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Overreacting, underreacting and properly reacting to Browns' Week 6 loss to Eagles
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- Overreacting, underreacting and properly reacting to Browns' Week 6 loss to Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Five losses in a team's first six games is certainly cause for concern. It's a veritable five-alarm fire engulfing the season.
That makes it the perfect place where reactions can spawn.
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That's where the Browns are at right now. They've lost four in a row and are off to a 1-5 start thanks to Sunday's 20-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles .
Before moving on to the first AFC North game of the season next Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals , it's time to look at the reactions to emerge from Sunday's loss in Philadelphia. Specifically, let's look at an overreaction, an underreaction and something that's a proper reaction.
Proper reaction: Something has to change in the Cleveland Browns offense
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) directs the offense at the line of scrimmage against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia.
If you've heard it once, you've heard it 1,000 times before. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski isn't insane by any means. However, the decision to continue to do the same things over and over again when it comes to the offense in general seems genuinely insane to those outside of the organization. The most cosmetic of changes, the one that's so often the easiest for an NFL coach to make in a circumstance like this one, is changing the quarterback. Yet, it's clear it's an organization-wide belief — not that Stefanski isn't involved in the decision — that benching Deshaun Watson would be a clear signal the 2022 trade was a failure. The first six games of this season, and really the last two seasons as well, should already signal that to be the case. Is Jameis Winston the answer long-term? Nope. Is that answer on the roster? Likely not. Are they ever really going to pull Watson and put someone else in his place? It doesn't look like it right now. So what other options are there? Stefanski could decide to give offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey the play-calling duties, either as a good-faith attempt to shake things up or to prove a point to the portion of the fanbase that doesn't like him that it wasn't just him. Or, there could be a shakeup in an offensive coaching staff that was already shaken up in the offseason. Whatever it is, there has to be something done to at least show outwardly that all options really are on the table to make the worst offense in the league not the worst offense in the league.
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Overreaction: Kevin Stefanski has lost the Cleveland Browns locker room
Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski looks on during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The same thing that drives fans and media alike crazy about Stefanski — the non-answers he gives when he bears the weight of whatever flaw was asked about while talking around the subject asked about — is also why he has a high approval rating in the locker room. As Rome burns, so to speak, he's not throwing various players — the quarterback, specifically, but others as well — into the flames to save himself. There's been a level of respect built up between the head coach and the players, and that still seems fairly strong despite the 1-5 start. Is there universal agreement on everything Stefanski does? Not a chance. However, a large percentage of this year's players were here last year as well. They saw what he did to navigate that team, which had no business if you looked closely at it going 11-6 and reaching the playoffs, through everything it dealt with then. That's a lot of cache for a coach with his players, which is why they still believe in him at this point in the season.
Underreaction: Myles Garrett may be the most talented Cleveland Browns player since Jim Brown
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett looks on against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Let's jump waist-deep into sports-talk radio fodder right now. Did you see the blocked field goal against Philadelphia? When was the last time you saw someone leap over the line like that to block a kick? Oh, yeah — last year, when Myles Garrett did the same thing in a win at the Indianapolis Colts . It's time to ask exactly where Garrett resides in the hierarchy of the greatest Browns players of all time, either from the original franchise or the expansion one. Left tackle Joe Thomas was a Hall of Famer, but Garrett seems like his career trajectory will get him into Canton as well. And if we're being truthful with ourselves, Garrett played on better teams, in part because he was on them, than Thomas. So it feels like Garrett, by the time all's said and done, will move past Thomas among the expansion Browns players. That takes us to the original franchise, and we ask the question: Who had Garrett's mix of freakish athleticism coupled with the ability to do other-worldly things while playing at a size that makes it all seem like it's something out of a superhero book? Well, there's one name that comes to mind: Jim Brown. This is an underreaction right now, because it's not necessarily something talked about a lot. By the time Garrett's tenure with the Browns is up, it may be a front-burner topic of conversation.
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns vs. Eagles reactions: Change, Kevin Stefanski and Myles Garrett
