In a sport which Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi described as a “game of inches,” the Cleveland Browns had 36 inches — on a 3rd and 3-yard with 2:04 remaining — to potentially close out a Sunday road win against the Seattle Seahawks.
Alas, unclosed doors were blown open for the Seahawks to turn P.J. Walker’s second (and final) interception into a game-winning drive for a 24-20 victory over Cleveland.
Stefanski addressed the giveaway in Sunday’s postgame press conference, as well as his Monday meet with reporters.
“I felt good about our group," Stefanski stated on Monday. "Obviously, we prefer an incompletion there. Stops the clock at the [two-minute warning], we know that. Obviously, you’d prefer to run for a gain of one, two, or get it. All that’s true. But, the result didn’t go the way we wanted. That’s the truth. You’ve got to just continue to do what you think is best for the team.”
With Walker, who did not play a single snap during the team’s preseason and was not activated to the active roster until the end of September, the Browns have managed to win two of their last three games, and have remained competitive with victories in stunning (San Francisco) and come-from-behind (Indianapolis) fashions.
Walker led Cleveland on go-ahead drives in both of those wins, and the fourth-year pro looked more comfortable against Seattle than he had in either of his first two appearances. However, five turnovers in his three games have cost Walker — and the Browns — dearly.
Turnovers continued to be the bane of the Browns’ season thus far, with three coming from Walker’s pair of picks and a lost fumble on Sunday. The Browns’ current league-high in turnovers this season (17) has punished the team in multiple games.
"Turnovers are costly, and that's frustrating,” said Stefanski. “We lead the league in giveaways right now with 17. It’s hard to win in the NFL, period. It’s hard to win on the road. It's hard to win when you turn the ball over. So we really have to commit ourselves as an offense not to give that thing away. Obviously, “it’s a team stat…but, first things first, we have to take care of the football.”
The Browns also look to get their defense taking the ball from opponents as they now sport back-to-back struggling performances. The Seahawks initially looked to have Sunday’s game secured after scoring back-to-back touchdowns to open the game - furthering Cleveland’s league-worst in average opponents’ points allowed (7.4) in the first quarter (12.7 over the last three games).
When asked about the defense’s recent early-game struggles, Stefanski called it “A small sample size,” while further explaining: “Our focus is to play good offense and defense for 60 minutes. We understand it’s a challenge, and, sometimes, you’re going to get an opening script form an offense that going to have a couple of ‘beaters,’ if you will…but our focus is to play sound team football for 60 minutes.”
The defense did manage to settle down and stifle Seattle for much of the second half, with Stefanski adding the team “settled in after those early drives,. [Seattle] made some plays, which we knew they were certainly capable of doing, but, our defense then settled in and played really good football.”
However, the defense failed to make a final stop on the Seahawks’ last drive, following the crucial interception. A five-play, 57-yard drive ended with Geno Smith’s touchdown throw to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, dooming the Browns.
The Browns will look to hash out the issues before their home matchup on Sunday, against the 1-7 Arizona Cardinals.
