For years, Cleveland Browns fans had to deal with every other fanbase and analyst letting them know how good they had it with Kevin Stefanski.
- "He's an offensive guru."
- "He just needs a quarterback."
- "He does so much with less."
- "No one can fix the Browns."
- "He wouldn't last on the market long if they fire him."
The Atlanta Falcons took the bait right away. As predicted, Stefanski wasn't unemployed for long, but getting hired has probably been the high point of Falcons tenure so far. It's been two weeks, and Stefanski's Falcons are the only NFL team that hasn't run a single offensive play in the red zone.
As it turns out, maybe Browns fans knew what they were talking about after all.
Kevin Stefanski's familiar Browns issues are already following him to Atlanta
Stefanski brought some of his confidants with him to Atlanta, which is standard procedure in this line of business. However, the discourse around this move was always something along the lines of: "He didn't fail the Browns, and he'll prove them wrong by surrounding himself with the same assistant coaches he had in Cleveland."
How is that turning out?
Unsurprisingly, the Falcons were called for nine penalties for a loss of 96 yards in Week 1, and six penalties for a loss of 39 yards in Week 2. For Browns fans, that will sound painfully familiar.
Granted, Stefanski has had backup Cooper Rush as his starting quarterback for the first two weeks, but things didn't look much better with Tua Tagovailoa during the preseason. How different will things be when Michael Penix Jr. makes his expected debut this week?
That brings us to yet another point: Why was there even a need to hold one of the most underwhelming quarterback competitions in recent memory? Didn't Stefanski learn anything from his days in Cleveland?
At the end of the day, this is turning out to be eerily similar to Stefanski's tenure with the Browns. He might pick up a win or two if Penix plays well, and everyone will gush about how sharp an offensive mastermind he is.
Then, when the offense delivers a stinker, he'll talk about how he needs to coach better and how they will all be better, and he'll leave the podium without giving an actual response to any of the questions he's asked. Wash, rinse, repeat.
For years, people in Cleveland grew sick and tired of hearing about how great their head coach was as his team continued to play inconsistent, losing football more often than not.
It only took two games for Falcons fans to get similar vibes, even with Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts leading the offense.
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