In Week 9, the Browns had a bye week. In theory, this gave Kevin Stefanski and Co. an extra week to put together a game plan to defeat the New York Jets. Perhaps the playing field would be level since the Jets were also coming off their bye. But no - there was one big difference between two of the league's most woebegone franchises: the Jets had a massive fire sale at the trade deadline. The departures included their two best players, Quinnen Williams and Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner.
If there were ever a golden opportunity to right the ship on offense, it was this one against the Jets. Their defense entered the contest ranked 27th in points allowed, with the benefit of having a bye week. Somehow - minus their two best players - they fared better against Cleveland and jumped a spot in defensive ranking to #26.
The Browns' performance in Week 10 was the latest in a series of harrowing examples of how low a team can sink on one side of the ball. Dillon Gabriel continued his erratic and poor play, despite what appeared to be a solid game from his passer rating (88.9). At times, he held the ball for too long; other times, he flat-out missed his targets. This led to six sacks taken and a completion rate barely above 50 percent on the day.
While many will cite the Browns' special teams woes - they allowed kick and punt return touchdowns on the day - it doesn't excuse the loss entirely. The Browns rallied back from those miscues to even the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter. The special teams unit reached peak ineptitude in this game, but the offense couldn't do enough to beat a team that has effectively punted on the rest of its season, scoring a measly six points the rest of the way.
Browns drop to #31 in latest NFL Power Rankings
Although the offense didn't score many points and the special teams units took the day off, the defense continued to play stout football. Justin Fields - the Jets' starter because they couldn't pivot to the injured Tyrod Taylor - put up 1960s passing numbers. He was 6-of-11 for 54 yards with one touchdown and one interception, though 42 of those yards came on a dump-off pass that Breece Hall took to the house. The defense continues to pull its weight while the offense stalls, which could be leading to a growing chasm in the locker room.
As expected, the Browns tumbled in this week's edition of the Power Rankings from the folks at NFL Spin Zone. They now find themselves at #31, ahead only of the horrifically bad Tennessee Titans. Something Browns' fans might wish they shared with the Titans though, is a head coaching vacancy. Despite Jimmy Haslam's attempts to throw water on any coaching-change rumors, it's worth remembering that those comments came in the afterglow of the Browns rout of the Miami Dolphins. An embarrassing loss to the Jets could change his thinking.
It's also worth pondering: Is Paul DePodesta's departure the first sign of a mass exodus? At some point, the end of the road might be coming for Kevin Stefanski and perhaps even Andrew Berry. There have been missteps in both offseason transactions (namely, the Watson contract) and on-field performance. While that mistake is costly to the team's ability to add players, the current state of the Browns' offense is not going to be acceptable for much longer at the NFL level.
All in all, it is reaching that time for the Browns to pivot to Shedeur Sanders, something Browns' fans across the country have been anxiously awaiting since they called his name on Day 3 of the NFL draft. If Dillon Gabriel cannot - or will not - make accurate throws and play decisively, the time is fast-approaching for the Browns to see if there is anything there with the other rookie signal-caller on the roster. If not, the top priority this offseason is going to be getting a new rookie quarterback in Cleveland in 2026.