Browns’ Offense Is Simply Impotent

Another week, another horrific offensive performance from the Cleveland Browns.

A week after scoring 31 points (with the help of a defensive touchdown and a turnover which gave the offense the ball on the 3-yard line), the mediocre threshold of 17 points wasn’t met again Sunday in a 32-13 loss to the New England Patriots.

Keep in mind, the Browns drove down the field on their first possession, so after that first drive, they scored all of six points.

The terrible offense overshadowed a tremendous game from the best defensive player in the history of the franchise, Myles Garrett, who had five sacks on the day.

And for younger fans/readers, from 1946-1972, the Cleveland Browns were one of the NFL’s crown jewels. Go to Canton and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are plenty of Cleveland Browns enshrined there.

Actually, we would rather talk about that than the mess that is the Cleveland offense.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The popular thing is to blame rookie QB Dillon Gabriel, but the average NFL team gain 328 yards per game. The Browns haven’t reached that total in any contest in 2025, and both Joe Flacco and Gabriel have both played four contests

New England gained 422 yards on Sunday against a very good Cleveland defense. The last time a Browns’ offense did that was the Monday night game in Denver last season when they gained 552. Jameis Winston was the QB in that game.

We get all the reasons. The offensive line, particularly the tackles are simply terrible. The pocket gets collapsed all the time, and as a result, coach Kevin Stefanski calls a lot of very short throws, so his quarterback doesn’t get killed.

Running the ball would help, but since the Browns cannot throw the ball over 10 yards with any success, opposing defense simply stack the box, putting nine or ten defenders near the line of scrimmage.

So, perhaps the best weapon the team has, rookie RB Quinshon Judkins, is basically running with his feet tied together.

The wide receivers, at least the ones who are playing, can’t seem to get open. The Browns’ best wide out, Jerry Jeudy, was targeted just twice, catching neither. Isaiah Bond was targeted four times, also with no connections.

Bond seems to get a lot of playing time because the front office feels it stole him after the draft as an undrafted free agent. He has just 11 catches on the year, one more than Jamari Thrash. Bond has 30 targets this year. Thrash has 14.

Malachi Corley has had a couple of big plays this year, notably a 31-yard run on a reverse on Sunday, but he was on the field for just four plays on Sunday.

We also have to talk about Gabriel whose main ability to date has been taking care of the football, and Sunday, he didn’t do that, throwing two interceptions.

He doesn’t seem to have the arm strength to throw downfield, although again to be fair, there aren’t a lot of play calls for him to do that, probably because of protection issues.

We understand the game has changed, but we still like a quarterback who is taller, mostly plays from the pocket and has enough zip on his throws. It is tough for guys like Gabriel, Kyler Murray, and Bryce Young to play week to week in the NFL.

Have the latter two have some success? Yes, but they aren’t consistent and have issues staying on the field.

But the Browns have painted themselves into a corner where they don’t have a veteran option right now. Another mark against the front office.

It’s two weeks before a game with the Jets, who happen to have a worse record than the Browns. Something has to change, but we aren’t sure what the Browns can do.

We have advocated finding offensive linemen off other team’s practice squad, but there have been no moves like that the last two weeks. You have to question what Andrew Berry is looking at?

Browns Get A Win Over A Team In More Disarray. Hey, It Still Counts!

The streak is over!

The Cleveland Browns ended their 11-game stretch of not scoring 17 points or more with a resounding 31-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

(whispers…we aren’t going to talk about the defense scoring a touchdown and setting the offense up on the five-yard line on a separate possession, so really, the offense only put 17 points on the board)

Kevin Stefanski’s squad is now 2-5 on the season and did not have a turnover offensively for the third straight week.

(whispers…the Browns showed they are not close to being the worst team in the NFL)

Look, the Browns needed a win bad. The vultures in the media and among the fans were starting to circle over Berea and if the outcome was reversed, we are sure there would have been plenty of things said about Stefanski being able to survive the week.

It was a rainy, windy day on the lakefront, not at all conducive to offensive football. The Browns only gained 206 yards, and Miami was held to just 219. The first scoring drive for Cleveland was aided greatly by Dolphins’ penalties, including two on third down which extended the drives.

The game plan was much like the home game against San Francisco in 2023, a game won by Cleveland. Stefanski basically kept the ball on the ground, had his quarterback avoid any mistakes, and let the defense dominate.

It worked then, and on Sunday, Dillon Gabriel threw the ball just 18 times, completing 13 for just 116 yards. The leading receiver was TE Harold Fannin, who caught four passes for 36 yards. The only other receiver with more than 20 yards on catches was Jamari Thrash, who gained 23 yards on his only grab.

And back were the bootlegs, and Gabriel threw when a Brown was open and otherwise kept the ball and got positive yardage, running four times for a dozen yards.

Putting the game into the hands of the best unit on the team is a good strategy, albeit probably not sustainable.

Jim Schwartz’ defense had three interceptions; one returned for a TD by newcomer Tyson Campbell, and another returned to the three-yard line by Rayshawn Jenkins. When that happens, it makes the offense superfluous really.

The defense also contributed four sacks and even the special teams got involved, forcing a fumble, caused by Grant Delpit and recovered by Jenkins.

It was a good start, a good way to end the losing streak, but the offense has to get better. Stefanski put the ball in the hands of his best weapon in Quinshon Judkins, but it says here the coach still doesn’t trust the offensive line, and with good reason.

He trusts Gabriel to take care of the football, despite some bad throws he still hasn’t thrown a pick, but not to make plays. Sure, you can beat a team like Miami playing that way, but next week it’s New England, and the Patriots are playing well with four straight wins.

Can the offense put up more than 20 points without a big assist from the defense? We understand it seems like we are moving the goalposts, but that’s what most teams in the NFL can do.

The Browns won a game they should have won on Sunday. They were the better team, and they were victorious. Hard to get excited about it.

Browns’ Front Office Shouldn’t Get A Second Chance

There are many people, both fans and media alike, who believe the Cleveland Browns are ambivalent about winning this season. If that is true, then they deserve more criticism than they probably can handle for many reasons.

First, it was just ten years ago that the Browns, still owned by the Haslam family, decided to strip the franchise down to the studs. At the time, we didn’t have a big problem with it because they spent many years trying to do a patchwork job at putting together a roster and came up with two respectable seasons since a 2002 playoff appearance.

They went 10-6 in 2007, followed by six consecutive years of five wins or less, and then got to 7-9 in ’14, followed by a three win season the next year. Why not try a total rebuild?

And they were honest with the fan base about what they were doing. After going 1-31 in 2016 and 2017, they went 7-8-1 in ’18, slipped to 6-10, and then made the playoffs in 2020 with an 11-5 record, and won a playoff game.

They didn’t make the post-season again until 2023 and then cratered the following season.

And now you are going to tell your fans you are going to do it again? That should be unacceptable.

This is the NFL. Teams go from worst to first and vice-versa every season. We understand the salary cap hell the Browns are in, but that’s a problem they created in making the terrible deal for Deshaun Watson.

Everything for this franchise surrounds getting a franchise QB, that’s their only plan for success. Granted, most teams that win the Super Bowl have a great player at that position, but not all great QBs win the Super Bowl.

There are teams that have less than ideal situations at quarterback that still manage to have respectable records.

Look at our rivals to the east, the Steelers. Yes, we like to point out the Browns have won a playoff game more recently that Pittsburgh, but they haven’t had great QB play since Ben Roethlisberger’s prime. Yet, they continue to crank out winning seasons.

The two teams that played in the Super Bowl didn’t get their quarterbacks with top five draft picks. Patrick Mahomes was the 10th overall pick and Jalen Hurts was a second rounder.

In fact, of the consensus top four QBs in the game, only Joe Burrow was picked in the top five.

It can be done.

Meanwhile, while we are so focused on the passer, the organization has yet to tell anyone why they drafted just one offensive lineman in the past two drafts, and the man they picked hasn’t been on the active roster for any game this season.

No linemen, but they drafted two running backs and two quarterbacks. Whatever happened to the adage that the game is won or lost on the line of scrimmage?

We say this all the time, it’s a lot easier to rebuild than it is to keep winning. The Browns’ executives continue to take the path of least resistance. Yes, they did “go for it” from 2019 to 2023, but since then, it’s been about building for the future, which is their mantra.

This current group should not get a second opportunity to get it right. After just one playoff win after the last “rebuild”, it’s time to get a new architect.

Another Week Browns Can’t Score More Than 17

It was a day where streaks were extended.

The Browns losing streak for this season extended to three with the 23-9 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. It also extended their regular season losing skein in the Steel City. It has now been 22 seasons since Tim Couch led the Browns to a 33-13 win over Pittsburgh as a road team.

And of course, and perhaps most notably, Kevin Stefanski’s crew extended their streak of scoring 17 points or less to 11 games. We would like to note that on Sunday, 16 teams in the NFL scored more than 17 points.

It’s the norm, not the exception.

We get the Browns’ offensive line, particularly the tackles, are terrible. The team has gone through six of them, actually made a couple of trades for the position, and it is still terrible.

On the other hand, we don’t believe there are offensive tackles on other team’s practice squads that would not be an upgrade. And frankly, we would try a new pair every week until you find someone competent.

Another curious question would be where does Teven Jenkins figure into this? The Browns signed him as a free agent last off-season, and he was a second-round pick of the Bears in 2021. He has started 38 games in the NFL, 14 of them at left tackle last season with Chicago.

We know the Browns view him as a guard option, but could he be worse than what the team has put out there?

Jerry Jeudy dropped at least two passes and picked up two personal foul penalties, but still was targeted 13 times, the most for any player on the Browns. Isaiah Bond, who the organization feels they “stole” as a free agent, caught two passes, but also was hit in the head by a Dillon Gabriel pass on the goal line.

Speaking of Gabriel, he threw 52 passes in the loss, completing 29 for a paltry 221 yards. We guess the good news is he didn’t turn it over, but he was sacked six times.

We heard the argument that the defense allowed 23 points, but nearing the end of the third quarter, they were on the field for most of the game to that point, and the last touchdown for the Steelers occurred just after the fourth quarter started.

Pittsburgh gained 335 yards and that is merely league average for NFL offenses, so we aren’t buying the argument they were gashed.

A better argument is that the organization is marginalizing a very good defense by pairing it with an atrocious offense.

Over the weekend, we thought about the Dallas game in Stefanski’s first season, a game in which the Browns led 41-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Cleveland’s first touchdown was a 37-yard pass to Odell Beckham Jr. The man who threw it was WR Jarvis Landry.

Beckham also scored on a 50-yard end around.

Where has that creativity gone?

In the fourth quarter, the Steelers ran a play where they faked an end around and Aaron Rodgers rolled out and found a receiver for a 20-yard gain. Where is that kind of creativity here?

The Browns’ offense isn’t very good, but it’s also very vanilla. No wonder fans are upset.

The next game is at home against the 1-5 Dolphins, a game they should be favored. We also don’t think the fans will be in a festive mood heading into the game, and rightly so.

This is a mess. No sugar coating that.

The Browns And Their QBs. Is This Group Capable Of Getting It Right?

It is hard to imagine a professional sports team screwing up something as badly as the Cleveland Browns have their quarterback situation.

It all started with the “tanking” of 2016-17, when the team famously went 1-31 over a two-year span, and they selected Myles Garrett with the first overall pick in 2016 draft.

The following season, after finishing 0-16, the Browns picked Baker Mayfield with the first pick in ’18 and the improvement started. Cleveland went 7-8-1 when Mayfield took over as a starter (6-7 with him starting) and he set a rookie record for touchdown passes in a season with 27.

Cleveland made a coaching change during the season shifting from Hue Jackson (2-5-1) to Gregg Williams (5-3) but decided to move on from Williams after the season. Mayfield had a good chemistry with Freddie Kitchens, who became offensive coordinator when Williams was elevated to head coach.

So, the front office made the ill-advised decision to make Kitchens the head coach, thus giving a second-year player a lot of power within the organization. That was a mistake.

Mayfield regressed in his second year, and so did the Browns, as they dropped to 6-10 and Kitchens was replaced by Kevin Stefanski, and the pairing got Cleveland to the playoffs and an 11-5 record.

The former first overall pick had his best year yet, with 26 TDs and just 8 interceptions. But the following season, one filled with Super Bowl hopes, he was injured during the second game of the year and tried to play through it. The result was a drop to 8-9 and reported clashing with Stefanski and others in the locker room, notably Garrett.

Was Mayfield brash and arrogant? Yes, but he was that when he was drafted. Were those traits exacerbated because you gave someone a head coaching job because he had a solid relationship with him? Probably. Could he have been guided by having some veteran leaders in the locker room? Who knows.

At this point, the Browns’ front office was distracted by the jingling of shiny keys. Deshaun Watson was available, and the Browns did everything in their power to bring him to town.

Remember that Watson ruled out coming to Cleveland, so the franchise guaranteed his contract (the other owners hated that), and traded a boatload of draft picks, including three first rounders, to bring him to town, knowing he would likely miss a bunch of games immediately for violating the league’s discipline rules.

Did we mention Watson also sat out the previous season?

With Watson healthy in ’23, the offense still sputtered, and Watson suffered a shoulder injury and missed the rest of the season. So, eventually the Browns signed Joe Flacco who got hot at the end of the year, got the team back to the post-season.

Certainly, getting Watson back with Flacco as his back up would be a great combination heading into ’24. Except the Browns didn’t do that. And not only did they not bring back the passer who took them to the playoffs, they also fired most of the primary offensive coaches, hiring some to put in a scheme better suited to Watson’s talents.

Now, after starting the 2025 season with four QBs, a mix of two veterans and two rookies (who thought drafting two quarterbacks was smart), you have just the two first year players at the helm in a season where the division has taken a downturn.

And it seems like the franchise is hell bent on taking a quarterback in the first round of next year’s draft. They are convinced themselves they have to have the first overall pick to get one, even though there is plenty of evidence you don’t have to take one there.

The point is this group has completely mangled the quarterback position. All of them. Jimmy Haslam, Paul DePodesta, Andrew Berry, and Stefanski.

Do you trust them to ever get it right?

Can’t Defend Stefanski Anymore

If you are a regular reader of this site, you would know we have been a supporter of Browns’ coach Kevin Stefanski. We felt he has had some success, making two playoff appearances during his tenure, but also because the franchise had to end the madness of changing head coaches after two seasons.

And generally, the coach has done a solid job managing the quarterback mess the front office put on him, and in that we are talking about the Deshaun Watson situation.

However, Sunday’s 21-17 loss to Minnesota has made us change our mind. That was a winnable game, and we think Stefanski managed it into a loss.

After the previous game, Cleveland made a quarterback change, going to rookie Dillon Gabriel. The move was made to revive a moribund offense and also because Joe Flacco was turning the ball over. Some of those turnovers were not his fault, but still, he was the guy under center.

Gabriel did not turn the ball over. In fact, the Browns had no turnovers and had Quinshon Judkins run for 110 yards on 23 carries.

They still only scored 17 points. That’s 10 straight games for Cleveland at 17 points or fewer. In fact, in 2024, the only three games in which the Browns scored more than 20 points were with Jameis Winston at the helm.

Stefanski came to the Browns because of the work he did as the offensive coordinator of the Vikings. That’s right, he was the offensive coordinator. And that’s the area of weakness for this football team.

Still, the biggest problem for the Browns in London was that their coach played not to lose. And you know the old adage that says if you are playing not to lose, what generally happens? You lose.

The Browns had a 17-14 lead and got the ball back with just under four minutes to go and called two running plays into the line on first and second downs that combined to gain a yard and then threw an incomplete pass.

We understand Stefanski is taking heat for the clock management, but that’s not our beef. It’s the play choices. They were unbelievably conservative. We didn’t want Gabriel to be firing long passes down the field, but where were some short tosses to gain five or six yards on first down and put the offense in better position to keep the ball and run more time off the clock?

Stefanski made it easy on the Vikings defense. Think about what Minnesota did, look at all the misdirection and motion. That’s not a part of the Cleveland offense.

We understand the talent level isn’t the same, but…

Much like baseball, you have to score points to win in today’s NFL and usually the teams that score the most points like the playoffs. The Browns can’t put points on the board. They average just 14.6 per game, tied for the worst in the league with Tennessee, who by the way, scored 22 in their first win of the season on Sunday.

New Orleans scored 26 this week. In fact, only six teams (out of 26 because of byes) scored fewer than 21 last weekend. So, Stefanski’s plan was to hold the Vikings to 14?

That’s not a real good plan.

It just seems no matter what, the Browns can’t score points. We get the organization has 101 excuses why they can’t win, and they are consistently pushing things ahead to the following year (FREE BEER TOMORROW!), but it’s time for answers.

We said last week the division is really up for grabs with the injury to Joe Burrow in Cincinnati and the Ravens having a down year. But the Browns refuse to win games they should win, like Sunday and the season opener.

Our guess is next week they will go to Pittsburgh and they will do the same tired things on offense. And they won’t get to 20 points.

Browns Are On To Gabriel

We have said since before training camp started for the Cleveland Browns that the logical guy to start at quarterback was Joe Flacco. He would give the team a “professional” at the position, meaning guys would be lined up correctly and there isn’t anything a defense could do that he hasn’t seen.

However, we also recognize that coach Kevin Stefanski started the veteran to take care of the football and that hasn’t happened. He’s had seven turnovers in the first four games, and although several were not totally his fault, a team like the Browns can’t turn it over and hope to win.

We heard this earlier this week. The Browns haven’t scored more than 17 points in a game not started by Jameis Winston since the Thursday night game against the Jets in 2023 where Cleveland clinched a playoff spot. Wow!

It also makes us wonder as we did last off-season why the Browns didn’t bring Winston back for the 2025 season.

So, now we get to see one of the rookie quarterbacks the team drafted this Sunday when Dillon Gabriel starts for the Browns. Gabriel will give the offense a little more mobility at the position, but if the offensive line play doesn’t improve and the receivers don’t start catching the football, it’s difficult to see what will be different for the offense.

But as we all saw with Deshaun Watson last year, sometimes mobility leads to running yourself into sacks. And even though Gabriel has played a lot of college football, the things he did to escape in college may not translate to the NFL because of the speed.

Here’s another issue with starting the rookie, in our opinion the gap between playing QB in college and in the pros has never been more different.

On the other hand, we subscribe to the “can’t do any worse” theory, and it is hard to see that the rookie can be worse, at least in terms of turnovers.

As we wrote earlier this week, the Browns simply have to score more points, and if they can, and we know this sounds crazy, this division seems to be up for grabs, particularly if the defense keeps playing at this level.

Joe Burrow is out for Cincinnati. The Ravens are all banged up. And yes, the Steelers are 3-1, but their wins are against the Jets (0-4), Patriots (2-2) and Vikings (2-2) who also happen to be this week’s opponent for the Browns.

If you win in London, Cleveland will go into Pittsburgh at 2-3, and most experts feel the Browns’ schedule gets much easier after that contest.

But you have to be able to move the football and put points on the board, and until we see that, there most certainly are doubts. And Stefanski should bear the blame. The only team that has scored less than the Browns are the 0-4 Tennessee Titans.

The proof will be what happens this Sunday across the pond. If the moribund Cleveland offense shows some life, then maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. If not, it will confirm the Browns have more issues on that side of the ball than the quarterback.

It’s Simple. Browns Have To Score More. The Defense Is That Good

We get it. Our reason for the Cleveland Browns starting veteran Joe Flacco at quarterback was to make sure people were lined up correctly and to limit the mistakes a rookie would presumably make.

Well, four games into the season, Flacco has thrown six interceptions and lost a fumble. His three turnovers on Sunday great aided the Detroit Lions in a 34-10 loss that dropped Kevin Stefanski’s squad to 1-3 on the season.

Whether or not a change is made at QB, there is pressure on the head coach to put some points on the scoreboard. Cleveland has now gone nine consecutive games without scoring more than 17 points. In today’s NFL, that’s pathetic.

Especially because the Browns have a Super Bowl defense. Lions’ offensive coordinator John Morton said Cleveland hadn’t seen a running attack like his, and in weeks two and three, Detroit ran for 177 and 224 yards. They got 109 vs. Jim Schwartz’ group and the longest run of the day for the home team was 24 yards.

Detroit got just 277 yards of total offense on the day. They won the game because they scored 24 points off of Cleveland turnovers and a punt return for a touchdown. They only had 16 first downs for the game, the same as the Browns.

But the offense is just putrid, and that’s where Stefanski is supposed to have expertise. However, we do think about the decision to not add any offensive linemen in last year’s draft. The unit is aging, but the only move the front office made was to bring in veteran journeyman Cornelius Lucas.

How’s that working out.

We don’t know how that gets fixed. The Browns did trade for veteran Cam Robinson, who has started 102 games in his eight-year career, presumably to start at left tackle. Or they can start a revolving door on the practice squad until you find someone who is an upgrade at the position.

Our fear is that the problem isn’t the quarterback and no matter who Stefanski puts behind center is going to have a problem because the tackles simply cannot block.

There was one bright spot on the offensive side of the ball, rookie running back Quinshon Judkins continues to impress, gaining 82 yards on 21 carries, and catching four passes for 33 more.

It doesn’t help the offense that receivers are dropping the football. Jerry Jeudy continues to struggle in that regard and rookie Harold Fannin has dropped some balls as well. When the QB gets time, the receivers aren’t helping.

Now on to the special teams, misnamed for the Browns. We are only four games into the season, but already the team has had a punt blocked and another returned for a touchdown.

We have heard veteran NFL observers say it is difficult for special teams’ coaches at times because of the bottom of the roster (which is what the special teams are made up of) changes a lot weekly. But that hasn’t been the case with the Browns. To date, the roster has been pretty stable.

Again, the emphasis coming into the year was to eliminate mistakes, and that hasn’t happened. If the Browns could play a clean game, we have no doubt they would be competitive, but it’s difficult to do.

Would switching to Dillon Gabriel help that? He’s a rookie, so the temptation is to say no. On the other hand, this offense simply has to score more points. It’s a shame because the defense continues to be that good.

Gabriel Playing Is Good For The Media, But Flacco Is Still The Best Bet For Wins Right Now

There’s an old story about someone questioning an old sportswriter about what team he roots for, the response he got was “I root for the story”.

We think this applies to what the Cleveland Browns are doing with the quarterback position. There are several people in the local media asking when Kevin Stefanski will pull the trigger and replace Joe Flacco with rookie Dillon Gabriel.

We continue to say we will bet making the change is based more on Gabriel’s readiness to be a professional quarterback and less on Flacco’s performance in the three games played to date.

Flacco hasn’t been great, but to be fair, if not for a bad kicking game, the Browns would be 2-1 right now, and we doubt there would be calls for a change. Flacco does lead the league in attempts and also has the lowest passer rating in the league. He’s also thrown the second most interceptions thus far with four, behind only Jake Browning.

He hasn’t thrown the ball downfield much, as his average yards per attempt is also a league low 5.0. However, perhaps that’s by design.

Stefanski preached all off-season about taking care of the football after his team was second in the NFL in turning the ball over a year ago. Our guess is he’s had that conversation with his QB as well, and Flacco doesn’t want to put the ball in any risky spots.

The coaching staff and Flacco realize what the strength of this team is, and it’s their outstanding defense. So, we feel that’s the game plan going into every game, let Jim Schwartz’ unit keep the team close and do enough offensively to keep it close and have a chance to win it in the fourth quarter.

That’s not sexy, but if the Browns win, many fans won’t care.

Look, we get it, we would all love for the Browns to have a high-flying offense like the one they will see this Sunday in Detroit, but they don’t have the offensive line or the skill talent at wide receiver to play that way.

But there is more than one way to achieve victory.

Right now, Stefanski thinks his best chance to win is to run the ball and mix in the short passing game to shorten the game and keep his defense fresh. And we are also sure he believes the right QB to do that is Joe Flacco.

Why hasn’t Flacco taken more shots down the field? Probably because that’s not the game plan.

Is winning that way sustainable? We also believe the coaching staff and front office know it is not, but that’s what they are working with now.

When they feel Gabriel is ready to execute that game plan, we will probably see him. Also, when the schedule eases a bit and some of the skill players gain experience and get better, then they will open up the offense a bit.

Heck, if Quinshon Judkins can have the success on the ground he had last week, you might see some more play action throws from Flacco.

We know the better story is to see Gabriel and perhaps Shedeur Sanders as soon as possible, but for Kevin Stefanski and the players, the best story is winning football games.

And we think they know playing the way they have played offensively the first three weeks gives them the best chance to win, if they execute.

Somehow, The Browns Pull Out A Win

The Cleveland Browns pulled a rabbit out of a hat Sunday and upset the Green Bay Packers 13-10 when Andre Szmyt made a 55-yard field goal as time expired.

The 0-6 start that many people predicted for the Browns won’t happen. But we think we speak for everyone in saying that halfway through the fourth quarter, we figured Kevin Stefanski’s crew was not only going to lose, but they were going to be shutout.

The offense took advantage of some penalties and got the ball to the Green Bay one with five minutes to go but got pushed back and had to settle for Szmyt’s first field goal. We imagine fans all over northeast Ohio were shaking their collective heads when the first down play was a rollout pass to reverse offensive lineman Luke Wypler.

Another instance of Stefanski trying to get too cute.

But an ill-advised pass by Jordan Love resulted in the Browns’ first turnover of the year, an interception by Grant Delpit and this time Cleveland punched it in to tie the game.

Then, a contribution by the special teams. Shelby Harris blocked a field goal with :21 left on the clock and gave the Browns one last chance.

There was great execution on a short pass to David Njoku, not in the play design, but in getting the offensive line back to the line of scrimmage so Joe Flacco could kill the clock and leave time for Szmyt’s heroics.

Unbelieveable

The reality about this football team is as long as they stay relatively healthy, the defense is going keep this team in games. It’s that good. Green Bay put up 266 and 404 yards in their first two games, both wins, but picked up 230 yards against Cleveland.

Cleveland’s defense had five sacks, as the Packers went into the game refusing to let Myles Garrett ruin their offense, and that created opportunities for everyone else.

Maliek Collins had a sack and a half, Alex Wright had one, Garrett and rookie Adin Huntington shared one, and the rookies also shined.

Carson Schwesinger continues to impress. He got his first sack and was in on 10 tackles. Mason Graham teamed up with Collins on a sack. And the defense allowed just 81 yards on the ground.

Right now, you can make the case they are the best defense in the league. And they haven’t faced any opponents that didn’t have solid, if not, high powered attacks.

Another rookie, RB Quinshon Judkins was a key in the fourth quarter, ripping off a 38-yard run in route to gaining 94 yards on the day.

The offensive line still appears to be a concern. Dawand Jones left the game in the first quarter and Jack Conklin missed the game again, so most of the way, the Browns were playing with Cornelius Lucas and KT Leveston were playing outside.

Flacco heard boos during the game as the Browns couldn’t muster much of an offense, maybe due to the offensive line play, and maybe because Stefanski has preached not putting the ball in harms’ way.

Right now, he is checking down virtually every pass play. The longest pass plays were a 17-yard toss to Jerry Jeudy and another to Isaiah Bond. There was a 13-yard play to Harold Fannin Jr., where he basically carried defenders to get that much yardage.

If we were defending the Browns, we would put nine in the box to stop Judkins and dare Flacco to air it out. And if defenses do that, it makes it difficult for Stefanski to establish the ground game.

However, a win is a win. The gauntlet doesn’t get any easier with a visit to Detroit, another high-powered offense next week.