Stefanski defends fourth-down decision to insert QB Brissett
There was a chance for the Cleveland Browns to grab an early lead during Sunday's loss in Cincinnati. However, they threw it away, literally, with a fourthdown incompletion into the end zone.
The Browns, with Deshaun Watson making his second start at quarterback, marched to the Bengals 25. There, on third-and-1, coach Kevin Stefanski elected to go for it on fourth down.
However, instead of running something with Watson at quarterback, Stefanski sent Jacoby Brissett in for the play. Brissett was successful converting third- or fourth-and-short situations multiple times during his 11 games as the starter, and even for one play in the previous week's game at Houston.
Brissett, though, didn't try a quarterback sneak. Instead, he rolled out and tried to throw to the end zone. The pass, intended for Donovan Peoples-jones, went well past the receiver.
Stefanski said Brissett's threat to sneak was central to the thinking toward making a quarterback change on the play.
“Yeah, I mean that's the basis of it,” Stefanski said. “There's things that we can do that he's been good at in short yardage that we feel like that gives us an advantage. Obviously, frustrated in the result there and always looking at what we can do better, what I can do better, but that is obviously the idea behind it.”
That was one of six fourth-down tries for the Browns during their 23-10 loss to the Bengals. They converted three, two
of which came on a fourth-quarter drive that ended in another failed fourthdown pass to Peoples-jones — this one by Watson — into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the Cincinnati 6.
Both the number of fourth-down conversion tries and the number of successful conversions against the Bengals were season highs for the Browns, who lead the league in fourth-down tries with 33 and are second to the Philadelphia Eagles (19) in successful conversions with 18.
“I think for me, it's just trying to put our guys in position to make a play, stay on the field, convert potential threes into sevens,” Stefanski said. “It's a philosophy that I believe in. We're going to try to be aggressive, and I think our players understand that we're trying to be smart while being aggressive.”
Stefanski isn't going to change a belief he's brought with him ever since he was hired to be Browns head coach in 2020.