For every other team in the league, it is Week 10. For the Cleveland Browns, it is Week 1. Kevin Stefanski, the man who is singlehandedly responsible for the majority of our losses over the past five seasons, is no longer calling plays for this franchise – and will hopefully never call another play for the rest of his life.
I’ve been saying it all year: a top-20 offense, paired with our best-in-the-league defensive unit, would make the playoffs this season. The Browns should be (at least) 4-4 right now, and probably would be if Kevin Stefanski had given up the headset before the season started – but it’s better late than never. I know for a fact that we are better than our record shows and Tommy Rees gives us a chance to prove it in the second half of this year.
I am aware of the concerns that everyone still has about this roster: our receivers aren’t good enough or big enough, we have no offensive line, and people (unfairly) think that Dillon Gabriel is a bad quarterback. The people making those concerns, however, don’t seem to realize that we DO have enough talent on this roster to put up points in this league. We have proved it every week on Stefanski’s scripted drives – the talent is there. The reason for all of our losses isn’t a lack of receiver depth, or a lack of an offensive line, or a lack of quarterback talent. The reason for our losses under Stefanski has always been his inability to make offensive adjustments over the course of a game.
Just look at last week’s Patriots game, where Kevin called a beautiful opening drive that resulted in a Harold Fannin touchdown. He then followed it up with a grand total of TWO first downs for the entire remainder of the second half – in large part due to the fact that nearly every first- and second-down playcall for the rest of the game was either a run up the middle or a screen pass. We were miraculously only down by two points at halftime, and our first drive of the third quarter was (once again) screen-run-incomplete-punt. When the other team knows what plays you’re running, you will never be successful on offense – and Kevin Stefanski is quite possibly the most predictable playcaller in NFL history. I do hope that Kevin still has a hand in scripting the opening possession, because he always seems to have one singular amazing drive planned out – but I am excited to see how the offense will look now that we have a playcaller who can actually make adjustments after the first 15 scripted plays run out. I wholeheartedly believe that there is enough talent on this roster and that there are enough winnable games left on our schedule to finish the year with nine (or more) wins. Tommy Rees just has to go out and get it done.
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