We are now six weeks into the season, and the Cleveland Browns are still making the same mistakes they made in Week 1. While the Browns do not want to make midseason changes to their coaching staff according to The OBR’s Brad Stainbrook, it is time for Kevin Stefanski to make the tough decisions a boss has to make.
There is little shot Stefanski gets fired as the offensive side of the football has been a bright spot (outside of today’s lemon of a game against the New England Patriots). Especially considering he is working with a journeyman backup quarterback who is starting to look like one again.
Buy Browns TicketsHowever, at the end of the day, his staff is a reflection of him. And while defensive coordinator Joe Woods and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer are personal friends of Stefanski, this train is too far off the rails to attempt to redeem.
Coming into this game against the Patriots, the Cleveland defense ranked dead last in DVOA, making them the least efficient defense in the league. They entered 16th against the pass and 32nd against the run.
Those numbers will not be trending up as the Woods-led defense allowed a fourth round rookie in Bailey Zappe to drop over 300 yards passing on them. They also allowed over 100 yards rushing again, which has become too consistent of a theme for this unit.
There are no more excuses left out there for Woods. He had his unit firing as a top-10 unit at the end of last season, but this type of regression and effort is nothing but a reflection of the man guiding them. The bye week is two weeks away for the Browns, but with back-to-back games against division rivals that could save the season in Cleveland, they have no margin for error.
The same goes for Priefer’s special teams units as they managed to produce two costly mishaps at the end of the game when Cleveland still had a chance to fight back. An onside kick where A.J. Green touched the ball while out of bounds that would have been otherwise recovered by the Browns, then a muffed punt where Green once again vacated the gunner and allowed them to crowd punt returner Chester Rogers’ space.
Pile these on top of crucial missed kicks, poorly downed punts that could have rolled inside the five-yard line, and a blown onside kick in Week 2, these Priefer-led units are too prone to mistakes.
Again, the Browns have a back-to-back stretch against AFC North rivals, two teams that have shown vulnerability. However, the Browns need something to change, something to ignite a spark in this team. With this thin of a margin for error, there is little reason to continue to run it back with the current arrangement.
It is time for Stefanski to do the most difficult part of his job and fire his friends.
