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.

Thoughts As Browns Start The Stretch Drive

The playoff destiny for the Cleveland Browns is right in their collective hands. The next two games (with the bye in between) are against the division leading Baltimore Ravens, and four of the remaining six games are against teams from the AFC North.

If Kevin Stefanski’s squad starts playing their best football starting Sunday night, they stand a good chance of playing beyond the 17th game of the year.

We think 11-6 will get a spot in the tournament for sure, but 10-7 will give you a decent chance in this year’s AFC, but you will be subject to the tie breakers. So, Cleveland needs to go at least 4-2 the rest of the way.

A split vs. Baltimore keeps them in it, but losing both (and the Browns have certainly struggled recently against the Ravens lately) has them looking toward next season.

Here are some thoughts on the Browns heading into this critical stretch:

**There has been a great deal of discussion about whether or not Baker Mayfield should be playing while he is battling his injuries. We feel it indicates a lack of confidence in Case Keenum. Remember, the coaching staff seemed reluctant to start Keenum in the Denver game.

It is crazy to think while Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt are watching practice and see Mayfield hobbling around and not being able to make plays, that they think screw it, we are just going to play Baker even though Keenum is probably better.

Conversely, we don’t believe for a minute that Mayfield is “forcing” his way out on the field.

Our guess is the Browns will have a different backup QB in 2022.

**There is no question the Browns need to upgrade the wide receiver position in the off-season. This is not an indictment on how the team handled the Odell Beckham Jr. situation either.

Jarvis Landry hasn’t been a 100% since early on, and although Donovan Peoples-Jones has stepped up, he’s been hurt lately. Anthony Schwartz can fly, but seems to have trouble getting off the line against press coverage, which can be addressed by getting stronger.

Beyond DPJ and Schwartz, no wide out is averaging over 12 yards per catch. If they were open, we think Mayfield would find them (and yes, we know Landry was open on the first pick he threw against the Lions).

**The defense against the run has slipped badly since the beginning of the season. In the first four games, the most yards given up by the defense on the ground was 82. In the seven games since, they’ve allowed more than 100 yards rushing in five of them.

We know the Browns can run the ball, and the old rule in the NFL (which still holds true, by the way) of “you can’t win if you can’t run the ball and you can’t stop the run”, only holds to Cleveland on the defensive side of the ball.

They allowed 168 yards on the ground against Detroit even though the Lions were playing an extremely inexperienced quarterback.

Is Jadeveon Clowney’s injury that much of a problem?

The Ravens love to run the football, so if Joe Woods and his staff don’t address this before the game Sunday, it could be a long night for the visiting team.

All of the concerns and worries about the Cleveland Browns can be eased by a victory in Baltimore. Win, and you get a week off to heal up before coming home for three of the last five, including a rematch with the Ravens.

It’s right there for Kevin Stefanski and his team.

Avoiding Turnovers Is Key For Browns Today.

What a difference a week makes for the Cleveland Browns.

Seven days ago, there was turmoil surrounding the team, at least from the media and fans. The Browns decided their relationship with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was untenable, releasing him on Friday.

They had also lost three of their last four games, the offense looking stagnant in the last three contests, and were heading into Cincinnati to take on the explosive Bengals, who were sitting at 5-3, having handily defeated the Raven just two weeks prior.

A loss in southern Ohio would have Kevin Stefanski’s crew under the .500 mark and any chance of winning the AFC North dissolving.

Of course, we now know Cleveland took care of business against the Bengals, winning 41-16 to raise their record to 5-4, and with the Ravens losing to Miami on Thursday night, a win today against the Patriots would put the brown and orange just a half game out of the division lead.

It is very likely all four teams in the North will be within a half game of each other, and with most of the division games still left to play, the Browns still have four of their six remaining, they will be more important than ever.

The Patriots are a challenge because of their coach, the fabled Bill Belichick, most certainly going to the Hall of Fame, and likely to pass Don Shula at some point to be the league’s all-time leader in coaching wins. He currently sits 43 wins behind Shula.

Their defense forces turnovers, they rank fourth in the NFL in this statistic, but otherwise, their defense is in the middle of the pack, ranking 11th vs. the pass and 14th vs. the run. They have intercepted 13 passes.

In the two games they did not force a turnover, losses to New Orleans and Tampa Bay, the Pats scored just 13 and 17 points. It’s tough for them to put points on the board without the defense’s help.

And outside of the 54 point explosion in the second Jets game, the most points New England has scored this year is 29, in a loss to Dallas.

However, if you look at their schedule, two of their five wins are against the Jets, and they also defeated Houston. Those two teams have combined for three victories this year. They have won three in row though, including a victory over the Chargers, who Browns fans are all too familiar with.

The question for Stefanski and Baker Mayfield is can the offense hum like it did a week ago without the presence of Nick Chubb. D’Ernest Johnson did a fine job a couple of weeks ago vs. Denver and is certainly capable of putting up a 100 yard game, particularly with the offensive line relatively healthy.

When the Browns have both the ground attack and passing game working, they are a handful for any defense in the NFL.

With Chubb out, it will be interesting to see what Belichick wants to take away from the Stefanski, who by the way is similar in demeanor to the former Browns’ coach. They like to make teams one dimensional.

With 11 teams over .500 in the AFC, and Cleveland and New England being two of them, this is an important game in the conference standings.

Can the momentum gained in the win against the Bengals carry over? If the Browns hold on to the football, they will emerge from Foxboro with a needed victory.

Toughest Foe Since KC Coming Up For Browns

Judging from some of the comments we have heard from Browns’ fans since Sunday’s win in Minnesota, hopefully the team can lose enough games to finish high in next year’s draft and they can get a new quarterback.

Look, Baker Mayfield didn’t play a good game in the 14-7 win over the Vikings. He completed less than 50% of his passes, threw for less than 200 yards, and yes, missed some wide open receivers.

But the Browns still won! If that type of performance becomes the norm, and the play of the quarterback becomes a deterrent to winning football games, then and only then, should there be conversations about the QB spot.

Our guess is Mayfield will bounce back this Sunday against the Chargers (we really want to write San Diego) and last week’s contest will be a blip on the radar. We are sure the Mayfield critics will not soon forget though.

However, it would seem to prudent for Kevin Stefanski to dial up a run heavy attack against the Chargers considering they rank 4th from the bottom against the rush in the NFL through four weeks. They are 5th vs. the passing game.

By the way, offensively, Cleveland leads the league in rushing yards.

Los Angeles, led by second year QB Justin Herbert, likes to put the ball in the air, ranking 6th in the NFL. By comparison, the Browns are 26th. So, the Browns defensive front will need to put pressure on Herbert this Sunday.

Back to the quarterback play, we are sure everyone knows on the difference in Mayfield’s efficiency when Odell Beckham Jr. plays and when he’s not on the field. In short, the Browns quarterback plays better when Beckham isn’t on the field.

The first four games haven’t done anything to dispel that notion. His passer rating the first two weeks with OBJ still rehabbing his knee injury was 97.5 and 105.0, completing 81.6% of his throws.

The last two weeks have seen his passer rating at 97.0 and 59.5, and his completion percentage fall to 53.1%.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues because it is disturbing. Of course, we’ve heard folks ask if it means Mayfield cannot play with an elite wide receiver, and their answer is, we will find out when he gets the chance.

It does seem David Njoku has disappeared from the offense the past two weeks, and we feel he can be a huge mismatch problem for opposing secondaries because matching him up with a linebacker or safety is usually a win for the Browns.

Again, it is a small sample size and hopefully Beckham and Mayfield are on the same page on Sunday and this problem is just another question that will be ignored as the wins keep piling up.

Make no mistake, this will be the biggest challenge for Stefanski’s crew since the opening weekend loss to Kansas City. And it’s on the road, the west coast no less.

The Browns, as a team, and not just Baker Mayfield, need to play better in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon. Winning while playing poorly in the sign of a good football team. So is beating another good football team, and the Chargers are that.

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.

Trade For Browns? Think Defense First.

The NFL trade deadline doesn’t usually have the juice that the same date has in baseball, basketball, or even hockey, but in recent years there has been more and more activity.

With the loss of Odell Beckham Jr. for the season due to a knee injury, there has been much speculation the Cleveland Browns could be in the market for a replacement for one of their offensive playmakers.

However, would that be the best move GM Andrew Berry could be making?

You see, the Browns are the second highest scoring team in the AFC, behind only the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Overall, they have scored the fifth most points in the NFL, topped only by the Buccaneers, Chiefs, Seahawks, and Cardinals.

Outside of the game in Dallas, Kevin Stefanski’s crew has done it without a huge contribution from Beckham, who scored three times that day.

The former Giant is second on the Browns in receptions, behind Jarvis Landry, and just one catch ahead of TE Austin Hooper. He’s also second in receiving yards.

We are not trying to insinuate the Browns won’t miss Beckham. None of the players Cleveland will use to replace him are close to him in terms of talent.

But the team is getting KhaDarel Hodge back from IR and we saw what Rashard Higgins and rookien Donovan Peoples-Jones did against Cincinnati. Higgins had over 100 receiving yards last Sunday, and we would remind you Beckham has just two in 22 games with Cleveland.

Our point is the Browns have plenty of weapons on offense, even without Beckham. Assuming Nick Chubb can return after the bye week (or shortly thereafter), Stefanski still has Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Landry, and Hooper. We would also envision a bigger role for David Njoku and rookie TE Harrison Bryant.

If Berry is going to make a deal, we would look at a defensive unit that has allowed the second highest point total in the NFL, ahead of only Dallas.

That puts a lot of pressure on the offensive to score 30 points virtually every week. In fact, the Browns are 5-0 when they score 30+, and 0-2 when they don’t.

Right now, the Browns have two very good players on that side of the ball. Let us correct that. They have one superstar on defense and a very good cornerback. We are obviously talking about Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward.

There shouldn’t be a debate that if Berry makes a deal, it should be with an eye on improving this area of the team.

Another pass rusher would be ideal, but right now, only Garrett is making his presence felt, and no doubt future opponents see the same thing. Being double teamed is one thing, but the former first overall pick might start seeing three men blocking him, because no one else is applying pressure.

Sheldon Richardson has 2.5 sacks, Adrian Clayborn has 2, and no other defensive lineman has one. In fact, the only linebacker on the board is B.J. Goodson, who has .5. The rest are from blitzing defensive backs.

We certainly aren’t saying to give up high draft picks, but in the past couple of days we’ve seen two pass rushers (Everson Griffen and Carlos Dunlap) go for lower round picks. So it can be done without a high cost.

Another receiver would be nice, sure. But the biggest area of need for the Browns is fixing the porous defense. It probably wouldn’t put Cleveland on par with the likes of the Chiefs, Steelers, or Ravens level, but it would take pressure off the offense to score every time they get the football.

And if you get to the playoffs? Why not win a game or two?

Whatever The Reason, Nothing Is Clicking With Baker & OBJ

Earlier this week, we asked a question on social media. We wondered what was different between Baker Mayfield’s rookie season, and the other 22 games he has played with the Browns.

A few people responded with the changes in the head coach and the offensive coordinators. No one answered with the response we felt was the difference. That would be the presence of Odell Beckham Jr.

The former Heisman Trophy winner completed 63.8 percent of his throws in his first year in the league, since then? 59.7% He had 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions as a rookie, he has 32 TD’s and 27 picks since.

His yards per completion increased by a tenth of a yard last year, but it has decreased by more than a yard in 2020.

It has been noted there are have been many differences and we aren’t overlooking the four head coaches and offensive coordinators Mayfield has played for in his 38 NFL starts as a factor. He has never had the opportunity to play in a system and then be able to tweak things in the off-season. He’s always been in a learning mode.

There is no denying that the starting quarterback and the superstar wide receiver haven’t clicked like former GM John Dorsey thought they would when he dealt for Beckham over a year ago.

Beckham Jr. has played 22 games as a member of the Browns, and really, how many of them has he made a major impact?

He’s had two 100 yard receiving games, 161 yards in week two of the ’19 season against the Jets, and 101 vs. Seattle in week six. He’s had just one game with more than one touchdown, that was in his great performance against Dallas three weeks ago.

He’s only caught more than five passes six times, topped by an 8 catch for 66 yards in a loss to Arizona last season.

During his last season with the Giants, a year in which he played just 12 games due to an injury, Beckham had 100+ yard games and seven games with more than five catches. Worse, dating back to his third year in the NFL, OBJ’s team has a 3-8 record when he has over 100 yards receiving.

To be fair, Beckham has played on some lousy football teams, but this year’s Browns’ squad isn’t one of them. Which made his “tired of losing” comments after the loss to Pittsburgh last week a little curious.

There has been no evidence that Beckham is a problem in the locker room, and it appears his teammates like him. But, maybe it’s just that the personalities of Mayfield and Beckham just do not mesh.

On the other hand, we wouldn’t be surprised if Beckham is one of the those guys who sucks the air out of every room he enters.

He’s a big name for sure, but as we have just shown, he’s more reputation than production throughout his tenure with the Browns. He’s a media favorite, but that’s more for his career before he came to Cleveland.

In terms of his place on the roster, would OBJ even rank as one of the five best players on the Browns? No doubt Myles Garrett would rank #1, and you have Nick Chubb, Denzel Ward, Kareem Hunt, and his fellow wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who since his former college teammate arrived also has two 100 yard games, both in wins, and also has one game with more than one TD.

Yet every game, there is the need from fans and media alike to “get OBJ involved”. When Chubb is healthy, wouldn’t it behoove the Browns to get Chubb going right away?

If Mayfield feels a need in each game to get the ball to Beckham then someone should have a talk with him. His job should be to guide the offense and produce victories, not accumulate stats for a particular player.

It would be interesting to see how Mayfield would play without Beckham in the equation. Would it make a difference in his game? We may never find out.

But it is pretty obvious there is no connection between the two players. Mayfield and Landry have it, heck, Rashard Higgins and Mayfield have more of a chemistry.

Something isn’t clicking though. Can it be fixed and is Kevin Stefanski the guy who can make it happen?

Hard To Ask A Browns’ Fan For Patience, But…

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, it is hard to be patient. One playoff berth since 1999 isn’t anything to brag about, but patience is exactly what is needed with the new coaching staff.

The NFL schedule makers didn’t do new coach Kevin Stefanski any favors pitting the Browns against the Baltimore Ravens in the lidlifter for both teams. Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champs, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say the Ravens are the next best team in the league.

So, the first argument for patience is the first week opponent. This goes for any team because we don’t know how good the other team is. For example, the Steelers looked good on Monday night, but maybe, the Giants are the worst team in the NFL.

To put it simply, no one knows yet who is good and who is terrible, although based on last year’s 14-2 record, we assume Baltimore is pretty good.

Now, for other things that were obvious to us in watch the blowout loss to the Ravens.

Odell Beckham Jr. continues to be a polarizing figure in Cleveland. His dropped pass late in the second quarter was glaring because not only cost the Browns’ offense a touchdown (the now departed Austin Siebert missed a field goal), it allowed the Ravens to tack on another TD before the end of the half.

We hear the national media telling us what an athletic freak Beckham is, but is he still that? We’ve really seen no evidence since he arrived in town a year and a half ago.

And we have written this before, we don’t think the former Giant is a bad teammate and he isn’t causing problems in the locker room, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t fit here. When he is on the field, both head coaches (to date) and the quarterback seem to make a conscious effort to get him the ball, at the expense of the game plan.

If everyone can’t come to a happy medium, Andrew Berry may have to say this is a situation of addition by subtraction, and get what he can for the wide receiver. And it won’t be anything close to what his predecessor paid to get him.

The other thing that stood out was the defense. Again, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson was the league MVP in 2019, but the Cleveland defense was disappointing. Yes, we know there are a lot of injuries on that side of the ball, but you can’t let a team go 99 yards on one drive, and then convert a touchdown after getting the ball past midfield with less than a minute to go before the half.

Cleveland was 20th in takeaways a year ago, and had just one last Sunday, which occurred in the red zone, otherwise they would have given up 45 points.

The good news is the run defense improved, but again, bringing up the fallacy of the one game sample, it could be because the Ravens found it so easy to pass the ball, they really didn’t spend a lot of time trying the ground game.

We would anticipate seeing plenty of improvement tonight, but part of that could be feeling it couldn’t be any worse. Anyhow, the Cincinnati Bengals also lost their opener, and the odds are they aren’t as good as Baltimore.

However, an 0-2 start and more than a week to talk about doesn’t bode well for the Cleveland Browns. The angry mob could start forming earlier than anyone thought.

Baker Deserves The Benefit Of The Doubt, But Still A Big Year For Him

There is no question that the Cleveland Browns were a disjointed mess in 2019. If you think of them as a jigsaw puzzle, there were just too many pieces that were either missing or didn’t fit together.

It didn’t seem like the offensive coordinator fit with the head coach, and the general manager traded for an elite wide receiver for a group which had success running the football during the second half of the 2018 schedule.

Because of inexperience or perhaps star worship, head coach Freddie Kitchens and offensive coordinator seemed to feel obligated to force the ball to Odell Beckham Jr., and as a result the Browns got away from the things that led to a solid finish the year before.

All of this contributed to second year quarterback Baker Mayfield taking a step backwards.

The former first overall pick in ’19 saw his completion percentage drop (63.8% to 59.4%), his yards per passing attempt diminish (7.7 to 7.2), and his interception rate increase from 2.9% to 3.9%.

Not exactly what you want to see in terms of growth from your supposed franchise quarterback.

Did Mayfield prepare his body for the rigors of an NFL season during his first off-season? We believe he would admit (and has) he should have worked harder.

Did he let his success as a rookie go to his head a bit? Look, part of the reason John Dorsey chose him first overall was his self-confidence, so without question, he likely felt pretty good about himself after leading the Browns to their best record since 2007 as a rook.

This season, the chaos surrounding the team seems to be gone. Expectations has been tempered by last year’s disappointing 6-10 record, and new coach Kevin Stefanski seems more like a CEO than a football coach.

Stefanski came from Minnesota, where they loved to run the football (4th most attempts in the NFL in 2019) and so we would anticipate the emphasis in Cleveland will be establishing the run, much like it was in Mayfield’s first season.

That reliance on the ground game doesn’t mean Mayfield isn’t a “franchise” quarterback either. The Seahawks ran the ball the third most times in the league a year ago and no one thinks Russell Wilson is just along for the ride.

So, while some fans and media members have written off Mayfield as the future for the Browns, we chalk up his performance as a by product of the mess surrounding him last season.

The offense was different and you can’t tell us everyone in the organization felt pressure to force the ball to the shiny new toy that was Beckham. We think you could feel it from the moment the season kicked off in Cleveland against the Titans.

However, there is no question this is a huge year for the third year passer. A season that looked more like 2019 than 2018 will no doubt put question marks in the heads of the folks who run football operation in Berea. Andrew Berry didn’t draft him and Stefanski wasn’t given input on the choice either.

So, there is pressure on Mayfield to perform well this season, and without a normal training camp and even a half of pre-season play (probably the only action he would have seen), he is at a slight disadvantage.

But it seems the things the new coaching staff want to do offensively should emphasize the quarterback’s skill set. And certainly, the talent the Browns have accumulated helps immensely.

We are willing to write off last season as a result of the dysfunction within the building for Baker Mayfield. He won’t have that benefit this season. He has to produce.

Should Be Optimism Only For The Browns.

We understand what defense mechanisms are and how they work. Even if we hadn’t learned them in our school days, we would know by how football fans in Cleveland behave.

Listening to sports talk radio in town (and yes, we also know that’s a dicey proposition), we are surprised by the number of Browns’ fans who have talked themselves out of expecting the playoffs, or at least a playoff contender in 2020.

Cleveland won five of its last seven games in 2018 to finish 7-8-1 and had a small chance to make the playoffs had it won their last game against Baltimore. Baker Mayfield set an NFL record for most touchdown passes by a rookie.

At this time a year ago, fans were jacked up about the upcoming season, especially after the trade that brought All Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland.

Nothing could stop the Browns.

Except they had tons of dysfunction behind the scenes. Their general manager hired an offensive coordinator that brought in a system that clashed with what worked the year prior.

The addition of Beckham seems to have made everyone in the organization, including Mayfield, think the ball should be thrown to him every play, including those where he was tightly covered.

Basically, John Dorsey seemed to do everything to make sure everyone was NOT on the same page as the team was when they had a very good second half of the season in 2018.

He also ignored the offensive line, in fact, he traded one of the best on the team, if not the league, when he moved Kevin Zeitler to New York for Beckham.

And in typical Browns fashion, everyone paid for it by losing their jobs after the ’19 season.

So, the Browns have a new head coach, a new GM, a new offensive coordinator, and yet people still think they will operate the same as they did a year ago?

To us, here is where Paul DePodesta comes in. He was here for the teardown of the franchise by Sashi Brown, and saw the conflict between Brown and Hue Jackson. Then Dorsey came in and he clashed with Jackson too, and then tried to accelerate the plan by bringing in “stars” instead of people who fit.

DePodesta saw the conflict between Dorsey, the head coach he picked in Freddie Kitchens, and the offensive coordinator who wasn’t a good fit with Kitchens, and the chaos that ensued.

That’s why he emphasized a singular direction for the Cleveland Browns. He liked Kevin Stefanski when he interviewed him the year prior, and saw Andrew Berry and Stefanski got along at that time.

He saw the Browns have success as a running team in the second half of ’18, and the new head coach likes to run the football too. He will emphasize the team’s best offensive player, Nick Chubb, and a former NFL rushing champ in Kareem Hunt.

Could it all go to hell? It’s the NFL and anything can happen. But it appears that none of the upheaval surrounding last year’s circus should occur in 2020.

The Browns had talent, particularly on the offensive side of the football a year ago, and they still have it. It looks like this year, the coaching staff will use it properly and efficiently.

We understand the recent history of the Browns and get why people are pessimistic. But if they feel Kitchens was the problem last season, then that obstacle has been removed.

A winning team should be expected, and with some luck, so should the playoffs. Fans need to stop inventing reasons why the Browns can’t win.