This one is tough to accept. The Cleveland Browns had the Seattle Seahawks on the ropes for all of the second half. They fell down 14-0 early, fought back, and dominated the time of possession the rest of the way. Head coach Kevin Stefanski called one of his very best games as the lead man of the Browns, and quarterback PJ Walker was making some throws you would not expect him to make.
Then the wheels fell off with two minutes left in the game. All-in-all, the Browns fell to the Seahawks in this Week 8 bout by a score of 20-24. With 5-2 right in their grasps, the Browns sit now at 4-3 on the season with the Arizona Cardinals next up on the docket.
What stood out most from this game? This one was a tough one to steal takeaways from, because for the better part of the game it played out just as Browns fans hoped that it would. Your backup quarterback was doing enough, the run game was going strong, the defense created two turnovers and stuffed Geno Smith and the Seattle offense on eight straight third downs.
Yet the Browns found a way to lose. Here is a gut-wrenching 4 Downs.
1st Down: Kevin Stefanski calls a great game... until it mattered most
This one stings, and it predominantly falls on the head coach, Kevin Stefanski. Yes, the defense collapsed early on and down the stretch as well, so the buck is not being passed from them. And yes, the Browns were in the position they were in for most of the game because of the magnificent game plan that Stefanski put together for his backup quarterback.
The Browns found chunk yards deep down the field and a ton of manufactured looks on screens, thanks to the mind of Stefanski. However, he is going to come under fire and probably deserves to hear the criticism for his third-and-three play call with two minutes left in the game.
Imposing their will with body blow after body blow, the Browns were punching the Seahawks in the mouth. Sustaining a drive all the way across midfield, the Browns found themselves in four-down territory with two minutes left in the game. If they pick up three yards, the Seahawks would be forced to burn their last timeouts. And the Browns had two plays to do it.
Instead, Walker throws an interception, the Seahawks drive down a shortened field, and the Browns lose the game. Three yards on two plays was all the Browns needed to shift the win probability much further in their direction. Stefanski has to use better discernment about which players he is going to entrust with the football when the game is on the line.
And choosing the backup quarterback over a veteran sledgehammer like Kareem Hunt was a questionable one.
Stefanski does not deserve to be fired. He is a major player in how the Browns have managed to squeeze out two wins without his starting quarterback and a huge reason the Browns found success offensively today. But his decision at the end of the game provides everyone else a large and hard pill to swallow.
Stefanski called a great game, probably one of his best as the head coach of the Browns, until it mattered the most.
2nd Down: The Browns' running back by committee is taking shape
It has gotten better every week since the injury to Nick Chubb, but today was the first time it felt like Cleveland’s run game was back to its efficient self. Opting for a three-headed rushing attack, the Browns found success with all of Kareem Hunt, Jerome Ford, and Pierre Strong Jr. in the backfield. They all stayed fresh, and they all found success.
And this is hopefully just the beginning.
The Browns face a tough stretch of their schedule over the coming weeks, and being able to take pressure off of whoever the quarterback is will be a luxury.
Strong looked explosive and displayed excellent vision to find cutbacks. Kareem Hunt hammered out hard yards and even found success in the screen game. Jerome Ford, despite playing through a sprained ankle, took advantage of his limited reps as it appeared the Browns had him on a pitch count.
Nobody can replace Chubb, but maybe the three together can get the job done.
3rd Down: Offensive line has solidified over recent weeks
The Browns gave up three sacks in this game, but that number is pretty skewed given how long Walker holds the football for. For three weeks running, the pass protection has returned to the form of where you would expect a Bill Callahan-coached unit to be.
And it has been across the board as well. Even when right tackle Dawand Jones went out James Hudson III stepped in valiantly and was not an apparent liability where you heard his name every other play. Left tackle Jedrick Wills is even stacking weeks to the point where returning as the left tackle in 2024 is not an unrealistic or outlandish possibility.
Ethan Pocic is living up to his new contract, and the guards have returned to the form you would expect of Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. And they are even getting after it in the run game as well, clearing lanes for the three-headed backfield.
4th Down: Where do the Browns look at the trade deadline?
No, the Browns aren’t going to make a move at quarterback.
Despite the constant clamoring, PJ Walker will continue to start while Deshaun Watson is out. And looking around the league, how many backup quarterbacks move the needle much further outside of Jacoby Brissett? Walker is playing just as good of football as Joshua Dobbs is right now, and there are not 64 good quarterbacks in the NFL to just go out and get an upgrade.
Where they likely look to upgrade, however, is at wide receiver.
Names like Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton of the Denver Broncos, Marquise Brown of the Arizona Cardinals, and others are the ones that are predominantly heard. Depending on the injury that knocked Alex Wright out of the game, they could also go out and look at another defensive lineman like Denico Autry of the Tennessee Titans.
They won’t make desperate trades, but there is reason to believe a deal or two will get done by Tuesday’s deadline.
Extra Point: Looking at the schedule ahead (don't overlook the Cardinals)
This is a hard loss to swallow, but this game is nothing more than mere eye candy in the long run as well. The real meat of the schedule starts in two weeks. The Browns will take on the Arizona Cardinals next week, a game they cannot overlook as they are a scrappy bunch who find themselves in games.
However, the Browns’s back-to-back stretch of games in Weeks 10 and 11 against the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers will tell us much more than the four weeks that Watson has been sidelined thus far. They then play the Broncos, another AFC team. All-in-all, the Browns have scratched to a 2-2 record without their starting quarterback, which is a bit miraculous in itself.
So no, I am not overlooking the loss and how pretty 5-2 would have looked instead of 4-3, but bigger and more valuable tests once Week 10 rolls around.
