Browns, Kevin Stefanski Nearly Silenced His Critics, One Play Spoiled Everything

There's not a team in professional football that has turned losing into an art form quite like the Cleveland Browns.

Their latest act, a 24-20 road loss to the Seahawks that Cleveland had won with two minutes to go.

Kevin Stefanski's got some splainin to do.

Let's rewind to the 6:40 mark of the fourth quarter. Myles Garrett had just slammed the door on a promising Seahawks drive, by sacking Geno Smith for a loss of six, knocking hem out of field goal range. Cleveland took over after a punt with 5:46 to go looking to end the game.

Over the course of the next seven plays, the Browns move from their own 11, to their own 41, milking the clock with six run plays and a single pass – the latter of which came on third-and-three and resulted in an automatic first down after an illegal hands to the face penalty of Seattle.

Now that eighth play. Oh, that eighth play. Third and three again from the 41 this time. Walker dropped back, looked right, fired and his pass deflects off the helmet of safety Jamal Adams, pops into the air and find the hands of safety Julian Love for a costly interception.

HEADS UP play by Jamal Adams 😉🤕

Seahawks get the ball back with under two minutes to go 👀

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/HHZtDPbV8C
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 29, 2023

Six plays later, rookie WR, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was darting into the end zone for the eventual game winning score. Five plays after that, the Browns were turning it over on downs and the game was over.

Just the latest gut-wrenching loss, for a franchise with a long list of gut-wrenching losses.

Stefanski put the fate of the game in the hands of P.J. Walker and it backfired. He'll now be asked to answer for it, in a season where he's squarely on the hot seat in a lot of people's eyes. He tried to find peace in the decision afterward.

"The outcome you're always thinking 'what could you do differently there?,' Stefanski said. "We had options there, but the result, that was tough.

"There's gonna be plays you want back,Of course, hindsight is always 20-20. For what it's worth, Walker did have multiple players open on the play, however they were to the opposite side of the field that Walker was throwing.

In the same vein, Cleveland had racked up 155 yards rushing and were averaging just shy of four yards a carry on the day. Best case scenario: you hand the ball off, get the first down and the game is over. Worst case scenario: you get stopped, punt and make Seattle have to go a lot further in under two minutes, needing a field goal to tie.

There's something to be said for being aggressive and trying to put step on a team's throat when you have them on the ropes. There's always understanding the context of the situation, like how P.J. Walker is under center. And how your defense had pitched a shutout in the second half. With those nuances factored in it seems too easy of a decision.

"Definitely was a consideration," Stefanski explained. "There's gonna be plays you want back, obviously. You're also looking to try and give your guys the best chance to go get a win."

It's unfortunate for Stefanski. The Browns head man started the season squarely on the hot seat and was two minutes away from making his harshest critics eat crow. To go 3-0 with Walker at quarterback would have been a nice feather in his cap.

Instead, the fire under his seat gets doused in a gasoline tank of questions and frustrations.

In many ways this is the beauty of football – one play can change everything. No matter how many coaches want to regurgitate the line about games not being won or lost on a single play, supporters of this franchise know better than to believe that.

The margin for error in this league too thin and Stefanski saw it first hand on Sunday as one play, changed the way he'll be talked about over the course of the next week.