Biggest Take Away Halfway Through Season? Kevin Stefanski Can Coach
The Cleveland Browns are now on their bye week, having played eight games and earning a 5-3 record, but for all of the takes about the roster and individual players, the most important might be that Kevin Stefanski has not only proved himself a capable head coach in the NFL, but is better than at least half the league.
Despite being a rookie head coach in a unique season due to COVID-19, the situation has never been too big for Stefanski and there has yet to be a point where he's made a truly bad strategic decision.
There are play calls he'd like to have back, but in terms of the overall management of the game, he makes smart decisions regarding management of the clock, using timeouts and when to go for it on fourth down.
Part of the reason that it's difficult to think of a major tactical failure by Stefanski is because the decisions never feel big. It's pretty run of the mill for them. They have plans in place ahead of time and while they are not afraid to adapt depending on the situation, they aren't wasting timeouts to think or to make a critical decision.
They know what they want to do, which is almost always with faith in their players to win the game rather than making decisions out of an abundance of caution or trying not to lose.
Compare that to a coach like Bruce Arians of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who has mocked the concept of incorporating data into decision and makes overwhelming tactical blunders that put his team in position to get beat. Twice this season, he opted to kick field goals when faced with 4th and 1 situations.
One resulted in a loss and the other would have gone to overtime if Daniel Jones didn't throw a two-point conversion hopelessly late.
Mike McCarthy with the Dallas Cowboys is similarly awful with critical tactical decisions in games.
Meanwhile, Stefanski has produced points late in halves while ensuring the opponent couldn't muster a drive and in their second game against the Cincinnati Bengals allowed Baker Mayfield to go for the win rather than playing it safe to set up a more achievable field goal. Mayfield found Donovan Peoples-Jones in the end zone on a beautiful fade.
Certainly, the execution of the play was critical, but as long as the play wasn't intercepted, the Browns would've been able to attempt the field goal. He empowered his offense to go for the win and they succeeded.
And it never felt labored. It has been a pretty smooth operation. There are some mistakes and plays not executed, but it is a speedbump as opposed to a wall.
The Browns are only converting 41.6 percent of fourth downs thus far, which is barely higher than 2019 (41.1 percent) and they have yet to convert one on the road this season, but the offense knows the coach trusts them to make a winning play while the defense is ready, feeling the confidence that they can execute if the offense should fail. Even as bad as the defense is playing this season, the Browns don't shy away from being aggressive and the defense has on a number of occasions been able to come up with a stop or a turnover, perhaps emboldened by that trust.
The Browns have gotten solid contributions from their rookie class, those who have been healthy, in spite of an abridged offseason caused by the pandemic. A credit to Stefanski and the coaching staff for having a plan in place to get them as prepared as possible.
The coaching staff is good. It may not be perfect, but Bill Callahan and Joe Woods were excellent hires and the team is reaping the rewards. Wyatt Teller has played at an All-Pro level, Jedrick Wills has acclimated quickly and the Browns swapped a fifth round pick for Ronnie Harrison, who is one of the better safeties in the NFL this year.
The Browns have won without Nick Chubb, Wyatt Teller, Austin Hooper and only one play of Odell Beckham on offense. Overall, the offense and the play of Mayfield is trending in a positive direction heading into the bye week, but there will be significant scrutiny in how he performs against the Tennessee Titans, the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in addition to a potential playoff game.
The lack of experience was a concern with Stefanski, given the fact the Browns just went through a fiasco with Freddie Kitchens. No one thinks of Stefanski as a rookie coach or a coach trying to learn while on the job anymore. The reality is he will continue to evolve and improve.
Specifically, that will likely come in how he calls the offense on the fly. Perhaps the biggest criticism of Stefanski to this point is how he responds when the plan going into the game doesn't work. The Browns were blown out against both the Steelers and Ravens and in both cases, it didn't seem as though Stefanski could come up with a way to jump start the offense.
This past week against the Las Vegas Raiders, the plan on offense for the Browns was good enough and the players simply couldn't execute, dropping five passes.
There aren't too many great plans when trying to get an offense to get going after being down by two or three scores, but at some point, the Browns offense is going to have to find a way to come back in one of those contests and win. Obviously, Stefanski has only had eight opportunities to be the head coach in a game and preferably, the Browns never find themselves in those circumstances. Nevertheless, those are the type of situations where he will have the opportunity to show he's a great coach.
For now, the focus for Stefanski is making the playoffs, which is an impressive feat even with the amount of talent the Browns have on their roster as well as what has become a forgiving schedule.
Injuries will play a role but the Browns should continue to improve in the second half of the year. Doing so without Odell Beckham will be a notable challenge, but with a bye week, it should help the rookies further acclimate and improve the chemistry of the unit overall.
The second half of the season should allow Stefanski to further show he was a great hire for the Browns as he leads them toward a playoff berth, but having the benefit of a full offseason without having to install their offense or defense should enable this staff to really shine as they potentially transition to a contender for the 2021 season.
