Kevin Stefanski has to do something to energize the offense. Handing play-calling duties to Ken Dorsey is worth a shot. (Cleveland Browns)
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. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Second thoughts on Browns’ 20-16 loss to Las Vegas Raiders …
1. The Browns’ offense has been nearly flawless to start every game so far. Look it up. On their first possessions, they have scored 3 points on 6 plays v. Dallas, 7 points on 16 plays v. Jacksonville, 7 points on 1 play v. the Giants, and 7 points on 15 plays v. Las Vegas. Twenty-four points on four possessions is real good. But after they veer from the Kevin Stefanski prepared script, it is another story. The rest of the game against Dallas: 10 points. In Jacksonville: 11 points. Against the Giants: 8 points. And in Las Vegas: 9 points. Now, subtract the scoring contributions of the defense – 2 points on a safety in Jacksonville, and 6 on a fumble return in Las Vegas – and the Browns have scored a total of 30 points on offense after their first possessions. You know how many possessions we’re talking about? Forty-one. So, they have scored 30 offensive points on 41 possessions. Now look closer. On those 41 possessions, the Browns have run 222 plays. And they scored 30 points! And this is a team that is paying more than $174 million on their offense this year – third-most in the NFL, according to Spotrac.com. Unacceptable return on investment? Of course.
2. So how do the Browns correct the systemic flaws in their offensive system? Do they keep doing the same thing and hope the results change? That’s the definition of insanity. Do they just wait for starters sidelined by injuries to get back in the lineup – Jack Conklin, Jedrick Wills, David Njoku, Nick Chubb – and hope the results change? Or do they make the change that should have been made when the organization hired Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator? It’s time that Stefanski hands over play-calling to Dorsey.
3. The whole point of firing coordinator Alex Van Pelt and replacing him with Dorsey was to fit the offense to Deshaun Watson’s skill set. Dorsey’s experience with dual-threat, off-structure QBs Cam Newton and Josh Allen was cited by GM Andrew Berry and Stefanski as the major reason for his hire. Stefanski had no experience with a mobile, off-structure quarterback like Watson. Stefanski himself said Dorsey was the man “to put this offense back together.” Which was an odd thing to say since the Browns ended the 2023 season as the No. 10 scoring offense. Emergency QB Joe Flacco executed Stefanski’s play-action passing game at high efficiency. The fact is the offense wasn’t broke. But it wasn’t a system fit for Watson. So others in the organization above Stefanski wanted the change. But Stefanski clung to the belief that he should remain the play-caller and make the concepts brought by Dorsey work.
4. Here’s the real proof of why a change is needed: Watson actually has shown improvement in his individual play over the past two games. And yet the offense around him has gotten worse. The offense now, in fact, is broke. And the only way to fix it might be for Stefanski to have Dorsey call the plays to set the right rhythm of the offense he was hired to bring in.
5. The offense has no identity beyond the scripted first possession. True, every phase of the offense has contributed to the problem. The offensive line is suffering the loss of hard-coaching line guru Bill Callahan and commit too many penalties, miss too many assignments and lose too many 1-on-1 battles. The receivers drop too many passes. The running backs fail to pick up too many blitzes. The quarterback is slow to release the ball and often makes wrong reads. The tight ends, with Njoku out, essentially are blockers. None of this may be attributable to Stefanski calling plays, of course. But the play-caller on game day essentially is the offensive coordinator, and this is a poorly coordinated offense. “I think the big thing,” Stefanski said, “is when you’re a 1-3 football team, you’re not playing well enough in any area, so we need to focus on just playing better offense, defense, special teams. And I understand … we need to score more points than we’re scoring right now. So, we need to make sure that we’re giving our guys an opportunity to execute the gameplan, whatever it may be, run or pass, and just play a clean football game, take care of the rock, score some points. But that’s our focus, less so outlining what we believe the identity to be. We just have to go play clean football.”
6. A final note on letting Dorsey wing it. Could it be any worse than what’s going on now? The Browns are 31st in total yards, 26th in rushing, 32nd in third-down efficiency, 26th in points, and 32nd in yards per play on first down – 3.24 yards. That’s a whopping 2.2 yards below the league average.
7. Stefanski confirmed that offensive reinforcements are on the way. He said that he expects Chubb to practice with the team Wednesday for the first time since his severe knee injury 13 months ago. That would open a 21-day window for the Browns to activate Chubb or keep him on injured reserve the rest of the year. Also, running back/returner Nyheim Hines could practice this week for the first time and be in the same boat as Chubb. Stefanski also said he expected Njoku to practice “at some point this week,” and that tackles Wills and Conklin “are getting close” to being available on game day.