Kevin Stefanski had his best Browns game with play design, aggression, creativity | Ulrich

CLEVELAND — Kevin Stefanski removed his headset and broke character while galloping along the sideline in a moment of pure elation.

“Let's go!” he yelled.

Stefanski didn't say it — he never would — but Cleveland's coach was in the zone Sunday afternoon when the Browns defeated the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 31-27.

Afterward, Stefanski likened the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to NBA action. The son of longtime basketball executive Ed Stefanski surely remembers Michael Jordan shrugging when he caught fire in Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Well, it was the 41-year-old Stefanski who couldn't miss in Week 14 of his fourth season at the helm of the Browns.

It was Stefanski's best game of his Cleveland tenure, a masterful combination of play design, aggression and creativity. He is making a contract extension a no-brainer. Next season is the final one on his five-year deal.

For a long while, it's been obvious Stefanski is a good NFL coach, though legitimate questions have arisen about him simultaneously spinning plates filled with offensive play-calling duties and game-management responsibilities. Those issues may not be permanently resolved.

But Stefanski's decisions and calls in the most crucial moments worked in his favor Sunday, and the Browns (8-5) needed every one of them to pan out to beat the Jaguars (8-5) in a game vital to their positioning in the AFC playoff picture.

With four regular-season games left, the Browns are fifth in the conference standings, meaning they would face none other than the No. 4 Jaguars if the season were to end now. Of course, it won't. Cleveland's remaining games, in chronological order, will be at home against the Chicago Bears (5-8), at the Houston Texans (7-6), at home against the New York Jets (5-8) and at the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6).

Despite the Browns enduring a lengthy list of injuries and playing four quarterbacks this season, 38-year-old Joe Flacco being the most recent, Stefanski has them knocking on the postseason door Cleveland hasn't opened since 2020, his first season on the job.

It's undoubtedly why Stefanski allowed himself to indulge in the joy sparked by Flacco's 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver David Bell with 12:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Bell is just like the rest of us. After the game, he could hardly believe what he saw while watching on his phone a replay of the normally stoic Stefanski's reaction.

“I can count on my hand how many times I've seen him that excited,” Bell told the Beacon Journal with a smile.

Stefanski chose to go for it on fourth down three times against the Jaguars, and the Browns converted on each occasion, helping the offense compensate for going just 4-of-18 on third down (22.2%).

Players on the Browns offense and defense said they viewed the fourth-down calls as Stefanski showing his trust in them. His faith in Flacco is glaring.

With Flacco prevailing in his second start with the Browns, Cleveland became the eighth NFL team since 1950 to have four starting quarterbacks each win in a single season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Deshaun Watson, who's out for the season while recovering from shoulder surgery, had five victories as a starter.

P.J. Walker had one.

Rookie fifth-round draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson had another.

And now Flacco has one.

History wouldn't have been made without Browns players buying what Stefanski has preached about resilience.

“He’s putting us in a lot of favorable positions,” Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said of Stefanski, “and he’s coaching his ass off.”

By the way, Stefanski named Flacco the starter for the rest of the season after the triumph over the Jaguars, but it doesn't mean Thompson-Robinson won't have a role. The offense unveiled a new wrinkle with DTR taking two snaps against Jacksonville. He handed off once in the first quarter and rushed once midway through the fourth quarter for 5 yards on third-and-1 at the Jacksonville 38.

Stefanski's first fourth-down gamble paid off when he refused to settle for a field goal. On fourth-and-1 at the Jacksonville 13-yard line and the Browns ahead 14-7, a Flacco sneak up the middle gained 2 yards and a first down. Three plays later, Flacco split out to the right like a receiver, and running back Kareem Hunt turned a direct snap out of shotgun into a 4-yard rushing touchdown on third-and-3 with 9:39 left in the third quarter.

Later, on fourth-and-3 at the Jacksonville 41 and the Browns leading 21-14, Stefanski rolled the dice again. The Jaguars were in cover-zero, and cornerback Darious Williams overplayed Bell's route, slipped and fell. Bell caught the ball at the 37 and raced untouched to the end zone. Flacco got rid of the ball in time, even though the Browns didn't have a blitzing safety, Andrew Wingard, accounted for in pass protection.

Tight end David Njoku was also completely wide open when he caught play-action passes from Flacco for touchdowns of 34 and 30 yards in the first two quarters — more evidence Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt have crafted plays at an elite level.

With the Browns ahead 28-21 and facing fourth-and-1 at the Jacksonville 48 after an encroachment penalty on the Jaguars, Stefanski went for the hat trick with 6:08 left to play. Hunt rushed for 3 yards and a first down out of a jumbo package, which the Browns had previously deployed on Njoku's first touchdown.

The Browns offense stalled three plays after its final fourth-down conversion, but moving the chains still proved to be important. From the time of the fourth-down snap to the start of Jacksonville's ensuing possession, Cleveland had run 104 seconds off the clock.

“It’s always about whatever it takes to win that game that you’re playing,” Stefanski said. “So we felt there were going to be opportunities there where we wanted to be 'smart aggressive.'

“We’re not just going to be aggressive for the sake of being aggressive, but we thought there would be opportunities to keep our offense out there and keep a drive going, come away with points, against a very good football team.”

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Stefanski repeatedly possessed the foresight to plan for what the Browns would need at the end of the game as opposed to what they appeared to need in the moment.

With 3:15 remaining, Stefanski could have opted for a punt in hopes of pinning the Jaguars deep in their own territory. Instead, he summoned kicker Dustin Hopkins on fourth-and-10 at the Jacksonville 37. Hopkins made a 55-yard field goal for a 31-21 lead, enough cushion for the Browns to hang on for one of their most important wins of the expansion era.

They were clutch time and again.

No wonder Stefanski let everyone catch a glimpse of him having fun.

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski had his best Browns game in win over Jaguars