PITTSBURGH — When Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski stands at the postgame podium and says his broken offense has a long list of things to fix, there is no argument to the contrary.
The real problem, as if there’s just one, is that watching the Browns try to create big plays and keep defenses guessing gives the feeling that there is no solution. They’ve already changed quarterbacks. They’ve settled for checkdowns and field goals on two different continents. The offensive line is a carousel, and the receiving corps scares no one.
After another punchless embarrassment in Sunday’s 23-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Stefanski said he’s open to anything, including potentially giving up the play-calling. With the Browns at 1-5 and a predictably bad offense bordering on complete ineptitude, it’s clear that desperate and dark times are here. What’s less clear is how to resolve it.
“We’ve got to find a way to score points. We’ve got to run the ball efficiently,” Stefanski said. “Got to find a way to be better in the pass game. All of the above.”
Rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel took a beating on Sunday. He was sacked six times. He threw 52 passes at an average depth of just 6.1 yards. It appeared the intent was to get Gabriel out of the pocket to create space and for an improved line of vision, but that didn’t happen often.
Any signs of life previously shown by the Cleveland offense started with promising rookie running back Quinshon Judkins, but the Steelers knew that was coming. Judkins only got 12 rushes for 36 yards. There’s simply no way anyone intended for Gabriel to have 65 total dropbacks, but the Browns played from behind all day, couldn’t run and couldn’t keep the rookie passer from getting hit. Over and over again.
On what was probably Gabriel’s best throw of the day, one that came late in the third quarter after he escaped the pocket, Harold Fannin Jr. dropped a pass along the Pittsburgh sideline. On the next play, David Njoku dropped an inside screen.
The Browns lack firepower, imagination or the ability to sustain drives, the latter an issue tied directly to the first two. But the number of dropped passes and ill-timed penalties makes every game feel somewhat the same. Jerry Jeudy’s post-play unsportsmanlike conduct penalty killed at least a semi-positive series early, and it preceded a Jeudy drop in the middle of the field on the subsequent third down.
“It’s hard to just say (it’s) the drops,” Gabriel said. “There are a lot of ways I can be better. It’s not going to be perfect within plays. It never will. We have to find a way to sustain drives and keep going … and that starts with me.”
After one particularly brutal hit on Gabriel drew a flag for roughing the passer, the Browns had to replay the down because Jeudy committed a blatant pass interference on the throw down the sideline. The Browns can’t bench Jeudy, either. Their other wide receiver options on Sunday were Jamari Thrash and Isaiah Bond, who saw a Gabriel slant near the goal line bounce off the top of his helmet in the fourth quarter.
It’s all as bad as it sounds.
“When you pass it 60 times, the quarterback is gonna get hit,” longtime Browns guard Joel Bitonio said.
Through three quarters, the Browns had 12 first downs. Seven of them came on the 16-play, 72-yard scoring drive that ended the first half with the first of their three field goals. Over the first three drives, the Browns ran 15 plays for 35 yards. By the merciful end, the Browns were at 3.3 yards per play and settled for field goals on all three of their red zone trips.
From the start, it felt like the Steelers were content with a conservative, quick-pass offense because their opponent was straining for almost everything. Cleveland dropping passes and Pittsburgh dropping interceptions don’t exactly cancel each other out. Gabriel’s final stat line was 29-of-52 for 221 yards. As noted, the Steelers dropped at least four passes that defenders could or should have caught.
The Steelers only ran 27 plays in the second half, but their first 17 resulted in two touchdowns, putting the score out of reach. The state of the Browns’ offense had the game feeling like a potential loss as soon as it became 6-0 just four minutes into the second quarter.
“We’re doing some things right now that are preventing us from winning,” Stefanski said. “We’ll get it fixed.”
But will they? Can they?
The front office’s failure to fortify the offensive tackle spots continues to show up. It might be nearing crisis level, considering right tackle Jack Conklin left Sunday’s game with a concussion and the recently acquired Cam Robinson, Cleveland’s fourth starting left tackle of the season, left the game with an undisclosed knee injury.
Across their six games, the Browns have had six different starting offensive line combinations. They finished Sunday with previously benched left tackle KT Leveston playing on the right side and backup guard Teven Jenkins playing on the left. Jenkins does have some tackle experience in his background.
If the Browns can’t get Gabriel out of the pocket when they do throw and find a way to keep defenses on their heels — even a little — the beatings will continue. Stefanski said he didn’t consider a quarterback change during the game, and that makes sense. The blame here does not fall on one person, but the lack of anything from the run game only seemed to make the Steelers’ pass rush more consistent.
Eventually, Gabriel found some success over the middle to Fannin and Njoku. But Njoku limped off the field three times, and in the fourth quarter, he headed the locker room with a knee injury.
Cleveland has now lost 22 straight regular-season games in Pittsburgh, a streak that dates back to 2003 and includes 15 different quarterbacks taking similar levels of punishment. Optically and offensively, this latest one was among the worst.
There’s nothing that says Cleveland is on the verge of creating more scoring opportunities or more ways to make the defense hesitate. When they can’t run, the Browns don’t have much of a prayer. And with an offensive unit that’s continually put in bad positions by its own miscues and inability to challenge downfield, this edition of Stefanski’s offense appears to have bottomed out.
It’s only mid-October, but it continues to get more difficult to believe Stefanski when he says the folks involved will get this fixed.
