For the second time in this early mess of a Browns season, Cleveland let a would-be win slip away as if the team were a member of its embattled receiving corps failing to secure a pass.
The latest letdown occurred overseas, with the Browns falling 21-17 to the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 5 at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Unlike the season opener, when a golden opportunity deteriorated into a 17-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals largely pinned on missed kicks by Cleveland’s Andre Szmyt, the Week 5 letdown in England has prompted observers to direct much of the blame to Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and question the status of his job security.
With Stefanski’s inept offense and late-game clock management under fire, he reviewed the autopsy of the most recent disappointment on Oct. 6 via Zoom.
Here are some of the key points Stefanski faced during his virtual media availability:
Kevin Stefanski sees ‘a lot of positives’ from Dillon Gabriel, but Browns still didn’t exceed 17 points
The Browns have not scored more than 17 points in 10 consecutive games dating to last season. Despite rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel showing promise with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 94.3 in his regular-season NFL starting debut, the negative trend continued for the offense.
“We, as an offense, have to be better and score more to help this football team,” Stefanski said. “But for a young player in that environment versus that defense to take care of the ball, make the plays he made, I thought was a lot of positives with plenty to clean up. That’s what he will do, and that’s the mentality he has.”
The Browns (1-4) will have their next chance to awaken on offense when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) on Oct. 12. In an interesting scheduling quirk, the Browns will be coming off an international game while the Steelers come off a Week 5 bye.
There are no grounds for excuses, though. Mercy doesn’t exist in the NFL.
For example, Stefanski conceded he thought in the moment the Vikings’ Justin Skule committed a false start penalty while playing left tackle on Minnesota’s game-winning touchdown, a 12-yard pass from quarterback Carson Wentz to wide receiver Jordan Addison with 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. No penalty was called.
“I thought it live, but it doesn’t matter,” Stefanski said.
Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s usage of timeouts receives criticism
During the Vikings’ game-winning drive, Stefanski puzzled many fans and media members with his usage of timeouts.
Trailing 17-14, Minnesota had one timeout left when it began the march on its 20-yard line with 3:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
On first-and-10 at the Cleveland 48, Wentz connected with wide receiver Justin Jefferson for 21 yards with 1:31 left.
With Minnesota on the Cleveland 27, Stefanski decided he wanted to stop the clock to give Gabriel and the Browns offense time to counter the Vikings likely scoring. However, Stefanski didn’t call his first timeout until 1:10 left. If the goal was to preserve time for the Cleveland offense, 21 seconds were wasted.
“In those scenarios, I want to make sure I’m putting the team in a good spot,” Stefanski said. “If there’s things that we can improve, we will. Obviously, the mentality was try to keep some time on the other side of it, but we can definitely be better there.”
Stefanski used his second timeout with 59 seconds left and his third one with 54 seconds remaining. With 59 seconds left, Stefanski had a choice to accept a 10-second runoff or use the timeout because the officials had initially ruled Vikings running back Jordan Mason went out of bounds on a 2-yard catch. A replay review showed he was down inbounds. Stefanski maintained the strategy to try to keep time on the clock for Cleveland’s offense.
On the other side of the equation, the Vikings (3-2) had more time to collect themselves between plays and may have become less inclined to play for a field goal to tie the score. They wound up scoring a touchdown.
“You think about all those things in those moments,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, it didn’t work out for us how we wanted it to work out, both in the result of the game and that drive itself. So, you’re always thinking about different ways you can do it, but we trust our guys to come through. But we didn’t come through as a football team. That’s players, coaches. That’s offense, defense and special teams.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s clock management is under fire after possession late in loss to Vikings
The Browns defense fancies itself an elite unit, yet it didn’t register the game-winning stop it needed against Wentz and Co.
On the other hand, Stefanski didn’t set up an ideal situation for the Cleveland defense with the plays he called for the offense on its penultimate possession.
With the Browns ahead 17-14, they began their next-to-last possession at their 41 with 3:27 left. A chance to chew up clock and seal a victory stared them in the face.
Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins provided a bright spot for the Browns with 23 carries for 110 yards (4.8 average), though he lost a yard and rushed for no gain on consecutive plays in crunch time. The Vikings used timeouts after each one, stopping the clock with 3:24 and 3:20 left.
Then on third-and-11 at the Cleveland 40, Gabriel threw out of bounds with 3:20 left either on an intentional throwaway or a misfire intended for rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond along the sideline.
Running again on third down would have compelled the Vikings to use their final timeout or allowed the Browns to further drain the game clock before they punted.
Instead, the incomplete third-down pass stopped the clock. The Browns managed to take just 11 seconds off the clock before they punted, and the Vikings started their game-winning march with 3:05 left.
“The goal there is to stay on the field, get first downs, make the clock roll and finish the game with the ball,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, going three-and-out doesn’t get it done. When you look at that as a coach, you always immediately — and also now — think about different things that you can do. There’s a ton of philosophies there and what you’re trying to do, who you’re trying to play through, if you want to have risk involved, and potentially use the quarterback there.
“There’s all sorts of things that we can do in that situation, and anytime you come up short, you always think about putting your players in position to succeed. So frustrating to not gain yards on that first- and second-down calls and then frustrated obviously to come away with an incompletion on third down. But we’ll teach off of it. We’ll learn from it.”
Cleveland Browns can’t capitalize on last-ditch effort vs. Minnesota Vikings
Stefanski’s attempt to leave his offense with time on the clock resulted in the Browns getting the ball at their 29 with 21 seconds left after Minnesota kicked off.
A 22-yard pass from Gabriel to Bond gave the Browns a shot at a Hail Mary after they stopped the clock with a spike with seven seconds left.
Gabriel’s attempted Hail Mary was intercepted at the goal line by the Vikings, but it didn’t’ count because the officials ruled Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell had called timeout before the snap.
Given another shot, Gabriel connected with wide receiver Jamari Thrash for 22 yards, but Thrash was tackled before he could get out of bounds to stop the clock. Time expired without another throw into the end zone.
“You try to get the ball out of bounds, figuring you like your chances throwing the ball in the end zone from the 25 better than you do from the 50,” Stefanski said. “Good play by them.
“It’s the risk-reward in all these types of discussions and decisions that you’re making. Whether you take that Hail Mary from the 50 or from the 25, you’re taking a risk in what you do.”
Browns once again are not opening window for Deshaun Watson to return from PUP
The Browns are still not opening the practice window for quarterback Deshaun Watson to potentially come off the physically unable to perform list.
Watson’s eligibility to practice kicked in last week with no movement from the Browns. Watson is rehabilitating a twice-ruptured right Achilles tendon.
As for injuries suffered against the Vikings, Stefanski said some players are “banged up, but feeling good about where they are to start the week.”
Stefanski added offensive tackle Jack Conklin “held up real well” in his first game back from an elbow injury.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns coach Kevin Stefanski defends late-game timeout decision as team spirals to 1-4
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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