Tag: cornelius lucas

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.

Fair Or Not, Browns Need To Show Progress

Based on the emotionality of Cleveland Browns’ fans, we shouldn’t be surprised that the frustration level is rising after a 41-17 drubbing at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday.

And when that happens, you hear fans calling for the head coach’s job, even though they have played just two games.

In reality, if ownership or the front office would be willing to move on from Kevin Stefanski following two games, then they shouldn’t have brought him back for the 2025 season. If a coach starts the season on the hot seat, the team should have fired him.

It’s simply not fair.

On the other hand, reports that GM Andrew Berry and Stefanski being safe no matter what happens are probably a load of bull as well. The Browns were 3-14 a year ago, and we doubt another final record not showing improvement won’t play well with the Haslam family. You certainly can’t have back-to-back seasons like that in the NFL.

We have been a supporter of Stefanski over the years, mostly because he has made the playoffs twice and also because at some point, you have to stop the cycle of changing coaches every two or three years. This is Stefanski’s sixth season, so the latter has been accomplished.

Stefanski’s strength is offense, he came to the Browns after serving as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator, but the last time Cleveland scored more than 17 points in a game was game #13 for the Browns a year ago, a 41-32 loss to Denver. That’s a seven-game span.

We think he wants to run the ball. With Minnesota, his offense ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing attempts and in his first four years in Cleveland, the Browns were in the top ten. Of course, he had Dalvin Cook with the Vikings and Nick Chubb here, so of course you would want to run it.

Since Chubb got hurt last year, the Browns are throwing the ball a lot. It would be great if they had a tremendous stable of wide receivers, but they don’t. Through two games, the leading receivers are rookie TE Harold Fannin and rookie RB Dylan Sampson.

The team drafted Quinshon Judkins in the second round, presumably to be the primary runner, and hopefully, he gets a heavy dose of carries going forward. So, we shall see if that’s the case.

We will say that it’s hard to run the ball without solid offensive line play, and right now, it doesn’t look like the Browns have that. They didn’t really bother to make changes in the off-season, signing a couple of reverses in Cornelius Lucas and Teven Jenkins, and bringing back the oft-injured Jack Conkin.

Perhaps a change there is in order. Dawand Jones has struggled at left tackle, but does the team have an option? It has been said they like Luke Wypler, who missed last season with an injury, so why not take a look at him?

But we digress. The point is the NFL, and all professional sports are results based, and right now Kevin Stefanski needs to show some results. It’s only two games in, but the natives are getting restless. A few more games like last Sunday, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, and the discontent will get louder.