Browns coach has blunt assessment of poor opener

Kevin Stefanski’s debut as an NFL head coach did not go well on Sunday. The Cleveland Browns faced a tough test against the Baltimore Ravens, and Stefanski feels the game was a disaster all around.

After his team’s 38-6 loss, Stefanski offered a very blunt assessment of the performance. The coach revealed during the week that he would be calling the plays for the Browns, and a reporter asked him how he felt that went.

“It is hard to say we did anything well. We only scored six points, and that is not good enough in the National Football League,” Stefanski said. “I would just say we have to get right back on it. We have to find out what happened, why it went wrong and get some solutions here because we have a game coming Thursday night.”

The Browns ran the ball fairly well with their tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb had 60 yards on 10 carries and Hunt had 72 yards on 13 carries. Other than that, very little went right. Baker Mayfield completed just 21-of-39 passes for 168 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Cleveland had no answers for Lamar Jackson, but the offense put the defense in compromising positions with three turnovers. The Browns also committed eight penalties. Stefanski took responsibility for the sloppy play.

“We did a lot of things that losing teams do,” he said. “We turned it over three times. Eight penalties, three of which were personal foul facemasks, which were killer. Did not play complementary football. Put our defense in a tough spot a bunch. That is my responsibility. That is on me.”

The Browns tried to temper expectations heading into 2020, but it’s going to be tough to get their fans to be patient. The offense is still loaded with talent, and we saw the way fans turned on them during last year’s disastrous season. A bad loss to the Ravens isn’t the end of the world, but Cleveland couldn’t have asked for a much worse start.