Browns: Kevin Stefanski out-coached himself in losing effort

The Cleveland Browns lost against the Pittsburgh Steelers largely because of his Kevin Stefanski and his decision making that hindered his team.

Kevin Stefanski just saw his team implode against the Pittsburgh Steelers and it was largely his own doing. The Browns first-year head coach made a litany of errors in his management of the offense, ranging from going for it on fourth down when he’s on his own half of the field, to calling plays for Kareem Hunt to go up the middle regardless of it not being a play that ever seems to work for the Browns.

The Browns lost 38-7.

There’s also his play calling, and his inability to protect his quarterback. Be reassured, Baker Mayfield’s poor day is 100% on Stefanski. He did not put his offensive line in the best situation to protect Mayfield and more often then not seemingly handed the Steelers easy access to Mayfield. More than a few times T.J. Watt would line up on the outside shoulder of the tight end, only for the tight end to release without making contact on Watt, allowing Watt the ability to dark around Jack Conklin to disrupt the play.

The same thing happened to Jedrick Wills with Bud Dupree who made Wills look like Greg Robinson. If Robinson worse than he was. A lot of this had to do with the fact that Stefanski was overconfident in his line despite the fact they haven’t looked the same since Wyatt Teller got hurt. They’re not the same offensive line and they don’t offer the same stability.

Worst yet, Joel Bitonio looks to be showing his age as he’s getting manhandled at the point of contact far more than one would expect with the former Pro Bowler.

The biggest mistake Stefanski made this week was not sitting down Mayfield and Jarvis Landry for the game. Neither man looked good out there, and Mayfield ended up getting pulled at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Mayfield couldn’t throw the ball seven days ago without dropping in pain, why did Stefanski even think that Mayfield should start considering how much pain he was in? The announcers even commented that Mayfield couldn’t sleep correctly due to the pain.

Stefanski outright admits that the reason Mayfield struggled was due to his own game plan, and accepted responsibility for that in the post-game press conference.