The Twitter trolls are tired of Kevin Stefanski, and one of their largest criticisms is that he should not be making his own play calls. Why, just look at how terrible it is when head coaches around the NFL try to be play callers. So tell it to Mike McDaniel (Dolphins), Zac Taylor (Bengals), Doug Pederson (Jaguars), Andy Reid (Chiefs), Mike McCarthy (Cowboys), Sean McVey (Rams), Kyle Shanahan (49ers) are all Head Coaches who call plays for their teams. Why don’t we hear that all of these guys are well under .500? Because it isn’t true! Many Head Coaches are successful calling their own plays, and many on this list have won Super Bowls. The rule that the Head Coach cannot call plays and be a success was made up by Art Modell to fire Marty Schottenheimer, and it is a stupid rule.

By the way, who came up with the idea that Alex Van Pelt is the world’s greatest play caller? No offense (pardon the pun), his main experience as play caller was with the 2009 Buffalo Bills. They finished 28th out of 32 teams. Wow! Van Pelt was also the acting head coach when Stefanski was out with Covid for the Pittsburgh playoff game in 2020, when the Browns rang up 48 points. So perhaps the notion is that every time Van Pelt calls plays for the Browns, they will average 48 points per game, is that it? Come on! Definitely you want anybody who thinks like that in your fantasy football league because you are going to take their money, for sure.

In 2021, everyone was upset that Stefanski went for it on 4th down too often, especially with Cade York, who was a Dawg Pound Darling that season. If you go to Twitter.com and search for Cade York and Justin Tucker, you will be nauseated at the number of Browns fans who were comparing York to Tucker. The kid had comparable DISTANCE to Tucker, but lacked accuracy. York is getting a second shot with the New York Giants due to an injury to Graham Gano. We wish him well, but he was not the answer for the Browns in 2021.

Analytics show that it is usually better to go for 7 instead of 3, especially near the goal line. Even if you miss, your team has a decent chance to get the ball back and score. It’s worth it to exploit that great field position. Look, 7 is better than 3. Just like basketball, 3 is better than 2. It took a long time to do the math, but they finally figured it out.

A recent controversy was throwing the ball to Amari Cooper on a quick slant and having the ball bounce of the safety’s helmet and be intercepted in the Seahawks game. Many in the Dawg Pound feel certain that Kareem Hunt would gotten the first down. Really? With the Seahawks loading up on the line of scrimmage and Hunt and Jerome Ford both playing hurt that game, it’s difficult to see three yards in that situation.

The larger issue that has some validity is whether an offensive-minded coach like Stefanski can learn to depend on his defense at the end of the game rather than insisting that his inconsistent offense has to salt the game away. Maybe if a run does not work, you take 30 seconds off the clock and punt. Can he learn to trust his defense to hold the opponent to 40 yards in a critical situation and prevent a field goal? That is a much better question.