CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Trade deadlines, a Chief Strategy Officer leaving, a change in playcallers - it's been an eventful week for the Cleveland Browns. Somewhere in there, hopefully, those who wear uniforms have been thinking about the New York Jets.
What I have been thinking about is not the New York Jets, but rather webdorky issues where I'm trying to do some things behind the scenes with balky email boxes and such. But I'm guessing you don't want to hear about that nonsense, and are more interested in what might happen when the Browns face the Jets in a game the Browns are well-positioned to win.
One question we commonly receive in Ask the Insiders is about head coach Kevin Stefanski's job security. All year long, I've been saying that Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry are behaving like executives who feel their job security is pretty solid, and that I suspect a move will happen only "if the wheels fall off".
If you've been with us for any length of time along this ride with the Cleveland Browns since 1999, you know what it looks like when the wheels are off. You start getting intra-office intrigue, "runaway locomotives", panic attacks, people using the press to further their personal agendas, and so forth. We aren't getting anything like that.
Yet.
A loss to the New York Jettisons, who have dumped their two best defensive players in the last week, would look very, very much like the wheels coming off. The Browns must avoid it unless the front office's objective is to secure highly desirable draft picks for 2026 or provide other similar opportunities for their successors.
It's impossible for us, at this point, to conjecture that Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta was shown the door, or shoved out of it. However, front office change is clearly something that has gone from hypothetical to real in the last week, and more of it might not be out of the question should the Browns lose to the Jets.
The Browns could very, very well lose. I say this not because I'm predicting that they will, but because oddities like losing when they shouldn't occur at above-average rates when the Cleveland Browns are involved.
The Jets, for example, excel at one of the things that the Browns defense struggles with, at least as indicated by the New England Patriots contest: maintaining discipline when opponents run away from their stellar defensive line. The Jets are well-primed to do this, with Breece Hall and Justin Fields (who you know will start) both fleet of foot and able to challenge the edge.
The Browns, meanwhile, are looking to take advantage of the Jets defense, which is now trying to keep from collapsing with two of their supporting beams ripped away: CB Sauce Gardner and DT Quinnen Williams. Browns fans would be cautioned not to be overconfident given the offense's performance to date, and the fact that Gardner and Williams' replacements are also NFL players.
Finally, the Browns' performance in road games has been atrocious this year. The team has been gawdawful, losing all four games and not finishing within two touchdowns of their opponent. They've lost at Baltimore (41-17), Detroit (34-10), Pittsburgh (23-9), and New England (32-13). None of the games have been particularly close, although the Browns defense has been solid until offensive ineptitude wore them down.
Unless there's other news, I plan on going more in-depth on the Browns-Jets clash tomorrow, but for now, I'm biting my nails about whether the team will deathspiral should they lose on Sunday. I've seen it all before.
Browns D Ready for Dual Threat QB Carson Schwesinger Harold Fannin Shedeur Sanders Game Status WR Out - Fred
Cleveland Browns Film Room: Is Alex Wright Earning a Contract Extension? - Sam
Insiders, are you hearing any of this or hints about more change
OT: Antonio Brown extradited to US for attempted murder
'Pluribus': Release date, plot, & how to watch Apple TV's sci-fi series from 'Breaking Bad'... - (space.com)
Occasionally, I'll take the "Lift" space to geek out about upcoming shows or movies that have me, well, particularly geeked up. This is another one. The mystery behind Pluribus is why suddenly everyone on Earth is now happy, except for one particularly miserable person. The first two episodes are now on Apple TV, which is a service that has done a lot of interesting work in the sci-fi realm over the past few years. Silo and Severance both fit that category, and both are fantastic. The fact that this one comes from the creator of Breaking Bad" and the actress who helped Better Call Saul exceed expectations makes it that much more intriguing.
When not preparing to watch Buckeye football this afternoon, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.