Kevin Stefanski's 101st regular-season game could be his last with the Browns Sunday in Cincinnati against the team he has beaten the most. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
CINCINNATI
Four downs on Browns (4-12) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (6-10)
First down: Que sera, sera.
The worst-kept secret in the NFL is that the Browns may “part ways” with coach Kevin Stefanski – win, lose or tie in Cincinnati. There is a belief that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Stefanski -- or his agent -- might even have had preliminary talks on a settlement of his contract, which was extended after his second playoff appearance and coach-of-the-year award in 2023. Two dreadful seasons followed, in which Stefanski was forced to make changes on his staff that he didn’t want to make and play quarterbacks that he didn’t think were ready to play. All of which took a toll on a coach who always rolled with the punches despite never being empowered outside the confines of Haslam’s “collaborative” process. Which is why the “parting” can be considered mutual. Haslam didn’t want to make a coaching change but knows he probably has to, and Stefanski realizes it’s probably in the best interest of everyone -- he included -- to see what’s on the other side for him. That’s why instead of a “dead man walking” conclusion to his six-year tenure as coach of the Browns, Stefanski has carried himself with the chin-up philosophy of “what will be, will be.”
Second down: What’s Myles up to?
One of the benefits of being granted exalted status by Browns management is that Myles Garrett can say and practically do anything he wants. He has channeled those privileges in the right direction this season, as he tries to conquer the single-season sack record (he needs but one sack for 23) and complete one of the greatest seasons by a defensive player on a losing team in the history of the NFL. The “losing team” thing is getting old, of course, for Garrett, who turned 30 this week and expressed his frustration for the second year in a row about another non-playoff season. “I want things to be successful. However that looks,” Garrett said when asked about his thoughts about Stefanski’s future. Pressed on the Stefanski era, Garrett was typically candid and, unsurprisingly, fell short of endorsing a seventh season for the coach. “It’s been six? Five? Six. I mean like anything, we’ve had ups and downs,” he said. “Unfortunately, more downs than ups. Would have loved to make a little bit more noise in some different years, especially this year with how well we’ve been playing on defense, but got to continue to grow and find ways to improve. This team has too many talented individuals not to.” Garrett said he would give his honest opinion about the state of things when asked by management. He could do everyone a favor by telling Haslam, “Fix the damn offense already.”
Third down: The Schwartz factor.
This week, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz admitted in an exclusive interview set up by the club that, yes, he would like to have a second opportunity to be a head coach. At 59, Schwartz’s options are probably down to one club – the Browns – even though he has cemented his status as one of the top defensive coordinators in the league. If the Browns make a coaching change, they have to weigh the merits of hiring another young, offensive-minded, up-and-comer as their next coach vs. the possibility of losing Schwartz as the architect and manager of their tour de force defense. Garrett’s take on that prospect: “I mean, I like Jim. I like the coaches that we have. So, I don’t know what’s going to be in the future. Would I like to play under Jim? Would I like to keep the team and for us to improve? Absolutely. But these are things that are handled by people who sign my checks, so they make bigger decisions than I can account for. So I’m going allow them to do what they do [and] give my opinions if they ask for it. And I got to rock with whoever they have here. But I love Jim, and I love playing for him.”
Fourth down: Remember when?
Seventeen games make for a long, long season when you don’t win but a handful of games. In late July, the Browns opened training camp with a quarterback competition that featured Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and rookie Dillon Gabriel taking practice reps with the front-line players. Rookie Shedeur Sanders was banished to a separate field taking reps with players on the roster bubble. They’d share more reps together after practice in Stefanski’s “hungry dawg” period. Now the season is ending with Sanders making his seventh start at quarterback and several of those hungry dawgs in the lineup with him. Of the 22 offensive and defensive starters who lined up in the first game on September 7 against the Bengals, only 12 will finish the year in those spots against the Bengals on Sunday. These are the Game 1 starters who did not make it to Game 17: left tackle Dawand Jones (injured), center Ethan Pocic (injured), guard Wyatt Teller (injured, demoted), right tackle Jack Conklin (injured), tight ends David Njoku (injured) and Harold Fannin (injured), quarterback Joe Flacco (traded), defensive tackle Maliek Collins (injured), linebacker Carson Schwesinger (injured), and cornerback Greg Newsome (traded).
The pick: Bengals 20, Browns 16.
My record: 9-7.