Even before this past Sunday’s loss in Cincinnati, there had been an audible clamoring from a large contingent of Cleveland fans to hand Kevin Stefanski the pink slip. How the Browns performed in the game did him no favors.

All season long, the most glaring failures — from a coaching standpoint — have been unnecessary penalties. Pre-snap gaffes and misalignment blunders always shine a bright light on the coaching staff because they tend to be emblematic of a lack of preparedness.

The Browns were the seventh-most penalized team in the league going into Week 16, and are currently one of just eight clubs with more than 100 imposed infractions. So Stefanski’s ability to have the team focused and ready for game day this year has been far from a feather in his cap.

But his acumen for being able to adapt the game plan to suit different quarterbacks throughout his coaching career certainly has been. This adeptness was on display in 2023 when the Orange and Brown started five different signal-callers.

Cleveland went 11-6 in a season marred by more injuries than the nursing home edition of “American Gladiators.” Stefanski won his second Coach of the Year honor and earned every bit of it.

But the Browns community is, as always, split. Moving toward an offseason where the Dawgs appear to be in line for a top 5 draft pick, the fans are divided worse than fractions in remedial, third grade math.

Whether Stefanski’s done a good job this season or not involves a lot of supposition from the outside. Let’s look at the most recent evidence right now in Part 3.

—@PoisonPill4