The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Game 1 isn’t the playoffs
Browns respect, but aren’t in awe of Chiefs
The Kardiac Kid Browns were so hungry after losing to the Raiders, 14-12, in a divisional playoff game they spent the summer of 1981 getting ready for the season opener with the San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers crushed Brian Sipe and the Browns, 44-14, in front of a packed crowd at Cleveland Municipal Stadium expecting a much different result. That team never recovered from the drubbing.
Now, 40 years later, the 2021 Browns, are playing their season opener against the same team that eliminated them from the playoffs in January. This is not ironic. The NFL and the CBS television executives thought it would be a ratings bonanza to have the Browns and Chiefs open the season at 4:25 p.m. Sept. 12 in Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs beat them, 22-17, eight months ago.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and quarterback Baker Mayfield have justified respect for the Chiefs’ supersonic offense, but Stefanski did not make the same mistake his predecessors made four decades ago — about 10 months before Stefanski was born. Their preparation for the Chiefs began Sept. 7. The serious work started Sept. 8.
“I think you do have to be careful there not to have paralysis by analysis in some ways,” Stefanski said. “We spent extra time on them obviously because you have extra days, but we need to make sure that we as the Cleveland Browns are on point before you turn your attention to your Week 1 opponent.”
There is an abundance of storylines to this game, starting with the fact the Browns’ are back intact offensively and that they have continuity for the first time in years. But the Chiefs have continuity, too. So that’s a wash.
The Browns are focused without being in awe of the Chiefs. They have put the playoff loss and the successes from last season behind them.
“They (the Chiefs’ defense) have been playing extremely well together for a while,” Mayfield said.
“They’re forcing you to make mistakes and they’re trying to get the ball out of your hand and make you take chances.
“It’s about doing our job and taking care of the football. They do a great job of creating mismatches and trying to get guys free on blitzes.”
The Browns have put the loss to the Chiefs behind them, but one thing has carried over — the need to start faster. The Browns trailed the Chiefs 19-3 at halftime, and though they won the second half, 14-3, it obviously wasn’t enough.
“We have the bread and butter, the fundamentals and the schemes we are good at, and we need to keep building off of those and do extremely well.
“When we have our shots, take advantage and no negative plays. It’s about doing our job efficiently. Hopefully, we do hit the ground running. That’s the goal.”
Hitting the ground running is something the Browns almost never do in season openers. They are an abysmal 1-20-1 in openers since 1999. They beat the Baltimore Ravens in the 2004 opener, 20-3, and then won three of their next 15 games. Butch Davis resigned as head coach with five games remaining. Terry Robiskie finished as interim head coach and went 1-4.
The 2018 season started with Browns and Steelers tying 21-21 — a glorious beginning after 0-16 in 2017. Hue Jackson was fired as head coach in midseason.
So as big as the game with the Chiefs is to fans and national media watching closely, to the Browns it is Game 1 of 17.
“I think we are so far past last season,” Stefanski said. “We obviously go back and look at the tape and see what we could have done differently, what they did and what they might do in this game. In terms of taking last season into this season, I think we are way past that.”
The Browns open their home schedule at 1 p.m. Sept. 19 against the Texans at FirstEnergy Stadium.