Playoffs and the Payoff

Because I have an unhealthy obsession with the Cleveland Browns, I spent my holiday weekend thinking back to the 2019 team coached by Freddie Kitchens. I thought about all the fun we had as fans when he took over as offensive coordinator, the trick plays, the old-school formations he’d literally give away in his press conferences, but most of all one thing: His preseason speech where he admitted he wasn’t supposed to be here. He called himself a “big ol’ redneck from Alabama” and nobody expected him to be an NFL head coach. But he was there, and he was trying his best. We know that didn’t work out in the long run (or the short run), and without playoffs, there can be no payoff. The sacrifices and mistakes made along the way are always worth it when you get into the tournament and give yourselves a chance at a title. I hope we in Cleveland never take for granted just how important it is to even have a chance at the postseason. It’s what makes sports worth watching, the drive for glory.  Anyway, the lookback brought me even closer to this season’s Browns team. How many stories are like Freddie’s on this team? Not a lot, there is a wide difference between built-in-a-lab Myles Garrett and built-in-a-Waffle-House Kitchens. But time and time again, a player has stepped up in ways that weren’t supposed to happen.Starting in the preseason, we were supposed to have a young kicker getting his groove back and proving his draft value in Cade York. A tough preseason and one trade later, exit York, enter Dustin Hopkins. You might know him as the best kicker in the NFL this year before he hurt his hamstring in Week 16. Then Nick Chubb went down. This was supposed to be the Nick Chubb rushing title and best back in the NFL season. Instead, a busted knee in Week 2 meant the best or second-best player on the team would barely play in 2023. Enter the unlikely return of Kareem Hunt. Without a job and coming off a season where he showed the Browns little to have faith in, Hunt at least knew the offense and came back to town wanting to prove himself to the coaching staff and succeed for Chubb. 2023 has shown Hunt doesn’t have the burst and shake that he used to possess, but he always fights to fall forward, holds onto the ball, and has a new career high in rushing touchdowns, while also providing leadership for a young running back room. And obviously, we know it wasn’t supposed to be Joe Flacco catching fire late in the season at quarterback. Deshaun Watson is paid like a franchise QB but hasn’t returned to form since returning from suspension. After leading the comeback win against the Ravens in Week 10, Watson was supposed to be back on track and recovered enough from his shoulder injury to get through the rest of the season. Days later, Watson would be out for the year with shoulder surgery pending. But the Browns had already had a guy that wasn’t supposed to win at QB earlier in the year in PJ Walker helping to take down the 49ers in Week 6. Instead of going back to him, they went to rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who led a 4th quarter drive to beat the Steelers in Week 11. But Flacco, sitting at home instead of being wooed back to the Jets after Aaron Rodgers was lost for the year, was signed to the practice squad, elevated to active when DTR went down with an injury, and set the NFL on fire for the last five weeks, including 4 straight Browns wins with him throwing for more than 300 yards. After Chubb went down, it was supposed to be Watson stepping up or the whole season crashing (and everyone probably loses their jobs), but instead, the team has rallied around every quarterback this year, and Flacco has taken them to new heights.Other players called to do much more than expected include rookie safety Ronnie Hickman, rookie corner Cameron Mitchell, tackles James Hudson and Geron Christian, old man safety Duron Harmon replacing old man safety Rodney McLeod, and center Nick Harris becoming mostly a fullback. Next man up applies for all NFL teams at the end of the year, and the Browns wouldn’t be here without the stars that have played above and beyond potential in Garrett, Denzel Ward, MJ Emerson, Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, Amari Cooper, and David Njoku, but the real looming payoff for time and effort due is at head honcho. Kevin Stefanski most likely had his own lookback before entering this postseason, though he’d never admit to it in the most polite way possible. But surely the 2021 playoff win against the Steelers stays rent-free in the back of his head. There were his 2020 Cleveland Browns, playoff brats with a bone to pick with this same Pittsburgh team they beat merely a week before making the postseason, in a near-empty Heinz Field handing Ben Roethlisberger a punch to the mouth from the first slap, without the head honcho on the sidelines due to pandemic safety guidelines. Stefanski was named Coach of the Year that season for navigating not only COVID protocols, but also Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, and all the other big personalities on the roster inherited from John Dorsey, all in his first-ever job as a head coach. Then he has to miss his moment of triumph. While it was obviously Stefanski’s team (and has become even more so the longer he has been at the job), special teams coordinator Mike Priefer was the acting head coach for that Steelers game. The next week, the Browns fell just short in Stefanski’s return against the Kansas City Chiefs, and that was it for his playoff chances. No payoff for 2020 and then the team disappointed in 2021, moved on from Baker, and Watson never got his game back in time to make 2022 anything more than a transition. This season has cemented Stefanski as a great coach for this team, and he finally gets another shot at playoff glory this year, with no Chad Henne scramble in sight to ruin it.These Browns are not supposed to be here, at least not like this. In the words of Freddie Kitchens, “But you know what? I’m here.” And this team plays like it belongs with anyone. Sometimes everything pays off in the end. 

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WFNY BrownsCast S2:E34 - Week 18 Preview, pseudo-bye week against Cincinnati

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Feature or bug? Stefanski's coaching can be seen both ways