No Real Surprises On Browns’ Cuts Would Indicate Lack Of Depth

After watching the football games that didn’t count, the fact the Cleveland Browns were boat raced in the second half of each of the first two games indicated to us that depth might be a problem. That fear was confirmed when the team pared down the roster to 53 and there really wasn’t any big surprises.

Offensive lineman KT Levenson was a bit of an eyebrow raiser, but only because new offensive line coach George Warhop moved him to guard early in camp and reportedly was impressed. But Levenson struggled all last year when pressed into duty so it’s not as though they were cutting a starting player. And he was added to the practice squad.

We believe everyone was rooting for WR Luke Floreia, from Mentor, after his preseason performance, and his situation was a little complicated for us. We don’t see a world in which Jerry Jeudy will be happy being fourth on the depth chart behind rookies KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, and second year player Isaiah Bond.

The Browns don’t need headaches in their locker room, so we would have seen what we could have gotten for him on the trade market.

The big news was the back injury for Dillon Gabriel that put him on injured reverse for four weeks and make rookie Taylen Green the third QB. We realize Green is raw, but after the way he played in the last exhibition game, the Browns had to keep him. He’s just that good of an athlete and we have no doubt a good NFL organization would have found a way to use him.

In fact, the Browns should figure out a way to use him in certain situations.

He may never be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but when you are downtrodden franchise, his talent is something they can’t pass up.

Speaking of the quarterbacks, a friend commented after the New England game that of the four QBs who played, Deshaun Watson played the worst. Of course, that’s why he was named the starter for the opener.

While the initial cuts were not surprising, we figured the Browns would be active in picking up players cut by other teams in order to build some of that depth. However, they only claimed one player, Toriano Pride, a cornerback who was the Bills 7th round pick in April.

This comes after they picked up Mekhi Blackmon from Indianapolis last week.

We are anxious to see the defense under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg with all the parts playing. We didn’t see much if any of the unit’s best players, DE Jared Verse, LB Carson Schwesinger, and CBs Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell.

That the front office picked up two corners in the last couple of weeks should tell you their replacements didn’t flash in the preseason. On the other hand, in today’s NFL, you can never have too many cornerbacks.

There is still almost two weeks until the season opener at Jacksonville, and we would anticipate Andrew Berry, and his staff will be looking for players who can help. They would seem to need a lot of that.

QB Decision For Browns Shows A Clear Lack Of Direction

The Cleveland Browns continue to be a weird organization. It seems they are set up with a bunch of department heads all trying to show the boss who is the best and worthy of promotion, but in reality, they have no true leader, not true direction.

They have a new head coach in Todd Monken, who is 60 years old and getting his first chance to be the top guy of an NFL team. He, of course, wants to win now and show he deserved to have this job sooner in his career.

That means he is going to start the best players at each position, which is the way it should be, but the question is, what does the front office think about certain players?

We are of course talking about the starting quarterback spot where the Browns are leaking through the media that Deshaun Watson has a leg up on Shedeur Sanders for the job.

This is something we just don’t understand.

The entire organization should be saying this is Sanders’ opportunity to see if he can claim the job. If he shows he can be an above average NFL QB, then the Browns are in a good spot with two first round picks in next year’s draft.

As for Watson, we keep hearing from certain members of the media about his “body of work”. We will simply say the last time he was an effective NFL quarterback was six years ago. We can’t think of anyone in league history who played at a high level, was largely ineffective or not available for that long of a time period and then returned to play at that same tier of performance.

Basically, the Browns are asking Watson to do something that has never been done before. Seems plausible.

How should the Browns be handling this? A few different scenarios come to mind.

First, don’t hire a 60-year-old first time head coach who wants to win immediately. If you hire a younger guy than you can tell him the plan is to not have Watson play again and let him leave the team at the end of the season quietly.

Or you could have told Monken that was the plan all along and he should devote all of his time getting the best of Sanders, and if it doesn’t work, he will be part of the development on whoever the Browns draft in the first round in 2027.

Many national pundits can’t believe Cleveland is even considering starting Watson. After all, his contract ends after this season, and as we have pointed out before, if you are going with him, you have to make the playoffs, correct? Going 7-10 or 8-9 with him aces the team out of a high draft pick and also, they didn’t find out if Sanders can play.

Note we’ve only mentioned Sanders, but remember the Browns used a top 100 pick a year ago on another quarterback in Dillon Gabriel who is barely talked about and probably is a longshot to make the roster.

That pick was another example of not having a singular direction, a lone voice, making decisions.

We fear until that is fixed, the Browns will continue to run around in circles, never making progress.

Browns Being Stubborn On Certain Players

Over our years in following sports, there are things that we admire from winning organizations. One of those traits is the discussion of stubbornness vs. patience. Good organizations aren’t beholden to poor decisions. Meaning, they make a move, it doesn’t work out the way it was intended, and they move on.

A great example occurred at the NBA trading deadline last month. Cavs’ GM Koby Altman traded Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball, a deal we liked at the time. However, Ball’s shooting fell off a cliff, he didn’t seem to fit what the Cavaliers were doing, and Altman moved him at the trade deadline.

He did the same with De’Andre Hunter, who contributed to Cleveland’s 64 regular season wins a year ago, but was struggling with his shot this season despite coach Kenny Atkinson trying him in different roles. He was also moved at the deadline.

Now, consider the Cleveland Browns.

In the last week, people in the media have said Shedeur Sanders was a winner the first week of free agency because the Browns’ did not sign a veteran QB to compete with him. There is plenty of time before the draft and the mini camps start, but it looks like the team is going with a quarterback room of Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel.

Yeah, good luck with that.

We would like to see more of Sanders for sure. We believe he should be better with more experience (most people are) and a better offensive line in front of him. But don’t you have to have a better option behind him if he doesn’t show progress?

And thinking it could be Watson is a ridiculous stretch of any imagination. This is where the stubbornness comes in. Whoever made the call, it was a horrible trade by the organization. Now, it looks like they are trying to get a little justification for the bad deal instead of just moving on.

We are well aware of the salary cap hit involved, but that don’t mean you have to put him on the field. The cap hit is what it is. Putting a player out there who hasn’t played well for six years because of it is just a reach.

And the fans don’t want him playing either.

Another case in our opinion is Jerry Jeudy. The Browns traded a 5th round pick to Denver for him after the organization coveted him for a couple of years. His best year in Denver was his third after being a first round pick, catching 67 passes for 972 yards.

He caught 90 passes in his first year as a Brown, and the organization patted itself on the back quite a bit.

Of those receptions, 44 were when Jameis Winston was a QB, and last season, he fell to 50 receptions, more in line with his production with the Broncos.

Now, the Browns are selling him as a possible #2 receiver, pairing him with whomever Cleveland takes early in the draft.

Our question is this: Do people think Jeudy is going to be happy in that role? Because we do not. But someone in the Browns’ front office thinks highly of him, so they are giving him another chance. Stubbornness.

The Browns haven’t earned any benefit of any doubt. When you have been largely irrelevant in your sport for pretty much 25 years, that’s the way it is.

Just more joys of being a fan of The Browns.

Monkin Is Here, Now Comes The QB Obsession

Now that the Cleveland Browns have hired a head coach in Todd Monkin, the next obsession for the fans of the team is quarterback. Of course, many have tied the hiring of Monkin into an endorsement of Shedeur Sanders, who started the last seven games for the Browns last year.

The rookie’s statistics were not great. A 56.6% completion percentage. His touchdown to interception ratio was 7 to 10.

On the other hand, when he played, the Browns did score 20 or more points in four of his starts and managed to go 3-4, which isn’t great, but remember, Cleveland did go 5-12 last season.

So, the maniacs out there have concluded that Monken got the job because he thinks Sanders can be the starting QB in 2026, and the proof (in those eyes) is the Ravens, Monken’s last employer wanted to draft him last season. Something alluded to in the video released by the Browns on the coach’s first day in town.

We did see a lot of good things from Sanders, but we are not in the camp that thinks he is the next Dan Marino either. In terms of passer rating, his fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel ranks better and his QBR is also better.

However, the eye test says Sanders was the much better player. You know, “lies, damn lies, and statistics”.

Still, the Browns should readjust their quarterback room going into 2026.

Yes, we know the team and Monken continue to mention Deshaun Watson in the plans, and to that we say, he could return to his old form in the same way we can buy a lottery ticket and perhaps we will win the Mega Millions jackpot. It’s been six years since he was a very good player.

It could happen, it’s just not likely.

And for the umpteenth time, we think the Browns should reach some kind of agreement with Watson where he gets his money and stays home. The people who think Sanders would be a huge distraction is he isn’t the starter, what do they think Watson is or would be?

But if we were the new coach, we would not want to cast the lot of our first season in the hands of Sanders alone. We would want to bring in a veteran to compete for the job. Perhaps it is free agent Malik Willis, a prize on the market, or maybe someone like a Geno Smith, who can go out and give the Browns decent production at the position if Sanders doesn’t show well in camp.

And we would also look to draft someone, not with one of the two first round picks (get offensive linemen and/or wide receivers), but maybe on day three. Remember, Monken was the offensive coordinator at Georgia when Carson Beck was there.

One other comment about QBs. These pundits who keep writing about Arch Manning, please do not give the Browns another excuse to be terrible next year, which is likely the only way to be in a position to draft him.

The organization has to be out of the mentality that the only way to solve the QB issue is to get the first pick in the NFL Draft. Of the top five passers in the NFL, only Joe Burrow was obtained that way.

Yes, you probably have to be in the top dozen picks or so, but you don’t have to be first. The Browns need to start winning games and make progress toward being a playoff team on at least a semi-regular basis.

Going 4-13 or 5-12 every year and making that your expectation? That’s not helping your new coach or the GM.

One Thing The Browns Can Hang Their Hat On? Finding Weird Ways To Lose

One thing the Cleveland Browns excel at is inventing new ways to lose football games. The most famous one was losing because Dwayne Rudd threw his helmet in celebration of what appeared to be a victory, which drew a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving Kansas City the 15 yards needed to kick a game winning field goal.

They’ve lost on a potential game winning field goal being blocked and returned for a touchdown.

Add Sunday’s game to the list. Yes, the Browns were behind 27-20 before a couple of boneheaded penalties took away any chance for them to come back and tie the woeful New York Jets, but we can’t forget the two special teams touchdowns for the Jets that were partially responsible for the home team’s lead.

Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees took over play calling for this game, and we did see more downfield throws from Dillon Gabriel, but with those longer throws came more sacks, as Gabriel took six sacks behind the Browns’ horrible pass protection.

The rookie from Oregon did complete 17 of 32 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and did get Jerry Jeudy involved as he caught six throws for 78 yards. On the other hand, Jeudy was really the only wide out targeted, as after the dozen targets for Jeudy, Cedric Tillman was next with four.

On the other hand, there were several non-competitive throws and a couple of potentially terrible mistakes at the end of the first half when Gabriel threw behind Tillman and almost threw a pick in the red zone and then took a sack with no timeouts remaining.

The one good special teams’ play was getting the field goal unit on the field quickly and getting off a 45-yard kick by Andre Szmyt to tie the game at the half.

But watching the game, again our thoughts went to roster construction. Why isn’t there a decent veteran QB on the roster? The organization really has provided the coaching staff with no real alternative at the position.

Yes, we know eventually Shedeur Sanders will see the field, but why deal both Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett so there is no experienced NFL quarterback?

Let’s look at running back. Much like QB, the Browns drafted two players at this position, but the second one, Dylan Sampson, clearly isn’t big enough right now to play in the league. A stiff breeze can bring him down.

Jerome Ford is still here, but the real question is why? He doesn’t figure into the future and was supposedly on the trade block last week. So, why not look at Rocket Sanders, who was signed prior to the opening game and actually scored a touchdown in that game?

As for trying to improve the offensive line? According to reports, the Browns haven’t brought in a lineman for a tryout over the last four weeks. Nor have they signed one off another team’s practice squad.

The defense held the Jets to just 169 yards of total offense, but were gashed for two huge plays from Breece Hall, who caught a 42-yard touchdown pass on a screen, and also had a big 30-yard run, both in the fourth quarter.

You can’t blame that on a tired unit, the Jets only possessed the ball for 26 minutes during the game as Jim Schwartz’ defense forced five punts and an interception by Ronnie Hickman.

The special teams put the Browns into a huge hole. Giving up one kick return for a touchdown is bad enough, but two in one game? Three for the season, and there are still eight games left?

It has been said it’s tough for a special teams coach because the bottom of the roster, where most of their players come from, gets turned over a lot. That’s not the case with the Browns; their roster has been pretty stable.

The Ravens visit next week, and it reminds us they were in the same spot as the Browns three weeks ago at 1-5. But winning is first and foremost in that organization and they have turned it around and won three straight.

Here in Cleveland, everything revolves around finding a quarterback. That’s the wrong goal and until it changes, we get what we see every Sunday.

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.

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.

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.