ARLINGTON, TX – Thanks to an electrifying 50-yard touchdown run by WR Odell Beckham Jr. to seal a 49-38 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Cleveland Browns may have finally gotten it right in hiring rookie head coach, Kevin Stefanski.
Thanks to their win in Big D, the Browns are 3-1.
YES. Those lovable—seemingly cursed team from the Mistake on The Lake—is 3-1.
How in the name of the flaming Cuyahoga did the BROWNS go from 1-3 last year under Freddy “Got Fingered” Kitchens to 3-1 under Mr. George Clooney clone in Kevin Stefanski.
Bros, on the low-key, y’all may want to pay closer attention to your wife, sig or side-piece because KS is dat dude. Just saying…
While I’m on the subject of Aw Shucks Freddie.
Where are all those damn mother-f$#%&g Freddie Kitchens-loving homers at now, huh? Y’all were talking shit about the Browns firing him and bringing in Stefanski.
As I stated on my Facebook the other day, y’all better be 404 because I promised that I was gonna be DROPPING a mean-ass Robert’s Rant column calling you ALL out! And here it is, in all it’s biting and snarky—and savage AF—brilliance.
Let’s see, Kitchens had Baker Mayfield dropping back throwing 25-30 a game, tossing pics left and right, thus leading to him getting pressured constantly and taking unnecessary hits and sacks.
While a fair argument could be made for Kitchens in the fact that OBJ was injured, a 420 drug mule at LT in Greg Robinson and poor play on the o-line overall, a REAL HC is supposed to utilize and properly put his players in the best spots to win. One could argue Kitchens and the Browns was a bad fit for on both sides in terms of scheme, philosophy and execution.
You see, one thing that PISSES me off about my fellow Dawgs in the Pound was that how many drank the ‘I’m just a good ol’ country boy from Alabama’ Kool-Aid when he was clearly OVER HIS HEAD from the start, and got rightfully canned,but you had these yokals making excuses for him after every bone-headed call or loss.
Do I need to remind everyone about him pulling Chubb in Denver at the goal line in favor of Baker? Sherlock Holmes couldn’t have made a case for Haslam for keeping him.
The Browns hiring Stefanski could be the move that finally puts the Browns on the path of both stability and success, with Mayfield finally looking and playing like a potential franchise quarterback and top overall pick.
Thru three games last year, Baker had 7 TD’s and 7 INT’s, thru the same period so far this year, Baker’s TD-INT ratio is 7:2
Numbers don’t lie, and neither does production. Mayfield’s passer rating last year was 78.8, his lowest in his career. So far under Stefanski, it’s 93.7.
Stefanski has Mayfield more of a game-manager style-QB in utilizing him to his strengths in rollouts, bootlegs and play-action that he used to do under Lincoln Riley down in Norman.
It’s not just about the player and personnel, it’s about the coaching and scheme PUTTING said players in the best spots to win and succeed, which is exactly what Stefanski is doing so far with both Baker and the Browns.
He is coaching to the strength of the team, while also establishing a clear identity in being a run-first play-action team. On Sunday, Cleveland outrushed Dallas, 307-85—sans Nick Chubb—as the Browns treated the Cowboys like they were from Brokeback Mountain in how they dominated them on the ground.
Through four games, the Browns have rushed for 818 yards, fourth-most in the last 30 years. As a Browns fan since I was born back in 1976, I grew up during the Kosar era where we had two top-tier running backs in Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner as well as two elite WR’s in Webster Slaughter and Reggie Langhorne.
While we are only four games in, with only a small sample size, since the offensive output generated by Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Chubb and Kareem Hunt, brought back some of those fond childhood memories of seeing a Browns team that was so balanced and efficient in the air and on the ground.
At this same point, Cleveland was 1-3, so far, they are 3-1. Yes, our schedule was much tougher than last year than it is this year, but in the NFL, all teams are good, hence the phrase, any given Sunday.
With a formidable 3-1 Indianapolis Colts team coming to the North Coast this Sunday, the Browns will move up a class in terms of competition. We will get a chance to really see where this young team and rookie coach who are both growing together are in their prepubescent stage.
If the four four games are any indication, both Stefanski and the Browns are developing quite nicely.