Another Frustration Rant About The Browns

The nightmarish season for the Cleveland Browns just keeps getting worse and worse.

Sunday, it appeared the Buffalo Bills wanted to throw and throw and throw some more early on, until they remembered the Browns’ defense can’t stop the run, and they proceeded to go with the ground game, rushing for 171 yards in a 31-23 defeat of Cleveland.

It’s the fifth time in the last seven games the Browns defense has allowed 160 or more yards on the ground. By the way, the average NFL team runs for a little over 120 yards, so Joe Woods’ defense is simply getting gashed in the running game.

We are saying this for the umpteenth time. If you cannot stop the run in the NFL, you are not going to win. It’s really that simple.

It feels like the entire organization has decided to exercise the Deshaun Watson trade and suspension as a built-in excuse for this season. The talk all year feels like “if we can just be competitive until Deshaun comes back”, as if their record would be erased when Watson steps on the field in Houston on December 4th.

Other teams around the league have put together decent records despite quarterback play worse than Cleveland has received from Jacoby Brissett this season.

We have seen some bloggers suggest that it is really about the 2023 season, which is pretty cavalier of the ownership and front office since they’ve never been to a Super Bowl and haven’t won an NFL Championship since 1964.

So, nothing has changed from the days where the Browns were like the sign in the bar: “Free beer tomorrow”.

It struck me after the game about Buffalo QB Josh Allen’s comment about being the Buffalo Bills, and that’s why they had to toughen up. There is no identity here, and right now, it feels like just one excuse after another.

In typical Cleveland tradition, fans and media alike want Kevin Stefanski replaced as head coach and another house cleaning to ensue. As we have stated, we think this would be the wrong move, but we understand the sentiment.

It would be great if Stefanski took some sort of action. We can’t see how letting Joe Woods and/or Mike Priefer remain at their coordinator jobs is a good idea. You can’t fire people after one bad game, and we get there are people out there who think that way.

However, it would signal to everyone that mediocrity or being unwilling to change will not be tolerated. And as someone pointed out to us, changing defensive coordinators would at least show if the problem were the scheme or the talent.

We have suggested that he give up play calling and join Woods in setting up the defense. That would show he is using leadership and taking accountability for the losing.

Right now, Stefanski appears stubborn, unwilling to admit there is a problem. Players see this as well, and that’s where the coach loses credibility with them. And once that happens, you have a problem in the locker room.

Remember, there are still seven games remaining. If things continue to go over the next seven like they have over the previous seven (1-6), no one will blame the ownership if they reviewed everything going on in Berea.

And despite what some think, another housecleaning would not be a good thing for the Cleveland Browns.

Browns Seem To Lack Accountability, Toughness.

Let’s say this right off the top. We don’t want Kevin Stefanski fired.

We get that’s the knee-jerk reaction from fans every time the Cleveland Browns lose a football game, particularly when it is a blowout loss, like Sunday’s 39-17 beatdown by the Miami Dolphins, but many times it just the easy way out.

If the Browns are indeed run primarily by Paul DePodesta, GM Andrew Berry, and Stefanski, and we are sure they meet all the time, they should be “self-auditing” as to how they lead this organization going forward.

This isn’t to say the defense isn’t the biggest problem on this football team. You simply cannot win at any level if you can’t stop the run and the Browns can’t do it.

However, Stefanski isn’t a Dan Campbell or Mike Vrabel type of coach or leader. He’s not out of the Hollywood prototype of what a head football coach should be. However, everyone needs to remember he did play at the college level.

Stefanski’s style might be fine if he had players who were vocal leaders, but it doesn’t seem he does. His best offensive player, Nick Chubb, leads by example. The player who talks the most is a guard, Joel Bitonio. On defense, Myles Garrett is accessible, but most talks in cliches.

Now, we don’t know what happens in the locker room (and by the way, neither do many of the folks commenting on the Browns in the media).

Some people have said the Browns have no identity, and we think it could be because they seem to be very reactive.

The Browns should be a running team, particularly with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. But if the other team put eight or nine in the box, Cleveland throws it, and throws it some more.

We would love it if Stefanski called plays with the confidence of you know what, we are going to run it anyway. For Nick Chubb to get just 11 carries (as he did Sunday) in a game where he is healthy for all four quarters is unacceptable.

At times we think if Stefanski were coaching the Kansas City Chiefs, he would think to himself, the other team knows Patrick Mahomes is going to throw, so we have to run it a lot.

Andy Reid doesn’t think that way. No head coach should.

Same on defense. Our thought during the Dolphins game was if you know the opponent has great talent and you are just going to line up and rush four and play zone coverage, you are going to get beat. You need to do something that gets the Miami offense out of rhythm.

We can’t remember many plays, if there were any, where the Browns sent more than four rushers at Tua Tagovailoa. We also can’t recall Myles Garrett being moved around as to where he lined up. It doesn’t seem give the defense the best chance to succeed.

We wrote after the Bengals game that we learned the Browns were capable of playing that way defensively, so the expectations were increased. But maybe the defensive coordinator felt increased job security, so he reverted to what had been done in the past. It didn’t work then, and it didn’t work Sunday.

It seems like the organization lives in fear at times. Can’t admit mistakes on draft picks (they’ve cut just one in the Berry regime), can’t attack defensively because they might give up a big play, can’t stick with the strength of the team’s offense.

There can be a thing as being too smart for your own good. Maybe the Browns are stuck in that, and they need to remember this is football, a tough physical sport.

In the end, it’s another loss year for the fans, still waiting for a Super Bowl berth.

Browns Best Game Shows They Can Do It. Will They?

With the backs against the wall, the Cleveland Browns played their best game of the season Monday night, whipping the Cincinnati Bengals, 32-13 to raise their record to 3-5 on the season, with the bye week arriving next weekend.

The week off should help getting Denzel Ward, Wyatt Teller, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and perhaps even David Njoku back for the last nine games, and of course, Deshaun Watson returns for the December 4th tilt against Houston.

The biggest question we had from Monday night’s rout was why can’t the Browns play like that more often, if not every week.

The defense, gashed for more than 399 yards in a game three times in 2022, held the Bengals to just 229, improving on the then season low 254 yards allowed to Baltimore the week before.

Talk about “Jekyll and Hyde”! In their eight games this season, they’ve allowed 400 yards (well, 399 to New England) three times, and less than 308 four times. The league average is 345 yards per game, so much like the little girl with the curl, they are either very good or very bad.

It was also the first game this season where the defense caused more than one turnover, forcing an interception and a fumble by Cincinnati. When the Browns win or tie the turnover battle this season, their record is 3-1. Pretty simple, right?

Of course, the game didn’t get off to a great start for the defense and special teams. A penalty for too many men on the field on the first play of the game? And Cade York’s first field goal attempt was blocked.

But midway through the second quarter, Kevin Stefanski’s crew put everything together and really dominated the Bengals on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, it was the second best game of the season in terms of yardage, the 440 yards exceeded only by the 443 gained against the Chargers.

We know everyone reaches for the low hanging fruit of play calling in terms of the problems with the team (because everyone is a master play caller on Madden), but when the Browns have the ball, they are much more consistent.

The lowest total gained thus far was the 328 gained vs. New England with the 336 against Baltimore ranking next. Again, the league average is 345, so even when the offense hasn’t been at its best, it’s pretty much league average.

It was also the Browns’ fifth game with over 170 yards rushing, but the first since the loss to the Chargers. At this point, the organization should realize this is the team’s profile. They need to come out each and every game and run, and then run some more.

Now, it’s up to the team to maintain this level of play, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The last two games show maybe they’ve turned a corner. If the Browns want to make the games Watson does play relevant, they need to continue to hold their opponents down.

It would be difficult to see a win vs. Buffalo, but the other games Jacoby Brissett will start (Miami and Tampa Bay) appear winnable.

Being 5-6 when Watson returns, and with three divisional games remaining would put Cleveland in a decent spot.

Our other thought after Monday’s game? Man, it would be nice to have that Jets’ game back now.

Blowing Things Up Again? Hope Browns Don’t Do It.

When you’ve had 12 coaches since 1999, we are sure it becomes the knee-jerk reaction of fans and media alike to fire the current coach when things aren’t going well. Sometimes, it’s not the right decision.

That’s why we are not in favor of the Cleveland Browns firing Kevin Stefanski either during this season or after the season ends.

Stefanski currently has a 21-19 record as head coach, mostly built off the 11-5 playoff season in 2020, but even last season, which everyone was disappointed with, produced an 8-9 mark, which is the fourth best season since Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999.

Sad, but true.

This isn’t to say Stefanski is blameless. He forgets sometimes that Nick Chubb is the Browns’ best offensive player. He sometimes puts too much of the team’s success on Jacoby Brissett, who we all have to remember is really the backup quarterback.

We understand he’s the head coach, responsible for the entire product on the field. Hopefully, internally he is putting pressure on defensive coordinator Joe Woods and special teams’ coach Mike Priefer, because most weeks their units aren’t doing much to help the Browns win.

It seems to be solely on the offense to outscore the opponents.

We know fans and media don’t like Stefanski’s press conference either. We would remind you this is a new era, and it is rare coaches will stand up in front of the media and be negative about individual players and different facets of the team.

If we had to guess, when Stefanski took over as coach, he told players he would not call them out in public, that he had their back. If you notice, Terry Francona and J.B. Bickerstaff both do the same. It seems though, in football, fans want to see the coach point out who is not doing the job.

We do believe there has to be more accountability for players. Our feeling is the front office and coaches are “married” to some of these guys because this regime brought them in, either via the draft or free agency.

But if they aren’t doing the job, it’s a next man up league. There are players who aren’t drafted that make Pro Bowl teams every year, so it is likely the front office can find someone who will do a better job.

For example, last week there was a penalty on a kickoff return, and the call was on a player who alternates between the practice squad and the active roster.

In watching the game, we immediately thought, we would release that player. That sounds cruel, but sometimes you have to make the point that mistakes will not be tolerated. That gets players’ attention.

Still, we wouldn’t fire the coach. He has done a good job with the offense. He’s scripting of the first plays usually results in a score for the Browns. We also think the team is organized for the most part.

But the last and real reason is simply this: The madness has to stop. Look at the Steelers and Ravens. They are the models of success in the AFC North and their coaches have been around for 16 and 15 years, respectively.

Even Zac Taylor in Cincinnati had seasons of 2-14 and 4-11-1 before leading Cincinnati to the Super Bowl.

Remember, it was just two years ago that Kevin Stefanski was the AFC Coach of the Year. And he deserves the opportunity to be the head coach when Deshaun Watson, the Browns’ franchise QB plays a full season.

Look, he’s not the movie version of a football coach that everyone wants, a guy who gets in players’ faces and grabs their facemasks with spit flying out of his mouth.

Just let him have an opportunity with different defensive and special teams’ coaches. We think he deserves that chance.

What Can You Say About The Browns Right Now?

Sometimes, there is just nothing more to say. That’s how we felt Sunday when the Cleveland Browns lost their fourth consecutive game, this one 23-20 to the Baltimore Ravens.

The loss dropped Kevin Stefanski’s squad to 2-5, with four of the five losses being by three points or less. If there was a gold star for being close, it would go to the Browns.

As former Browns’ star Josh Cribbs once said, the Browns almost always almost win.

Our biggest thought during the game was when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced the fumble in the fourth quarter, the best bet for the team was to move the ball while using the clock, and then make a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win, leaving little time remaining.

Then on a 3rd and 2, Cleveland threw a long pass which Amari Cooper caught, but was called for offensive pass interference. So, the Browns were in a 3rd and 12, and were forced to try a 60-yard field goal after a false start penalty.

Why not either give the ball to Nick Chubb or throw a short pass on 3rd and 2, getting a first down and keeping the ball. It sounds ludicrous to turn down a TD, but they didn’t get the six points anyway.

Jacoby Brissett played well again, but did have a turnover, fumbling in his own territory, but went 22 of 27 for 258 yards. We get it’s a quarterback league, but the Browns are a rare team where the QB isn’t the best player on offense. Stefanski’s insistence on having Brissett make key plays is “frustrating” to use his word.

However, on a weekly basis, the special teams and the defense don’t provide any help in winning games.

The defense played better on Sunday and held Lamar Jackson to just 120 yards passing and 59 yards rushing. The passing total was low because he didn’t need to throw. Baltimore hammered out 160 yards on the ground, making it the third time in the last four games Cleveland has allowed at least 150 yards rushing.

It’s still a fundamental. If you can’t stop the run, you most likely will have a problem winning football games.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods showed more blitzes against the Ravens and put pressure on Jackson in the pocket. We would like to see more of that. But again, they forced just one turnover. They haven’t forced more than one in a game this year.

The special teams gave up a 46-yard punt return and had a penalty on a kickoff return that pinned the offense back.

Even when both units play error free, they rarely do anything that contributes to a win. And occasionally that’s needed for teams to win in the NFL.

There still seems to be a lack of accountability in the organization though, and we aren’t talking about the coaching staff. It appears there are players who give up on plays and/or just aren’t very good at doing their jobs. Yet, there aren’t any lineup changes except for the ones caused by injuries.

The defense is still ranked very low in most categories, so someone isn’t doing a good job, right?

Next week’s game against Cincinnati is basically must win. Falling to 2-6 makes Deshaun Watson’s return moot. Can they do enough to get a victory?

Our eyes tell us they will do just enough to take another defeat.

Browns Continue To Slide, And Season Is Slipping Away Too

Coming into last Sunday’s game against the Patriots, the Cleveland Browns had lost three games by a total of six points.

They can’t say that anymore as they were bludgeoned by New England, 38-15 dropping to 2-4 on the season, and any thought of Deshaun Watson returning to a team with a chance to make the playoffs is getting bleaker by the week.

Bill Belichick is a master at taking away what opposing teams do well, and he decided to focus on the Browns’ running game, which was leading the league in yards. When Nick Chubb didn’t start off the game gashing the New England defense for big games, Kevin Stefanski played right into his hands by throwing.

Jacoby Brissett threw 45 passes and Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined to touch the ball just 17 times. Hunt didn’t catch a pass.

Once again, Cleveland football fans are focusing on this, but since this was the first game Stefanski did this in 2022, we will wait and see if it is an aberration.

However, the defense was overwhelmed once again. Patriots’ rookie QB Bradley Zappe threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, and in what is becoming a weekly occurrance, Joe Woods’ unit allowing plays of 53, 38, 31, 29 and 27 yards.

New England converted 50% of their third downs as the Browns’ defenders simply couldn’t get off the field once again.

As a frame of reference, the Browns’ longest plays were 37 and 33 yards. The next longest was an 18-yard run by Chubb.

We heard the usual platitudes from the defensive players after the game. John Johnson III reminded people about the youth of the unit, even though the only newcomer in the secondary is rookie CB Martin Emerson. Others said they are close to correcting the problems.

However, they’ve been saying that all season long, yet the results haven’t changed.

The Browns rank 29th out of 32 teams in allowing points. The offense ranks 7th in scoring, yet people continue to question play calling. Oh, and we should add, they are still using a backup quarterback, but Brissett seems to be regressing to the mean in the past couple of weeks.

And the defense has forced just five turnovers on the season to rank among the worst in the NFL in that category.

Let’s not leave out the special teams either. Chester Rogers fumbled a punt after the Browns cut the deficit to 24-15, allowing a quick TD to put the game out of reach. Last year, Cade York missed two field goals, although he made three on Sunday.

What is very frustrating is the lack of urgency from Woods and the players on defense.

When will some of the mistakes cost players time on the field? GM Andrew Berry traded for LB Deion Jones, but he was not activated for the game.

We have not noticed much being changed defensively, although Myles Garrett seemed to line up at other places besides his usual right side.

Speaking of Garrett, he was credited with breaking the team’s all-time sack record in the game, although we prefer to go with the revised total listed on ProFootballrefence.com which still has him 5th at 63.5 sacks, behind Bill Glass, Clay Matthews, Jerry Sherk, and Walter Johnson.

The latter is next up with 66 career sacks.

Sadly, that might be the only thing Browns’ fans have to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Right now, this group seems disinterested, especially defensively, and it’s difficult to see things changing, particularly with the Ravens and Bengals being the next two games.

That’s something we didn’t think we’d be writing this year.

Stop Putting Blame Elsewhere. It’s The Browns’ Defense

We think it was former Browns’ coach Marty Schottenheimer who was the first to say play calling is overrated. What he meant (we think) was if you execute the play correctly it will work, no matter what you call.

We bring this up because it seems to be the focus of Browns’ fans, especially because they lose close games. Kevin Stefanski’s squad has lost three games by a total of six points.

People are focusing on how many touches Nick Chubb is getting, and why he wasn’t in for the last three offensive plays in last Sunday’s 30-28 loss to the Chargers. They have valid questions, but they are also missing the point.

The reason this football team is 2-3 is quite simple. The defense isn’t playing up to par.

We watched Dallas, without Dak Prescott, raise their record to 4-1 beating the Rams after the Cleveland loss, and in viewing the game, thought the Cowboys are doing exactly what the Browns’ game plan was supposed to be after Deshaun Watson was suspended.

They are running the ball, playing good defense, and creating turnovers. Dallas is 7th in overall defense (by yards). The Browns are 19th. The Cowboys are tied for 13th in creating turnovers. Cleveland is tied for 26th.

We know the Browns can run the football. Chubb leads the league in rushing, and the Browns lead the NFL in running the ball. That’s not an issue.

The Cleveland defense has allowed over 200 yards on the ground each of the last two weeks, dropping from 5th in the league against the run after three weeks to their current rank of 28th.

The defense isn’t stopping the run, they aren’t putting pressure on the quarterback either, ranking 23rd in sacks, and as previously mentioned, they are forcing turnovers.

Other than that, they are playing just fine.

Another reason for the losses is key turnovers by QB Jacoby Brissett in the 4th quarter. Overall, Brissett has played well, heck, the Browns are averaging 26.6 points per game, and only five teams have scored more.

We will excuse the interception at the end of the Jets’ game because there was so little time left, but he threw critical picks late in both the losses to Atlanta and Los Angeles, giving up chances to put key points on the board.

However, Brissett is as advertised. His completion percentage ranks just 17th among all passers (64%) and his average yards per attempt is 25th in the league. It was said prior to the season that he would be efficient and avoid mistakes, but in the last two weeks, he’s made critical ones.

But the big factor remains the defense. GM Andrew Berry traded for LB Deion Jones from Atlanta and signed veteran DT Tyeler Davison, who last played for the Falcons, to the practice squad. It would be no surprise if both were in uniform last weekend against the Patriots.

Even though it’s become a passing league, in the NFL, if you can’t stop the run, you are going to have a big problem winning. The fact each of the last two games have been winnable should tell us the Browns are still capable of turning it around.

That Berry is focusing on fixing this area of the team should show everyone where he puts the blame thus far. If the defense doesn’t start playing better, it’s not going to matter when Watson returns to the field.

More Defensive Gaffes For The Browns Lead To A Loss

Being a Browns fan is filled with frustration on most Sundays it seems, and the 23-20 loss to Atlanta a couple of days ago was no exception.

We know Cleveland did not have either of their starting defensive ends, Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, but to us, they still had the better roster going into the game and we felt they should have won regardless.

We get many people like to point fingers at Kevin Stefanski, blaming the head coach for losses is a cottage industry for northeast Ohio football fans, and we think getting only three points on two trips inside the five yard line isn’t acceptable. However, we felt going in the offense probably needed to score 30 points, and perhaps the head coach did as well.

And really, this is the first game you can point at the offense being a problem, particularly in the second half. Also, if they would have salvaged seven points out of the two goal line situations instead of three, the offense would have put up at least 23 points in each of the four games.

Going into the season without Deshaun Watson, the “formula” for winning was run the football and play defense. To date, the first thing has worked, the Browns rank second in the NFL in rushing after four games.

The defense continues to let the team down.

Against the Falcons, the problem was the rush defense, which up to this game was actually pretty good, although some issues started to creep up in the first half against the Steelers.

Atlanta gained over 200 yards on the ground, going the length of the field on one drive without completing a single pass. Usually, the Browns are doing that to opponents (they did have 177 yards on the ground themselves), but they were on the receiving end of it this time.

And it wasn’t as though the defense overreacted to Marcus Mariota lighting up the Cleveland secondary either. He was terrible, completing just 7 of 19 throws for 139 yards and an interception.

We don’t know what the record of teams giving up 200 yards rushing in the NFL is, but it is safe to assume that team rarely win when that occurs. It happened to the Browns most recently twice in 2020 against the Raiders and Ravens, and Stefanski’s crew lost both games.

We should also add in addition to having a porous defense against the rush, the defense also supplied another blown coverage in the secondary, which based on Mariota’s numbers in the second half, was likely the only way he could complete a pass.

We know GM Andrew Berry didn’t draft Denzel Ward, but he gave Ward a huge contract and he did draft Greg Newsome and Martin Emerson. We doubt we made those moves thinking they would be very effective in a zone scheme.

But that’s what they seem to be playing a good deal of the time.

By the way, we are curious as to what John Johnson III’s comment of “it wasn’t us” was all about. There still seems to be a lot of finger pointing on the defensive side of the ball.

Remember, this was the supposed “easy part” of the Browns’ schedule and they went 2-2. Things have to improve soon especially defensively if getting Watson back doesn’t become a moot point in terms of making the playoffs.

Luckily, no one has taken control in the AFC North.

Browns’ Physical Play Is The Way To Go

When Deshaun Watson was officially suspended for 11 games, the Cleveland Browns and coach Kevin Stefanski needed to find a formula to win enough football games while Watson was out.

That formula figured to be run the heck out of the ball and play defense. Cleveland has two of the best running backs in the sport and an offensive line that at least in the interior is also one of the premier units in the league. So, offensively, the plan makes sense.

While neither Carolina and the Jets will make anyone think of great defenses, last Thursday’s win over the Steelers showed the Browns have the ability to push around a physical defensive unit. We know Pittsburgh was missed T.J. Watt, but Kevin Stefanski’s group still managed 171 yards on the ground, led of course by Chubb, who ran for 113 on 23 carries.

If Cleveland can continue to get the kind of quarterback play they have the past two weeks from Jacoby Brissett, we will all feel better about how things will play out until Watson comes back.

After a subpar performance in the season opener, Brissett has been very good. On Thursday night, he completed 21 of 31 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns, following up on a solid effort against the Jets.

Cleveland has scored 26, 30, and 29 points in the first three contests this season, so the offense has been humming. And give Stefanski his props for the way he has called games, keeping the opposing defense off balance.

Helping Brissett immensely has been WR Amari Cooper. It is safe to say Cooper has been what we all wanted Odell Beckham Jr. to be? The veteran had his second consecutive 100 yard game receiving and he and TE David Njoku gave the Pittsburgh defense fits.

We remember watching Cooper last season in a game started by Cooper Rush for the Cowboys, and he took control of the game on the winning drive in the fourth quarter. We thought it would be nice if the Browns had a receiver like that. And now they do.

The defense was improved, but in the first half seemed to have a problem against the run. In fact, Cleveland did give up a season high 104 yards on the ground, but they made adjustments at halftime and Pittsburgh was not as effective in the second half.

And the secondary did not give up any of the “chunk” plays they gave up in the first two weeks of the season.

However, with Jadeveon Clowney out and Myles Garrett less than 100% due to a neck problem, the pass rush was pretty much absent. The Browns had just one sack (by LB Jacob Phillips), and that was with Garrett being doubled and triple teamed.

We still don’t understand why the Browns don’t play more man-to-man defense particularly with their corners and go after the passer more often. You have to think opposing offensive linemen are tied up with Garrett and there should be some blitzing lanes.

After blowing the game against the Jets, Stefanski and his team needed a win. They got it. If the defense can get back to playing at the level they were late last season, they may win more often than initially thought with Watson sidelined.

Another Breakdown, This Time Results In A Loss

Cleveland Browns’ fans should be celebrating the first 2-0 start to a season since 1993 this morning, but instead, they are incensed the team blew a 13 point lead with under two minutes to go at home against one of the three AFC teams no one is projecting as a playoff contender, the New York Jets.

Last week, in discussing the Browns win over Carolina, we said the breakdowns in the secondary have to be fixed, as it just didn’t happen in week one, it occurred many times in the 2021 season as well.

Wouldn’t you know, it happened again.

The long pass to cut the lead to 30-24 was bad enough. The defense simply cannot let the opponent score that quickly. And it appeared Denzel Ward thought he was supposed to get help deep, and he didn’t, so someone was on the wrong page.

However, it also happened at the end of the first half, when no one thought to pick up Breece Hall coming out of the backfield and allowing the Jets to tie the game going into the half.

Again, if this was a one time thing, it can be excused. It’s not. It happens over and over and over again, and if we were Kevin Stefanski, Joe Woods would have to come up with a good reason that it happens along with a course of action to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It’s not like there is no talent in the secondary, it is loaded with high draft picks, so that would seem to us that GM Andrew Berry is also not happy with Woods.

Ward and Greg Newsome are first round picks, Grant Delpit is a second rounder, and Martin Emerson is a third rounder. John Johnson III is a high priced free agent. That’s a lot of draft capital and financial commitment involved to accept play like this.

Look, the reality is the Browns have dominated each of their first two games and should have won both by 10 or more points, but they are a Cade York 58-yard field goal miss away from being 0-2 despite that.

The offense has operated just as everyone expected coming into the year without Deshaun Watson. And they’ve scored 56 points in the two games. There is nothing to complain about there.

After a rough start against Carolina, Jacoby Brissett was very good last Sunday, completing 22 of 27 passes for 229 yards. Amari Cooper caught nine balls for 101 yards and Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined for 187 total yards.

We know David Njoku dropped a pass, but overall, we can’t think of anyone on offense who had a poor game. Everything operated according to plan.

However, all of that was erased because the defensive secondary can’t get its act together.

Maybe Stefanski has to give up the play calling responsibilities to make sure he’s more involved with the defense. But something needs to change going forward, starting Thursday night against Pittsburgh.

The breakdowns simply have to stop. At a certain point, Stefanski needs to tell Woods he doesn’t want excuses, just results. After all, this is professional football. There are no moral victories.