoughts: Is Kevin Stefanski too nice to make personnel changes?
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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.
Second thoughts on Browns’ 38-15 loss to New England Patriots …
1. Composure and poise are two personality traits of Kevin Stefanski previously cited by GM Andrew Berry and Chief of Strategy Paul DePodesta as positives of the Browns’ coach. Stefanski’s laid-back, flatlining, unemotional style certainly served the Browns well in the COVID season of 2020. When adversity struck seemingly daily, the unflappable Stefanski marched on and kept the players and coaches focused on the task at hand. But adversity has been of a different kind the last two seasons and it makes you wonder if Stefanski simply is too nice of a guy to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the team. Such as, holding underperforming players or coaches accountable by replacing them. I can’t think of a starting player who has been demoted for performance in Stefanski’s 2+ seasons. Yes, his coordinators have stepped in and replaced a specialist here and there and there are always replacements for injuries. But none of the starting 22 really has ever been held accountable for consistently poor play. Baker Mayfield is the ultimate example. There are a few obvious candidates this year at the positions of defensive line, linebacker and safety. Yes, you can consider quarterback, too. Stefanski’s loyalty to his players and staff is admirable, but everyone knows the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. I asked him why he seems philosophically opposed to pulling a starter who’s consistently underperforming. “No, I don’t think there is some big philosophical thing there,” he replied. “Week to week, you are trying to put the best 11 out there and then rotational guys, obviously you have different guys who play different jobs who aren’t the quote-unquote ‘starting 11.’ The bottom line is you go into every game trying to put the guys on the field who will give you the best chance to win. That is what we are trying to do.” As far as loyalty to coaches, Stefanski has not changed a single main-line coach in three years. A few lower-level assistants, yes, but nothing major.
2. Stefanski’s loyalty to Jacoby Brissett is obvious and is being tested by the quarterback’s steady drop-off in play. Brissett now ranks 27th in completion percentage, 26th in average yards per pass attempt, 27th in touchdown percentage, 24th in interception percentage and 29th in passer rating. Now, Stefanski might point to the fact that Brissett is the quarterback of an offense that ranks fifth in yards per game, 10th in third-down conversions, and seventh in points per game. But we all know the Browns’ running game has more to do with those positive rankings than their passing game. I’m not saying Brissett should be replaced as the starter by Joshua Dobbs right now. Dobbs has no NFL experience other than making a bunch of plays in preseason games. But I think if the offense is performing as badly as it did against the Patriots, inserting Dobbs shouldn’t be considered sacriligeous. It’s not as if Brissett won the temp starting job during Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension. He was handed the job the day they signed him in free agency. Why not see if Dobbs can light a spark to the offense when needed? I mean, he flashed some athletic skills in preseason with his arm and legs and also seems quicker at processing a defense than does Brissett. Now, we have to see if he can do it at the higher speed of regular-season games to be sure. What’s to lose? This decision comes under the category of “doing whatever it takes” to win a game. You think Bill Belichick is dreading a decision about what to do with Bailey Zappe when Mac Jones is healthy enough to play? Of course not. On the subject of employing Dobbs to light a spark to the offense, Stefanski was predictably nonplussed. “I won’t get into speculative stuff like that,” he said. “I just think for us, Jacoby is battling. I know he can play better. I have seen him play better. He will play better. I have seen it. That is where my focus is.”
3. The most annoying part of the defense’s performance was allowing Zappe to convert long third-down conversions. In total, Zappe was 7 for 14 on third-down conversions. But he was 6 for 8 on converting third-and-5 or longer. The Patriots’ offense – called by former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia – always seemed a step ahead of the Browns’ defensive calls. The Patriots ran when expected to pass and passed when expected to run. Two prime examples resulted in 31-yard touchdowns: 1. On third-and-10 in the second quarter, running back Rhamondre Stevenson busted through a Browns pass blitz and left M.J. Emerson and John Johnson in his wake on the way to a 31-yard TD run. 2. On third-and-1 in the third quarter, the Browns loaded the box with nine defenders leaving them vulnerable to a play-action pass to tight end Hunter Henry, whose inside-outside cut left safety Grant Delpit slipping to the ground, and free for a 31-yard TD play.
4. Every week the offense strays from bread-and-butter backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. This game was the most egregious example yet. The Browns ran 70 plays on offense. Chubb was on the field for 31 of them; Hunt for 30. Chubb touched the ball 13 times (one catch); Hunt four (amazingly, only one passing target and no catches). Stefanski’s lame explanation: “We go into every game, as you can imagine, wanting to make sure that our guys are touching the ball. We talk about it throughout the game about what their touches are and those type of things. Sometimes the score and the game dictate that you have to play catch up.” The fact is Chubb and Hunt had a total of 11 touches in the first half when the Patriots led, 10-6. After the game, Belichick was ebullient talking up Chubb. “Chubb is just a heck of a back,” Belichick said. “Chubb is as good as we see. Again, give the players credit [for containing him]. There’s no one guy that can stop them. That’s everybody doing their job. Defeating blocks, tackling, pursuing the ball, just being disciplined and being sound because Chubb has very good vision. He finds openings. He hit us on a couple in the second half where he got through for a couple decent runs, but overall, to kind of halfway keep him in check was a great job by our defensive coaches. Not only the front seven, but we had a couple players in the secondary with tackles to keep those seven or eight yard runs from going to 50, which he has plenty of those. So it’s a good job by them.” You had the feeling Belichick was thankful the way the Browns lost sight of Chubb and Hunt.
5. Ironman of the game: Delpit and linebacker Jacob Phillips are two starters on defense who have experienced three, shall-we-say difficult, games in a row. They both logged 100 percent of the defensive plays (70). Yes, they were at the top of the defense’s tackle chart (Phillips had 10, Delpit seven), but they seemed to be out of position on several plays that led to Patriots points.
6. Second guess: A tie between: Throwing to the third tight end on the second play of the game (it was underthrown and intercepted), and going for it on fourth-and-1 from the Patriots’ 18 with the scored tied, 3-3. Brissett was stopped on a sneak for the first time all year and only the second time in his career. The chip-shot field goal would have given the Browns a 6-3 lead. Take the points against Belichick. Always. Home or away.
