4 Thoughts on Meaningless Loss to Steelers

After an abominable performance on offense that left the Cleveland Browns feeling they are back at square one, Cory Kinnan weighs in with four thoughts.

The Cleveland Browns had their season ended the day before, but somehow this loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers left even more hopeless thoughts. 

Oh boy.

After the Cincinnati Bengals all but stuck a knife in the Browns' playoff hopes with their win over the Kansas City Chiefs, they still managed to make the future look even more gloomy. Laying an egg, losing 26-14 against the uninspiring Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns have caused an uproar of chaos throughout their fanbase.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield continued to disappoint in an already down year, Nick Chubb obtained a rib injury, and now the fanbase is ready to run the reigning NFL Coach of the Year out of town.

Is there any rationality out there? Is there anything left to hang our hats on? Here are some thoughts this performance inspired.

"Abandoning the run" accusations overblown

Take away one run of 32 yards and Nick Chubb averaged less than 2.5 yards per carry. Chubb had COVID a month ago and nobody knows what kind of workload his conditioning can handle at this point. Icing on the cake? Chubb hurt his ribs against the Steelers as well. 

The majority of playcalling complaints are "he doesn't run the ball enough," but there has not been a case this season where Stefanski has irresponsibly abandoned the run game. Not a single time. 

Look at the games the Browns went away from the run. Against the Patriots: the Browns went down way too deep too early to rely on the run. Against the Ravens: the Browns got beat up against eight-man fronts and could not get a push (they also had the best run defense in the league and the worst pass defense in the league). 

What other examples are there of the Browns abandoning the run this season? There are not any. It's completely overblown, and guess what? Stefanski is not going anywhere and is not giving up playcalling.

Why did Baker Mayfield play in the first place?

If Mayfield is now going to sit out a second meaningless game after laying another egg against the Steelers, then why did he play in this meaningless game to begin with? Why not get a week's jump on his surgery and recovery?

What it comes down to is Mayfield played because Mayfield wanted to play. That's the way it has been all season. The Browns were in a lose-lose situation with Mayfield and with their offensive success as a result. 

If they would have shut down Mayfield and played Keenum to the tune of a similar record, we absolutely would have heard something from the former first overall pick about how he was shut down against his will and how he wanted to play. Now? We get quotes from Mayfield saying he was too hurt to succeed and that he was set up to fail. 

Long story short, Mayfield was going to come out on top either way, and the Browns came out as losers as a result. The question still remains, why is Mayfield just now looking for the advice of his family and agent regarding his ability to play through injury?

Relationship between Mayfield, Stefanski irreparable 

The culmination of a long season has now left the relationship between head coach and quarterback in shambles. From a leak to Cleveland dot com, to now publicly calling out his head coach's gameplan in his post-game press conference, there is clearly dysfunction between Mayfield and Stefanski to the point of permanence. 

We now just sit and watch to see who blinks first. It is no secret the Browns will do their due diligence on other quarterbacks this offseason, but one has to wonder if Mayfield takes action first. It would not be shocking to see the Browns make a move for a new gunslinger this offseason, but it would be equally as expected to see Mayfield ask out.

A divorce feels inevitable, and the hope of this pairing working is at an all-time low. How we got here after the highs of last season is baffling, but here we are. And to be honest, if the franchise has to make a choice between head coach and quarterback, the answer is pretty easy.

Defensive foundations are rock-solid

Boy, this has been a negative stream of thoughts, but let's end it on a positive note.

Joe Woods continues to have his unit playing at an extremely high level. At least we can bank on coaching continuity (except perhaps Alex Van Pelt if these Pitt rumors hold truth) heading into next season as Woods' job is without a doubt safe. 

The best part? The core of this Browns' defense is extremely young. Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward have put together special seasons, Greg Newsome played out of his mind against Pittsburgh, Grant Delpit is finding his way, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is an absolute stud. 

There is still hope for Jacob Phillips to take over as the full-time MIKE, but Anthony Walker has played well regardless. Greedy Williams has been a valuable depth piece, the Browns can hope for John Johnson III to return to form, and Troy Hill proved to be immensely valuable.

Questions remain, sure, but the foundations are more than solid for this defensive unit in Cleveland. Can they bring back Jadeveon Clowney? Can they find some upgrades along the interior? These are the biggest questions looming defensively, meaning there are way more answers than holes on that side of the ball.

READ MORE: Browns Offense Fought through Bad Luck, Poor Decisions, Ended up Worse for it