Tag: tyson campbell

A Win To Irritate The Tanking Crowd

Well, the “tanking” faithful will not be happy about the Cleveland Browns’ 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but we don’t care. A win is a win and that’s always a good thing.

The Browns are now 4-12 on the season and if the season ended today (it ends next week of course), they would have the 7th or 8th pick in April’s selection process.

We saw a lot of comments about how the victory showed how Kevin Stefanski has not lost the locker room and used that as a reason to keep the head coach going forward.

That’s great and it is good the team hasn’t quit on their coach, but our criticism of Stefanski has nothing to do with whether or not he has the respect of the players, it’s his offense and that problem was on full display in the win.

The offense got off to a great start, a 41-yard drive leading to an Andre Szmyt field goal and an 86-yard drive capped off by a 28-yard TD pass from Shedeur Sanders to Harold Fannin. That’s 127 yards on the first two drives.

It’s also about half of the yardage gained by Cleveland for the entire game.

How many times does this happen? Frankly, it’s a common occurrence. The “scripted plays” generate solid drives, many times resulting in points. After that? They don’t seem to go back to what was working early nor are any adjustments or counter plays called to address what the opponents did to stop the offense.

For instance, when the Steelers put Alex Highsmith over Cam Robinson in the second half, where were plays rolling Sanders away from the constant pressure? They ran one and of course, Highsmith tracked the QB down from behind.

And they scored 13 points, making this the 25th time in the last two seasons where the Browns scored less than 20 points. This past week, 17 teams scored 20 or more points in the NFL.

Our other issue with Stefanski (and the entire organization for that matter) is this: 7-26, the team’s record over the last two seasons. Only three teams have done worse in the league over this span: New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans.

None of those teams’ coaches survived both seasons.

The defense was outstanding again on Sunday, holding the Steelers to 251 yards and amazingly Aaron Rodgers threw 39 times for just 168 yards. Myles Garrett alluded to it after the game, and several national analysts said it as well. Pittsburgh looked like they were more intent on keeping Garrett out of the record book that they were in scoring points.

Having Denzel Ward back helps quite a bit and we thought Tyson Campbell was excellent on the other side as well.

We did shake our heads when analyst Tony Romo quoted Stefanski as saying Raheem Sanders looked like a big old-time NFL running back. If the coach thinks that, why was Sanders inactive for most of the season.

Makes you think…

Next week, another disappointing season ends in Cincinnati with Garrett getting one more shot at the single season sack record. What will happen after the game is probably the bigger source of drama.

Is another house cleaning on the agenda for the Browns. By this time next week, we should know.

Browns Get A Win Over A Team In More Disarray. Hey, It Still Counts!

The streak is over!

The Cleveland Browns ended their 11-game stretch of not scoring 17 points or more with a resounding 31-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

(whispers…we aren’t going to talk about the defense scoring a touchdown and setting the offense up on the five-yard line on a separate possession, so really, the offense only put 17 points on the board)

Kevin Stefanski’s squad is now 2-5 on the season and did not have a turnover offensively for the third straight week.

(whispers…the Browns showed they are not close to being the worst team in the NFL)

Look, the Browns needed a win bad. The vultures in the media and among the fans were starting to circle over Berea and if the outcome was reversed, we are sure there would have been plenty of things said about Stefanski being able to survive the week.

It was a rainy, windy day on the lakefront, not at all conducive to offensive football. The Browns only gained 206 yards, and Miami was held to just 219. The first scoring drive for Cleveland was aided greatly by Dolphins’ penalties, including two on third down which extended the drives.

The game plan was much like the home game against San Francisco in 2023, a game won by Cleveland. Stefanski basically kept the ball on the ground, had his quarterback avoid any mistakes, and let the defense dominate.

It worked then, and on Sunday, Dillon Gabriel threw the ball just 18 times, completing 13 for just 116 yards. The leading receiver was TE Harold Fannin, who caught four passes for 36 yards. The only other receiver with more than 20 yards on catches was Jamari Thrash, who gained 23 yards on his only grab.

And back were the bootlegs, and Gabriel threw when a Brown was open and otherwise kept the ball and got positive yardage, running four times for a dozen yards.

Putting the game into the hands of the best unit on the team is a good strategy, albeit probably not sustainable.

Jim Schwartz’ defense had three interceptions; one returned for a TD by newcomer Tyson Campbell, and another returned to the three-yard line by Rayshawn Jenkins. When that happens, it makes the offense superfluous really.

The defense also contributed four sacks and even the special teams got involved, forcing a fumble, caused by Grant Delpit and recovered by Jenkins.

It was a good start, a good way to end the losing streak, but the offense has to get better. Stefanski put the ball in the hands of his best weapon in Quinshon Judkins, but it says here the coach still doesn’t trust the offensive line, and with good reason.

He trusts Gabriel to take care of the football, despite some bad throws he still hasn’t thrown a pick, but not to make plays. Sure, you can beat a team like Miami playing that way, but next week it’s New England, and the Patriots are playing well with four straight wins.

Can the offense put up more than 20 points without a big assist from the defense? We understand it seems like we are moving the goalposts, but that’s what most teams in the NFL can do.

The Browns won a game they should have won on Sunday. They were the better team, and they were victorious. Hard to get excited about it.