Things slipping away for Stefanski, Browns

In early November of 1990, the Cleveland Browns were having a bad season. The franchise – which had won four division titles in five years and reached the conference championship game three times in that span – had finally hit a wall. Under second year coach Bud Carson, Cleveland had suffered a series of humiliating defeats over the first half of the '90 campaign. And Carson, staring at a 2-6 record and likely desperate to save the season and his job, did what many coaches do: He changed quarterbacks. The previous week in San Francisco, against the back-to-back Super Bowl champion 49ers, the Browns were down 17-3 when Carson pulled the face of the franchise, Bernie Kosar. Journeyman quarterback Mike Pagel came in and led the Browns on two touchdown drives, tying the game and bringing the Browns within a hair of a stunning upset. The 49ers won, 20-17 on a last-second field goal. But the detection of a pulse in the Browns play made Carson decide to start Pagel the following week, at home against the Bills. It was a disaster. The Bills, the AFC's best team, torched the Browns, 42-0. Pagel was overmatched by Buffalo. Cleveland's defense was only a rumor. I was 10-years-old. Most of the details from the game are hard to remember. But in the final moments of the game, I do remember one thing very clearly: The look on Carson's face on the sideline. He knew what was coming. Browns owner Art Modell fired Carson the next day. It didn't do much good. Under interim coach Jim Shofner, the Browns managed just one win over the final eight games and finished 3-13, the worst season in the team's 44 year history. Ah, the good old days where going 3-13 was the bottom for the Browns. How innocent we all were. Why does the story matter? Well, in the final minutes of the Browns/Saints game in New Orleans Sunday, I saw a familiar look on Browns coach Kevin Stefanski's face. It was a look of frustration, disappointment, but, mostly, resignation. And as the final seconds wound down on another Browns loss – 34-14 to the Saints – I realized the look on Stefanski's face was the same as the one on Carson's 34 years ago. As I write this – some 21 hours since Sunday's game concluded – Stefanski has not been fired. He's unlikely to be let go in season, and – despite the Browns horrible performance and 2-8 record – he very well could be coaching the Browns next year. After all, Stefanski has presided over success in Cleveland: Two winning seasons, two playoff appearances and two Coach of the Year awards. Just a year ago, the Browns finished 11-6 and reached the postseason despite cycling through five starting quarterbacks and a slew of injuries. But watching the Browns on Sunday, 2023 seems almost as far away as Carson's last game. Games like Sunday – when Cleveland was tied with the Saints at 14 in the fourth quarter before a listless collapse – are the kinds of games that get coaches fired. It didn't matter that quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 400 yards and didn't turn the ball over. It didn't matter that Cleveland's defense forced two turnovers and appeared to be playing well. In the fourth quarter, the Browns stopped executing and – it seemed – stopped tackling. The Saints' Taysom Hill had a long touchdown run where he didn't appear to be touched. The Browns' radio analyst Nathan Zegura – a generally optimistic voice – blurted out "are you kidding me?" in disgust as Hill ran unabated to the end zone. It looked like the Browns – at least some of them – flat out gave up in the final quarter. It's the sort of thing 2-8 teams do. As for Stefanski, I don't think he should be fired. The problems on this team go far deeper than the head coach. There are problems with talent evaluation and acquisition that simply don't fall on him. For all of my issues with Stefanski – and I have more than a few – replacing him won't solve this team's problems. Major conversations are needed, and they need to go way beyond the status of the head coach. But the Browns are in trouble. And when a team is in trouble, that usually means the head coach is. Judging by his expression Sunday, Stefanski recognized as much. PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jerry Jeudy had not only his best game as a Brown, but one of the best games of his career. The receiver had six catches for 136 yards, which included an 89-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the first half. Jeudy is a talented player, and finally appears to be emerging with Winston at quarterback. NEXT WEEK: The Browns host the first-place Steelers on Thursday night. Here's an odd stat: The Browns have won their last six Thursday games, dating back to Baker Mayfield's debut against the Jets in 2018. I expect the Steelers to end that streak. MY PICK: Steelers 33, Browns 14 Zach Baker is the sports editor for The Courier and Review Times.