3 Cleveland Browns with tumbling stock heading into Week 5

Even after their third win of the season, the Cleveland Browns walked out of Minnesota with some of their players stock taking a dive

It’s been a nice change of pace that we could look back at a Cleveland Browns game and grumble about how things went down — and yet still be talking about how they snuck out with a win.

Week 4 was an ugly game for them but they did what they needed to do and stole one by a score of 14-7. The defense was there to carry the struggling offense and while the win was nice, there’s a lot to clean up heading into Week 5.

There are also a lot of players who are seeing their stock fall and here we look at three such members of the Browns.

Cleveland Browns falling stock No. 3: Kevin Stefanski, Head Coach

Don’t get me wrong, Kevin Stefanski is a fantastic coach. He won the NFL Coach of the Year award as a rookie and took Cleveland back to the playoffs for the first time since 2003 last year. Having said all that, he’s been in a rut the last two weeks.

Stefanski has been swinging and missing on fourth downs as he failed twice against Chicago — as the team allowed Baker Mayfield to be sacked on each attempt. Then in Week 4, he again went for it on fourth down on the opening drive and Mayfield was again sacked.

Part of what makes Stefanski a great coach is his aggressiveness. So while these calls are concerning, it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t keep the foot on the gas. What he does need to do, however, is get some better execution from his offense — which is his calling card given his background.

The execution isn’t just lacking on fourth downs either. Cleveland settled for field goals early and often at home against Chicago and then managed just 14 points this past weekend. That needs to be cleaned up and until that happens, all eyes will be on the head coach.