If Kevin Stefanski had truly been on the hot seat coaching against the Bengals Sunday afternoon, he would’ve almost certainly been fired at halftime.

Trailing 14-0 late in the second quarter, the Bengals faced a 3rd-and-18 from Cleveland’s 45-yard line. A three-yard completion from Joe Burrow to Chase Brown (which inexplicably resulted in the ball being incorrectly spotted at the 41 — which evidently nobody on the Browns’ sideline cared about) left 42 seconds on a running clock. At that time, Cincinnati had one timeout and Cleveland had three.

If the Browns had wanted the ball back with time left before half, they should’ve called timeout immediately. And they should’ve called one at some point before the clock got inside 10 seconds regardless of their plan (though what occurred instead made it quite clear that there was absolutely no cogent plan whatsoever).

The Bengals wouldn’t go for it on 4th-and-14 if it means giving the ball to their opponent near midfield with time left if they don’t convert. So the Browns using a timeout would’ve forced them to make that obvious decision.

Even if the objective at that point was to get into the locker room without further damage, the correct maneuvering is to force a punt. Maybe you block it. Maybe you get a decent return. Maybe the Bengals fumble the ball or mishandle the snap or make a nonsensical coaching decision.

But it was the Browns who made the nonsensical coaching decision. They allowed the clock to tick all the way down to three seconds with both teams’ punt units on the field, and Cincy — smartly — used their final timeout.

What occurred next is poetic and beautiful … as long as you aren’t a Browns fan. And we’re heading in that direction right now in Part 5.

—@PoisonPill4