For Browns, Time To Win Is Now, Even Without Watson

This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns kickoff the 2022 NFL season with a game against their old quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who is now leading the Carolina Panthers.

With suspended QB Deshaun Watson sidelined for the first 11 games of the regular season, expectations by many media people, both local and national, aren’t very high and most of the experts have Cleveland missing the playoffs.

We are not one of those people.

The Browns have talent at many positions. They have probably the best tandem or running backs in the league in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. They have two of the best guards in the NFL, and a top wide receiver in Amari Cooper.

That’s just the offense.

The defense features perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett, former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney, and Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward.

The entire defensive backfield should be very good and along with the pass rusher should deter an aerial assault from opponents.

We would like to see the defense improve against the run. Cleveland ranked 12th against the run last season, and the old adage is even in today’s pass-happy NFL, you can’t win if you don’t stop the run.

Kevin Stefanski was Coach of the Year in 2020, but his team fell to 8-9 a year ago, and frankly, we think he needs to answer some questions this season. By the way, they doesn’t mean we want him fired, but we would like to see him grow as a head coach.

We believe Stefanski lost confidence in the offensive line after injuries hampered Jedrick Wills and took Jack Conklin out for the year, and that’s why he became reactive in his play calling. What we mean is a philosophy of “the defense is taking away the run, so we have to pass”.

And we think we ask this every year, but why can’t there be a package where Chubb and Hunt are on the field together? If you ranked the offensive skill players by ability, wouldn’t those two rank in the top three?

However, we feel the time to win for the Cleveland Browns is now, and frankly we don’t care if Watson is missing the first 11 games this year. The organization put themselves in this position, so if Cleveland winds up 7-10 this season, the blame should be put at their feet.

As for the coaching staff, come up with a scheme that moves the ball, puts points up on the scoreboard and keeps the other team off of it. That’s why they are coaching in the NFL.

The challenge for the coaches is to minimize Jacoby Brissett’s weaknesses, so the Browns can remain in contention when Watson returns to the lineup. Put players like Garrett, Ward, Chubb, Hunt, Cooper and TE David Njoku in situations where they can make an impact.

We don’t want to hear that missing the playoffs is okay because of the Watson suspension, the organization can’t be alright with writing off another season.

Winning is necessary. The Browns have the better team in our opinion this Sunday and should win the game. We won’t excuse them if they do.

The Browns aren’t an average team hoping their quarterback can lift them to playoff contention, they are a very good team that needs the QB to go along for the ride.

Should Browns Get Better At QB?

So, finally we know. The Cleveland Browns know QB Deshaun Watson will miss the first 11 games of the 2022 season, returning ironically, against his former team, the Houston Texans on December 4th.

The question becomes how many of those 11 games will Jacoby Brissett be behind center for Cleveland?

Brissett was signed to be a back up quarterback, when the Browns’ front office thought Watson’s suspension would be no longer than six games. They figured the former Patriot and Colt signal caller could handle that amount of games.

Now, they will need him to play at the highest level of his career for five additional games.

We have written before that the Browns’ roster is ready to win right now. They have one of the top running backs in the NFL in Nick Chubb, one of the sports’ best pass rushers in Myles Garrett and perhaps the best pair of interior linemen in the league in guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller.

And we haven’t even mentioned stars like Denzel Ward, Jadeveon Clowney, Amari Cooper, and Kareem Hunt.

The organization cannot wait while Brissett leads the Browns to say, a 4-7 start to the season.

And maybe he won’t, but we would minimize the risk in that happening by looking for another QB to be the starter in the majority of those contests.

Last season, the front office and the fan base was upset with a passer who had a 60.5% completion percentage and had 17 touchdown passes, 13 interceptions and a 7.2 yards per attempt.

Brissett’s career completion percentage is 60.2, although he did hit on 62.7% of his throws a year ago, when he started five games for Miami. He hit a higher percentage, but only had 5.7 yards per attempt, and he threw five TD passes vs. four to the opponents.

If Browns’ supporters didn’t like how Baker Mayfield played a year ago, they will likely be getting the same type of performance from Brissett. Think about that for a moment.

That’s why we said as early as three months ago we would go after Jimmy Garoppolo. We know he is coming off a shoulder injury. We know his current team wants to dump his salary. We know he’s had a long issue with staying healthy.

We also know last season, the nine year veteran completed 68.3% of his passes, and his career mark is 67.7%. His yards per attempt was 8.6 better than both Mayfield and Brissett and he threw 20 TD passes against 12 picks.

And he took the Niners to a Super Bowl in 2019 and to the NFC Championship Game in 2021.

Could he start week one if the Browns dealt for him today? Probably not, but could he take over in week three? Probably.

Does it have to be Garoppolo? No, but we think it would behoove GM Andrew Berry to find someone better than Brissett, who is a fine back up.

However, right now, Brissett is not the reserve QB, he’s the starter, and barring injury, he will be for the first three months of the 2022 season. And we say there is too much at stake for this franchise to not try to get better at the most important position in pro sports.

Berry is always saying he is always looking for opportunities to improve the Browns. Let’s hope he is doing that at quarterback right now.

The Decision Is In…Maybe

So Judge Sue L. Robinson emerged from the mountain top and handed down a six-game suspension for Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson. Now, Cleveland football fans have to wait to see if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will add on to the punishment.

First, it would seem to be a bad look for Goodell to add games since this is the first time the league has used Judge Robinson for this purpose, and for Goodell to overrule her would seem to be just what league was trying to avoid by hiring her.

On the other hand, this is the NFL and Goodell seems to do whatever he damn well pleases. So, we can see him adding to the punishment, perhaps adding another two games, keeping Watson on the sidelines for basically half the season.

Remember, that in a way, these kinds of proceedings can be like a game. If people are upset because Watson didn’t get a longer suspension, it may just be that the league didn’t provide the judge with enough evidence.

She can only rule on what she sees or hears.

And regardless of how fans in Cleveland feel about Watson and what he did in his massage sessions, the whole situation is a bad look for the NFL.

They’ve known about these allegations for pretty much a year and a half, so our question is why did it take so long for them to act? Yes, we understand they were collecting information from the women involved, but still, it should have been taken care of long before this.

And by the way, we aren’t condoning Watson’s actions. We have said right from the day he was acquired that we wish the Browns had not gone down this road. It’s a bad look for the organization and we understand fans that say they feel strange supporting the new quarterback.

As for the football aspect of all this, we think the Browns can be fairly certain Watson will be on the field at some point in 2022. Can the team tread water with Jacoby Brissett as the signal caller?

We would wager the offense will be much more of a ground and short passing game while Brissett is playing, with opponents getting a healthy dose of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

Remember, the Browns open at Carolina before coming home to take on the Jets and Steelers (on Thursday night) and then travel to Atlanta. Cleveland could be favored in all four games, even without Watson playing.

Then, the schedule gets considerably tougher with home games against the Chargers and Patriots, followed by road contests against division foes Baltimore and Cincinnati.

If the six game suspension holds, Watson would make his debut against the Ravens.

Because the commissioner has the right to review Judge Robinson’s “verdict”, Browns’ fans may have to wait three more days to find out the exact length of the quarterback’s suspension.

No doubt that will be discussed ad nauseum until Goodell makes the final decision.

Then Kevin Stefanski and his coaching staff can figure out how to proceed with reps. Since Watson hasn’t played since 2020, he needs some work, but that has to be balanced with getting Brissett ready for the regular season.

As usual, nothing is easy when it comes to the quarterback position for the Cleveland Browns.

If Watson Is Out For A While, Browns Can’t Sit Idle

As the Deshaun Watson saga continues, the thing that keeps creeping into our minds is what happens if the NFL decides on a full year suspension for the recently acquired quarterback.

Or really, any suspension longer than eight games, a little more than half of the season.

If Watson would be out of action for a span of more than 50% of the league’s schedule, it would seem GM Andrew Berry would be back in the market for a QB. There is too much at stake for this franchise to have to play Jacoby Brissett for a majority of the schedule.

This isn’t a knock on Brissett, who is a very good back up signal caller, and perfectly capable of guiding the Browns to some wins in a limited time span. However, we don’t think anyone believes he’s a guy who can lead a team to the playoffs.

And why is it important for the Browns to be able to be in the playoff mix this season? Simple, look at the roster and the number of great players in the prime of their career. Nick Chubb is 27, Myles Garrett is 27, Denzel Ward is 25, Amari Cooper is 28.

Add another year to all of those guys if the 2022 season comes and goes without a long playoff run.

Three of the oldest players on the squad are offensive linemen in Joel Bitonio (31), Jack Conklin (28) and Wyatt Teller (28). We saw first hand what happened last year when Conklin went out after the Chargers game.

There is no question this is one of the strongest units on the roster. Will they still be able to play up to the 2020 standards in ’23? Maybe, but the wear and tear takes its toll at some point.

The Browns were the fourth youngest team in the NFL a year ago at 25.61 years of age by average. Let’s just say Cleveland would be at 26.61 this year. They’d be the seventh oldest relating to the ranking for the 2021 season.

Now, we know that won’t be the case because rookies will make the team and some veterans on the end of the roster will be replaced by younger players. But it does show how closely bunched the age of the men on an NFL roster is.

You can be a young team one season and a grizzled veteran team in a span of two years.

And that’s why if Watson is ruled out for most, if not all of the 2022 season, the front office has to find a better option than Brissett. And no, it won’t be Baker Mayfield, the Browns have napalmed that relationship, although we understand why to national people it would make the most sense.

We have suggested before, could Mayfield be traded for another QB? A proven one? Outside of Jimmy Garoppolo, there probably isn’t one out available, but could the Browns be interested in bringing in the veteran for one season?

You would think they most definitely would.

No doubt Berry is already doing some groundwork in the event the ruling is a one year suspension for Watson. With a talent laden roster, wasting a year isn’t an option for the Cleveland Browns.

Football 2021 Is Over, Browns Look Towards ’22

The Super Bowl is over and thankfully, a team from the AFC North did not win. Although the new league year doesn’t arrive until March 16th, the off-season has arrived and everyone should be turning their attention to the 2022 season.

First, the Cleveland Browns are not a terrible football team, in the same class as Jacksonville, Houston, etc. They didn’t go 4-13 or 5-12 during the 2021 season, they went 8-9, and with a little luck, they would have made the playoffs.

Still, having good luck isn’t a strategy any more than hope is. And there is no doubt you are what you record says you are, and the Browns were a below .500 football team.

The first challenge Andrew Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Kevin Stefanski have to do is get the roster united and cohesive. There was a little bit too much happiness for Odell Beckham Jr. being a Super Bowl champion among the current players.

On the other hand, there is a difference between being a good friend and a good guy and being someone the coaching staff can trust. Being cool among players is one thing, but for coaches and front office types, a player can be a different story.

Perhaps Beckham challenged Stefanski’s authority or complained every week about the style of football the coaches wanted to play. Maybe that’s why the wide receiver wasn’t “a good fit” here.

We aren’t going to rehash the quarterback situation again, but we will say this–the passing game as a whole has to be better. The wide receiver and tight end positions need to be addressed and improved. They need more separation, or in old school terminology, the Browns need receivers who can get open.

We would also like to see Stefanski use Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt together. They are two of the best players the team has, and using just one at a time seems foolish. Make opposing defenses account for both, and that brings us to another question.

Why not get Chubb more involved in the passing game? We understand it is a good way to keep the Pro Bowl back fresh, taking him off the field in passing situations, but the defense knows this as well.

And having Chubb catch a short pass in the secondary where he doesn’t have to contend with defensive linemen should be a benefit, no? It doesn’t seem like he has bad hands, so why not incorporate this into the offense?

These playoffs should also show the front office the importance of having a reliable field goal kicker.

In the AFC North alone resides the most accurate kicker in the Ravens’ Justin Tucker (94.6%) and the 10th ranked, Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell (90%). Cincinnati’s rookie Evan McPherson didn’t miss a field goal in the playoffs, making two game winners.

Chase McLaughlin? He ranked 32nd in the league at 71.4%. Having a reliable field goal kicker changes how you coach and manage the game.

It doesn’t matter if it is through the draft or a free agent, the Browns have to get a more reliable field goal kicker, someone they feel comfortable with from 50 yards and in. They’ve been without one since Phil Dawson left.

When you are 8-9 and the division winner finished at 10-7, you better believe the little things, including having a solid kicker, make a big difference.

Despite The Absences, The Browns Had Good Chance To Win

The Cleveland Browns lost two games in a six day span, and both of those defeats could be classified as gut-wrenching.

Playing with a third string quarterback a week ago Monday, the Browns took the lead late, only to lose on a game ending field goal.

Then on Christmas Day, a possible fourth quarter comeback against a favored Green Bay Packer team fell short on an interception/missed pass interference call.

Of course, as is the custom when the Browns lose, there were criticisms of both the quarterback and the coaching staff. The latter seems a little iffy though.

We say that because even though both games were very close, we have to remind folks that Cleveland played both games with a roster ravaged by COVID-19. Both contests were played with a makeshift offensive line and several key players missing defensively.

And they still wound up with a chance to win each game! If that isn’t the definition of coaches getting the most out of their roster, we don’t know what is.

One reason for the criticism is fans judge coaching by one thing, play calling, and there are questions about Kevin Stefanski’s play calling against Green Bay. Cleveland was dominating on the ground, with Nick Chubb gaining 126 yards on 17 carries, and it is valid to wonder why they threw so much.

However, if you take out the interceptions (yes, we know about Butch Davis), it’s not as though Green Bay was stopping the air attack either. Dustin Colquitt punted just once during the game.

The point is even with a short-handed roster, the Browns’ coaching staff had them ready to play both games, and with a single play in each contest, they could have emerged with a victory in either, if not both.

If you thought the Browns were going to go 12-5 or 11-6 this season and cruise into the playoffs, we get this season is a disappointment for you. And certainly, the expectations were high going into the season.

Even with all that has gone wrong this season, with two games remaining in this season, Stefanski and his crew still have a chance to get into the playoffs for the second straight year.

They need help for sure. The Chiefs need to win this week against Cincinnati in the Queen City, which is possible. Kansas City is still chasing a first round bye with the best record in the AFC and the Bengals have had issues putting two good performances together back-to-back.

They also need the Rams to triumph over Baltimore, who are currently reeling.

Since the AFC North has been a schizophrenic division all year, both the Bengals and Ravens could win and make the division moot.

And the Steelers are basically in the same boat as the Browns, so no matter what happens on Sunday, the Monday night game will be no walk in the park. Cleveland needs to play well, and somehow, must figure out how to run the ball against the Steelers

Things happen in an NFL season, and the Cleveland Browns haven’t received a lot of breaks this season. There are many NFL teams who can say the same thing, so it is not as though the world has been against the team.

However, it’s not a bad team either. They don’t need a new coach, and replacing the quarterback won’t be as easy as people think.

The front office will not view the season emotionally, which is the correct thing to do.

But there is still a chance for this team. Hopefully, the cards fall properly, and Monday night is a big game for the Browns

To Continue Surviving, Browns Need To Run Better

The late basketball coach Jim Valvano said it while his North Carolina State basketball team was in route to winning the 1983 NCAA Basketball title.

The term is “survive and advance”, and although the Cleveland Browns haven’t advanced anywhere yet, they did survive and have another meaningful game this Saturday afternoon against the Raiders.

And in the crazy AFC, the 24-22 win over the Baltimore Ravens, moved Kevin Stefanski’s crew into second place in the division, moving past both the Steelers and Bengals, who both lost this week.

A win is a win, so we aren’t going to complain about it. Look at some of the other early season favorites in the conference. Buffalo has the same record as Cleveland at 7-6, and next week’s opponent was sitting at 5-3 a few weeks ago, but losing four out of five has them at 6-7.

Even though the Raiders are struggling, if the NFL has taught us nothing this season, it is that things can change in the snap of your fingers. So, the Browns need to improve on Sunday’s performance is they want a victory against the visitors from Las Vegas.

The offense continues to struggle, scoring only 17 points (the other points were the result of Myles Garrett, literally), and although most of the blame is heaped upon Stefanski’s play calling and on Mayfield, it might be another area that is failing.

Last season, Cleveland had one of the league’s best running games, ranking 3rd behind just the Ravens and Titans. And while they still rank 4th in 2021, lately the yards in the ground game have been tough to come by.

In the first five games of the season, the Browns averaged 188 yards per game on the ground. Coincidentally, they also scored 28.4 points in those five contests.

The following eight games shows Cleveland gaining just 116 yards per game rushing, and the points per game has also dropped to 14, half of the total in the first five games.

We understand Nick Chubb missed three of those games, but he has also played in five of the games, and in three of the ones he played in, he rushed for less than 61 yards.

Now, we agree Chubb is one of the best running backs in the game, and we don’t think he has suddenly lost a step, so clearly something is wrong with the run blocking right now, and that needs to be addressed in the last four games of the season.

In the first Baltimore game, Chubb carried just 8 times for 16 yards, as the coaching staff gave up on the running game.

But against the Steelers, Chubb carried 16 times for 61 yards, and then on Sunday, he toted the ball 17 times for 59 yards. In those three games, he totaled 41 carries for 136 yards, just a 3.3 average per carry.

Keep in mind, Chubb averages 5.5 yards per carry for his career.

We have said many times that Baker Mayfield is not the most important offensive player on the Browns, and that it was Chubb.

However, right now, the coaching staff cannot get him untracked, and the entire offense is suffering.

The offensive line, praised by many pundits at the beginning of the season, hasn’t performed up to expectations. This could be because of injuries. Jedrick Wills hurt his ankle in the season opener and hasn’t been right since, and Jack Conklin has had problems with his elbow and then his knee.

And maybe opponents adjusted to what the Browns did a year ago.

Whatever the reason, the Cleveland Browns need to run the football to succeed, and the coaching staff has to figure out a way to unlock that part of the game.

This Week Is A Good Time To Play At Their Best For Browns

With all the doom and gloom about the Cleveland Browns season in 2021, it is hard to remember they are still very much in a playoff race in the jumbled AFC standings.

Yes, they are a .500 football team, the currently the three wild cards in the conference belong to Buffalo (7-5), Cincinnati (7-5) and the Los Angeles Chargers (7-5).

The Browns lost to the Chargers, but beat the Bengals with another contest against them the last game of the season.

All in all, there are 13 teams in the AFC with six or more wins and only New England has nine, and they haven’t had their bye as of yet.

What this means, is despite all of the disappointments from Kevin Stefanski’s squad this season, if they can put together a good stretch of football to close out the season, they can definitely snag one of the seven playoffs spots in the AFC.

An 11-6 mark would certainly make it, but there will be teams with 10-7 records that will be playing on Wild Card Weekend.

Stefanski talks weekly about “one game seasons” and that is exactly how his team has to look at the balance of the schedule because getting tripped up, particularly this Sunday at home against Baltimore will put a huge dent into any post-season plans.

The coaching staff and players can’t talk about more than one game, but we can, and if the Browns can win Sunday and then beat a Las Vegas Raiders’ team that will be (hopefully) braving the cold elements along the lake the following Saturday, then Cleveland will be 8-6 and in much better shape, no?

That would give them three games remaining, at Green Bay on Christmas Day (good luck scheduling dinner around this one), at Pittsburgh on Monday night, January 3rd, and the finale at home vs. Cincinnati, which good have huge implications.

Actually, all five games feature two teams who have the playoffs on their mind, so it won’t be easy. And we never said it would be.

All of this is possible if the Browns solved the issues that have hampered their offense over the last nine games, in which they have scored 40 or more points twice, and less than 17 points in every other contest.

We have referred to the old football adage, “you can’t win unless you can run the ball and stop the run”, many times.

Since the loss to the Chargers, in which the Browns scored 42 points and ran for 230 yards, they have only run for 100 yards or more three times in the past seven contests, and have allowed opponents to exceed that figure in five of the last seven.

Not a good recipe for success.

Granted, Nick Chubb missed two of those games, but the signature of this football team is success on the ground. And although we think Stefanski has the makings of a fine coach, we are sure the analytics people are telling him he abandoned the run prematurely in a few of those games.

Still, if you remember the second half of last season, a number of those games started with success in the passing game, and then were salted away by ramming Chubb and Kareem Hunt down the throat of opponents.

Perhaps that is one thing that will be tweaked after the bye.

The defense against the run must be shored up though, and right away. The Browns’ defense has allowed 500 yards in the last three games in total. That simply cannot happen in the AFC North, and when the weather gets a little rougher.

We know this team has not played its best football to this point in the season. That has to start coming up this Sunday and continue as long as they are playing.

It sound simple and it really is.

Browns Could Use A Road Win

We had to laugh at Kevin Stefanski’s locker room comments following the Browns domination of the Chicago Bears last Sunday. The coach told his team “whoever we play” next is the biggest game of their lives, except he used more colorful language.

What was funny is that we are sure Stefanski knows exactly who they play this week, because it is a place he spent his entire coaching life before coming to Cleveland. The Minnesota Vikings.

We are sure the head coach will remind his squad they have not won on the road yet this season, and the Vikings are undefeated at home, although they’ve played in the Land of 10,000 Lakes just once this season.

And we know Stefanski doesn’t like to look ahead, but the following game against the Los Angeles Chargers, also on the road, appears to be a big game as well. The Chargers are now 2-1, coming off a victory over the Chiefs last Sunday.

We wondered in the off-season if Cleveland could have one of those offenses that could be unstoppable if they were healthy, and currently the Browns rank 7th in total yardage in the NFL, and 7th in yards per play at 6.4.

And that’s without both starting wide receivers, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. in the lineup at the same time.

However, here’s a reminder that the Browns are still a running team, second in the league to Baltimore in gaining yards on the ground, with both Nick Chubb (3rd) and Kareem Hunt (20th) in the rushing leaders.

The Vikings have allowed the fifth most yards in the league to date, ranking better against the run (21st) than the pass (27th). So, it would figure to be another good day for the Browns’ offense, although the coach would probably remind us there is a reason why you actually play the game.

One thing is for sure, Kirk Cousins will be more difficult to defend that Justin Fields, making his first NFL start, so the Cleveland defense better be up for the challenge.

It is funny, but despite the production of the Browns’ offensive attack, the leader in receiving yards is Hunt with 104, followed by David Njoku (94), who wasn’t even targeted on Sunday.

The offense has really spread it around in the passing game, with six players having five or more receptions, led by Hunt and TE Austin Hooper with 10 each.

Hard for defenses to take away all of the weapons at Baker Mayfield’s disposal, right?

It was another week, another rookie to stand out for the brown and orange, this time LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was all over the field against Chicago, getting four tackles and a half sack. That’s three weeks in a row, a newly drafted players has made a big impact on the game.

And how can we not mention Myles Garrett, who set a club record with 4.5 sacks, impressive no matter who is the opponent.

The former first overall pick is now 7th (revised total occurred over the summer) in sacks all time for the franchise with 48.5 in just 54 games. Next up on the list is Michael Dean Perry, who has 51.5…in 109 games.

It’s not a stretch to think Garrett will get into the Browns’ top five (Paul Wiggin has 60.5 in 146 games) this season.

Barring injury, it’s really a matter of time before Garrett surpasses Bill Glass, the franchise leader with 77.5 in 94 games.

Stefanski will tell you every week is a challenge in the NFL, and certainly, the Vikings are a step up in class from the Browns’ two previous opponents. We are sure he would also tell you his team is capable of playing much better. They will need to in order to get a win this week.

Not All Wins Are Works Of Art, Browns’ Fans

When it comes to winning in sports, we think sometimes fans don’t understand how difficult it really is, especially at the professional level.

It is even more difficult to do coming off a loss, something Ohio State fans saw on Saturday, and Browns viewed Sunday afternoon at First Energy Stadium. There is a certain lethargy that goes with losing the previous game, and sometimes it takes a quarter or a half to shake the staleness that goes with losing away.

There is no question the Cleveland Browns are a better football team than the Houston Texans, but it took Kevin Stefanski’s team a little while to show it.

Still, a win is a win, and the Browns, along with the rest of the AFC North are sitting at 1-1 after two games, so it now becomes a 15 game season, we guess.

Here are some impressions following the win in the home opener–

**We said before the season started the defense would be a work in progress, and shouldn’t be truly evaluated until week five or six, and we haven’t changed that opinion. There are so many new pieces involved and it takes time to trust your fellow defenders.

That said, it was a little troubling to see the lack of pressure on Houston quarterbacks. The only sack came from blitzing S Grant Delpit, who looked good in his NFL debut. Myles Garrett still gets held quite a bit though, and drew a penalty towards the end of the first half.

You would think Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome would be a solid corner combo, but the Browns seemed reluctant to put either in press coverage last Sunday.

However, it’s still early. The unit should get better with experience.

**Nick Chubb is the best running back in the NFL. We know around here that is stating the obvious, but Chubb is fifth in the league in rushing yards, despite being 19th in carries.

The Browns are not going to give Chubb the 25 carries per game so he could pile up the huge yardage needed to get notice nationally. First, they have an excellent back in Kareem Hunt to team with Chubb, and also they want Chubb to play with the Browns for a long time. They are prolonging his career.

Now, when they get to the playoffs, and need the fourth year pro out of Auburn to tote the rock 25 times, he will be fresh. And that time may come at the end of this year.

Oh, and by the way, the only running back in Browns’ history better than #24 wore #32.

**We all knew the Browns had plenty of offensive weapons coming into the year, and we still haven’t seen Odell Beckham Jr. But GM Andrew Berry looks like he added two more in this year’s draft in WR Anthony Schwartz and RB/WR Demetric Felton, each of whom has been a factor already this season.

Felton scored his first NFL touchdown on a great run after catching a short pass on Sunday, and made a great move after another reception.

Also, you have to give Stefanski credit for trusting these rookies, because some veteran coaches would not. Trusting players regardless of experience is the mark of a great coach in our book.

**We still don’t understand why folks don’t think Baker Mayfield is the answer at QB. Again, because of the way the Browns run things, he’s never going to be someone who throws for 300 yards on a weekly basis.

But he’s a leader and he shows toughness. And for those who questioned his accuracy in the past, he’s completed 81.6% of his passes in the first two weeks. He only has one touchdown pass, but again, that’s because of the running game.

If you don’t think the Browns’ offensive is running well, consider that Jamie Gillan has punted three times in two games. That used to be his total for for a half. And Chase McLaughlin has attempted one field goal.

That’s efficiency.