Boiling point: Kevin Stefanski in hot water after messy end to season

Kevin Stefanski made it to the end of season three as the Cleveland Browns head coach but things have reached a boiling point

On a positive note, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski made it through season three without being fired (as of this article being written). However, the way things have gone since his first year, there are definitely concerns for Stefanski — and we may have hit the boiling point.

There’s this belief out there that because the Browns have their new quarterback Deshaun Watson under center and back on the field after an 11-game suspension, Stefanski is safe to coach the team next season so as to give everyone a chance to work through a full year together. That may be true, but I’d be very concerned for the coach’s job security this offseason.

He finished worse in 2022 than 2021 as the Browns went 7-10 on the year. He has an overall 26-24 record, thanks in part to an 11-5 first-season record but hit his first bump in the road last year with an 8-9 mark.

You have to know that team owner Jimmy Haslam can’t be happy these days. There have been too many gut-wrenching losses over the last several seasons that we’ve witnessed Haslam visibly upset, like most of the fan base. While Stefanski still has his job, some things have really hurt him again this season that aren’t getting him any glowing endorsements from the top.

No. 3 issue with Kevin Stefanski: He misused Nick Chubb

This is not to try and say that Stefanski should have given Nick Chubb more rushing carries but the situations of when and where those carries were not utilized more by the coach has to be concerning. There’s an opinion of those that support Stefanski’s play calling decisions, especially when talking about carries for Chubb, that the team is behind in the game and losing and that the team has to revert to passing the ball.

However, that’s not always the case. In the game against the Steelers this weekend, Stefanski had Watson throw the ball 17 times in the first half and gave Chubb six carries. The game was close throughout the first half and the Browns had the lead midway through the second quarter.

In most of their games this year, they were close in the first half and yet we often looked at the box scores at halftime to see the discrepancies between the pass and run. At this point, those that are supporting Stefanski’s offensive schemes are pulling their hair out because Chubb had the best season yet statistically in terms of total yards gained with 1,525 and that shows that the Browns and Stefanski invested in the run game.

They may have invested in Chubb but there’s a growing opinion out there that Stefanski and his coaches left a lot of extra yards on the shelf.